Switzerland
Latest
Robots star in Swiss play about a nerd
We're not the biggest theatre-goers around here (though we've been known to take in the odd Phantom of the Opera performance), but this is one play we would jump at the chance to see. Called -- quite fittingly -- Robots, the musical stars three autonomous robots developed by Bluebotics, a company which specializes in service bots. The story revolves around a lonely human man who lives in isolation with just his robots, and what happens when a woman threatens to visit him in the not too distant future. Yeah, like we haven't heard this one a million times. The play opens on May 1st at the Barnabe Theatre in Servion, Switzerland, and will run until May 17th.
Study finds unique gaming disease 'PlayStation palmar hidradenitis'
Based on a report from BBC, it would appear researchers have discovered a disease that has hitherto gone undiagnosed by modern medicine: PlayStation palmar hidradenitis. As one might imagine, it has something to do with "PlayStation" and the "palms of your hands." See, using that controller is not only killing your (virtual) enemies, it's also killing you.According to the report, researchers emphasized the case of one 12-year-old girl who arrived at Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland with sores on her palms. She had recently struck up a fascination with a PlayStation game (sorry, the exact title isn't mentioned) and despite developing these sores, continued to play. That's when her folks brought her to the hospital. After 10 days of abstaining from the deadly activity, however, she was sore free! We're sorry, but we wouldn't call that "PlayStation palmar hidradenitis." We'd probably call it: Stop squeezing the controller like you want to break it!Our favorite line in the entire piece has to be this: "For the disorder to only affect the hands is very unusual." So, wait, you're telling us it's unusual for this so-called disease, the one that comes from using a game controller, to only affect the hands? What other body parts are interacting with your controller?[Thanks, RazorD!]
Naxoo intros new HD package for Swiss customers
Switzerland-based cable company Naxoo is giving its customers a few new high-def channels to feast on, but they won't be arriving for free. The new package includes National Geographic HD, BBC HD, HD3 Culture, iConcerts HD, Arte HD and Melody Zen TV for a monthly fee of around $8.40 per month, but considering that AT&T is charging $5 for an extra three high-def channels, we guess this is just about par for the course.
Geneva Apple Store opening photos
As promised, the Apple Store on Rue de Rive in Geneva, Switzerland opened this morning, and TUAW reader Sylvain is on the spot and sending in some great pictures. From the looks of it, the place is packed, the weather is great and everyone is having a good time.Meanwhile, we're still waiting for two Zurich stores to open; one in the Glattzentrum shopping mall and one on Bahnhofstrasse.If you happen to visit this store today or over the weekend, please let us know! We'd love to hear your stories and see your own shots. Have fun, Geneva!%Gallery-32715%
Switzerland Apple Stores near completion
The Apple retail machine continues to move, this time across Switzerland, as three stores are nearly ready. ifoAppleStore reports that the store in Zurich's Glattzentrum shopping mall should be in business any time now, and they've posted some tantalizing spy shots. A second store is scheduled to open in Zurich on Bahnhofstrasse by year's end. Job postings for these locations began to appear on Apple's job board as early as last February.Finally, a third store on Rue de Rive (Geneva) is scheduled to open later this month.
