Wize Blog

LG Breathalyzer Cell Phone (LG LP4100)

Drinking and cell phones usually don’t go very well together. Often people get drunk and end up making calls that they later regret. This has been happening since cell phones became an integral part of our culture. Well there is a new cell phone put out by LG that can stop the drunken calls to certain people from happening. The LG LP4100, or otherwise known as the LG Breathalyzer cell phone, is the latest creation to come from LG.

The LG LP4100 allows you to block certain numbers from being dialed if your blood-alcohol level is greater than 0.08. It will prevent the embarrassment of having to see your boss the day after you accidentally “drunk dialed.” It can also prevent you from calling an ex and making a fool of yourself. This is thanks to the anti-drunk dialing feature that has been installed into the phone. This phone has shown that it can be very popular and has already sold 200,000 phones in Korea to date. This is the perfect phone for anyone who has made that great mistake of getting drunk and dialing someone that they regretted in the morning.

This post was written by Devicepedia, guest author of the Wize Blog

T-Mobile Launches Android Phone

Today's the day. The Google-run G1 phone, the Android, has arrived, which means people have actually seen the phone in real life after months of anticipation. 

The first thing you might wonder is why do they call this phone an Android. Well, Android is a software platform for mobile phones and other devices. Google and a slew of other companies, including Intel, Motorola and Qualcomm, developed the platform, which is based on a Linux operating system. Android includes a browser similar to Safari, Apple computers' browser; a media support platform for handling audio, video and still pictures and a GPS navigation system. The Android platform is open source, which means it can run 3rd party applications. For example, a developer will be offering GoCart, a program that scans a barcode with the phone's camera. After scanning the product, the program finds comparable prices of that product at nearby stores. 

Other features of the G1 phone include: touch screen platform; 3 MP camera with auto-focus; customizable screen; QWERTY keyboard; Google applications such as maps, instant messaging, calendar, G-mail and YouTube; Google search, video playback, 3G network and WiFi access and access to Android Market, where you can get those nifty applications. 

The G1 phone comes out in a month (Oct. 22). It will sell for $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile. The G1 phone uses 3G networking in major metro areas and G1 for areas outside the 3G service. Both services offer different capabilities. More info here.

What's N-Gage All About?

Nokia launched the N85 today, a cell phone that includes a 5 MP cam, GPS, 8GB of storage, WiFi, 28-hour battery life for music playback and N-Gage compatibility. Game-players are the prime market for phones with N-Gage compatibility. Other phones that are N-Gage compatible are Nokia N73, N81, N81 8GB, N93, N93i and N95.

N-Gage is a game playing system that lets you connect with other mobile phone users to play games. Some of the games available are: Brain Challenge, Bounce Boing Voyage, Reset Generation, Brothers in Arms, Pro-Series Golf, Midnight Pool, The Sims 2 Pets and Snakes Subsonic. If you've already got a N-Gage compatible phone, you can download the games here.

One game, Dirk Dagger, Digging Deeper, just arrived for the platform. There's an in-depth interview with the creator of the game at the N-Gage Web site. The game has you playing Dirk Dagger, a gumshoe detective. At DirkDagger.com, there's an interactive preview of the game, which explains the characters and cases. It's a lot of fun and will have you wanting a N-Gage compatible phone so you can play it.

Palm Launches Treo™ Pro Smartphone

Palm officially announced the new Treo™ Pro smartphone by Palm after being leaked earlier this week and spreading like wildfire across the web. The Treo™ Pro smartphone is 4.4 by 2.3 by .5 inches, and it weighs 4.6 ounces, making it small, sleek, and light. Available only in black, it has a bigger full keyboard and a 320x320 color flush touch-screen with crisp resolution. The Treo™ Pro comes with 128 MB of memory that can be expanded up to 32 GB via a microSD slot.

The Treo™ Pro offers many features such as built in Wi-Fi, push e-mail capabilities, Windows Mobile 6.1, 2 Megapixel camera, video and music capabilities, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion battery with a 5 hour talk time, and Bluetooth Wireless Technology.

