World's highest cellphone call made with Motorola Z8

He did it, British climber Rod Baber made a cell mobile phone (apparently using a MOTORIZR Z8, not a satellite phone) call from the top of Mount Everest. In fact, he made the record breaking call twice: the first to a voice mail account, the other to his wife and children. He even sent a text message to Moto which read, "One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind - thanks Motorola." Real cute, Rod. The Motorola sponsored "world record" was made possible by a Chinese mobile base station installed with a line of sight to the north ridge. Officially, the calls were made at 29,035 feet (about 8,848 meters) in temperatures of -22 degress fahrenheit (-30 degrees centigrade) -- so cold that Rob had to tape the batteries to his body just to keep them active. We're not sure where he stored the banana-shaped Z8. Of course, anyone who has ever made a call from a commercial aircraft (hey, it happens) knows that it's really not a record, but who are we to argue with Guinness?
Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile Wing takes flight

Well, it's finally done: T-Mobile Wing née HTC's Atlas / Herald has lifted off. Obviously there are absolutely no surprises here for anyone who's been following this launch, but the thinner- hotter successor to the MDA comes out swinging with Windows Mobile 6 (Professional), quad-band EDGE data, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel camera, WiFi, myFaves, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, microSD slot, soft-touch finish, and new and improved QWERTY keyboard. It'll be available tomorrow for $300 (with service agreement); stick around for some high res photography sure to tide you over until then. Early review roundup posted after the break.