Cellphone Sidekick

Phone bills today is quite a large deal in our daily life now, so choosing the right mobile phone contract is indeed quite important. If we choose right, we will be able to save some money and to make the most of our phone bills. Today, for those who love to text and have not too much calls, here’s the UK’s cheapest mobile phone contract – Tesco’s £6 a month deal.

At a tiny £6 a month Tesco’s claim to have released the nation’s cheapest phone deal. The Sim-only contract gets you unlimited texts and 100 free minutes a month.

Aimed squarely at cash-strapped tweens, teens and students who don’t use calls very much, this is a pretty good deal. It’s a one month SIM only contract so you can cancel anytime after the first month.

Of course, it’s not going to work with your new iPhone or indeed any other smartphones, because it doesn’t offer any internet access but hey if you like to text, this is great.

It is totally great for you if you love texts, other bottom end contract deals cost £10 minimum. It is really cheap, and sounds like the prefect contract for you. But as it doesn’t work for any smartphone, I guess many of you can’t stand it, so this might be only good for the kids, the elders, or work as a second mobile for you. To get it, you can buy the SIM card on the Tesco Website.

SMS is not just a mean of communication today, especially to the youth, it is like almost a lifestyle! As we always love to have fun in life, SMS should be a little more fun too, so here comes the SMS Slingshot, which can send your text messages onto walls. This is totally fun, and quite beautiful too.

I always thought of slingshot as a toy especially created for naughty boys, as we often saw young boys sending stones or balls onto girls or birds. But the SMS Slingshot designed by Berlin based VR/URBAN has totally changed my opinion.

It is a handheld digital slingshot device that can send color splashes and text messages onto public screens. There’s a mobile built in the wooden device to store messages and a laser to blast those contents onto nearby screens via a projector. So just as what you can see from the photos below, the user keys in the messages, shoots the slingshot, and then he/she can find a color splash appear on the screen with the text inside.

So the slingshot is now not just a mean toy for naughty boys, it is a fun toy for all of us! Hopefully you’ll enjoy it!

Nowadays almost everyone has a cellphone, even some kids have cellphones too. We use our cellphones everywhere, outdoors and indoors, it’s really convenient. But I guess I’m quite old fashioned, I still miss the landline.

Yes, I’m one of those people who still have a landline – it is VOIP if that makes me sound any better. So it really annoys me to no end when I have to go to my cellphone for a number because my landline doesn’t have it in its contacts log – obviously.But my problems could be solved with the Panasonic KX-TG9382T which is the first-ever landline telephone that lets users transfer their cell phone contacts to the KX-TG9382T via Bluetooth.

Let’s see how you can transfer your cellphone contacts via bluetooth to the Panasonic KX-TG9382T. All your contacts will be at your fingertips without having to shuffle through all your devices for a number.  To transfer a cell phone address book of up to 600 entries, simply select the “Phonebook Transfer” option from the KX-TG9382T’s menu screen, and then follow the instructions for phonebook transfer onto a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. The KX-TG9382T’s menu screen displays each entry as it quickly and automatically transfers each phonebook entry in alphabetical order, allowing users to track progress.

Another nice feature is that it can be paired with any Bluetooth enabled headset so you can wander aimlessly and still be connected. It’s perfect for home businesses since it is a two line phone with an answering machine and conferencing capabilities.

The Panasonic KX-TG9381T will retail for $169.95 and if you want to expand it – it will cost you an additional $79 for each handset. It should be popping up at Amazon later this month.

Nice job Panasonic, you may have just given the landline a new lease on life, a good one. So if you’re like me who have a thing for landline, and felt it was inconvenient, now this might be a good chance for you to pick up a landline again.

Palm to run iTunes? Well we’ll hope that was true, and you know having dreams is good anyway. About last year, we all believed that this was going to be true when the Palm Pre comes to say that it’s iTunes compatible!

It looked like the iPhone is in serious trouble, as the Palm Pre once had announced news that will have Apple HQ wearing sackcloth and ashes before very long. The Palm Pre to be able to sync with iTunes- cue drumroll, gaping mouths, and a serious problem for the Apple clan. Back then and up till now, iTunes as well as a snazzy interface and web browser has been what’s kept the iPhone ahead of the game, but with news that the impressive looking Pre was going to be compatible, well, battle lines have been firmly drawn.

