But using a cellphone? Um. Sure… at least, that’s the case in North Korea these days.

According to The Telegraph, the Worker’s Party in North Korea, in their crazy-pants logic, have declared that anyone found using a mobile phone during the 100-day mourning period of Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, will be tried as “war criminals” and punished in accordance to those trespasses. North Koreans will also earn the “war criminal” label if they’re caught trying to cross the border to China in order to flee the abject starvation ubiquitous in North Korea. Repeat offenders, the Telegraph reported, “can expect to be executed.”

Nothing, as far as this intrepid reporter could discern, was said about the dictate on the Worker’s Party’s official Twitter account, @uriminzok, but then again, would you expect them to plaster that all over the open media? I don’t read Korean well enough (read: not at all) to understand exactly what the tweets say and I’m skeptical of Google’s translation services to accurately deliver cogent statements (that, or the tweets from the government’s account really are that looney).

The only thing I can parse from these tweets (which were taken from the official account that translates the tweets from the Worker’s Party’s account) is that the DPRK may have the same speech writer as Newt Gingrich.

The claim is counter-intuitive to how we understand the assessment of credit risk in the developed world because Cignifi’s plan has very little to do with how much debt – if any – you’ve accrued in your lifetime. Instead, it creates a credit report based on a completely separate metric: your mobile phone activity.

Here’s the gist: if a potential consumer or patron has no credit score due to no history of debt, it’s hard for a business to assess the potential risk involved in doing business with this person. A way to side-step that obstacle would be to enlist the services of Cignifi, which will calculate the credit risk of anyone with a mobile phone based on that user’s mobile phone behavior (this premise being functional only in the 21st Century assumption that everybody has cellphones these days). The way a person uses their mobile phone, Cignifi claims by way of their website, “is highly predictive of an individual consumer’s lifestyle and risk.”

Despite how such a calculation could seriously affect the quality of someone’s living standards, Cignifi’s website doesn’t provide much background on their science:

Cignifi patent-pending analytics technology turns billions of raw mobile phone calls, messages, and payments into unique insight. Our multi-dimensional models deliver scores based on hundreds of distinct variables.

Capturing changes in subscriber mobile behavior, Cignifi dynamically updates scores. Unlike traditional credit scores, Cignifi Scores quickly adapt to customers’ evolving lifestyles, risks, and needs.

I can somewhat understand the lack of transparency given their patent-pending technology but at the same time it’s important to know how your behavior affects your credit score. If I pay off my credit cards every month, I maintain a good score; if I blow off my bills for months at a time, my score suffers. In the end, I’m aware of the consequences of my actions. It’s Operant Conditioning 101. The article from the Globe casts a little more light on Cignifi’s number-crunching ways:

Cignifi has developed sophisticated modeling software that can look at usage data from consumers’ mobile phones and make predictions about who that person is and how they live. There’s no single data point —like making lots of short calls between 2 and 5 a.m. every morning —that suggests that someone is a bad credit risk. But Hakim says, “The way you use your phone is a proxy for your lifestyle. It’s not random. So we’re looking at things like the length of calls, the time of day, and the location you make them from. Also things like whether you top up [a pre-paid SIM card] regularly. We want to see how stable the patterns are. When you look at that, you can create these behavioral clusters that give you information about users’ appetite for new [financial] products, and their ability to repay a debt.”

That sounds like the typical diplomacy you’d expect from a group proposing an action that could potentially affect the quality of your life: carefully tailored to assuage any of the knee-jerk fears of people filling out applications for apartments or car loans while validating the insidious maxim “If you’re not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about.” Until Cignifi is able and willing to share a little bit more about how they assess a person’s credit risk based on mobile phone usage, any anxiety on behalf of the consumer is justified.

Conversely, I can understand not wanting to draw the ire of the Verizons and AT&Ts of the world. There’s nothing quite like a company stating, “Hey, you use your phone too much in too many of the wrong ways, so your credit score is going down,” to cause people to consider using their cellphones less (if that’s even possible now). And the last thing wireless providers want is somebody out there giving their customers frightful reasons to not use their cellphones as much. Less cellphone use = less money spent = very unhappy wireless providers.