Sunrise offers pay-per-hour HSPA access in Switzerland
Remember those days when you'd beg your mom to hop online and watch GamePro.com load for 15 minutes in order to read the latest reviews, only to be shut down by pops who refused to pay $.50 per minute to be on the world wide web? Thankfully, Sunrise's latest mobile broadband plans aren't that bad, but each precious hour of surfing over HSPA will set you back 3 Swiss francs (or $2.97). On the upside, there's no commitment attached to the USB modem, and there aren't any data usage caps either, so who knows, maybe this deal will float your boat after all.[Thanks, Jay]
iPhone 3G breaks cover, shows up in Swiss store display
You probably saw this one coming, but with that massive slew of countries and partners Apple has wrangled for the new iPhone launch, that July 11th street date was bound to be neglected. So here you have it, courtesy of the french blog Gadget O'Mac, an iPhone 3G on display in a shop in Switzerland. While the shots may be blurry, we at least get to see this thing in the hands of someone other than an Apple employee, and coupled with that Portuguese leak, this should thoroughly whet your appetite for Friday. Check out a few more shots after the break.[Thanks, Florence]
Swisscom goes live with DVB-H service
Swisscom's DVB-H-based mobile TV service, Bluewin TV, is now ripe and ready for public consumption, offering up a full 20 channels of portable entertainment to subscribers who pony up the 16 Swiss francs (about $15.40) per month. Coverage is said to reach about 44 percent of the Swiss population, while anyone roaming beyond those airwaves can still enjoy the service via Vodafone's live! portal over UMTS and EDGE networks. The only phone available at the moment appears to be the rather dusty Nokia N77, so we wouldn't be surprised if these lucky gals and dudes become some of the first in the world to enjoy all the benefits of the upcoming N96.[Via mocoNews and MobileTechNews]
Orange lands broad iPhone distro deal too
We'll make this brief. Orange spokesperson Therese Wenger told the SDA news agency that it has secured rights to release the iPhone (3G version, presumably) in Switzerland and more than 10 other countries -- take that Swisscom! Other countries include Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. And France of course where it's already on sale. See, that was quick and leaves room for a dozen or so other iPhone related announcements today.Update: Official Orange press release now out.[Via 20minuten, thanks Pascal M. and Pae]
Official: Swisscom to launch iPhone in Switzerland -- 3G, GPS, mobile TV, video conferencing rumored
So there was a little rumor bouncing about yesterday which claimed that Swisscom would land the iPhone. Today, Swisscom confirmed the deal while saying little else. What's interesting then is what the rest of the rumor, started by the leading Swiss newspaper, Le Matin, had to say. Namely, the 3G iPhone will be on sale in Switzerland this summer (on sale in the US by June) offering 2-way video chats, mobile TV and GPS navigation all powered by an even beefier processor. That certainly sounds like the same 3G iPhone we're expecting to pop at WWDC now doesn't it?[Via MacPrime, thanks Stefan R.]Read -- Le Matin rumor Read -- Swisscom teaser
National Geographic HD goes live in Austria and Switzerland
We already knew that National Geographic HD was poised to land in Austria and Switzerland soon, but maybe not this soon. Nevertheless, the channel has indeed launched in both nations on UPV digital cable, putting its content in front of over one million subscribers in these two countries alone. Get down with your bad self, Europe.
iPhone news for Switzerland, Spain and Poland
Here's some good news for people in Switzerland, Spain, Poland who are awaiting iPhones. According to Fortune, all three countries may sell them soon.Earlier this week, Le Matin Online reported (linked page is in French) that Swisscom will be the official iPhone carrier for Switzerland. Coincidentally, Apple is rumored to be opening an Apple Store in Zürich in July of this year (we first heard rumors of a Zürich store in 2006). Likewise, France Telecom stated their intention to extend coverage to "...more than just two countries" via their CFO Gervais Pellissier. As the largest European countries that still lack a carrier, Poland and Spain are obviously attractive to France Telecom.In related news, French iPhone customers can expect no immediate changes, as France Telecom intends to remain the country's exclusive carrier for the next two years.To all the TUAW readers in Switzerland, Spain and Poland ... we've got our fingers crossed for you! Let us know if you hear anything from your local news outlets.
Heat from data center used to warm Swiss swimming pool
Here's a novel idea: rather than stressing over the choice between solar or hydroelectric power sources to keep that green data center running, just build the thing near a community pool. Apparently that's exactly what's happening in Uitikon, Switzerland, as an IBM-built center erected for GIB-Services AG is using its excess heat to warm a local swimming pool. Put simply, the warmth emitted by the computers will be piped through a heat exchanger to boost the temperature of water used in the neighboring pool, and while the town had to cover some of the equipment costs to make it come together, it'll reap the oh-so-steamy benefits for free.[Via FashionFunky, thanks Yash]
iPhone coming to Swisscom on April 4?
