A surprise it isn’t, but it’s nice to know that at the very least the iPhone is about to get a storage boost, doubling its internal flash memory to 32GB. Up until the euthanization of the 160GB iPod Classic, Apple could always be relied upon to increase drive size in iPods.

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The rumors/leaks come from two independent sources, and both are the results of either incompetent slip-ups or a genius-level marketing strategy. First, T-Mobile Austria posted a placeholder on its site listing a “iPhone 32GB” starting at €0 (that’s $0, for the mathematically challenged), and the blog Area Mobile was sharp enough to grab a screen shot.



Next up, Rogers. The much “loved” Canadian carrier has posted a list of upcoming handsets according to the Boy “Genius” Report. Here’s the relevant line: “# iPhone — ETA: unknown (July/August), outright: not allowed, 3-year: TBD.” That’s right folk: three years. This doesn’t point to a 32GB model, but it at least offers some confirmation of an early Summer launch.

Finally, Vodafone Australia has issued an end-of-life notice for the 32GB iPhone. This could, of course, just means that the 16GB iPhone 3G is about to be replaced by a newer 16GB iPhone, but we agree with MacTalk.au that it looks like there will be a bigger model along soon.

And you know what else this means? The iPod Touch has always had double the capacity of the largest iPhone, which probably means a ridiculously large 64GB model is on the way.


Read more..."Leaks All But Confirm 32GB iPhone"

1. Aura Sensing Phone Strap

Solid Alliance has developed a new phone accessory, an aura sensing phone strap. The accessory, dubbed "aura tama" strap or aura ball strap, claims to be able to sensor the user's aura and changes to one of eight different colors depending on the energy the person is omitting. The aura-tama will be packaged with one of three "power stones”: crystal, rose quarts or amethyst.

(Source)


2. Cell Phone Sexy Lingerie

Want some sexy underwear as your cell phone straps? I bet only girls would dare to buy and use it… some weird old man might buy it for personal collection though. (Source)


3. Cigarette Holder Phone

In order to appeal to billions of smokers in China, a company has brought out this ultimate cigarette phone. Not only does it look like a pack of cigarettes (the exact size and the exact warning labels concerning health), it actually holds half a pack of REAL cigarettes on the back. All you need to do is to slide open the battery cover and you're set to make new friends. The phone itself runs on dualband GSM, takes microSD cards, plays MP3, has a color screen and a VGA camera on the side. For $175 you will get a whole luxurious VIP kit with the phone, a pack of Chonghwa branded cigarettes as well as a lighter. (Source)



4. Mobile Phone Telescope

You are a Paparazzi and are just see Victoria Beckham walking on the other side of the street. But you do not have your trusty SLR camera with you only your camera phone. Good thing to have in this situation is the 6X Telescope lens for mobile phones. As you have to exchange the back-shell of your mobile phone with the one bundled to be able to mount the lens, it is not going to work with all mobile phones. Only Nokia 6230 and 6680 mobile camera phones are supported at this moment. Brando sells the Mobile Phone telescope lens for only $19.00 (Source)


5. Hot Vision Video Goggles

Surely a front runner in the “Most Likely to Cause Severe Retinal Damage” awards, this device claims to simulate a virtual 50 inch screen by placing tiny screens very close to the user's eyes. Theoretically a solution to the irritation of watching video on a small cell phone screen, the inclusion of headphones apparently allows for some serious immersion. (Source)


6. Piece Of Shit Accessory
This accessory is self explanatory. It's a piece of shit and you can squeeze it too.


7. Cigarette Lighter Phone

If you can't go very long without a smoke pressed between your lips and your cell pressed to your ear, you might need a way to join the two mediums. Sure, we've seen the device which swears to be the ultimate smoker's phone, but where is the lighter? The SB6309 Cigarette Lighter Phone includes a lighter in its ingeniously deadly design. Slip the protective cover back and flick the lighter button. Soon enough, you be flaming mon. (Source)


8. Backup Pal

Most of the people living in modern society rely on hi-tech severely. You don't have to remember any phone number, because you can find it from your cell phone easily. However, what if you lost your cell phone? It might that all your friends will be lost forever. I'm not alarmist, but it is true. Sure, you can back up your contacts with your computer, but it is a little bit complex. So I bet you need this backup pal. Just connect your cell phone with this cute gadget and then press the button, all the contacts will be backup. (Source)


9. Wind Chime For Cell Phone
Wind chimes and cell phones seem to be unrelated to each other, but no, this chine definitely is : It will tell you with the charm ringtone every time you have a call.




