The Gametel looks familiar to gamers – with its D-pad, four buttons and two shoulder triggers. It is compatible with phones and tablets running Android 2.1.1 Éclair or later and connects to your device using Bluetooth. The device connects to a phone or tablet with the built-in adjustable spring-loaded clamp. Once paired, the Gametel will connect automatically, every time it is turned on,

There are more than 50 compatible games available for download from Android Market – Happy Vikings, Cordy, Reckless Getaway and MotoX Mayhem to name a few.

Bo Nyman, CEO of Fructel says: “Playing casual games on a touchscreen phone is fine but when it comes to playing the more addictive and immersive titles, seamless gameplay is impossible. The Gametel controller overcomes this problem by delivering a console experience on your Android device, freeing the screen from fingers, opening up a bigger viewing area and delivering more responsive physical controls.”

And if your Android device has HDMI, mobile gaming can also be brought to the big screen. Hook up an Android device to an HDTV, wirelessly connect up to four Gametel controllers and you can bring your favourite mobile games into the living room with a console-like multi-player set-up.

The Gametel offers around nine hours of battery life and switches off automatically after six minutes if it is not in use.

The Gametel costs £49.99 from Amazon.

[Source: Turn your phone into a games console with the Gametel]

Android fan boys your time has come. Why waste time screaming about your preferred mobile OS of choice on forums when you can can let your smartphone shout from the rooftops for you (real answer – no one in the real world cares what operating system your phone uses).

The Bluetooth Robot Sound Box utilises Android’s key strength – the darned cuteness of its robot mascot – and turns that into a sonic weapon in the form of a Bluetooth speaker and microphone. This isn’t your Granddad’s bluetooth however, and the BRSB uses Bluetooth 3.0 so the sound quality is pretty sharp.

The robot’s head acts as a control for your phone, letting you change tracks with a twist or pause with a push
The top of the robot can be moved to let you control your tracks, play/pause music, or activate voice-dialling with a simple motion. The head rotates left and right for track changes, while it acts as a button for the other features.

6th generation CVC is also deployed for echo and noise reduction. Set up is simple (it’s Bluetooth after all) and for your time you get 300 hours of standby time, 4.5 hours talk time and a working distance of 10 meters. Plus you look immeasurably cool talking to a robot at your desk -especially if you’re using Siri.

The Bluetooth Robot Sound Box is £19.95 from mobilefun.co.uk

[Source: Bluetooth Robot Sound Box: This is the droid you are looking for]

The wireless plug-and-play 3G booster, the Cel-Fi RS2, is claimed to make a dramatic difference to indoor voice quality and data throughput.

Cel-Fi also says the product is the only legal signal booster available in the UK for Orange and T-Mobile networks. It will constantly search for the best available signal in an area up to 13000 square feet, so you should see your one bar of coverage turn into five.

The booster may even have a beneficial effect on the battery life of your smartphone, as constantly searching for a signal can drain the juice from your battery

Because it is wireless, there are no ugly cables, and installation is simple. The booster can be wall mounted or free standing while another unit stands at the window.

“With smartphones taking over as the single device that incorporates calls, email, text, games and surfing the net, we are increasingly reliant on these devices in our day-to-day lives. The outstanding 3G signal provided by the Cel-Fi RS2 eliminates that ‘signal struggle often experienced in black spots, so there’ll be less hanging out of the window or walking round the garden to try to make a call.” Says Gareth Limpenny, MD of Cel-Fi’s distributor, Frequency Telecom.

The Cel-Fi RS2 is available from www.cel-fi.co.uk

[Source: Get the message with the Cel-Fi signal booster]

Doro mobile phones aren’t like ordinary mobile phones. They’re more like Fisher Price phones – they boast simple lines, simple materials and simple colours, making the phones almost child-like in appearance. This is odd, because Doro mobiles are aimed at the other end of the spectrum: the older user.

A company started by one of many older mobile phone users, Doro has been producing simple mobile phones for simple folk for a while in Europe. Now they’ve finally hit the UK with the Doro PhoneEasy 610 and 615 fliphones.

On the outside, the phones seem perfect: they’re easy to hold thanks to their soft touch coating, while the screen uses big fonts (they can go really big) and the keys are huge, widely spaced and concave keys

There are also a bunch of short-cut keys for speed-dial, and on the 610 there’s even a button dedicated to the SMS app. The 615 uses this button to access the camera function, which comes with a flash. The picture quality isn’t terribly good, but what did you expect? (It could be the screen resolution that makes the images look bad, however, as the camera is 3.2MP).

In terms of accessibility, the speakers are loud and clear, which means hard-of-hearing users are catered for. Its hearing aid compatible (rated at M3/T4) and a maximum ringer volume of a huge 85dB at one meter – the noise-level of city traffic.

And the screen can output really, really large fonts – so you might even be able to escape putting on glasses to read a message.

