Aside from the speaker, the phone was pretty standard fare. A 0-9 keypad sits on the bottom end of the phone under the face, and a rotating dial on the front is used for menu navigation. The Highnote also uses the "One Click" UI designed by Frog, which automatically brings up context options when you scroll over a menu icon (phone, messaging, internet, etc...). This is meant to streamline and simplify the user experience, but at this point, it's too early in development to give impressions.

The Samsung Highnote will be available in October for $100. [Highnote on Giz]

Alltel adds one million gross wireless customers in the first quarter

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel achieved record customer growth in the first quarter, adding more than 1 million gross customers for the second consecutive quarter. Net customer additions also hit a new high with a 63 percent increase year-over-year.

"We are pleased with our results across the board, and I am extremely proud of our team for staying focused in our first full quarter under new ownership," said President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Ford. "We are off to a strong start for the year, with consolidated EBITDA up 18 percent year-over-year."

Alltel completed its merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in November 2007 and ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the highlights for the first quarter:

• Revenues were $2.3 billion, an 11 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The company reported a net loss of $125 million, due primarily to significant increases in interest costs and depreciation and amortization expense following the completion of the merger.

• Alltel added just over 1 million gross customers through internal growth, a 26 percent increase from a year ago. Post-pay net additions were 163,000, up 50 percent year over- year, and pre-pay net adds were 183,000. Reseller net adds, which Alltel is including this quarter in order to be consistent with industry practice, were 39,000. Total net adds were 385,000, an all-time high.

• Post-pay churn was 1.34 percent, essentially flat year-over-year, and total churn was 1.83 percent, up 6 basis points year-over-year.

• Average revenue per wireless customer (ARPU) was $53.64, up 2 percent from last year. Data revenue per customer reached a new high of $7.50, a 60 percent increase year-over-year.

• Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $847 million, an 18 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

A table describing consolidated EBITDA and reconciling net income to consolidated EBITDA is included in the schedules accompanying this release.

Alltel operates America's largest wireless network, which delivers voice and advanced data services nationwide to more than 13 million customers. Headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel is a Forbes 500 company with annual revenues of nearly $9 billion.

Alltel claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties that could cause actual future events and results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs, and assumptions and are not guarantees of future events and results.

[Thanko via Impress through Google Translate]

Once he decides that your plants need water, he'll give out intermittent croaks, which make you go "what the hell was that," before you realize it's the goddamn frog again and throw some H2O onto your ferns.

Also, Dr. Frog is for indoor use only. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Lazyboneuk via Uber Gizmo]

As fans of the hallowed Frog Design (or, if you prefer the k.d. lang version, "frog design") we were stoked to hear that Alltel used them to design the user interface for the music store. Frog had previously designed a "cell top" interface for an Alltel-powered Samsung u520. Now it seems it's extending that aesthetic to the desktop, as you can see above.

Design cred aside, the Jump Music software is cool because it provides a storefront to eMusic, the DRM-free music store that reminds us every so often that it is second only to iTunes in downloaded songs. (And you get 35 free tracks for joining, as opposed to eMusic's customary 25 free tracks.)

The software will manage your existing MP3s, and allow you to sort and transfer tracks to phones including the LG AX8600, MOTOKRZR K1m, MOTORAZR V3m, The Wafer by Samsung and the aforementioned u520. It doesn't look comprehensive enough to be some kind of full replacement for iTunes (or, for that matter, Windows Media Player or any other manager you prefer). And yes, I know that every carrier and most handset makers have some sort of PC client software, generally designed to keep you from easily putting anything you want on the phone.

But somehow this feels different—like there's an independent spirit alive in this particular marketing scheme. Am I wrong or right? Well, Alltel says it has 12 million members. If one of you is reading this, please download the software, futz around with it, and report back. Worse thing that happens is that you get stuck with 35 free MP3s and a quick uninstall. – Wilson Rothman

Alltel Wireless launches Jump Music

Free, easy-to-use software helps customers transform wireless phones into mobile music players

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Wireless, America's largest network, today launched Jump Music, a free and easy-to-use software that enables customers to transfer compatible music files from personal computers to their wireless phones.

The PC-based Jump Music application gives Alltel Wireless customers greater control over their mobile music experience, empowering them to find, manage and easily transfer music files with the simple click of a button.

"For those who have been waiting for an easy way for customers to put music on their phones—Jump Music is it," said Wade McGill, senior vice president of wireless products for Alltel. "Jump Music makes it incredibly simple for our customers to take their music with them anywhere they go, and it demonstrates our commitment to providing customers choice and control over their wireless experience."

