How to surreptitiously silence the loud talkers

Having gone a full 24 hours since we last complained about obnoxious loud-talkers on their Bluetooth headsets, we're feeling a pent-up need to vent. But instead, we may have found a way to exact delicious revenge instead.

Red Ferret has ferreted out the "T-1000 Cell Phone Jammer," which does exactly what its name indicates: This devilish device promises to surreptitiously "silence every other mobile phone in a 10-foot vicinity for up to an hour," kind of like a cellular version of the "Best Net Guard" for the computer or the "TV-B-Gone" for the telly.

And why does it look like a mobile handset? Simple. So you can pull it out and pretend to be talking while shutting everyone else down.

Via CNET Crave | Credit: Techgadgetz

When the Rat meets the Dragon

This one scored a perfect 10 on the hilarity chart on Crave Asia: The Lillian Too Lucky Dragon Phone.

Don't get us rambling on how cheesy the name sounds and it gets even better depending on how you read it. But if you can stomach the odd stares and stifling giggles, apparently this is da phone to get in 2008, according to Too. To the feng shui master and designer of the handset, the dragon epitomizes good fortune and is a powerful ally of the rat. What this boils right down to is an incredibly lucky phone to own this year, even though it may just be sitting in your bag because you're just too embarrassed to use it.

After staring at it for the past 10 minutes, we are already getting some good vibes already. The name needs some serious reworking, though, and if Too needs any help, we're pretty sure Cravers at the Asia office can cough up some far more brilliant suggestions.

Universal adjustable camera-phone binoc

Whatever is said of the "cheap Chinese crap" by BoingBoing about e-tailer DealExtreme, it's absorbingly fascinating trolling through the endless pages of OEM gadgetry on offer. I know colleagues who are addicted to the site and have put in good cash for the said "cheap Chinese crap". In fact, one of them recently purchased a brandless watch phone which, to my amazement and his self-justified glee, came with a touchscreen, a tiny stylus in its own discreet slot, and a respectable Bluetooth earpiece. A 3-in-1, all for a mere US$157; what we frugal Asians would call "a damn good deal", free shipping, too.

So out of curiosity, yours truly dug into DealExtreme's bag of tech goodies. And surprise, surprise. What came out was a Mobile Phone Telescope. We've heard of camera lens addons, but a telescope attachment with a 7 x 18mm magnification? It's a little silly to counsel caveat emptor since this gizmo is only going to set you back a sushi lunch special, or just US$17.90. All in, a cool deal, if it works. Particularly if you're into bird watching. The feathered kind, of course.

Useful USB phone straps

Instead of hanging that Hello Kitty face on your mobile phone, you could actually put something useful there. Case in point, the Triforce stylus featured earlier this week. Well, here's another one which doesn't require you to have a touchscreen display, the USB Smart Cable.

Though it isn't as cute as the mouthless cat, this lanyard from USB Geek lets you charge your mobile phone using its USB connector. So if you have this hanging on your device, you won't have to worry about running out of juice as long as there's a free USB port near you. It even has its own microSD slot so it works as a card reader, too.

Doing a one-up on this, no doubt, is Brando's Ultra-Smart Cable (pictured above). It does everything that cable can, plus the ability to sync data. It costs more, though--US$14 compared to the USB Smart Cable's US$9 price. Both products can be purchased from the companies' Web sites. But if you are feeling really cheap, we're pretty sure Dealextreme will carry something similar in time to come.

USB Geek's Smart Cable:



Brando's Ultra-Smart Cable:



Via Engadget and Gizmodo

Live pics and details of Nokia Tube leaked

More details about the upcoming Nokia Tube phone have made their way to the omnipresent Web after a recent developer conference.

According to enthusiast Web site Symbian Freak, the Tube will not be part of the Nseries portfolio. The first S60 Touch phone will also not be a flagship model. Instead, the second device which will come shortly after the first, is apparently the one to look out for.

The Tube (not its real name) is said to come with a 16:9 touchscreen LCD between 3 and 3.5 inches and has an autofocus camera that's "better than the one that we can find on an iPhone but still not as good as on the latest Nseries devices", says Symbian Freak.

Other purported features include quad-band GSM connectivity with Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and Wi-Fi. It'll also have built-in GPS with support for geotagging functions. The report added that the phone will not have multi-touch capabilities, though it'll have "tactility feedback".

Nokia is keeping a very tight rein on information about the upcoming touch UI on the S60. It is not saying anything other than the fact that this is supposed to be out in the second half of this year (which we already know). But if what Symbian Freak blogged about turns out right, the phone will arrive in Q1 2009.

Picture credit: Symbian Freak

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