This was probably what Eric, aka the Vigilante Rider, felt because he took the law into his own hands and shut people up by firing up his cellphone jammer.

Eric hails from Philadelphia, where he takes the #44 SEPTA bus on his way to work. When he feels like the noise in the bus has become unbearable, he whips out his cellphone jammer and fires it up to shut everyone up.

NBC Channel 10 did an interview with Eric and asked him about the legality of his actions, to which Eric only replied that it was a “gray area.” However, the FCC has since responded to the story and said that his actions were subject to a $100,000 fine and even jail time.

When he was informed of these possible sanctions, the Vigilante Rider decided to shut himself up and switch his jammer off – for good.

[via NBC Philadelphia via Dvice]

It may not be that apparent from the renders and pictures, but the SpareOne may as well be called BareOne. Engadget tested it and found that the audio quality was barely usable – then again that’s still way better than nothing. In place of the display is a transparent compartment for the battery. There are also blue LEDs that provide a rudimentary indication of signal and battery life. Speaking of which, Xpal Power claims that the phone has a 10-hour talk time.

As you’ll see in the in the gallery, the SpareOne does have one spare feature – a flashlight. So you can also think of it as a flashlight that holds its charge up to 15 years. Here’s a short demo of the phone:

I can’t help but think that we can do better than an AA battery for a power source, but then again a hand-cranked or solar-powered unit would need a bit of preparation time, and those precious seconds could be the difference between life and death in an emergency. SpareOne will be available in the first quarter of 2012 for $50 (USD), just in time for the great alien invasion of 2027.

[SpareOne via Engadget]

Another practical feature of the iPPeel is that it has its own battery – it really is an entire phone in itself.

HK Rofen sells the iPPeel for about $70 (USD) each. More than its butt ugly look or the built-in phone’s barebones functionality, I think the most important thing you have to consider before ordering it is its overall quality, especially since the product page doesn’t mention any warranty. Buyer beware.

[via Chip Chick]

Just drop a mobile phone SIM into the back of this GSM Remote Security Camera, and you can keep watch from any place you have a cellphone connection. In addition to being able to automatically send alerts when it detects motion (using an IR sensor), you can send an SMS message to the camera for it to send you a reply with a series of images on-demand via MMS or email. It even lets you listen in to audio at the monitored location in real time. And unlike some of the gadgets that come out of China, this one offers Quad-Band network support, so it’ll work worldwide – as long as you’re on a GSM network.

Image resolution from the camera is nothing to write home about, though – with a maximum 640×480(VGA) resolution, but this is a security camera – not something you’ll use to take portraits with. In keeping with that theme, it captures a wide 70-degree viewing angle, and can capture clear images from up to about 25 feet away in nightvision mode. It’s not clear from the specs, but it sounds like it doesn’t capture video footage at all – instead sending you a series of JPEG stills.

Since you’ll want to have this thing on all the time, you’ll probably want to have it plugged into the included AC adapter, but it does have a built in Lithium battery and can stay in standby mode for 24 to 36 hours on the battery pack if needed. Keep in mind that the camera does not automatically stay in nightvision mode in order to conserve on battery power. This can be activated by remote SMS message.

The GSM Remote Security Camera is available over at ChinaVasion for about $130 (USD), and includes everything you need to get started – except for the mobile phone SIM. You’ll have to add on service from a cellphone provider for that.

Brennan was motivated by the number of post-diagnosis deaths of patients afflicted with tuberculous pericarditis, a condition affecting about 2% of TB patients that could lead to cardiac arrest. He wanted to develop a cheap and easy way for patients to record their heartbeats on their own. The prototype you see above was made using a headset and an egg-cup.

A rubber O-ring and a piece of clear plastic are attached to the listening end of the egg cup to “ensure a good seal” to a patient’s chest. The custom software developed by Brennan, Clifford and Springer lets users record the phonocardiogram – the sound from the heart – then send the file to a specialist. It also has a built-in signal processor so it can identify poor recordings and ask the user to repeat the procedure, as well as a custom algorithm to “reliably identify heart rate and heart sounds.”

Brennan and company conducted a clinical trial from January to April of this year and compared the results that their device – connected to a Nokia 3110 Classic and then to an iPhone 3G – obtained with those from an actual electronic stethoscope. Amazingly enough the readings from the lowly Nokia bested the ones from the dedicated stethoscope, although the former also had a lot of low quality recordings. Brennan isn’t stopping here – he and Springer are working on an Android app version of their software. He also wants to see if their invention can be used to analyze other heart-related diseases.

