Michael Young and Nick Bilton from New York Times R&D Lab were the Hack Day London 2007 winners. They created a project that is called SHIFD. A RFID tag that’s placed on your cell phone allows your computer to “see” that you are there and allows you to organize many things using your computer.
Videos after the jump.
“Set your hacked (RFID-enabled) mobile phone down on your desk. The RFID reader (hooked in to the PC) detects the presence of your phone and automatically directs your web browser to Shifd.com. You are now in your computer environment. Easily add notes and web content to your Shifd.com page. You can also find local businesses and services using Yahoo! Local Search, allowing you to send the listing information and map to your mobile phone. Then easily organize the order of your content simply by dragging and dropping. Pick up your phone and walk away. Your computer automatically recognizes that you’ve shifted to a mobile environment, sending you a text message with a link to a mobile version of your Shifd.com page.”
July 27th, 2007
RFID is novel, but bluetooth has exactly the same functionality and it’s a more widely accepted protocol
July 28th, 2007
I can only agree with Nokia Fanboy. Bluetooth is far more flexible and allows uniqe ID (bluetooth address) just as RFID. The RFID tags (especially small ones which fits under the battery) needs to be within 3-4 cm from the reader itself.
July 28th, 2007
This is not a ‘hack’. This is sticking a sticker to your mobile and off the shelf hardware in the usb port to do what, as has been pointed out above, bluetooth already does.
Is anyone else suspicious that a yahoo-feed-using revenue generating site won a yahoo sponsored contest? (I’ve not read the rules of the contest yet so maybe that was the point, but still) just seems like a huge advert for yet another way for Yahoo to reach in to your media stream.