flip phones

Tablet adoption could give flip phones new lease on life

This story originally published August 23, 2012, and updated on October 26, 2012.

commentary Here's a list of people who tell me they want a simple phone: my retired parents who have easy access to a computer and two clunky laptops at home, my nonagenarian grandmother, and the tech-savvy CNET reader who recently thanked me for my review of the Samsung t159, a $20 T-Mobile flip phone.

It may sound hard to believe, but basic phones like the t159 and others are poised to see a small uptick among an unexpected demographic. I'm receiving more and more e-mails from CNET readers interested in supplementing their investment in a Wi-Fi-only tablet with a cheap hunk of hardware adept at making calls and little else.… Read more

Flip phones to flip for (roundup)

Don't get me wrong, I still love my smartphones as much as any modern 21st century kid. But there's something about whipping out a flip phone and then shutting it closed that is very gratifying. And while many phone manufactures pump out high-tech handsets every season, it's nice to see that once in a while, a simple flip phone still makes it through the pipeline.

Not only do these handsets have the best call quality (and really, isn't that what phones are made for?), but they also are extremely simple to use and can withstand a … Read more

Missing the flip phone

This week I stepped back into the land of reviewing to test the Samsung Chrono 2 for U.S. Cellular. And, wow, what a trip it was.

With its basic calling features and retro design, the Chrono 2 took me back to a cell phone era that greeted me when I first joined CNET almost nine years ago. Before Android and the iPhone democratized the smartphone, most of us used a handset like the Chrono 2. You may have had a camera or Bluetooth, and you probably toyed with a wireless browser, but mostly we used the handsets for making … Read more

The 404 572: Where it's time for a downgrade (podcast)

Jeff Bakalar is out sick today but luckily Natali Del Conte is back from her sojourn to San Francisco and fills in on today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast. I hope you had a better weekend than mine; I almost had a sleepover at the Apple Store after my iPhone inexplicably broke...again! The display on my 6-month-old phone stopped working, so I've decided to stick it out with a budget Samsung flip phone until the fourth-generation iPhone comes out.

Downgrading to a single-function handset from an iPhone requires some adjustment, but I'm quickly getting used to (and even enjoying) the simplicity of having separate dedicated devices for music and phone calls.

Boredom arrives much quicker without a smartphone, of course, but who really needs all those silly apps? I'm having a great time rediscovering the simple mundane pleasure of scrolling through "settings and options." What time increment should I set my auto-dimmer to today? The possibilities are endless!

Last night CBS' "60 Minutes" aired an interview with Conan O'Brien to get his personal take on the "Tonight Show" fiasco that left poor CoCo without a network to call a home.

Unfortunately, neither NDC nor I had a chance to check it out, but Wilson gives us the rundown on Conan's amicable responses and explains why Conan starts crying halfway through the segment. Check out CBS News for the full interview.

There are also plenty of hilarious Calls From the Public to play today including one listener who finally debuts an impression of Jeff that you won't want to miss. If you have something to tell us, leave us a message at 1-866-404-CNET or shoot us a line at the404(at)CNET(dot)com!

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Do you like computer guts?

How can you look inside your iPhone without voiding your warranty? Want to peer into the innards of your iPod? And how exactly did they make computer memory in 1974?

Over at Crave sister site News.com they've been posting photos of electronics vivisection. I know, the operating room isn't our usual arena. But this time the patient's one of the popular electronic devices listed below. Occasionally they even put them back together in working order!

Follow along and learn industry secrets as intrepid surgeons wander inside the iPhone, an iPod Nano, a vintage computer, a flip phone, … Read more

Gallery: Cracking open a flip phone

Certain members of TechRepublic's staff boast that particular breed of inquisitiveness that makes them want to pry stuff open and check out its insides. We're talking about electronics, of course, not kittens. It's pretty innocuous, really, except that it totally voids your warranty. Legally, we here at Crave cannot condone the dismantling of electronics, nor of kittens, for that matter.

Anyway, TR has been nice enough to let sister site News.com republish part of their "Cracking Open" series, where they dive into all manner of contemporary and vintage electronics. This time it's an … Read more

The thinnest flip-phone (of the hour)

Claiming that you've got the world's thinnest phone is a boast that might last a day or two tops, even if it's true. But NEC may well have those bragging rights for a few hours, at least in the flip-phone category.

Its n703iu is just 0.45 inches thick when closed, Electronista says. Making it even more interesting is the outer shell, which features 49 LED lights that change patterns to indicate when calls, e-mail or other functions are at work. It also has the obligatory 1.3-megapixel camera and MP3 player.

The 3G handset will be … Read more