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Tag Archives: Cellphones

How’s A $21 Nokia Phone Fancy Ya?

By David Ponce on 04/12/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

Of course, you’ll have to go to Nigeria to get your hands on one. It’s called the Nokia 103 and is the Finnish giant’s cheapest ever. And it’s also probably one of the simplest looking to come out of their labs in recent memory. And yet, given the price and it’s appearance, it’s got some decent features:

Apart from its fresh look, durable anti-scratch cover and anti-dust keyboard, the Nokia 103 is designed with long lasting battery life – 27 days standby time and up to 11 hours of talk time. Other features include built-in flashlight, FM radio, speaking clock and MP3 grade ringtones.

Of course this is a good strategy for Nokia, seeing as the higher end of the market is so crowded and margins so thin. There’s a huge segment of the world’s population that still doesn’t own a mobile phone for simple economic reasons and this market already represents a good chunk of the company’s business.

VIA [ NewLaunches ]

US Cellphone Carriers Will Start Blocking Stolen Phones On Their Networks

By David Ponce on 04/10/12 • 2 Comments

By David Ponce

We can’t really understand why it’s taken so long, but there are talk that the big four US carriers will being implementing a plan to thwart phone theft by blocking their use on their combined networks. The reasoning behind this of course is that a phone that can no longer be used is of no value to anyone, thus less likely to be stolen in the first place. We’re surprised it’s taken this long simply because a similar plan has already been in place in the UK for several years, with a very high success rate.

And while this is good news, we’re also saddened that the effort is likely to take quite some time to implement.

“We are working toward an industry wide solution to address the complexity of blocking stolen devices from being activated on ours or another network with a new SIM card,” said a T-Mobile spokesperson, “This is not a simple problem to solve.”

Not simple indeed. Word is that the central database will be ready within 18 months, and that regional carriers will then come in 6 months after that for a complete rollout within two years.

VIA [ Engadget ]

MultiTap Brings T9 Back To Smartphones

By David Ponce on 04/03/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

I remember sending my first SMSs on my old Nokia using multitap. Not T9, but turtle-slow multitap. I was too lazy to learn how T9 worked and would make do with the slow method. Then one day a friend told me “type your word, and don’t look at the screen until you’re done.” Holy crap! It was like going from dialup to broadband: T9 was awesome! And that’s the way things stayed until I got an iPhone and never looked back. But there are those still nostalgic for that T9 feel and this application, MultiTap, wants to cash in on that. The app lets you use T9 as well as “Abc, ABC and 123.”

It’s $1.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

iRetroPhone Brings Back The Rotary Phone For The Apple Age

By David Ponce on 03/20/12 • 3 Comments

By David Ponce

There are certainly some of you reading who have no idea what a rotary phone is. We’re looking at you, 90′s born kids… But for the rest of us, the above iRetroPhone docking station/cradle will either make us cringe or lust. Or leave us indifferent… Really, we’ve no idea how it’ll make anyone react so lets just cover all the bases. The iRetroPhone cradles your iPhone, charges it, lets you sync if you want, plugs into the 3.5mm jack and lets you make phone calls old school style. You can even download an application that will replicate the rotary dialler for an even better simulation.

As a matter of fact, there’s a bunch of features on this thing, much too many to list here. It works with iPods, old iPhones, iPads, even Android devices. There’s a noise reduction system, a radiation absorber… Just hit the link below to see all the features. Out here you get to find out that if this floats your boat, you’re looking at a wallet ding of $100.

[ Product Page ]

Sony’s Xperia Sola Is A Touchscreen Phone Without The Touch

By David Ponce on 03/14/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

This phone’s specs are boring. Lame. So lets get that part out of the way first: “1GHz dual-core processor, 3.7-inch Reality Display, Android 2.3 (upgradable to 4.0 ICS) and NFC.” I’m getting goosebumps. But there is one saving grace, and it’s a decent one: this phone doesn’t require you to actually touch the screen for you to be able to use it. You simply hover your fingertip and a cursor will move about until you’ve placed it over the link you wish to select. Then it’s a simple matter of tapping once. Calum MacDougall, Head of XperiaMarketing for Sony Mobile Communications, commented; “Xperia sola
comes with the power of Sony and a sense of magic with floating touch, giving consumers a fun new way to browse the web.”

