We’ve seen prototypes for solar-powered cell phones, but now a Chinese company claims to have developed the world’s first commercially available solar-powered cellphone. The company says a scale-like solar panel on the top side of the phone can also be recharged by light from artificial sources. It can provide 40 minutes of talk-time after sitting in the sun for an hour.

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Motorola has released its latest iDEN phone that is designed to meet “military standards” of durability. The iDEN i580 is water and dust resistant and sports Bluetooth, a MP3 player and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. Multiple push to buttons are available to allow you to push to talk, push to meet and push to smart reply that allows you to send SMS messages using push to talk. The iDEN also accepts microSD memory cards. The i580 will be available in Q2 of 2006. The carrier will probably be Nextel.

Link: “>iDEN Home Page

Via Gadgets Weblog

VoIP (Voice Over IP) is telephone service which allows you to use your internet connection to make telephone calls.

Instead of making calls through regular telephone lines, you place calls through a phone connected to your broadband service (e.g. cable or DSL). You can read about more VoIP technology here.

Most people use VoIP save on the expense of having a POTS (plain old telephone service) and to save on long distance charges.

Companies in the US, such as Vonage, VoicePulse, and Packet8, offer unlimited calling to the US, and sometimes to Canada or to selected countries in Europe or Asia, for a flat monthly fee. Vonage is top rated by PC World and CNet.com. CNet’s editor Neil Randall says Vonage’s voice quality was so good that it’s a suitable replacement for a primary phone line.

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There is a wide range of cell phones available today. Your choice is often narrowed by the fact that particular cell phones will only work with specific carriers. For example, if you buy a Nokia phone, it will only work with Cingular as the carrier.

As far as cell phone service is concerned, Verizon is top rated by these review sites: J.D. Power, Consumer Reports and Epinions. According to these reviewers, Verizon tops the field in terms of coverage and customer service.

One reason why you might not opt for Verizion as your carrier, is if you are a frequent traveler to Europe, Asia or Africa. Verizion uses a proprietary CDMA network for service, and you’ll find that other countries mostly use GSM networks instead (supported by T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T).

If you are interested in the amount of radiation a cell phone emits, you can look up the “SAR” rating on this page from CNET. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), SAR or specific absorption rate is “a way of measuring the quantity of radiofrequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body.”

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