A friend of mine from São Paulo (Brazil) sent me an interesting article about cutting edge research being conducted at the Physics Institute (Instituto de Física) at the University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo, or USP for short). Last week, scientists from USP managed to connect, via artificial connections, a group of neurons belonging to a blue crab (scientific name: Callinectes sapidus) to a computer that simulates the electrical activity of one of these neurons.

The main goal behind the project is to enable the future replacement of damaged sectors of the brain with electronic prosthetics, giving major hope for the rehabilitation of paraplegic people. The experiments use a group of 11 neurons related to a group that controls the "chewing" movements of the crustacean. The replacement circuit is substituting a portion of the stomatogastric nervous system of the blue crab, which is composed by roughly 30 neurons.

The study, conducted by the Non-Linear Phenomena Laboratory (LFNL) and coordinated by Professor Reynaldo Daniel Pinto, is sponsored by two major Brazilian research foundations (FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo and CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) and the NSF (National Science Foundation) / NIH (National Institutes of Health).

German conglomerate Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) announced yesterday its newest wireless handset, the tri-band SK65, which is expected to become commercially available in November 2004. The phone is expected to target the high-end mobile market, and features a unique QWERTY keyboard that can be revealed by rotating the phone.

Siemens’ goal is to capture some mind share in the business segment by focusing on “must-haves” such as built-in e-mail and corporate data access capabilities, instead of the typical consumer “nice-to-haves” such as built-in MP3 players or cameras. The BlackBerry functionality, licensed from Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM), will enable end-users to pick up their e-mail messages without having to dial in to collect them. While other cell phone manufacturers such as Nokia (NYSE:NOK) have integrated some BlackBerry e-mail functions in the past, the SK65 is the first model to incorporate the full suite of BlackBerry applications, including features such as e-mail, a calendar, and a Web browser. The product is expected to come with a $360 price tag, and will be initially introduced in Europe, followed by emerging markets such as India and Latin America. Other features include its compact design (it weighs only 144 grams) and push-to-talk “walkie-talkie” functionality.

The adoption of the BlackBerry functionality by a giant of Siemens’ magnitude bolsters RIM’s new licensing program for its flagship software application suite. Moreover, the agreement signals that RIM will be willing to license its products to different manufacturers, so we can expect to see the software to be used with various form factors in the future. But, more importantly, another driver that will definitely benefit RIM is the advent of dual mode (802.11 / 2.5G) devices, which was reported in an earlier entry. While the pickup in RIM devices has been impressive, many cost-conscious enterprises are weary of giving away those gadgets to a higher proportion of their workforces, due to the high service costs associated with them. However, with a dual mode type device, employees will be able to use these RIM products while being inside the enterprises at almost no cost (or roaming outside them, when entering WiFi hotspots, at much lower costs than cellular high-speed data services).