vtech

VTech's Retro Phone has modern 'Mad Men' flair

Perhaps it's just a coincidence that VTech's $59.99 LS6195 cordless phone has hit stores as the fifth season of "Mad Men" has recently gotten under way, but the phone has a decidedly 1960s retro look with a tagline that Don Draper might approve of: "Back in style. Better styled."

Naturally, the electronics inside the LD6195 are new -- or at least relatively new -- as the VTech Retro Phone has a digital answering machine and uses DECT 6.0 digital technology, which is the standard in today's cordless phones. … Read more

Crave giveaway: VTech Wi-Fi Internet radio

For all you Internet radio fans, we've something interesting from VTech, a company you wouldn't normally associate with Wi-Fi Internet radios.

Editor Matthew Moskovciak reviewed the VTech IS9181 last year and gave it high marks. He said it has a slick design with a color LCD display and a strong bass, and it's currently one of the best portable options on the market. (Read the full review here and check out a demo on VTech's website).

Normally, this VTech Wi-Fi Internet radio would cost about $150, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, … Read more

VTech's LS6245 Bluetooth cordless phone takes cell and landline calls

Vtech has released Bluetooth cordless phones in the past, but it says its new LS6245 is the "first system of its kind capable of connecting landline and cellular phone calls simultaneously."

Like most new cordless phones these days, the LS6245 is a DECT 6.0 model, but the key feature here is the capability to pair your Bluetooth cell phone with the unit and take calls on either the slim handset or via the built-in speakerphone. VTech is calling it "a virtual two-line phone system," and says you cannot only take a landline call and cell … Read more

VTech LS6225 series: One of the sexier DECT 6.0 cordless phones

New for 2009, VTech's LS6225/LS6215 series is one of the company's featured DECT 6.0 cordless phone lines. VTech has a reputation for making sleek and stylish cordless phones and the LS6225 series is an eye-catcher, with a shiny black finish, touch buttons on the base unit/digital answering machine, and a slight curve to the handsets that follows the contour of your face. You can get this model in packages of two and three handsets (the system is expandable to 12 handsets), as well as a unit that leaves off the answering machine.

Read the full review. … Read more

Shocker: VTech enters the home-audio market with music-streaming device

In an interesting move, VTech, the makers of wireless home phones, has entered the home-audio fray with the IS9181, a Wi-Fi-enabled Internet radio receiver that will cost $199.95 when it's released this spring.

VTech claims the "competitively priced music hub delivers higher sound quality than other similarly priced music devices" and it allows you to play not only Internet radio selections but also to stream your music library stored on your computer (the IS9181 is compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs). There's also the requisite line input so you can connect any digital audio … Read more

VTech has a little fun with home phones

VTech may be one of the most overachieving phone makers in the land-line business. Rather than just lie down and let mobile handsets invade the home, the Hong Kong-based company has continually pushed the envelope by developing computer-like functions for its products, ranging from online news feeds to instant messaging. (We think they may be overcompensating because of their reputation as a toy maker, but that's no crime.)

In fact, it was nice to seem them lighten up a bit with the latest version of their DECT 6.0 home phones. The LS6117 sports a look that was "… Read more

VTech adds IM to home phones--but why?

Some companies just refuse to give up on an idea, no matter how illogical it may be. That seems to be the case with VTech, which is still trying to sell the concept of a land-line phone with computer-like features.

More than a year ago the company came out with its "infoPhone," a cordless handset that included limited online functions, such as getting news headlines and doing local directory searches--a classic example, we thought, of a solution in search of a problem. But this year, rather than ditching the idea, VTech has actually expanded the concept in its … Read more

A landline phone that thinks it's a PC

Home telephones are like TV sets of the '70s and '80s--except for the cordless breakthrough, technology has seen scant change compared with other consumer products. VTech wants to change that with its new "infoPhone" (not to be confused with the iPhone, thank you very much).

The landline handset is designed to handle many functions that most people reserve for the computer. As Gadgetell says, "The new ip8300 infoPhone uses the Internet to access information directly on the cordless handset's color LCD screen, including news headlines, weather reports, horoscopes, local directory searches and more"--all according … Read more