Zumba phone intrigue

There is a whole skip of WTF being filled up here. BBC has just reported on a new handset being created by a bunch of Ejector Seat specialists in Hereford - IA Technologies. The Zumba phone is totally handsfree bluetooth device that stores all contacts and details remotely. Nothing too new there then. But they believe that it has the best new voice recognition software enabling you to create texts vocally via the bluetooth device. Cue lots of kiddywinkles carefully enunciating "Grrrr-eight" and "El-eight-eeeerss" seemingly into middle distance.

Supposedly, the inventor (those are his hands) Dean McEvoy, is dyslexic, and hence this is a neat solution for someone who has trouble spelling. Not that that is a real texting issue...

He's not exactly Steve Jobs. And Hereford is hardly Mountain View or Tokyo. It slightly smacks of Colin Pillinger's failed attempts to land Beagle on Mars. Or Sir Clive's C5... Good luck to the boys though. It may well be the next Aston Martin.

Engadget have just caught on...

As far as I can tell from searching around on Google Zumba is some kind of hypnotic aerobic thingy. Looks a smidgen more cutting edge than a mobile from Hereford.

Comments

[dino Karapittis]

looks interesting. but how is a factory full of sharon's going to revolutionise the mobile phone industry?

[v k]

here's another Zumba, marginally more aesthetically pleasing than the slug earpiece

[v k]

http://en.dawanda.com/product/137562-Zumba-phone-strap

[v k]

http://en.dawanda.com/product/137562-Zumba-phone-strap

[Ewarwoowar]

I'm loving the angry purple monster (erm..) keyring Zumba, v k. I'd wear that on my ear for sure.

[John Gibbard]

Life is a simple choice: 1) fit girls doing aerobics vs. 2) fat Sharons in a shed in Hereford making a phone invented by guy in a waistcoat with a tacky gold watch. No contest. Thanks for showing (in the words of Phil Collins) Both Sides of the Story.