GLOBAL – As we enter the summer, it seems as though a lot of bloggers are closing down their browsers for a well-earned break, so this week’s round-up relies heavily on mainstream media. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but we’re always happy to feature blog-posts from the community. Let us know in the comments below if you’ve found something that you think deserves a wider airing.
- The augmented reality browser Wikitude has been gaining a lot of attention this week. Here’s the CTO of developer Mobililzy, Martin Lechner, talking about making it in a video created by Forum Nokia. And here’s a review of the application from All About Symbian.
- Talking of augmented reality, CFG takes to the streets of London once again for some phone-assisted live-action drama. Sign up on the site if you want to take part. Last week, participants were each (temporarily) issued with a Nokia X6 to experience AR drama at its best. Stephen Ebert wrote a good summary for NokNok.
- Nokia World takes place in London this September. Early Bird tickets are available until after this weekend, so get yours now if you want to save 15 per cent on the entry price.
- Location-Based Services like Foursquare and Gowalla might be all the rage in the technology press, but it seems like the rest of us have some fairly strong reservations. The Guardian reports that 52 per cent of people are “‘very or extremely concerned’ about loss of privacy from using location-sharing applications – even though the same proportion said that they geotag photos, indicating where they were taken, when uploading them to the internet”. I presume it’s a different 52 per cent in the second result, with a confused 4 per cent in the middle who behave inconsistently with their feelings.
- Stealing mobile phones in the UK was supposed to have become pointless, with the ability for operators to completely lock purloined devices. Apparently, that wasn’t entirely the case, though. Thieves could ship the phones abroad to bypass the restriction, using recycling schemes as a laundering service. But it is now, thankfully.
- We’ve covered cows with mobiles before. This time, it’s Great White Sharks. Scientists have fitted mobile radios to the sharks which will send a text message to the coastguard if it looks like they are approaching a beach.
That’s it for this week’s round-up. Let us know of any interesting tid-bits for next week’s summary in the comments.