Phones

Goofy as it may look, the Audex knit cap with built-in MP3 player would still have some practical applications in cold-weather activities. But spring skiing is just around the corner, and you may not want to mess up your mullet with a knit cap if you don't need the added warmth.

One alternative is the Audex Motorola cargo jacket, a waterproof coat with Bluetooth speakers sewn into its collar. The jacket can play MP3 tunes or answer your phone with a built-in hands-free microphone. But for a retail price of $645, we think this garment should screen calls and … Read more

Recently, we rounded up some of the most overhyped cell phones to date, and we don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the Apple iPhone might be headed that way. Yet amidst all the serious debate about whether the iPhone is a rip-off or a force to be reckoned with, there's still a little fun to had. BBSpot has a humorous little spoof of a showdown between the iPhone and the Palm Treo, noting upfront that "We haven't had our hands on either device, but that hasn't stopped us from … Read more

When I talk about niches of the "new Internet" that are pretty much totally saturated, usually I mention social networking sites or online video portals. Here's another one: Photo sharing! I'm inherently going to be pretty skeptical of any start-up that comes around and decides to take on the Flickrs and Photobuckets of the world. In order for me to be optimistic about a new photo-sharing site, it's going to have to offer something really new. The subject of this post, Radar, thankfully does. It's designed specifically for swapping camera-phone photos around with your … Read more

I returned recently from a trip to Hong Kong and found a cell phone lover's paradise just waiting to be explored. Cell phone shops line almost every street, and no, I'm not talking about stuffy carrier stores with a limited selection of only what they want to sell. Rather, I'm referring to full-fledged gadget shops with an untold selection of manufacturers and models, many of which I'd never seen in the flesh. It goes without saying that the offerings are light years ahead of what we get in the United States, but also the entire cell … Read more

Palm released a software update for the Treo 680 Thursday to fix a problem in which the embedded camera drains the smart phone's battery.

"Palm has identified that the Treo 680 device can experience reduced battery life when the camera is used. The camera may continue to draw power from the battery when the device is in standby mode," a posting on the Palm Web site said. All Treo 680 users should install the Camera Update, the company said. Find the update here.

Treo users had been complaining on user forums that the handset's battery was … Read more

The sharp guys at Phone Scoop have confirmed what we predicted at CES: Sprint will be the first U.S. carrier to land the new Samsung Ultra Music. Phone Scoop found the FCC approval forms, which indicate that the Ultra Music's model number will be the SPH-M620. This will be the first CDMA version of the phone since a GSM model made its first debut last month in Hong Kong. We hear Sprint will have it for sale by March.

You'll remember that the Ultra Music is the phone with two personalities that Samsung unveiled last week in … Read more

With cell phones being blamed for everything from bad driving to lower sperm counts these days, you might almost feel sorry for them, particularly after investigators blamed a cell phone for starting a fire earlier this week that seriously injured a California man. But now it appears the gadgets aren't all bad. Fire officials in Vallejo, Calif., reversed course and ruled out the man's Nokia 2125i as the cause of the blaze.

Today's announcement came three days after 59-year-old Luis Picaso received second- and third-degree burns from a fire that started in his residential hotel room while … Read more

I've never gotten along with the SureType keyboards on some of RIM's BlackBerry devices. You input a couple of letters, get a list of possible words, scroll over to the correct one, then select it--yeah, no thanks. I know it gets easier to use over time, but it really shouldn't be so much work. It's a shame, too, because they're found on some of the company's best smart phones, including the sexy BlackBerry Pearl. I really like the design and functionality of the Pearl, but much prefer to have a full QWERTY keyboard. What'… Read more

LG blew it. Weeks ago, we showed you some leaked photos of its Prada touch-screen phone, which appeared to have some groundbreaking features, but the company remained mum. Now, as the obsession with the iPhone continues to dwarf any other product in the entire communications industry, LG has decided to make it official with a relative whimper.

The Prada phone will also debut in Europe and Asia long before it hits U.S. shores--like so many of the fashion house's clothing lines. (At least it's being consistent.) Engadget says it has a 3-inch display and a 2-megapixel camera … Read more