Cell Phone Roving Bug

Here's another story that makes you wonder about high technology and the way it's being used, or abused.

NewsTarget has learned that the FBI has developed a technique that can remotely activate a nearby cell phone's microphone, thereby turning it into a listening device. The "roving bug" technique was approved by U.S. Department of Justice officials for use on members of an organized crime family in New York that was getting increasingly suspicious of tails, wiretaps or other traditional surveillance techniques. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the technique was legal, stating that federal wiretapping law was broad enough to cover the monitoring of conversations occurring near a suspect's cell phone.

The new method works whether the phone is on or off, because many phone models cannot be truly powered down without removing the battery. Some models, for example, will turn on from a powered-down state when an alarm is set.
Source: www.newstarget.com

Another article noted that cell phone providers can install a piece of software on any phone from a remote location, allowing microphone activation, without the owner's knowledge. In addition to activating a mic, the software can also stop a display from indicating a call in progress, taking away another method by which a cell phone user could tell his phone had been compromised.

According to counter-surveillance consultant James Atkinson, models from Nextel, Samsung and the popular Motorola Razr are particularly vulnerable to these remote software downloads. Some sources say that security-conscious corporate executives make a habit of removing their cell phone's battery when the unit is not in use.

This is not the first time the FBI has commandeered built-in microphones as listening devices. In a 2003 lawsuit, it was discovered that the FBI was able to activate the microphones of automotive systems such as OnStar and listen to passenger conversations without the speakers knowing. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the practice was not legal, but only because the technique prevents the system from being used in an emergency.

Source: www.newstarget.com

security camera distributor

Nokia 6131 NFC phone pays for itself

A new technology known as Near Field Communications or NFC, allows you to make payments and share information. NFC is similar to RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, but only works at close range.

Nokia has integrated this technology into a new cell model, the 6131 NFC phone, which works like MasterCard's Pay Pass. Proximity Payment.

Because you have to get so close to use them, these NFC readers operate like the smart ID cards we carry to read the scanners at the front door of your business or the gate at your apartment. Even more security can be added, in the form of a simple code that has to be input at the time of the transaction.

Nokia showed this off last week at CES. It sounds like a great idea. The new technology can also be used to read NFC enabled business cards and scan the information to your contacts, or scan in a phone number from an advertisment. The phone maker is testing the new system with both Visa and MasterCard, but don't expect to see this phone in the US for some time.
(read more)

Gadgets In Vegas: Hi-Tech Goes Wild @ CES

Cool. Wireless TV.
HP MediaSmart TV has 801.11a/b/g/n WiFi adaptors & Ethernet ports.

Here's a neat idea...HP's new PC design with a wide 19-inch flat screen that tilts up to allow access to the integrated printer in back. But the print out comes out in front. Very smart design, now where's the specs?

Motorola O ROKR Bluetooth enabled headset built-in to a pair of Oakley sunglasses.

Sling Media announces their Clip + Sling which uploads and shares video clips from TV. They've partnered with CBS to develop a video community like YouTube, but with a focus on legal high quality content.

Cisco and Apple argue over the iPhone name. Oh, c'mon, both companies stand to make a fortune over this new phone, if everything works the way it's hyped to do. Sign your agreement and get over it already.

Google Earth4 goes 3D.

Finally, a portable keyboard that goes anywhere! The i.Tech Virtual keyboard. Laser and infared technology combine to project a full size QWERTY keyboard onto any flat surface.

Best of Innovations Honored this year @ CES

Sources:
www.engadget.com
www.gizmodo.com
www.crunchgear.com
www.on10.net
scobleizer.com

Apple iPhone More Than Just iTalk

MacWorld & CES ~ New Technology For A New Year.

The Apple iPhone will finally ship this June and it's a beauty! It's thin, sleek, and simple to use, thanks to it's 3.5 inch screen with multi-touch display. It looks like you can just scroll right through the menus with just a point and tap, and no stylus or button wheel to mess with. Nice navigation. Bloggers are going nuts covering it, so there's plenty of reviews, photos and video.

It can also be called a widescreen iPod, but it does so much more than just play your music. iPhone’s multi-touch display and the OS X Safari web browser may just finally put the wireless web in our hands. It also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! Search so you can instantly search for information, just like on your computer. iPhone also includes Google’s useful and innovative Maps service, so you can view maps, satellite images, traffic information and get directions, all from iPhone’s amazing easy-to-use touch screen interface.

Apple Inc. has totally moved into mobile technology with the iPhone, which follows their market share of iPods and MacBooks. It's kinda pricey to start at $499, but this device may just tip the scales from Blackberry back toward the Apple. 4GB is $499 and the 8GB $599 available in June in the US, and later this year in Europe. Cingular Wireless is the ISP.

Good looking specs too:
3.5 inch screen with 320 x 480 @ 160 ppi resolution
GSM Quad-band Wi-Fi (802.11), Cingular EDGE & Bluetooth2.0
4.8 ounces at 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
Battery Life up to 5 hours on talk, video, web browsing, and up to 16 hours on audio playback.

It was a busy day...

Microsoft Home on the Vista

Microsoft: A new Vista on every desktop

Sony K750i MP3 Phone

RealNetworks and TiVo combine to share access to the Rhapsody music services

AsusXG Station External PCI-Express Graphics - MacWorld Expo - Nokia MultiMedia Phones

Sources:
www.engadget.com
www.gizmodo.com
www.crunchgear.com
www.on10.net
scobleizer.com

CES 007 What would Bond use?

