The Nokia beta labs homepage has just been created. The scope is to provide novel applications for the mobile domain and get feeback from users.

There are only a few applications at the moment but some worth a try. For example, the Sport tracker has been ideated at the Nokia Research Center and now it has found a place to show how mobile devices can be used for many different purposes. You can export your training session routes in kml format and open them with Google Earth!

The idea of Sport tracker can ulteriorly be extended by adding services and/or additional sensors. For example, we could use wireless (Bluetooth) heart monitors like in Betelgeuse or we could add external third party services, like the Polar Personal Trainer.

In Nokia devices, you can write applications using J2ME, Python, and Symbian C++. Mobile devices can use external web services using simple HTTP GET and POST methods following the REST architectural style.

In summary, the possibilities in the area of mobile applications and services are infinite, only our creativity is needed.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it, Alan Kay

An easy way to backup and synchronize our data is to use the Unix command rsync. It is easy, it is fast and it works also under windows, just install cygwin.

When the data source is stored on the C drive and the backup directory is on the e drive.
You can use a command (from command line) like this:

rsync -i -v -a –delete ~/photos/ /cygdrive/e/backup/photos >> /cygdrive/e/backup/photos-rsync.txt

If you want to know more, just check Jilles´post.

A mobile phone is always with us. It has information about our location, it contains a lot of data about ourselves, such as pictures, music, the phonebook with the list of our friends, etc. Adding external sensors is also possible. We can connect external Bluetooth devices and add for example, a GPS device, sensors to measure the temperature, to misure our heart-bit, etc. The range of applications and the study that can be done using this platform are infinite and it is possible right now, not in the future.

I just would like to highlight one nice application, BeTelGeuse, developed at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT).
With this application is possible to add a GPS device, a ECG monitor, and many other sensors. It is written in Java and the source code is available. A very good work!