Motorola’s walkie-talkie mod lets you “Hello Moto” anywhere on earth

Posted on 04/05/2018 by Sarang Sheth

The Moto Z, although lesser known in the commercial electronics circuit, has created an incredible eco-system of mods completely uplift the phone’s functionality, making it nothing like its competition. With everything from a snap-on projector to a snap-on qwerty slider keyboard, Moto Mods are exactly what makes the Moto Z so great.

To that rather incredible list of mods, Fandom Dynamics adds its own… A walkie-talkie mod that lets you remain in contact anywhere on earth, no matter the coverage. Simply snapping onto the back of the Moto Z, the LINC mod turns your smartphone into a smart-walkie-talkie that lets you talk, message, and share GPS coordinates over a radio network five miles wide that’s independent of a phone carrier’s cellular or Wi-fi coverage. The LINC even sports an emergency alert button that can transmit an SOS signal and it can also communicate with two-way radios from different manufacturers using its radio-over-IP gateway. With the ability to make mobiles much more universal communication devices, the LINC can be used by professionals on-site, holidayers in remote locations, or even abroad, to communicate over radio rather than relying on an international sim. A winner of the MotoMods Challenge, the LINC is a truly remarkable mod with the ability to keep people connected no matter what, and the potential to save lives. Don’t have a Moto Z? No problem. The LINC can even work wirelessly with other smartphones, pairing with them via bluetooth. Now that’s just incredible. Over and out!

Designer: Fantom Dynamics

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Wireless communication without social addiction

Posted on 19/12/2017 by Jack O'Farrell

You can’t put a price on the safety and ease of communication between a parent and child. And with smartphones so easily accessible, that’s precisely why so many young kids are glued to their screens. According to Republic Wireless, there are 25 million kids in the US between ages of 6-12 of which half to a third of those kids already have a smartphone. 66% of parents say their kids are getting addicted to smartphones (50% of kids self-report the same) and lastly, a third of parents say the smartphone is a source of daily conflict in the house. It sounds to me like smartphones are becoming more troublesome than helpful. Republic Wireless acknowledged these problems a while back, three years to be exact, which led to the development of Relay and Anywhere HQ. Republic Wireless recently announced these two new communication devices. Early prototypes emerged, and Republic Wireless began to imagine a device that was simple to use with your voice, but portable enough for kids take on the go, packing all the smarts of a smartphone – just without the screen. With the evolution of smartphones being so dramatic, Relay and Anywhere HQ needed to be ready for this fastly advancing world.

The Relay is a screenless mobile device built to give families and friends a safe and fun way to stay connected with each other. It works just like a walkie-talkie, except with unlimited range thanks to 4G LTE & WiFi. This means you can talk to family and friends outside, down the street, or across the country. Just press and hold the button to talk, and other Relay devices immediately hear your voice. It allows you to connect one-on-one, or to a group of devices all at once. The Relay is rugged, water-resistant and small enough to fit in a kids pocket. Instead of giving your kid a smartphone, you can provide them with a Relay – and you can feel good about it.

Additionally, the Anywhere HQ is a voice-activated smart speakerphone that lets you make and receive phone calls synced to your mobile phone number and contacts. When you lift the phone off its dock, a full numerical keypad appears and allows you to dial in what’s called private mode. HQ can screen calls from robot callers and spammers, and through LTE, the device can continue working even when your home internet goes down.

Designer: Republic Wireless

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Walkie Talkies from the future!

Posted on 31/10/2017 by Sarang Sheth

Having finished binge-watching Stranger Things 2 just yesterday, I have to say, I really want a walkie-talkie so I can scream “Code Red!” into it whenever I’m in trouble! However, there’s nothing I have my heart set on more than the Onyx Smart Walkie-Talkies!

These beauties look nothing like the clunky brick-shaped walkie-talkies from Ye Olde days, but rather look like amazing badges you wear on your clothes. With the color gradients that look nothing short of lick-worthy, and a twisted metal rod that allows it to fasten itself to your clothes while giving the device a beautiful touch, the Onyx work like walkie-talkies, but take due advantage of technological advancements to make them better products. The Onyx has “unlimited range, and unlimited channels”, allowing you to converse over long distances (even overseas!) like a walkie-talkie, without paying a single penny to a telecom provider, and allowing you to speak mano-a-mano or even to teams.

The Onyx pairs with its smartphone app, allowing you to converse one-on-one with people on your list, or even to groups. With its own built-in speakers and microphone, the slick device works via touch-to-communicate, much like a Star Trek Communicator Badge (exactly like a ComBadge!) and can be muted by just rotating the dial. Available in a pack of twos (and with the most eye-catching gradients on the face), the Onyx is great for communicating naturally (because who makes phone calls these days). Its spontaneous, on-the-spot communicating platform helps you talk to anyone, anywhere on the planet, instantaneously! The future is officially here, ladies and gentlemen… and it looks good!

