The Grippy Pad uses no velcro, no magnets, just the principles of science! It turns out science can be cool without being explosive! “I think… what we’re seeing here… is going to be dubbed an anomaly in the annals of scientific research.” Yes, it is strange how I’m getting that same feeling that I got when we blew up those pumpkins in the name of science. Write that down.

The Grippy Pad is available in gray, black, white, and red, so you can get one that fits your style. Or if your parents bought you a car from the sixties that has a maroon dashboard, you can add a bit of “the present era” to your vehicle.

This geeky product is also perfect for putting GPS devices on your dash – yes, it’s that strong. Unless you’re going 90 in the dunes of Egypt, nothing is going to fall off of your Grippy Pad.

You can pick one of these up from Firebox for just $11 (USD), or you can stay here with me and have another cup of tea. While you sip on that tea, check out some other cool stuff for your mobile gadgets, like the iLoop Phone Stand and the Siri 3D Printed iPhone Case.

Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a site that loves all things geeky.

Aside from that, it’s also the device they commonly turn to when they’re bored (to play games and stream media) or when they’re lonely (to chat and connect on social networks.)

And the humanized devices are coming, one after the other. First it was the Modai concept phone, and now it’s Sang Hoon Lee’s Heartbeat mobile phone concept. The former is more completely thought-out when it comes to features and how it would work. On the other hand, the Heartbeat phone is basically a phone with a heartbeat.

Thankfully, its heart doesn’t beat to signal that it’s alive, because that would just make the concept creepier than it already is. Rather, the device alerts you to incoming calls, new messages, and other notifications by beating. And not just with the sound of a heart beat, but with actual inflating and deflating action on the surface of the phone.

The heartbeat can also indicate the emotional state of the person on the other end of the line. I’d prefer to have my own actual heart do the beating. No thank you very much to the Heartbeat mobile phone concept.

[via Yanko Design]

The smartphone runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and has Gorilla Glass over the top to make it stronger. The screen is 4.3-inches wide and has 960 x 540 resolution. The processor is a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460. The smartphone runs an 1800mAh battery and should last a long time. The device is not that wide either at 64.8mm.

The P1S smartphone will be offered in white, black, and pink colors. The rear camera is an 8MP unit and the front is a 1.3MP camera. The rear camera can capture 1080p video. If this thing floats your boat, it will hit the US in April. What carrier will have it and how much it will cost are unknown.

I mean, you’re supposed to feel that way about people and not objects. But designer Julius Tarng has this precisely in mind (the former and not the latter statement) with his Modai phone concept, which is supposed to further humanize smartphone technology.

The Modai is a versatile mobile companion with a friendly looking UI that can switch between two modes: Fundai (social mode) and Prodai (work mode.) Content, messages, and files will be sorted into the two different screens, and switching between the two will be a breeze (or so, says Julius.)

According to the designer, the Modai was inspired by human behavior and was designed to last, both physically and emotionally. (This is, however, the first time I’ve ever heard of a smartphone having emotions. Say what?) Modai is supposed to form a meaningful bond with its owner, making it less likely that its owner will dispose of the phone and upgrade within 18 months. Modai help form a bond by helping its owner through their day, and also reflecting its own “mood” using an avatar to represent things like battery status or volume.

The phone would even feature a built-in stand embedded with memory wire, which can be used to let the phone express itself through physical gestures. For instance, it would gradually rise up to wake you up in the morning.

Assuming you do form a bond with your Modai and don’t want to ever let it go, you’d still be able to upgrade its technology, thanks to a modular design with replaceable internal components.

The Modai is just a concept for now, and while it’s got some elements that I believe will be pretty hard to achieve, it’s still an interesting design all the same.

[via Yanko Design]

The flaw is supposedly so significant that a nefarious user who exploited the issue could force the mobile phone to call or text a specific number. If the flaw were to be exploited, hundreds of thousands of mobile phones could be forced into calling for texting premium numbers in a short time, racking up huge money for the hacker at the same time.

The researcher talked about the flaw at a security conference in Berlin. Thankfully, he didn’t outline the details and give the hackers all the details they need to take advantage of the discovery. However, the researcher, Karsten Nohl, head of Germany’s Security Researchers said that it could be merely weeks before the hackers figure out the flaw themselves.

On the plus side, Nohl believes the issue could probably be fixed through software updates, though he doesn’t indicate if that would be at the network level or at the device level, and how he exactly plans on sharing the details of his findings with mobile phone carriers.

[via Reuters]

The management firm had antennas and software installed from a company called Footpath Technology. The software allows the malls to see the path that shoppers take through the mall using triangulation of the unique device ID of the mobile phones most of us carry. The reason for the tracking is to see how people flow through the mall to help optimize retail space and merchandising.

