LG Electronics Taiwan has announced plans to introduce about 20 new handset models in Taiwan next year. The new models will include between two to four third-generation (3G) WCDMA mobile phones. The launch of the new WCDMA mobile phones is expected to help LG. Electronics increase its market share in Taiwan to 6% in 2005, from the 3% it has now. To get the ball rolling LG. introduced the F2100, a GSM 900/1800, GPRS handset. Other features of the F2100 include a 1.86-inch 262,144 color TFT main display (128x160), 65,536-color sub-display (96x96) , 5MB built in memory, 3.5 hours talk time, 200 hours standby and built in VGA camera.

The F2100 measures 90x47x23mm and weighs 89g.

- Seen at Engadget.

Taipei 101 (world's tallest office building) has hired Ericsson to provide the indoor network which will incorporate different network technologies on different frequency bands, including GSM900, GSM1800, CDMA800, CDMA2000 and WCDMA in a common antenna system. State-of-the-art technology is deployed to ensure seamless coverage in the world's fastest elevators, traveling at a speed up to 1,000 meters per minute. The 508-meter (1,667-feet) skyscraper will hold its grand opening ceremony on December 31.

- Image Reuters

- Seen at Engadget

Seven sites have been defaced by a worm which appears to combat the Santy worm according to the Security company F-Secure. The anti-Santy worm uses Google to find sites that use the PHP Bulletin Board software exploited by the earlier worm, anti- santy infects the sites and attempts to make the sites more secure by installing a patch. Sites that have been attacked by the anti-Santy worm are defaced with the words: "viewtopic.php secured by Anti-Santy-Worm V4. Your site is a bit safer, but upgrade to >= 2.0.11." According to Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure even though anti -santy appears to do good it is likely to cause problems administrators who will have to handle the increase in traffic.

via CNET

ebay's recent announcement to no longer offer Microsoft's Passport services appears to have sent Microsoft over the edge. Microsoft has announced it will no longer push the Passport service to third party companies. The Passport system aimed to create one central system with credit card information which users could use on any site using the passport service, erasing the need for multiple user names and passcodes. Privacy groups and antitrust regulators did not like the idea of one central login, and in 2003 security experts unearthed a flaw that could have allowed scam artists to hijack older Passport accounts. Passport will continue to be the sign-on service for various Microsoft properties, including the Hotmail e-mail service and MSN.com.

_ MORE via FT

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has started an investigation into seven incidents in which laser beams were directed into plane cockpits since Christmas. While pilots from time to time encounter laser beams that stray into the cockpit on approach to an airport, the volume and span of latest occurrences have some officials worried about an organized effort to take down planes. The FBI is probing two incidents in Colorado, and one each in Ohio, Washington, Texas, New Jersey and Oregon. Laser beams can temporarily blind or disorient pilots endangering a plane. There was no evidence of a terrorist plot to use laser beams as weapons so far, but pilots were troubled by the incidents, according to reports. Earlier this month, the FBI issued a warning that there was a possibility terrorists might use laser devices as weapons. Scientists discount the possibility that pilots are merely the victims of a laser pointer from an electronics store since the distance the Laser reached required a fairly sophisticated system.

- MORE

Sytem Technology ByuckHae Korea has developed a portable smart battery pack that extends talk-time, or battery life, of mobile handsets by 800 percent. The MPB 4000 lithium-ion cell portable battery pack has power capacity of 4,600-mAh about fourfold the 1,000-1,300-mAh capacity of regular rechargeable battery of cell phones. The portable cellular phone battery charger Mobile Saver MPB 4000 is touted as the world's first smart cellular phone-use portable smart battery pack.

