Not quite sure why, but we get this whole Get Smart vibe from this thing. IOCELL's contents phone would probably be more suited for a highly covert spy agency rather than your grandmother's home, but we suppose even granny could appreciate the built-in hard drive that logs conversations, plays 'em back and makes remembering things that much easier. Furthermore, the firm asserts that this thing can send completed calls out on the internet should you want to pass along the audio to someone else, and there also appears to be a USB port for possibly offloading those onto flash drives. Heck, it even syncs caller ID information with calls and provides background music during conversations (uh, okay?). Take a wild guess on the price, chances are you'll be fairly close.

[Via The Red Ferret Journal]

We can only hope that the makers of this beer bottle phone actually got Budweiser's permission before slapping its logo on there, but regardless of all that, who can deny the awesomeness here? Okay, so you've got to be "that guy" for it to take your breath away, but we know you're out there somewhere, that guy. Aside from looking like a cold one, it pretty much handles everything else a hamburger phone (or similar) would, but at least this one doesn't require prior knowledge of Juno to be appreciated by your tipsy pals. Get your inebriated dialing on now for just $16.99 delivered.

[Via CrunchGear]

Truth be told, Fixed Mobile Convergence still isn't talked about much (comparatively speaking) 'round these parts. Yeah, we've seen a few FMC routers scattered about, but Vodafone's taking a stand by rolling out its Station in Italy. The box, which was developed in cooperation with Huawei, is an integrated switch / router with ADSL2+, WiFi, UMTS / HSPA (via a removable USB key) and four Ethernet ports. Essentially, it's designed to combine voice with fixed and mobile broadband services, and it enables users to make calls on their handset through a fixed line connection when they're kicking back at home. We're also hearing that the device will eventually make its way to other Vodafone markets, but there's been no word yet on future rollout dates.

[Via GigaOM]

Hold everything -- did you have any idea surging cellphone use was putting a damper on landline utilization? Oh, right, common knowledge. Anywho, a recent study conducted here in America found that three in ten households actually relied solely or primarily on their mobile to communicate. In the latter half of 2007, it was discovered that 16-percent of domiciles didn't even have a landline, while 13-percent had one but took all (or nearly all) of their calls via cell. Just to put things in perspective, only 5-percent of US homes were cellphone-only in 2004, while 1.082-percent had not yet surrendered their can-and-string. If you're one of those number lovers, hold your head up high and hit the read link for lots more data about this totally engrossing topic.

[Image courtesy of Preston LNO]

So this new AbleComm spinoff RedHotPhones is selling tons and tons of phones -- all red -- including replicas "inspired by Batman". Definitely not the amazing new Christopher Nolan retelling, we're talking original campy-ass 60s Batman. We're not sure what kind of person would spend $112 on a novelty landline-phone with no way to dial out (probably the same people that bought the $300 Shakespeare bust back in the day), but buy it fast, we heard the mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island is filing suit.

With data integration in mobile handsets, it's no wonder home telephones haven't been able to keep up. But what happens when you're using a service like Verizon's FiOS and all of a sudden that boring handset has broadband data piped right into it? One example could be OpenFrame – a new home phone envisioned by John Sculley, former Apple CEO – that maybe-a-little resembles Apple's iPhone. The various devices are built on Freescale MX31 processors "with two 600-MHz ARM11 chips doing the heavy lifting" for features like streaming video, music, web surfing, and more. According to the manufacturer's chief executive, the heavily subsidized phones could be shipping out in four or five months straight from the carriers (no retail presence here). Though the phone was built specifically for services like FiOS, they're not yet saying if it's coming to FiOS. Why so shy, fellas?

Wow, talk about being on a roll. Not even a week after unleashing the awfully-titled TLKR walkie-talkie, Motorola is gettin' even more platitudinal with its new duo of MOTOLIVN landline phones. Both units tout location-free bases, "eco-mode" for saving energy, ten ringer melodies, a built-in speakerphone, and up to ten-hours of talk time (100-hours in standby). The D7 is said to be available in silver with a blue-backlit screen, while the D8 range can be picked up in black or white and comes Skype-enabled for those interested. Both handsets look to be available right now in Germany, and while the D7 starts at €49.99 ($70), the D8 gets going at €69.99 ($97).

[Via Pocket-Lint]

Alright, so maybe "fun" is a stretch, but Plantronics' Calisto Pro sure makes working from the confines of home a lot more plausible. This interesting home phone not only enables users to manage their landline conversations, but the built-in Bluetooth and USB port allows telecommuters to receive and place calls over Skype and through their cellphone, too. "At the touch of a button," at-home workaholics can switch between all three types of calls, and the included earpiece even enables them to chat handsfree. The handset reportedly utilizes DECT 6.0 technology, won't interfere with your WiFi setup, touts an integrated speakerphone, and even comes bundled with a "flip-up waist clip for on-the-go dialing and Caller ID viewing." Cubical dwellers, rejoice, as you can get one step closer to nixing that commute entirely for $279.95 next month.

