Jun 13
Reuters is reporting that Apple is planning to extend its range of iPhones with new larger-screened phones and a colourful lower-cost version.
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Jun 08
An image surfaced today of a fingerprint-covered ginormous Sony phone, which is said to be the Xperia ZU, which was previously known as the Togari slate. The phablet has a huge 6.4-inch screen, which edges it about as close to tablet territory as a smartphone can get. To show the phone’s size in perspective, someone
Apr 20
Over at the Bunnie Studios blog, a $12 cell phone purchased from the Mingtong Digital Mall was given a complete (and relatively simple) teardown to see what exactly goes into making such an inexpensive cell phone. Unlike the ultra-cheap handsets that are available through various carriers, such as prepaid’s Net10 and Tracfone staples, the $12 cell phone – which has no name – is completely unbranded and unlocked.
As you can see from the pictures, this is about as basic of a cell phone as you can get; it looks like a toy, almost as if it came in a child’s playset or a novelty store. It is a fully functional cell phone, however, that isn’t tied to any carriers, services, or stores. Likewise, the blogger says that the $12 price tag is for a single unit, not a bulk discount rate, and that it isn’t priced as part of any sort of promotion. Just an ordinary, very cheap cell phone.
Word has it the actual construction price of the cell phone is in the single digits, meaning you’ve probably spent more on a movie ticket than it cost to make a simple cell phone. As the blogger points out, the cell phone without a name is less than half the price of the Arduino Uno while offering quite a bit more (relatively speaking) in terms of hardware. Such a conundrum prompted a teardown.
Opening the cell phone was as easy as popping its plastic apart, revealing a nearly connector-free board harboring a MediaTek MT6250DA and a Vanchip VC5276. Says Bunnie Studios, volume pricing for the MediaTek is less than $2. There’s a battery soldered to the board, as well as a Bluetooth antenna and a backlit keypad. While the teardown didn’t entirely solve the mystery of why it is so cheap, it was an intersting look nonetheless, showing that, in a perfect world with the right contacts, a simple cell phone without any plan subsidization or other factors can be assembled for about the cost of your last meal.
[via Bunnie Studios]
Teardown looks at what goes into making an ultra-cheap cell phone is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 13
Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset
Posted in: Today's Chili
Now here is an interesting device that might make you feel as though you were one of those tough, bad-ass truckers – and I am referring to the $19.99 Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset, of course. You might want to fire up Google and start to check out the kind of terminologies that truckers use as you continue to carry conversations with the Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset alongside the other person at the other end.
The Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset will come with adjustable volume to keep up with the times, a push button that enables you to talk only when you want to, as well as a belt clip to make sure that it remains in place where it should be. Push the top button and you will pick up any incoming calls, and push it again to hang up. Alternatively, you can also press the side button to carry out a conversation, while roll the side adjust the volume level. The Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset is powered by a couple of AAA batteries and will plug into your handset via a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sorry, no Bluetooth connectivity here.
[ Walkie-Talkie Cell Phone Handset copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Mar 06
More members of congress are joining in on the fight to repeal the ban on cell phone unlocking. Several senators and representatives are voicing their opinions about the issue and a few are planning on introducing bills to fight it. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar announced yesterday that she was drafting a bill to legalize cell phone unlocking. She stated yesterday, “I will continue to work to advance commonsense measures to protect consumers and promote competition.”
Joining in on the fight is Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, Utah representative Jason Chaffetz, California representative Darrell Issa, Colorado representative Jared Polis, and California representative Anna Eshoo. Eshoo is also planning on drafting up a bill similar to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s. She says, “The ban on unlocking cell phones puts consumers in the back seat when it comes to choosing the mobile device and service that best suits them”.
Senator Ron Wyden drafted up the “My Wireless Device Independence Act” to “ensure you can unlock your device.” He was the first senator to create a bill on the topic. Representative Jason Chaffetz is working on legislation as well, saying, “It is a freedom issue. You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it” The other representatives, while not drafting any bills, will be offering their full support to the cause.
With so much support for this issue, and being backed by so many members of congress, it seems like there’s a very good chance that cell phone unlocking can once again be legal. Consumers were outraged when the law went into effect January 26th. They paid a lot of money for their device, and having restrictions on what they could do with it didn’t seem to make any sense at all.
[via PC Magazine]
More congress members fight cell phone unlocking ban is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 04
It looks like the White House has heard the voices of the 114,000+ people who believe that unlocking their cell phone should be a legal process. It too believes that banning people from unlocking their cell phones isn’t fair, especially since people paid good money for those devices. Not only that, but the White House wants to also legalize the unlocking of tablet devices as well, since tablets fall under the same category as cell phones.
Now that the White House has agreed that cell phone unlocking should be legal, they have to work on a variety of different ways to remedy the problem. R. David Edelman, the White House’s Senior Adviser for internet, innovation, and privacy, wrote that the Obama Administration is working on legislative fixes that will make it clear that, “neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.”
