Rebirth of the Home Phone? Binatone DECT iHome Phone
Just when you thought the land-line phone was dead, it rears its ugly head again. I just read on a blog about this new land line phone by Binatone. Sound pretty boring at first, until you read that it runs on Android and has access to all the apps your normal smart phone would have. In my opinion, it seems like it partially fits in the same domain as the iPod Touch. A lot of my friends who have iPod Touches end up using them to just sit on the couch and browse the internet on their own wireless Internet. I feel like that’s what this device will end up doing as well, while being able to take calls too. Unfortunately, no one’s going to be using land line phones in the near future. Already, 1 in 5 homes have no land line at all and rely solely on their cellphones and shows no sign of slowing down.
-Brian
World’s first
Claimed to be the world’s first Android powered home phone, the iHomePhone is a DECT digital cordless phone running Android 1.6 and offering a handsfree speakerphone, call waiting ID and a 14 minute digital answer machine.
There’s a 2.8-inch, 320×240 pixel, touchscreen display onboard, plus Wi-Fi b/g/n and a microSD card slot for expansion.
Being Android powered means that you’ll get a fully fledged multimedia device packing YouTube, internet radio, widgets and RSS feeds, web browser, contacts manager, email client, picture viewer, MP3 player and a personal organiser.
Docking station
Battery life is listed at 8 hours talk-time, 80 hours for standby, and Binatone lob in a rather natty docking station with built-in stereo speakers.
We think this is a great idea – particularly being able to import all our contacts into a landline handset and keep a synchronised calendar on the thing. Shame it’s not running Android 2.1/2.2 though.
The Binatone iHomePhone is set to retail for £99.99 and should be ready in time to fit into Santa’s sack – unless Apple’s lawyers get into a tizzy about the name, of course.
http://www.wirefresh.com/binatone-dect-ihome-phone-makes-landline-phones-almost-sexy/