SendHub, the Y Combinator-backed call and messaging solution targeting business users and other organizations, is today extending its platform to include support for Android. The company had previously rolled out support for iPhone almost a year ago, promising that an Android option was on the roadmap. → Read More
According to Strategy Analytics, about 1.6 billion mobile phones were shipped in 2012, with 700 million of those being smartphones. That doesn’t even take tablets into account. Compass Intelligence estimates that 18 million new tablets were sold during the fourth quarter of 2012. Naturally, as waves upon waves of new smartphones and tablets hit stores, people need a way of disposing of their old… → Read More
SendHub, a Y Combinator-backed call and messaging solution for individuals, businesses and other organizations, is today launching a new product meant to address the needs of provisioning numbers to employees in larger organizations. With SendHub Manager, as the feature is being called, organizations will have access to an online dashboard where they can quickly create, move or delete phone lines… → Read More
HTC had a disappointing year last year, despite early success with the One X and solid hardware releases in general. This year, it looks like it will be kicking things off in style with the launch of a new flagship device, called the HTC M7, a phone rumored for likely launch at MWC in Barcelona next month. The phone was supposedly depicted in a render leaked last week, but no, very… → Read More
On Black Friday, discounted boxed smartphones seem to be the equivalent of dry foods in a post-apocalyptic movie.
This video, first spotted by the Telegraph, shows customers of a Walmart in Moultrie, Georgia duking it out over discounted pay-as-you-go smartphones. → Read More
If you’re heading down to Radio Shack to buy a brand new Tandy 1000 (the hottest PC out there!) then you may want to bring this handsome brick handset designed to work with your “smaller” phone via Bluetooth. You can whip this baby out in line while you write a check out for your PC, modem, and MS-DOS 3.0 purchases. → Read More
Kytephone, the mobile app that transforms Android smartphones into kid-safe devices, is officially making its public debut today. The startup had previously been in beta, following its reveal at this spring’s Y Combinator Demo Day, where founders Renat Gataullin and Martin Drashkov first detailed their company’s vision.
The idea behind Kytephone is simple. It addresses parents’ growing… → Read More
Nielsen has found that Android users tend to spend over an hour a day on their phones. Sixty-seven percent of their time is spent “working” with apps while the rest is spent on the mobile web. Forty-three percent of those apps are top 10 Market apps while the top 50 apps are used 61 percent of the time. The rest of the apps – all 250,000 of them – are used the rest of the time.
The stats come… → Read More
There’s a good chance that your office or home is more tricked out, tech-wise, than the Oval Office. President Obama complained yesterday, in what the AP calls “off-the-cuff remarks,” that what the Oval Office lacks is a “really cool phone.” Can someone get the president a Droid or something? → Read More
When it comes to bizarre robots, you can always count on Hiroshi Ishiguro: the so-called Elfoid [JP], a mix between mini humanoid, telepresence robot and cell phone, isn’t exactly made by him but based on his Telenoid robot from last year. Developed by Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), the Elfoid phone is supposed to make remote communication more intimate and… → Read More
We’ve killed a lot of things recently at Techcrunch: the phone call, cable tv, books, the mouse, and many more. Regrettably, I’m ready to kill off another one — talking to people. It’s so inefficient, slow, and old-fashioned. ‘Talk’ about something that been around for at least thousands of years and is ripe for disruption by new technology.