Designer: Orion Labs

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Engadget giveaway: Win a pair of GoTenna off-the-grid communicators!

Posted on 08/03/2016 by Jon Turi

Camping and hiking trips can be doubly relaxing since you're often left without cell service and have no choice but to enjoy nature undistracted. If you get separated from fellow travelers and need to communicate, though, having a tool like GoTenna c...

Walkie-talkie Get’s A Sexy New Look

Posted on 29/10/2013 by Radhika Seth

Almost every tech gadget now comes in a sexy new avatar except for the humble Walkie-talkie! Thanks to the Talky, hopefully some biggie (like SONY) will be inspired to redo the design and give it a fitting new look.

TALKY uses the same technical radio to send the voice.
The antenna is integrated in the frame.
It sports a touch screen and doesn’t have many buttons.
The screen is always off to save the battery.
When we need to change the channel or check the information, we wake up the screen with the button.

Designer: Pengfei LI

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(Walkie-talkie Get’s A Sexy New Look was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Clockee Talkee Alarm Clock & Walkie-Talkie: Wake Up, Copy That

Posted on 22/10/2013 by Lambert Varias

Most of the alarm clocks we’ve featured here differentiate themselves based on how they wake people up. Milad Modir’s Clockee Talkee has a feature that you wouldn’t expect from an alarm clock: a two-way radio intercom. But if you think about it, it can be a really handy gadget for both the home and the office.

Clockee Talkee has a simple and compact design. It comes in pairs, but you can buy a whole bunch of them and send a message to all other units from one of the devices. You can also switch to one of eight channels if you need to have a private chat with just one Clockee Talkee user. One unit can reach other Clockee Talkees within 0.6 mi, and you can unplug it and put three AAA batteries inside if you want to use it on the go. Aside from its clock and intercom, it also has a built-in thermometer. You can also set it so that its LED shows the time and temperature when you clap.

Pledge at least $59 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a pair of Clockee Talkees. Over and out.

[via PRWeb]

Bane Walkie-Talkies: Breaker 1-9, Got Your Mask on?

Posted on 01/04/2013 by Paul Strauss

The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t my favorite in the Nolan Batman series, but I still thought Bane was pretty bad-ass – even if it did sound like he was talking with marbles in his mouth most of the time. That scene when he blows up the football stadium is a classic, IMHO. Now, if you want to announce your evil plans just like Bane, you can, thanks to these new voice-changing Bane walkie-talkies.

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You and your friend can each strap on the Bane masks, and a special voice-changer circuit will make you sound just like the Dark Knight’s hulking, if inarticulate nemesis. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to understand each other, but I suppose that’s part of the fun.

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I have to say, Bane doesn’t look so tough when he only comes up to your navel. No word yet on pricing for the Bane walkie-talkies, but our pals over at ThinkGeek are hiding more details over in their bat-filled secret lair.

UPDATE: Happy April Fool’s Day!

Runbo X5 and X3 rugged Android phones moonlight as walkie-talkies, cost just $320

Posted on 16/01/2013 by Richard Lai

We've seen a handful of rugged Androids in our time, but none are as affordable and as weird as these ones at CES. The backstory here is that a couple of Chinese guys in camouflage gear approached us at our CES stage, and after an awkward conversation, it turned out that they just wanted to show us the three rugged phones they brought all the way from Shenzhen. Starting from the right we have the Runbo (like Rambo?) X1 IP67-certified featurephone cum walkie-talkie, which packs a 2-inch 176 × 144 display, a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a laser pointer, quad-band GSM plus 800MHz CDMA cellular radios, 400 to 470MHz range for the software-configurable walkie-talkie, a surprisingly loud speaker and a 2,200mAh battery. This will be available for ¥980 or about $160 on Taobao online store (the Chinese equivalent of eBay) in the next couple of days, and we've been told that there will also be a variant with GPS added.

But the real stars of the show are the two brick-sized vanilla Android 4.0.4 devices. The phone pictured in the middle is the Runbo X5, a device featuring a 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 MTK6577 chipset, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, microSD expansion, a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 IPS display, an app-triggered laser pointer, an eight-megapixel main camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera, a super loud speaker (again) and a massive removable 3,800mAh battery. And yes, this also comes with a 400 to 470MHz walkie-talkie radio (up to 10km range; with detachable antenna), along with the additional 850/1900/2100 WCDMA radio, two SIM slots (WCDMA plus GSM), WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. These specs are the same for the Runbo X3 on the left, except for the smaller 3.5-inch 800 x 480 IPS panel to make space for the QWERTY keyboard below it. The best part here are the prices: both of these IP67-certified devices are available on Taobao or the official website for just ¥1,999 or about $320, which is a bargain for both the ruggedness and the fact that these double as standard walkie-talkies. US folks can also order directly from eBay for $380, which is also a steal. But does this surprisingly low price reflect the quality? Find out in our hands-on after the break.

Gallery: Runbo X5, X3 and X1 hands-on