Palm is selling the smart phone at $549 without a carrier.

Kindle vs iPhone

What's the Kindle got that the iPhone doesn't? For now it's got (or is) an e-reading application.

Who's to say that someone won't develop an e-reading application on the iPhone, thus making it a tough competitor for Kindle?

That's what's brought to light in a CNET article about the iPhone vs the Kindle.

The writer, Greg Sandoval, points out that some developer might create an e-reading app, or Steve Jobs may already have that up his sleeve and just hasn't let it out yet.

At any rate, the iPhone as it is carries more value for the money than Kindle does. It's cheaper for one.

But who can beat the experience of Kindle's easy-on-the-eyes E ink technology? The iPhone's close with a 3.5-inch high-resolution widescreen.

Another thing the author sneaks into his story...he's been reading books on his Palm Pilot TX.

Amazon, in the long run, won't make money from selling Kindle, but it's sure to by selling all the ebooks that will be read on other devices.

Motorola and Kodak Take on Camera Phone

Motorola has joined forces with Kodak to bring a new camera phone--Motozine ZN5--to market.

As a promotion for the phone the two companies had eight photographers take photographs of their city with the phone. Then the two companies collaborated to put a video together with the resulting photographs.

The camera phone was unveiled at a gallery event in Beijing. The camera is an ultra-fast 5 megapixel model with auto-focus, a Xenon flash, 4GB of optional external memory3 and settings for low-light environments.

The phone has ZN5 features Motorola’s patented CrystalTalkTM technology to help callers hear and be heard, even in noisy environments. With dual compatibility for GSM and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), users can connect in more areas around the world2 and enjoy high-speed wireless connections to surf the Web via a full HTML browser2. ZN5 also supports SMS, MMS, IM and personal e-mail2.

Android Delayed

The phone everyone is waiting for has come up against a delay. The Google Android handset won't be available until the fourth quarter. The phone uses a suite of mobile software called Android.

The delay is in part due to the number of partners that are in on the deal. There are 30 of them. Some of them may not come up with with their programs for the operating system until after the fourth quarter.

T-Mobile's roll out in the fourth quarter is sucking up all of Google's energy so that other carriers like Sprint won't be able to come up with the Android-based phone till after the fourth quarter.

Another part of the problem is that it takes time for the partners to develop new features. Phone companies are sorting out what broadband networks the phone will run on.

Some companies are forgoing involvement in the Google venture until Google figures out  distribution and revenue issues.

Watch Phone Does More than Tell Time

Here's the gadget we've been waiting for (that is after the TV phone). It's the watch phone. Not the easiest thing in the world to use, but, hey, it keeps track of the time. This one's got a camera too. You can get it at www.mp3plusmore.com.

Samsung Instinct Attempts to Nail iPhone

Imagine a touchphone that looks like an iPhone and costs only $130. The Samsung Instinct is attempting to nail the AT&T iPhone, giving the Apple product a run for the money.

The phone even has its own Web site--samsunginstinct.com. This effort is part of a $100 million marketing plan for the Sprint Instinct.

The real question is does it have some of the same features as the iPhone?

The answer would be a resounding "yes."

It has: touch-screen interface, hi-speed wireless, Bluetooth, 2MP cqmera, expandable memory, GPS and visual voicemail.

The next question would be which network is faster AT&T or Sprint. Please comment.

8MP Camera Phone Looks Like a Camera

There's nothing like it anywhere. It's the camera phone from Sony Ericsson that has 8MP of resolution.

The Sony Ericsson C905 news comes from Infosyncworld.com. The camera phone has Xenon flash, face detection, auto-focus, smart contrast and digital image stabilization.

There's a USB cable included for easy transfer of the photos from the phone to a computer.

Other features of this unique device include: 2.4-inch display, GPS, 2GB Memory Stick Micro card, bluetooth and Access NetFront Web browser.