Equipped with an in-house developed integrated circuit (IC) microchip, MPB 4000 identifies its chemistry and tells the charger which charge algorithm to apply while protecting the battery from overcharging, under-discharging and short-circuiting. Will be on display at Consumer Electronics Show 2005 Jan. 6 in Las Vegas.
The smart battery pack is planned for release next year, with an estimated lifecycle of 5 years, will sell at $60 per pack, the company said.

via Popgadget

BBC UK reports on possible long-term health damage to Workers in factories that make flat screen televisions. This news comes from Scientist after a 30 year old man developed a serious lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis) after being exposed to an aerosol containing indium-tin oxide (ITO) used in liquid crystal displays or plasma display panels for TVs, computers and video monitors. Doctors at Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo found tiny deposits of the metal in the man's lungs who worked on flat screen TVs for four years, during which time he was repeatedly exposed. According to a spokeswoman for the Information, Technology, Telecommunications and Electronics Association by the time the units reach the UK, they are totally sealed. "There is no health risk whatsoever to UK buyers."
Doctors who made the discovery called for more research on the possible toxic effects of ITO in order to protect industry workers against future health damage.

PhoneArena reports on approval from the FCC for the Asus P505 PocketPC Phone Edition. The ASUS P505 features include a 2.8" 65k Transflective TFT display with 320 x 240 (QVGA) resolution , 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera with video capture and built-in flash , Bluetooth and IRDA , SD / MMC memory expansion slot with SDIO support , GPRS class 10 , Intel PXA270 416 MHz processor (version with 520 MHz CPU should able to available) , 64MB Flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM , MP3 and Video playback support and Microsoft ActiveSync application

- Seen at Engadget

The Internet security company Netcraft has released a Internet Explorer plug-in toolbar that could help you escape the wrath of online fraud. Netcraft's plug-in toolbar displays information about the popularity of a site, the country in which the site is hosted and the Internet address of the site. It also indicates whether other toolbar users have flagged the site as a possible phishing scam which uses fake websites that look like they belong to a trusted provider to obtain credit card information, passwords etc.

Netcraft director Mike Prettejohn said the effectiveness of the toolbar will largely depend on how widely the software is adopted.

Download from Netcraft for Internet Explorer. A version for Firefox browser under development.

- MORE

A group of 26 wireless carriers and telecoms equipment makers, including Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, Cingular Wireless LLC, Germany's Siemens AG, France's Alcatel and Japan's NEC Corp. and DoCoMo have agreed to develop an advanced mobile phone standard capable of sending large files quickly, this move is in hopes of increasing demand for cellphones with a large displays for playing games and watching movies, and to help handset makers cut costs through mass production. Services based technology will offer transmission speeds more than 10 times as fast as the current third-generation (3G) service which offers about 2Mbps transmission peak. Specifications will be ready by 2007. no date has been set for a commercial launch.

- MORE

The MVP-100 is a new portable media player from Centrix aimed at the Korea market. Features of the Centrix MVP-100 include a 20gb, 1.8-inch HD, Digicam with flash (1280x960), 3.5-inch TFT LCD (320x240), NTSC/PAL (720x480 max) support, USB 2.0 & USB1.1 (USB Host) support, 2800mAh Lithium Polymer battery, JPEG, BMP, GIF image support, MPEG1/2/4, DAT, AVI, Divx, Xivd video playback support and MP3, AAC, AC-3 (2ch) audio playback support.

Measures 130 x 78 x 24.5 mm and weighs 285g

via DAP

The Phel Trojan horse is a new Trojan infecting computers running Microsoft's Windows XP. Phel.a attempts to exploit a vulnerability found in October in how Internet Explorer and Windows XP Service Pack 2 handle help files called from Web pages. If Phel.a successfully executes, it downloads additional code from another server including a backdoor component that can be used by the attacker to later access the infected PC remotely.

No patch is currently available. The code in Phel is currently being examined by Microsoft analysts. You can stop the Trojan with Anti-virus software or by disabling IE's Active scripting.

Samsung announced it has started exporting CDMA2000 1x EV-DO phone (SCH-A890) to Verizon Wireless US. CDMA2000 1x provides data rate of 2.4 Mbps which brings broadband speed to your handset. The clamshell dual-band CDMA "SCH-A890" camera phone features a rotating 1.3megapixel camera with flash, dynamic 3-D user interface, Voice recording capability and Internet browsing. Measures 8.9cm (L).

Samsung said it has already shipped 20,000 units and will ship more next year.