Jump Music, developed by strategic-creative consultancy frog design, is available for download at www.alltel.com/jumpmusic. The site features a user-friendly interface and enables customers to easily navigate to eMusic—one of the world's largest online music stores—where they can purchase additional music from eMusic's vast catalog of more than 2.5 million tracks in the DRM-free MP3 format. New Jump Music users will also enjoy a special introductory offer of 35 free eMusic tracks.

Jump Music is initially compatible with five Alltel phones: the LG AX8600, MOTOKRZR K1m and MOTORAZR V3m, and the Samsung u520 as well as The Wafer by Samsung.

Jump Music Accessory Kits, featuring a 256 MB memory card, USB cable and a stereo headset, are available at Alltel Wireless retail stores or online at www.shopalltel.com for just $49.99.

Alltel Wireless offers exclusive features including "My Circle," allowing customers to choose who they call for free—any 10 numbers, any network; Anytime Plan Changes, giving customers the flexibility to change their rate plan any time, without extending their contract; and Celltop, a patent-pending technology that offers customers an easier way to access, manage and organize a wide range of information already available on their phones.

Alltel (NYSE: AT) is owner and operator of the nation's largest wireless network and has 12 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit www.alltel.com.

Download link [Alltel]

Imagine grabbing it quickly - from inside your bag, from off a shelf, from under a car seat - and freely interacting with it without needing to turn it over or align it right side up?

CUin5 [Movie Page]
non.object [Book Page]

The Frog Family PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse/Speaker Set [Geeks.com via wolfrider]

Interview/Article by Jonah Brucker-Cohen

In today's rapidly changing digital world, the need for human (or animal) intervention to control technological devices and machines is becoming outdated. With advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated sensor systems, we are approaching a future that might literally be "out of our control" or "autonomous." Examining this impending phenomenon through the eyes of the planet's most complex and abundant creatures: insects and amphibians, is Irvine, California-based, Canadian artist, Garnet Hertz. Hertz's work explores the belief that despite technology's increasing independence from human or animal intervention, there is still a part of us that wants some control. From implanting a web server into a dead frog whose limbs can be stimulated to "move" by participants over the Internet in "Experiments in Galvanism", to putting a live Madagascan hissing Cockroach atop a modified trackball to control a three wheeled robot in "Cockroach Controlled Mobile Robot", Hertz creates projects that attempt to challenge and deconstruct these notions of technological progress over-stepping human jurisdiction. Gizmodo spoke to Hertz about his intricate animal-machine-hybrids and his overall view on whether or not technological determinism may be influencing the not-so-distant future.

Interview, images, and video after the jump ...

Name: Garnet Hertz
Age:32
Education: MFA, Arts Computation Engineering - University of California Irvine, Critical Theory Emphasis - University of California Irvine, In progress: PhD, Visual Studies (Media Theory / History) - University of California Irvine.
Affiliation: Research Fellow, California Institute of Telecommunications and
Information Technology
Exhibitions: Ars Electronica (Linz), Siggraph (Los Angeles), ArtBots (Dublin), STRP (Eindhoven), Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum (Istanbul), La Biennale de Montreal (Montreal)
URL:http://www.conceptlab.com

GIZMODO: Your project "Cockroach Controlled Mobile Robot" puts a Madagascan hissing cockroach atop a modified trackball to control a three wheeled robot. Why is this transference of control from digital / human automaton to insect power important to you?

GH: This project was inspired by a number of different things, including thinking about biologically inspired ("biomimetic") technologies and also seeing and thinking about scientific and artistic experiments in bio-hybrid/robotic systems. In response to biomimetic technologies, putting a literal insect at the control of a robot is meant to be a little bit of a joke or perhaps the logical conclusion of biomimetics. Biomimetic technology looks toward biological systems as things that solve complex real-world problems. Within the field of robotics, the cockroach is a good model for a mobile robot because it is robust, has no centralized brain, has relatively low "megahertz," and is physically well engineered to navigate difficult terrain. Because of this, the cockroach and other insects inspire research in robotics: there are at least a dozen published robotics-related projects that are inspired by cockroaches. (An example can be seen at http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1183118.htm) Placing a literal cockroach at the center of a robot, then, is sort of like saying: "If the cockroach (and biology) is so great, why not literally use the real thing?"

