doro

Flip phones to flip for (roundup)

Don't get me wrong, I still love my smartphones as much as any modern 21st-century kid. But there's something about whipping out a flip phone and then snapping it closed that is very gratifying and nostalgic. And while many phone manufacturers pump out high-tech handsets every season, it's nice to see that once in a while, a simple flip phone still makes it through the pipeline.

Not only do these handsets have the best call quality (and really, isn't that what phones are made for?), but they also are extremely simple to use and can withstand a good knock or two. Below, we've gathered our recent favorites.… Read more

Design of the times: The secret to creating cell phones for seniors

Allen Calvin earned a doctorate in experimental psychology, was a consulting professor at Stanford University, and is currently the president of Palo Alto University, a post he's been holding for 28 years. He's learned a lot during his 84 years of living -- except for how to cut and paste text on a smartphone.

"I just want to copy anything and paste it out of an e-mail," he said with a voice that sounds like sandpaper. "This is obviously harder than it looks."

Calvin and his wife, Dorothy, are inside a brightly lit Verizon … Read more

Doro introduces its first 3G camera phone

Doro has introduced a few new basic handsets in conjunction with Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. They are the PhoneEasy 615, the PhoneEasy 610, the PhoneEasy 680, and the PhoneEasy 682.

Even though Doro usually makes superbasic phones with the elderly in mind (see our reviews of the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and the Doro PhoneEasy 410), the company has received many requests for an easy-to-use camera phone, which is why it came up with the Doro PhoneEasy 615. The 615 is the company's first handset to have 3G and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

The PhoneEasy 610 is a successor … Read more

Doro PhoneEasy handsets to compete with Jitterbug

Consumer Cellular, the exclusive wireless provider for the AARP, has announced two new senior-friendly phones, the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and the Doro PhoneEasy 410. Both have large displays and easy-to-use buttons, much like the well-known Jitterbug handsets. The Doro PhoneEasy 410 has a flip phone form factor, while the Doro PhoneEasy 345 has a candybar design. Both phones offer a loud ringtone, soft grippy surfaces, a speakerphone, Bluetooth, text messaging, an alarm clock, an FM radio, a calculator, a flashlight, and even simple games. Doro, a Swedish company, claims these phones are popular with Europe's senior population, so they'… Read more

Doro HandleEasy 330gsm: Less is more

The terms "easy to use" and "mobile phone" should go hand in hand, but they rarely do. We're regularly driven to tears when in a phone comes in boasting more features than Inspector Gadget's trenchcoat, but requires a forensic decoding of the instruction manual just to send a text message. Thank heavens for the Doro HandleEasy 330gsm.

Doro has been busy making easy-to-use mobile phones for some time now, and the HandleEasy 330gsm is its latest offering. Aimed squarely at users who don't need or want the frills, this handset is a tribute … Read more

Land lines pin hopes on European design

Against all odds, land lines are valiantly forging ahead in hopes of making an unlikely comeback. Though thoroughly mocked by other gadget blogs, for instance, Motorola debuted its "MOTOLIVN" home phone this week for the European market.

Maybe that's a key part of the strategy: Europe. Because Doro, a manufacturer based in Sweden, is also expanding its continental land-line business. And like other European phone makers--namely Philips and Siemens--Doro is focusing its efforts on form as much as function, if not more.

The company says its "NeoBio" line of DECT phones, for example, comes … Read more