Browsing CES; Day One:
If James Bond was at CES this year, what would he be doing, and which cool gadgets would he be using? The SpyCam has come a long way, baby.

Apple & Cingular = iPhone.
We've heard about Apple's rumoured iPhone. Now the word is Cingular will be the official provider of Mac's new wireless service, although it may only be GSM. How cool would iChat mobile be?

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet puts the web in your hands with:
- Wifi & BT
- VGA (640×480) webcam
- 4.13 inch screen (same as the 770)
- Stereo Speakers (770 has mono)
- Microphone has moved to the top.
- Audio jack and mini usb port have moved to the right side.
- Requires mobile phone (with BT) for cell connection.
- Integrated Stand, the n800 comes with a sleeve, rather than the sliding shell on the 770. Blog & Flickr pictures!

XBOX360 plugs into IPTV with DVR & VOD - DigitalVideoRecorder & VideoOnDemand.
The "new and improved" XBOX360 sports a 120GB hard drive with available HDMI ports. IPTV services will be multi-channel, multiple picture-in-picture, video on demand, and broadcast television, with DVR functionality. Bond would have the VideoOnDemand on a monthly subscription and a SpyCam in the palm of his hand. This will be the first major hardware update to the XBOX360 in over a year and a half.

Finally, I can setup my home network with full backups, because Windows Home Server will be available this year. Microsoft's mass data storage solution is a software suite that automatically finds and backs up all of the data on all of the Windows PC's on your LAN. It can be used to manage data stored within user accounts, shared folders, and external storage devices.

WindowsHomeServer also has Zune Connectivity and a Web Component that lets you login and access your backup data from any connected computer on the planet. Wow, think of it! Wireless access to your personal online storage (Area51?) from any connected computer on the planet. Redundant Storage capacity is expandable; data is reorganized on the fly as you plug in more hard drives.

I've had my eye on Dell's XPS 410 Desktop PC since last year, but this latest configuration is the final winner, with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo E6600 Intel processor, nVidia's GeForce 7900GS graphics adapter with 256MB of VideoRAM, a 20-inch widescreen Dell 2007WFP flat-panel monitor, 2GB of DDR2-667 RAM Memory, two 320GB hard drives in a RAID configuration for a total 640GB of storage, 16X multiformat dual-layer DVD burner, and a second 16X DVD-ROM drive. Integrated audio can handle up to a 7.1 channel surround sound speaker system.

The midsize tower has four drive bays, two internal and two externally accessible, plus two PCI Express 1X and three PCI slots open, six USB and two FireWire ports on the rear, and a FireWire and two more USB2.0 ports up front, and retails for just over $2000.

Q would find plenty of gadgets to equip Bond with at CES this year. Even Moneypenny would approve.

Sources:
www.engadget.com
www.gizmodo.com
www.crunchgear.com
www.on10.net
scobleizer.com
blog.wired.com

Year of the Cell Cam?

What does 2007 hold in store? It could be a big year for personal technology, like cell phones with cameras. That technology might just drive changes that businesses didn't see coming.

Dr. Martin Illsley, director of the European research labs for tech consultancy Accenture, says: "camera phones will allow customers to communicate with businesses via pictures in addition to phone and email. Consumers will be able to complain more easily by snapping the offending incident or object."

Greater documentation of faulty goods or bad service could be a downside for business, but a boon for consumers fed up with the lack of quality merchandise and customer service.

However, the smart companies will find new ways to harvest this new information and put it to good use. Businesses are already looking for ways to tap into net communities and online interest groups, to create recommendations consumers will trust.

Source: BBC News

GooglePhone

Until now if we used the phrase GooglePhone it usually referred to using Google Talk over IP. But according to the blogosphere there appears to be a new Google Phone on the horizon.

It has been reported that Google is in talks with Orange about a mega deal to bring a Google branded phone to the market. This seems like a logical step for Google. With the transformation of cell phones from simple verbal communication devices to handheld mini computers, Google could give us the tools to bring the phone to life over the Internet.

If Google uses it's same philosophies for the phone that it has used on the Internet we may finally get an affordable means of searching and browsing from our little handheld friends.

Sources :

The future for Orange could soon be Google in your pocket | World | The Observer

mobile.newsthis.com · Googlephone Coming Soon?

Cingular Blackberry Pearl

Cingular just introduced the Blackberry Pearl, which combines a full-featured phone with a camera, media player, calendar and email. It's the smallest Blackberry yet and only weighs 3.1 ounces. But it packs alot of features into one little handset, and it's the first Blackberry with a camera.

Cingular also offers two cool services with this model. Their Push to Talk network service allows availability icons and quick group calling, so close contacts are just a push button away. The TeleNav GPS Navigator requires an optional Bluetooth GPS receiver, but the service allows 3D maps that turn, move and stop, just like in-car navigation systems. And it can be used either in the car or on foot.

Cingular

RIM Research In Motion

Hi-Tech Text

Over a million text messages are sent every day...and email number into the billions. All these awesome hi-tech tools developed from over twenty years of technology research and development are available at our fingertips.

And what is it being used for? So kids can send text messages, LOL, BRB, IMHO. They can text one handed from their cell phone faster than most people can type email with both hands on a full sized keyboard.

Funny...a text message gets a quicker response than a phone call these days.

Cingular's New Samsung BlackJack SmartPhone

Sprint Power Vision Phone by Sanyo