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BusinessWeek reports on modu, an Israeli company that has developed a modular mobile phone around the size of an iPod Nano. The Associated Press reports the phone will be launched on 1 October 2008 in Italy, Russia and Israel.

As Reuters pointed out yesterday, telecoms and mobile phone manufacturers will be out in force at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Frankfurt, Germany.  Modu is only one of several hundred manufacturers who will use their booths to show off their latest hardware.

Modu has designed a basic GSM phone that could be used on its own, but the company wants third parties to license the technology and build “jackets”. These are devices like media players, mobile handsets and other gadgets that have a slot for the modu phone. The jackets provide a larger, more comfortable form-factor for everyday use, and provide opportunities to decorate, brand and extend the phone.

Founder Dov Moran has the experience and connections to pull this off, having sold his flash memory business, M-Systems, to SanDisk in 2006 for US$1.5 billion. He’s invested US$5 million in modu, according to Reuters, and believes his new company could generate US$1 billion in sales revenue by 2011. That would rival the largest mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia and Samsung, whose businesses rely on a traditional business model. Consumers buy a handset, use it for a while, and upgrade to a different model.

The modu concept would let manufacturers add mobile connectivity to a wide range of electronic devices. Digital cameras could have a modu slot, for example. Car stereo systems might include a modu slot, as shown in the concept video on the modu website. A modu-compatible media player would be an interesting rival for the iPhone.

Creating a consumer hardware standard is tricky. Video games are a good example. Cartridges and software from one system usually do not work with another manufacturer’s console.

It’s 19 September, and that means it’s International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day. Time to break out your iPatch, wish me a happy birthday, shiver your timbers, and really tick off those pesky ninjas.

Here’s a Wikipedia article about the day, with no mention of me at all. I’m not famous enough for Wikipedia, and that’s probably a good thing!

Seriously, TLAP Day is one of several Internet-fueled holidays that have gained popularity through social networking, blogs, and word-of-mouth marketing. Another favorite of mine is Yuri’s Night on 12 April. It’s a series of small global parties to honor the first manned orbital spaceflight. Of course, the Soviet Union was celebrating Cosmonautics Day long before there was a World Wide Web. I wish Yuri’s Night was more like a Cinco de Mayo for space. Maybe next year!

In the meantime, let’s party like it’s 1807.

This map from StrangeMaps.com and BigPicture.com relabels each of the 50 United States with countries that have similar gross domestic products (GDPs). GDP is the market value of all goods and services produced in a country within a year. Of course, we can find similar figures for each of the 50 states.

Hawaii is world famous, not a world economic power

For example, Nigeria’s GDP of US$82 billion is about the same size as the state of Hawaii, which is also 39th on a ranking of the 50 states and DC.

New Zealand’s GDP of US$99 billion is comparable to the District of Columbia. Yes, the nation’s capital city has a bigger economy than the entire state of Hawaii.

New Jersey is comparable to Russia (US$733 billion), so there’s the number five slot.

Texas is number two: it matches up to Canada, which is the #10 country at US$1.08 trillion.

In the number one slot: California, which matches up to France’s GDP of US$2.15 trillion.

As noted in the article, a map based on per capita GDP would look very different. Most of the US states have smaller populations than their GDP equivalents.

Thanks to Boing Boing for links!

Tech: Yahoo! News - Studios Cut to the Chase: “Hollywood sees Germany as a crucial battleground in its assault on piracy. Industry officials say the country is the Internet piracy capital of Western Europe. Although black-market street sales of pirated movies proliferate in Asia and Latin America, experts say, much of the problem in Germany involves widespread downloading and copying, with little social disapproval. Bootleg DVDs are openly traded in schoolyards and shown in country clubs, bus depots and even by teachers in classrooms. In addition to the home-grown piracy, movies smuggled in from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic feed a busy network of German flea markets. ”

World: Reagan’s Soviet Adviser ‘Damn Lucky’: “‘Gorbachev told me that he [Reagan] had extraordinary human instincts,’ Massie said. ‘That’s very important for Russians.’ Washington bureaucrats had a stale approach to U.S.-Soviet ties, leaving the two sides locked in an arms race that had the two superpowers living in fear of each other. ‘They all just assumed that the Soviet Union was immutable, would never change. Think how many careers were built on that — bureaucratic careers. So status quo was much more convenient than anything else,’ Massie said. But Reagan turned the tide with his unique approach and interest in the Soviet people. ‘He really wanted to know how ordinary Russians thought and lived and their aspirations, rather than bureaucrats,’ she said. ‘He was the first president, I think, to understand very clearly the difference between ‘Russian’ and ‘Soviet’.’”