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TECHNOLOGY NEWS

The following article is a direct quote from NEWS.com.au (2003)

New phone uses finger as earpiece

06 November 2003

A Japanese company has invented the world's first wristwatch phone which works by transforming the user's finger into an earpiece, New Scientist says in it's next issue, due out on Saturday.

The prototype gadget, Finger Whisper, consists of a wristband that converts digital signals into vibrations that are transmitted into the bones of the hand.

The user puts his finger into his ear for the vibrations to be picked up by the eardrum, which then transcribes them back into sound signals for the brain.

To respond, the user simply speaks into a microphone on the wristband.

By touching forefinger to thumb, the user starts or ends a call, and the device uses voice recognition technology to dial the number. There is no keypad.

Japanese telecommunications giant NTT DoCoMo is developing the idea, which is the brainchild of a research engineer, Masaaki Fukumoto.

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Technological Wonders responds to the more questionable efforts in research and development of everyday technology. Most of our information is sourced from news reports, press releases and the culprits themselves, however we welcome your recommendations if you know of a technological wonder we haven't yet examined.

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Where is technology going to go next?

The NEWS.com.au report about the Finger Whisper phone, "New phone uses finger as earpiece", was spotted by the team at Technological Wonders back in November 2003. We think the report raises more questions than it answers. (See the report under Technology News on this page.)

We wonder about the functionality of a device such as the Finger Whisper. We also wonder how on earth this device could score any street-cred at all on anyone's cool-o-meter.

We wonder how the following functions operate on the Finger Whisper:

• call waiting
• conference calls

Finger Whisper's call waiting		Finger Whisper's conference calls
"Hang on, I've got another call"		"So, we're all in agreement on this one?"

And what if the call on your Finger Whisper wasn't for you, but for your companion? Or, if your phone was set to silent (vibration) mode?

Finger Whisper's companion mode		Finger Whisper's silent mode
"… and then she said, "no, you're joking", and so I said, "no, it's true!", and then she said … "		For example

We at Technological Wonders think that the Finger Whisper will struggle to find its true market. We also think that if this is the future for cell phones, then a far better technological development would be to create the Elbow Shouter, essentially for medical reasons … You remember that ol' doctor's adage, don't you? The one that goes, "Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear."?

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