The service that Cignifi is offering could open up possibilities not previously available to consumers with no credit history. That would be a good thing. Then again, evaluating someone’s “credit” based on what they do (or don’t do) with their cellphones could be a hard step forward into a future of endless debt. I mean, how do exactly fix a bad “credit score” if it’s based on your mobile phone habits? Get a LAN line? Tie a string between two tin cans and wait a year before applying for that student loan again?

So it’s quiz time, readers: the Globe reports that Cignifi doesn’t have any plans at this time to deploy the technology in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. In what is likely the inevitable arrival of mobile phone usage-based credit ranks, what do you think about this new debt calculus? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Interested and optimistic or ill-advised and opportunistic? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

The use of text messaging is highest among teens – particularly female teens – as well. Teens sent an average of 3,417 SMS/MMS messages per month in the third quarter of this year, with girls sending an average of nearly 200 more messages than boys.

Interestingly, voice usage is actually down among teens, who say they find messaging faster, easier, and more fun that voice calling. The study shows they used an average of just over 100 fewer minutes this year than in the same period last year.

These results are part of Nielsen’s broader State of the Media: The Mobile Media Report Q3 2011 (PDF). Another part of the study focused on smartphone ownership and app usage across various age groups. They found that the majority of people in the 18-24 (53%) and 24-34 (64%) age groups owned smartphones. Meanwhile 40% of the 13-17 age group owned smartphones, a number which surely contributed to the dramatic increase in data usage in the same age bracket. The study also found and that 62% of smartphone owners had downloaded apps within the past 30 days.

It’s a heavily debated proposition within the scientific community, and it seems like we get a new report every couple of weeks telling us to watch out or telling us to have no fear. Really, the cellphone/cancer debate is a crapshoot anyways. Even if you had definitive proof the cellphones raise the likelihood of cancer, would you stop using yours? I know I probably couldn’t live without it.

A new study about cellphone radiation isn’t talking about cancer, but about sperm.

An Italian report published in the Journal of Andrology has found a link between the radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation (Rf-EMR) produced by mobile phones and both decreased sperm count and decreased sperm quality.

The study focused on groups of both humans and rats. In one experiment, rats were placed in glass cages with cellphones attached to the bottom. The rats were then exposed to the RF-EMR for 6 hours a day for four month. When they tested the rats’ sperm, they found a 25% drop in the amount of live sperm. They also found that the sperm was sticking together, which makes it harder to do its job when it gets to the egg.

As far as the humans go, the researchers found that RF-EMR decreased sperm count and mobility, and viability. From the study:

Altogether the results of these studies show that RF-EMR decreases sperm count and motility, and increases the oxidative stress. In human beings, two different experimental approaches have been followed, one has explored the effects of RF-EMR directly on spermatozoa and the other has evaluated the sperm parameters in men using or not mobile phones. The results show that human spermatozoa exposed to RF-EMR have decreased motility, morphometric abnormalities, and increased oxidative stress, whereas men using mobile phones have decreased sperm concentration, motility (particularly the rapid progressive one), normal morphology, and viability. These abnormalities seem to be directly related with the length of mobile phone use.

One prevailing theory is that men who keep their cellphones in their pockets increase their risk of damaged sperm.

Of course, like most scientific studies, more research is demanded –

Nevertheless, more studies are necessary to provide stronger evidences that cellular phone use disturb sperm and testicular function since the existing literature has several limitations. These include dishomogeneity in terms of RF wavelength used, depth of penetration, and length of radiation exposure.

The researchers aren’t quite sure which types of cellphones and cell service are doing the most harm.

Of course, studies like this aren’t conclusive, but this isn’t the first time cellphones have been linked to sperm problems. A Cleveland Clinic study found similar results a couple years ago. As a precaution, it might not hurt to see how your cellphone feels in your back pocket, fellas.

