By Andrew Liszewski

The one thing the brick-sized cellphones of the 90′s had going for them was that they could easily survive a fall from a 100-storey building and inflict more damage on the sidewalk than they received. For some reason though, today certain manufacturers think that it’s wiser to cover the front and back of certain phones with glass… have we learned nothing from our past?

And this is where the Grip-Ez enters the picture. It looks like a pair of completely ineffective brass knuckles made out of plastic, but it’s actually designed to ’3M’ to the back of your phone making it easier to grip, and harder to drop. The Grip-Ez folds down when not in use so your phone is still pocket-friendly, and they’re thankfully just $10 making them the next thing you’ll probably see cluttering up checkout counters.

[ Grip-Ez ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If your kids have been jonesing for a cellphone, but you’re not quite ready to deal with yet another monthly bill, these Electronic Text Messengers from Scholastic are kind of like walkie talkies for texting.

They have a wireless range of up to 600 feet and even work through walls so they’re not line-of-sight IR, and you can create a network of up to 24 of the handsets, though I’m not entirely sure if you can send a message to only a single device specifically. In the great tradition of Twitter, though taking things to a new extreme, the messengers can only send texts up to 40 characters in length, guaranteeing your kids will have to learn ‘text speak’ in order to squeeze as many ‘OMGs’ in there as they can.

A set of 2 is available from Amazon for just $16.99, no contract necessary.

[ Scholastic Electronic Text Messengers ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Today is just full of brilliant ideas for the iPhone. Though technically, this one works on many phones (they just chose the iPhone to demonstrate how even a good-looking phone can be made hideous), not just Apple’s powerhouse. This blight on your eyes is called the Earos, which apparently makes your phone more comfortable to hold against your ear.

I don’t know about you, but it takes an awful lot of talking on my phone to actually make my ear start to hurt. Which leads me to believe there is a cheaper alternative that will provide you with an even more comfortable experience. I like to call it “don’t talk on the phone so damn much.” Seriously, if you talk on the phone for so many hours each day that you’re thinking of adding a giant toilet seat-shaped accessory to your (now non-)mobile phone, I think you might want to re-think what you’re doing with your life. If you do actually want one of these things, you’ll have to wait until it gets out of the concept stage.

[ Yanko ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not particularly worried about cellphone radiation given how many amazing superpowers have been attributed to being exposed, but based on how many studies about mobile phones and radiation get funded, I assume some users are. But even if I was worried, I would probably just suck it up if this was the only alternative. The details are lacking to say the least, but the Zip Earzee is essentially a Bluetooth earpiece you wear as a wristband.

Presumably it’s got a built-in mic you speak into, but in order to hear an incoming call you have to pull out a small tethered speaker and hold it up to your ear, kind of like those old-timey wall-mounted phones of yesteryear. Why this is a better alternative to just popping in a small Bluetooth earpiece as needed is beyond me, though I guess it does keep those evil Bluetooth rays away from your brain.

[ Zip Earzee ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s kind of like swatting a mosquito with a brick, but if you’re sick and tired of reception issues with AT&T you might want to look into their new TerreStar Genus satellite smartphone. On the plus side you’ll have coverage literally anywhere in the United States with a direct view of the sky, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and surrounding waters, but that big advantage is kind of overshadowed by a long list of cons. For starters you’ll have to give up your iPhone or other smartphone of choice for a ‘plump’ $799 Windows Mobile 6.5 device, and if that price tag wasn’t enough of a sticker shock, the service plans will be.

The TerreStar Genus doesn’t require a contract surprisingly, but according to SkunkPost.com it does require a regular AT&T voice and data plan, plus an extra $25/month to have access to the satellite service. And then whenever you do make a satellite call you’ll be charged an additional 65cents/minute. But the satellite service offers data too so you don’t necessarily have to ever make a call, just don’t think you’re cheating the system since data costs a whopping $5 per megabyte! I mean the phone might save your life one day if you’re ever lost in the wilderness, but who wants to come home to that cellphone bill?

[ PR - TerreStar Genus™ Dual-Mode Cellular/Satellite Smartphone Now Available from AT&T ] VIA [ SkunkPost.com ]

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

By Chris Scott Barr

It has been a long time since I’ve used a pre-paid wireless phone. I belive the last one was a TracFone some 8 years ago. It was expensive, had the bare minimum of features and horrible customer service. I was happy to be rid of it when the time came. Needless to say, I’ve had no desire to go back to that subscription model again.

When I was given the chance to review a couple of phones with Boost Mobile‘s service, I thought it might be a good chance to see how much the market has changed . I’ve spent the last couple of weeks with a pair of their phones, specifically the BlackBerry Curve (retailing for $149) and Motorola i1 (retailing for $399). These, along with some of their “Re-Boost” cards gave me a good overview of their service.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

It doesn’t appear as if there’s been any improvements made to the hardware since the Pronto, but today Peek officially revealed their Peek 9 software update which still improves the device on many fronts.

Overall the Peek is claimed to be considerably faster now (up to 9 times coincidentally) which will be greatly appreciated since the Peek UI has always suffered from a bit of lag, though never unusable. It’s also claimed to have better reception thanks to software improvements, even where signal strength is low: “We’ve re-configured our wireless connectivity algorithms to help hold a signal longer and stronger in places with low or bad coverage, letting you take your mind off of how many bars you have and focus more on what matters.”

And while it still can’t be used to make calls, the Peek 9 gains even more smartphone-like functionality with weather and real-time location data via Google Maps, a Streams app for following RSS feeds and the ability to open more email attachments like Word docs, PDFs and even spreadsheets. The Peek 9 hardware will set you back $69.99 with service starting at $19.95/month (cheaper the more months you sign up for) or $99.99 which includes two months of service.

[ Peek 9 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Once again the bar has been raised when it comes to smartphone functionality, but the lastest salvo doesn’t come from the Apple, HTC or even RIM camps, but from a German company whose H’andy sana 2010 phone includes a built-in heart rate monitor. Targeted towards persons with cardiovascular disease who should be having an ECG more frequently than others, the phone simply requires the user to press two fingers against its edge for 30 seconds for a heart rate reading to be taken. The data can then be sent to a hospital or doctor for interpretation. Not only does it save a patient from having to make frequent trips to a hospital or medical facility, but there’s a greater chance of catching a problem or complication before it becomes a serious life threatening issue.

As for the phone, well it’s your standard touchscreen affair with a 320×240 pixel display, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a microSD card slot facilitating its multimedia capabilities like MP3 & video playback and most importantly, a heart-shaped icon on what I assume is the home button. Certainly makes the rounded square on the iPhone’s home button seem downright cold! And while I’ve no idea where you can get one, or if you have to buy it outright or can get it subsidized through a carrier, the H’andy sana 210 is supposed to be available starting this month.

[ H'andy sana 210 ] VIA [ I4U News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

A bag of rice is the simplest suggestion when it comes to drying out a cellphone or other electronic device that’s taken a plunge, but even if this Dryer Box from JMC Risk Solutions is nothing more than high-tech snake oil, I’d still be willing to give it a shot first. (What can I say? You may have noticed I have an affinity towards high-tech solutions.)

The boxes have been installed in a handful of Yodobashi Camera shops in Tokyo, and if your beloved device has taken on a bit of water all it takes is a 30-minute session inside to dry it out and get it working again. The ‘treatment’ costs 1,000 YEN, or about $12, and even though the manufacturer won’t divulge how it works, I’m more inclined to believe it does since you’re only charged if your device is successfully revived after the 30 minutes.

[ JMC Dryer Box ] VIA [ Gizmag ]