There’s no doubt that the Doro phones are great devices for making calls, simply and without hassle. The lack of features is actually a key feature, as there’s no confusion with what you’re trying to do. Even the most technically-illiterate should get to grips with the basics of the operating system pretty simply.

There’s a major drawback to their simplicity, however: text messaging. Or as Doro calls it, SMS.

SMS Problems

• ¬ Mum: “SMS, does that mean an ordinary message? Does that mean to send a message?” What does MMS mean?” 

Uh-oh. Doro may be simple on the outside, but the interface has a host of SMS problems. For a start, most people call a written message a “text message” in the UK – labeling it SMS confused my dear mother.

Then there’s MMS – which was never really used by UK users, and especially not by older ones. “Picture Messaging” would have been a more useful label.

• ¬ Mum: “How do I change it from there to there? How do I go across?” 

Because the Doro phone replaced the D-pad of a typical mobile phone a simple up-down navigation button, it means that users have to realise that down also means “move left along the message” and up means “move right”. Eep.

• ¬ Mum: “It’s not on predictive. How do you get it on with predictive?” 

This was an awkward moment – there seems to be no easy way to switch to predicative text within the text messaging app. You have to go all the way out to the Settings menu to make the change. Not really a deal breaker, but an annoyance nonetheless.

• ¬ Mum: “This won’t change into a two when you hold it.”

The typical “hold down a key to turn it into the number” trick doesn’t work on the Doro, which is annoying for older mobile users who have grown accustomed to traditional ways of doing things. My parents play a game of “find how to do a zero”, which they still haven’t conquered, one month on.

While the Doro’s may be simple, they’re by no means fool-proof. Accessibility-wise, they’re great for the hard of hearing, mobility impaired and those with fading eye-sight. They’ll also be perfect for first time mobile users.

If you’re already a mobile user, but getting older and want to swap to an easier model, you may be a bit frustrated by the handsets – especially if you’re a big texter.

[Source: Doro PhoneEasy 610 and 615 flip-phones review]

So I can only imagine how awkward it is for people who have genuine issues with their hearing. Stepping up to the rescue are the folk at Powertel, a German company that focuses on developing easy-to-use telecoms and accessories, who have come up with the Amplicom Powertel M4000. It has been specially designed for people with hearing problems, and features a booster button to increase the ring volume by up to 20 times (they reckon it’s about as loud as a road drill!). In case that isn’t enough, it also has an extra powerful vibrate setting

As well as its obvious advantages for those who are hard of hearing, it also has large, easy-to-read buttons, and the functions have been kept simple – it’s no smartphone for sure, it simply offers the option to call and make calls and send and receive text messages.

It also has a hands-free speaker (which is also loud, of course), automatic key lock, desktop charger and can be used on any network on a contract or pay-as-you-go. It also boasts some functions that other phones of its ilk don’t – such as colour screen with extra large text, and a phone book with space for 200 entries.

The M4000 is claimd to be the cheapest loud and hearing-add compatible mobile phone on the market – and at £69.99 we’re pretty sure this is the case. For more, log on to www.hearingdirect.com

[Source: Loud and proud: the Amplicom Powertel M4000 mobile phone]

Obviously that’s what the good folk behind Firetext thought too, because they came up with a smoke alarm that uses text messages to alert home owners when the alarm is activated.

The Firetext was one of just four finalists in the Inventor of the Year competition at the Ideal Home Show this year, and is now available on ‘pay as you go’.

The smoke alarm can store up to four mobile phone numbers, so you could for example, have yours, a neighbour’s, a family member’s or friend’s number included. It could be a particularly valuable resource for anyone with elderly or disabled relatives, who would know that the alert went to a nearby person.

Firetext inventor Matthew Newman came up with the idea when he bought a new house. “I travel a lot for work, and I moved into a house last year that needed a lot of renovation, so I was always a bit concerned about an electrical fault leading to a fire in the house while I wasn’t there,” he says. 
“I was looking for a smoke alarm that could text me to tell me if there was smoke in my house when I was away, but I didn’t want one that had to be wired into the mains. When I couldn’t find one on the market, I invented my own.”

It is particularly useful if you travel for work a lot, have elderly or vulnerable relatives, for those who are hard of hearing or disabled, landlords, small business owners – even pet owners who leave pets on their own in the house.

Firetext is undergoing 12-month trials with the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Alzheimer’s Society.


Paul Bordoni, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service group commander of fire safety (prevention), said: “We particularly think this type of alarm is greatly beneficial to carers of the elderly or those with severe disabilities who wish to live independently.”


Firetext is available from www.firetext.me and costs £89.99.

[Source: There’s no smoke without Firetext]

The itrack Protect is billed as ‘James Bond style technology’ in its marketing information, but the mobile phone tracking system seems less super-spy and more domestic security. You have to, in compliance with UK law, receive permission from the tracked user in order to use the application, so there’s most definitely not going to be any following of that cat-stroking, Russian uber-villain.

