There’s nothing worse then a driver who is too busy running their mouth on a cellphone and not paying attention to the road. Or the other cars. Teenage drivers in particular love to get distracted by their mobile phones. Well, University of Utah engineers have designed a wireless car key device that stops users from talking on their cell phone or sending text messages while behind the wheel.

Each driver of a car will have a separate key device. When the key is extended from the device, it emits a signal that puts the teenagers phone in “Driving Mode,” so that they can’t use it and kill you. In driving mode the phone will display a stop sign and hopefully the death loving teen will get in the habit of leaving the phone alone while driving.

Mobiado is famous for its range of high-end cell phones, and the Professional 105GMT Gold handset is their latest. They call it “the expression of mechanical perfection, mastering of aesthetic details, and the integrity of consistent craftsmanship.”

The 105GMT Gold is made from single piece of sapphire crystal, ebony wood and a CNC-machined frame with a 24-carat gold coating on top. The keypad is made from sapphire crystal too, and hand painted with gold. What makes the Professional 105GMT Gold phone stand out from the rest of these gilded luxury phones is that it features a watch mechanism at the base of the case. No idea on price, but since it will be limited to just 50 units worldwide, expect to pay a small fortune.

What do we have here? A new mystery swivel device that seems to feature a very tiny touchpad between the “mouse” buttons, but why not just make the entire display touch sensitive? Looks like a cross between an UMPC and a MID. This was snapped at Computex 2008 in Taipei in June.

Aside from the exterior, we don’t have any details. Your guess is as good as mine. The “P” symbol is probably where the Windows key is supposed to be. Who will carry the device if and when it ever comes out? What would be the operating system be? Tune in next time on “Mysteries of the swiveling kind”.

The Android Dev Phone 1, a completely unlocked G1, is available to “developers” for just $399 after a $25 setup fee. All you need to do is register as a developer at the Android Market and the phone is yours. Registration as a developer costs $25, but after that, you’ll be eligible for the cheap, unlocked phone.

The Android Dev Phone 1 is fully compatible with Android 1.0, and being able to swap out the SIM card breaks you free of T-Mobile’s service. It’ll also let you use custom Android builds that work with the freshly unlocked bootloader. You can even get free shipping and cool detailing on the back. Google warns that it’s not really meant for non-developers, but we’re sure that won’t stop you.

The Huawei U121 is a brand new entry-level handset from Huawei Technologies. It features some high-quality materials like stainless steel casing. Despite being entry level, the phone comes with a 1.3MP camera that supports video calls, an integrated FM radio, microSD memory card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Audio and video playback, miniUSB port and 3G connectivity. The Huawei U121 is currently only available only in Russia.

Sonim Technologies knows how to make rugged handsets. The company has already released some pretty tough phones in the past, but now they have a few more models scheduled for a mid-2009 release. The newest additions are the Land Rover S1 and the Land Rover S2 G4. Both will come with a protective case made from XENOY, which is “a revolutionary post-consumer plastic derived mostly from used plastic bottles and film.”

The Land Rover range will of course feature water resistance and the ability to function in the hardest of environments, including 1.6 meter drops on something as unforgiving as concrete. No word on pricing, but you can expect to pay a premium when they’re available.

Here’s another clone out of China. The HB 778 dual SIM card phone looks a lot like a phone we know. Yep. The Touch Diamond or Touch Pro. It sports a 2.8-inch touch screen and of course, dual slider design that slides up for the numeric keypad and side slide for gaming keys instead of a QWERTY keyboard. You’ll get a TV function, FM radio, 2.8-inch Touch screen, touch keypad with vibrator, 1.0-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, dual SIM slot, and microSD slot. It even comes preloaded with classic games like Super Mario. The very familiar HB 778 will cost you $151.

Camera phones are gaining megapixels all the time. The higher the megapixel resolution the larger images the phones can take and the better the image quality to some extent. However, many camera sensors on the market don’t perform well in low light situations.

A company called Aptina has announced its latest image sensor is entering mass production and is aimed at high-end 5-megapixel camera phones. The sensor is called the MT9P012 and in addition to high-resolution it promises to deliver 2x the low light performance of previous generation sensors.

It’s amazing how fast Chinese cloners move. They’ve done it again. Poor Motorola. They tried so hard to keep their beautiful new phone off of ebay. Here it is in all of it’s clone-y-ness.

It’s called the Wingtech D20, and basically what they have done is take all the beauty of the Aura and flush it down the toilet through the use of cheap plastics and bad colors. And there ya have it. Instant crap-gadget for people on a budget. Everyone will know you’re on a budget when they see this thing. Some features include: Swiveling, switchblade-like design exactly like the Motorola Aura, Support for dual-band GSM networks, GPRS Class 10, 1.5-inch TFT 128 x 128 pixel LCD, Multi-language support, MP3 and MP4 player, USB connectivity, and Up to 4 hours of talk time and 120 hours on standby.

Depending on your point of view, this is either bizarre or amazing. This handset does just about everything and somehow stays fairly slim and compact. The iCEphone is due to be released from The Medical Phone Ltd. in the UK and the most exciting and strange thing about it is that it folds three ways. It’s a portable video game platform, GPS and smartphone all in one, plus micro notebook.

It sports a three-way hinge that allows access to a 3-inch touch screen display at 240 x 400 resolution, a QWERTY keyboard and a mouse tracker pad with gaming controls. ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency Phone.” You’ll get a 3G connection with support for GPRS and EDGE, two SIM card slots, WiFI, and a 3.1 megapixel camera. The phone runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro. The iCEphone will be available in Thailand, then in the UK in the spring of next year for under $1,000.

One of the more common issues for people as they age is hearing loss. The big problem in today’s mobile society is that when the hearing stars to go, it’s hard to keep in touch with family, friends, and caregivers. The ClarityLife C900 is made just for people with hearing loss.

The handset offers a built-in amp that increases volume by 20 decibels. Other features of the handset include a one-touch emergency call button, a large and simple to use four-button control system, and an oversized backlit display with large numbers.

DoCoMo’s latest SMART cell phone series includes the clamshell F-04A that features an attractive, but plain design comprised of the following features: 3G/HSDPA, 3″ 480 x 854 resolution TFT display, 0.4″ 12 x 56 monochrome FSTN display, microSD/SDHC memory card slot, 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, VGA resolution camera for video calls, Built-in mobile wallet, Mobile Google Maps application and 1-Seg support. The F-04A should be available in Japan next February or March.

We told you about the Pantech Slate earlier this month. You might remember, it’s the “world’s thinnest QWERTY keyboard” handset. It’s now official at AT&T. This one is aimed squarely at those with messaging addictions, who want good looks and a slim design. It sports the full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, video recording, 1.3 megapixel camera, email, instant messaging and support for AT&T’s Media Net.

Like a bitchy supermodel the Pantech Slate is claiming to be the world’s thinnest device with a QWERTY keypad. Priced at $49.99, you’ll need a two-year agreement and mail-in rebate for AT&T subscribers. Sporting black and royal blue, it comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, instant messaging, Mobile Email and Bluetooth. It will be available by the end of this month.

One of the most popular form factors for mobile phones is the flip phone. Despite the popularity of the flip phone, it’s not typically a design associated with smartphones, which tend to be bar style phones resembling the PDA’s many sprang from.

BlackBerry has announced that its first flip phone is now available exclusively at T-Mobile. The phone is called the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. The handset offers the features BlackBerry users are familiar with including RIM’s email solution, text, and picture messaging.