T-mobile MyTouch 3G users rejoice! With a simple download from the Marketplace, you’ll now be able to enjoy Visual Voicemail just like all of those AT&T iPhone users do. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the file, all you have to do is run the app and after a few minutes of configuring it goes to work displaying all the voicemail in your mailbox. Take a look at the shots below for the full U.I.

The controls are OK, some maneuvers need a little bit to get used to. To get around, it is easily all controlled by the D-Pad with a jump action and your right thumb stick to move your view. You can also get around by swinging with a built in hook from your bionic arm, which is rather difficult. First you must aim and make sure the surface is able to be hooked, then you line up and fire your hook, from here you can either pull yourself right to the structure or grapple your way to a roof. You can also use it to swing from a light post to a monorail, the possibilities are limitless but when you have 5 or 6 guys hunting you down and shooting at you, trying to fiddle with this when you only have mere seconds to move can be challenging to say the least.

The weapons are pretty good, anything from your classic 9mm to a shot gun, You can only carry 48 rounds at a time on most weapons so if you are a trigger happy shooter type, I would seek out a cheat code for unlimited ammo and weapons. To aim you will see your circle target light up red when you are on target otherwise it will be white. You can zoom in by pressing your right thumb stick in. This would be a great feature for some other shooter games to put into play.

The graphics are decent during the game, similar to looks of the recent Capcom game, Resident Evil. One thing that I did not find to be helpful is in areas of radiation, lighting seemed to be an issue. Areas affected by radiation  are defined by a glowing blue color, these are areas you should not venture into, you will die within a few seconds. However due to the lighting, it is hard to actually tell which is a contaminated area, from above it is much easier to tell, but that does not help you when you are on the move on the ground.To get around there is no map, just your immediate target area is highlighted in the corner of the screen. You need to keep following your relays to stay on path. This was ok, but I still would prefer a full map feature. It is difficult when you are completely lost and cannot figure out how to get around buildings and radiation.

Sometimes classic games shouldn’t be messed with and even though it lacked the fancy schmancy graphics of this latest version. I still enjoyed the retro Bionic Commando much more. For those who are to young to remember the classic version, probably will enjoy this even with the frustrating movements of the bionic arm, those who remember the good ole’ days will probably not appreciate the remake. Bionic Commando retails for $39.79.

Good: As always Capcom doesn’t let us down with awesome graphics and a decent storyline.

Bad: Controls could be frustrating. Bionic arm was more of a pain than it was worth trying to get it to work, before getting killed.

Setup:
For anyone who has a digital picture frame, most of them don’t require much brainpower and neither does this one. The only difference here though is that you have to setup the telephone part as well. Included in the box is the frame with a telephone base attached to it. There is also a wireless handset, battery cover/backplate for the handset, a black frame, telephone cord, AC Adapter, metal stand, and manual. We snapped the included battery in place for the handset and then proceeded to slide the battery cover/backplate onto the handset. Holding the phone in our hands, we weren’t that impressed. The buttons feel and look very rubbery and the handset feels a bit on the cheap side – almost like a toy phone.

We set the frame up at first with just the silver frame. We plugged the telephone cable into the appropriate jack on the back of the frame and then the AC Adapter to power it all up. Once you plug in the power, the screen which was once black goes live and the telephone begins to charge, which is indicated with a green charging light on the frame. It was time now to make a phone call and put some images on this frame.

Handset:
The design of the PhotoPhone is very sleek and minimalist and it can easily blend in with any office or home setting. The fact that it includes a silver and black frame makes it easy to color coordinate to any type of furniture or setting. The first thing we did was try and make a phone call and as expected the handset was less than desired….It was difficult to press the buttons to make an actual call! If you have long nails it will definitely help in this situation. Once we placed the call the reception was clear and no different than the current Vtech handset I currently am using. The PhotoPhone emphasizes the fact that it features DECT 6.0 interference free technology. I made a call near speakers and near other cellphones as well as my computer and there was no feedback or hissing noise from the handset or any irritating echos. The calls were clear and the volume could be adjusted pretty high if you have difficulty hearing.