[University of Oxford via Medgadget via Ubergizmo]

The other unique feature of the Mix Walkman is called Zappin’, which supposedly seeks and plays the chorus of a song to make it easier for you to decide if you want to listen to it or not. Unless you’re into prog, instrumental or other genres and songs that don’t have choruses of course. It also has a music recognition feature similar to Soundhound and Shazam, although of course the availability of that feature may depend on your service provider.

The phone side of the Mix Walkman is pretty standard stuff. It’s Android-based, has a 3″ 400×240 touchscreen, connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi only, has Bluetooth and micro-USB support and a 3mp rear camera. It also has dedicated apps for Facebook, Twitter and Google Talk.

I’m quite curious about how exactly the Karaoke mode lowers the vocal parts of a song; if it’s merely a glorified virtual EQ then it’ll dampen other sounds and not just the voices. The Zappin’ feature is quite practical though; I wish the iPhone had that feature. The Mix Walkman will be available on the third quarter of this year; no word on price yet. Check out the Sony Ericsson website for more info.

[via Newlaunches]

The entire phone is pink and the phones in the promotional image have a similarly pink and flowery wallpaper to boot. Need I say more?

I don’t know about you, but I’m a girl myself and I do not really find this phone appealing. I mean, it looks okay and all that, but I think there’s such a thing as too much of a thing. Appearances aside, it’s a smartphone that is capable of displaying 3D graphics on a 960×540 3.7-inch display. It runs on Android 2.3 and even has an 8.5 megapixel CMOS camera to boot. You can also use the AQUOS as a mobile wallet and watch some TV  on it, and typing is made really easy on it with the slide-out keypad.

All these features make the phone seem and sound more worthwhile. I just can’t swallow all that pink, though. Maybe if it came in black or white… Now that’s more up my alley.

[via Gizmodiva via New Launches]

I have a friend who’s absolutely obsessed with following the latest trends and getting new releases of gadgets she already owns the moment they come out. She buys the new model when it comes out, uses it for a few months or so, then either sells, gives, or stows away the old model when a newer one comes out.

It’s a vicious cycle and it’s wasteful. Designers Da Deng, Chandra Baker, Chris Platt, and Jason Schuler probably understand and know a thing or two about these people when they came up with revOlve.

Their concept design for an all-new breed of mobile phones, revOlve, bagged first place at the 2010 International E-Waste Competition in the Designer Category, and it’s easy to see why.

revOlve wants to “break the cycle” of serial cellphone replacers by handing them a phone that is simply too genius to trade in for another one. Full specifications are unavailable of course, since this is really just a design, but it’s one that I’d love to see turned into reality.

revOlve can be easily disassembled, so each component can be upgraded, replaced, and recycled when necessary. The bottom part of the phone where you can see the loop (which is also convenient for hanging the phone on a keychain or belt or something) is equipped with an induction generator. So when you’re running low of juice, just give the revOlve a few (or a lot) of spins to re-charge the battery.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Yanko Design]

Note that the angel is also wearing jeans. Ton Mooy, the sculptor who created the statue, said that the angel’s phone only has one button – a “direct dial to God.” I sure would like to borrow that phone.

But it gets more interesting, although I don’t know if this is actually true, it being stated on Wikipedia, but here goes: “The mobile-using angel had to be first approved by the cathedral’s fathers, who rejected earlier designs with the jet engines on the angel’s back.” Awwww.

[via Wikipedia & Radio Netherlands Worldwide via Metafilter]

This oddity sort of looks like the iPad 2 from the front, what with that white screen and front-facing camera. Of course, don’t expect this pocket-sized “E-Pad” to live up to Apple’s specs. It’s got a lowly 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen, a 0.3 megapixel front camera, and a 2 megapixel rear camera.

It does have one thing going for it that the iPad 2 doesn’t though – an LED flash. Actually, it’s got Java support and some sort of mobile TV that certainly won’t work here in the States. I wonder if it supports Flash too – meh, it’s probably not powerful enough. This thing is also a dual-SIM GSM phone, so it’s actually more like an iPhone 4 than an iPod Touch.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It’s also way thicker than Apple’s svelte gadgets. It looks like this thing is at least 1/2 an inch thick. Yeouch.

If you really do want one of these stupid looking things, you should be able to find one on the streets of the Shenzen area of China for about $70 bucks. Good luck with all that.

[via M.I.C. Gadget]

It will collect information about how many calories are burned, steps are taken, and real time physical activity. The software will also keep a log of food consumed throughout the day.

This is a pretty interesting sensor. It uses galvanic skin response and other factors to calculate calorie burn. The Activity Manager means that you log onto the website and input data about your daily food input, etc. For a moment, I thought that the device sensed what food you were eating.

The BodyMedia FIT Armband BW will cost $249 (USD). The Activity Manager costs an extra $13 per year (less with a quarterly or annual commitment).

