Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re concerned about the iPhone’s overall size and the varied reports about its battery life, I don’t think the iPhoneck Backup Battery solution is going to entice you to make the upgrade. While it provides the iPhone with an external 1300-1400 mAh lithium-polymer battery that can recharge it in about an hour and a half, it also adds about 2 or 3 inches to the length of the phone when attached. Sure it’s designed to match the contours of the new iPhone 3G (though the first gen iPhone is pictured) but you probably don’t want to carry this thing in your pocket while you’re topping up the battery. The iPhoneck Backup Battery ’should’ be released on August 1 according to the iPhoneck website, and will sell for $42.99.

[ iPhoneck Backup Battery ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Luke Anderson

Am I the only one that’s a little disturbed by the concept of throwaway phones? You know, the junkie little phones that you find in your local gas station that come loaded with an hour or so of minutes. Well the concept is so popular that even BIC has hopped on the bandwagon.

I’m not really sure what prompted the company most well-known for their cheap pens and disposable razors to make a cell phone, but it will be available in Europe starting next month for around $80. Out of the box it has 60 minutes already loaded and a full battery, so you need do nothing more than start dialing. Once your minutes are up you can just toss the phone (I’d suggest recycling it) or you can activate it through Orange to keep using it.

[ Orange ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The Sony Ericsson T610 was the first GSM phone I ever owned, and even though it was released over 5 years ago, I still see a lot of people using them today. (Mine was sold to a friend and eventually met an untimely death in a washing machine.) It was probably one of SE’s most popular handsets to date and the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog is reporting that the company is actually planning a remake. There’s no official product name yet for the T610 sequel, just the codename Remi, but I think something like T610-2: Judgement Phone has a nice ring to it. Other details about the phone are a bit scarce, but since it will apparently be based on the W890 platform, the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog has made a few guesses.

The new T610 is a slim candy bar phone based on the W890 hardware platform. This means we’re looking at a phone with a waistline at about 10 millimetres, and it will probably end up at 10.5 centimetres in length, and 4.7 centimetres in width, but my assumptions are based solely on W890’s dimensions. Parts of the body are apparently aluminium, which seems rather nice, and much T610-like as well.

So… specifications. It’s running the A2 software platform, like the W890 and many others, and it’s an HSDPA-enabled phone. The camera on the back is a 3.2 mega pixel one, unfortunately only with fixed focus.

Of course at this time there’s also no information on pricing, release dates or where it will actually be made available.

[ Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog - Exclusive: Sony Ericsson’s T610 remake ] VIA
[ Unwired View ]

By Jonathan Kimak

So you want a portable charger for your phone or mp3 player but the solar powered iPod is years away from reality. Instead you could try the Dance Charge.

A company called GotWind worked with music company Orange to create the Dance Charge. Weighing 180 grams the charger wraps around your arm and uses the kinetic energy from your body’s movement to power the battery. You can then plug in your phone or other electronic device to the charger to power it up.

The Dance Charger isn’t available for sale yet, but a prototype is being used at the Glastonbury Festival and will hopefully survive the mosh pit.

When it does come out and you use this and can only charge your phone up to 1 bar of power after a day’s worth of movement, it’s probably a sign that you need to get out of the office more often.

VIA [ Crave.Cnet ]

By Jonathan Kimak

Dan Fletcher, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, along with a team of students, has developed a microscope attachment for the digital cameras on cell phones. The CellScope as it is named, attaches over the camera lens of the phone and has a clip that can hold sample slides.

It’s good enough to be able to see individual blood cells up close and has been tested to diagnose malaria. Dan Fletcher’s hope is that the microscope can be a cheap(estimated cost $100) and fast method of providing diagnosis of diseases in remote areas of the world.

A doctor (or really anyone who took high school science) can make a sample slide of blood, insert it into the microscope, snap a picture of it and send it to anyone in the world, provided they can pull themselves away from texting their buddies about the latest gadgets.

Saving the world from diseases is a fine and noble cause, but they shouldn’t forget about the market of college guys who would buy this so they could determine what exactly is growing on top of the food in the back of their fridge.

[ The Economist ] VIA [ Popgadget ] AND [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Sony Ericsson is planning to drop 3 new Bluetooth headsets on June 17. While the HBH-PV-715, the HBH-PV-720 and the HBH-PV-740 all vary in style and certain features, they do have some traits in common. According to the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog the new headsets will feature a whopping 800 hours of battery life in standby mode, or about 11 hours of talk time. They’ll also include auto-pairing, digital noise reduction, removable ear hooks and Bluetooth 2.0 ‘enhanced data rates’ for a more stable connection with your phone.