However the handset is very plain, besides the buttons the screen is very simple with only a monochrome/green and black display and no other options for different colors or ring tones. There isn’t even a speakerphone function! The only function from the base is to ‘page’ the phone in case you misplaced it. There is no ability to answer the phone directly from the base except for picking up the handset. Caller ID, Speed Dial, Number Storage, and Call waiting, and the ability to set the date/time are available on the handset. These are common features of any generic digital phone these days. So I guess that pushes the handset itself to the late 90s.

Digital Frame:
Moving away from the handset, the picture frame comes preloaded with a few sample images on its 32MB of internal memory. So we got a chance to right-away see some bright images on the 7″ screen size before we even loaded our own on to it. The colors were impressive for a digital picture frame and it transitioned the other photos smoothly. The PhotoPhone has a built in card slot that supports XD, SD, and Micro SD Cards with an adapter. The same can be said with memory sticks, they will need an adapter as well to be able to use with this frame too. However the biggest capacity the frame will read is 2GB. When we first inserted our 2GB Ritek memory card the frame seemed to choke and then fade away. It didn’t like this card at all! We tried it again by taking out the card and removing the power to the frame then restarting it, when the card was inserted again it did the same thing again. The frame froze and the screen became full of lines and looked like a video card gone bad. So I restarted the frame once again and decided to use a Sandisk memory card and the PhotoPhone seemed to like that one better. It didn’t choke and immediately picked up the card. So I began the importing of pictures, the menu system is pretty simple and you can import up to 32MB of pics to the internal memory card. The frame will read directly from your memory cards and create a slideshow from it as well. However, the image you choose for the Picture Caller ID must be saved onto the internal memory of the PhotoPhone. We pulled as many images as we could on the frame and it began its slide show rotation. There is no special transition settings just simple fade in – fade out to the next photo. The speed can be increased and shuffle are the only options available.

Now together:
The nice feature and what really makes the frame special is the ability to receive a call and set an image for that caller. It’s Caller ID with a photo on your digital photo frame. The phone number shows up along the bottom of the frame and the image you selected for that person shows up as your phone rings. When you dial out, the number dialed displays on the frame as well and when you are talking, the slide show will resume. So you can really scream at that person’s face if their image comes across the frame while talking on the handset.

Conclusion:
The PhotoPhone has a lot of potential to be a really unique digital picture frame combined a telephone. However, there are too many drawbacks to substantiate the price of $99.99 such as the lack of speakerphone, cheap quality handset, and only 32MB of internal memory. Maybe with the next generation of this model GE can fix some of these issues. To its credit the picture quality on the frame is good and the menu system is pretty to easy to use, easy enough to give this as a gift to let’s say the grandparents. The Picture Caller ID is one of the only features I truly liked, now only if the rest of it would come up to speed. Oh, and another cherry, you can expand the PhotoPhone up to 4 wireless handsets….

The Good: Picture Caller ID feature is very neat, Picture quality is above par, like the convenience of having phone and picture frame in one device, nice minimalistic and modern design, very good call quality

The Bad: Cheap looking wireless handset with monochrome display, no speakerphone, seems not to like the taste of certain brands of memory cards..

The uConnect VOIP Converter is a nifty little device that bridges the
gap between land line and VOIP on your computer by enabling you to use
your VOIP service with any regular handset you already have – even if
it is cordless. Once you’ve set up the uConnect VOIP converter, your
phone will work just as it always did, but pressing the * key twice wil
immediately activate Skype.
So essentially the uConnect VOIP Converter brings together the best of both worlds – analog phone service
and digital VOIP  – right to the same handset. The uConnect VoIP Converter
retails for £34.95 ($60.00 USD) and as a bonus it currently comes with a 30
minute SkypeOut voucher and  2 months of Skype Voicemail.

One of its best features is the "shopping list", which allows you to
shop for yourself and everyone on your list at the same time. You can also control who can and who cannot see your lists.
Overall,
setting up your wishlist at TheThingsIWant.com is sure to make your
online holiday shopping easier, now if only it could score me an Xbox
360.

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