Yahoo, Linksys Put Out “Cool” New Phone

November 9, 2006

90

Linksys and Yahoo have partnered to create a new must-have for fans of Yahoo Messenger. The Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (CIT310), which could really use a shorter name, is now available. Initial reviews are fairly positive.

The Linksys CIT310 is probably only a “must-have” for Yahoo messenger fanatics who are in need of a new phone, though. Randy Savicky describes it as “a tempting home phone system replacement,” but raises a couple of issues in his “Room for Improvement” section.” Our own Joe Lewis compares this arrangement to the Skype service.

Linksys seems quite proud of its new phone, regardless. “The CIT310 is our first product to couple the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice experience and access to Internet services like Yahoo! Local Search,” noted Tarun Loomba, a senior director of product marketing for Linksys, in an official statement.

“We share the same vision with Yahoo! of not just improving the experience of internet phone calling, but also offering a valuable combination of internet-enabled features and services that customers will use and really want,” he added.

Jeff Bonforte, senior director of Yahoo’s Real Time Communications, was proud of one feature in particular, saying, “The CIT310 cordless phone is also embedded with the industry-leading Yahoo! Local Search service, to provide consumers with an easy way to find local restaurants and businesses and quickly make a call with one touch.”

The CIT310 is available on Amazon.com, where the current first and last tags for it are “voip” and “cool,” respectively. Yahoo and Linksys have to be happy about that.

—
Tag: Tag:

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl