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Android landline, ebook reader and £99 tablet revealed by Binatone

Yes, you read that right: the Binatone iHomePhone 2 is an Android-powered landline phone, launched alongside a new ebook reader and budget HomeSurf 705 Android tablet.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Android on a landline phone. Yes, you read that right: the Binatone iHomePhone 2 is an Android-powered landline phone, launched alongside a new Binatone ebook reader and the budget HomeSurf 705 Android tablet.

The iHomePhone 2 is an Android landline -- Landroid? Andline? -- DECT digital cordless phone. It sports a 2.8-inch colour touchscreen, on which you can browse the Net, read your email, and watch YouTube videos. It offers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for Web surfing, email, weather and news widgets, RSS feeds and Internet radio.

There's a microSD slot so you can swap data with your mobile phone, and the contacts manager holds 300 friends' phone numbers and email addresses. There's an alarm clock and calendar and you can listen to both MP3s and Internet radio stations through built-in stereo speakers.

This new model adds improved Wi-Fi, boosted call answering access and a new home screen design compared to the original iHomePhone. It costs £100.

The Binatone eBook reader (pictured below) is also powered by Android software and also offers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for Web browsing and email, with music and video too. It has a 7-inch colour screen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels, above a Qwerty keypad. There's an SD card slot and 2GB of internal memory for storing your ebooks, in PDF, EPUB and assorted other formats.

Finally, Binatone has launched the £100 HomeSurf 705 tablet, which packs a 7-inch resistive screen. Resistive, yuck.

Would you use a landline phone to surf the Web? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.