If you thought that covering your entire Mac mini computing system in aircraft grade aluminum was overkill, both BT and Siemens have somehow reckoned that equipping their latest landline phones with dust, splash, and shock proof enclosures will actually convince folks to pick one up. Granted, Philips has also tried its own hand at sprucing up the PSTN handset of late, but both of these new devices forgo sexy in exchange for sheer toughness. Siemens' Gigaset E455 SIM is a DECT phone which boasts of handsfree operations, SMS capability, an integrated answering machine, room monitoring, a backlit display, caller ID, and an oh-so-limited five choices of polyphonic ringing melodies. The BT Elements (shown after the break) also shares the SMS abilities and illuminated display, but goes above the call of duty by tossing in a reported range of one-kilometer and doubling the amount of ringtones. Of course, both of these handsets would fit right into households that resemble a UFC extravaganza, but we're still not sure that the £59.99 ($120) to £74.99 ($150) that BT and Siemens are respectively charging is worth the upgrade.

Read - Siemens Gigaset E455 SIM, via TechDigest
Read - BT Elements, via CNET

We know, it's hard to really brag about the aging landline you keep around for no good reason, but if you're looking for the hippest thing to hit PSTN since DSL, Philips' ID9371 just might be it. This sleek, sexy handset rocks all the dashing design cues of the avant-garde mobiles carried by the affluent set, but manages to operate on a lowly landline all the while. Aside from the obviously glossy paint job, adoration for fingerprints, and backlit display, the device also features a "soft-touch" enclosure, SIM-card copy support, built-in answering machine, alarm clock, caller ID, signal strength indicator, and XHD sound technology that purportedly delivers every tonal frequency imaginable. Sure, we're used to cramming cutting-edge gizmos into a retro casing, but kudos to Philips for doing things vice-versa.

[Via ShinyShiny]

If you still haven't pulled the trigger on setting up a VoIP system in your domicile, and you're looking to build a new rig from the ground up anyway, ASUS is handing over the perfect excuse to do both. While the firm has already teamed with Gigabyte for a bit of motherboard collaboration, the M2N/TeleSky and P5B/TeleSky boards will now include a "telecom adapter" to convert your standard PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines to VoIP. Moreover, the adapter touts the ability to "to switch the house phone connection between PSTN and VoIP networks" depending on call-to-call preferences. While we aren't certain on how much ASUS plans on charging for the limited edition units, we do know that 60 SkypeOut minutes will be included "while supplies last," so you may want to make haste on picking one up if this combo suits your fancy.