Indeed, DRM will still be an issue with the Pre, but considering you’re getting superior specs to the iPhone combined with their natty new OS, it’s going to be a close call. But sadly for us, the Apple soon disarmed that function and the Pre gets only Palm Pre when it came out.

Well this is a sad story, but maybe a nice start, let’s just hope these things to get real one day. And nevertheless, the Pre still has a 3 megapixel camera, 3.1 inch touchscreen and the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections. It also gives you a 3.5mm jack- important for audiophiles, and quite nice looking too, still a nice phone!

All girls love butterflies, and some man too. But I’ve never thought of having a butterfly as my cellphone, well this is beautiful idea though. Maybe it’s just to fancy to be true, but now here’s this real beautiful idea from a 15 year old.

I made my first documentary when I was 13, so I’m not entirely shocked by the idea that the Butterfly mobile phone concept was designed by a 15 year old – and looks better and has more sensible design principles than most stuff coming out nowadays. Using existing tech such as Bluetooth and touchscreens (unlike many concepts which are doomed to remain concepts for lack of tech) and sporting an impressively polished interface, this is definitely my favourite non-existent phone to date.

Wow, I’ll just wait till this finally hit the market and run to get one of mine!

We literally can’t live without our cell phones today, seriously, but when we’re on duty outdoors it is really hard to make sure we can get the right charger for our phone, or maybe we can’t even find the power to charge, so we’ll need a nice battery pack that can be charged easily and can charge our smarphones easily.

Well, after a long journey in iPhone chargers I finally find this for other smarphones: the RichardSolo 1800 for BlackBerry/Smartphone is really good.

When it comes to the iPhone, there are tons of battery packs out there that are available for it. From solar powered to battery packs that also double as cases, the iPhone is super spoiled when it comes to options. On the other hand, most smartphones are generally left scrambling in the dust, even if they do have battery lives that are just as sucky and just as in need of a boost on the road as the iPhone’s. Fortunately, Richard Solo heard the cries of these other capable smartphones. Besides having a backup battery solution available for the iPhone, Richard Solo has also come out with the RichardSolo 1800 for BlackBerry/Smartphone. This battery pack is unusual in that it will work with several types of smartphones, including all BlackBerry models, the Palm Pre, Nexus One, and nearly all of the popular smartphones out in the market now as long as they use a mini or micro USB charging post. We tested the RichardSolo 1800 with the Google Nexus One.

What makes the Richard Solo 1800 really stand out is the fact that it also has a built in laser pointer and LED white flashlight. The flashlight can last for over 100 hours when the battery is fully charged. These are two features that you never know when they’ll come in handy. Heck, if you’re stuck somewhere where you need a battery boost, there is a good chance that at the same time you’ll need a flashlight too in one of those situations. But of-course, if you use the Richard Solo to charge your phone, the flashlight will be capput.

The design of the Richard Solo is clean and very pocket and purse friendly. Its gray coloring will easily match the looks of most modern day smartphones. The device itself weighs 2.30z and measures 2″ x 7/16″ x 4 3/8″. On its front fact, the Richard Solo sports LEDS which indicate its charging status. Green indicates that the device itself is being charged, red indicates that the Solo needs to be recharged, and finally, Blue indicates that the Richard Solo is actively charging a connected smartphone.

The Richard Solo 1800 comes with a 100-240V, 50-60Hz AC wall charger, dual-port USB car charger, retractable USB cable, and mini/micro-USB connector cables. That means that you’ll be able to use the included accessories to conveniently charge your phone in the wall, in your car, or by connecting it to the USB port in your computer. The Richard Solo itself has a dedicated mini-usb connector. If your smartphone uses a mini-usb charger, then you can directly connect the Richard Solo to it to charge the device. But if your smartphone is like the Nexus One and it uses a micro-usb charger (which most modern day smartphones do use) you’ll need to connect the micro-USB connector cable to the Richard Solo’s body, and you’ll need to stick the other end of the micro-usb connector into the Nexus one. So basically, if you want to take along the Richard Solo with you for an extra boost during the day, you better remember to bring along the micro-USB connector cable or it will be useless for charging the Nexus One. This is a bumper, but not a total deal breaker.

