As mentioned below, phones get little respect in the gadget world. But even in the era of the iPhone, the plain old home phone still has its uses. Take Panasonic's Link-to-Cell cordless (Model KX-TH1212). The biggest benefit of the Link-to-Cell isn't necessarily the product itself (although it's good) but what it allows you to do: ditch your landline service. If you've been dying to kick Ma Bell to the curb, the Link-to-Cell can help. It's a cordless phone system with built-in Bluetooth in the base station. You can pair your cellular phone and send and receive calls over your wireless network...

(Image courtesy VTech) Cordless phones are a lot like the Rodney Dangerfield of the consumer electronics market - they can't get no respect. I'm not here to argue that they necessarily should, but it still makes sense to get up to speed on the technology in the event you're in the market for an upgrade. And that means, DECT 6.0. What is it? Basically, it's the wireless frequency that your digital voice signals travel over from the handset to the base station. What sets DECT 6.0 apart is that it rides a different frequency than most other household wireless gear -...

In case you were wondering, yes there is an app for that:

The Consumer Electronics Association asked some kids what technology they use in the class room: While 65 percent of teens report technology is used by teachers in the class, only 41 percent report spending time in a computer class or lab. Teens attending public and private schools report that their homework assignments require access to technology once they leave the school grounds. The majority (71 percent) of private school students are ...

Other than the morbid narcissism of it all, this story about the wife of Twitter's co-founder "tweeting" a blow-by-blow account of the birth of her child got me thinking: what is the best tech for a soon-to-be dad to bring to the delivery room? I've been there twice, so I'm a veteran but by no means as experienced as, say, this guy - so your mileage may vary. Here goes, in order from least to most important. *** 5. A notebook:  Most trips to the delivery room are filled with hours of waiting. A notebook (or netbook), packed with some digital...

When it comes to Microsoft, confusion is often the rule, not the exception. In that spirit, have a look at the upgrade chart they compiled for the forthcoming Windows 7 operating system [hat tip: TechMeme]: Make sense? Ed Bott escorts Microsoft to the woodshed for the thrashing of a lifetime. If the XP-to-Vista upgrade was anything to go by, I'd suggest giving Windows 7 a wide berth. At least for now.