Phone

The lamp that runs on free electricity – from the phone socket

By Darren Quick

22:54 November 5, 2009 PST

If you’re looking to shave every last cent off your next electricity bill then this gooseneck lamp is for you. The lamp is so energy efficient its eight white LED lights are powered by the trickle of electricity flowing from a RJ11 socket – or garden-variety telephone socket. This means that, even if you’ve fallen behind on your electricity bill and the power has been cut off, you can still enjoy some late night reading. Read More

Casio to release Exilim CA003 phone with 12MP camera

By Mick Webb

17:13 October 20, 2009 PDT

Those who like a camera phone to pack some serious specs will be very pleased to hear of Casio’s upcoming release of the Exilim CA003, featuring a 12.2MP camera with autofocus and a 28mm wide angle lens with 3X optical zoom. The phone will boast a 3.3” WVGA OLED screen as well as GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM radio. It supports microSDHC cards up to 16GB and will be available in four fashion colors including “champagne gold”. Read More

TXTBlocker lets parents and employers disable texting while driving

By Paul Lester

01:58 October 3, 2009 PDT

It should come as no surprise to hear that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous thing to do. Recent studies have shown that drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident if they are texting and an astonishing 46% of teens have admitted occurrences of driving while distracted as a result of fiddling with phones.

A new product called TXTBlocker addresses these issues directly by disabling a number of phone functions, with the specific impact decided by a choice of settings available from an account page online once you subscribe. Read More

OpenRide mobile service organizes carpooling on-the-fly

By Dario Borghino

16:47 September 14, 2009 PDT

Despite energy costs rising steadily, it's still very common to see people driving their cars alone, particularly in big cities. The OpenRide mobile service recently presented at the IFA exhibit in Berlin is a simple but effective idea that aims to save money while reducing our carbon footprint by providing an open infrastructure for organizing carpooling in a quick and convenient way. Read More

Nokia unveils sleek X-series range with two new models

By Paul Lester

04:07 September 6, 2009 PDT

Nokia's recently announced ‘X-series’, which currently consists of the X3 and X6, looks to build on the success of the XpressMusic series with some funky new styling and a healthy set of features. Read More

Incentivizing the masses - free music drives phone usage

By Paul Lester

14:44 August 30, 2009 PDT

Ever since services like the original Napster brought free (albeit illegal) music downloads to the world, the music industry has been quick to point the finger at pirates but slow to realize that digital content is clearly the way forwards. Since then, download services such as iTunes and streaming services like Spotify have introduced new business models to the masses and Orange is the latest to come up with an innovative new way to listen to tunes on the move. Read More

Nokia looking to get in the money

By Darren Quick

00:23 August 27, 2009 PDT

Nokia’s new Nokia Money service will let users send money, pay for products, recharge prepaid SIM cards and pay utility bills just by using the payee’s mobile phone number. Designed to be as simple as making a phone call or sending an SMS, the Nokia Money services will be accessible 24 hours a day anywhere there is mobile phone coverage. Read More

Concept bracelet phone leaves electricity behind

By Jeff Salton

20:53 August 25, 2009 PDT

For fashionable folk who enjoy the simple life but still need to be in contact with the rest of the world, comes the Leaf wearable bracelet phone concept. Great if you’ve run out of pockets or don’t want to carry a handbag, the Leaf is a wearable bracelet phone that incorporates solar cells for power on its front panel. Inspired by photosynthesis, the Leaf is pretty basic - good for making calls and texting only. However, designers Seungkyun Woo and Junyi Heo say it’s main objective is to “remind people that they can contribute to energy efficiency.” Read More

Calling all things retro - the Bluetooth Mini Phone

By Mick Webb

06:04 August 19, 2009 PDT

The ever expanding range of Bluetooth mobile accessories occasionally sees a quirky variation appear alongside the more traditional units. Joining the novelty ranks is the retro - inspired Bluetooth Mini Phone, which, as the name suggests is styled like a miniature phone handset. Read More

Mobile Exchange on Wheels to bolster telecommunications in disaster areas

By Jeff Salton

19:42 July 27, 2009 PDT

Devastating wildfires are burning around the Mediterranean this summer and down south, Australia is still recovering from its worst wildfire season in history in which more than 150 lives and 1800 homes were lost on ‘Black Saturday’. Telecommunications are paramount to helping save lives and direct fire-fighting efforts in wildfires but unfortunately, infrastructure such as mobile and fixed line phones and Internet services are often early casualties in fire ravaged areas. The country’s major telco, Telstra, has launched a portable solution to this issue with the unveiling of a AUD$200,000 Mobile Exchange on Wheels (MEOW) which can be quickly deployed to provide temporary fixed-line communications including broadband. Read More

