While we have already seen reports of Wal-Mart recalling the current Droid 2, we have yet to hear anything official from Verizon in terms of when the replacement (the Droid 2 Global Edition) would come available. That said, while they have not offered up anything official, say, in the form of a press release, they more »

Vonage has recently announced some changes to their available calling plans with the introduction of “Vonage World.” This new plan is an update to their previous unlimited calling plan and will retain the same $24.99 price that it had, except free unlimited international calling is now included. Previously, the unlimited calling plan with Vonage offered more »

The NYRIUS Global Talking Translator offers 8400 programmed phrases in 12 languages. The unit has a speaker so that it can say the phrases for you in the language you choose. In emergencies, this could be quite helpful since you wouldn’t need to worry about miscommunication due to mispronunciation.

The form factor is small — small enough to fit in a shirt or pant pocket. However, the sacrifice for such a convenient size is the lack of a keyboard to type in phrases, leaving you tied to the unit’s less than convenient menu tree of phrases. Access to the menus is via dedicated buttons on the unit, such as Emergency, Transportation, and Restaurants. The unit does come with a paper reference guide that maps the phrases by the menus. Finding a phrase this way is a bit quicker than doing it through the unit, but it means you’ve got one more thing to bring with you. More after the break.

Hopefully you all read the first post on President-Elect Obama, technology and the future (if not, it is here) in which I started addressing what Obama’s election means for the world of tech. Having looked at how Obama will work for an open Internet, I will now delve into Obama’s plans for a connected democracy and infrastructure.

The first thing that Obama has promised to do is to create a more transparent government, a policy that has probably been prompted by the manner in which the Bush administration has been very secretive. He will attempt to do this by “creating a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens” through the use of technology. Presumably, this will be done by extensive use of the Internet, as well as other technology such as mobile phones, as shown in the selection of Joe Biden as his second man.

Continued after the break.

I have seen the iPhone, and all the BlackBerry’s and other smart phones. Then I have heard the cold, dead polyphonic ringtone of my phone with its barely audible Casio keyboard cover of “Superstar”, mocking me. I bought my phone a mere eight months ago, just after the dawn of the iPhone, choosing it for more »