You will, however, be able to track your child, or your elderly relative, for example. Prices range from £5.99 a month (for desktop and mobile compatibility for one user, GSM only – not GPS) to £22.99 a month for a family pack, which lets you follow five devices. Small businesses can use a more expensive package, but it allows for greater scope. Working in partnership with most major mobile networks, it uses both GSM and GPS where possible to keep in touch with your tracked mobile phone, with a computer program letting you keep track of the unit’s whereabouts.

One prevalent feature of the itrack Protect which is slightly more 007 however – or perhaps 999 – is its Red Alert warning system, which lets tracked users raise an alarm if they feel that they are in danger. The alert system can be triggered by merely pressing a speed dial button and an alert message can be sent to a number of recipients.

Other services that the application offers include route histories and excessive speed indication – which certainly guns for the ‘peace of mind’ angle which this product revolves around.

The consumer model of the itrack Protect, which has been developed from military and government use, will be available for trial in the next few weeks.

[Source: iTrack protect: Mobile tracking technology]

Doro is a Swedish company and produce a range of telecoms hardware, with a “simplicity first” aesthetic at their core. Chris showed me detail after detail in all their product range that emphasised this. They spacing between keys is wide enough to make pressing the wrong key extremely difficult. The texture and weighting of the phone makes it hard for it to accidentally tilt out of your hand. The power plug is triangular so it’s clear which side is up. The screen can be set to blue and white, yellow and black and other incredibly high contrast settings, vital for anyone with failing eyesight. The battery lasts for days. And countless other features all of which make the phones simple and accessible. The range includes features such as an easy to use (literally one button) Camera, 3G technology and a GPS enabled phone utilised to send a location when the assistance call button is pressed.

Other improvements across the range include extra loud, clearer and more amplified sounds. Doro has also included direct SMS access keys meaning text messaging is quicker and more simplified.  The phones all have three quick-dial keys for easy calling and integrated hearing loops (HAC M3/T4).

As someone with a lot of family members in their late seventies and eighties, the availability of easy to use, relatively inexpensive handsets than I can feel comfortable handing over and not getting countless “How do I do xxx?” type enquires for months to come is amazing.

Doro PhoneEasy 615

* Doro’s first 3G mobile

* 3.2 megapixel camera with flash

* Assistance button for greater personal security

Colours: black, Silver and red

SRP: £170  Available: July 2011

Doro PhoneEasy 610

* Direct access SMS function key

* Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC M3/T4)

* Assistance button for greater personal security

Colours: black, white, red and metallic silver

SRP: £130  Available: June 2011

[Source: Doro: Accessible mobile phones for the elderly]

The new event, entitled the Connected Creativity Forum, will also be highlighting innovative work within the industry.
The competition to reward innovation is entitled CC Ventures and finalists include three UK companies – Hit Me Baby (a music creation and collaboration platform that allows users to write hit songs with successful artists and share them virally); Hitlantis, which claims to unite music lovers and great unsigned music with the best content discovery currently available on the web, and interactive video specialists Invideous. The UK firms are included in a shortlist of 11 finalists, and the winner will be announced on April 6 at the forum.

The event, which has been launched by GSMA and Reed MIDEM, takes place from April 5 to 7 at the Majestic Hotel, and will feature entertainment technologies and devices from mobile, games, films TV, music and more.
For more details log on to http://connected-creativity.mipworld.com.

[Source: Connected Creativity: New entertainment and technology event is in the Cannes]

This patriotic phone comes, albeit foully, wrapped inside Union Jack casing with the couple’s initial and date of the wedding inscribed on the reverse, and, even more hideously, features a William and Kate customised wall paper and a special ‘Wedding March’ ringtone. Although mock as we may, this special edition phone is actually quite a bargain. For just £14.95 royalists will own a slim – although we don’t know whether anything so grossly patriotic could be considered as stylish – Alcatel One Touch model, Pay As You Go mobile.

In spite of weighing just 68g, the Royal Wedding Phone boasts impressive battery life, which provides up to 4.5 hours of talk time and up to 13 days standby time. Although its extensive battery life is not the phone’s only notable attribute, as it also possesses a significant 1.5 inch colour screen, an FM radio, a calculator, a clock with an alarm and there are also 64 polyphonic ringtones available for when the ‘Royal March’ ringtone finally makes you feel like hurling the phone out of the window!

The only thing that is missing on the Royal Wedding Phone is a camera so that devout royalists can take pictures of the highly anticipated ceremony and celebrations. Although for just £14.95 what do you expect? And perhaps I am being a little miserable and cynical, as the Royal Wedding phone could be described as being a fun and affordable phone, which as Mark Eastham, Commercial Director for the Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy said about the limited edition mobile, “really taps into the national spirit over the coming months.”

You have got to admit that the nation really has got ‘Royal Wedding’ fever, and consequently The Carphone Warhouse, Best Buy and Alcatel One are likely to be onto a winner with the Royal Wedding phone.

[Source: The Royal Wedding Phone: Grossly patriotic? Or fun and affordable?]