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Phones
Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 5 Home Phone Also Does VoIP
Online
10:45AM Nick Broughall | One of the few things I learned at Uni that is actually useful in my day job is that recording a telephone conversation is only legal with the consent of all parties involved in the conversation. So there’s a lot of potential for criminal activity with this new service that records your conversation and emails you an MP3 of the call. More »
1300 RECORD Makes Recording Prank Calls Easy
10:45AM Nick Broughall | One of the few things I learned at Uni that is actually useful in my day job is that recording a telephone conversation is only legal with the consent of all parties involved in the conversation. So there’s a lot of potential for criminal activity with this new service that records your conversation and emails you an MP3 of the call. More »
Phones
One in Five Households Are Mobile Phone Only
12:40AM Mark Wilson | According to a report by the Centre for Disease Control (no, this has nothing to do with swine flu), one out of every five families has ditched landlines entirely for mobile phones. I find that number a bit low, but what do I know? I’m deranged from swine flu because the CDC decided to tell me about telephone lines instead of top secret inoculation bunkers. [CDC via ars via MobileCrunch] More »
Phones
Verizon Hub Widget Phone Is the Amazing Desktop Phone We Always Wanted
3:39AM Matt Buchanan | An interesting side effect of the anxiety about the decline of the hardline has been these beautiful widget-y desktop phones that do amazing things you always wanted phones to do, like the Verizon Hub here. More »
Phones
The Table Phone: Like a Regular Phone on Stilts
2:20AM Sean Fallon | Why would anyone put legs on a landline phone? Furthermore, why would anyone sell a landline phone with legs? These are both good questions to ask the folks at Sundayland. [Sundayland via Design Crisis] More »
Gadgets
TrueCall Acts Like Spam Filter For Your Landline
2:15PM Gizmodo US Edition | In case registering on the national Do Not Call list didn’t really do anything, two ex-telemarketers in the U.K. have invented a blocking device that acts like a receptionist for your landline. The TrueCall intercepts all your calls before they reach you, letting them through if the number is recognised as a family member or friend, and replying with an automated message if the number belongs to a telemarketer. More »
Phones
Beer Phone Essentially Ensures Drunk Dialling
1:40AM Adam Frucci | The beer phone isn’t the most full-featured phone available, what with its lack of a screen making everything from texting to emailing to web surfing impossible, but it is shaped like a beer bottle. And that’s more than you can say for your precious Blackberry or iPhone. Also, it’s only $US12 because it’s actually just a landline phone. So if you’ve still got a landline for some reason and also like to have normal household objects remind you of your dependence on alcohol, you really can’t go wrong. [SourcingMap via ShinyShiny] More »
Phones
AT&T Home Manager, Landline Meets Smartphone
2:30AM Mark Wilson | AT&T Home Manager is, essentially, a Samsung 7″ (800×480) touchscreen device that brings goodies like visual voicemail, email, Yellow Pages, weather reports and a phone-syncable address book to those who prefer not to rely on their smartphone at home. It also doubles as a digital picture frame when not in use by loading pictures from SD or USB. Operating 2 hours per charge, the system (which includes a cordless phone) runs $US299 from AT&T in limited markets. Maybe it’s not the most mind-blowing device out there, but it could be a handy, reasonably-priced piece of tech for those still clinging to their landlines. The only catch? “Customers must agree to a two-year AT&T High Speed Internet term commitment or sign up for AT&T U-verse TV, High Speed Internet and Voice services.” Read on for full details. More »
Phones
Hands On With OpenPeak’s Atom-Powered Home Media Phone
8:40AM Gizmodo US Edition | Slotting an Atom into a home phone just sounds plain ridiculous, but the Home Media Phone is more than just a VoIP handset and base station. The base station (which doubles as a speaker phone) has its own software platform, developed in flash and furnished with a full API, and serves many purposes of a PC in a picture frame-sized package. The current set of apps is adequate, but after using it for a few minutes it became very clear that the Home Media Phone could actually be a fantastic net appliance. galleryPost('homemediaphone', 6, ''); More »
Phones