[Via Web Worker Daily]

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

A patent application has recently been approved by the USPTO which details a landline phone that would feature a GUI capable of displaying controls, targeted ads, and various infoswag. Inventor Rich Loen seems especially keen on the advertising potential of his so-called Internet protocol telephone system, which would allow businesses like hotels and spas to stream different ads depending on room price, or consumers to receive offers based on location, time of day, and type of residence, among many other possible criteria. Sounds like a good idea for service industries looking to squeeze a few more bucks out of their facilities, but maybe not ideal for the average landline user, who's gonna require more than just in-phone stock quotes or sports scores to convince him / her to let Google ads onto yet another screen. Now dangle some sweet subsidized calling plans in front of us, and we just might bite.

[Via textually]

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]

We can all get a bit sensational at times, but RTX Telecom apparently thinks its DualPhone 3088 is a marvel of modern science. Touting its "standalone nature" and "landline / Skype functionality" as quite the awe-inspiring duo, the admittedly average dual-function phone doesn't deviate too far from the path already blazed by other computer-free solutions. The device can make and receive both traditional landline and Skype In / Out calls without the need for your PC to be near or even powered on. Per usual, the phone includes a separate base station that sports inputs for your landline and router connection, and then broadcasts the signals wirelessly "up to 300 meters" to the cordless phone station set up elsewhere. It also features the latest DECT technology, an LCD to skim through your contact list, and claims to play nice with both Macs and PCs -- which makes perfect sense considering no computer is required at all. Nevertheless, British users looking for a matte black option to juggle your landline and VoIP calling duties can pick up the DualPhone 3088 now for £109.99 ($209).

It seems that Philips' delightful duo of VoIP phones have made their rounds in the US, and have finally landed in the reviewers lounge at GeekZone New Zealand. After spotting these units awhile back, the VOIP433 and VOIP321 both hit the testing block, and choosing between the two seems to boil down to whichever internet telephony platform best suits you. The 433 provided "true plug-and-play" functionality with Windows Live Messenger, and the unit's automatic contact updating was highly regarded. The biggest dig, however, came from the substandard LCD screen, which was dubbed "one of the worst" the crew had ever seen. On the 321 side, all of the advertised Skype functionality was performed adequately, the two-line display was "comfortable to read," and the larger button layout made dialing less of a chore. Both units touted a satisfactory 10-hour battery life (while talking), separate power supplies to locate the base station away from the PC, and all the dedicated landline features we've come to know and love. Overall, both devices were hailed as worthwhile purchases if you spend a good bit of time chatting it up with VoIP, but deciding between Windows Live Messenger and Skype is entirely in your court.

Thinking about ditching that landline? Are those VoIP options -- especially the free ones -- looking more and more attractive? Keynote Systems, a globally respected internet and communication testing company, has completed a ridiculously thorough investigation on the true audio quality that can be had using VoIP (within American borders), and the results are quite intriguing. To test call quality and remove human error / bias, they had automated machines in apartments nearly 3,000 miles apart call one another 125,000 times throughout the month of August, play a 30 second clip, and let an audio analyzer handle the rest. VoIP hard / soft phones, digital cable VoIP phones, and traditional landline phones were all tested and compared, only to discover that cable company-provided VoIP phones that utilized PacketCable -- an IP multimedia transmission system optimized for coax -- scored a whopping 4.24 MOS (mean opinion score), trouncing the 4.0 found in traditional phone networks. Granted, when viewing all VoIP venues, outliers were found around 2.6, which is fairly unacceptable when a 3.2 MOS is considered the "minimum" for a frustration-free conversation. All in all, landlines ranked second only to the mighty cable offerings, while hard VoIP phones (like the ATS E6501) slid in third, and "soft" services (Skype, for instance) were declared last. While we've personally had great success with the likes of Gizmo and other free internet calling alternatives, our ears certainly aren't sine wave decoders, so if you're thinking of tossing that ole rotary dialer for something with a touch more clarity, you might as well give that cable company a ring.

[Via Ars Technica]

It's okay, we didn't know people were still using landlines either. For the last few holdouts, though, Audex (not to be confused with the Burton jacket of the same name) presents its Desk-Free Bluetooth Headset for telephones, which attaches to your fixed line phone and gives you that same great 10-feet of wireless freedom that you've come to love from your current cellphone-headset combo. We've no idea where you can pick one of these up nor how much it'll set you back, but if you're really in need of such a product, we're confident that you'll do what it takes to track one down.

[Via Slashphone]