Tesco (UK Supermarket) has launched a new service called ‘Talkwifi‘, which allows customers to make cheap mobile calls, via VoIP, over WiFi. The offering makes use of a service developed by Australian company Freshtel, and requires an app download to get things going. Once that is done, and the user is in a ‘free’ WiFi area, then calls can be made, at a pretty cheap rate (for how cheap, you’ll need to check the website here).

The service is currently restricted to only a limited amount of handsets, all of which are Series 60, WiFi-toting, Nokias - the E51, E81, N95, and E65. However, more handset support is due soon.

I favour WiFi for certain scenarios of mobile connectivity when I am out and about, but that’s all about the data - whether VoIP can and will run consistently, and suitably, is another question. Any IntoMobile readers regularly using their Mobile devices for VoIP are welcomed to input….

The Tesco Talkwifi site can be reached by clicking here

[Via: mobilenewscwp.co.uk]

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Robofishes are robotic fishes roughly the size of a 10-pound salmon that actually look like fishes because they are designed with fins instead of propellers. The fins are used so that they can easily maneuver. The fins also let the robofish to create a lower drag as compared to propeller-driven vehicles.

These robofishes are used to cooperatively track moving targets underwater like groups of whales or spreading plumes of pollution. They are also helpful in exploring caves, exploring underneath ice-covered waters and dangerous environments where surfacing is not quite possible. Engineers are integrating the robofishes too in the study of the behaviors of different fishes underwater specifically the way they interact with each other.

The only challenge being faced by the engineers is the process of transmitting the information under dense water. According to one of the engineers, 80 bytes or around 32 numbers per second is the excellent figure given the underwater circumstance. This may be difficult for the robofishes since they limited battery power.

source

Long story short: In his fascinating column in today's Washington Post, Slate technology columnist Farhad Manjoo writes that "... the system's manufacturer reports its average error as 3.6 millimeters."

But wait, there's more.

"The International Tennis Federation ... allows for Hawk-Eye to be off by as much as 10 millimeters in some situations. This means that if a ball lands nine millimeters out, Hawk-Eye might call it in by one millimeter."

I can't speak for you but me, I find this astounding.

I'll be sure to keep it in mind during today's U.S. Open matches (during football time-outs and commercials, of course — I mean, come on).

Here's Manjoo's piece.

Quiet, McEnroe. The Robot Called It.

Disputes over line calls used to be one of the main joys of tennis — this, after all, is John McEnroe's game. But fans rarely see players explode in rage anymore. In high-profile matches, human umpires have largely been replaced by a machine called Hawk-Eye, a kind of computerized ump that stitches together video footage from several high-speed cameras to produce a three-dimensional simulation of the ball. Hawk-Eye's decisions are final: When a player challenges an umpire's call, the system displays its view of what just happened, then displays a judgment on the screen — in or out — that the human umpires are compelled to accept.

Hawk-Eye represents one extreme in the growing adoption of technology to solve disputes in sports. On the other side, you've got Major League Baseball, which has long resisted any kind of instant-replay system. Pro baseball recently played its first games under a new rule that lets umpires review video in the limited scenario of "boundary calls" — essentially determining whether a home run was really a home run. Unlike tennis, MLB, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL all give human officials the final say in interpreting instant-replay footage.

The trouble is, technology can introduce as much uncertainty as it solves. For one thing, photography doesn't give clear-cut answers. From one angle, a ball may look in, while from another it looks out.

Hawk-Eye is also demonstrably fallible. According to a fascinating paper by Harry Collins and Robert Evans of Cardiff University, the system's manufacturer reports its average error as 3.6 millimeters. The International Tennis Federation, which tests the line-calling equipment, allows for Hawk-Eye to be off by as much as 10 millimeters in some situations. This means that if a ball lands nine millimeters out, Hawk-Eye might call it in by one millimeter.

It isn't terrible that Hawk-Eye is sometimes wrong — after all, humans often make mistakes too. What is odd is that the system's designer, Hawk-Eye Innovations, has never explained these failures. Hawk-Eye uses up to six cameras placed around the court, but the graphic that it shows to judges and TV viewers does not include actual footage from any of them. Instead, the system creates a composite of what it thinks happened to the ball. Collins and Evans argue that these composites subtly trick viewers. The simulation takes on an air of reality, even infallibility, when in fact it is only a statistical estimate. At the very least, the researchers say, Hawk-Eye should report its confidence — that it is X percent sure of its ruling. They also push for a more general "health warning": When CBS broadcasts Hawk-Eye simulations on TV, it should remind viewers: "This is only a virtual representation of reality. It's not what actually happened."

Tennis — with its two players, small field of play and bright-line demarcation between balls that are in and balls that are out — is a comparatively easy sport for computers to umpire. In other sports, refs have to take into account many more variables before making a call. To be able to tell whether a football runner is down before he fumbled, for example, a computer would have to somehow keep track of every player, which one has the ball, when the player with the ball gets hit, and when and how the ball comes loose. That task would likely require an array of sensors and sophisticated image-processing techniques — probably not yet a possibility.

Beyond the technological obstacles, the age of Hawk-Eye presents a larger philosophical problem. Sometimes the computer makes a call that no human — not the fans, not the umps, not the players — can quite understand. Late in the 2007 Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Nadal hit a deep ball that Federer let go, thinking it was out. The umpire thought so too, and TV replays showing the ball from Federer's side seemed to confirm it — the ball looked a good half-inch out. But when Nadal challenged the call, Hawk-Eye called the ball in. On the Hawk-Eye Innovations Web site, the company's representatives posted an explanation that blames the dispute on the limited perceptive capacities of TV cameras and human eyeballs. When a tennis ball smashes into grass at high speeds, it compresses, skids for 10 centimeters or so and then takes off, the company said. Hawk-Eye's fast cameras were sensitive enough to see the ball just clip the base line, while TV cameras and viewers caught only a blur while the ball skidded away from the line, making them think the ball was out.

