As a lifelong geek I go for these things like candy. They're toys and I love to play with them. I have to admit though, that I didn't expect to find so many new innovative features in a phone like this. The phone is not cheap: one base unit with one handset costs 120 Euros and an additional handset will be about 60 more. That puts us at about $250 for the two phones. The feature list is not only extensive though, but surprising. I'm going to describe the two-handset config I expect to use in pour new home/office.

The S675IP base unit connects to your LAN, the ordinary phone line and of course the power mains. You can use up to 6 handsets on one base. First great feature: each handset can be associated with any combination of the lines you configure. This means that you can have a given set ring for one or more lines but then onle line, say a teenager's only rings her handset. You can have two simultaneous calls at any time on two handsets.

The phone can send and receive SMS messages.

Here's something novel: the screen can receive RSS feeds! The phone can show the latest "tweet" (Twitter again) of anyone you choose. Or the the title of the latest article in a blog, or weather info.

The phone can also check one email account and show the From and Subject fields of the mail there via POP. Many have said that it's too bad the unit can't associate one email address for each handset.

The phone can also do instant messaging through a Jabber connection.

But wait, there's more! Every phone sold has a free connection to the Siemens VoIP network and phiones can talk to each other free over this network. It remains to be see how well the network works (seeing as it's free) but wow, get these phones in several households and use them as a free interphone with NO complicated setup needed.

The phone contact book can record up to 250 names with up to three phone numbers for each contact.

Crazy, eh? I wasn't looking for an answering machine, but think about it: this will answer any of the lines you wish and take messages in several quality grades. The phione has exceptional sound, by the way. A hands-free "speakerphone" function is available, too. You can interrogate the recorded messages from another phone using a PIN, like most other typical answering machines.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm crazy about this phone. Sure it has a few fairly frivolous (and to me pretty much useless) features, but many of them are great, like the ease with which you can select which line to call on.