Category Archives: Mobile Phones

How would you like an iPhone-oriented robot that listens to music and responds accordingly? A team of roboticists from MIT, Israel’s IDC, and Georgia Tech calling themselves Tovbot have developed the Shimi speaker Dock. Shimi does amazing things like using face recognition technology which allows it to face the listener and respond to musical requests. This musically intelligent robot is iPhone- connectible and interprets the user’s recurring taps and claps to select music.

Yes that’s right, taking photo apps to another level with a range of to-die-for effects is the new and very popular (already!!!) LightBomber App. LightBomber is the only long exposure, light painting app created by light painters. The LightBomber website claims you can use their custom long exposure camera and their lights to create light trails, light graffiti and nightlife portraits. How cool is that? Apparently, you can make a superb photo of yourself or even create something entirely original and call it art, if you may.

It’s true. There isn’t much that can’t be accomplished on your phone. And when it is an iPhone, it is pretty hard to look away from it for too long! Whether it is looking for directions to the nearest restaurant, catching up on emails, or texting your sweetheart, a major portion of your day is probably spent staring into your iPhone. And god forbid, you try to read a book on that tiny Smartphone screen! If you want the convenience of an iPhone with the eye-soothing large screen of the tablet, then the Easy Operation Corresponding iPhone Loupe from Thanko is what you want! It is basically a magnifier for your iPhone attached to a collapsible arm. The magnifier is exactly the size of your iPhone screen. When not in use, it will sit snugly onto the back of the phone. When you want to magnify anything, just pull it out from behind and position it above the screen. It is capable of magnifying up to 2x the original size of the text. As it sits so far above the actual screen, it will not interfere with the Touch functionality.

Samsung’s “affordable Android”, the Samsung Galaxy Y, has gotten itself a limited-edition makeover; and according to us, the best possible makeover ever. The Korean giant is introducing us to the spectacular Hello Kitty Edition of Galaxy Y, and we couldn’t be more excited. Kittizens, it is everything you want it to be. The Hello Kitty Edition comes with awesome Hello Kitty customizations like a special Hello Kitty Home button, ringtones and even wallpapers. The design of the phone also reflects the inspiration with an image of our favorite Kitty proudly displayed on the back of the phone. As you may expect, this limited edition is white and pink in color – what else! How can you resist this bundle of cuteness? And unlike other customized phones, you know this one will perform. It is enabled with a 3”Capacitive touchscreen TFT display, runs on Android v2.3 Gingerbread OS, and is equipped with a 2 megapixel rear-facing primary camera along with 1.3MP front-facing camera.

Virtual keyboards are a boon in this day and age where you need to take your entire world with you everywhere and a keyboard surely isn’t one of those things. The Keychain Virtual Keyboard is a great way to get your hands typing anywhere without a big, physical keyboard. This keychain virtual keyboard turns any flat surface into a keyboard for your smartphone or tablet. All you need is Bluetooth connectivity and you may work with any gadget that supports the wireless standard.

The Volkswagen Transporter is one of those classic vans that has managed to capture the entire world’s imagination. The VW T1 van was launched over six decades ago, as the transporter, kombi and microbus. It was instantly a super-hit, and as a passenger van, cargo van and pickup truck, it continues to be one of the most common vans we see on the roads to date. A fitting ode to this American classic is the Volkswagen Transporter T1 iPhone case. That’s right, now you can carry around your favorite van in your pocket. The iPhone cover works perfectly for both iPhone 4 and 4S. The beautiful cover features the image of the truck on the back, with either the VW logo, or Apple logo to go with it. What sold us on this cover is the awesome detailing that features on the windshield, which made it look like we could see right into the vehicle.

