accessories

As Spider-Man fans eagerly await the next movie (please don't make Venom lame), we hear Sony Ericsson will sling out some Spidey-enhanced handsets soon.

The K800i, the K750i, K550i, and the K610i will be getting new suits. And don't worry about scratching your phone when you're web-slinging because these special-edition phones come with a carrying case and a wrist strap. Reportedly, there will also be exclusive Spider-Man wallpapers and screensavers preloaded on the phones.

No word on when these are expected to be available, but it shouldn't be too far as the movie's only a … Read more

This shiny white Belkin kit solves all your podcessory needs in one fell swoop?-there's a car power cord for charging on the move, a cassette adaptor to listen to your iPod through your stereo, a headphone splitter to share your music, an in-car holder and a Y audio cable to connect your iPod to a stereo.

The headphone splitter offers a whopping 114mm (4.5 inches) of flexible rubber action to facilitate two people listening to your tunes at the same time. This eradicates the feelings of guilt often experienced on long journeys with friends or family when … Read more

It's too bad Easter has come and gone, because these cases from Speck would fit nicely into a basket. And they're all less than 10 bucks--which is a rather respectable 50 to 70 percent off regular prices--so they're perfect for the less over-the-top gift-giving holidays. No matter: pick up one for your own gadget. Included in the sale are various protective covers for the iPod, select Motorola phones, the Sansa e200, and the Treo 650. Check it.

Let's say you bought a new cell phone and you just got it home and out of the box. You've made a few calls and added your contracts but now what? How do you take that cell phone and truly make it yours? Perhaps you add an accessory like a Bluetooth headset, or you snap on a personalized faceplate for some bling. Or maybe you'd prefer some cool new ringtones of your favorite songs.

The choices are endless as a cell phone is one of the gadgets that can reflect your personal style. So if you're … Read more

CTIA has finally wrapped up, and while we have our own picks of what was the cream of the crop, CTIA has also announced the winners of its Emerging Technology awards. Our very own Kent German and Bonnie Cha were two of the judges selecting the winners, which were chosen based on innovation, functionality, wow factor, importance of technology, and ease of use and implementation. The Best of Show award went to Alltel's Celltop technology, which allows customers greater flexibility in managing and organizing content on their cell phones (You can read more about it our review of the … Read more

For the past few years at the CTIA show, CNET has chosen our favorite products, and here in Orlando, Florida, we're glad to do it again. Products are selected on a variety of factors including design, features, and innovation in three main categories: best cell phone, best smart phone, and best cell phone accessory.

Sometimes our picks become big winners when they're introduced, and sometimes they don't live up to our full expectations, but our 2006 picks fared pretty well over the last year. And without further ado, we present CNET's Cream of the Crop for … Read more

OK, even I have to admit this is kinda sweet. DLO has upgraded its excellent TransPod FM transmitter to include video output to your in-car entertainment system, making it simple to play iPod content on all those handy screens mounted in the backs of headrests and flipping down from the ceiling. That's a bit overstimulating for me, but if I had kids--and an iPod, for that matter--I'd find this accessory hard to resist. The new TransDock, which will retail for $99.99, will continue to play music over the car stereo and charge the iPod. Here are some … Read more

Speech recognition technologies had a moderate presence at CTIA, and CallWave had one of the biggest announcements with its new Vtxt service. Designed for busy, on-the-go types, Vtxt eliminates the need to scan through long, dull voice mails by sending them to your cell phone. After someone leaves you a voice mail, you'll receive a text message containing the person's name and phone number as well as a summary of the voice mail. The summary is composed using a CallWave-developed algorithm that scans for what it deems as important words, while leaving out any pauses or words like &… Read more

Beyond showing its slick new cell phones at CTIA, Kyocera also demonstrated its new Bluetooth Music Gateway. This nifty device receives music from any stereo Bluetooth phone or device and then transfers the tunes to your home stereo via a standard RCA cable. You can see it here with the Kyocera E5000 music phone. Though not the first such device on the market, it still caught our eye due to its compact design and simple, easy-to-use functionality. It's also reasonably priced at $79.99. Look for a full review from CNET in the next couple weeks.

The company also … Read more