FreshPhoneNews.com

Parrot has gone and made something so cool for the iPhone and iPod Touch that it will either get flocked with similar orders from other manufacturers or get a lot of hate mail from them. They have developed some really awesome looking wireless speakers, and the inventor in question here is Philippe Starck.

The model is called the Zikmu and is real eye candy. So where do the iPhone and iPod Touch come in to the picture? Well the wireless speakers also double as cradles for the iPhone or iPod Touch, at least in one of them anyway. The speakers are 2.5 feet tall and operated by a remote control. You have the option to plug in either the iPhone or the iPod and play music while they charge. The remote control was also designed by Philippe Starck. You can also transmit sound to the speakers through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, both of which will involve either your phone or your speakers.

Parrot promises the very best in sound quality from the Zikmu and says the sound will spread in every direction, the flat membranes planes of either side of the speaker confirm this. Parrot also claims that the sound will “adapt” itself to the acoustics, depending on the room size and the position of the system in it. The Zikmu is expected to be released in the Spring of 2009 and will carry a hefty price tag of $1500. Any takers?

A nice pleasant breeze bearing fresh news from cell phone accessory land has reached FPN. Parrot is once again in the limelight, this time around they have brought a full range of Bluetooth handsfree music car kit for none other than the iPhone and iPod.

The products are under the MKi line. For drivers, this means the ease of making or taking calls, handsfree, as well as listening to your favorite tunes through the car sound, any way you like. This includes support for iPod/iPhone connector, USB plug for MP3s, 3.5 mm input analog jack or streaming music wirelessly through Bluetooth stereo (A2DP).

The MKi series is made up of the Parrot MKi9100 and the Parrot MKi9200, which are duly endowed with plugs for an iPhone, iPod, iTouch, USB and the usual mandatory devices as well. The car kit is professionally installed, so don’t worry about how you’re going to fit what where. The devices bear the very latest in communication technology plus Parrot gives you a built-in 20 watt amplifier and multi connectivity for music. Both of the kits display your cell phone’s contact list which can be controlled through the wireless remote control. An additional edge of the MKi9200 is that the user interface has a SD and SD-HC card slot which supports a memory upgrade to around 32GB of music.

More about the Wireless Remote: since this is a car kit, and you of course want to drive safely, the effectiveness of the whole package is only as good as the wireless remote. Every MKi kit comes equipped with a wireless RF remote control, which can be placed either on your car’s steering wheel or dashboard. This means you get fingertip control over cell phone and music, while keeping your eyes on the road and hands safely on the wheel.

The display screen of the MKi9100 displays caller ID, the cell phone contact list and the basic music list.  The MKi9200 has a larger screen which, in addition to the above, also shows, CD album covers and the callers photo, if it’s been uploaded.

The initial synchronization of the MKi kits with your cell phone is easy as cake. Once you pair your Bluetooth enabled cell phone with the device, it will upload all your contacts to itself. From here on, you begin the super easy process of training your handsfree device; simply press the green button and tell the device who you want to call. The device has state of the art voice recognition, so you don’t need go into any extra training. There’s no need to create voice tags and the text-to-voice technology ‘speaks’ your contacts names and makes browsing through contacts easy.

Once the device has been set up, it will connect with your cell phone automatically every time you start the ignition of your car. It’s designed to be compatible with all vehicles and every Bluetooth device, so you needn’t worry.

The Parrot MKi series will be available in U.S. retailers beginning late in the fourth quarter of 2008. It will also be available from Parrot Shopping. The retail price of the Parrot MKi9100 and the Parrot MKi9200 will be $249.99 and $299.99, respectively.

T-Mobile is going to introduce Cameo, a digital photo frame that will have a GSM SIM card and the ability to receive MMS.

Cameo is the digital photo frame announced by Parrot almost a year ago, the model was referred to as the DF 7700. The Paris-based company, which has emerged as one of the most innovative and competitive companies that have emerged recently drew a lot of attention with their digital picture frame.  Now T-Mobile is bringing the invention to the US.

Cameo has a high resolution screen that displays vibrant images. The SIM card allows the frame to receive images from anywhere via MMS, so instead of sending post cards to your friends, you can just MMS them a picture of your trip. The digital photo frame comes in a black frame as well as a nice variety of colors. Somehow, what the frame will look like as part of your décor will depend largely on your décor. If you put on an old card board box, it will nicely own the card board box. And if you put on a nice marble mantle, it will look pretty chic there too. I guess this one ability that very few devices can boast of.

The digital frame also has built-in light sensors that adjust the lighting on the picture according to where you place it in the room and time of day. There’s also a mini USB slot if you want to move in photos from your PC and SD/MMC support, in case you want to store pictures from your digital camera. The Cameo costs $100 and with $10/month to T-Mobile you get the Cameo with its very own SIM card to send MMS to. Let’s see how many people take the bait on this. It’s nice Christmas gift, but only if you pay for the whole years’ T-Mobile subscription (hehehe). Personally I think a nicer frame design could have gone a long way.