Out of the window, into the pool, in the Jacuzzi, crushed by a friend’s car…these are a few ways people that I know have damaged or completely ruined their iPhones and there are still a lot of bizarre incidents that could feature on Ripley’s believe it or not. What I do want you readers to believe is that you can now safeguard your iPhone like never before with Fika Wristlet. Fika has created a slim leather wristlet, in tangerine or mint-green, which slips over your hand making it easier to hold onto your phone. You can string it to your tote and flaunt two things at a time.

The much rumored and gossiped about Nokia Lumia 920 and its younger sibling, the Lumia 820 have finally been officially announced, and here’s a first-look at these candy colored smartphones. Packing both with the Windows Phone 8 platform, Nokia has given the Lumia 920 a 4.5-inch display and a glossy polycarbonate shell and packs a PureView camera. The Lumia 820 on the other hand packs a replaceable back, allowing you to switch through colors as per your preferences. Both sporting a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, these Lumia 920 comes in red, yellow, grey, black and white while the Lumia 820 also includes cyan and purple colors. Complete with PureMotion HD+, these extremely chic smartphones from Nokia’s stables are bound to turn heads and catch stares.

With just a few hours left until the grand unveiling of the highly anticipated Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 Smartphones, another fascinating detail of this device has been reported leaked. Sometime back, The Verge had claimed that these devices would be capable of wireless charging. Immediately after, fresh images posted by @evleaks on Twitter showed both the phones resting on what seems to be a wireless phone-sized puck shaped little charger. While no other details are available as of yet, sources claimed that the charging will be induction-based. Basically, contacts on the device will line-up to corresponding contacts on the specially designed charging pad. It is expected to run on the Qi wireless power standard, allowing compatibility with other wireless charging products. It is still unclear whether you will have to invest in a separate cover to be able to use this function, like previous similar devices; though that seems like a small price to pay for superb convenience. There is presumably a magnet inside the Pad to keep the Lumia in place.

Samsung must feel like a stalwart, announcing the world’s first device- The Ativ S that runs on Windows Phone 8 version. The Korean Electronics Giant took the wraps off the first dual-core Windows phone- Samsung Ativ S at the IFA in Berlin. Featuring a slim design, a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, the Ativ S is one evil phone to look out for. The Ativ S has a rear-facing 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, an LED flash and a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera. The device has support for NFC, compatibility with HSPA+42 and a microSD card slot.

Apple iPhone 4/4S users the next time you flash your pricey phones around make sure you do so literally. Check out the latest iPhone case dished out for crazy phone case lovers…the LED Flashing Case for iPhone 4/4S. It’s an in-your-face, bright, bordering-on-almost-tacky case. The case also has a guitar motif probably to augment your rockstar image.

We’re no more in the age and time where we would accept whatever comes on our plate. When exclusivity is not only the keyword for the choice of handset, but the cases alike, we need something different to spruce it up. Singapore-based online designer boutique Polychemy specializes in printing designs for your device using 3D technologies. They recently unveiled their new line of 3D cases for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and Blackberry that looked like they were designed to be noticed. The company employs a special 3D printer that allows any design to be printed. The computer digitally sculpts and models products such as mobile phone covers and jewelry.

The increasing environmental concern has led to the development of a new product called Lapka by Lapka Electronics and this new baby is designed to literally scan through your environment like a pair of narrow, critical eyes. Once the free app is downloaded, you just have to plug-in one of four lead-free, PVC-free, water resistant sensors in order to track radiation, organic matter, EMF and humidity in the immediate environment. The device can be used to detect the amount of chemicals in raw foods and drinking water, electromagnetic pollution caused electronics, telecommunication transmitters and power lines as well as humidity in the air.

While we were still basking in the glory of Samsung Galaxy S III, there arrives yet another sibling to the suave phone- The Galaxy S Duos, a smartphone that supports two SIM cards simultaneously. The looks are pretty much the same as the S III, but it’s a bit diminishing on the features. It has a 4-inch WVGA 480 x 800 TFT LCD display, a 5MP rear camera and runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It holds only 4GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot that accommodates 32GB cards as against the SIII that has provision for 64GB cards.