Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Chinavasion is touting this cellphone watch as a new and improved model over the one they were previously selling. While the design still leaves a lot to be desired, I have to admit it does manage to cram a lot of functionality into a tiny package. It’s a tri-band GSM phone (900, 1800, 1900) with a 1.3 inch TFT LCD touchscreen that looks like it’s only usable via a stylus. That’s probably why it includes a very small telescoping one that can be stored in the watch. And even though the screen only has a resolution of 128×160 pixels, the OS still includes everything from an organizer to a pretty robust phonebook to a file manager and even games. If that’s not enough they’ve also found room for a 1.3 megapixel camera that can capture stills and movies, as well as a microSD card slot allowing you to use it as an MP3 or video player if you don’t mind squinting.

At the moment Chinavasion doesn’t list a price for the Special Edition Cellphone Watch, but I imagine it will fall between $150 to $200. And if you’re interested, just let me warn you that the site doesn’t exactly have the cheapest shipping rates. Unless maybe you’re planning to buy 100 of them.

[ Special Edition Cellphone Watch ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Over the years there have been many studies on the dangers of radiation and electromagnetic fields from cellphones. Some have said it’s perfectly safe, while others feel it’s really dangerous. But why listen to someone else’s findings when you can conduct your own research and come to your own conclusions with this handheld EMF detector. It measures both radio frequency radiation as well as extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and should give you a pretty good idea of which electronics in your home are the worst offenders. Of course the readings given by the CellSensor don’t exactly fall into a ’safe’ or ‘not-safe’ category since I’m pretty sure there’s no definite guidelines yet. But don’t let that stop you from publishing your own research on the dangers of cellphones and see if it makes the 6 o’clock news like so many before it.

The CellSensor is available from X-Treme Geek.com for $29.95 and runs off a single 9V battery which is not included.

[ CellSensor EMF Detector ] VIA [ IT Rush ]

By Evan Ackerman

I’m not much of a cell phone person. I’d like to be, but I’m not… The phone I have now (some sort of Samsung slider thing) exists for the sole purpose of making phone calls. Novel, I know. And until I got a chance to spend some time with a phone that does a little more, I didn’t really have any idea what I was missing. Read my full review of the Kyocera Wild Card cellphone, on Virgin Mobile’s 3G network, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Luke Anderson

For those Helio users out there (like me) that also use Gmail (again, just like me) you’ll be happy to hear that you can now get push Gmail on your Fin, Mysto or Ocean. Google has selected Helio to be the first carrier to utilize the service.

Setting this up is a breeze. If you’ve already been checking your Gmail with your device, just go to your inbox and hit send/receive. You’ll get a message asking if you want to enable new email alerts. Just hit yes and you’re good to go.

VIA [ Boy Genius ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re a cellphone nut who demands all the latest features and advancements in their handset, you’re probably going to pass on the LG Secret. But if you’re a photographer or amateur videographer, the Secret might have one feature that would be hard to pass up. The 5 megapixel camera can record video directly to the Divx format at speeds of up to 120 frames per second. So it’s the perfect phone if you’re walking home and happen to encounter a Michael Bay-esque action sequence or giant tanker truck explosion.

Other features of the LG secret include a carbon fiber case which is not only strong, but also looks really cool. 100MB of internal memory that can be expanded with a microSD card, Bluetooth, a sliding keypad, FM radio, support for Microsoft Office documents and a Google package for surfing the web, accessing Gmail or watching YouTube videos. It will be available in May starting with a European launch, followed by Asia, South America and then the rest of the world.

[ LG Secret ] VIA [ PhotographyBLOG ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Looking to keep an eye on your property, employees or baby sitter? While the ConnectVu Cam 3G is not exactly the most subtle solution to the problem (unless you can stuff it in a large teddy bear) it does allow you to monitor the video signal from a 3G cellphone. The camera itself features a 352×288 pixel CCD with viewing angles of 58° diagonal, 46° horizontal and 38° vertical. It’s actually designed to be tied into an existing alarm system, and when the alarm goes off, the camera will automatically call your cellphone (up to 5 numbers can be programmed) allowing you to monitor the situation in real time.

