Mobile Phone

It’s humbling, and in fact almost a little scary, when you realize just how far the video quality of mobile phones and pocket camcorders has progressed over the past few years. While features such as their resolution are truly something to behold, they do however have one distinct disadvantage when compared to their larger, heavier predecessors – they shake like crazy. It’s a shortcoming that’s addressed by the Steadicam Smoothee. Read More

Portable Bluetooth speakerphones that provide a hands-free way for drivers to stay in touch while on the road are nothing new. Nor are voice-controlled Bluetooth speakerphones with text-to-speech capabilities to read out the name of a caller. But the new SuperTooth HD adds a something new for social networking tragics on the go in the form of a SuperTooth Handsfree Assistant feature that allows drivers to compose and send Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and SMS messages, all without taking their hands off the wheel. Read More

Wireless charging solutions for mobile devices have been trickling onto the market in the last couple of years and now industry heavyweight LG has announced that it's joining the sans-cable party with its own Wireless Charging Pad. Read More

Yves Béhar, the industrial designer behind such diverse products as the WattStation EV charging station, the Jawbone Bluetooth headset and Mission One electric sports motorbike has turned his talents to that most essential of modern day devices – the mobile phone. The result is a stylish handset that comes in either stainless steel or gold versions priced at 7,250 euro (approx. US$10,140) and 42,000 euro ($58,740) respectively. But anyone expecting a phone at those prices to do everything short of fixing you a fine meal and cleaning up afterwards will be sorely disappointed as the +YvesBéhar phone has been designed firmly with simplicity in mind. Read More

We can’t say we weren’t warned. Last August, Japan’s Eager Co. Ltd. announced that it was planning to begin sales of the Telenoid R1 telepresence robot in October. The toddler-sized ghostly-looking robot is intended to be a physical stand-in for a remote user during internet communications, mirroring that person’s movements via real-time face tracking software on their computer – their voice also comes out of the device. Well, Telenoid now has a little sibling. The Elfoid P1, as it’s called, was unveiled at a press conference yesterday in Japan, and is intended to serve as a combination mobile phone and mini telepresence robot. Read More

You may not have heard of Chinese mobile phone maker Umeox Mobile, but odds are you’ve come across one of their handsets at one time or another without realizing it, as its phones are generally re-branded and sold by operators around the world. The company's latest offering announced this week at Mobile World Congress 2011 is due to hit stores later this year. Named after the Greek god of the sun, the Umeox Apollo sports a built-in solar panel on the back for keeping the phone running when you can’t get to an outlet – provided you can get to some sunlight, of course. Read More

Rugged mobile phone maker Sonim Technologies seems to be on a never-ending mission to create products that can withstand whatever extreme torture can be thrown at them. The company has just announced another tough cookie that's been designed to help enterprise and government organizations locate, track and manage its mobile workforce - whatever conditions they may find themselves in. As well as some impressive tough guy credentials, the XP3300 FORCE also lays claim to the industry's longest talk and stand-by time. Read More

The latest wireless technology finding its way into mobile phones alongside Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is near field communication, or NFC. It has taken a few years but the short-range wireless technology is gathering speed, with the number of NFC-enabled handsets on the increase and numerous trials of the technology being carried out around the world, mainly aimed at contactless payments and public transport ticketing applications. But if you’re worried you’ll have to throw out your current mobile phone to take advantage of the convenience of NFC then relax, because Simlink has teamed with Morpho to develop a key fob that brings NFC technology to any existing mobile phone. Read More

There’s no debating that credit and debit cards are convenient, but typically the only places that you can use them are in businesses, or via the phone or internet. In 2009 the co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, set out to change that. He released a beta version of Square, a system that allowed mobile devices to receive card payments. A small card reader plugged into the device’s headphone port, and an app handled all the 1s and 0s. Two years later, Square is out of its debugging phase and available for general use. Read More