Phones

By the time the iPhone launches in June, its user interface may be old news.

The iPhony skin for Palm OS mimicked iPhone's interface, but it was mostly a skin-deep imitation. More iPhone skins were developed for other phones. One also was created for Windows Mobile, but it was yanked for legal reasons.

The latest skin we've seen is the most full-featured of the rip-offs.

YouTube user tzywen has created an impressive iPhone interface for Windows Mobile, complete with a sliding unlock button and one-touch launch buttons for several apps. Of course, it also mimics the iPhone's … Read more

Motorola's thin, shiny Krzr K1 will conclude its sweep of the cell phone world next month when it heads to T-Mobile, the lone holdout of the national carriers. The T-Mobile bird over at Reaper PC/PDA has been singing a lot lately with news of T-Mobile/Moto marriages. First, it told us of the sexy Motorola Rizr Z3 and now it shows us a T-Mobile Krzr K1 promotional sheet. T-Mobile's Krzr comes in a rather boring silver "quartz" color as opposed to Cingular's eye-catching blue, but the feature set is largely the same. There's … Read more

No, Samsung didn't launch a direct competitor to the LG Chocolate (though I wouldn't put it past them) but they did introduce a chocolate-colored phone. I admit I wasn't quite expecting it, but the company today unveiled the Samsung SGH-T219 for T-Mobile. Though technically it's an upgrade from the Samsung SGH-T209, the SGH-T219's simple flip phone design actually looks more like the Samsung SGH-T619 (minus the camera lens), which also lives at T-Mobile. The phone is available in both red and chocolate, which unlike LG's black Chocolate is just a basic brown. Features are … Read more

Here at Crave, we've been patiently awaiting the launch of Verizon's Wireless V Cast Mobile TV. And after we reported last week that all signs were pointing to a March 1 launch, we now have official (in a roundabout sort of way) confirmation that the game is on for Thursday. A sharp-eyed Crave reader pointed us to the coverage map section of the Verizon Testman Web site where V Cast Mobile TV is noted as launching on March 1. (To see the map, pick your city and then click the "V Cast TV" box on the … Read more

Just in case you needed another reason to be mugged, AT&T and Motorola today launched the Motorola Razr V3xx in gold, for those of you who wanted an updated version of the Dolce & Gabana Razr. Sporting the same goodies as the original dull gray version, it features a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music and video player, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, the built-in Opera browser, and support for a screaming-fast 3.6Mbps HSDPA network. After rebates and a service agreement, it'll only cost you $20 more than the gray version, at $99.99.

Many of us here at Crave are iPhone skeptics, but we still think that Apple sure put together a cool commercial for the pricey handheld device. Featuring famous movie and TV scenes of people answering phones--from Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate to Lucille Ball to "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski--the ad premiered last night during the Oscars.

Happy viewing!

(Via My iPhone.)

This is why we love technology. Sure, a lot of gadgets are made just for fashion, fetish or one-upsmanship, but every once in awhile something of socially redeeming value comes along. In this case, it's sign language on mobile phones.

Taking a generational leap beyond text messaging, the University of Washington's "MobileASL" project is working on video-compression technology that would improve transmission quality so that American Sign Language gestures would be recognizable on cell phones. "It uses skin-detection algorithms to zoom in on those specific areas in the video that contain essential movements used to … Read more

Say what you will about Britney's relationships (including the one with her hair), but there's one love where her loyalty has never wavered: her bond with the BlackBerry.

Just as it was instrumental in her final text message to K-Fed, the trusty device has never left her side through the latest rehab stint (and escape), as the paparazzi found out. And she's not alone: the BlackBerry 8700, according to GeekSugar, is apparently the smart phone of choice for scads of other celebs, from Brit-buddy Jamie-Lynn Sigler to Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Aniston, and the ubiquitous Paris Hilton.

We'… Read more

We understand people's attachments to their cell phones--functionally and even emotionally--but literally?

The somewhat-distubingly named "Rivet Attachment System" aims to do everything in its power to keep you and your beloved handset from parting ways, short of surgery. Just as important, as Shiny Shiny points out, it does so in style.

But if you're truly serious about securing your digital loved one, we suggest the old-school method: handcuffs.