Andy Wood

You can use your phone to check your calendar, contacts, music, email and more — just don’t try using it to make calls.

That’s the rule for drivers without hands-free devices in an increasing number of states — including California, starting next week.

Beginning July 1, adult California drivers talking on their mobile phones without a hands-free device are subject to a $20 fine and a run-in with the law. The Golden State’s new traffic ordinance follows similar versions adopted in Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington state, the District of Columbia, New York and the Virgin Islands.

While the fines aren’t wallet-busting, there’s a hitch. Except in Washington state, an officer can pull you over solely for talking on the phone without a headset.

The laws are even stricter for new drivers. As many as 17 states and the District of Columbia ban cellphone use entirely for minors and new motorists while operating a vehicle (see map). They include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

The states’ cellphone driving laws were adopted with safety in mind. Studies by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis (.pdf) suggest 2,600 people are killed and as many as 330,000 people are injured each year in the United States in cellphone-related driving accidents.

"According to some estimates, getting drivers’ hands off the cellphones and onto the steering wheel will save almost 300 lives a year in California," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at a recent news conference.

However, hands-free devices may not help. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have noted that voice-activated or hands-free calling is a major distraction, too.

Also, while talking may be banned, text messaging generally isn’t. Only Washington, Minnesota and New Jersey ban texting outright. That means in California, for example, a motorist can legally fumble around with a handset sending a text message, but will be breaking the law if he holds the phone up to his ear and starts talking.

Electronic stores, mobile-phone shops and online retailers are taking advantage of the new law to offer a wide range of specials on hands-free headsets. Headsets.com, for example, is offering a free (wired) headset to anyone who sends them a copy of a traffic citation for making calls while driving.

And be sure to check out Wired.com’s roundup of wireless headsets for our recommendations on the best hands-free gear for your phone.

HDTV owners who want to save space on their home entertainment centers have a sleek new option for wall-mounting their HDTV, as Peerless Industries has unveiled a mount that’s just 0.4 inches thick.

Called the Slimline ultra-thin mount, this unit is being billed as the world’s thinnest mount, as it brings a screen closer to the wall than any similar product currently available. For a nice size comparison, check out this photo of the Slimline ultra-thin mount next to a dime:

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The much anticipated iPhone has arrived in my hands. If you are thinking about getting one, then you had best have service with Cingular/AT&T, the iphone is proving to be extremely popular and has left a lot of people on other networks disappointed.

After revolutionising how we listen to music, Apple have taken it one step further and have created a phone of the future. The iPhone combines quad band mobile phone technology, widescreen ipod with touch screen controls and a “breakthrough” internet communications device.

Measuring 115 x 61 x11.6mm, the phone is slim, sleek and bursting with technology! Connection is real easy with this phone. For me, Bluetooth is essential so I can send my pictures to my laptop easily and quickly. It also comes with wi-fi and EDGE , so there are plenty of choices to choose from. The iPhone also boasts a desktop class e-mail, allowing you to keep in touch on the move, along with a web browser for quality mobile internet and you’ll never get lost with Google maps which is almost a must on most phones in today’s market.

I have found that the iPhone is the ideal phone for keeping in touch and staying connected.

Aren’t sold yet? If that wasn’t enough for you, the widescreen iPod might attract you. With touch screen controls and a choice of 4 or 8 gig of store, you can carry your entire music collection in your phone , in your pocket. I don’t know about anyone else out there, but I can’t listen to 4 gig of songs in one sitting. The iPhone is also compatible with iPod accessories such as car docking stations and speakers, which means no need to rush out and upgrade your current iPod accessories.

Other features include a 2 mega-pixel camera, a minimum requirement in my opinion. Phone photography has come along way in the past year or two and anything less would be a major disappointment. The Multi touch display with qwerty keyboard is an interesting choice – those that have extremly large digits might not like this usability, but being the first of it’s kind, I’m sure there will be issues and some changes in future firmware revisions. Touch screens seem to be the way of the future and I am sure other companies will follow suit. Time to start practising the tapping. The iPhone also comes with an optimized MAC OS X operating system, pdf viewer and widgets (mini applications).

