Mobile video app for the deaf

In what is being called a big leap forward in communication technology for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, a new cellphone application has been unveiled by Sorenson Communications, writes WHEC.com.

Sorenson Communications, a company dedicated to connecting the deaf and hearing worlds, unveiled the product at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. It's called 'N-Touch' for PC and 'N-Touch' for Mobile.

Sorenson Communications is said to be a world leader in what's called 'video relay services'. It aims to allow deaf and hard-of-hearing people to set up a video phone so they can use sign language and communicate with friends and family all over the world.

Singapore is setting up a new S$23 million international research centre to develop cutting-edge communication technologies that they claim will revolutionise human communication in the 21st century, says Bernama.com.

The centre will be jointly run by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich of Switzerland and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill of the US.

In a joint statement today, the three universities and Singapore's Media Development Authority said the centre, to be known as "BeingThere Centre", would jointly research on the forms of interactive real-time 3D communication, called 'telepresence' and 'telecollaboration'.

A tech analyst has said in an interview that Apple is working on near-field communication technology that will allow users to pay for items with the updated iPad and iPhone models, according to SmartCompany.com.au.

Richard Doherty, director of consulting group Envisioneering, says that according to "engineers who are working on hardware for the Apple project", NFC technology will be introduced into Apple's gadgets.

This comes after Google introduced NFC tech for its Nexus S smartphone, which allows users to make contactless payments.