Hulger get crafty - make wooden bluetooth handset
It's tough standing out with your cellphone these days; handsets that were launched with promising exclusivity (yes, I'm looking at you, RAZR) were soon commercialised and found their way into the hands of just about anyone capable of scrawling an X onto a contract. What costs several hundred dollars today is a freebie in a few weeks time, as manufacturers fall over themselves to ship out the latest "World's Thinnest!" No, when you can't rely on your mobile to keep you hip, you need to look to peripherals to stand out from the crowd.
Hulger have been making add-on retro-style handsets for cellphones for some time now, with a range of shapes and connectivity options. Their latest is a wooden version of their PIP*PHONE design, crafted from grain-rich Ziricote (hence the name: Ziricote*PHONE) and coming complete with a pot of wax (helpfully labelled should you mistake it for a tiny amount of cold soup) to feed and maintain it. Traditional looks don't mean traditional features, though; the Ziricote* connects via Bluetooth, and can be used with cellphones or VOIP software.
It's priced at £2,000 ($3,850), coming in a matching wooden box, and Hulger will be selling it via their website.