Face it, it’s cheaper to upgrade a mobile phone than it is a home computer or a laptop.

That being said, the mobile phone industry is absolutely booming with what appears to be recession-proof growth. According to the latest study from Pew Internet, just about everybody in the United States has a mobile phone. While that may sound like hyperbole, it’s actually much closer to the truth than you might first realize.

The report reveals that 83 percent of American adults own a mobile phone. With such a proliferation, one wonders why companies like Time-Warner and AT&T even bother with home service when it comes to phones. You can never have too much access to voice-over communication, apparently.

While the 83 percent is a staggering amount, there are other details of note.

Pew Internet also distinguished between simple mobile phones and the growing-in-popularity smartphone. While it wasn’t clearly stated, the apparent difference between a simple cellular phone and a smartphone is the data plan. If your phone requires a data plan, it’s probably a smartphone, at least in the eyes of survey takers. In regards to smartphone ownership, 35 percent of American adults own either an iPhone, Android or a Blackberry (with a data plan subscription, of course).

I’ll leave the fact that 83 percent plus 35 percent is more than 100 percent, meaning, it’s pretty clear some of that 83 percent had to be factored into the smartphone ownership result.

Moving on, when it comes to mobile phone activities, sending text messages is king. 73 percent of mobile phone owners send text messages and take pictures, an activity included in the text message percentages.

Other interesting findings include:

The survey also breaks down the difference in use between smartphone users and plain old mobile phone users, which they presented in a chart:

The question I have is, how long before these numbers switch? How long will it take for smartphone owners to outnumber their mobile phone owning counterparts? Let us know what you think.

South Korean engineers have found a novel way to charge your mobile phone – noise.

Basically what Dr. Sang-Woo Kim and his team has found is a way to convert sound waves into electricity. Their research at Sungkyunkwan University’s institute of nanotechnology could be the first step in being able to keep your phone charged simply by talking into it.

Or imagine being able to power your tablets or laptops with ambient noise? No outlet necessary, just sit down in a noisy cafe or busy airport and you’re golden.

Dr. Kim, as quoted in the Telegraph:

The sound that always exists in our everyday life and environments has been overlooked as a source. This motivated us to realize power generation by turning sound energy from speech, music or noise into electrical power.

Sound power can be used for various novel applications including cellular phones that can be charged during conversations and sound-insulating walls near highways that generate electricity from the sound of passing vehicles.

The process for turning sound into electricity works like this:

The technology uses tiny strands of zinc oxide sandwiched between two electrodes. A sound absorbing pad on top vibrates when sound waves hit it, causing the tiny zinc oxide wires to compress and release. This movement generates an electrical current that can then be used to charge a battery.

Dr. Kim has developed a prototype that was able to convert 100 decibels of sound into 50 millivolts of electricity – not exactly enough to charge your iPhone. They hope to be able to improve upon the prototype in order to produce more electricity at lower sound levels.

“Honey, why are you yelling at me?”

“I’M SORRY, MY PHONE IS ABOUT TO DIE, I NEED TO CHARGE IT.”

But in all seriousness, this technology is already usable in “self powered sensors” and “body implantable tiny devices” according to Kim. With its continued improvement, the iPhone 12 may not even need to ship with a power cord.

Year-on-year growth remained negative, but improved from the first half of 2009. Mobile shipments totaled 287.1 million units worldwide in Q3, down from 6 percent from the previous year, but up 5.6 percent from the second quarter.

"The mobile phone market is showing the first signs of improvement since the onset of the economic crisis," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

"During the third quarter, we saw a number of channels promoting older devices at significantly lower prices. For many, this was enough to spur demand and push volumes higher. Now that we have moved into the fourth quarter, vendors are setting the stage for further gains by launching their flagship devices to meet pent-up demand."

