😩Tired of boring phones?

Me too - here's 12 to keep an eye on

Hello friends! Welcome to this week’s edition of The Land of Random.

It’s been a busy week here - some really good friends of ours gave us their old upright piano!

I haven’t regularly played/had access to a piano in over 12 years so my “working” piano repertoire is limited to Fur Elise. It used to be much bigger.

I look forward to playing again - especially Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag- I used to know it by heart AND have the confidence of “Hit it Joe.” It’ll be fun to teach the kids piano too - especially music theory.

Our friends also gave us two authentic whiskey barrels - I’m currently using them as side tables in my office. Very cool!

Have you been seeing all the stuff coming out of CES 2026? I’ve been reading a bit here and there but the most interesting concepts have been the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable, Razer’s Project Motoko, and Razer’s Project Ava.

1. The Rollable turns a laptop screen into a GIGANTIC monitor. Very cool. I’d consider this as a desktop alternative. Not sure if it will ever come out BUT I love this whole “bigger laptop screen” thing.

2. AI headphone cameras are COMING - as Project Motoko indicates. It makes sense, honestly - everyone wears headphones or earbuds. Why NOT add cameras and AI intelligence?

3. Everyone is losing their mind over Razer’s Project Ava (hologram AI characters) - it’s essentially Halo’s Cortana. I’ve seen concepts like this over the past few years but this one is actually going to be a real “buyable” product.

I’ll share any other interesting tech items i find!

I’m listening to Joe Mckinney’s “Dead City” this week. I’m on the hunt for an old Zombie book series I read around 15 years ago and on my quest I’m discovering some real gems.

Before we hop into today’s topic, I have some exciting news. I got my FIRST EVER PAID SUBSCRIBERS. WOW!

So - this will be the week EVER where I’ll be sending the “free” newsletter and a “paid” newsletter.

I’ll be sharing special podcast musings, deep dives, and other tidbits in there.

If you’d like to join - just hit the button below. You’ll receive special content AND help me pay the bills to keep this running.

Let’s hop on in!

📱ESCAPE THE BORING PHONES

Phones don’t “hit” like they used to.

As an “ancient” 33 year old millennial, I remember when people had CRAZY phones in high school. One kid had the Samsung Juke phone. Another had the Xperia Play. There was even a kid with the two-screen Kyocera echo.

Now . . . everyone has the same old rectangle - Apple - or Android.

Heck, I have a Google Pixel 6 Pro so I fall into the “boring” camp too.

How often do you run into someone with an “interesting” phone?

Samsung makes the “mainstream” Galaxy Fold and Flip - but I RARELY meet anyone with one of those.

There’s lots of “Kino” phone edits like people posing with the Samsung Folder 2, but how many people actually “seriously” use them? It’s hard to run something that uses Android 7, now that we’re on Android 16.

Here’s my 2026 list of cool phones

• Meadow - This teeny tiny square phone is meant to be a companion to your smartphone for travel, a night out, etc. It looks really cool!

• Ayaneo Pocket PLAY - a modern version of the Xperia Play. The gamepad slides out with a click too! No virtual gamepads here.

• Clicks Communicator - I briefly mentioned this one last week but it’s essentially the “rebirth” of the BlackBerry. I’m honestly surprised at how many specs they’ve stuck in this - from wireless charging to a headphone jack, it’s got everything!

• The Ikko MindOne - It’s a full-fledged phone, packed with AI features and it’s REALLY small. You can even get a keyboard case too!

• Sidephone - It’s another small keyboard phone like the last two - BUT it’s modular. You can swap out the keyboard for an iPod style wheel or a Qwerty!

• Mudita Kompakt - More of a minimalist e-ink phone, but pretty interesting. You can sideload apps unlike other “minimalism” phones out there.

• Minimal Phone - The first “BlackBerry” style eink phone. It has full Android access and plenty of useful features - including different screen speeds!

• Light Phone III - Yeah I know this thing has been mentioned everywhere but if you really do want a “minimalist” phone this one tops the “cool” list.

• Blackberry with new guts - The most creative one on this list is a Chinese Company taking “classic” Blackberry cases and putting modern phone “guts” in them!

• Galaxy Z Trifold - It’s actually real. It’s EXTREMELY expensive, but honestly, give it 5 years and trifolds are going to be around the price of a typical Flagship phone (and may kill the tablet market).

• Nextpaper phone - I love the color e-ink style display on this thing, and it’s pretty cheap too!

• WP200 Pro - Despite its boring name, this rugged smartphone has A BLUETOOTH SMARTWATCH EARBUD embedded in the back - not to mention a 8,800 mAH battery, and more “coked-out” specs.

Find any more crazy phones? just comment below and let me know!

🐙The Land of Random

strange links from the internet for your musings and adventures. Let’s start things off with something absolutely M A D.

Meow Meow Meow!

Meow meow meow meow meow . . . MEOW!

Draw the World

One of the most interesting sites I’ve found in YEARS. It’s the world map but with everyone drawing whatever they like. It’s gone semi-viral at times, so you may have heard of it, but it’s worth exploring for an hour or two.

What a Week!

What day is it Cap’n?

Glitch it!

A fun little web app for glitching photos in just two clicks.

MOON BEARS

So . . . the United States has bear problems on the moon? (love this skit)

Gamercard

It’s a gift card-sized gameboyesque device. It’s real. and you can buy it. The trailer alone intrigues me.

You are needed to deliver messages

Don’t ask questions. Just get them done.

Make Plant Music

Attach device to plant. Get biofeedback music. Enjoy! I need to get one of these and see what the tomatoes are saying... or the carrots…. (in all seriousness i do grow both each year).

ONE MAN. ONE BACKPACK.

I have read this man’s blogpost about his minimalist one backpack traveling setup several times throughout the years. It’s awesome - and and he continually updates it too!

That’s all for this week . . . unless you’re a paid subscriber. :)

See y’all next time!