Mobile that allows bosses to snoop on staff developed?

[GargoyleTS]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8559683.stm

Anyone run into this sort of thing yet? I know this says just developed, and I am trying to figure out if it is the whole handset or an app, article is kinda vague on it.

I am mostly only familiar is US cell phone company ideals and usage (worked tier 2 support for a company here for the last 2 years), but either way it says this phone is sending the info back to KDDI's servers to be analyzed. Is data usually unlimited in Japan on cell networks? And not a ton of phone in the US with built in accelerometers in them, so no idea if most keitai have them now or what? (yes I am aware the US is damned near the Stone Age of cell phone markets)

How would you deal with this sort of attempted Nanny-Corp intrusion into your life?

[FG Lurker]

I am trying to figure out if it is the whole handset or an app, article is kinda vague on it.

It looks like a client/server sort of setup to me. The phone has an accelerometer and a client app that feeds data from the accelerometer (and GPS I would guess) back to the server where the main application analyzes it and generates reports.

That said, one could fairly easily develop apps for any smartphone that would do much the same thing. You'd need a decent sample of people doing the tasks you wish to detect so you can see what sort of accelerometer patterns are produced by a certain task. Recognition could then be coded into a program in much the same way as KDDI has.

Is data usually unlimited in Japan on cell networks?

I think the three major companies here have various tiered data plans with the top tier being an unlimited plan for data sent to/from the phone itself. This typically does not include tethering the phone to a PC and using it for the PC's data connection. As this is a system being released by KDDI (AU) I would expect it would be sold with a data plan to make it work. Also, the phone wouldn't really need to send all that much data back to the server to make this work.

And not a ton of phone in the US with built in accelerometers in them, so no idea if most keitai have them now or what?

It looks like KDDI has developed this as a complete handset solution. As such they have control over what goes into the handset and can make sure the necessary hardware is included.

(yes I am aware the US is damned near the Stone Age of cell phone markets)

Well, yes and no. One could argue that the iPhone, Droid, and Nexus One are the most powerful phones currently available anywhere. US cellular service does suck though.

How would you deal with this sort of attempted Nanny-Corp intrusion into your life?

I am the boss so it isn't an issue.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Jesus Christ. No more scratching my balls when no one is looking.

[GomiGirl]

Jesus Christ. No more scratching my balls when no one is looking.

It might be misinterpreted by the phone as a wank!!

Or that you are just "Cleaning the pipes"

Fine if you work as a plumber - an easy way for the boss to think you were hard "at work" when he was monitoring you remotely.

[GargoyleTS]

Thanks for the reply Lurker, I figured that but have no real idea about how much data it'll transmit to the servers. I know windows mobile devices and palm devices can have rather poor battery life with constant data connections on US cellular networks, but if this is a handset designed for it then maybe it won't be an issue. I would think it would still need to contact the server to do pattern analysis and matching instead of keeping its own database, but maybe it does it in spurts and those are then analyzed and reports generated. Just seems a real waste with most phones having some sort of tracking app in use by businesses that need it already (dispatcher type businesses especially).

Guess I should learn a little more hardware to be able to kill an accelerometer in the future...

[Greji]

It might be misinterpreted by the phone as a wank!!

Or that you are just "Cleaning the pipes"

Fine if you work as a plumber - an easy way for the boss to think you were hard "at work" when he was monitoring you remotely.

I suppose you were involved with developing this appas well.......