December 27, 2007
FCC Leaks Details on the Motorola ROKR E8
The FCC has just leaked details on the heretofore unannounced Motorola ROKR E8. The candybar phone has an illuminated touch keypad that disappears when not in use, making the thing look totally buttonless save the control wheel up top. It's got haptic feedback of some kind, and it also has "a landscape display, micro-USB port, sliding key lock switch, camera, stereo Bluetooth, EDGE data and a microSD memory card slot located under the battery cover." Good times. [PhoneScoop]
From FCC Leaks Details on the Motorola ROKR E8
Posted by Stephen at 12:15 PM
December 22, 2007
Gadget Gives "Watching Your Butthole" in Prison a Whole New Meaning [Can You Hear Me
In order to combat the rising number of mobile phones smuggled into prisons, the UK Government is considering installing the Boss II scanner chair in every jail in England and Wales. The Boss makes every inmate its bitch thanks to three sensitive sensors that can detect internally hidden metal items as small as a pin or a sim card. Two Boss chairs are already being used in local prisons and have helped detect 21 mobile phones since April. At first it may seem like a lot of trouble (and pain) to go through just to make a very foul-smelling phone call now and then, but it appears that the inmates can use the phones to make drug deals or intimidate witnesses on the outside. All I know is that I would hate to be the guy at the prison who had to "retrieve" those phones. [Times Online]
From Gadget Gives "Watching Your Butthole" in Prison a Whole New Meaning [Can You Hear Me
Posted by Jason at 11:27 AM
December 18, 2007
Nokia Triple Slider Concept Goes Over the Top
Based on a recent patent entitled "A Layered Mobile Device," Nokia may be saying "to hell" with the clean and simple design trend with a triple slider concept that goes all in. The device would feature a numeric keypad (with a dedicated set of multimedia keys on the back) and a QWERTY keyboard layered on top of one another. The kind of sliding motions they are proposing here are complex to say the least '"probably too complex to be truly practical. Only time will tell if the design sees the light of day as an actual product. [Patent via Unwired View]
From Nokia Triple Slider Concept Goes Over the Top
Posted by Doug at 05:54 PM
December 11, 2007
8 New Kewpie Doll Cellphone Charms Crank the Weirdness to 11
If you recall some of the previous Kewpie cellphone charms, you know a special blend of creepy weirdness is par for the course. The latest installment keeps the tradition alive with 8 new figures that are guaranteed to make you feel uncomfortable. Each doll will set you back around $6 '" so collect them all (you sick freaks). Hit the jump for an even more bizarre promotional video. [Product Page via InventorSpot]
From 8 New Kewpie Doll Cellphone Charms Crank the Weirdness to 11
Posted by Tom at 11:57 AM
December 04, 2007
Millionaire Fair Features $1.2M Phone, Other Baubles for the Fabulously Dumb [Cellphones]
For those of you who thought the iPhone was too expensive, brace yourselves for the crap that turned up at Russia's Millionaire Fair. A gold and diamond-encrusted phone'"possibly the customized Vertu shown above'"costs a jaw-dropping $1.2 million. (Cash only, please.) Does it do anything particularly exciting that other handsets can't, like neutralize your enemies with hot lasers? No, but its SIM card will let you make an unlimited amount of local calls from anywhere in the world, courtesy of an unnamed Russian mobile phone carrier. Other insanely unnecessary products on display for the semi-legitimate businessmen and their trophy 23-year-old wives: ' $1-million Icelink rims (but Bentley and bodyguard come free with purchase) ' Swarovsky-covered Mercedes Benz, for people who think Bentleys are, you know, gauche ' Attractive six-faced watch'"why settle for just one face when you're a millionaire? ' The world's largest Christmas tree made of pure gold'"Guinness Book of World Records is still verifying the claim ' "Golden" 6,500-euro Casa Bugatti coffee maker, presumably the consolation prize for millionaires who didn't get to buy the Christmas tree [Millionaire Fair via Bornrich]
From Millionaire Fair Features $1.2M Phone, Other Baubles for the Fabulously Dumb [Cellphones]
Posted by Perry at 04:24 PM
December 01, 2007
Hands-On with the Samsung SGH-i620 Smartphone Slider [Cellphones]
Vincent from SlashGear just got a hands-on with Samsung's new SGH-i620, otherwise known as the Sangria, a slim slider smartphone with an iPod-like touchwheel on the front. As we reported back in May, it's loaded up with Windows Mobile and has Wi-Fi, a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and MicroSD expandability. Unfortunately for us, word from Samsung is that the chances of this thing hitting the States anytime soon are slim to none, but we can at least look from afar. Head on over to SlashGear to check out the hands-on pics and video. [SlashGear]
From Hands-On with the Samsung SGH-i620 Smartphone Slider [Cellphones]
Posted by Sean at 10:46 AM
November 27, 2007
Cellphone's Secret Compartment Stores Bluetooth Headset, Drugs
Here's the Star NX788, a cellphone with dual SIM card slots and matching dual dial keys. Brian says that the best feature, however, is the secret compartment that can hold a Bluetooth headset and charge it at the same time'"hopefully only when the cellphone is connected to a power source. I say that the best feature is that it is manufactured in China and it will probably never leave that country. Another image and obligatory poll after the jump: Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser. [HKSincere]
From Cellphone's Secret Compartment Stores Bluetooth Headset, Drugs
Posted by Alex at 10:00 AM
November 17, 2007
Google Going It Alone in Wireless Spectrum Auction to Open Own Wireless Network
The Wall Street Journal details a lot of the "strong signals" Google's going to bid in the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction in order to launch a wireless network of its own. Aside from openly declaring "we are making all the necessary preparations to become an applicant to bid," what's really compelling is that back at its headquarters, Google is already operating an advanced high-speed wireless network under a test license from the FCC, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has erected transmission towers on its campus for the network. Prototype mobile handsets powered by the Android software are currently running on it. More over, according to the usual "people familiar with the matter," they're grinding out a plan to toss in all $4.6 billion or more all on their own because going in with partners promises complications in bidding setup and outcomes, as well as pissing off company A by going in with company B. Why even jump into the messy, messy world of network operation when they've already got a hand in the jar with Android? The feel-good reason is that Google wants networks to be more open and competitive to drive more innovation and better, unrestricted services without artificial carrier walls and lockdowns. The selfish side is that open networks mean carriers can't make it hard to use Google's wares or make Google pay carriers to get at customers. There's also the potential revenue of subscriber fees'"hey, open doesn't mean free'"and ads across the network, according to at least one analyst group. Whatever Google decides, we'll know by Dec. 3, the deadline for declaring an intent to bid. And should they win, don't cream your jeans about the wild, woolly West of an open wireless network just yet, since Google'"and any other winners'"won't get their hands on the network until 2009, when analog broadcasts go dark. [WSJ]
From Google Going It Alone in Wireless Spectrum Auction to Open Own Wireless Network
Posted by Mel at 03:26 PM
