Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

They just announced two Skype phones a couple of weeks ago, but USRobotics isn’t going to stop there.  The company has announced the new Cordless Dual Phone (USR9630), which connects up to both your land-line and your computer to offer you a seamless in-house VoIP solution.  It’s a lot cheaper than other products released in the past, so it’s $120 pricetag may be worth the purchase.  The phone can also be expanded with up to four additional handsets for $70 each.  Check out the list of features after the jump.

Ability to use Skype even when you are not at your PC

Up to four handsets for a whole-home/small office cordless phone solution

Powerful DECT 6.0 technology does not interfere with 802.11a/b/g wireless networks, Bluetooth devices, and other home appliances.

Efficient power usage for enhanced talk and stand-by times

150 foot (50 meter) indoor/900 foot (300 meter) outdoor range

Integrated speakerphone in handset for hands free calling

LED backlit, graphical LCD display provides convenient access to Skype contacts and personal phonebook entries

Battery level indicator and Out of Range warning tone

Supports Skype Caller ID and telephone company Caller ID

Integrated echo cancellation and noise reduction technology delivers life-like conversation quality

Full-duplex operation eliminates conversation clipping

Simple to install - Supports Plug-and-Play

Supports Windows 2000 & XP operating systems

Compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ports

Via [V&G Blog]
Read [Press Release]

If you are afraid of losing all the contacts stored on your mobile, try ZYB.com. ZYB is offering a new online service that allows users to store, manage, and share their mobiles contacts and calendar online. The service is free and works with almost all operators and more than 200 different phone models. It’s very simple to get started, just sign up on zyb.com, select your mobile phone model and in a matter of seconds you will receive a message (SMS) that automatically configures your mobile to your ZYB profile. Once configured, the mobile is now ready to be synchronised with ZYB. No installation of software required. After the first synchronisation the mobiles contacts and calendar can be edited from the user’s personal profile on zyb.com and all changes can be copied directly to the mobile.

ZYB allows users to store an unlimited number of contacts and calendar entries and access them online from anywhere in the world. As such ZYB also works as a backup, so if a user is unlucky and loses his mobile, all he has to do to get his data back is to sync a new mobile with his ZYB account.

So now when you drop your cellphone in the lake you don’t have to worry about your contact, you just have to figure out how to convince your wireless company that the red water dot is not actually from water and it is their fault.

[Thanks Tommy]

The new Nokia N80 Internet Edition offers wireless LAN (WLAN), WLAN wizard, web browser, support for internet calls, a 3.0 megapixel camera, and quadband GSM WCDMA, and a host of other internet services not found on other Nokia devices.

Use the integrated Yahoo! Search for finding whatever you need and use the Mini Map function to manage the pages you find.  Browse through thousands of items at Amazon.com, or scroll though a book with Amazon’s MobiPocket Reader. You can also snap a photo and send it directly from your device to your Flickr...you get the point.

The Nokia N80 Internet Edition comes loaded with Nokia’s new Download! client, which allows you to see what new applications are available, as well as keeping other applications current.  The web browser with Mini Map makes browsing the internet the same way that PC web browsers display web pages. VoIP is integrated into the Nokia user interface, and the handset allows for compatible third party internet call applications. The Nokia N80 Internet Edition comes in two colors, patina bronze and pearl black, and is expected to be available from mid-September 2006.

It seems that we haven’t heard anything about Yahoo! Go since back at CES when Yahoo’s CEO Terry Semel introduced it.  It sounded like a good idea at the time, but since they’ve been sitting on it for so long, the hype seems to have settled.  In an attempt to revive it which it’s still kicking, they have announced the service is now compatible with Windows Mobile versions 2003 SE and 5.0 (formerly supported Symbian OS only).

The service allows you to access your Yahoo! accounts on your mobile device - including Yahoo! Search, Mail, Photos, Address Book and Calendar, Yahoo! News, Sports, Finance, and any other service you can think of from their gigantic portfolio.  Additionally, Yahoo! has partnered with companies like Motorola, Nokia and RIM to have the software pre-loaded on their devices.  Moto has already confirmed their plans to “pre-load and prominently feature Yahoo! Go for Mobile on optimized handsets worldwide starting in the first half of 2007.” Head over to the Go site to find out more.

