Hasta La Gadget!

The OwnFone is neither smart nor world-friendly, and yet it’s managed to grab our attention just the same. Designed for use only in the UK, it represents a rather novel take on the mobile phone with its customizable nature and simplistic design. Before ordering, owners must select among two, four, eight or a dozen contacts, and it’s highly recommended to include emergency services among that bunch — there’s no option to dial actual numbers, as every contact is programmed and stored in the cloud.

In its current incarnation, contacts are represented by their names, but it will soon be possible to customize a phone with either photos or Braille. While owners can update a contact’s phone number with a simple call to customer support, it’s more cumbersome to replace a contact, as you’ll need to order a decal to affix over the former friend. Due to its limited functionality, the OwnFone is best positioned as a backup or secondary phone, although its simplicity makes it particularly well-suited for children and some elderly individuals. As another nice touch, one’s phone number is printed on the back of the OwnFone. You’ll find it available today for £55, and all those curious to discover the customization options can check out the various colors, patterns and photos on OwnFone’s website.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Meet the OwnFone: a customizable mobile phone that epitomizes simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  OwnFone  | Email this | Comments

Want a blue-and-black Bluetooth speaker to match your Engadget t-shirt, messenger bag and whatever other paraphernalia you have lying around? You’re in luck: Jawbone is about to start accepting orders for the Jambox speaker in custom colors. All told, you’ll be able to choose from 13 shades for the grill, and nine for the end caps. Jawbone says it can see customers choosing school and team colors, not that you need an excuse to want an orange piece of kit. The personalization is free of charge, meaning the price of the speaker is still $200. The only downside, so far as we can tell, is that the Big Jambox isn’t included. For now, the site is only open to select users (i.e., loyal customers who have participated in company forums, surveys and such), but starting August 28th it’ll be open to everybody. In the meantime, which of you has the cojones to order it in purple and yellow?

Jawbone takes a cue from Colorware, will let customers order the Jambox speaker in custom colors originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

If you’ve ever looked for Doctor Who cookie cutters then you know they are hard to find. I’m not sure if any official cookie cutters even exist. So what do you do when you want to make some cookies to stuff in your TARDIS cookie jar? Make your own cookie cutters of course.

With these Doctor Who cookie cutters you could bake some amazing treats. These awesome custom made cookie cutters were made by Flickr user Nidaram. I especially love the K9 cutter. Nidaram made these for a friend’s Christmas present a couple of years back.

The set includes a Dalek, a TARDIS, a Slightly 3-D TARDIS, and K-9. It’s just hand-bent steel held together at the ends with two machine screws. I’d love to see what the cookies look like.

[via Neatorama]

If you prefer reading your RSS feeds without the backlight, there’s hardware for that, and if you’d prefer not reading your Twitter feeds at all, there’s now hardware for that as well. Mix an Arduino Ethernet board, an Emic 2 Text-To-Speech Module and the knowhow to put them together, and you’ve got SocialChatter — a neat little build that’ll read your feeds aloud. The coding’s already been done for you, and it’s based on Adafruit’s own Internet of Things printer sketch with a little bit of tinkering so nothing’s lost in translation. If your eyes need a Twitter break and you’ve got the skills and kit to make it happen, head over to the source link for a how-to guide. Don’t fill the requirements? Then jump past the break to hear SocialChatter’s soothing voice without all the effort.

Continue reading Arduino-based SocialChatter reads your Twitter feeds so you don’t have to (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Internet

Arduino-based SocialChatter reads your Twitter feeds so you don’t have to (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Adafruit  | Email this | Comments

Do you happen to be David Beckham or Toyota? Well, congratulations — you now have a Google+ vanity URL. The rest of us looking for the football star or car manufacturer need only type “google.com/+davidbeckham” or “google.com/+toyota” to reach those respective pages, enabling easy access to that must-see picture in front of a private jet, or a vehicle recall notice. Sadly, you’re probably not eligible for a custom shortcut of your own — here’s the word from Google:

At first, we’re introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned!

So, for now, you better get comfy with “plus.google.com/108326689306432447266,” or whatever the good Goog has granted.

Filed under: Internet

Google+ offers custom URLs for verified accounts, other profiles to come ‘over time’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  Google  | Email this | Comments