Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t have anything wrong with people using cellphones, I just don’t understand why so many of them feel that they have to talk so loud on them. On a daily basis the idiots across the hall from where I work will wander out into the hallway and talk on their phones like they’re in the middle of a noisy construction site. And on a daily basis I wish I had access to a device like this portable cell phone jammer so I could interrupt their completely inane conversations.

As you can see, the device is not much bigger than an iPhone (though probably thicker) but will create a dome of cellular silence for about 32 feet in all directions. The blocked frequencies include GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900, CDMA800, WCDMA/CDMA2000, PHS, DECT and even 3G. The battery’s only good for about 1.5 hours of jamming, but you probably only need it to operate long enough for people to realize that they’ll have to go somewhere else to find ‘better reception.’ And as GeekAlerts points out, the $246 price tag unfortunately means you’ll actually be spending more to block an iPhone, than to buy one.

[ Hand-held Portable Universal Cell Phones Jammer ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I know the Amish are anti-technology and all, but I can only assume there has to be a handful of teenagers in every village who would be willing to bend the rules for a cellphone. And while the Maple Phone really wasn’t created to be Amish-friendly, I think the fact that it looks like a block of wood when not in use would help someone who’s not suppose to have a phone keep it a secret. In reality the Maple Phone concept was designed by Hyun Jin Yoon and Eun Hak Lee to not only look stylish, but also be potentially cheaper to mass produce. The phone features a sliding mechanism that keeps the screen hidden when not in use, and the touch sensitive keypad uses a backlight that’s visible right through the wood finish. Best of all you can customize the phone’s appearance with nothing but a switch-blade, a rocking chair and an afternoon of whittlin’.

[ Camera Phones Plaza - Maple Phone ] VIA [ TOYS and GADGETs ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re concerned about the iPhone’s overall size and the varied reports about its battery life, I don’t think the iPhoneck Backup Battery solution is going to entice you to make the upgrade. While it provides the iPhone with an external 1300-1400 mAh lithium-polymer battery that can recharge it in about an hour and a half, it also adds about 2 or 3 inches to the length of the phone when attached. Sure it’s designed to match the contours of the new iPhone 3G (though the first gen iPhone is pictured) but you probably don’t want to carry this thing in your pocket while you’re topping up the battery. The iPhoneck Backup Battery ’should’ be released on August 1 according to the iPhoneck website, and will sell for $42.99.

[ iPhoneck Backup Battery ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Luke Anderson

Am I the only one that’s a little disturbed by the concept of throwaway phones? You know, the junkie little phones that you find in your local gas station that come loaded with an hour or so of minutes. Well the concept is so popular that even BIC has hopped on the bandwagon.

I’m not really sure what prompted the company most well-known for their cheap pens and disposable razors to make a cell phone, but it will be available in Europe starting next month for around $80. Out of the box it has 60 minutes already loaded and a full battery, so you need do nothing more than start dialing. Once your minutes are up you can just toss the phone (I’d suggest recycling it) or you can activate it through Orange to keep using it.

[ Orange ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The Sony Ericsson T610 was the first GSM phone I ever owned, and even though it was released over 5 years ago, I still see a lot of people using them today. (Mine was sold to a friend and eventually met an untimely death in a washing machine.) It was probably one of SE’s most popular handsets to date and the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog is reporting that the company is actually planning a remake. There’s no official product name yet for the T610 sequel, just the codename Remi, but I think something like T610-2: Judgement Phone has a nice ring to it. Other details about the phone are a bit scarce, but since it will apparently be based on the W890 platform, the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog has made a few guesses.

The new T610 is a slim candy bar phone based on the W890 hardware platform. This means we’re looking at a phone with a waistline at about 10 millimetres, and it will probably end up at 10.5 centimetres in length, and 4.7 centimetres in width, but my assumptions are based solely on W890’s dimensions. Parts of the body are apparently aluminium, which seems rather nice, and much T610-like as well.

So… specifications. It’s running the A2 software platform, like the W890 and many others, and it’s an HSDPA-enabled phone. The camera on the back is a 3.2 mega pixel one, unfortunately only with fixed focus.

Of course at this time there’s also no information on pricing, release dates or where it will actually be made available.

[ Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog - Exclusive: Sony Ericsson’s T610 remake ] VIA
[ Unwired View ]

By Jonathan Kimak

So you want a portable charger for your phone or mp3 player but the solar powered iPod is years away from reality. Instead you could try the Dance Charge.

A company called GotWind worked with music company Orange to create the Dance Charge. Weighing 180 grams the charger wraps around your arm and uses the kinetic energy from your body’s movement to power the battery. You can then plug in your phone or other electronic device to the charger to power it up.

The Dance Charger isn’t available for sale yet, but a prototype is being used at the Glastonbury Festival and will hopefully survive the mosh pit.

When it does come out and you use this and can only charge your phone up to 1 bar of power after a day’s worth of movement, it’s probably a sign that you need to get out of the office more often.

VIA [ Crave.Cnet ]

By Jonathan Kimak

Dan Fletcher, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, along with a team of students, has developed a microscope attachment for the digital cameras on cell phones. The CellScope as it is named, attaches over the camera lens of the phone and has a clip that can hold sample slides.

It’s good enough to be able to see individual blood cells up close and has been tested to diagnose malaria. Dan Fletcher’s hope is that the microscope can be a cheap(estimated cost $100) and fast method of providing diagnosis of diseases in remote areas of the world.

A doctor (or really anyone who took high school science) can make a sample slide of blood, insert it into the microscope, snap a picture of it and send it to anyone in the world, provided they can pull themselves away from texting their buddies about the latest gadgets.

Saving the world from diseases is a fine and noble cause, but they shouldn’t forget about the market of college guys who would buy this so they could determine what exactly is growing on top of the food in the back of their fridge.

[ The Economist ] VIA [ Popgadget ] AND [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Sony Ericsson is planning to drop 3 new Bluetooth headsets on June 17. While the HBH-PV-715, the HBH-PV-720 and the HBH-PV-740 all vary in style and certain features, they do have some traits in common. According to the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog the new headsets will feature a whopping 800 hours of battery life in standby mode, or about 11 hours of talk time. They’ll also include auto-pairing, digital noise reduction, removable ear hooks and Bluetooth 2.0 ‘enhanced data rates’ for a more stable connection with your phone.

The HBH-PV-715 pictured on the left is the cheapest of the 3 headsets and basically just comes in two different versions with black or white trim. The HBH-PV-720 pictured in the middle is a step up since it allows you to swap out the trim’s design with other ‘StyleUp’ covers, and also includes a carrying pouch and silver necklace. Finally, the HBH-PV-740 on the right adds a small status display and is the only model to come with a desk stand and USB charger. (As well as the aforementioned silver necklace.)

[ HBH-PV-715 / 720 / 740 Bluetooth Headsets ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Luke Anderson

A while back I made the switch from a Helio Ocean to a Mysto. The Mysto is a great device, but I’ve been missing the full QWERTY keyboard like crazy. I keep telling myself that I’ll just wait for an Ocean 2 to come along, because I know that the minute I go and purchase another Ocean, they’ll release an upgrade.

It seems that the gang over at Engadget have spotted what they believe to be Ocean 2. The believed specs on this phone include a 3MP camera, dual-slider function, 1GB of internal storage (with a microSDHC for external storage) in-browser Flash support, 30fps video recording, touch-sensitive directional pad and the ability to sync with your PC.

Hopefully most of this rumor ends up having some truth behind it. Heck, maybe they can get around to releasing it before the 3G iPhone comes out. Here’s to hoping!

VIA [ Engadget Mobile ]