The malls say that nothing personal is tracked about the user. The tech claims to not be able to capture phone numbers, texts, or calls. I still think most people won’t like this at all. That said, malls have been using similar tactics using video cameras for quite some time now.

[via CNN via PhysOrg]

The Extreme X3 [RU] has an IP67 certification for water resistance. Gresso says that its Extreme X3 can be submerged in up to five meters of water for an hour before it will no longer work. That means you could go swimming with the X3 in your pocket and climb out of the pool to make calls. It’ll even float on the surface of the water for up to 30 minutes. The phone is also very resistant to damage from drops.

The phone will reportedly survive drops from 7-meters onto concrete and can deal with literally a ton of weight on it. You could drop this phone off a 10-foot ladder, drive over it your truck, and it would still work. It also works in temperatures from -50C to 60C without issues. It operates on 900/1800/1900MHz frequencies and has Bluetooth, FM tuner, and an integrated flashlight. Pricing is unknown at this time.

[via BornRich]

The strange feature on this phone is a little disc that the user can remove and spray with their favorite perfume. Then when the phone is near their nose on a call, they can smell the perfume and not the presumably stinky person next to them. The phone has a gold tone case and a big 2-karat cubic zirconia for decoration to help dress it up too.

Other than the color and scent disk thingy, the phone has a 8.1MP camera that has a special feature for tracking eyes to make them look larger and a feature to improve skin. The phone has a 3-inch color VGA resolution screen. The phone is waterproof and dust resistant. The battery inside the phone will last 420 hours on 3G standby and 210 minutes in 3G talk. Chances are that you’ll never see the Fujitsu Folli Follie (ph)Fone outside of China, but if you live there, it will be available starting on June 24th.

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]

And when I say “luxury,” I mostly mean “insanely expensive.”

The silver version of these extravagant phones go for £6,400 ($10,560 USD) while the gold-plated one sells for a lofty £37,000 ($61,000).

Now here’s the kicker: you’d think that for something with that price, you’d be getting a state-of-the-art smartphone that’s equipped with futuristic features that will make your money well worth it, right? Wrong. Because essentially, what you’re paying for is appearances.

Fact is, these Æsir phones aren’t even smart. (What I mean to say is, they aren’t smartphones.) You can’t browse the net with them, you can’t constantly update your Facebook profile or send out tweets, and they don’t even have cameras. But what you can do with these phones is make calls, send text messages, set some alarms, or create a to-do list. In short, the Æsir phone is basic phone with the most basic of functions, reminiscent of the day’s of Nokia’s 5110 (which happened to be the first mobile phone I ever owned.)

These phones are actually three years in the making and are constructed from watch-grade materials. The gold version is made of 18 carat solid yellow gold, while the silver one is made of stainless steel. Both are equipped with a sapphire crystal lens with ARdur™ coating and a ceramic upper finished with a high-grade and ultra-glossy finish.

[via Luxury Launches]

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]

Supposedly, the human-shaped phone has a skin-like outer layer to make you feel closer to the person on the other end. I don’t even want to know why the bottom of the phone is so phallic looking. A geek from the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International said, “The mobile phone may feel like the person you are talking to.”

Seriously? I wonder if these guys have ever touched a real person. The speaker for the phone is inside the head and a LED in the chest turned blue when the phone is in use and is red in standby mode. I wonder how you dial the thing.

[via Physorg]

The XP3300 Force can muster 18 to 24 hours of talk time per charge. The phone is made to military specs and designed to survive drops from 2 meters onto concrete and submersion in water. The phone has a 2MP camera and a professional aGPS system that can offer GPS tracking in 5-minute intervals for up to 26 hours. The phone will run JAVA apps and is made to interface with MRM software for timecard, location monitoring and other applications for field workers.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The coolest part of this phone to me is the video that shows the thing being dropped from 100 feet, which is way more than 2 meters. That is one seriously rugged handset. I wish my iPhone could survive drops from 2 feet.

A new controller that hooks to any phone via Bluetooth has surfaced called the iControlPad BT that adds physical buttons to the iPhone and other devices. The control layout looks a lot like a mash up between the Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers. It has four buttons, two joysticks, and a D-pad.

The phone slips into the controller and is held in place with some adjustable sides. The downside for iPhone users is that it works best with jailbroken devices, but it will work in keyboard mode on the device. The controller supports just about any Android app that supports a PC gamepad. It runs from a battery 1500mAh unit can charges via USB port. Shipments start in February and the complete controller set up is about $75 (USD).

Of course these people weren’t content with solving the puzzles themselves. No, they designed software that could take an image of a board, and find the solution for you. Then they integrated it into the Google Goggles feature found on Android phones. Sure, it’s not a life-changing feature, but it is pretty cool.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via UberGizmo]

The thing is a fake Louis Vuitton belt with a gold colored buckle. That buckle has a cell phone on it that actually works, though I suspect “works” and “works well” are two different things in this case. The phone has a little display on the top that lets the wearer see who is calling.

