Phones

Like so many mobile trends, GetaBuz has its genesis in the creativity of teenagers.

GetaBuz licenses hit songs from major record labels and allows users to record personalized voice mail greetings and messages over the song, which cost $1 to $3 each.

It's a smoother way of doing what teens had already figured out--they wanted to send clips of songs to their friends from their mobile phones, Buz Interactive Co-founder Steve Ehrlich told me.

I got a quick demo, and the interface is pretty smooth. Just choose a song and record a message--up to 30 seconds--with any microphone. No … Read more

No, the phone pictured here isn't broken--that's how it's supposed to look. Kensington's "Vo200 Bluetooth Internet Phone" traded its funky appearance for a simple and practical use.

The mouthpiece swivels around to become a stand when the handset is used as a speakphone to improve voice reception, according to Newlaunches--and every little bit helps when using many of today's VoIP services. It's also thin enough to slide into your laptop's card slot for easy recharging.

It still looks a little too fragile for our taste, but we're all thumbs when … Read more

The first Demo 07 pitch today: DARTdevices. The company makes a technology that allows data and apps on mobile and fixed devices to sync up. So if you have a laptop, a camera, a phone, and a PDA, you can share the laptop-connected printer among all of them, automatically sync pictures, and even run the same games.

Users can add devices to their "crew" of devices even if they don't have DART software in them yet. That's the magic part. Cute demo tidbit:the presenter says, "If you think true mobile interoperability will happen only … Read more

Bling Software makes software for mobile phones that lets them run Ajax apps. Publishers can easily take their Ajax-heavy Web pages, and quickly recode them for the mobile platform. The Bling software can then display the apps, including interactive content and streaming video.

What the service doesn't do is just display existing Ajax-heavy Web pages on mobile phones. The publisher has to do some work before they'll display correctly.

The presentation here at Demo 07 was based on the Barry Bonds Web site. At the end, the man himself stepped up to the stage, seeming a bit bewildered. … Read more

And here you thought the Apple/Motorola marriage was no more. If you're frothing at the mouth for Apple's iPhone and can't wait until June to get your fix, there is a way (for the moment at least) to get a taste of what's to come. Macsupport is linking to a download for Motorola Razrs that installs a skin of the iPhone menu interface for the phone's display. Granted, it won't magically turn your Razr into an iPhone but if you want that Apple taste for a few months, it may just do the … Read more

Enough already. Why is it that some people insist on "sharing" their music with the rest of world--whether we like it or not--when today's headphones offer a far superior listening experience? We've seen everything from messenger bags to bowling bags with built-in speakers, and now we have a new backpack that will surely contribute its share of noise pollution.

Scullcandy's "Link" backpack has speakers embedded in its straps for music or--worse, as OhGizmo notes correctly--a cell phone conversation. We've got to get started building that bunker.

Vringo bills itself as a video ringtone service, but don't let that fool you. My theory is that the company uses the term to convince traditional media types--like those at AlwaysOn's conference this week, where I heard about Vringo--that it's a viable business model for mobile marketing. "Ringtone," after all, is an easily-recognized buzzword, and it's pretty well-known that tech-savvy kids are willing to shell out money to pay for ringtones of the hottest Top 40 tracks. (I might not be a kid, but I admit that I did pay for a vintage Super … Read more

We get it. Luxury cars are branching out into more affordable gadgets with their brand names attached to them.

First there was the Ferrari laptop, then the Ferrari Etch-a-Sketch. Oops, I mean Ferrari navigation device. Then there was a Ferrari sound system for your car.

Hummer has a golf cart. Lamborghini has a laptop and Nokia phone. Not to be outdone, McLaren Mercedes has three phones.

Now add a Ferrari phone to that long list.

The Motorazr Maxx V6 Ferrari Challenge Mobile Phone is available at the Ferrari store online for $524. The multi-ban GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE … Read more

GetMobio is a mobile lifestyle application that's trying to put your social life at your fingertips, literally.

The downloadable app helps you find places to go, get reservations, buy tickets, browse movie reviews and get directions--and it can all be done in very few clicks and with minimum data entry, according to Mobio, the company that created it.

The product is launching this week at Demo 07 in Palm Desert, CA, but the executive team dropped by the CNET offices last week to do a quick demo.

GetMobio is organized as a series of "collections," which is … Read more