The HBH-PV-715 pictured on the left is the cheapest of the 3 headsets and basically just comes in two different versions with black or white trim. The HBH-PV-720 pictured in the middle is a step up since it allows you to swap out the trim’s design with other ‘StyleUp’ covers, and also includes a carrying pouch and silver necklace. Finally, the HBH-PV-740 on the right adds a small status display and is the only model to come with a desk stand and USB charger. (As well as the aforementioned silver necklace.)

[ HBH-PV-715 / 720 / 740 Bluetooth Headsets ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Luke Anderson

A while back I made the switch from a Helio Ocean to a Mysto. The Mysto is a great device, but I’ve been missing the full QWERTY keyboard like crazy. I keep telling myself that I’ll just wait for an Ocean 2 to come along, because I know that the minute I go and purchase another Ocean, they’ll release an upgrade.

It seems that the gang over at Engadget have spotted what they believe to be Ocean 2. The believed specs on this phone include a 3MP camera, dual-slider function, 1GB of internal storage (with a microSDHC for external storage) in-browser Flash support, 30fps video recording, touch-sensitive directional pad and the ability to sync with your PC.

Hopefully most of this rumor ends up having some truth behind it. Heck, maybe they can get around to releasing it before the 3G iPhone comes out. Here’s to hoping!

VIA [ Engadget Mobile ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In my pre-iPhone days I went through a lot of cellphones, but the Nokia E61 probably holds the record for sticking around the longest. So even though I now mostly only use an iPhone, I’ve been keeping an eye on what Nokia has been doing with their e-series handsets. While the E61i was a marginal upgrade over the E61, it looks like the E71 is a considerably larger step, at least in terms of design. The Boy Genius Report recently got their hands on one and have posted a review of their findings.

Overall they really like the phone, particularly the chrome finish and its thin form factor. While they weren’t a huge fan of the smaller keyboard keys (when compared to the E61) they don’t feel it’s a deal breaker. In fact they go as far as to call the E71 the best phone Nokia has made to date, and it apparently puts the E61 to shame. Personally, I’m waiting to see what Google’s Android is like before I consider a new phone, but for those who prefer an actual keyboard (opposed to the iPhone’s virtual one) you might want to look into Nokia’s latest offering.

[ BGR - Nokia E71 Review ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Every day I seem to stumble across a new online store dedicated to spy gear and covert electronics, but I’m pretty sure a real spy wouldn’t touch any of the stuff they sell with a 10-foot spy pole. Case in point, this cellphone voice changer which I’m sure is just as high quality as this website’s product shot. It works like any other hands-free headset by plugging into a jack on your cellphone, and the voice changing electronics are integrated into its inline microphone.

And what voice changing options does this offer you might ask? Well if you’ve ever wanted to fool someone by talking like a baby, a robot, an old man or a duck, you’ve found the solution. Unfortunately I will have to keep looking since I need a voice changer that will allow me to sound like a rabbit, a surly bartender, Joe from Facts Of Life and an 1800’s prospector consarn it!

You can get it from SpyVille.com for $29.99.

[ Cellphone Voice Changer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Is this the missing feature that’s prevented watchphones from really catching on? While their tiny displays make using a touchscreen interface kind of a pain, I don’t think the addition of a numeric keypad on the wriststrap is going to sway the majority of cellphone users. Particularly since handsets seem to be moving towards considerably more capable units that do far more than just make phone calls. But if you are just looking for a compact and basic phone, the current crop of watchphones aren’t a bad alternative.

Besides the keypad on the strap, the CECT features a 1.3 inch TFT touchscreen display, FM radio, 3GP and MPEG4 video playback, TF card slot, WAP and GPRS data, voice recorder, Bluetooth (kind of essential), vibrating alert, calendar, calculator and support for 64 chord polyphonic ringtones. Unfortunately due to the compact battery you’re also only looking at about 150 minutes of talk time, with 100 hours of standby. So it seems like the lack of keypad isn’t the only hurdle in making watchphones a viable, everyday alternative.

The CECT Watchphone is available from SpecialPhones.eu as a US model (850/900/1900MHz) or a European one (900/1800/1900MHz) for about $300.

[ CECT Watchphone ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]