22/09/2012 Click

four attempted murders, too. That is it for me. Now it is time for

Click. I just can get a signal. -- can't

get a signal. Hello. Finally fix up to the net. This

week, Click travels to the Brazilian rainforest to discover

what the Amazonian sink about their first mobile network. And give us

away. Will point you to the new ways to control your kit. Will also

have the biggest tech news stories of the week. And were turning maths

into art in Webscape. Welcome to Click. By Anne Spencer

Kelly. These things are pretty handy, aren't they? -- I and

Spencer Kelly. For developing nations, they are essential. Many

have skipped putting telecom networks into the ground and have

gone straight to mobile. There are not many places in the world where

you can't get a signal these days. One such place until very recently

was 300 miles up the Amazon river in Brazil, deep in the heart of the

rainforest. That is where we sent our correspondent. Nothing personal.

He was there to report on one of the last places on earth to get a

signal. It's the end of a very rainy wet

season. Rooftops dot the banks of the planet's longest river. From

above, it would be easy to mistake this water world for a C. -- sea.

Until risen slick, modern mobile telecoms were yet to reach you

because of the logistics and the treetop can any -- the treetop

canopy making signalled a problem. When we land, abode awaits us. We

are hundreds of miles from the mouth of the Amazon, near Santarem.

We float past a small resort that has seen much more rain than

expected. While the rich and the Inter nationals living here have

had satellite communications, until recently, locals had to write each

other letters and sent them on the mail boat. Outside the main towns,

land lines are still few and far between and unreliable. Today, on

our boat, we've got something people here are quickly discovering

is invaluable, we've got a signal. We've let the big boat behind and

there in the middle of the river because I want to give you a sense

of scale. This is one of the most remote places I've ever visited.

Over there, you can see the shoreline is ten kilometres away.

This week, is about eight kilometres behind me. It is one of

the largest tributaries of the Amazon river. We have got two mass.

There is one further down stream. They are covering the committees

each side of the river. They are carrying both voice and data. --

communities. The villagers have something to celebrate. It's not

just our arrival. For the past 12 months, an experiment has been

going on here. Its designers, including Ericsson, have come to

see the results. The to deter a classroom set-up still remains but

now there is something new. -- the traditional classroom set up.

Now there is something you do get excited about. These net books are

connected to the net through a Wi- Fi rotor which connects to the new

network. It allows several computers at a time to access basic

information for study and for play. They are running a bespoke

streamlined operating system that runs apps on servers in the cloud.

We had developed this with colleagues in India. We are trying

to remove the complexity. We want to enable the cloud computer for

education. This set-up means that any maintenance can be done from a

central location. As well as the more familiar apps like Skype and

e-mail, there are special services, too, like the education programme

from the Khan Academy that we featured a Click a few months ago.

Ericsson has set up a wide list of recommended sites that teachers

here have agreed is appropriate for this age group. Running the entire

system over the mobile data network means the set-up and is to be

reliable. The mass them self- are fitted with solar panels and wind

turbines. -- the masseds themselves. There are not many people with

computer programmes and smart phones at the moment. They have

practically got the network to themselves. Each of the 170

committees who are covered by the signal will use it in a different

way. Jonah walks the tightrope in the village circus and she has got

an idea what she could do. TRANSLATION: Wrekin take pictures

and videos of our sakes and show others what we do. -- we can take.

We can ask people for more resources to expand. Although

fairly expensive at the moment, mobile smart phones are proving a

big hit with the children, too. The new mass want just changed lives

through teaching. Bread-making is a big part of this family's business.

The children play in the yard while the father collects honey. Before,

he used to take it by boat to the market. Today, he knows exactly how

much to collect and deliver as his customers have already placed a

direct order. The bread and honey are ordered together. He cannot

keep up with the increase in demand. The new network hasn't just become

the life blood of business. For some, it has been a life-saver.