There aren’t any specs on the phone to speak of. We do know the thing has a camera inside and that’s it really. You can hit up the video below to see this ugly thing in action.

[via M8Cool via GizChina]

RadioShack has the Evo 4G on sale until Christmas Day for just $99 (USD). That is a big discount. The only catch is that you have to trade in another working cell phone to get the $100 instant savings. The Evo 4G at the special price with trade is good for new and upgrade users.

You also have to sign up for new 2-year plan. RadioShack is also giving away a free Plantronics Bluetooth headset with qualifying plans. If the Evo 4G or Sprint isn’t for you, you can get the iPhone 3GS for $49 as well as the Captivate Android device, LG Quantum WinMo 7 smartphone or the Blackberry torch for $49.

I’ve been an iPhone user for a couple of years now, but it’s always nice to get the chance to spend some time with the other smartphone platforms out there. Recently I’ve gotten to play with my first Windows Phone 7 phone, the HTC HD7 (T-Mobile). It is among the first of the WP7 phones on the market, with a giant screen and plenty of features.

I’m going to do my best to break this review down into two main sections. First, I’m going to concentrate on the hardware of the HD7. Then I’ll have a go at the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

Hardware

The first thing anyone notices about this phone is the large screen. The screen measures 4.3” which seems gigantic when compared to say, the iPhone 4′s which is only 3.5”. This makes things like playing games and watching videos rather nice. The downside is that the phone itself has to be larger to accommodate such a screen. It takes some time to get used to carrying around a phone this large. Thankfully it is nice and slim, so slipping it into a pocket isn’t any trouble.

They say that size isn’t everything, and that is true of screens. While the HD7′s is large and bright, I was  disappointed by the image quality on the 800×480 display. When you turn the phone away, the colors begin to wash out a bit too quickly for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong, the screen still looks good, just not the best I’ve seen around. If you’re wanting to use the phone for viewing long videos, you’ll be pleased to find a kickstand on the back, which allows you to prop your phone on a table or desk.

As for the touchscreen capabilities, I’m plenty pleased. I had no problems navigating around the various menus, or when typing using the on-screen keyboard. Typing is one of those areas that no doubt benefits from having the larger screen real estate, as the letters aren’t crammed together so much.

While you’re relying on the screen to show you video, you’re obviously going to need some audio to compliment it. This is handled by front-facing stereo speakers. I like this idea, as the phone is generally facing you when you’re listening to audio through the speakers. I wasn’t terribly impressed by the quality here. When watching videos or listening to music, I found the sound to be muddy and lacking in clarity. It wasn’t bad enough that I couldn’t tell what I was listening to, but it wasn’t pleasing to hear.

Camera performance is about average. It can take some good shots, but it seems to have some trouble auto-focusing from time to time, which can be an annoyance. I will say that I like having the ability to activate the camera simply by holding down the dedicated shutter button. You don’t even have to unlock the phone to do this. Sometimes those few extra seconds can make the difference between snapping that perfect shot, and missing it.

Overall, the HTC HD7 is an average phone, when judged solely on its hardware. It’s really not one of the most solid phones out there, or even the best HTC phone that I’ve used. But if you’re looking for something with a nice, big screen that runs Windows Phone 7, then it might not be a bad choice. But that depends on what you think of Windows Phone 7, doesn’t it? That brings us to the next part of the review.

Software (Windows Phone 7)

The mobile phone industry has really had some major leaps in the last few years. First Apple came along with their iPhone, which revolutionized the smartphone market. Then Google brought us the Android platform, which gave us a much more open solution to the mobile phone. In that time Microsoft’s mobile platform was left in the dust. Compared to the other offerings, it just felt clunky and outdated. Thankfully the Windows Phone 7 platform gave new life to the company’s mobile offerings.

First Look

When you fire up a phone running the new OS, you’re greeted with a nice lock screen, which gives you basic information such as date, time, battery life, signal strength and messaging/call alerts. A quick swipe of your finger brings you to your phone’s main screen.

I love the look of the main screen, because it’s so simplistic. You’ll see the time, signal strength and eight tiles. These tiles are your way of accessing the most important applications on your phone. Of course this sleek look is also one of the things that I dislike about the phone’s appearance.

While it is nice to have my most-used apps at my fingertips, only allowing for eight of them to be seen is an annoyance. I’m someone who likes to use their phone to do as many tasks as possible. This means I have to pile up large blocky icons on the Start page to flick through, or go hunting through lists to find the software I need. There are no folders in which to store similar applications, or even different email inboxes. That’s right, if you have more than one mail account, you’re going to need a separate icon for each. There isn’t even a search bar that you can use to quickly find an application.

