Phobiles and other goofy iPhone gadgets

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10 April 2012

When you hear the trill of a ringtone on the train, you don't expect the girl next to you to whip out an old fashioned desk-phone and start talking. But it just might start happening because winding back the clock on your iPhone until it turns into something altogether less high-tech is starting to catch on in London.

"Phobiles", as these half-mobiles/half-phones are known, are colourful handsets that look a lot like the earpiece from an old rotary dial phone - yet plug straight into your iPhone (or your Android).

Native Union's Pop Phone (£24.90) and the Yubz Retro Handset are so big that you'll never again struggle to find your phone in your handbag.

If you're not the cord phone type, iwantoneofthose.com sells an iPhone case that looks like an Eighties mobile, another case that disguises your mobile to look like a cassette tape and a plastic duck and transmitter that turns your phone into a floating bathtub radio.

It's no surprise designers are desperate to create something quirky and fun for the iPhone. Mobile phone accessories were worth £16.5 billion worldwide last year - a figure set to double by 2015.

"The market for consumer electronics is ever more fashion driven and with that we're seeing demand growing for design-led accessories," says Robbie Feather, buying director for electricals and home technology at John Lewis.

"Sales of our iPhone accessories rose sharply in the last 12 months and 'iPhone' has become a top three search term on Firebox.com," agrees Ryan Collins, head of buying at Firebox.com, which sells iPhone gadgets including a mini pinball shell transforming the pinball app on your phone into the real thing, plus the Freeloader Pico, a solar phone charger.

In fact, the flood of products on the market is rapidly transforming our phones so that they become every other gadget we've ever needed. Later this month BeamBox launches the brand new version of the MiLi - a cradle that turns your iPhone into a projector. Thinkgeek.com sells the i-Got-Control ($49.99) making your iPhone a universal remote control, and geekstuff4u.com has an attachable zoom lens to enhance the built-in camera. Korean design company KEE Utility will soon launch its Desk Phone Dock to turn your iPhone into a desk phone and act as a speaker dock.

The truth is, no matter how old-fashioned we choose to make them look, our phones are taking over our future.

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