So check it out, if this shot of a Swisscom ad flyer in the wild is legit, not only will our Swiss friends be able to sign up for an iPhone starting early next month -- they'll get a very special kind of iPhone, to boot. So special, in fact, that the screen will only be able to fit four icons vertically and three across. Here's what we don't understand: if this is fake, why would someone put so much effort into it and then bork the screen like that?[Via Everything iCafe]
Swisscom bolstering Bluewin TV lineup with four new HD channels
We're not exactly sure what's going on overseas, but the HD bug has certainly bit. Hot on the heels of Russia, Norway and the UK seeing their fair share of high-def expansion comes word that Swisscom is getting set to launch four new HD options on its Bluewin TV lineup. The IPTV service should be home to "BBC HD (English), Anixe HD (German), Arte HD (French) and the new channel HD suise from the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation" by the end of this month. Also of note, the latter station will be airing the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament in glorious high-definition, which is probably reason enough to look forward to the upgrade.
WAR's Paul Barnett talks shop at Lift Conference
Did you ever wish you could sit down and pick the brain of a game designer to see what sort of world-views or models for the game industry are informing his design decisions? Truth be told, there are many designers out there, some in the MMO space, who would probably bore you to death with talk of convergence and design philosophies that would have you nodding off inside of ten minutes. Paul Barnett is not one of those designers. Whether it's his english accent, his frequent and strange metaphors, or just the fact that we know the success or failure of Warhammer Online is riding on his shoulders, Paul Barnett is a man worth listening to.So if you're at all interested in design, or even just interested in the creative philosophy that is going into Warhammer Online, Paul Barnett's speech at the Lift Conference in Switzerland is well worth listening to. Paul himself is a funny guy (though you'd never know it based on reactions of the crowd at Lift), but he's also got a good head on his shoulders. He explains the conventional American thinking that goes into design of taking an existing product and simply making it bigger, louder, taller, and crazier, simply doesn't work in the world of online games. There has to be room for new ideas, and it's the person with new ideas who is going to be walking away with the sacks of money. Considering Paul's new title is a Creative Director within EA, this is the sort of thing that's really refreshing to hear every now and again.
Reuters at Davos, 2008
Reuters' Eric Krangel Adam Pasick will be interviewing a number of notable personalities in Second Life and simultaneously in Davos, Switzerland this year - the second annual set of Davos/Second Life interviews from our friends at Reuters. Is it just us, or does it get a little weird specifying two places at once?
Swiss send ludicrous number of texts on Christmas, Christmas Eve
Switzerland's three largest carriers have reported that their subscribers sent a grand total of 62 million-plus text messages on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, 5 million more than were sent in the same two-day period last year. Any way you slice it, that's a big steaming pile of SMSes -- especially considering that the good, neutral folks of Switzerland total under 8 million in population. Swisscom reports that a little over half of the messages were sent on Christmas Eve, a stat we can totally buy since we know we were too busy unwrapping phones and headsets on the 25th to bother firing off texts.[Via textually.org]
Zenum issues season's greetings, teaser shot in one fell swoop
So Swiss outfit Zenum sent us this little gem in the mail this weekend (click on the gallery below to see a bigger shot of it), and we don't think that red cloth is stuck there on accident, if you know what we're saying. What is it? It almost looks like the display slides back and forth while the bottom half doesn't, possibly revealing two different keypads -- though we'll be the first to admit that it's a wild guess. The company's previous effort, the Opus, is based on Windows Mobile 6, so we wouldn't be surprised if this sucker met the same fate. Happy New Year indeed, Zenum; we'll be anxiously waiting to find out more.%Gallery-12204%
Swiss PostBus brings bus scheduling to hikers via camera
The Swiss, of course known for, well, money chocolate, also have a top-notch public transportation system. A new system being trialled in the Heiden area of Switzerland will see hikers and other wandering types scanning special posts to get bus timetables with their mobile phone's camera. Once the pic is captured, a web page with info on the nearest rural stop opens -- and for a tourist who may have no clue what stop needs to be looked up on a map, this will be a blessing -- and shows the schedule. This is perfect for those times when blisters and lack of conveniently located refreshments brings an end to a day of wanderwegging.[Via Physorg.com]
