Virtual Walkie Talkie is a free Android program which basically turns your phone into a CB radio. The software works over WiFi and features multiple channels. It will stay on in the background until you deliberately exit the program.

So if you miss the days of CB radios and need to go all “breaker, breaker, good buddy”, now is your chance. Just be prepared for Koreans, Germans and other nationalities to all be chatting away, which you wouldn’t have found on the old Citizens Band radios. Sounds like fun though. Maybe this will make CB talk popular again. Probably not though.

The Motorola WX404 has had a visit with the FCC. Details are still pretty scarce, but we think they caught up on old times, asked about wives and kids, bitched about the weather and shared a spot of tea.

Looks like the device will feature a full QWERTY keyboard, tri-band 850/1700/1900MHz CDMA radios, camera, USB port, Bluetooth, microSD card support, and a headphone jack. It’s no iPhone killer or Droid X fighter, that’s for sure, but as a budget messaging phone, it may be swell.

I love Vintage radios and 8-Tracks. Many just have a retro design that can’t be beat. The kind of style that no one is delivering today. The only thing better than a well designed vintage 8-Track player would be one that was modified as an iPod dock.

That’s exactly what we have here. This instructable shows you how to do it. Clearing out an 8-Track’s guts to to hold the contents of an iPod dock isn’t all that hard. The most important thing is that you start off with a great vintage device.

This morning I mentioned the new high-end Pioneer in-car nav device that sold for $1,600. That’s a lot of money for a car stereo to most of us. Thankfully, Pioneer has also announced a couple other nav units that are significantly cheaper, but not cheap by any means.

The two units are the Pioneer AVIC-X710BT and X910BT. Both units are dual din car radios with integrated navigation, stereo tuners and more. The navigation software offers several map view modes, simulated highway signs, and 3D icons for hotels and more.

Livio is breaking free of the mold of most internet radios. I mean, it doesn’t get much more innovative than “thumbs up, thumbs down” controls, giving you the power of Siskel and Ebert over music while using Pandora. The Livio Radio is classically styled and comes with a remote included.

Pandora isn’t the only internet radio that this device will handle. It can also tune into a whole bunch of internet radio stations from around the world through Reciva. Just plug it into your AC outlet and have an internet connection, and you’re good to go.

If PCs were being made in the 1950′s they would look a lot like this. Why not? It will match the ’57 Chevy parked in your driveway. Thomas Thomassen created this beautiful retro media center PC for his final project in BA (Hons) model making for design and media at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth.

Obviously he knows what he’s doing. It reminds me of the old Bakelite radios from the 1940′s-50′s. He created most of the parts through the process of vacuum forming. Some inside specs include: VIA Epia 13000 miniITX, SilenX CPU fan, 1GB RAM, 100GB 2.5″ Harddrive and a Soundgraph iMON Remote Control.

Almost everyone is trying to be more environmentally responsible today. One way that geeks can do their part is by recycling their old used electronic gear rather than tossing it into the trash can when you have had your way with it. The catch is that many recycling programs don’t offer any scratch in exchange for your old gear.

Recycling electronics for many programs isn’t something done merely to help the environment. The gadgets are recycled and with enough bulk, recyclers can get as much gold and other precious metals from the electronics as you get from a small gold mine. RadioShack has announced a new electronic recycling program that takes back certain electronic items like cell phones, MP3 players, laptops and more and gives people some loot on a gift card for their trouble.

So far 2008 is slipping by much faster than I expected and before you know it the digital transition in early 2009 will be here. If you aren’t using a satellite or cable provider and are using an old TV lacking a digital tuner you will need a converter box. While all high-power stations are required to transition to digital broadcasts in 2009, low-power stations in some communities don’t have to change.

That means that in some areas TV watchers could continue to receive both digital and analog signals after the official date for the digital transition. If your community is one with low-power stations what you need is a converter box like the RadioShack DTX9550. This box is a fully digital converter and features analog pass-through so one converter allows the viewing of analog and digital broadcasts.

Think you’ve seen it all in iPod docks? Think again. This thing packs a ton of WW2 nostalgia in a wood case, while also letting your iPod in on some 1940′s action. It blends the old with the new pretty nicely. It looks a bit more modern on top, while the bottom half resembles a period airplane cockpit.

It’s from the folks over at spiritofstlouis.co.uk, where you can find many such nostalgic radios with today’s technology inside. In addition to holding your iPod, this radio is a 3 Band radio with CD Player that can be powered by batteries or electric. Being a fairly unique item, it sells for £299.99.

There are just those times out in the field when you’re hunting any standard old two way radio won’t do the trick. When that happens Motorola wants you to instead reach for your new camouflaged Motorola Talkabout T9650RCAMO, complete with game call buddy tones and pricing at around $120 per pair.

The Motorola Talkabout T9650RCAMO is designed to blend in with what Motorola assumes you are wearing while you hunt: camouflaged clothing. So you don’t potentially scare off your intended Bambi kill when radioing your hunting partner, you can use one of five “game call tones” so you can identify yourself. These tones include duck, turkey, elk, goose and coyote.

If you are looking for a stylish CD/MP3 clock radio that has quality German design, Sonoro Audio has three new cubos that are launching during CES 2008. These retro looking units are an all-in-one clock that contains a slot-in CD/MP3 player as well as an internal iPod docking station with remote control compatibility and recharge function. It also has that old archaic thing known as AM/FM radio reception.

If you happen to be a fan of radio, they will also be offering a internet/FM radio cubo. It certainly combines form with functionality and they paid attention to design detail. Each of the three cubos are encased in wood in order to provide high quality acoustics. The metal grill located on the top of the product enables upward resonance from its powerful full range speaker.

Short-range radios have done a lot to keep people in communication, whether the environment is the great outdoors and you want to stay in contact with your pals back in base camp while you take a trek through the woods or if you’re a parent that wants to tell your kids playing down the street that dinner is ready.

Motorola, one of the leaders in these kinds of devices, expanded their line-up of two-way radios today with the announcement of the T3 and T5 TLKR models aimed at people who enjoy active lifestyles with friends, family or anyone that they want to stay in constant communication with.

The Pure Evoke 1-S is a DAB digital radio that marries old school technology with the new. Its retro design gives it a look like it emerged from a portal straight from the mid 20th century, but the OLED display identifies it as modern all the way.

As one of the company’s third generation digital radios it comes with an auxiliary input for your iPod or MiniDisc player, USB upgradability, built-in FM reception for areas with reduced DAB coverage and Pure’s Intellitext and textSCAN features. There are also station presets, the display can …

You may never need your computer to have a tough outer shell capable of withstanding the great outdoors but for search and rescue personnel, fire and emergency crews or military personnel stationed in out of the way places, it’s a necessity.

Motorola has stepped up to the likes of the Diamond SwitchBack offering two new PCs designed for such jobs, the ML910 Rugged Notebook and MW810 Mobile Workstation. Both systems are wireless-enabled and made to work in different extremes of climate, with the ML910 having a hard drive heater (!) …