March 16, 2009, 6:09 PM — Notwithstanding the exposure of the inability of a certain service carrier to meet the high demands of a crowd of technologically savvy users during this week's SXSW festival, there is a certain sense of excitement and suspense in the air here in Austin which is not to be confused with those other odors often found swirling above the annual music festival. In fact, as one talks and networks between venues, hotel room afterparties, and yes the day conference, one hears pieces and snippets of details beginning to emerge about the new features of the world's most advanced phone. In short, there are two new killer apps and a brand new power system which have not yet been announced.
The first app is aimed squarely at the on the go, active, ready to meet new people type of person. Have you ever wondered if some strange person across the room is attracted to you? Well, in conjunction with Twitter and it's GPS capabilities, the new app will be called "Twitterpated". In essence it will aggregate any Twitter messages such as " I have just laid eyes on the man of my dreams" or "Look who just walked in the room, I'm in love" and using a proprietary algorithym will calculate the GPS proximity of those members close to the 'Twit-ee' and deduce the subject of the amorous feelings. Then a subtle vibrating message can alert you to the potential of romance.
For anyone who has had to listen to some loudmouth yak away in the seat next to you a second app has been developed by, of all people- a musician who turned to program development after sales of his music CDs dried up. This app uses his knowledge of music production to use noise cancellation to put the phone user into "Stealth" mode. How it works is while he is talking on the phone an instantaneous polarity exchanged copy of his conversation is produced via the speaker which completely cancels out perceivable volume levels of the conversation for a 5 meter radius. Thus one can have complete privacy even while talking on a crowded subway, and conversely the decible level of most major airport restaurants and lounges is expected to drop by 7 decibles.
Lastly, a new power system will literally change the world and probably save lives. Everyone is now aware of the inherent waste involved in the recharging of phones and the inefficiency of the "wall-wart" type plug. Well, due to breakthroughs in fuel cell technology, a Japanese company is introducing a super-miniature fuel cell for the phone which actually takes in the air expelled while talking on the phone. It converts this to power via its membranes and the byproduct- H2O is then stored in a reservoir going the length of the phone. As this cools the internal machinery through heat exchange, one always has 6 oz of pure, cold water should you, say, become stranded by the roadside.
These are the type of revolutionary developments that people love to discover at the interactive festival. One can only wait with high expectation for the years most promising musical acts to take the stage. Ara www.aratunes.us
