phones

Military surplus equipment is more than just cheap, weird and green. For me, it's a design study in what happens when usability and ruggedness are given priority and production cost is forgotten. Check out the photo gallery for two of the coolest pieces in my collection—the AN-GRR-5 shortwave radio and the TA-1042 digital field telephones—and read on for more on military gear and my favorite sources.

So you want all the bells and whistles that come along with Google Voice: call recording, call screening, text messages via email, etc. However, after years of broadcasting your familiar digits via business cards, email footers, and crumpled cocktail napkins, you just can't bear to switch from your old cell number to a new "Google number," the requisite for taking advantage of the service. At least, it was requisite; Google is now offering a lite version of Google Voice that lets users retain their phone numbers while taking advantage of some features of Google Voice.

Ever dreamed of having a personal communicator built right into your clothing, a la Star Trek? That dream might be closer to reality than you realized. Finnish company Patria Aviation Oy has spent the last 18 months bringing to life a flexible antenna that can be worn on the sleeve of your favorite shirt. With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), Patria created a patch with personal communication and GPS tracking capabilities that could satisfy even those on the Starship Enterprise.

Sure, your iPhone may play games, tell you where to eat, and surf the Internet, but can it tell you what you did the other day and how to do it better? Enter the Polaris phone, a new system designed by the giant mobile phone company KDDI and Japan's Flower Robotics.

Why should mobile phones get to have all the fun running advanced operating systems? The new Glass desk phone mixes one part corded, landline phone and one part Android-based internet tablet. Google's mobile Android platform and a plain old desk phone will play nice together, if and when Cloud Telecomputers' concept makes its way to market in 2010.

If you've been in a cave the last three months you've been safe from the endless barrage of Blackberry Storm ads. If not, we feel your pain and are happy to tell you the wait is over (or at least that particular ad campaign is).

On November 21, the first touchscreen Blackberry will launch stateside.

Here, we present a compilation of PopSci coverage of the season´s hottest tech- 60 pages of lust-worthy items, from a luxury amplifier that will please the most discerning audiophile to cutting-edge smartphones to household gizmos that will make everyday tasks easier. Get ready to drool.

Launch the photo gallery.

Click here to launch the slideshow.

Ultrasone iCans (above)

$130; ultrasone.com

Reviewed by Joe Brown

The Claim: The off-center drivers bounce sound off the cartilage of your outer ear instead of shooting it into your inner ear, to make the music seem more like it's coming from speakers.

The Test: I listened to upward of 80 hours of music, from 128-bit MP3 files to vinyl to DVD-audio discs.

Few places are more materialistic than Las Vegas, with its grandiose hotels and stacks of cash. But at last week's CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) convention-which showcased several acres of upcoming cellphone and wireless technology-the focus was less on material goods than on what you can do with them. The exhibits boasted no gotta-get-it-now phone, but they did promise many ways to do more with the phone you already have. From file-sharing to postcard-making, the latest possibilities go far beyond mere talk.