PhilippeKahn
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Camera phone inventor makes a FaceTime call from racing yacht
In a fitting tribute to a technology that he had a hand in creating, entrepreneur and sailing yacht racer Philippe Kahn recently used a satellite hookup and his iPhone 4 to make a FaceTime call to his office from dead-center between Santa Cruz, California and Honolulu, Hawaii. While the video isn't as smooth as what we're used to via land-based Wi-Fi and broadband networks, it's pretty incredible to see Philippe talking to a co-worker from the deck of the racing sailboat Pegasus in the Pacific Ocean. Kahn is a pretty bright guy. He was one of the founders and former CEO of Borland, an early programming tool development company, is credited with the invention of the mobile camera phone in 1997, and is now the CEO of FullPower Technologies, the company behind the MotionX GPS apps for iPhone and iPad. Kahn's invention of the mobile camera phone was triggered by the birth of his daughter Sophie in 1997; he mentions during the video that he called his "camera phone baby" at home using the same setup. Thanks to Richard for the tip!
Fullpower demos the MotionX Recognition Engine, forces its intern to run around like a crazy person
Among the excitement, the glamor, and the danger at D7 (what, didn't you see Woz roll in on his Segway?) was a tech demo delivered this morning by none other than Philippe Kahn and the gang from Fullpower. The company was on hand to talk a little bit about its MotionX Recognition Engine, a system designed to study "how you move, as opposed to reading to it." The first device on display was a headset that utilizes said engine, the company's trademark "TapTap" and "ShakeShake" commands, an accellerometer, and a GPS for things like answering the phone and accessing spoken updates to the user's location. According to the company, the same technology used in the headset can be embedded in phones and other devices. Also on hand was the company's new imaging tool, which supplies image stabilization to cameraphones. As you're no doubt aware, the fun is just beginning... stay tuned for all sorts of D7-related craziness, right here.
