We look at this thing, and frankly, the term “phone” just never crosses our minds. Handsets designed specifically with children in mind typically look nothing like traditional cellphones, but Omego’s self-titled debut may just take the cake. Looking like a table coaster with an LCD display, the 83 gram device runs on T-Mobile MVNO Toucan Mobile in the UK, offering “educational games,” an organizer, a 40-number phone book, an obligatory lack of numeric keypad (although Firefly might be looking to change all that), and the obvious full suite of parental control. It runs £15 a month (about $30) on an 18-month contract plus £5 per megabyte (ouch!) over the handset’s GPRS modem. Then again, what are 8 year olds consuming data for?

If you thought ordering pizza online was the best thing since Deep Dish, you’ll be delighted to know that the next logical step in getting pizza to your mouth with minimal effort is here… if you reside in the UK, that is. Reportedly, Dominos is now allowing customers surrounding its 470 UK-based locations to place their orders via SMS, and this move comes after “successful trials” that began in July. To utilize the service, you must first enter in your details online, but after that initial registration, pizza is simply a text away. Impulse eaters, rejoice.

[Via TechDigest]

You’ve already seen bits and pieces of this morning’s Today Show, but another segment in the broadcast managed to grab a trip inside Microsoft’s Mobile Design Lab where engineers and “audio geeks” look to be hard at work as they try to “redefine cool.” Notably, the video fails to show any undercover shots of prototype mobiles that Microsoft may have up its sleeve, and it seemed that this “sneak peek” was intentionally devoid of innovation (secrets we can’t know about?). Nevertheless, we do get a chance to see dedicated ringtone makers, and while it’s already understood, any future mobiles coming out of Redmond will reportedly attempt to cram “as much of your PC into your cellphone as possible.” Best of all, however, is the aptly-dubbed isolation room, which left the interviewer grumbling over how tough it was to peck out an email on the tiny keys of his smartphone. And whether you want to believe it or not, Robbie Bach was seen stating that the iPhone “doesn’t change Microsoft’s strategy nor its approach.”

Once in a while an image of a concept wireless handset gets us drooling — and a see-through screen qualifies. Pei-Hua Huang, a recent grad of North Carolina State University, is touting the possibly future of cellphones in his wondrous “What You See Is What You Get” (aka, WYSIWYG) concept that houses a 50mm-equivalent camera along with a transparent frame as the cam’s viewfinder. We’re not sure what this concept would mean beyond that ultra-cool, see-through screen area used for a viewfinder, but we’re onboard with ya, Pei. If the camera body slides outta the way of that super-big viewfinder, we’d love to see this concept in action.

Before you say “it’s an OT-E220A or OT-E225A, clearly,” take a closer look. Apart from this image on the first page of the user’s manual, we can’t find any reference to this rather curious looking watch; instead, the external photos, internal photos, ID label, and contents of the manual all point to a rather ordinary, garden-variety clamshell from Alcatel that’s looking to navigate its way through the FCC. So is this watch nothing more than a concept placed on the cover of the manuals of boring phones to drive interest, or did someone in Alcatel’s tech writing department make a huge mistake while pasting in photos? We wish we knew, because the mystery shrouding this timepiece is driving us nuts. If you look closely, you can make out some status lights on the band below the face, and it seems that the slot above the digits could be a speakerphone — more practical than the Sony Ericsson MBW-100, and arguably more fashionable (though barely) than the so-called m300 Mobile Watch. Does someone from Alcatel care to clear up the confusion here?

Just when you thought the Ultra Edition 11.8 was as skinny as it gets, now DoCoMo has unveiled what seems to be even slimmer. Measuring just 11.4mm thick, the N703iµ (see image) and P703iµ in its recently launched 703i series handsets claim to be the slimmest WCDMA clamshells in the world. Both models feature 1.3-megapixel cameras and microSD expansion cards slots. The N703iµ comes with an onboard music player.

Additionally, the N703iµ comes with a “Privacy Angle” function to prevent people nearby from the reading the contents on the screen, while P703iµ sports a stainless steel casing. The two phones, together with most of the other handsets in the 703i series, will be available in Japan come February, said the Japanese mobile services operator.

Just knock that phone around a bit to keep it juiced. At least that’s the idea with three new concept handsets introduced by France-based ModeLabs, the same company hooking up with Levi’s (to produce phones with decidedly less fancy recharging technology and more denim, we imagine). First up is the aptly named “YoYo,” a puck-shaped device (pictured above ) designed to be worn around the neck that draws power from a combination of solar cells and the user’s movement. Next up, the “U-Turn” somehow managed to eke out some electrons from the opening and closing of its keyboard, while the fitness-themed “Runaway” gets regenerated while strapped to the wrist. Of course, none of these are anywhere near production, but the folks at ModeLabs are apparently gunning to market the technology to manufacturers before too long.