LG’s concept GC990 Louvre camera phone packs a 12-megapixel camera

By Darren Quick

00:04 July 10, 2009 PDT

Samsung might have claimed line honors with the first 12-megapixel camera phone in the form of the Pixon 12, but LG are snapping at their heels with the LG GC990 Louvre, a 12 megapixel camera phone that got its first public showing at the Korea Products Exhibition in Warsaw of all places. Read More

HTC Magic review

By Gizmag Team

03:15 July 2, 2009 PDT

The first Android-powered phone to market, the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream), was an awkward device with its main appeal derived from the fact it was Android-powered. The HTC Magic is the second Android device to reach consumers, and in terms of hardware, it’s largely the same as its predecessor. The key difference is the move from a slide out, physical QWERTY keyboard to an iPhone-style on-screen keyboard. If you have your doubts as to whether this is enough to make the Magic an attractive device in an iPhone-crazed world, you might be surprised after reading Tim Hanlon's review of the HTC Magic over at The Mobiler. Read More

Mobile makers agree on standard micro-USB charger for Europe

By Michael Mulcahy

01:18 June 30, 2009 PDT

Are your cupboards full of old phone chargers? They seem to accumulate with every new mobile, and are rarely useful again. Hoping to change this wasteful scenario, the European Union have proposed – and ten leading manufacturers agreed to – a new standard that will see micro-USB charging devices used for all data-enabled mobile phones. The hope is that, within three to four years, mobiles and chargers will be sold separately in Europe, and they’ll all be compatible. Read More

National Geographic dual SIM phone makes great travel companion

By Michael Mulcahy

22:47 June 18, 2009 PDT

National Geographic’s new Duet Travel Phone is the ideal traveling companion: a dual SIM card mobile that lets you have two numbers in a single phone. So, no matter where you go in the world, you can always keep your own number while also having a low-cost one available for local use. Read More

Samsung jet - smartphone or not?

By Darren Quick

22:57 June 15, 2009 PDT

Samsung is touting the new Jet as “smarter than a smartphone”. Not sure how “smartness” is measured, but the claim probably stems from the beefy 800MHz processor powering the phone. However, opting for Samsung’s own TouchWiz 2.0 platform instead of a traditional smartphone operating system means the phone is more likely to fill a niche between feature phones and smartphones. Read More

LG shows off its new Prada phone with matching Bluetooth watch

By Darren Quick

22:50 June 8, 2009 PDT

Two and a half years after it released its first Prada phone, Korean electronics giant LG has revealed a successor. While it's a long time in the world of mobile phones, the updated LG-KF900 Prada phone does include a range of features not found on its predecessor, while retaining the same slick minimalist styling and touchscreen. LG has simplified accessorizing the Prada phone with the availability of the Prada Link, a Bluetooth digital watch that can remotely monitor phone calls as well as read SMS text messages. Read More

BudTrap – a $5 killer product with ridiculously complex distribution

By Mike Hanlon

02:14 June 8, 2009 PDT

Okay, hands up all those who spend too much time each day untangling the earbuds on their portable media devices? More than 200 million such portable media players are sold globally each year with numbers increasing, so it makes sense that there are a lot of man-hours being lost untangling earbuds. Now a simple and ingenious USD$5 device, named BudTrap, can save you those precious few minutes each day that you’ll never get back. There is, however, a catch … Read More

Eyes-Free dialing just a swipe of a finger away

By Mick Webb

21:47 June 3, 2009 PDT

Google engineers have shown an experimental “Eyes-Free” touch interface for Android powered mobile phones. Through tapping, sliding and releasing, the interface can be used to quickly enter a phone number without having to look at the screen, and it’s not only vision impaired users that are set to benefit from the technology. Read More

Green energy charger ready and pumped for UK's biggest music festival

By Paul Best

23:30 May 26, 2009 PDT

Mobile operator Orange and renewable energy specialists GotWind know they’ve hit on a good, marketable idea. The companies have joined forces for a third consecutive year to showcase their outdoor charging solution at next month's Glastonbury Festival, the United Kingdom’s largest and hippest open-air music bash. This year Orange has unveiled a mobile phone charger prototype it’s calling the Orange Power Pump. By treading on what is essentially a standard camping air foot-pump, the kinetic energy created drives a small turbine inside the Power Pump. The energy is converted into electrical current, which recharges the mobile phone. The idea is not only simple, it cleverly encourages you to dance and charge your mobile at the same time. Read More