10. Bluetooth Bracelet

This gadget, shown in a rather charming pink, vibrates and displays the name or number of a caller on an OLED screen when a call is received. Probably the most useful product on this list. While this may seem like a strange product at first, imagine the alternative applications of this technology away from bracelets. As cell phones become more general purpose appliances, the number of uses for a device like this increases exponentially. Imagine a device like this sewn into the sleeve of a shirt, wearable computing is said to be a growing technology and this is surely a forerunner. (Source)


11. Flash Pet Tree

Pioneering a new era of mobile horticulture, the Flash Pet Tree is a jar that combines the flashing function of some cell phone charms with the unparalleled excitement of watching a plant grow. Slowly. The perplexing thing about this product is the sheer pointlessness of it. The futility of a plant in a hermetically sealed container is almost enough to cause an existential crisis for this writer, which is not something one wishes to occur on receipt of a phone call. The sales website promises ‘the fun of raising plants, the scents of joy' as well as to ‘help busy people of our times be in touch with nature'. Indeed.


12. Seat Belt Mounted Phone Holder

Using a phone while driving usually means taking one hand off the wheel to scramble around for your phone when it rings. Luckily an inventor has solved this tricky problem by creating a £5 holster that fastens your phone right to the seatbelt in front of you. (Source)


13. Flashing Cell Phone Pen

Have you gotten in the habit of tuning out your cell phone's vibrating ring to the point where you're often missing your calls? You can avoid that problem by attaching this cell phone pen which is equipped with LED lights that flash when you're getting a call. It's a functional pen that doesn't even need to be attached to the phone to know that you've got a call coming in, although you do have to be within three feet of the phone for the pen to work. (Source)


14. Garter Belt Cell Phone Strap

Cell phone straps are a conversation all their own with strange ones coming out all the time but here’s one that’s designed to be more sexy than strange. That’s because it doubles as a garter belt. Folks that think garter belts just aren’t functional might be more turned on by this cell phone strap that carries a pouch which holds your re-usable chopsticks.(Source)


15. Phone Tattoos

People put tattoos on their bodies in order to tell the world something about who they are. Since your cell phone is practically an extension of your right hand, maybe you should think about tattooing it with the message or image that you want the world to be impressed by. You can buy stock photos for these tattoos but the creative person will design their own image on their computers and print it out onto blank tattoos. These are basically just stickers that then get put on to your phone. It’s a way to personalize your cell phone and share a little bit more of yourself with the world.

Read more..."The 15 Craziest Cell Phone Accessories Ever"

On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones. Nokia will initially offer Skype on its high-end smartphones, the N-series. The N97, Nokia's flagship device that goes on sale in June, will be the first to have Skype embedded. The Skype feature will start shipping on the device in the third quarter of 2009.


Skype will be integrated into the N97 address book, enabling users to see when Skype contacts are online. It will also let people use Skype's instant-messaging client. Most importantly, N97 users will be able to make free and low-cost phone calls over the Internet whether they are on a 3G cellular network or a Wi-Fi network. The Skype-to-Skype voice calls are free. And the SkypeOut service, which allows calls from Skype to landlines and mobile devices, offers low rates.

Nokia's not the only handset maker to announce a deal with Skype at Mobile World Congress. On Monday, announced it would be offering a Skype "panel" on the Windows Mobile Xperia1 device.

Adding Skype to smartphones is a great benefit for consumers, especially people who travel internationally or have friends and family overseas. While pricing on domestic voice services has been dropping like a brick from a third-story window, international rates have remained high.

As a consumer who likes to travel and who happens to be traveling internationally right now for this trade show, I am annoyed and almost angered at the outrageous prices mobile operators charge when customers roam in other countries or make international calls from the U.S. They all try to sell "international" plans to help defray the cost, but the plans themselves cost consumers an extra fee every month regardless of whether they're traveling that month or not.

Skype and other VoIP services offer users a more cost-effective alternative. And Skype on a mobile phone, when accessed on a low-cost data network, could help people who travel frequently or make lots of international calls save tons of money.

Of course, the two smartphone makers Skype has announced as partners here are manufacturers that are already struggling to get their high-end devices on American mobile networks. And my guess is that adding Skype won't do much to convince these operators to offer these phones and subsidize them so that American consumers will buy them.