Edelman also wrote that the FCC and the mobile service providers will have huge roles to play in terms of legalizing cell phone unlocking. The FCC released a statement saying, “From a communications policy perspective, this raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn’t pass the common sense test.” The FCC will further analyze the situation to see whether or not consumers should be able to unlock their phones. It also encourages Congress to think up some solutions to the problem.
Consumers should be very happy now that the White House is siding with them, especially since the ban on cell phone unlocking caused a lot of outrage in the wireless community. By sticking out their contracts, or by buying their phones off contract, they should be able to do whatever they want with their device. T-Mobile should also be happy about the White House’s decision, seeing as it’s been gunning for AT&T customers to convert over to its service with their unlocked mobile devices.
We’ll keep you posted on any updates regarding this issue. Edelman wrote that the White House will continue to work to “ensure our laws keep pace with changing technology, protect the economic competitiveness that has led to such innovation in this space, and offer consumers the flexibility and freedoms they deserve.”
[via White House]
White House combats ban on cell phone unlocking is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 01
There are many reasons why people love their smartphones. They provide a seamless blend of communication and computing, are easy to use, and always with you. However, there are times when simple cell phones are still useful, especially when it comes to battery life.
The Nokia 105 was presented at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and it’s their most affordable phone up to date. It costs only €15 (~$20 USD) and it was intended for the first-time cell phone buyers. It comes with a bright screen, clear menus, and features like an FM radio, multiple alarm clocks, a dust and splash-proof keypad, as well as a flashlight.
Its most important feature is that it can last up to 35 days on a single charge – though it’s not clear how much of that is talk time and how much is standby time. This phone is definitely something useful to have as a backup device, in case of an emergency.
[via The Independent]
Oct 31
Cell phones, smartphones in particular, have this unfortunate combination of high cost and ease-of-theft. Once a cell phone is snatched, it can easily be used by swapping out the SIM card with a new one, at which point identifying the phone as stolen becomes all but impossible. To help curb this problem, a database of stolen cell phones has been launched in the U.S.
Back in April, we reported that the FCC and wireless carriers were joining forces to create a national database for zapping stolen phones into serviceable gadgets. Part of that database is now live, and works by blocking the stolen cell phone’s IMEI number, making it impossible to get service. AT&T and T-Mobile have both launched a joint database that blocks stolen phones, while Verizon and Sprint are slated to launch their own databases soon.
By the end of November 2013, the four major carriers will merge their databases, with smaller carriers joining in, to create a unified system for targeting and blocking stolen phones. Also in the plans is joining the national database with an international one to block stolen phone use overseas. “The goal is to not only protect the consumer by cancelling the service, but by ultimately protecting the consumer by drying up the after market for stolen phones,” said CTIA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Guttman-McCabe.
Consumers are also being encouraged to join in the anti-smartphone theft task. Cell phone users advised to use PINs or passwords with lock their phones, and to enable remote wiping capabilities. “Consumers also play a key role in protecting their information and preventing smartphone theft. By using passwords or PINs, as well as remote wiping capabilities, consumers can help to dry up the aftermarket for stolen devices.”
[via Network World]
Stolen cellphone database goes live in the US is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 23
Qualcomm develops eyes-free smartphone for the blind and visually impaired, calls it Ray
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Smartphones have made juggling multiple single-purpose gadgets a thing of the past for many, but the blind and visually impaired often use a raft of devices built with eyes-free use in mind. Qualcomm and Project Ray, however, are aiming to consolidate phone calls, text messaging with voice read-out, navigation, object recognition, audio book reading and more for the visually impaired in a system built on an off-the-shelf Android phone. To navigate the smartphone, users leverage a handful of simple finger movements that can be started at any point on the handset’s touch screen. Voice prompts and vibration provide feedback to users, and the UI adapts to usage patterns and preferences. Currently, Ray devices have access to Israel’s Central Library for the Blind and are being tested by 100 folks in the country. For the full lowdown, head past the break for the press release.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Qualcomm develops eyes-free smartphone for the blind and visually impaired, calls it Ray originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 10
Wilson Electronics releases three 4G multi-band signal boosters, no soup for Sprint
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Even if you live in an area with 4G coverage, you might not get the best service inside certain buildings, and that’s where companies like Wilson Electronics come in — just take a peek at its Sleek 4G-V, for example. At MobileCon 2012, the antenna maker added three more to its lineup. They are the Tri-band 4G-V, the Tri-band 4G-A, and the Tri-band 4G-C, and are meant for Verizon’s 4G LTE, AT&T’s 4G LTE, and T-Mobile’s “faux-G” network — the latter of which is also recommended for use throughout Canada. The antennas are designed to boost the signal of older legacy networks too, so no worries if you don’t live in an area blessed with 4G. No pricing and availability just yet, and we don’t see any sign of a Sprint antenna either. To get more details, catch the full PR after the break.
Continue reading Wilson Electronics releases three 4G multi-band signal boosters, no soup for Sprint
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wireless, Mobile
Wilson Electronics releases three 4G multi-band signal boosters, no soup for Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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