[via Ubergizmo]

Smartphones are all about screens, and the screen on this thing is tiny. The watch will be able to show info about incoming calls, calendar events, new emails, status updates from social networks, and more on its tiny non-color screen. I don’t know, this sort of thing seems useless to me, especially if you can just take out your cell phone quickly. Still, this watch will allow some people to live their secret agent fantasies.

For now, this watch is still being tested and it will take several months before we see it for sale. It’s expected to sell for $200 (USD).

[via Geek Alerts]

While its name makes no sense – E stands for environment, and Cu, as you are no doubt aware, is the chemical symbol for copper – its main feature is very practical. Its copper case is designed to absorb heat from the environment. An integrated thermo-generator will then convert the heat into electrical energy that will be used to power the phone.

Hyland chose to make the back of the case look like dried earth, which looks nice I guess. What I’d like to know is if this is the optimum shape and form for the case, i.e. will this form maximize its heat-absorbing property? I honestly am not sure, because I’m no physicist. I’m just a guy with a fever, looking at something that could make his damn sickness useful.

[via Dezeen via Inhabitat]

The VR7 is a very rugged GSM mobile phone that is dustproof with grade 6 certification to prevent any dust from getting inside. It’s waterproof to grade 7 making it submersible in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. It also has integrated GPS and the cool thing about that feature is if you are in the middle of nowhere and break your leg the phone will automatically send your GPS coordinates to five numbers to get you help if you can’t talk.

The phone also supports navigation, conference calling, and has a compass built-in. The device can also access email, has a built-in flashlight, weather forecasting app, and a speaker that is extra loud for noisy environments. It also claims to be able to live through drops onto concrete from up to 2 meters high.

The T, for instance can be placed into jackets that turn the thing into something you can strap on your wrist, a camera, and other devices. The phone supports the stuff we all expect today like social networking and text messaging as well as voice calls.

The smartphone operates on the Qualcomm Brew platform. If you are a heavy text user, one of the available jackets for the phone adds a QWERTY keyboard for faster texting. The QWERTY case appears to have a 5MP camera inside as well. I will say that the phone alone looks interesting, but it is feature stripped compared to other offerings unless you put it into one of the jackets and most of those jackets look tacked on and mess up the streamlined looks of the device.

The pen-like stalk sticking out of the right side with the silver ring has the controls for the device. You can hit the menu buttons and access options and what appear to be controls for music from there. The screen is curved and overall the thing looks really cool.

The most interesting thing about the concept is that it has some sort of optical sensor that is able to read what is written when it is used like a pen and turns the handwriting into texts or emails that can be sent with the phone. The big issue I see with the design is this thing looks like the most uncomfortable phone to carry that has ever graced a pocket.

Sony has announced new technology called “single wire interface technology” that has only one wire for power and data transmission rather than several of current designs. The technology is expected to make phones more durable and to make designs more flexible.

The new tech uses time division duplex and multiplex to send multiple data types and power with the same cable at a limited signal frequency bandwidth. The tech supports up to 940Mbps data rate and uses 10-80mW of power during transmission and 0.3mW in standby.

Of course, you could just avoid the whole clamshell or slider phone thing and go with a device with no hinges at all.

I like how when you flip it over, this phone even has a rubber sole on the back. Other than looking like footwear, we’re really not sure why anyone would want this phone, as it’s really just your basic old-school clamshell cellphone. Plus, we’re not even sure if this is legitimate adidas merch, or if it’s some cheap trademark copycat.

On the plus side, it’s likely to sell for less than $80 bucks, fully unlocked. Now all you have to do is head to China, and start digging through countless schlock shops to find one. Heck, in keeping with the theme, why don’t you run there instead of flying?

[via M8cool (CN) via Cloned in China]

The data comes from the dating website OkCupid. This first chart is specific to 30-year old cellphone users, while the line graph below it represents nearly 10,000 users from ages 18 to 40. Needless to say that if you’re single, you’d better be toting an iPhone for your best shot at getting some. Or at least a better shot at having more partners. The study didn’t really account for how much sex these people actually had, just the number of people they did it with.

Android? What? Robots don’t have sex, get yourself an iPhone. Girls will want to get with you and guys will want to be you (or vice-versa depending on your gender and/or sexual preference).

[via Fast Company]

If you fear the cellphone not because of radiation or overage charges that could drive you into bankruptcy, but for the germs that are collected on the then you need the VIOlight. This thing is a UV light sanitizer for your mobile phone.

It’s powered by a UV light and produces ozone too. The light can kill all manner of germs like strep, e.coli, salmonella, and more in less than five minutes. Power comes from three AA batteries. I mock the need to sanitize your phone, but the UV tech is sound. It has been used in hospitals to kill germs for years.

Now if only it could do something about that cellphone bill…