The reason is pretty simple. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA know that a wide-scale deployment of Skype on their phones could cannibalize their international voice services and potentially hurt their domestic voice service.

So if by chance, Nokia or Sony Ericsson manages to win approval from a U.S. operator to get these phones on their networks, I wouldn't be surprised if the Skype feature is stripped from the device in the U.S. version.

That said, AT&T is allowing some voice over IP applications to appear on Apple's iPhone App Store. And Skype users are able to make free and low-cost calls through applications, such as Truphone. But for now, AT&T and Apple seem hesitant to allow Skype's powerful brand, which has more than 400 million registered users, to make it onto the iPhone.


-Cnet (Skype)
Read more..."Skype strikes deal with Nokia"

iPhone 3.0 OS, the next generation operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch, and whatever Apple device comes next. New features, new apps, here you will find all the information you need.

This just in: a hands on tour, impressions and gallery of screenshots of the new OS donated by our helpful readers.

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NEW IPHONE OS 3.0 FEATURES

The new iPhone OS 3.0 adds over 100 new features including—at friggin' last—cut and paste.

• Copy & Paste text. When you double-tap over text, you will get a "cut, copy, and paste" bubble dialog. Double-tap again and a "paste" bubble will appear if there's anything stored in your clipboard.

This works across applications. You can expand your selection points using your thumbs and, if you accidentally paste something you didn't want to paste, just shake your iPhone to undo it.

• Copy & Paste photos. You can also copy and paste photos. Now you will be able to select multiple photos by tapping the action button, copy some of them, and paste them in an email, ready to send.

• New Spotlight. iPhone OS 3.0 will allow you to search across the entire information contained in your device, no matter where, as soon as the information is supported it. If an application is written to support the new Spotlight, its data will also be available in the search.

In this screenshot you can see Spotlight bringing results from your address book, maps, your iPod, and apps in your springboard.

• Search in Mail, Calendar, and iPod. These Apple applications have specific search interfaces. The search in Mail doesn't support the message content yet, but it supports searching in IMAP servers—that will save a lot of time logging into Gmail.

• 3G Tethering. This feature will allow you to connect your iPhone 3G to a laptop, to use it as a modem to access the internet. Carriers still have to sign-off on it, and probably charge more for it. None have announced it yet.

• Landscape keyboard. Apple has added the landscape keyboard mode to other applications, like Mail, SMS, and Notes.

More Info..gizmodo.com

Read more..."iPhone 3.0 OS Guide: Everything You Need to Know"

MSN, Yahoo!, AIM and Google Talk buddies in one single buddylist! Join eBuddy and get the most popular and free instant messaging application on your mobile.

Chat with all your friends, everywhere

With the eBuddy Mobile Messenger you can have all your buddies from multiple IM accounts in one list.

You have friends on both MSN and Yahoo? No problem, now you can chat with them all from your mobile. Even more networks will be supported soon…

Set your avatar with your cameraphone

With the eBuddy Mobile Messenger you can share all the cool things you do in an easy way. You can set your personal message and take a brand new display picture, directly from your phone’s camera.

Find the buddy that you are looking for

We know you probably have a long buddylist with many contacts. That’s why the eBuddy Mobile Messenger makes it very easy to find the buddy that you want to chat with.

You can search the contact list by selecting a letter on your keypad and you can sort your contacts in any way you want.

Always reach your friends

The eBuddy Mobile Messenger supports offline messaging. Want to talk to a buddy but he just went offline? Don’t worry; just send an offline message straight from your mobile. You also can receive offline messages.

As soon as you login, you will get all the messages that were sent to you when you were offline. Read more..."eBuddy Mobile Messenger"

I always wondered just why people bother with a wired cellphone headset. You've seen them: one hand to hold the phone, one hand to cram the earpiece into their waxy canal and then the other hand to hold the microphone somewhere near the mouth. And all the while evil radiation goblins are racing up the wire, directly into the brain. Hands free? No way.

The handphone takes this madness a step further. Why have one simple, easy to use unit which can simply be held to the head when you can strap a mess of wires onto the back of your hand? Take a look at the picture. How would you dial it? And how would you do anything else while wearing it? Even the fixings are odd. Instead of a simple velcro strap (which seems good enough for both the microphone and speaker) you have two elastic straps. One to cut off the blood flow to your middle finger and one to do the same for your wrist.

The handphone is, of course, a concept design. And will remain so, forever.

Read more..."The Handphone: Possibly The Worst Cellphone Concept Ever"