However, when literally using biology, you soon discover the difference between biology and a model of biology: biology is unpredictable, lazy, and temperamental. Using biology as a substitute for a computer can highlight some key differences between the two realms. I had also seen the work of Ken Rinaldo a while ago, and really liked his projects using Betta fighting fish to control mechanisms. Similar to this, I like Stelarc's work, but don't agree with his basic thesis that the body is obsolete. I had seen science-oriented works, like Holzer and Shimoyama's "Robo-Roach" project, in which they implanted stimulators into the antennae and cerci of cockroaches to allow them to be remotely controlled. However, instead of having technology control a cockroach, I thought it would be more interesting to invert the system and try to have the cockroach control the technology... more along the lines of Ken Rinaldo.

"Posthuman System #1: Cockroach with Wireless Video" (Hertz, 2003)

GIZMODO: The "Posthuman System #1:Cockroach with Wireless Video" attaches a video camera to the back of a cockroach in an attempt to examine the concept of "Posthumanism" (or the transference of human form through technological means). What was your ultimate goal with this project and why did you choose a cockroach as the carrier agent?

GH: This was a fairly simple project that began by thinking about the term "posthumanism." Quite literally, my thoughts were that insects, especially cockroaches, were good post-humans: after we've killed each other in the war on terrorism (or some other holy crusade) organisms like cockroaches would make good successors to humans. The project was essentially just making a small link between humans, non-humans, and the term posthuman. Cockroaches are also something that people apparently like to watch: a foreign species. Putting an insect in control of technology is, generally speaking, quite interesting to observe. In the case of the "Cockroach Controlled Mobile Robot" I think people are interested in watching the robot because it — like Natalie Jeremijenko's "Feral Robotic Dogs," perhaps — makes something legible that usually isn't legible. In Jerimijenko's work, toxic waste in public spaces is made legible through the mobility of a robot. In my project, the intentions of an insect that people usually want to immediately crush is made legible through a robot. Although Jerimijenko's work is much more socially engaged, I think physical mobility of an object through real space is a good format to work with: it's a format that's understood by children and grandparents. People flock to the damn thing and seem to be interested in figuring out whether the cockroach is in conscious control of the robot, whether it understands its technological feedback/VR system, or whether it's being controlled by the technology. It's a mini-diorama of the debates of technological determinism, perhaps.

"Experiments in Galvanism: Frog with Implanted Webserver" (Hertz, 2003)

GIZMODO: The "Experiments in Galvanism: Frog with Implanted Webserver" project examines the tension when biology meets technological imperialism, as online visitors can trigger movements in the dead frog's legs by clicking on them through a website. Why is this connection important to you and what was the intended control metaphor for online visitor interaction?

GH: This project started by looking at two things in parallel: the emergence of electricity and the emergence of the Internet. The hype and mystery of electricity, as explored by Luigi Galvani and his experiments with jumping frog legs, led to speculation about electricity being the "fluid of life." This uncertainty about the medium of electricity led to various forms of speculation, leading to works like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with electricity going as far as re-animating the dead. I see new media forms in a similar fashion, including the Internet hype of the 90s and ubiquitous computing hype of this decade. In an attempt to bring some of this stuff together, I brought the Galvanic frog together with the Internet in a "ubiquitous" form factor. The result — hopefully — is something that plays up and downgrades technological hype simultaneously while stacking Galvani in a layered context of information technology, i.e. the cyborg and biotechnology. An aside theme in this project relates to my longstanding interest in playing with a dual audience: online and in-gallery. In this project, online users physically activate the in-gallery work, which is a theme I've been working in since 1995.

"Fly with Implanted Webserver" (Hertz, 2001)

GIZMODO: "Fly With Implanted Webserver" re-examines the commonalities of the daily housefly through integrating a network interface into its body. By adding communications capabilities to this pervasive insect and allowing online visitors to control LEDs on the fly's body, you are putting a new spin on the age-old "fly on the wall" anecdote. What was your ultimate goal with this project and how important is the fly as disembodied messenger in the equation?

GH: This project began as a technical exploration into very small-scale web servers. After some searching, I found a thread of developers that were trying to build "the world's smallest web server," and the supposed winner was Fredric White, who built a web server using a matchead-sized chip from Fairchild. He had also built a potato-powered web server, and this stream of development began my thoughts into the potential of a web server as a physical object within a gallery installation. After a lot of headache, I finally got one of my own "world's smallest" web servers running, and since it was so tiny, I thought a household fly would be a suitable symbol to carry this minuscule technology: it was a small, ubiquitous pest. In many of my projects, I'm not trying to present "useful" technology to humans, [instead] I'm more interested in exploring how new technology could be fictionally coupled with underdogs of the animal kingdom: flies, worms, cockroaches, frogs, etc. Building fictional technologies for animal underdogs is a way to momentarily sidestep the human-based perspective that permeates technological development. Although there are obvious slippages of control between the animal, human, and technological, the underdog — at least — provides an alternate perspective for viewing sociotechnical change.