The Richard Solo took almost 5 hours to fully charge when connected to a wall outlet, and then its 1800mAh polymerized lithium-ion battery took 2 hours to charge the Nexus One, at the end of which it left the Nexus One with 75% of its battery full. Of course, each smartphone will vary by how much % of a full charge it receives from the Richard Solo, but the Nexus One is a good average for today’s smartphones with their hungry batteries.

When it comes to all the included cables that come with the Richard Solo 1800, having so many cables is both convenient and inconvenient all at the same time. It’s great that the kit provides you with everything you need to charge your device in the car, with your computer and via a wall outlet, but you to remember to bring the cable you need along with you (if you’re using a micro-usb device) or else the battery pack is useless. Of-course, the Richard Solo’s inclusion of a laser pointer and built-in flashlight is very unique and wholeheartedly welcome. But the truth is, even if it weren’t there, we’d just be grateful to have a proficient and compact battery pack device that is compatible with so many smartphones. And chances are, that the Richard Solo 1800 will be compatible with your next smartphone – whether it’s a BlackBerry or Android device, so it has good long term value too.

All in all, this is nice device that support for many devices, and built-in laser pointer and LED flashlight are neat extras, comes with everything you need to charge your phone via car, the wall, or your computer; However, you’ll need to carry around two pieces to recharge a smartphone with a micro-USB charging port, although its slim and lightweight – it’s almost as big as the Nexus One itself. So, now it’s your call to get one of these or not.

We’ve seen lots of cellphones, some are gorgeous in design, some are great for entertainment… But we really haven’t seen a cellphone so tough, the Sonim’s XP3 Sentinel is tough enough to meet the standards of the A team.

Do you find yourself falling out of planes or being submerged in water often? Then the Sonim XP3 Sentinel is the phone for you. The XP3 Sentinel has actually been designed for Lone Workers in energy, utilities, construction, security, forestry and logistics sectors, and to that effect it has been engineered to be super tough.

The phone can be dropped from 2 metres on to concrete (so you’ll have to drop it onto the floor right before you land), submerged in one meter of water for up to thirty minutes, and it can operate in temperatures from -20 to 55 Celsius. It also sports a Gorilla glass screen that meets the military-level MIL-810F certification for resistance to humidity, salt, shock and heat.

Inside the phone, its 110 decibel speakers are made to be loud enough to be heard even in the noisiest and most hostile of conditions – like picking the kids up from school. The phone also comes with an Emergency Red Button that will work even if the phone is locked. This button sends the user’s GPS location to a monitoring center. So you can never be lost, and that’s really useful when in danger. A second button, colored Amber, is the way for a lone worker to send out a message that he/she is going into a risky situation and that they need to be monitored and tracked. The XP3’s monitoring service will then track the user on a map and remind them to use the phone to check in every ten minutes until they cancel the amber alert. Finally, a green button on the phone can be used for a worker to send a signal that their work shift is done for the day.

This is really not a pretty phone, but still kind of special in shape. And I don’t think this is necessary for everyone to get a phone like this, but totally a great choice for the lone workers, and the kids too maybe. Anyway, this is unique cellphone, it’s tough and really useful in certain occasions.

Look at the photo at left, what do you think it is? No this isn’t a huge ugly remote, it’s actually a cellphone meant for Senior Citizens. When we’ve grown up we really want to do something for our parents, and also we want to get in touch with them, so a nice phone will do the job.

But also we can always hear elderly people complain about having trouble using their phone, either can’t see clearly or just too complicated to use. That mean the elder needs a phone that is designed for the generation at the first place, and here it is, a nice senior citizen cellphone.