Julie tells me of a friend who was bitten by a scorpion who managed to

raise they are lead using a mobile phone. The man was spitting blood,

he says. An emergency speed boat reached him just in time. What

would have happened without the mobile-phone? TRANSLATION: He would

have died. Some perks don't need translation. Agencies to work with

local people along the riverbanks are very encouraged by initial

results of the project. They say that access to the internet has

held with adult literacy and the immediate warning that can be

issued over the ball but Metcard has helped to half and went

mentality. Giggle have given support to help to prevent illegal

logging and to create -- trade carbon credits directly with the

mobile market. -- global market. The doctor's waiting-room may well

be a kitted out with life jackets. This boat is on tour. It has got a

3G signal booster on board that means the doctors can consult with

specialists at the hospital and order drug straight away. Dr Fabio

says it's been invaluable for his student nurses who need to study

and want to stay in touch with their families while on tour.

For me, it is very important. We are beginning to teach the new

students and a new doctor is that it is possible to make good

medicines in fireplaces. Information transfers between the

communities. -- FA places. Charities on the ground say that it

can spread and strengthen local culture and makes the Amazon and

more desirable place to live and work. Why has a big telecoms

company like Ericsson got involved? It's not just to make the from look

good. Our strategy in this area is definitely not philanthropic based.

It's very much about demonstrating the capability for a government or

a school or could ever to provide educational services far more

efficiently, far more effectively in places that would be nearly

impossible to reach, at least in the next decade, without this type

of mobile broadband. There are still challenging Shia. Wages are

low and, of this project is to expand, it will need affordable

data charges and political will. The benefits that many of us take

for granted are clear and obvious, even though the technology in this

part of the world is still very young.

That report from the Amazon rainforest. That was on the deeper

connections that are changing and saving lives. Now look at this

week's tech news. Microsoft is urging Internet Explorer users to

download a free piece of security software from its website at the

researchers found a rare type of security flop. The so-called is the

road they exploit affects users on XP, the stand Windows 7 and allows

hackers to take control of users' PCs. It will do little to stop the

demise of the browser. Google chrome is now more popular. Sony

will release a new slimline PlayStation 3. The new lightweight

model will be out within the month and includes extra storage as well

as the option of a flash storage drive for the UK market. The

struggling electronics giant will hope it can breathe one final lease

of life into the console before it releases an entirely new model,

possibly at the end of next year. Google's newly acquired baby

Motorola has released a new phone with an Intel chip as it tries to

get a foothold in the smart phone space. The Razr I has 20 years of

battery life. It studies the use of the handset before suggesting times

to turn off onto his like Bluetooth and G Ps. As Apple's iPhone 5 makes

his debut amid record orders, Samsung has taken a sideswipe at

the new and site. -- handset. It posted an advert in the US showing

off all the features the iPhone lacks compared to its flagship

Now, a couple of weeks back we were at the IFA Tech Show in Berlin

looking at the ways in which TV's can be controlled. This week, we

had been trying out the new methods of controlling all your pieces of

do It All Jim, from laptops and Since the beginning and machinery

has revolved around physical human effort. With the rise of tablets

and mobile touch-screen is driving the industry forward, we have moved

away from high buttons to smooth and sexy surfaces. A couple of

years ago Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony served up a new kind of

interface. Gesture control has been branded as fun, active and engaging.

To get people off the couch and on their feet. A novelty. Motion

control is moving in a new direction. Away from the novelty

towards the normal. Gestures are being marketed as a way of

controlling all of you devices, whether it is your TV, laptop or

mobile-phone. Without even laying a finger on them. When it comes to

being able to use a gesture control, it is all about having the software.

On most of these devices it will come installed. If you want to use

it on your laptop, you could do a PowerPoint presentation or listen

to music or search the Internet by using some slight gestures. We

haven't Android tablet, if you are reading a book on that and you did

not want to hold the Tablet, you did not want to press something to

turn the page, knitting your hand across it just like this should

allow you to look at the next page. -- moving your hand. On this mobile

phone you have the software installed. It is deeply integrated

into the operating system. It can be used with a lot of the

telephone's functions. You can do a lot of things using gestures. With

motion recognition been within the settings, you can switch it on or

off the same way you do with a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Developers will

use this technology when developing apps 4 iOS as well. The hardware

required? A standard two de camera used in most mobile devices. -- 2D.