Via [CrunchGear]
Read [Yahoo! Go]

The Treo 650 dates all the way back to November of 2004, and Palm clearly isn’t ready to put it to sleep...yet.  In fact, they just announced that they’ll be offering the popular push email solution BlackBerry Connect for the Cingular version.  If you’re not familiar with BlackBerry Connect, it essentially turns your non-BB smartphone into a BB-like device.  Here’s a bit more from the product page:

If your company is one of the many that have installed a BlackBerry Enterprise Server™4 for their corporate email solution, the Treo 650 smartphone with BlackBerry Connect™ gives you quick and easy access to everything on your device—phone, calendar, software applications, and, of course, email.

Read [Palm]

Sprint’s got a RAZR coming soon, and it’s not one of those old V3 models that everyone and their grandma has.  The newest member to the RAZR lineup, the KRZR K1m, is expected to hit both Sprint and Verizon around the same time - supposing Verizon’s not going to slap down another one of those annoying exclusivity agreements.  PhoneScoop got in one hell of a preview with the device covering everything from basic features to deep down in the menus… and they’ve got screenshots to prove it.  They talk about how Motorola has fully customized the software to meet Sprint’s requirements - welcome screen and all.  The device sports EVDO and will likely be released in time for the holiday season.  Click on to PhoneScoop for the round-up.

Read [PhoneScoop]

According to sources in the gaming industry, Digitimes is reporting that Sony is not on schedule to produce 4 million units by the end of 2006 like they had planned.  Instead, they will more than likely chop that estimate in half due to some technical issues.

Sony’s OEM makers in China and Japan are still preparing for volume production of the PS3 and there is a short supply of blue laser diodes, a key component of Blu-ray Disc (BD) pick-up heads, and cell processors, the sources pointed out, noting that the situation may halve the total expected shipment volume for November and December.

If Sony’s going to beat out the Xbox 360 and their 5 million or so existing units, they best be getting their supply chain in whack.

Via [Gizmodo]
Read [Digitimes]

It’s nice to see someone taking a stand against companies that aren’t environmentally friendly.  Greenpeace International, a non-profit organization “with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific,” has taken aim at the largest computer manufacturers to see just how green they are.  Scoring best on their 10-point scale are Dell and Nokia mostly for their chemical management practices.  Judging by the charts, it looks to me like Dell got screwed out of first, but what do I know?  On the low end were Apple, Acer and Motorola… oh yeah, and in dead last is Lenovo.  I have to say, I’m very disappointed with these companies.  Apple and Motorola have these pristine images that make you think of cleanliness and happy things, surely not TOXIC WASTE!  And Lenovo, I don’t even want to see you right now… go to your room!

Via [V&G Blog]
Read [Greenpeace]

A member over at MyPDACafe.com has posted some snap-shots of the upcoming Palm Treo 750, a Windows Mobile 5 smartphone with no antenna!  Yep, that’s the only visible difference between this guy and the 700w(x).  Under the hood, the pictures reveal Palm has decided to jack it up to a whole 64MB of RAM, from a measly 32 megs.  It’s also running Windows Mobile 5.1.195 to be precise.  Check out a few more pics after the break.

Via [Engadget]
Read [MyPDACafe]

TV Guide and 4INFO are getting together to bring TV listings directly to cellphones. You will now have the ability to quickly search for channel listings, specific programs, and time-based programming from any mobile phone via SMS or WAP. The service is available to all mobile phone users regardless of carrier, and will allow TV fans to easily locate air dates, times, and channels for their favorite programming while out of town, or just on the go.

This builds on 4INFO’s ability to deliver sports scores, yellow page listings, stock quotes, movie times, hotel reservations, weather forecasts, horoscopes, flight status, package tracking, fantasy sports, drink recipes, and yes, even pickup lines.

So this solves the problem of how to get the girl but why can’t we have a DVR in the U.S. that is programmable over your phone. If 4INFO can do that for me I will be screaming accolades all the way home (while managing my baseball team, grabbing some drinks, on my plane, while tracking my Fedex, managing my portfolio...)

[Thanks Bob]