Sounds great right? So, with all of this technology, is there any drawbacks? As I mentioned before, the iPhone is only available on the Cingular/AT&Tnetwork and this will be the case for the next two years. Bad news for the games also, currently, the iPhone doesn’t come with any games. However; expect this to change fairly quickly though as the current iPods come with standard games. Are you one of those people who likes to catch embarrassing moments on video? You will have to to wait for a while. The iPhone only takes still pictures at the moment. Again, I don’t think it will be long before they upgrade the camera to include the video feature, as most standard camera phones do this already. There is also no 3G technology at the moment either.

Overall, the iPhone seems to be a big hit. I certainly am enjoying mine at the moment. Priced at about the $500 -$600 mark (depending on how much store you choose), they aren’t cheap, but you will certainly be the envy of all your friends.

Just recently, Microsoft showed off its new Surface technology. Whether you can’t wait to try it or have already washed your hands of the whole concept, here is a possible reality check in regards to it.

No E.T. puns please..

GN 9350

Pure wireless freedom.
Dual function.
Desk and IP telephony.

The dual-function GN 9350 wireless headset provides high performance in both traditional and PC-based telephone environments. It provides all the benefits of hands-free mobility in a lightweight, ergonomic—and future-proof—design.

State-of-the-art Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology removes impurities from the incoming signal, enriches sound quality, and maintains a safe, consistent volume level. It is also the first wireless headset for IP telephony that features wideband audio (which at 6.8 kHz is more than twice that of conventional telephony!).

It also expands your communications potential with a wireless range of up to 300 feet and conference call capability.

Up to 300 feet of office mobility

Future-proof investment: single headset for traditional and PC phone calls

WiFi-friendly 1.9 GHz frequency with DECT 6.0 wireless technology

DSP and IntelliToneâ„¢ for superb sound quality and greater hearing protection

Noise-canceling microphone for reduced background noise

Digital encryption for secure conversations

LCD display for easy set-up of personal sound preferences

Lightweight design and three wearing styles: headband, earhook and neckband

Multi-unit conferencing capability

This is pretty much what the doctor ordered too. I am no longer tethered to a phone or have a headset hooked to a cordless phone.

This is without a doubt not a Starbucks!!
Thanks Justin

I have had my current cell phone for almost 2 years, so you know what that means?!?! Time for an upgrade, after poking around I decided to go with:

Samsung BlackJack SGH-i607

My Old phone was the SonyEricsson W800i (Unlocked)

Here is a comparison:

As you can see, the new phone is a little taller and a little wider, but the pay off is the QWERTY keyboard, plus this is a SmartPhone which uses the Microsoft Mobile OS and just as soon as Samsung gets Vista into thier help center. They will be able to help me with driver installation as currenly Vista doesn’t seem to recognize the new phone yet..

I have yet to see an episode of 24, (don’t worry though.. I am addressing that issue soon) However; I got one of these little items the other day:

SureFire Z2 Combatlight:

* Rugged aerospace-grade aluminum body, Type II anodized in glossy black
* O-ring sealed, weatherproof
* Tempered Pyrex® window
* Tailcap switch: press for momentary-on, twist for constant-on
* Switch lockout prevents accidental activation during transport or storage

Now, Jack and I have something in common.

As I have posted here a couple of times. I have gone all out and got me a new system to be able to take on the up and coming new games that will be hitting 2007.

I really like a fast and quiet computer and to do this I used AcoustiFan brand of cooling fan.

I used this same brand when on this computer and that is why I stuck with them.

Here are images of the motherboard that I went with on this upgrade:

In addition to supporting the first Intel® Quad-Core processor, the Intel Workstation Board S975XBX2 is based on Intel® 975X Express chipset. This combination enables key performance-optimized capabilities such as support for one PCI Express* x16 or multiple PCI Express* x8 graphics cards, as well as 8 GB ECC memory addressability to enable 64-bit computing. For those using storage-intensive applications, the S975XBX2 provides up to eight hard disks configuration with integrated SATA (3.0 Gb/s) RAID.