We have no way to confirm the claim, nevertheless the LionKing800 boasts a remarkable 365 days standby or 3-5 days talk. The source of that power is a 16,800mAh lithium battery — that’s about 10x the juice of a standard cellphone battery. Take that Philips! As to the rest of the specs, the GSM900 / DCS1800 dual-SIM phone costs $145 and packs a 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 pixel display, 256MB of microSD memory, Bluetooth 2.0, and a pair of rear and front-facing cameras into a 120 x 65 x 20-mm, N95ish shell. (more…)

Apparently, talking on a cellphone for 60 minutes or more per day can result in a partial loss of hearing — at least that’s what some researchers in India are saying. The scientists conducted an experiment to test the correlation of hearing loss to the average use of a cellphone call. The experiment covered 100 participants with cellphone usage ranging from four years and over to just started using a cellphone. The results? Long-time users seemed to suffer some high-frequency hearing loss, usually in their right ears — the ear most commonly used for chatting on the celly. There also seemed to be some correlation between warm, full, or ringing sensations in the ear.

Now that Apple Inc.’s iPhone is finally on sale, the race is on to see who can unlock it.

Locked phones can only be used with cellular service from one carrier, a move designed to guarantee carriers recover the cost of subsidizing a handset through monthly service charges. But the cost of the iPhone, which is priced at either US$499 or $599 depending on the model, is not subsidized by AT&T.

Users must pay full price for the handset and sign a two-year contract, which requires them to pay from $59.99 to $99.99 per month for cellular service.

Of course nothing complements a bevy of handset announcements like a similarly sized list of accessories, and Sony Ericsson has done itself proud today in that regard. Headsets — both Bluetooth and wired — were the order of the day with a smattering of GPS, desk stand, and FM transmitter thrown in for good measure. The HBH-DS200 is a pretty standard Bluetooth headset fare with shirt clip, a 3.5 mm jack to let you swap in your own cans (fantastic feature if you have a nice set at home) and up to 7 hours listening time; it’ll ship in box with the W960.

The same folks bringing us the ultra sensitive Bluetooth / GPS hybrid chip are also looking to improve voice quality on vanilla Bluetooth headsets, and the firm has now collaborated with Dynamic Hearing to offer up a multi-microphone configuration. Available on the company’s BlueCore-Multimedia platform, this VoiceField technology “uses two microphones to capture the speech of the headset user before it is lost amongst competing noise sources.” Additionally, it was designed to suck down very little power and sport uber-low signal latency, and also includes acoustic echo suppression, automatic handsfree volume control, and programmable equalization in 33 frequency bands.” Now, how’s about making us look a bit less freakish while donning these things on our ear?

Personally I think this mouse looks a bit rubbish, but if you’re the sort of person who squeals over white gold encrusted with diamonds then perhaps you’ll think the inevitable sky-high price tag worth it.

€18,600 ($25,030) gets you fifty-nine brilliant-cut diamonds that add up to 2 carats, embedded in a flower pattern into 18-carat white gold, as well as a trackball for page navigation and an optical sensor. It’s a limited edition, and creators Pat Says Now are calling it the most expensive computer mouse in the world; ask them nicely and they’ll make you a custom diamond pattern should the flower not be to your taste.

TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and Verizon Wireless, owner of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, today announced the availability of TiVo® Mobile scheduling, a downloadable application available only through Verizon Wireless.

TiVo Mobile scheduling allows subscribers to purchase the mobile service through select Verizon Wireless handsets and schedule recordings on their Series2™ or Series3™ TiVo boxes.

TiVo and Verizon Wireless bring consumers the convenience of scheduling television recordings while away from the living room. Whether you are away from home or discussing TV at the water cooler, all that is needed is a select Verizon Wireless Get It Now®-enabled handset to schedule recordings on your TiVo box.
(more…)

Have you spent so much on your watch that you can’t afford a clock? Neither did we. We’re just trying to find some angle to support the Von Zios.

While the Von Zios wears like a normal watch, the links can snap together allowing for a rigid support structure. We don’t necessarily like the idea for a watch…or at least this particular watch…but for an MP3 player or general PMP the design could have far more utility. Because the last thing you want to buy is a bulky stand for your iPod Video.

[Gizmodo]

Japanese construction tool company Makita has launched a tough-guy radio, aimed at adventurers and, I guess, builders. You can throw anything at it - paint, a box of screws - and it will even work in humid conditions. Measurements in inches are 11 x 6.5 x 12 and you will probably need a bicep measurement of at least 25″ as it weighs in at almost 10 lb.

We’re all quite aware of just how proud Option is of its HSUPA offerings, and while it has raised the bar before in terms of sheer speed, the company is once again kicking out a new way to get your lappie connected to blazing fast internet without a WiFi hotspot in sight. The diminutive GlobeSurfer iCON HSUPA boasts a compact, USB stick design, and even includes a swivel connector as to play nice with just about every USB nook and cranny out there. Aside from touting 7.2Mbps of downstream capacity and 2Mbps on the upbeat, the GlobeSurfer looks to provide web access for those not already sold on the firm’s ExpressCard options. Users can purportedly expect “plug ‘n play” abilities, backwards compatibility with EDGE/GPRS/GSM data connections, tri-band / quad-band support, and a wide range of OS support that includes Windows Vista and OS X. No word just yet on price or availability, but we sincerely hope Option doesn’t keep the USB brethren in the house waiting too awfully long for these high-speed luxuries.

(Click on picture above to see larger version)
The design of your phone is the result of countless business plans, TCO and ROI analyses. The CUin5 is the bizarro world version of that business plan. Every face includes a keypad, microphone and speaker.

Imagine grabbing it quickly - from inside your bag, from off a shelf, from under a car seat - and freely interacting with it without needing to turn it over or align it
right side up?

While we’re all still waiting for the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Sony has gone ahead to announce the 8GB version of the PRO Duo at this year’s CES.

Users can expect to store 3,000 10-megapixel images in standard mode; more than 19 hours of video at 768Kb per second in MPEG-4 compression; and approximately 2,000 songs in MP3 format at 128kbps at an average of 4 minutes per song, according to Sony.

This 8GB card will be compatible with all Sony Cyber-shots, Handycams and VAIOs launched this year, as well as the Alpha 100 dSLR. Older VAIO products, PlayStation Portables (system software version 2.81 and later) and the Memory Stick Video Recorders will, however, require a software update.