The future of the mobile phone may lie in its use as a mobile shopping device, according to a discussion among global mobile executives at the SNS Future in Review (FiRe) technology conference. Scanbuy Corp. announced at FiRe a new barcode system scheduled for U.S. release this summer which will allow users to wirelessly purchase and ship products using their mobile device’s pre-barcode-fitted camera. Chetan Sharma, President of Chetan Sharma Consulting, hosted the “Future of Wireless” panel, which included Gary Roshak, Vice President, Mobile Advertisers and Publishers, Yahoo!; Jonathan Bulkeley, CEO, Scanbuy; Hugh Bradlow, CTO, Telstra; and Rajeev Chand, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst, Wireless, Rutberg & Co.

Nuance Communications, a leading provider of speech solutions, unveiled a ground-breaking prototype for voice search capabilities shown on the Apple iPhone. The newly designed application introduces a new, more compelling consumer and search experience.

KNFB Reading Technology will showcase its Reader Mobile product line - featuring the first cell phone that reads to the learning disabled, vision impaired, and blind - at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s (CNIB) Annual Assistive Technology Exhibition. The portable, handheld KNFB Reader will be shown on June 3, 2008 in Booth 5 at the exhibit hall at CNIB’s flagship service and conference center located in Toronto at 1929 Bayview Avenue. Admission to the exhibit hall is free and open to the public Tuesday, June 3 from 10:00am - 6:00pm.

Nokia’s advanced design team today shared “Homegrown”, a long term research project looking at how Nokia can help people make more sustainable choices. The team is exploring specific environmental and social issues including recycling, energy and how to make the benefits of mobile technology available to more people.

Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA's official website. Elements of Morph might be available to integrate into handheld devices within 7 years, though initially only at the high-end. However, nanotechnology may one day lead to low cost manufacturing solutions, and offers the possibility of integrating complex functionality at a low price.

Nokia Research Center and Reuters will work together on a mobile journalism project that has potential to change the way journalists store news reports when they are on a mission. This mobile application for journalists is the first project to be showcased from a long term research collaboration that has been established between Nokia Research Center and Reuters. The basic idea is a toolkit that journalists need to store and publish news stories from every place on earth.

Project-a-Phone launched the ICD-1300 image capture and display system, which enables users to display a live image of a mobile phone screen on a computer, so it can be recorded, shown on a monitor, projected on a screen or shared through the Web. It targets wireless industry professionals in sales, marketing, application development or training functions, advertising agencies that handle mobile media, and law enforcement professionals who capture and demonstrate evidence found on handheld devices. It is compatible with virtually every mobile device, ranging from a standard clamshell phone to an iPhone or Blackberry.

Robert Osann, an independent consultant and veteran of five venture-backed startups, announced the consignment of Lot 38, comprised of US Patent No 7,092,735 relating to video-voice messaging for cell phones. The lot will be offered at The Ocean Tomo Fall 2007 Live IP Auction on October 25th at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. The patent, entitled “Video voicemail solution for wireless communication devices,” was filed on March 22, 2002. It describes a solution for cellular phone systems where video clips and hi-res images are injected into the voice stream creating a "video-voice" call.

Anritsu Company introduces the first Mobile WiMAX handheld test solution specifically designed for deploying, installing, and maintaining Mobile WiMAX networks. Incorporated into Anritsu’s award-winning BTS Master and Spectrum Master platforms, the Mobile WiMAX test capability provides field engineers, technicians and contractors with an easy and highly accurate method for conducting RF, demodulation, and Over-The-Air (OTA) measurements on WiMAX signals.

Neochroma presents an inexpensive mobile phone attachment that enlarges tiny mobile phone displays to desktop monitor size. Billions of pictures are taken with camera phones, and picture quality continues to improve. On the output side however, there is no way to enjoy large, bright and brilliant pictures on mobile devices. Neochroma aims to change that, and it meets an exploding market. The installed base of camera phones has grown to 850 million in 2006 and is projected to be 1.5 billion in 2010 (source: Lyra Research).