iDect iHome Android phone

"condoms and snow chains"

Kinky ; )

Right...

Sweepstake on the arrival of the first Android-powered toilet-roll holder?

Siemens Gigaset IP thanks

The article says 21st Century, but doesn't support VOIP. You say that you can have other handsets, because it is dect, but that only works if it is also GAP compatible. Is it?

Personally, I have the Siemens Gigaset IP. Up to 6 handsets (including Dect headsets or door remote as "handsets"). The system can have 1 fixed-line call and 3 VOIP calls simultaneously (or with ISDN 2 fixed-line calls), and supports up to 6 SIP profiles. Oh and internal calls too.

Because the VOIP works over low-power Dect instead of high-power WiFi, the batteries last longer. The system has simple dialing rules (auto fixed-line or 1 of theVOIP providers), a single common answerphone service that all handsets can access and basic weather / email / ebay notifications.

It's not as pretty, but as a working phone I'd rate it higher, and is yours for half the price of this, and is from Siemens a recognised quality brand.

Binatone

I used to know someone who worked for Binatone in their R&D department. His opinion was that if you could get your hands on a preproduction model then you had something indestructible and really rather wonderful, but that if you went to a shop and bought a Binatone product then you were in for a world of disappointment and frustration. Some of the toys he had were fantastic.

If one of the big names can knock out one of these with a resistive screen (worked well enough for finger dialing on my old HTC Diamond), Android 2.0+, gmail contacts and four handsets for under £200, I'll be first in line.

Until then... meh...

re:Why not get it official Google approval?

Doesn't it have to work as a mobile phone for that?

Anyway, isn't the humble land-line phone slowly becoming obsolete?

OK, so....

This is also a wireless hub? No? Why not?

There's no point in convergence if you still need two devices!!!

It says Binatone

Cannot possibly be good quality. You only have to read Alan Sugar's biography to know that both Amstrad and Binatone were pile it high, sell it cheap merchants. His writing about Gulu Lalvani (who owns Binatone) is interesting, and sort-of confirms what most people think about Binatone.

The phrase, I think, is 'You can't polish a turd'. They create hundreds of brand names like iDect, Ministry of Sound and so-forth. Sadly, some of the BT branded cordless phones are also made by Binatone, although some are also made by Siemens (you can see which ones because the Siemens ones have the Siemens logo on them alongside the BT one). Binatone kit looks really good, but unfortunately most of us have been decieved by the shiny appearance and disappointed by quite how crap the build quality is of the stuff. Even Chinese sweat shops wouldn't turn out stuff quite this badly made, which breaks within weeks.

As others have said - I always stick to quality brand names like Panasonic and Motorola.

Concept

A really cool concept would be if somebody could design a cell phone that was capable of behaving as a DECT phone (to an existing or sold-seperately base station) so that users only have to ever carry and use one phone. In the house it will receive calls to the landline, and (optionally) make calls using the landline, as well as behaving as a normal GSM cell phone.