General Electric ships its long-promised cell/landline hybrid phone

Jul 30, 2007 15:21 GMT  ·  By

Communications have changed quite a lot over the past few years and the current trend in this field is to develop cross-platforms, namely devices that link cell phone networks and landline networks within the users' homes. And one of the latest devices of this type is the General Electric Cell Fusion, announced back at CES 2007, a device that, according to its manufacturers (the Thomson company), shrinks the gap between home and mobile communications devices.

Thus, the device presented by General Electric features interference-free DECT 6.0 technology and synchronizes with up to two Bluetooth-enabled cell phones with one touch of a button, giving consumers access to key cell phone features they normally only use outside the house. Moreover, the device sports "Push to Talk" technology, a feature traditionally encountered just in cell phones.

The device works in quite an interesting manner. Thus, the owners must place the cellphone wherever it gets the best signal and then sit the base station within 10 meters from the respective area. Then, the cordless phone will connect over a separate DECT signal in order to allow the users to make calls over much greater ranges than in the case of normal cell phones. Moreover, a single base station can be shared by 2 cell-phones and up to 7 handsets, thus granting users complete freedom of communication around the house.

"Our consumers have long wanted a great regular cordless home phone which easily integrates the conveniences of their cell phone," said Tom Bratton, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Consumer Network Solutions, Thomson. "Now, Thomson has enabled the best of all worlds for a consumer phone, permitting sending and receiving of cellular calls over the best home cordless technology on the market."

Although it should have actually been released back in May, the device is available only as of now for around 180 US dollars (including a bundled-in second handset), which is actually a pretty good price for a device that might actually save users some dollars on phone bills.

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