The UI itself does have some nice, subtle touches that I enjoy. These are mostly in the way of small animations when launching an app, or moving around within one. It is a nice contrast to the very two-dimensional look that the UI generally gives. One second you’re staring at a boring, organized list, only to have the tiles fly away as you launch whatever application you’ve selected.

Basic Functions

When you look at the basic functions, Windows Phone 7 does them well. Tapping on the phone icon brings up your call history, and gives you icons for your voicemail, dialer and contact list. While in a call you have nice big buttons for speaker, mute, hold and add call. If you want to bring up the number pad again, you’ll need to tap a smaller button to bring it up.

Messaging is very simplistic, which seems to be a theme here. Conversations are broken up into contacts, which are listed by the date/time of the most recent message in each. Once in a conversation, each message is listed in its own chat bubble, much as you would expect.

One very basic function that you will not find on this device is copy & paste. This is appalling. You would think with the amount of flak Apple caught for it on the iPhone, Microsoft would have this feature in from the start. It’s supposed to be coming in an update which looks to be hitting next month sometime, but that still doesn’t get rid of the bad taste its current absence leaves in my mouth.

Something else simple that is nowhere to be found is the ability to take screenshots. This feature would come in handy in a variety of situations, especially when trying to do a phone review. After much research, there is currently no way whatsoever to take a screenshot unless you are running the phone’s software on an emulator on your computer.

Marketplace

This is where you’re going to go to add new content to your phone. The Marketplace is broken up into four main sections. First is the HTC Apps (obviously not found on non-HTC phones), apps, games and music. These are further broken down into categories, including featured, free, and new content.

One of my biggest complaints here is the layout. When you first enter the apps section, you’re once again greeted with lists. These lists are written in a thin, white font. That’s perfectly fine if you’ve got a solid black background. But instead they’ve plastered a collage of pictures behind it, making this boring list much harder to read. Once you do select one of the categories from the list, you’re taken to another section, which thankfully has that boring black background that makes everything readable again.

Navigating through the Marketplace is simple enough for the most part, though one does get tired of scrolling through endless lists after a while (something you’ll find in every aspect of the OS). Downloading and installing apps is a painless process. Though I will say that after you’ve installed an extra 20 or 30 things, things start to get harder to find in the phone’s app list. (which means more scrolling).

Xbox Live

As a gamer, I’ve been disheartened to see a lack of official connectivity between Xbox Live and mobile phones. Sure, there are apps available on the iPhone, but nothing straight from Microsoft. Thankfully this is something that they did decide to integrate into Windows Phone 7.

Surprisingly the Xbox Live feature has pretty much everything I’d have wanted in such an app. Your avatar loads up, along with your Gamerscore. You’re able to check achievements, see which friends are online and check/send messages. You can even customize your avatar right from the application.

There is also a separate section for Xbox Live games on your phone. Not every game available on Windows Phone 7 is available here. These are specially-branded Xbox Live games, some of which are also Xbox Live Arcade games. They all seem to be of a higher quality, and all feature demos, so you know what you’re paying for.

Multimedia

As you can no doubt imagine, the heart of Windows Phone 7′s multimedia functionality is the Zune software. If you’ve ever owned a Zune, then you’ll feel right at home with video and music playback. You’ll use the desktop software to assemble and arrange your media, and sync it up with your phone. MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG and H.264 are all supported.

Zune Pass is also available on the phone, which allows you to stream unlimited music to your phone, for a monthly cost. I’m not sold on the service, as I’d much rather own my music, rather than rent it. Besides, with services like Pandora offering up streaming for free, I have a hard time justifying a Zune Pass.

Conclusion

I could probably go on for days about each and every feature of the phone and its software. However, the bottom line is that Microsoft has delivered a solid mobile phone platform. It’s not without its shortcomings, but with the exception of copy & paste (which should be getting fixed in an update) none are dealbreakers for me.

So is it better than iOS/Android/etc? I would say that it is a strong enough platform that it can easily compete with anything else on the market. As for better or worse, I’d say that comes down to preference. Each has their own strengths and weakness, and it’s going to come down to a matter of preference for the user. What I can say is that the mobile phone market just got a lot more interesting.

I have seen some phones that have camera sensors that can take decent pics, but those devices are rare. LG has unveiled a new device that is only on DoCoMo for now that may well be one of the first phones we can truly call a camera phone. The device has a 12.1MP image sensor and looks more like a camera with a phone crammed inside than the other way around.

It also sports an ISO range up to 3200 and has a Pentax 1:3.6-5.5 lens with 3x optical zoom. Camera phones generally have crap digital zoom that makes a bad picture look even worse. The LG L-03C also can record 720p HD video and has GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G capability.

[via Akihabara News]