The latest driver in the assault on talk is the… → Read More
If you look closely at this shot of the bombs allegedly sent from Yemen to Chicago you’ll notice what looks like a small camera up in the corner. Slide down the side and you see the volume buttons and I suspect the silver area is where the battery holder once stuck to the circuit board. It’s clear that this was a phone – probably of modern vintage – so which phone is it? → Read More
The London Underground, commonly known as the Tube, will be getting Wi-Fi. There will be a six-month trial period beginning on November 1 at the Charing Cross station. → Read More
According to a study by Stanford University students, your phone is covered with 18 times more germs than a toilet handle which means, in short, anyone who touches your phone will get your disgusting, disgusting germs. The study, published in July, found that:
“If you put virus on a surface, like an iPhone, about 30 percent of it will get on your fingertips,” Julian said. In turn, “a fair amount… → Read More
My mom has some hearing damage in one ear. She doesn’t wear a hearing aid but she does go “Wha?” whenever you ask her something and then you have to scream what you just said, embarrassing everyone at the AA meeting. When Powertel, a subsidiary of a German company, Amplicom that has made devices for the impaired for years, offered to send over a Powertel 500 DECT cordless phone I thought it would… → Read More
You’ll soon be able to use your phone in the New York City subway system. It’s part of a $200 million renovation of the system, which, well, not to say that it’s falling apart, but it’s seen better days. There used to be a W train, for example. Memories. → Read More
The friendly folks at VSP Vision Care sent along this quick video explaining how our increased use of computers and smartphones have affected our vision. Remember when you were growing up and you were told not to sit too close to the TV? How many of you now spend nearly every waking hour inches away from a computer monitor, or glued to your iPhone? Mm. → Read More
Fax isn’t dead, at least not in Japan. In January last year, Panasonic introduced the “world’s first” paperless fax machine for the Japanese market. And today, the same company announced [JP] the KX-PW821, which is (according to Panasonic) the “world’s first” stylus-compatible fax/phone combo. In other words, it allows users to directly write messages on the 4.9-inch touchscreen and fax them with… → Read More
Looks like there won’t be a “Google phone” in China, not for a while at least. Well, an official phone; I’m pretty sure the gray market will take care of that. And yes, it has to do with the ongoing Google-China troubles. → Read More
So AT&T has a problem: even after early and vociferous defections by bloggers, they’ve been getting creamed for sub-par service everywhere, especially left and right coast cities that rhyme with Blue Pork and Fan Fanfisco. Verizon is stepping into that breech by releasing these clever commercials touting its network over AT&Ts. But, as Mr. Fireball notes, Verizon is talking about the… → Read More
We’ll start this deal off with a gigantic asterisk. This deal does NOT work for a) existing AT&T customers looking to renew or b) anyone who wants an iPhone. → Read More
Dell’s got a handsome deal on an unlocked Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone at just $240 with free shipping. The offer is good for two days only, from today until Saturday the 12th at 5:59 AM Central Time. → Read More
Please turn your attention to Rolling Stone, where an article about a blind, lonely phreaker is currently tearing up the charts. That is to say, it’s an article worth your time, certainly better than refreshing drudgereport.com for the thousandth time in a day. → Read More
According to Gartner, worldwide mobile phone sales are down about 6% from the same time last year; yet the volume of smartphone sales has increased almost 30% in the same time frame. No doubt the uptick in smartphone sales is due to the release of cool new devices like the iPhone 3GS, the Palm Pre, and the various Android phones coming to market. As expected, Nokia remains king of the hill in… → Read More
Oh Brando, cashing in on Michael Jackson’s untimely death? You’re better than that, Brando.
At any rate, the Thriller Skull Phone is an old-timey standard phone in the shape of a skull with blue LEDs for eyes that light up when the phone rings. → Read More
More proof (see: the Perfect Pushup and the Snuggie.) that having a quirky, on-all-the-time commercial is a step in the right direction toward Big Success. MagicJack is selling something at the rate of 9,000 to 10,000 units per day, making its parent company, YMax Communications, some $100 million this year alone. But, in this age of Skype, who’s buying this thing? → Read More
The idea that this “phone” runs Windows XP is kind of a stretch, yet it’s being called the XpPhone. It’s pretty much a UMPC or MID, though, that happens to make phone calls because, man oh man, would you need some billowy Hammer Pants to carry this thing around in your pocket as your primary phone. Add to that the five hour battery life and a weight that I can only assume… → Read More
The DECT phone – designed by Stefano Giovannoni – from Italy combines great design and advanced functions. Featuring a 65,000 color OLED display, a set of preloaded backgrounds and ringtones the DECT phone is quite the deal. We see a lot of concepts from designers on the internet but this one is real, ready for you to buy. The phone has a large directory for storing contacts and a high quality… → Read More
Nextel phones are notoriously ugly. The company has never worried much about the appearance of their phones, since they were mainly intended for the construction site. They were instead more concerned about a phone that was almost mil-spec in its toughness. The good news (at least for Nextel subscribers) is that they are starting to move away from this brick phone style design, and more towards a… → Read More
You can get a free Sidekick 2008 from LetsTalk.com when you sign up for a new two-year contract with T-Mobile. Or, if you need to extend your contract you can get one for $49. T-Mobile is selling the device directly for $99, so you can save a little moolah with this deal. T-Mobile Sidekick 2008 [LetsTalk.com via dealnews] → Read More
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