Cordless phones? They’re the ones you’re supposed to be able to use anywhere in the house or garden, but actually sound like you’re calling from Outer Mongolia if you venture more than three steps from the base unit, right? Wrong. Lousy roaming reception is now a thing of the past, thanks to the new generation of DECT – Digitally Enhanced Cordless Technology – phones. And Oregon Scientific has one of the coolest products on the market.

Oregon Scientific has established a formidable world-wide reputation as makers of stylish and highly-desirable consumer electronic products as varied as heart monitors and weather stations. Now they’ve applied their expertise to the digital cordless phone arena, and the results are seriously stunning.

Take the new WD338 Weather DECT Phone, for example. This little beauty delivers all the benefits of cutting edge digital telecoms technology – crystal clear reception, secure calling (so your neighbours can’t earwig on your conversations), multi-handset operation, handsfree speakerphone and caller ID.

But that’s only the beginning, because as well as being one of the best DECT phones available, the WD338 is also a highly-sophisticated weather forecasting unit.

Thanks to built-in barometric technology, this super-intelligent phone shows you the weather forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours on both the handset and the base unit (great news for weather buffs who keep losing the handset down the back of the sofa). The large, easy-to-read backlit LCD display contains a wealth of data, including:

Weather forecast in instantly recognisable symbol form

Indoor and outdoor temperature display, relayed from up to three wireless remote sensors

Indoor and outdoor humidity display

Time and date display

There you are, wandering around outside chatting to a mate about the barbecue you’ve got planned for tomorrow evening. Even though you’re right at the end of your garden, he’s still receiving you loud and clear, thanks to the marvellous DECT technology of your Oregon Scientific phone. Just then your own personal techno-weatherman informs you that a tropical deluge is looming the next day. You tell your friend the barbecue’s off, then rush inside to use the WD338’s 50 name-and-number phone book to call up the rest of the guests and give them the new date. Impressive, right?

Is it just me or is it hot in here?
Oregon Scientific’s TD338 Thermo DECT phone will also give you the indoor temperature - on the jumbo blue LCD screen on both handset and base unit.

Plus, of course, it has all the DECT telecoms bells and whistles you could wish for (last 10 caller ID memory, 40 number phonebook, call time display, multi handset operation, the works). It’s devilishly good-looking too: both the handset and the base unit come in a smooth, silver finish that reflects the effortless style and cachet of all Oregon Scientific’s products.

Radio Ga-Ga
Remember how as kids, you and your mates always wanted walkie-talkie radios like they had on The A-Team or Starsky and Hutch, but had to make do with two empty baked bean tins tied together with string? Well, if you still secretly fancy playing David Soul to your buddy’s Paul Michael Glaser, you can now do so in style, thanks to Oregon Scientific’s brilliant TP388 Compact Two Way Radios.

They may be small, but these ultra-stylish silver radios come packed with the kind of features Hutch himself might have been proud of: 40 channels, with 38 quiet (CTCSS) codes; channel auto scan; backlit LCD display; automatic “squelch” control, and more. And with an effective range of up to 3 km in open country, they’re powerful enough to be used in a host of professional and sporting/leisure capacities.

From factory floor to film set to night-club door; from school sports day to paintballing event to skiing or the point-to-point meeting: the uses to which these great little radios can be put are limited only by your imagination. They’re quicker and easier to use than a mobile phone – and of course, you can broadcast to as many people as you like, as long as they’re tuned in to the right channel.

For stockists, call 1300 300 155 (within Australia).