Cellphone maps for pedestrians. m-spatial shows Vodafone where to go [The Register]

Holographic keypads. Canesta's laser-projected virtual keyboard isn't even out yet, but there's already a company taking it up a notch with holographic keypads that float in the air:To help demonstrate his invention to potential licensees, Mr. McPheters has set up his laptop so that he can give a Powerpoint presentation without touching the computer, by punching his fingers into the air. Under his system, a holographic keypad begins with a holographic image of a real keypad, recorded by lasers on photographic film. This image is mounted on a plastic plate, which has infrared sensors behind it that can detect when the keypad is manipulated. When a light behind the plate is activated, the image appears to hover in front of it.Read [Via TechDirt]... [Gizmodo]

Sony's new plasma TV adds home smarts. The consumer electronics maker unveils a plasma TV with built-in broadband networking that's linked to a Web pad-like remote control by wireless LAN technology. [CNET News.com]

Mobile phone to call on power of three. The companies join forces to wed three up-and-coming technologies--cellular, Wi-Fi and Internet telephony--into a single handset targeted at businesses [CNET News.com]

BT's BluePhone. UK telecom company BT, which hasn't been known for its innovativeness lately, has something interesting up its sleeve -- a system called BluePhone which will let you use a cellphone to make phone calls over a voice over IP connection when at home, and then connect to cellular networks everywhere else:The handset will make voice calls via IP over Bluetooth when the customer is at home or in the office and then normally GSM calls when the customer is travelling. The Bluetooth base station will presumably also allow the mobile handset to surf the Net via xDSL when the Bluetooth connexion is active.Verizon is said to be working on something similar here in the States. Read... [Gizmodo]

Sony handheld to give driving directions

"Sony Electronics announced a car cradle accessory on Tuesday that will enable some Clie owners to get directions and listen to music. Owners of Clie PEG-NX80V, -NX73V and -TG50 devices will be able to place their products into the $300 Clie PEGA-CC5 car cradle and use the built-in global positioning system to find the car's location. Consumers will also be able to get directions using the mapping software.

The accessory will also be able to transmit digital audio files from a Clie to a car's speakers and read back e-mail message stored in Clie Mail. The accessory plugs into a car's cigarette lighter socket, which also recharges the device. The accessory will be available at the end of August. " [CNET News.com]

The Little Remote Control That Could. 42-inch and 50-inch plasma displays with built-in 802.11a: Sony will introduce $10,000 and $12,000 television sets later this year. Why the Wi-Fi? The remote control pad is actually also a Web browser and second television display with 800-by-480-pixel resolution! It connects to the TV via 802.11a, and the TV must have some kind of Ethernet or other connection built in to hook into broadband. Yes, I'd love one for my birthday, but my wife and I would have to sell half the furniture in our living room to fit the smaller unit. [via Gizmodo]... [Wi-Fi Networking News]