January 08, 2008
OpenMoko Neo Freerunner Linux Smartphone Hands-on
The Gadget: OpenMoko's just-announced Neo Freerunner, which is the mass-market version of their previous Neo 1973 phone. The Impressions: It uses the exact same UI as the previous version, but is actually really preliminary and buggy in the version we played with (it was power cycling for a short while). They assured us that the phone is really early in the development cycle. The UI looks nice and has glossy icons and not too much text (read: not too Linuxy for people who are afraid of Linux), but it's nothing you've never seen before if you've seen the OpenMoko phones. The hardware is solid and feels about as wide as the iPhone, but a bit thicker (with rounded corners). It's too early to tell how well this will do in the mass market, especially compared with the Google Android platform, but Freerunner does show promise.
From OpenMoko Neo Freerunner Linux Smartphone Hands-on
Posted by Alex at 11:46 AM
January 07, 2008
Blackberry 9000 Is Really an 8000-Series Phone
The Blackberry "9000" spy shot was the real goods, but it's actually just another 8000-series phone. Sorry guys, no touchscreen on this puppy. [BGR]
From Blackberry 9000 Is Really an 8000-Series Phone
Posted by Richard at 08:57 AM
Confirmed: Nokia N95 8GB USA Edition
Nokia just told me that the N95 8GB USA edition with HSDPA support for 3G is official.
From Confirmed: Nokia N95 8GB USA Edition
Posted by Stephen at 08:06 AM
December 19, 2007
LG KS20 Windows Mobile Phone Coming as LG MS25
The Unwired spotted the LG KS20 Windows Mobile smartphone on the FCC, noting that it's going to be called the LG MS25 when it reaches the US. Our guess is AT&T. [The Unwired via Boy Genius]
From LG KS20 Windows Mobile Phone Coming as LG MS25
Posted by Murray at 08:40 AM
Cellphones Conquer Land Lines for First Time in 2007
According to a recent piece in the NYTimes, 2007 will be the first year in which the dollars spent on cellphone subscriptions trump traditional land lines. Among other points, they site that in 2006, households spend an average of $542 on residential lines while only spending $524 on wireless services. Add another year of cellphone growth to those figures, and it's hard to believe that land lines are still king. What about your household? In mine, we definitely spend more on our cells than our obligatory, barebones land line. Of course, if you factored in all of our wired services (including internet and television), the phones lose by a small margin. [nyt]
From Cellphones Conquer Land Lines for First Time in 2007
Posted by Matt at 08:15 AM
December 15, 2007
CellCoach Trains You To Not Use Cellphones In the Car
Aimed at parents of teenagers who just can't get their offspring to stop using a cellphone in the car, the CellCoach emits a high-pitched beep whenever it detects cellphone traffic. The result? A really annoying noise that reinforces the fact that they shouldn't text or call while driving. It installs "permanently" under the car's dashboard so your kid can't remove it, and should be a much cheaper alternative to actually talking to your kids and teaching them right from wrong. What? They're bastards. Oh and it would be an awesome prank to pull on a buddy. [NewsWireToday via Textually via Shiny Shiny]
From CellCoach Trains You To Not Use Cellphones In the Car
Posted by Alex at 04:59 PM
December 12, 2007
Android Shown Up and Running on Japanese Phone Prototype
Japanese cellphone company Willcom has shown the new Android phone OS up and running on phone hardware (although a reference board and not an actual phone), demonstrating multitasking functionality such as answering a call while browsing Google Maps. Can you feel the excitement?! Android isn't going to be all that exciting until user-made apps come along to make the open-source OS live up to its pedigree, but until then it's still fun to follow it's march towards being loaded on a real phone you can actually use. [Keitai Watch via Digital World Tokyo]
From Android Shown Up and Running on Japanese Phone Prototype
Posted by Murray at 04:30 PM
December 08, 2007
Parrot Mimics Ringtone to Torture His Owner
Parrot "Billy" is the newest contender for Official Gizmodo Mascot 2007, were such contests to exist (which though they may, we'd never award a bird the honor since birdfights aren't all that lucrative). Whenever his keeper leaves the room, the parrot mimics his cellphone ringer, sending the man into a mad dash for his phone...only to be laughed at by a bird. But the best part? The owner has changed his ringer five times, but the bird keeps learning the new tunes, including Nokia theme, Mambo Number 5, the BBC Match of the Day tune, Soul Limbo and No Woman No Cry. And it's funny because we're sitting over here, where one doesn't deal with the mad dashes across the house...or the guilt of eating chicken. [thesun via spluch]
From Parrot Mimics Ringtone to Torture His Owner
Posted by Perry at 12:58 PM
