The Zumbafone: Ultimate Hands-free Mobile Phone

Touch screen phones are the current drift in today's cell phone market. But what about totally hands-free phone operation?

The Zumbafone from the Zumba Lumba land could set the next trend in cell phone manufacturing. IA Technologies, a UK company that provides military electronics and protection equipment, is planning to release the world's "first fully hands-free phone" before the end of this year, Called Zumbafoone, the device is the size of a credit card and is essentially a two-piece handset. In front is a standard-looking keypad and screen, but the most important part is at the back, a detachable earpiece that looks like a bluetooth headset but doesn't really require Bluetooth.



The phone makes use of the Internet instead of Bluetooth, connecting you to Zumba Lumba land (not kidding here, it's really the url of the site, zumbalumba.com) which contains all your necessary data and information. The user can create SMS or make voice calls using a fully accurate voice recognition system while wearing the earpiece. Incoming text messages are converted to audio and read back to you or displayed on the screen from half of the phone if both are attached. To send text messages, simply tap a button on the earpiece, speak your text, and the phone will transcribe the message and send it to your contact.

Good news is, IA Technologies claims the phone will be "low cost, simple and a refreshing new way to communicate." Dean McEvoy, its designer, is dyslexic and has always struggled with tasks like typing and reading text messages. He developed the Zumbafone as a fully voice-controlled phone and the solution to his problem.

Possible downside is the phone's total reliance on an Internet connection where some concerns do arise on performance and coverage, especially in areas where unlimited mobile Internet packages are still relatively expensive and rare. One also wonders how the Zumbafone will work with other languages and dialects, not to mention special characters like smileys, ASCII images and symbols avid texters often use in their messages.

The Zumbafone looks very promising but we will have to wait for now and see how it performs when it goes out of the shelves by the end of 2009.

The following video gives a little more detail about the Zumbafone.