If you want to watch a movie with your mates, say goodbye to fighting

over the remote. There is not one. The camera uses a combination of

face and hand recognition to focus on one person at a time. Any

excitable children in the room were not lead to channel-hopping. If you

keep on changing channels, moving your arms around a lot can get

exhausting. Not to mention the fact you might look a bit silly. A new

kind of gesture control is promising position by placing the

power in these. Fingertip following is being rolled out to improve just

to control. Microsoft released technology last year and other

companies are now following. It not only Rafah is the interface but it

also gives our arms a rest. -- refines. We want our users to adopt

it. We are putting the effort and resources, we are doing the

research and coming up with great technology using existing hardware

has. Your camera contract your finger 4-5 metres away. The camera

can be rather frustrating in picking up your movement. It needs

time to focus on its subject. You need to make sure your face and

fingers are in frame. It is not that intuitive. There are very

specific motions one has to grasp. When it does feel like working

eventually, it can be temperamental, there are a limited number of

gesture can cross. Different people in different countries are using

different gestures. What can be appropriate in one country can be

rude in another. Is this really how we want to control our devices?

Arguably, it is more reassuring and more useful to have direct physical

contact with our gadget. Touch- screen manufacturers are now toying

with the idea of going back to buttons. At the same time, not

compromising their slick design. For one Californian company it

means big business. We have physical buttons that come

dynamically out of the touch screen. With the screen of the iPhone you

would have physical buttons that rise out of the screen. You could

feel them. You can press them up and down. Much like a normal

digital keyboard. On my tablet computer, I want to write e-mails,

I struggle to do that with the soft keyboard. The real benefit of what

we're doing, you still get all the benefits of the touch screens, we

are solving the remaining problem by making them tactile in a way

that is dynamic. Until motion control becomes a more reliable and

realistic method of using technology, fingers are likely to

remain stuck to our screens and a handsets firmly in our hands. Lara

Lewington taking the touch out of technology. It is time for Webscape.

We begin with a topic which many of us struggled with at school.

Geometry. Do not panic. I'll make this relatively painless. Kate

Russell has found a new angle on an old subject. I like to get dressed

up on a Friday night. I'm not going to subject you to my dancing as

well as my singing, I am talking about geometry. Sketchometry is

intended to be used by students learning about geometry. You can

also make some pretty awesome pictures with it. It is built using

html 5, it runs on all modern browsers. You are going to get a

lot more out of this app if you use it on the tablet. The interface

responds to mould the touch commands. It works on tablets with

iOS or Android 4 and above. With a Cloud storage integration to up

ledger -- up load your work, it is a nice educational aid. It puts the

power of geometry at your fingertips. This media player has

gained a reputation for being able to crunch through any type of file.

Without having to download extra Codex and software to make a play.

It has been imported to Android. I like to be organised. Some might

say obsessively so. I have found a tool that helps me relax. It is

Wunderkit. It lets you easily set up and manage projects with any

number of people invited to help out through Facebook, Twitter or e-

mail. Whether you are organising a team from a work project, arranging

a group holiday or birthday party, were setting up a band with your

mates, you can use this interface to make sure everybody knows what

they're doing and gets it done. No excuses, nowhere to hide, brilliant.

Projects can be public or private. A nice way to get followers to

support and encourage and Endeavour. Track overall progress on the

dashboard. It is all in one nicely packaged interface.

Online education website coursera announced this week 70 new

universities have signed up to offer free online courses covering

music, medicine and humanities. Redoubles their offering, reaching

1.3 million students globally. Apple's latest operating system is

being rolled out this week. IOS 6 improve camera function, Facebook,

face time over mobile. Apple has declared independence from Google

by removing YouTube integration and including their own maps service

instead of their rival. Sadly, I have not been able to upgrade it

yet due to serve up overload. -- server. There has been a lot of

dissatisfaction over the mac issue. The Apple forum on the website is a

good place to start. Thank you. That was Kate Russell. She does