Loo-Lee.com

Some places inarguably are, or should be, no cell phone zones — like movie theaters, restaurants, White House briefings, or the driver's side of a moving vehicle. Then there are dead spots that make reception impossible, like high in the mountains (or in certain parts of New Jersey).

I would've thought "on the water" would make it on at least one of those lists, but I was dead wrong.

Apparently, when totally righteous dude and Gulf Coaster Sterling Spencer was hitting the waves off the coast of Mexico, he thought it was an excellent time to chat with his girlfriend.



"I was talking to my woman at home," Spencer said to Surfer Magazine. "She didn't believe me at first; I actually hung up on her cause it was barreling so hard I didn't want to fall and lose the phone...All we talked about was that we couldn't believe I'm in Mexico, on a phone, talking while surfing. Bizarre...the reception was good actually, other than crashing waves in the background."

That's a lot of conversation for what looks like a couple seconds of talk time, according to the vid below (parts of which he filmed himself with his phone cam).

No word on the make of the mobile, but needless to say, it was waterproof.  

So what's the goofiest thing you ever saw someone do (or have done yourself) while on a cell phone? 


[via SurferMag.com]

I should preface this post by clearly stating that I have no inside information on the gossip contained within. Outside of circumstantial evidence and the educated guesses of others, I have no special source with dirt on exactly what Motorola will be announcing at CTIA Fall in San Diego this October, though we do know that they will be unveiling some new handsets. I should also warn you that you're about to encounter a boat load of links. That said, let's get to the juicy.

Motorola has made it abundantly clear that their commitment to Android is deep. Considering the current state of their position in the cell phone market, I don't think they can afford to do anything halfway. And if Moto is putting all of their eggs in the Android basket, as it would appear, that likely means a host of new phones to drool over in the coming year. Which will come and when is mostly a matter of speculation. But it appears that the ramp-up has begun.

Motorola seems enthusiastic about their Google partnership, and wants developers and consumers to feel the same way. Check out, for example, their recent push to get people remixing the Android logo for Moto's Facebook page. (Last status update at the time of this writing reads, "If you are doing Android coding this weekend, raise your hand...I mean..comment on this status.") I hope this means that Moto will be working on some custom apps alongside their whispered Blur UI. Yes - a custom UI that - at least conceptually - echos HTC's amazing Sense. I'm liking where this is going.

If buzz and rumor are correct, Motorola will be launching the coveted Android 2.0 - which is widely expected to carry the long-awaited multi-touch feature. Many are speculating that this firmware will premiere on the oh-so-sexy Sholes device. Sanjay Jha, Motorola's CEO, has said explicitly that two Android devices will be available on two different carriers by year's end, and most suspect these to be the Morrison on T-Mo (supposedly in September) and the Sholes on Verizon. What is less apparent is what Motorola has in store for the beginning of next year, but I hope to get a taste from CTIA - whether personally or vicariously via another PhoneDog. Will Calgary come to life this Autumn?

Clearly, while Motorola needs a strong shot in the arm from Android, they're not sitting around on their collective laurels waiting to be rescued. This is a pro-active campaign, and I think it indicates exciting things to come. It's easy to see at the MotoDov Summit homepage that for Motorola, CTIA is all about Android. And looking at recent public actions, I'd say Motorola is as well. I can't wait to sink my teeth into one of their little Droids.

It may sound like a cream for relieving athlete's foot, but Dell's Benzine is much more appealing a purchase. Leaked photos and rumors have been floating around for some time now, but it looks like we're starting to get some pretty solid information - specs, for example. There is still debate over the OS, but considering Dell's affinity for, and allegiance to, Linux, I wouldn't be at all surprized if Android is on board. Check it out:



    * Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
    * Size: 68.6cc
    * 103g grams weight
    * Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
    * Display: 3.5? nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
    * OTA capable
    * Microsoft Exchange support
    * Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
    * 3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
    * USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
    * A-GPS
    * On-screen QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, multi touch UI
    * MicroSD slot

Tech Crunch and BGR are both reporting that a launch in China is just around the corner.

Voting closes today in what is sure to go down in history as one of the most complicated and controversial contests ever to befall man. We know some of you were unhappy with the way we chose to do things. For example, we decided to run numbers three and five in different incarnations to see how you felt about the colors, but to count the votes for one entry. We replaced an entry that contained a typo and updated another with a textified version. It backfired, but what can we say? Live and learn.

Once we've shucked the duplicate votes (there were plenty), we'll have our top three. We will choose the winner from those three, and it will be revealed with the launch of DroidDog.com. Prize money will follow. But the two runners-up won't be left hanging - we've got a little something set aside for them as well.

So stay tuned, humans and savages. The winner will be announced... someday soon.