Lego-a-like mobile!

So you’re getting tired of your phone, but don’t want to shell out for a new one. Well soon you’ll be able to change it completely, without spending a fortune.

It’s called modu, and is the world’s first modular phone. Want to turn it into a music mobile? Just slide it into the boombox casing, complete with speaker.

What about transforming it into a satnav? No problem. Like the Lego bricks of our youth, just bolt on extras to the core device. And as new ones come out, theoretically the number of phones you can have is limitless.

Extras touted at present include MP4 players, digital photo frames, cameras and DECT phones. Those signed-up to make the modu ‘jackets’ (skin-like enclosures) and modu ‘mates’ (electronic devices you slide it into) include Blaupunkt and Universal Music Group.

“What modu have done is incredible,” said Rob Wells, Senior Vice President, Digital, Universal Music Group International. “Their revolutionary platform has opened up mobile phones to new music products and services that simply didn’t exist before modu came along.”

So when will modu come along? Expect it and Universal’s range of jackets based on their artists to land on the shelves around October time. Forget the N96, this is every phone you’ve ever dreamed of in one. Check it out at the link below.

Yahoo getting it on with MySpace?

Boy is this starting to get confusing. After Microsoft weighed in with a massive $40 billion offer for Yahoo, rejected for ‘undervaluing’ the company, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has now stepped in.

According to the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal, News Corp is in talks about a deal which would see Yahoo merge with MySpace. The Aussie tycoon snapped up the social network in 2005.

Details remain sketchy, but it’s believed News Corp would take a 20% stake, allowing Google’s main rival to remain independent.

Having access to the likes of MySpace could potentially make Yahoo a more realistic competitor to Google, and would probably be a more attractive option than straiking a deal with MSN.

This one looks like it could drag on for the best part of the year. As ever, as soon as we get sniff of some news, you’ll be the first to know.

Rough Guides go mobile

You’re in a new city, you no speaka da lingo, and you fancy a pint. You can either talk loudly in English in the hope the locals will understand, or you can use your phone to find where there’s cold beer and hot women.

The new Rough Guides java application has info on 330 cities in 22 European countries, with points of interest like restaurants, sights, bars, cafes, hotels and music and theatre.

You can also add comments like “I’ll be here at 7pm,” or “they spit in your food here,” and send a map to friends also using it.

You pay how much, English pigdog? It costs just £4.50, and downloading new cities is the price of a couple of texts. Worth it to avoid annoyed locals directing you to El Grothole.

SwiMP3 Surf 256 MB

Surfers: Is the sound of the waves beginning to pall? Strap the cleverly named SwiMP3 (do you see?) to your arm and go surfin’ in the USA. Or Truro, if money’s tight. If you have no money at all the 3m underwater survival rate on this player also means that bath time can be to the blissful sounds of Belle and Sebastian.

Now granted, the 256MB capacity is so low you almost feel embarrassed for it and with its ugly, outsized, unresponsive buttons, the SwiMP3 is far from sexy. The circular shape looks more like a child’s watch than an MP3 player.

The terrifyingly flanged headphones- we swear we felt them touching the brain- are by far the worst we’ve tested straight from the box. With so much echo, lord knows what they’d sound like in the ocean.

Battery life is also pretty poor. You’ll get 10 hour playback, but compared to other players on the market that can last for up to 30 hours such as the Samsung T10 this is pretty poultry.

But hey, how may other players cam survive up to 3m underwater? Exactly.

Tech Blog by Ezra Hill