When Nokia announced in January that it planned to close its manufacturing plant in Bochum Germany, many union leaders and politicians were upset with the world’s largest mobile phone maker. To make the closing easier on workers, Nokia will spend $314 million and set up a transfer company that it will help staff for one year. The agreement means the plant can close on June 30 of this year.

Nokia is touting the agreement as being socially responsible and fair to employees while the head of the Bochum employee council states the payments will help families and disabled persons who relied on working for Nokia.

Nokia has apologized for closing the facility but stated that while the plant only produces 6% of Nokia products it accounts for 23% of its global labor costs. Labor costs in Bochum Germany are nearly 10 times higher than those at a similar plant in Romania.

Nokia was paid subsidies in the late 1990’s to build the plant and the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia wants its money back, plus interest, for a total near $94 million. The say says that Nokia hasn’t fulfilled the conditions under which the subsidies were granted. Nokia states it has surpassed the requirements.

Via Mobilecrunch

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Using vibrations much like a Morse code, professor Nobuyuki Sasaki has invented a type of cellphone that works in Braille for blind dialers. Using a Braille keybaord, the phone uses tactile feedback in the form of dual vibrating mechanisms to respond to input and “display” output, the phone makes it easier for those who can’t see […]

Using vibrations much like a Morse code, professor Nobuyuki Sasaki has invented a type of cellphone that works in Braille for blind dialers.

Using a Braille keybaord, the phone uses tactile feedback in the form of dual vibrating mechanisms to respond to input and “display” output, the phone makes it easier for those who can’t see to dial numbers correctly.

It’s a cool advancement, and something we don’t think about much. Really, though, as voice recognition gets more advanced, isn’t that going to be the way the blind will use their mobiles?

Via [crunchgear]

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Got to see CMU’s Snake Robot up close and it’s really something. The bugger rolls around the floor and can climb up pipes and through holes with ease and, in a vaguely David Lynch-ian sense, scares me yet excites me at the same time. This is just a prototype but it’s definitely cool to see […]

Got to see CMU’s Snake Robot up close and it’s really something. The bugger rolls around the floor and can climb up pipes and through holes with ease and, in a vaguely David Lynch-ian sense, scares me yet excites me at the same time. This is just a prototype but it’s definitely cool to see it working in real life. This model was wired but it had enough mobility to coil around and climb a cardboard tube. Just think what it can do to your colon.

Via [crunchgear]

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Just like every man under the age of 30 still believes that with enough discipline, training, and working out there’s the possibility that he could in fact become the Batman, each man thinks that with the right suit he could fly up and shoot rockets at tanks.

There’s a certain truth to that, as evidenced by this clip from the Iron Man motion picture where Tony takes his first flight in a medieval knight-inspired suit. However, if you look at the HUD that the suit throws in his face, you can tell that flying around isn’t quite as easy as pointing your hands and feet in the same direction and praying you don’t poop your pants this time. You’ll have to have at least played Microsoft Flight Simulator or Ace Combat 6. [Apple Trailers]

Via [Gizmodo]

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Cloudtrade is looking to register 10,000 people to help test its new mobile sharing platform. Testers will look for kinks and share their thoughts with the developers on how best to improve the service. The beta test supports all Windows-based mobile phones and a choose group of Blackberry and non-Windows smart phones.

The free, ad-supported social media networking application features 1GB of free digital storage. Features like Cloud Hop, Search the Skies, Ski Writing and Friend’s Feeds enable users to find new content. Users can find music, pics and videos to share with friends via their cell phone.

Cloudtrade is currently working with major music labels so content can legally be downloaded and shared with friends. Until those deals are made, users can sample music from smaller labels and independent artists.

“People are demanding media-rich content for their phones,” said Raj Kanapur, CEO of Cloudtrade. “Cloudtrade’s ad-supported model gives users free access to this type of content and encourages them to form a community around preferences in music, pics and videos. Our platform also empowers users by giving them the ability to market their content – I tell people, if you’re interested in pictures of animals, here are 30 other users who share that interest. Now reach out to those people on Cloudtrade, start sharing, and start earning rewards.”

If you’re interested in helping to beta test Cloudtrade’s new application, go to www.cloudtrade.com and get your own 1-gigabyte Cloud to store your digital content to share with friends.