The company expects that as the feature matures, applications will be developed to take advantage of the new functionality.

VIA [ DVice ]

Braille Mobile Phone Concept Should Become Reality

By David Ponce on 02/22/12 • 2 Comments

By David Ponce

Very few of you reading this website right now are blind. It’s hard to imagine how hard life can be for the visually impaired and as a tech writer, I can affirm that tech made specifically with them in mind is rather rare. Especially when it comes to smartphones, there really isn’t much. The DrawBraille Mobile Phone concept that Shikun Sun envisions can only be used by the blind, or anyone that would have taught themselves to read Braille. Almost any piece of computing tech requires inputs, which are then manipulated by the software and output in a manner that the user can interpret. In this case, the flatter section is the input area of the phone, where a braille user can form letters and digits. And the other half is obviously the output, where a matrix of six-dotted regions can physically change to produce words the user can touch and read.

But sadly, the above is nothing more than a concept. We hope that some manufacturer could one day make this, although we’re doubtful as making a cellphone is a costly enterprise and the visually impaired are a demographic unlikely to make a good ROI.

Still, hit the jump for a series of renderings and a video.

… Continue Reading

Scosche cellCONTROL Disables Phone While Car Is In Motion

By David Ponce on 01/23/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

Scosche has a product out that disables your cell phone while the wheels on your vehicle are spinning. It relies on a trigger adapter that connects to any car’s OBD-II port and detects when you’re in motion. Once the app is installed on the phone, the system activated and the trigger installed, anything but handsfree calling is disabled. No texting, emailing or watching YouTube videos while driving.

Now, you might say “What’s the point when you can just unplug the trigger?” And you’d have a point if this system was destined for you. But it’s destined for mostly young drivers and fleet drivers. See, if you remove the trigger, the application sends an email of a text to the administrator of the system. That can be a concerned dad or a responsible fleet manager. And just like that, letting the kids drive the car became a little safer for everyone.

Here’s the only problem: it doesn’t appear to work on iPhones! The website lists “All Android 2.1 and above, all BlackBerry 4.5 and above, all Windows Mobile 5 & 6, all Symbian S60 (3rd Edition) and select Brew and BREWMP systems.” And “RIM, HTC, Samsung, Sanyo, Motorola, Nokia, Pantech, LG, Palm, Sony Ericsson and more.” There’s no mention of Apple or iOS anywhere. Still, lots of people don’t own iPhones.

It’s $129.

[ Product Page ]

SpareOne Cellphone Runs On Single AA Battery

By David Ponce on 01/18/12 • 3 Comments

By David Ponce

Before they became pocket computing machines, cellphones had but one job: to make calls. That’s arguably still the most useful feature, at least when you’re in an emergency situation. The SpareOne cellphone is seeking to be your backup phone. Simple as that. It’s not fancy, there’s no touchscreen and is as dumb as a bat. But it does run on a single AA battery which, guess what, is a lot easier to find than your particular mobile’s Li-whatever powerpack. If the power’s out, or you’re stuck in the woods, you’ll be glad you kept this around. It’ll let you talk for 10 hours on that one battery but more importantly… will standby for 15 years! It takes SIM cards, so the idea is to take your dead phone’s SIM card out and insert it in this one. And even if you don’t have a SIM around, you can still call 911 with it.

At $50, you can even keep a few around, just in case. Available in March.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

Find My Car Smart App For The Truly Forgetful

By David Ponce on 12/20/11 • 1 Comment

By David Ponce

There are a ton of apps that help you find your car once you’ve forgotten where you parked it. They all suffer from a fatal flaw: you have to tell them where you’ve parked as you leave your car. Let’s be honest here: after a while, you’ll also start forgetting to do this. So that’s why the Find My Car Smart app one-ups them all. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the application works with a paired-up USB adapter that shuts off as you turn your car’s ignition off. The program on your iPhone 4S notices this and makes a quick note of your GPS coordinates. If you later can’t recall your spot, launch the app and find out. Yes, you do need an iPhone 4S as that’s the only iDevice that uses Bluetooth 4.0, now known as Bluetooth Smart.

The app and related USB dongle and car charger are on the one place where people with good ideas can connect directly with the marketplace: Kickstarter. However, the funding goals have been more than reached and you can get yourself the entire kit for as little as $30. Shipping in January 2012.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Engadget ]

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