GIZMODO: What projects are you currently working on? How are they similar or different than your past projects?

GH: I have been working on doing more writing lately: artwork is the best at making forceful metaphoric statements and simultaneously exploring diverse fields of history, experience and emotion. On the other hand, I see writing more like doing surgery: you can carve up a page into an argument that can be more precise, positioned and articulated. I also see huge and interesting caverns of history, theory and art that lack a published voice. Toward this end, I'm considering tackling the "Dead Media Project" — a project manifesto'd by Bruce Sterling in 1995 in response to the hype and historical ignorance of the "new media" frenzy of that age, especially press coverage of CD-ROMs, the Internet, and multimedia. The basic idea is to [examine] failed or dead forms of communication as a tool to look at sociotechnological change and hype, i.e. to view "new" media as a constant process. Looking at forgotten forms of media is a way to step around the usual media-suspects (film, gramophone, telephone, television, Internet) and to enter a zone that is not usually explored. [This approach] has the potential to say a lot about social aspirations, communication and technology. This is a long-term project, and I don't expect anything that I do on this front will be visible for a number of years. In the meantime, I'm showing my Cockroach Controlled Mobile Robot and rolling out incremental improvements to it. I don't have any big plans for a new hardware-based project right now: I'm planning on starting work on something this fall.

The iPod and the Bathtub: How Products Shape Our Perceptions

Imagine your cell phone as a person. How would you describe him / her? Playful; Charismatic; Dull; Unreliable; Clean? The products we surround ourselves with all carry messages, and our perceptions are significantly shaped by their form, materials, and color.

A Designer sprang into the frog New York studio the other morning with a little more energy than usual.

I know why everyone says the iPod looks clean! he exclaimed.

The iPod has become—in the minds of most of our clients—the example of great product design. We found ourselves constantly trying to figure out why everybody we asked perceived the iPod as being clean.

Of course, we were aware of the obvious cues such as minimalist design; the simple, intuitive interface; the neutral white color. But these attributes alone inadequately explain this seemingly universal perception. It had to be referencing a deeper convention in the social consciousness so, if a designer claimed that he had the answer—we were all ears.

So as I was sitting on the toilet this morning (this is of course where most good ideas come from), I noticed the shiny white porcelain of the bathtub and the reflective chrome of the faucet on the wash basin and then it hit me! Everybody perceives the iPod as clean because it references bathroom materials!

This insight becomes more interesting considering the designer responsible for the iPod Jonathan Ive, VP of Industrial Design, came to Apple from a London-based design consultancy where he worked on a wide range of products from power tools to wash basins.

Coincidence? Perhaps. What s important is that consciously or unconsciously, the iPod materials reference a convention of cleanliness that everybody interacts with everyday— a bathroom. We re talking about human perception, and the system of conventions that shape our perceptions. Perception is essential to the process of design.

Conventions Applied to Design

Historically, designers and manufacturers have made interesting use of conventions in design to alter the way people perceive products. The public once thought electricity was dangerous and expensive, so to change this perception, the electricity industry sought to project the image of electricity as a modern and progressive source of energy. To symbolize these qualities, designers used the conventions associated with technological futurism —chrome plating and streamlining. In 1955, industrial designer Henry Drefuss wrote that changes in the design of the modern kitchen had been brought about by two things that had nothing to do with cooking a meal—the automobile and the airplane.

Although the symbolism has changed, the iPod also uses conventions to appear ahead of its time. Its surfaces are seamless and have no moving parts— two conventions that have often been used in science and science-fiction to connote advanced technology. Remember the seamless, molten-metal bad guy in Terminator 2? Or how about the perfectly seamless, black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

Have you ever picked up a product and thought, that feels cheap? Observations of the marketplace will reveal many conventions relating to perceived value. For example, Puma shoes are tiered according to price and the application of materials is different through the tiers. As the shoes move up through the tiers, the materials become more authentic (e.g. natural leather). As the shoes move down through the tiers, synthetic materials dominate.

Conventions are often so self-evident and seemingly natural that we have a hard time recognizing them. But being sensitive towards conventions will give you a new appreciation of why you love or hate the products in your life. That said, try not to think of a toilet every time you use your iPod nano.

Luke Williams is a Design Manager for frog design s New York Studio.