Via Mobilecrunch

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This isn’t gadget related but, hey, there’s (probably) more to life than just gadgets — like Improv Everywhere showing up to a tiny league game decked out as NBC Sports, complete with announcers, a blimp, and a jumbotron. “In order to pull this mission off we worked with the commissioner of the Hermosa Beach Tiny League. […]

This isn’t gadget related but, hey, there’s (probably) more to life than just gadgets — like Improv Everywhere showing up to a little league game decked out as NBC Sports, complete with announcers, a blimp, and a jumbotron.

“In order to pull this mission off we worked with the commissioner of the Hermosa Beach Little League. The commissioner provided us with the names, numbers, and batting order of all of the players for both teams. He told us the 2 PM game between the Mudcats and the Lugnuts would be ideal for our mission, and allowed us to arrive early to set up all of our equipment. He was the only person involved with the league who knew what was going to happen. The players, coaches, and parents were kept completely in the dark.”

Best Game Ever [Improv Everywhere] via Neatorama

Via [crunchgear]

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Nokia said they didn’t care about the iPhone back when it was introduced, not even commented on it beyond a brief “smeh.” Then, they presented their iPhone killer concept, a demo that looked and acted exactly like Apple’s handset, even while it was “no competition for Nokia.” Now they have announced they are “readying” the final product, code-named Tube. They showed it yesterday, while pooh-poohing on His Steveness’ toy:

“We’ve done that [volume] since we’ve had dinner on Friday.”

That SteveBallmerism was pulled out of his hat by Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia, talking about iPhone’s sales, apparently forgetting that taller giants have fallen after similar words. Specially when he’s conveniently ignoring that Apple’s record volume is just one non-subsidized model that competes with your top of the line—handsets like the Nokia N95 and the N96—in just a handful of countries (and for the longest period of its lifetime, in only one market, which isn’t as massive when it comes to mobiles like Europe or Asia.)

Now, it’s not that we don’t think Nokia’s Tube can’t be a great success or that Nokia is in a bad position at all. They are clearly the Número Uno, without a doubt, and for all we know, Tube could be the ideal thing since either the iPhone itself or the Beamz. However, publicly smashing a newcomer, a still small and young player in the cellphone market, doesn’t give credibility to Nokia, as the incumbent player: it gives credibility to the new kid on the block, who doesn’t only look smarter and cooler to the general consumer, but now also looks like a clear and present danger to the Finnish company.

And while all that happens in a single quote, there’s just a slide to show about Tube and still no planned date for shipment. [Inforworld]

Via [Gizmodo]

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Having reported on all the news in the tech world the good people from Wired have compiled a list of a few popular celebrities and had its readers score them as if they were D&D characters. No, really, they get paid to do this. It’s pleasing, but kind of juvenile. Maybe we should offer them work here.

Having reported on all the news in the tech world the good people from Wired have compiled a list of a few popular celebrities and had its readers score them as if they were D&D characters.

No, really, they get paid to do this.

It’s pleasing, but kind of juvenile. Maybe we should offer them work here.

Via [crunchgear]

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Microsoft’s been working on a Wiimote-esque controller due to come out late this year—development started on it all the way back in Summer ‘07—but the whole process has been “a colossal clusterfuck.” Here’s what MTV news knows courtesy of their exclusive source, who sketched out what it looks like above.

The 360 Wiimote shaped very much like the Nintendo Wii’s Wiimote and has a speaker, microphone, four LED lights, A/B/X/Y face buttons, an analog stick and an underside trigger. The Wiimote, on the other hand, doesn’t have a Microphone and has a D-pad instead of an analog stick. It’s being worked on by Rare, who are trying to come up with a “unified interface and look for the controller.” The current problem Microsoft’s having is between marketers and designers. The former wants it just about exactly like the Wiimote so they have the ability to match them on spec sheets and lure game developers into porting over Wii games onto the 360. The designers want it to be even more feature-rich than just the Wii, and describe it as Halo, Gears and Forza “in waggle form.”

Microsoft is also working on their equivalent of the Nintendo Mii avatars to go along with this accessory, and will be ported into each game that uses the controller. The problem with Microsoft porting characters around is that each one “standard look” and be somewhat generic. On the other hand, Rare’s having much difficulty meeting their deadlines, which means that target date of end of 2008 could be hard to hit.

Hit up MTV Multiplayer for a bigger view of the sketch. [MTV - Thanks Ravi!]

Via [Gizmodo]

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