It has big numbered buttons to dial for those who have a hard time seeing. A torch light if they get lost in the night, FM radio for entertainment, and a SOS button which can be programmed to dial four emergency numbers and send text messages to those numbers programmed into the cellphone. All they need to do is press the SOS button in emergency situation, and the phone will issue a loud warning sound and automatically send broadcast messages to the default phone numbers programmed in.

There may be no touchscreen or color display but the big keys alone would probably be a big hit for the elder. Features big numbers and SOS panic button, the Blind Embossed Big Keypad Cell Phone For Elderly People with SOS retails for $70.

Yes, LG is really busy hopping in the fashion world, and we sort of like the combination of phones and high fashion. As we reported about their first fashion phone teamed up with Prada not long ago, here’s one breaking news on LG’s new move: It looks like LG shun Prada and cuddle up to Versace!

Oh, the fickle world of high fashion! It was only a short while ago that LG teamed up with Prada to create the original Prada phone and its sequel, the Prada II, but in what the tabloid press would call a ’shocking snub’, the Korean firm has seemingly abandoned the designer brand in favour of Versace.

The result is the Versace Unique, but all is not what it seems, as LG has not gone all the way with Versace as the Unique carries an inscription reading ‘Technology by LG’, as the handset is the work of French manufacturer ModeLabs. Modelabs are no stranger to the fashion phone world, having worked with Levi’s, Tag Hauer and Dior before, but this is the first product to come from their new partnership with LG.

The hand-built Unique is wrapped in leather and has a 3″ sapphire crystal touchscreen, plus customers will have the choice of a stainless steel or 18k gold inserts, while on the tech front the phone will be 3G with a 5 megapixel camera, Dolby Mobile and the usual media and business applications. Such overtly geeky information such as the OS, processor or storage capacity has not been discussed, but we doubt the target market for a phone like this really cares!

The price will no doubt be astronomical, but with that name and label prominently displayed, we imagine it’ll do quite well in the right circles. The Versace Unique is due to go on sale in June and you’ll have to visit, according to the press release, ‘important exclusive watch and fine jewelry networks’ and Versace boutiques only to buy one.

It looks like the fashion world is really quite easy on the Korean firm. As they always dedicated to make phones of slick and fashionable looks other than functional phones, LG’s move on teaming up with high fashion brand is not a real surprise, but the change of from Prada to Versace so quickly is! And since I never had a thing for this Korean phone maker, let’s just say lucky that LG doesn’t get to really make the Versace Unique.

To all Palm users and Palm lovers, the economy statement of the company has been a problem for us for quite a long time, and we were optimistic about this not long ago, but now we have to say that it might be a good idea for HP to takeover. The important thing for us is that Palm the unique phone label isn’t going to just disappear, but there might be great changes though.

Business analysts think that HP’s takeover of phone-manufacturers Palm makes sense. But what do the Palm-loving public think?

Palm whose flagship handsets are currently the Pre and the Pixi, was a techie darling back a few years ago, but last turned a profit in May 2007. HP “the world’s largest computer company” is looking to get into the rocketing smartphone market and last night agreed to buy Palm for $1.2bn.

What should Palm users expect? Here’s the five ways HP’s takeover of Palm should affect you:

1. Expect more and better phones: HP plans to compete “aggressively” in the smartphone market and they’ve certainly got the money to take Palm’s expertise

2. Expect phones that co-ordinate with your computer – HP promise: “a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices”.

3. We’ll see more in-between devices. HP have already released the Windows Slate but given the hype around the tablet form factor and the combination of HP and Palm’s respective expertise, I think we can look forward to some nice iPad rivals.

4. Palm shares on the rise: if you were committed enough to the company to invest in the shares of your favourite phone-maker, you’ll be looking happy today as shares shot up by 25%.

5. A resurgence in Palm Pride: those early 00s fansites may have died out, but now some of those great products like the beautifully designed WebOS should get some of the promotion and recognition they deserve.

6. Might the Palm’s start-up ethos of quirky user-friendly handsets get squashed by HP’s more corporate philosophy and clunkier design? We hope not.

Well, anyway the future of Palm is still quite bright which we’re really happy to see, Palm indeed is a very unique phone label. And about all these changes, we can just guess for now, let’s just wait to see how it turns out to be in reality.