phones

O2 Xda Argon for business, gadget fiends

Yesterday O2, the network that loves bubbles, announced it was adding a new handset to its business phone portfolio called the Xda Argon. The Argon is the long-awaited successor to the O2 Xda IIi and offers a similar feature set.

At the time of its launch back in 2005, the Xda IIi was a feature-packed, cutting-edge handset that appealed to executives and gadget fiends alike. Two years on and we're not sure if the Argon has the same wow factor.

Yes, there's a large 89mm (3.5-inch) color touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity and support for push email, but there'… Read more

Surround sound from the phone?

In the shotgun wedding between mobile phones and MP3 players, some handsets are trying to seize the upper hand by including larger speakers in their slender frames. The recently discovered "Super Audio Phone" from China, for example, has a speaker that makes it look something like an old-fashioned transistor radio.

Another model from Hong Kong is aiming to go a step further with several small built-in speakers to create 7.1 surround sound, according to Pocket-lint. Regardless of how well (or poorly) they perform, at least we know that they won't look as awkward as some snap-on … Read more

Photos: BlackBerry Curve announced for Cingular/AT&T

Ooo, we'd hate to be a RIM BlackBerry 8800 owner right now. Just months after the 8800's release, Research In Motion and Cingular/AT&T have released a sleeker, sexier model that will make you wish that you had waited a while longer. How the world of technology can be so cruel. The RIM BlackBerry Curve (aka BlackBerry 8300) is the smallest and lightest, full-QWERTY BlackBerry to date, and we're absolutely stoked on the design. We want to be clear that the BlackBerry 8300 is more about the revamped design rather than new features (read: still … Read more

Windows Mobile 6 upgrade arrives for T-Mobile Dash

Well, it's about gosh-darn time. T-Mobile Dash owners can finally get their hands on some Windows Mobile 6 goodness now that T-Mobile has officially announced the availability of the software upgrade. Starting tomorrow, Dash owners can go to T-Mobile.com and download the WM6 Standard Edition update for free. Among other things, the new OS brings:

Easier e-mail setup and an e-mail search function Support for popular IM clients including AOL, Yahoo, ICQ, and Windows Live Messenger Full Microsoft Office Mobile suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) with editing capabilities New Calendar ribbon

We got an advanced release of the … Read more

Can Silverlight hit this one outta the park?

Baseball fans will want to keep an eye on this promise. Microsoft's Silverlight could be used to bring live Major League Baseball to your mobile phone. The MLB folks were on stage at MIX in Las Vegas, showing off the next generation of baseball video services. Their capper was a live game on a Windows-enabled cell phone. We've embedded MLB's presentation to the left.

Take me out to the ball game

The Washington Nationals may not have the best record, but they're ahead of the game in creating new ways to use your cell phone. As of April 26, the team is letting fans use digital tickets on their handsets to gain admission to games. After buying a ticket from the team's Web site, you can request to have it sent directly to a phone in a multimedia message (MMS). You then take your phone directly to the admission gate where they scan the bar code from your handset's screen. Then it's off to enjoy the ball … Read more

Ringtone roundup: Beyonce shakes up the charts

Each week, we track the most popular ringtones.

Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" leaped from number 21 last week to the second spot on Billboard's ringtone chart. This is the largest single-week jump since I began following these charts. I know Beyonce did a remix of "Irreplaceable" with Ghostface Killah--maybe that's boosting the ringtone's popularity.

Unk's "2 Step" cracked the top five as well; it grabbed the no. 4 spot in its debut week. I was never a big fan of the crunk or Dirty South music, but Unk has grown … Read more

If the iPhone morphed into a watch

If anything can be said of the people at SMS Technology, it's that they don't waste any time. Only two months after the appearance of their "world's smallest phone"--a Dick Tracy-style watch communicator--the Australian company has already filed for a next-generation version that some say looks like an iPhone for the wrist.

Gadgetell reports that plans for the "M500," as it's called, have been filed with the FCC and that it includes "all your basic phone functions plus SMS texting, audio, video and Bluetooth." It also alsos feature a … Read more

iPhone snapshot: Harbinger or mirage?

OMG, an iPhone photo!

Apple fanatics who can't wait for the June launch of Apple's new iPhone got a little treat to tease them over the weekend: a photo allegedly taken with an iPhone popped up on Flickr.

The photo has since been taken down, but the data included with the images suggests it was taken with one of the as yet unreleased devices, and the specs seem to match with what Apple has promised for the iPhone. The photographer is apparently an Apple employee, but many bloggers noted that the EXIF data posted on Flickr can be … Read more

Using the power of the dark side for a good cause

Why is Darth Vader still the baddest of the bad? It's not because he has USB keys and hot-air balloons in his image, it's because he doesn't put up with jerks on their cell phones.

This commercial played Monday before a special screening of Star Wars for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.