Solarmonkey and UVmonkey: Best friends forever

If you've ever wondered how fast your skin cells are being roasted while sunbathing in the open, here's the perfect gadget for you. The chemical compound in the UVmonkey changes color to reflect the ultraviolet intensity of the sun. As it turns darker, that's your cue to slap on more sunblock lotion and bring out the Solarmonkey. The latter is a portable solar charger for your mobile phone and iPod. Although the UVmonkey isn't something you would associate with being professional, it does have one redeeming quality. It lets you know the best time to juice up your solar charger. Both primates are available online at Powertraveller.

Picture credit: Powertraveller

Apple, AT&T foiled again: iPhone 3G unlocked

Despite the best efforts of Apple and AT&T, it appears the latest version of the iPhone has been unlocked via the same method as used on the original iPhone.

A Brazilian blog, TechGuru, posted the first report of it. Gizmodo checked it out, and said the method involves using a special SIM card adapter. It tricks the phone into thinking it's on an approved network.

"This method forges the International Mobile Subscriber Identity, making the phone believe it's working in the network in which it's supposed to work," Gizmodo writes.

If you speak Portuguese, please enjoy the video demonstrating the working unlocked phone below:



Via CNET Crave

For the sight-impaired, a phone that talks back

In the best circumstances, there are some social benefits from the technology industry's hypercompetitive nature. When companies try to find new markets, for example, they sometimes create products aimed specifically at consumers with physical disabilities--occasionally with some bold innovation as well.

Nowhere is that truer than in the overcrowded mobile phone business, as we saw with a Nokia device that can turn a hearing aid into a Bluetooth headset. And now a London-based designer has developed a new concept phone for the visually impaired: Takumi Yoshida's SENS handset would "talk" when buttons are pressed, identifying their functions. The idea is hardly new, as it's been used for years on land-line phones, but Yoshida has tried to incorporate the function in a stylishly designed handset.

Privacy issues may arise when using the phone in public, as Newlaunches notes, though there's always the option of using a headset. Besides, it's far less cumbersome than using something like a cyclops viewer.

Via CNET Crave

Vertu tries a new angle or two

It turns out that designer Christopher Tak Cheung Yue may have been onto to something after all with the seven-sided Suave phone he proposed for luxury handset maker Vertu. The angular creation looked pretty weird, even for a concept, but Vertu's latest offering actually seems to take some small steps in that direction.

While not nearly as drastic, the new Ascent Ti line does feature some unusual contours and textured surfaces to improve the grip, according to Sybarites--a key reason for Yue's geometric design as well. Because it's Vertu, of course, the Knurled and Checked models had to include the usual complement of aesthetic touches, respectively including metallic-gray and deep purple leather. Best of all, neither is being attacked by a snake.

Via CNET Crave

Turn your iPhone into a voice note recorder with Jott

Jott is a very simple idea made sophisticated, and it works.

As a free download software for the iPhone, this application allows you to record voice notes, just like any sound recorder. However, the software goes one step further with the ability to transcribe recorded notes into text. You can even have the note sent to your mail account.

In order to use Jott, you will need to register for an account. Other than that, the application is completely free. Everything you do with the Jott application on the iPhone will be backed up to the account on the Web. For existing customers, their messages on the Jott account will be automatically made available to their iPhone via the application.

Personally I think this is a very neat idea. It would be a lot neater, though, if Jott could also work as voice command software, which is one of the functions sorely missed in the new iPhone 3G.

Via CNET Crave

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