Hasta La Gadget!

LAS VEGAS — How does $200 sound for an unlocked phone? Now make it a Dick Tracy-style watch phone and it’s an accessory you just might put on your wish list.

The W “phonewatch” from Kempler & Strauss combines a touchscreen interface with basic phone functionality so you can use the device while biking or hiking.

The GSM phone can work with both AT&T and T-Mobile but it doesn’t have 3G capability or Wi-Fi. Just open the back and pop in a SIM card there to get started. There is a microphone and a speaker on the device, but the company recommends that the phone be paired with a Bluetooth headset.

The watch phone isn’t intended as a replacement for your iPhone, Droid or your BlackBerry, says the company. Instead it has been created as a companion.

The watch-phone idea isn’t new. Last year, LG’s watch phone was a surprise hit at the Consumer Electronics Show. LG showed a slim watch with a touchscreen phone, camera, 3G and Bluetooth capability. Worn on the wrist, it looks like an ordinary watch displaying the time but when a call comes in, the screen changes. Raise your hand a little closer to your mouth, press a button and you can talk into the watch. That device never made it to the United States, though it eventually went on sale in Europe for around $1,500.

The W phonewatch works similarly. It has a digital clock but a single touch pulls up a basic menu that includes icons for phone, messages, address book and calendar. The device even has a 1.4-megapixel camera that can do both still photos and videos. To answer calls, just turn on your Bluetooth headset.

There’s no data capability so forget trying to surf the internet. But the combination of a basic unlocked feature phone in a wristwatch form factor makes it droolworthy.

Check out more photos of the W phonewatch and the company’s video of the device.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A day without landline phones? Some may say that’s inevitable, but it looks like AT&T is now starting to try to speed things up a bit, with it recently responding to an FCC request for comments with a 32-page filing that details its position on the matter. That more or less boils down to two major requests: that the FCC eliminate the regulatory requirements that it support a landline network, and that it provide a firm deadline for phasing it out. To back up that request, AT&T has provided the FCC with a whole host of statistics that paint a bleak picture for landlines, including the fact that less than 20% of Americans rely exclusively on switched-access lines for voice service (though plenty more still use them as their primary voice service), that at least 18 million homes now use a VoIP service, and that those two numbers are fast growing in opposite directions. Needless to say, such a change would have a broad range of regulatory implications, and AT&T isn’t providing answers for everything — like exactly how it expects that last mile of users to transition away from landlines, or how to deal with issues of public safety or those with disabilities.

AT&T asks FCC to phase out landline regulations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How a phone given to thousands of employees still manages to be nothing more than an occasional blip on the internets continues to boggle our mind. This latest Nexus One / “Google Phone” sighting comes care of two Twitter chatters — @djrobrob and the less protected account of @phillm. It’s the clearest shot of the interface we’ve gotten, and given our previous go-to videos have been subsequently pulled, the best “motion picture” interpretation we’ve got — take a look for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Another Google Nexus One sighting, this time a wee bit more clear

Another Google Nexus One sighting, this time a wee bit more clear originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of being badgered by your contemporaries over in the Northwest Angle about having to deal with those silly “three-year contracts?” Buck up, ’cause a new player has just been cleared to go head-to-head with the likes of Telus, Bell and Rogers in the Great White North. In a surprising reversal of an October CRTC ruling, the federal government in Canada has cleared Globalive to begin operations as a wireless cellphone operator in the country. The most amazing part? No changes are required in the outfit’s debt structure or ownership hierarchy. You see, Canada generally requires that its wireless carriers be Canadian-owned, but as it stands, the majority shareholder in Globalive is Egypt’s Orascom. Whatever the reasoning, we’re just stoked to hear that the company can kick open the doors “effective immediately,” and we’re hoping to hear that it’s doing just that in short order.

[Thanks, Martin]

Update: Whoa, that was quick! Looks like WIND (the brand this will all fall under) already has a site ready to rock. No sales or anything yet, but it looks like they won’t be taking this reversal of fortunes lightly. Thanks, Leon!

Reversed decision enables Globalive to enter Canada’s cellphone market ‘immediately’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For the seasoned DIYer, there’s hardly anything that can’t be done with a set of Chumby Guts. For a seasoned DIYer with a set of Chumby Guts, an old clock, a few brass horns and a Dremel tool, there’s absolutely nothing — save for spare time and determination — standing between him / her and a homegrown masterpiece such as the one you’re peering at above. Etsy member AbrahamBook’s latest creation is a WiFi-enabled widget monster that is shoved within a half vintage, half steampunk-styled enclosure. The Chumbophone doesn’t actually seem capable of making calls via the integrated horns, but we’d sure love to see a version that was. Not that we’re trying to force any ideas down your throat or anything…

Chumbophone proves that even Chumby can go retro (and like it) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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