Got that? Because it's so perceptive, Hawk-Eye makes obsolete every assessment tool that humans have ever used to adjudicate sports disputes: our eyes, our TV cameras, even perceptible marks on the ground. In their paper, Collins and Evans argue that this is too precise. By erasing all of tennis's ties to human perception, Hawk-Eye renders the game interpretable only to computers. That's fairly ridiculous: After all, computers aren't paying to see two human beings hit a ball over a net. People are.

Buy Manjoo's book,

he needs the money.

It's the least I can do for him, what?

Perhaps it's time to add line calls to laws and sausages in Otto von Bismarck's memorable observation.

And before you wander off muttering about the irrelevance of the tag line of my headline up top, you might want to read Philip K. Dick's great 1969 novel, "Ubik."

Charles Platt wrote, "All of his [Dick's] work starts with the basic assumption that there cannot be one, single, objective reality .... Everything is a matter of perception."

I have seen lots of very interesting work benches over the years that use some creative ideas to save time and add functionality. The one below was featured on Make last year, the creator had limited space and needed a small setup that would provided big functionality. I would like to see what other ideas are available to make our hacking and building lives easier.

The prize for this contest is a 4GB iPod Nano. Contest dates are September 6 - October 31, 2008.

Your entry needs to be added to this forum thread to be considered.

Think outside the freezer space.

How 'bout jello or brownies or butter or any number of other substances whose identities are limited only by your imagination.

And no — I don't want to go there.

From the website:

Letters & Numbers Ice Trays

Made of silicone so they work in freezer, fridge or oven.

Letter trays measure 4-1/2"W x 8"L x 2-1/2"D.

Number tray is 5"W x 8"L X 3/4"D.

Three trays of letters (top) for $19.95; one tray of numbers (top) for $9.95 — right here.

[via digimills]

Why do I think its a good idea? Well as of right now, if I download a movie from an online source, I am pretty limited on where I can watch it. If those movies could be tied to a USB drive, instead of a computer (or software), it may be a little better when those times come when you want to watch it from other pieces of electronics.

Anyway, if you are interested in purchasing the Ghostbusters "pre-loaded" USB drive and in the UK check out Argos

Press release

Motorola has unveiled a new MOTOJEWEL clamshell phone, designed specifically with the female fashionista in mind. The device comes with its own mini clutch handbag, which has just space for the handset, a credit card, and a lipstick. Apparently, MOTO thinks that’s about everything a modern girl needs when she’s going out.

Specs wise, the MOTOJEWEL sports a 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth support, and a music player. It comes with the so called “midnight quartz” exterior color scheme and has a purple keypad inside.

The MOTOJEWEL will be available only for a limited time starting in November through Carphone Warehouse.

[Via: MobileBurn]

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Stash Reef Sandals

Unless you’re going to the beach with a larger group, you are going to run into a problem: you are in the water, while your stuff is not; how do you make sure it won’t get stolen? The Stash Reef Sandals offer the solution: they have a little “drawer” inside the sole where money, credit cards or keys can be stashed. And who ever heard of flip flop thieves?

The full post can be found on S2999.

Vacuum cleaning robot

Vacuuming must be one of the most boring chores on earth. But get one of these and you’ll never have to do it again.

The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy.

LayZ Inflatable Spa

The LayZ Inflatable Spa is the ultimate must-have luxury gadget. It can be positioned indoors or outdoors and is the perfect thing to pull out for your next party.The spa inflates within 10 minutes and just by plugging it in. The tub features 80 turbo-massage jets and comes in two sizes, a smaller 2-4 person version for those with limited tiled space in their house, and a roomier 6 person tub.

The full post can be found on Gaj-It.

Lensbaby 2.0 and 3G

The Lensbaby 2.0 and 3G are selective focus SLR lenses, which have a flexible “lens barrel” to give you that smooth out of focus effect in portions of your images. Basically, you bend, push and pull the lens to move the “Sweet Spot” where you want it and blur the remaining areas of the image. The Lensbaby 2.0 and 3G are designed to work with a number of cameras, including Canon, Sony and Nikon digital SLRs.

The full post can be found on Photography Bay.

Storefront Rocket Ride

This is the classic rocket ride encountered in front of supermarketsduring the 1960s, recalling a time when a single nickel and imaginationwas the only requirement a child needed. An authentic unit refurbishedto its original state, including the details of its tapered nose cone,bulbous body, and symbols suggestive of space travel.

The full post can be found on Random Good Stuff.

Krysalid’42 Trimaran Offers $600,000 Sail

Featuring a foldable structure that can be unfolded within two minutes; it proposes to offer more room on the bulky (42 foot) bridgedeck tavern to accommodate 6-8 people .

The full post can be found on Elite Choice.

Carry Your Music with You Everywhere You Go with Reppo II

Jonas Saraanen understands that you may be feeling nostalgive about the love-and-peace era but still need you feet firmly on the ground. The Reppo II includes integrated speakers and high quality digital amplifiers in a backpack that you can carry on your back anywhere you want.

The full post can be found on GadgetsBlog.org.

Thanks to all the sites for their submissions now over to you guys for voting (don’t forget to leave a comment with your reason for a chance to win a $50 Amazon voucher) :

Want to hear about future contests first? Subscribe to our daily digest via email or RSS.

If you write for a gadget themed blog and wish to be included in next weeks contest check out the CGOTW instructions page.

[ Another $50 Coolest Gadget Contest copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]