Crave

The iPhone 3GS during a talk time test. The "Watchmen" DVD is merely there to simulate a user holding the phone to their ear, thereby shutting off the screen. Music from the Zune is being played through both phone mics.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Last year I had a bone to pick with Apple for not including a call duration feature on the iPhone. Not a big deal to most people I'm sure; however, when it comes to testing talk time here in CNET Labs, I can't think of a more useful feature.

With last year's iPhone 3G, I was able to circumvent this inconvenience by tracking the phone's "Time since last full charge" duration. This number, as you might have guessed, tells you the amount of time that's passed since the phone was last fully charged. So, all I had to do was charge the phone fully, start the test, wait until the battery died, plug it back in, and check that number.

This worked fine last year, but with the current round of iPhone 3G and 3GS testing, I'm getting extremely varied results--so varied, in fact, that I can no longer trust this method.

No matter, though, since the latest iPhone OS 3.0 added a call duration feature. I figured I'd just set up the talk time test--which involves taping earbuds from a MP3 player to the mic of the iPhone and a landline phone, calling the landline phone, and waiting for the battery to die. Then I'd come back several hours later and have delicious results waiting for me (kind of like an iPhone-testing-results Crock-Pot).

Once again, I'm slapped back to reality as, unfortunately, the couple of times I've tried using the call duration feature on the 3G and 3GS I've had little luck. Apparently, if the phone's battery dies in the middle of a call, the duration of that call isn't saved on the phone.--yet another roadblock.

The unlimited monthly plan wars continue to get hotter following a new service from TracFone. The Mobile Virtual Network Operator recently debuted StraightTalk, a prepaid, no-contract wireless brand that offers 30MB of data plus unlimited calling and messaging for $45 per month. Alternatively, you can get 1,000 anytime minutes and 1,000 text or multimedia messages for $30 per month.

Boost Mobile has offered a $50 per month plan that includes unlimited data since January, but StraightTalk now ties with MetroPCS for a calling and texting option. Yet, it is worth noting that Boost Mobile pays taxes while other carriers do not.

StraightTalk's coverage via Verizon Wireless isn't entirely nationwide (we spotted some gaps on the coverage map) and its phone selection is hardly impressive--you're limited to the LG200CM, Motorola W385, and Motorola Razr V3 (yes, it's back)--but beating this price will be difficult--at least for now.

Verizon Wireless CDM8975 photos

The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 is one of a few Verizon Wireless phones that has push-to-talk capabilities, and we managed to test it out recently. It has quite a lackluster design, but we do like its roomy keypad, colorful screen, and external music player controls. We also like that it has EV-DO Rev. A, which makes downloading music and loading Web pages quite speedy. Other features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and access to Verizon's V Cast broadband services. Check out our full review of the Verizon Wireless CDM8975 for more details.

Apparently, Dong hates these guys.

(Credit: South Park Studios)

We have the power this episode! I feel it. Dong feels it. And soon you will feel it...Can you feel it yet? No? Well start downloading.

Dr. Orgy returns this week with some very sound relationship advice for Dong. Dr. Orgy has been divorced once thought, so seriously, how helpful can this be?

Dong and I give our impressions of the upcoming iPhone 3.0 update that turns into a discussion of Apple culture that probably goes on too long. I would have edited it down some, but, we've gotten some complaints lately about us not censoring ourselves. So, this long, unedited, boring discussion is for you.

Then, a little monitor advice for a very special listener...OK not that special. Alright, not special at all. Well, special in the sense that all of our listeners are special. Yes, you all are.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the link on the right. Don't forget to leave us a voice mail at 1-800-947-6399 or e-mail us at insidecnetlabs@cnet.com.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Verizon Wireless this week announced a new service for blind and visually impaired customers. Talks will convert displayed text into speech for a variety of features including phone numbers on caller ID, text messages, e-mail, and notes. Using their voice, Talks users also will be able to:

• Dial a number from the phone's Contacts directory
• Add and edit entries in the Contacts directory
• Write text messages and e-mail
• Write documents using Mobile Office
• Access and compose multimedia message service (MMS) messages
• Use Mobile Internet Explorer to access the Internet
• Control speech volume and rate of speech

Initially Talks will be available only on the Motorola Q9c. A new Q9c with Talks will go on sale Sunday, March 15 for $249 with a service agreement, but existing Q9c users will be able to add Talks to their phone by contacting Verizon. Talks is powered by Nuance Communications.

Sprint Nextel's Direct Connect service may not be sexy, but the push-to-talk network has a staunchly loyal following. And if Sprint knows what it's doing, it will leave the basics of Direct Connect alone.

Yet, the carrier did announce Thursday that it was tweaking the Direct Connect plans for its customers. The basic plan, which goes by the mouthful name of Unlimited Workgroup Communications, offers unlimited Direct Connect and Group Connect calls, plus unlimited text messaging, for $29.99 per month per line. For regular voice calls, you'll also get unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes and free nights and weekends starting at 9 p.m.

For an extra $10 per month, Nextel iDEN users can add unlimited data, Web browsing, and GPS navigation to the above features. Sprint users with a QChat phone like the Motorola V950 also can add the Web and GPS access, but they'll have to pay an additional $20 per month on top of the Unlimited Workgroup Communications.

Keep in mind, however, that regular voice minutes aren't included in the above plans. You can get a bundle of 500 anytime minutes for $30 per month per line or 2,000 minutes for $100 per month per line.

Talk your thoughts into e-mails.

(Credit: MyCaption)

MyCaption, a member of the BlackBerry Alliance, introduced on Tuesday a new way BlackBerry users can work with e-mails on their smartphones: by speaking.

Actually, this is not exactly a breakthrough, as voice recognition technology has been out there for a long time and can be found in the Voice Command or Voice Dialing features of many smartphones. However, this seems to be the first time you can use it for more than simple sentences, such as, "Call Johnny at the office."

MyCaption claims that its new application is sophisticated enough that people can compose, forward, or reply to e-mails by speaking comfortably into the phone. You then will have the option to preview the texts before actually sending them off. The application can work with multiple e-mail accounts.

MyCaption currently works on the BlackBerry Pearl, Curve, and 8800. For a limited time, it's available to download as a free trial.;this lets you send 10 messages for free. After that, according to the company's Web site, you can either pay $1 for each message or pay $10/month to send unlimited messages of 15 seconds in length, or fewer. Even when you opt for the monthly plan, you still have to pay $.50 per message for messages that are longer than 15 seconds. The longest message the application can process is 3 minutes.

This seems like a very useful tool that will free your thumbs from the little keyboard. More importantly, now you can potentially talk to a business partner over the phone and then send him the transcript of the conversation in an e-mail. Maybe this will bring a whole new meaning to the term "verbal contract." Who says talking is not writing in black and white?

Voice Thermo: "You're really, really hot."

(Credit: Pro Idee )

Sometimes when you're sick, you just don't feel like talking. Try telling that to the loquacious Voice Thermo talking forehead thermometer.

It isn't content to simply offer your reading on a display. It wants to chat with you, too. Press the sensor button to the forehead, and the gadget works via infrared signal. It reads your body temperature in 1.5 seconds, then tells you just how you measure (remember, if it informs you that "you're really, really hot," that's probably not a good thing).

The thermometer sells online for 39.95 euros, or about $63. A nice feature: it saves readings from the last 30 tests--useful if you want to track your temp's progress. Also nice: it doesn't demand an answer.

(Via Red Ferret)