I Wanna Text You Up is on sale now @ Urban Outfitters

As if mobile phone charms weren’t ridiculous enough already, they come out with his and hers bio-tech cell phone straps.

Available in blue and pink, these real life plant phone charms don’t require any food or water. Just strap them to your phone and forget about them… well, except for when they get in the way of you putting your phone in your going out jeans or them breaking in your purse leaving behind icky, gooey, smelly gunk. Otherwise, it’s a must have!

Thanks GeekSugar.

After a week in sunny Orlando for CTIA, it’s time to get back to reality. My sunburn has faded and I have caught-up on my sleep, so it is about time I gave you my thoughts on the show.

If I had to pick one word to sum up CTIA Wireless it would be “Personal,” or a derivative there of. Whether it’s Yahoo! Mobile with its tailored platform, Frucall with personal shopping on the go, or the Fashion in Motion fashion show, CTIA offered a plethora of personal options for the mobile enthusiast. While I will get to the other examples in later posts, I would like to focus this one on the fashion show.

What was seen at Fashion in Motion:

Wearable Electronics: Yep, we all want it… the ability to control our iPod with our sleeve. The Zegna iJacket is a luxury sport jacket that integrates outerwear with music and technological innovation. The iJacket features a zip-front style with detachable hood. While the iPod is safely housed in an interior jacket pocket, the sleeve can operate as a five-button electronic iPod control pad, providing functionality without compromising style.

Shoes: Dr. Jenny Tillotson, director of Scentsory Design created Sensitive Shoes. As you walk pressure points are stimulated by pressing on a soft sensitive area that corresponds with various reflexology points causing a gentle glow from the underside of the sole. The result is an ongoing sensation of healing and massage when the shoes are worn.

Bags: A high school student by the name of Christina Washio has designed a unique line of bags for easy access to your mobile device called Chatt. Chatt has “stylish, tech savvy handbags that let women answer calls on the first ring and go wireless in style.” They are actually cute and you have to give credit to Christina for her unique design and vision at such a young age.

Phone Accessories: Last but not… well, actually, yeah… I am sorry, but this product just makes me want to laugh. The Panda is a leash for your phone that comes in pink and has charms. Oh! And it yo-yos. J (I promise, those little wrist loops that come with your cell phone cannot be improved with charms, beads, and elasticity). I do NOT see this product taking off. Anyway, I’m sure you can guess what’s on my Christmas list.

In case you missed Fashion in Motion, check out CNet’s recap video.

They don’t call it a mobile phone for nothing. Its with you at work, dentist, and even the store; providing you instant access to your contacts, email, and the World Wide Web. It’s no wonder that someone has finally mixed the mobile phone with the shopping mall.

NearbyNow is a location based text message search for products, sales, and brands in the local mall. NearbyNow gives each mall its own shortcode and retailers buy keywords. For example, at the Westfield Valley Fair mall, signs say “text ‘VF’ to the short code ‘NEARBY’ (632729) to search this mall for any product, brand, or sale.” Next, consumers can search for specific products, brands, and to locate the best sales within the mall. As the slogan says, NearbyNow turns online browsing to in-store buying.

I think NearbyNow is a great idea, but I don’t know if this is a service people are ready for. In a mall setting I see three kinds of shoppers:

1- people, like myself, who only go into certain stores and we already know which ones those are,
2- mall rats just killing time and not buying,
3- the helpless gift shopper who has no idea where to turn.

So NearbyNow’s target audience is this 3rd group, the helpless gift shopper… which leads me to a few questions: How many people in this third group are text message savvy? How many of them get cell phone service in the mall? How many are going to realize there is such a tool? Is knowing what stores to go into enough? Maybe there should be an added query that gives gift ideas for certain types of people like gifts.com. What I am getting at is that I am just not sure that there is a big enough group to market to. Yes, in the future I think this will be a widely used tool, but now… I have my doubts.

Aside from the must have gadgets, rent, and food, all of my money can be seen in my closet. There is no way around it. I love clothing. However, the whole process of carrying what you are going to try on around… dragging it into the dressing room… taking your shoes off… the static electricity your hair has from putting 30 different shirts over your head… then prancing around the store in your socks in search of your friend who needs to give you a second opinion is not so fun. Frankly, I can do without it.

Well, fret no more my dears, Magic Mirror allows you to try cloths on without putting them on AND gives you the ability to send the images to your friend’s mobile phone or email address to see what they think.

Christopher Enright, chief technology officer for digital-design company IconNicholson, said putting these mirrors outside store fitting rooms meant that women could go shopping with their friends–remotely.

“She could be in Paris, your mom, watching you try on your wedding dress (while you are in New York),” Enright told Reuters on Tuesday as he unveiled the interactive mirror at a retail trade show.

Sometimes we just yearn for that physical connection and technology clothing company CuteCircuit understands that. Thats why they invented the Hug Shirt which allows you to exchange the physical sensation of a hug over long distances. All you need is the shirt embedded with special sensors, a java enabled bluetooth handset and a warm compassionate heart. Simply put on the shirt, give yourself a hug and let the removable sensors beam the temperature and pressure data to your mobile phone. Your phone then automatically sends the hug to the person you designated hugs to go to via SMS and actuators of wearing a similar shirt. f the other person or the sender doesn’t have the shirt she can just send an SMS text message, and it will be transformed into a hug! If you don’t need a hug you can switch it off.

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