Phones

Craving a greener Apple

During his Macworld keynote speech, Steve Jobs played a congratulatory voice message from friend Al Gore on the droolworthy new iPhone, then used that device to locate the DVD of An Inconvenient Truth at the top of Amazon's bestseller list.

Outside the convention center's doors, however, Greenpeace activists handed out flyers painting Apple as less than hip to ecological problems, urging the company to remove toxicants from its products and set up free hardware recycling. Several blocks away, members of the environmental group also projected pictures of Asian electronics waste scrap yards onto a wall of the downtown … Read more

FoneGear Mini Blu II Bluetooth headset

Bluetooth headsets seem to be getting smaller and smaller, and the Mini Blu II Bluetooth headset from FoneGear is no different. Debuting at CES is the upgrade to the previous Mini Blu line, and it weighs in at only 0.31 ounce. It's a Bluetooth 2.0 headset with a rated talk time of 4 hours and a rated standby time of 3 days and 3 hours. The Mini Blu II will be available in the first quarter of 2007, though we don't know its price yet.

I-mate launches Jaq3; hopefully better than the Jaq

Back in October, we reviewed the rather horrible I-mate Jaq, which was plagued by a bulky design and poor call quality. Needless to say, we were not impressed. However, the company is giving it another go with the I-mate Jaq3, a revamped version of the Jaq that features a slightly trimmed down design and integrated Wi-Fi. Despite a fresh coat of paint in a slimming black, the numbers don't lie and the Jaq3 is still a pocketful at 4.8x2.7x0.8 inches and 5.4 ounces. The Wi-Fi integration (802.11b/g) is a nice addition, but it'… Read more

Motorola Q Pro: same hardware, new software

Without much fanfare or hoopla, Motorola quietly (so quiet that even some of the Moto staff didn't know the release went out) announced yesterday the official availability of the Motorola Q Pro. This corporate-centric version of the Q essentially keeps the same hardware (although now cloaked in black) as the original Q but adds some key software solutions for business users, including the DataViz Documents to Go suite for viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents, Motorola's Mobile Security Platform with VPN support, a firewall, intrusion detection, and data encryption. In addition, the Motorola Q Pro will come packaged … Read more

Apple sneaks in a Bluetooth headset

Apple sneaked in a Bluetooth headset along with its big iPhone announcement today. It looks like a simple black stick of a headset and only has one button on the top. The headset also looks really thin and small, but we can't tell from the picture. We're guessing it'll launch the same time as the iPhone does in June.

Yes, Virginia, there is an iPhone from Apple

Pinch yourself, Apple freaks. It's not a dream. The touch screen, wide-screen, media-playing iPod smart phone from Apple is here, and yes, it's called the iPhone. Read our play-by-play here.

Specs time:

Cingular, quad-band GSM/EDGE phone Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but no 3G 11.6mm thick: apparently thinner than all those other anorexic smart phones 2-megapixel camera iPod connector, mic input, and speaker jack Proximity sensor: when it's close to your ear, the touch screen and display shut down "Smart" screen knows which way to orient images depending on how you hold it; wide-screen playback … Read more

Wall Street Journal predicts iPhone will run on Cingular

We're moments away from finding out if all those Apple "iPhone" rumors are true but more details on the mystery device are emerging even in the homestretch. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the phone will operate on Cingular's GSM network.

The specualtion is nothing new, indeed the Cingular tidbit emerged as early as last September, but with the Wall Street Journal onboard we tend to believe it. We'll know soon though so stay tuned. And in the meantime, enjoy our slide show of the Apple iPhone concepts that popped up on the … Read more

Samsung and Googliath

Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail will come bundled on some Samsung phones, both companies announced Monday at CES. The software will be bundled on phones starting in "early 2007," with Samsung already including Google software on its new ultra-slim HSDPA-ready phone, the Ultra Edition 13.8 (Z720).

The Z720 is fitting as the first Samsung cell phone to come bundled with Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail. That's because the slim slider is a 3G, HSDPA-ready phone, meaning you can connect with the Internet using cell phone signal towers. In addition to WLAN capability, the phone … Read more

Texting machine

Lately, I've been texting more than taking calls on my cell phone. I am in need of a phone with more texting capabilities so I don't get carpal tunnel from texting in my current phone. I think the LG enV would be perfect for my needs. Good bye sore fingers!

Sony Ericsson's low-end Walkman phone

Sony Ericsson's Walkman line has always been great but also relatively expensive. Except for a couple like the W810i and the W600i, most Walkman phones never make it to a U.S. carrier, and as such never enjoy carrier subsidies. But at CES this year, Samsung shook things up a bit with the introduction of the Sony Ericsson W200i Walkman. Even without a carrier it will cost just $179, and with a carrier it will dip low as $79. Though Sony Ericsson wouldn't confirm if a carrier is imminent, we wouldn't be surprised if this phone ended … Read more