The camera also features infrared LEDs for use at night, and a small microphone for hearing what’s going on around it. The camera’s settings can be adjusted by simply sending it an SMS text message, and it features a USB connection for software updates. The internal battery is good for about 250 hours of standby time and about 4 hours for a continuous video call. The camera can also be connected to an external power source if you intend to use it for longer than that.

[ ConnectVu Cam 3G ] VIA [ MobileWhack ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s hard to say if having your phone strapped to your wrist will one day be the norm, but when it comes to features the Epoq EGP-WP98B can give a lot of larger cellphones a run for their money. Besides running Windows Mobile 5.0, the watchphone has a 1.4 inch OLED touch screen display and features a quad-band GSM radio with GPRS. It includes support for WMV, AVI, 3GP, MP4 and MP3 media files with full screen playback and while the 128MB of internal memory is limited, it can be expanded with a trans-flash memory card. (It includes a 1GB t-flash card.)

The phone also features a WAP and web browser, and if you don’t feel like paying GPRS fees, it even has wifi b & g. Other software includes calendar functions, a voice recorder, e-book reader, handwriting input, MMS, calculator, memo and world clock. Since it’s running Windows Mobile you can probably install other apps as well, but you’ll want to make sure they’re compatible with a 1.4 inch display. As for battery life, it’s claimed the Epoq EGP-WP98B has 100-180 minutes of talk time per charge, with 80-100 hours of standby. Unfortunately I have no details on pricing, availability or whether or not this is an April Fool’s prank that slipped under the radar.

[ Epoq EGP-WP98B Watchphone ]

By Evan Ackerman

I really, really want a watch phone. I use my cellphone for two things: making phone calls, and checking the time, so if someone can stuff all that into a wrist-sized gadget and then actually produce and sell the thing, it would make me very happy. LG is working on one, and Epoq had something about a month ago (that is still not available, BTW), but this watchphone from Van Der Led has the distinction of being in physical existence and supposedly for sale right now (although their website isn’t working for me). The phone itself has average specs (quad band GSM, stereo Bluetooth, 260k color touchscreen display, 1gb storage, and 240 hours / 300 mins of standby / talk time), but I really like the numberpad on the wristband. Sure, it’s a little bit ugly and bulky, but not so much of either that I wouldn’t wear one.

The Van Der Led WM2 should be about $475 if you can find it somewhere.

[ Van Der Led ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While it was announced back in October at their “The Way We Live Next” event in Finland, Nokia was actually showing off their Shoot-to-Translate mobile phone application at CTIA this year. The program is able to translate Chinese to English by simply taking a photo of the text to be converted. Unfortunately there’s not much else known about the app, including how it works and if it will support other languages, if and when it’s ever released. In fact it could just be a technology demo for all we know, so hopefully Nokia will release some more substantial info about it.

And I wasn’t aware that ’soup’ can actually be considered an ingredient. Maybe the example text used in that photo is a recipe on how to make a boring dinner.

VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I think I’ve only ever seen one of Nokia’s Prism phones in the wild, and given their unique design, you’d think they’d be easy to spot. So I’m kind of surprised to see the company introducing new models in the Prism line. I guess somewhere the phones must be popular. The Nokia 7070 clamshell has the distinctive diamond-cut angles that gives the Prism phones their name, and while it’s not exactly cutting edge in terms of technology, the $80 price tag is sure to appeal to plenty of consumers.

It features a 1.8 inch 128×160 pixel TFT display, colored accent lighting on the outside, MP3 and polyphonic ringtones, a whopping 11MB of storage for downloads, 3D animated menus running on the Symbian Series 40 UI, quad band GSM, a 2.5mm headphone jack and even a voice recorder. If you run with a gadget-minded crowd it’s not going to impress anyone, but if your friends are all about style, it could turn a few heads.

[ Nokia 7070 Prism ] VIA [ Mobilewhack ]