Flip Phone - For Kevin

I know you went another direction but I wanted you to see this new DANISH phone concept.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/flip-phone-yanko/

Afghanistan plans national electronic ID cards

By Michelle Nichols

KABUL | Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:08am EST

(Reuters) - War-torn Afghanistan lacks basic national infrastructure, yet on Sunday the government unveiled plans for a $100 million electronic identification system with cards to be issued to all Afghans within five years.

A chip in the wallet-size identification cards will hold a drivers' license, vehicle registration, signature and voting registration and would aid fairer, more transparent and efficient future elections, the Ministry of Communications said.

After three decades of conflict, Afghanistan is struggling to rebuild its economy and crumbling infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water access.

A September parliamentary election was tainted by widespread allegations of fraud, including reports of fake voter identification cards and repeat voting.

"We consider this a very important initiative for the development of Afghanistan," Minister for Communication and Information Technology Amirzai Sangeen told a news conference at which a $101.5 million contract for the project was signed with Afghan company Grand Technology Resources.

"In our country the need for having proper identification is a very urgent matter," he said. "Giving ID cards to everyone is a process ... probably it is a three to five year process."

The Ministry of Finance will fund the project from its development budget, as the government believes the system will help improve the country's security.

Distributing ID cards in insurgent strongholds in the south and east of the country could prove difficult, however, as insurgents often intimidate or target Afghans seen to be cooperating with the government or foreign troops.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Alex Richardson)

BendDesk: the curved multitouch workspace of the future

Interesting technology - maybe something for KB...

The Media Computing Group -- otherwise known as the dudes and dudettes responsible for making multitouch hip again -- is back, and some might say better than ever. The BendDesk is an outlandish new concept workspace for the future, relying heavily on a curved multitouch display to bring the wow. The desk is the Group's vision of merging multitouch with a common physical area, and it's probably the best implementation we've seen yet. A full ten touch points are supported, but the lower portion is also designed to be used as a standard desk, holding your laptop, paperwork and ink pen collection if you so choose. Shockingly enough, the whole thing looks exceptionally ergonomic, too. Head on past the break for a glimpse of it being used, but don't hold your breath waiting for a ship date and price -- something tells us it'll be awhile before either of those are published.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VNTPwVvLzE&feature=player_embedded

Han / Preliminary Market Research Sangyun Han

Here is my submission of Preliminary Market Research for the Thesis class on Monday, Oct 18th, 2010. by Sangyun Han.

My first choice of the target is the toy market. The main target users are children under the age of 14.
My second focus is on wearable device technology for adults user group. The core context from the children user group's project will be shared again for this adults user group but a different design of output will be generated.
For my thesis project, my final model will not be just remained as a mockup of the concept. I will build real working models with my background experiences in electronics engineering. I will design my own custom printed circuit boards by my self. I also do microcontroller programming. So, I care all aspects of my product development from the concept to the final working product, from the inside(technologies) to the outside(design).











Preliminary Market Research for the Thesis class on Monday, Oct 18th, 2010. by Sangyun Han.