The North American market posted mixed results for Q3. The United States posted positive results, with mobile devices and prepaid handsets once again driving growth. The Canadian mobile phone market declined for the third straight despite double-digit mobile device growth.

Nokia took the top spot in market share with 37.8 percent, but its year-on year growth dipped 8 percent. Samsung landed in the second spot with 21 percent market share and positive year-on-year growth of 15.9 percent.

"Although some regions are still reeling from problems associated with the economic crisis, the third quarter served to cleanse the channel while providing the signs of stability necessary for additional improvement in the fourth quarter," said Will Stofega, research manager of IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team
 

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The first generation of the new interchargeable mobile phones is set to reach the EU market in 2010.

Günter Verheugen

"I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers. They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger," said Gunter Verheugen, Vice-President the European Commission.

"This also means considerably less electronic waste, because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones. I am also very pleased that this solution was found on the basis of self-regulation. As a result, the Commission does not consider it necessary to introduce legislation."

The chargers will be compatible with new data enabled mobile phones that will use a Micro-USB connector as the interface.

The Commission estimates almost every household has a collection of chargers that have become outdated over time. Old chargers currently generate several thousand tons of wastes a year.

Companies that have signed on to make mobile phone chargers standardized include Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung, Sony, and Texas Instruments. 
 

The majority (95%) of consumers said they would be more likely to try new mobile services if setup was easier. Difficult setup issues are also preventing 45 percent of people from upgrading to new, more advanced mobile phones. More than half (61%) of these mobile users say phone setup is a frustrating as changing a bank account.

Matthew Bancroft
Vice President
Mformation

"Operators and device manufacturers need to remove barriers to service uptake and unlock the true power of advanced mobile technology. The message from consumers is that phone setup is simply too complex. Clearly, this needs to be addressed," said Matthew Bancroft, Vice President, Mformation.

 "’Up and running straight out-of-the-box’ means exactly that, and our research shows that improving this aspect of the mobile phone purchasing experience will help to improve profitability for many players in our industry."

Some 65 percent of respondents said the mobile operators are missing out, as people will not buy a new phone because of the time it takes to set up. Basic services such as email (56%), Internet browsing (40%), instant messaging (30%) and picture messaging (29%) are some of the top applications that people find don’t always work when they turn on their phone. Because of this, 61 percent have stopped using mobile applications because they cannot solve problems with them.

"Subscribers are clearly convinced of the value of mobile services," added Bancroft. "However, 85% of the people we surveyed find it frustrating to have to go through a number of steps when they want to activate a service or application. It’s a bit like getting a new gadget, then finding that the batteries aren’t included. Providing mobile subscribers with a more seamless experience will remove these pains."

On average, people feel it should take no longer than 15 minutes to set up a mobile phone and feel confident it is working. Currently the average time is an hour.

Only 20 percent of mobile phone users prefer to use their phones as an all-in-one multimedia device for music, videos, Web surfing and other activities beyond making phone calls.

NPD’s "Mobile Phone Usage Report" found that among the top wireless providers, Verizon Wireless customers are least likely to embrace their phone as an all-in-one multimedia device.

While most U.S. consumers are familiar with text messaging and the ability to change ringtones, 34 percent of mobile users do not know if their current phone’s memory could be expanded, 28 percent did not know if they could watch videos, and 12 percent did not know if they could access the Internet via Wi-Fi. Close to a quarter (23%) were not sure if their phone included GPS, while 21 percent did not know if their mobiles would play music.

The adoption of advanced mobile features shows a gap between the usage of these features and the increasing sell through of devices supporting these features.  NPD’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service found 71 percent of all mobiles purchased by consumers in the U.S. were capable of playing video, 60 percent had expandable memory, and 55 percent had GPS technology.

"Increasingly consumers are purchasing phones with advanced capabilities that go far beyond voice calling, but only those who take advantage of these features offer the best revenue potential for operator," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD.

"Operators and other handset retailers have an opportunity to educate customers as to the capabilities of their handsets in the wake of slower overall handset sales."