- Seen at Mobile Mag

Starting late January 2005 eBay will no longer support Microsoft's Passport and .NET Alerts. The Microsoft Passport button that is currently displayed on Sign In pages will be replaced with links to a page with more information, including Help in case you cannot remember your User ID or password. eBay will begin offering Wireless alerts to replace .Net alerts, the service sends alerts on your mobile phone, pager or PDA when you have won an item, or you are no longer the high bidder (Free). eBay will also start to promote their toolbar for Internet Explorer which gives similar information on an auctions status.

- MORE

The Japanese transport ministry has announced plans to start lending to personal digital assistants (PDAs) with travel information and translation services to foreign visitors. The pilot program is part of a government drive to find ways to make Japan more attractive to foreign tourists, who are often put off by the language barrier and the country's high prices. The mobile units with Chinese, Korean and English software will be lent to selected tourists who land at Narita Airport near Tokyo from February through March to test the response.

Japan has set the goal of nearly doubling the number of foreign tourists to 10 million in 2010 from 5.73 million in 2003.

- MORE

SorobanGeeks points to the Sigma Bluebox HD II a low cost HDTV converter for your PC. Experience the magic of High Definition on your PC. The plug & play portable Sigma Bluebox HD II features include ATSC support (1080p/i/720p/480p), NTSC support (analog TV), Digital audio support (SPDIF), Multi aspect ratio(16:9/4:3/letterbox), RGB or DVI-out port, High color on screen display, Auto channel scan/programming, Programmable OSD transparency, PC to TV mode switching, PVR functions with PCs, Closed caption/V-chip support, USB1.1/2.0 compliant, 1394 support (optional), EPG support (optional) and Universal remote control. $310 USD available in Korea. Will be on display at the 2005 CES show in Las Vegas.

Also Seen at Engadget

Oracle Corp has announced control of PeopleSoft Inc. now that 75 percent of PeopleSoft's shareholders tendered their shares. This news comes a day after PeopleSoft Chief Executive and Chairman Dave Duffield resigned from the company he helped found in 1987.

PeopleSoft's board earlier this month agreed to a $10.3 billion buyout by Oracle, ending an 18-month fight and making Oracle the world's second-largest maker of business-management software. Oracle has appointed four people to PeopleSoft's board, giving it a majority.

Reuters reports the initial period for the tender offer expired on Tuesday, while a subsequent offering period expires on Jan. 4, Oracle said in a statement. The deal is expected to close in early January.

- MORE

SEGA Logistics Service has announced a reissue of the "Neo Geo Stick 2" controller for the Playstation 2. The controller will be available in Japan on Feb 17th 2005 - expected price 6,090 yen (including tax). The Neo Geo Stick 2 is a bears concept of the original controller, which gave the control feeling of an arcade game. Four buttons have been added to go with the PS2. It does not support analog control or vibration functionality. Measures 280 x 195 x 85mm and weighs 1.2kg.

- TechJapan

The BeoSound 2 is a portable MP3 player from the uber Scandinavian electronics company Bang & Olufsen. Priced at $460 USD the player designed for music playing and that alone will set any connoisseur of simplicity and style at peace. Features include USB interface, no on board memory (SD memory card required), MP3, WMA playback support, Polished stainless steel case and Rechargeable Lithium ion, 8 hours before recharging.

- MORE Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2

- Seen at Engadget
- Seen at Sensory impact

Taiwanese manufacturer Mitac has announced the Mio 136 a new handheld device with integrated navigation functionality. The dual-mode GPS Mio 136 can be used as a handheld computer or mounted in your car. Features include Windows CE.NET 4.2 backbone, 300 MHz Intel XScale PXA255 processor, 32 MB memory onboard, 3.5-inch full color QVGA (240 x 320) TFT screen, MP3 playback, 3D viewing allows a better perspective on your position and identifies points of interest and traffic conditions ahead, Turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance and an SDIO expansion slot.

The Mio 136 is expected to be released in the USA.

- Seen at Engadget

- MORE

The DR-BT1 is a new wireless headset system from Sony that works with your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. The wireless headset system allows you to talk on your mobile phone without the hassle of wires. Features include to 32 ft. (10M) distance between the headset and the phone range, fits on either your right or left ear, powered by built-in Lithium ion rechargeable battery, charger with belt clip and Air vent clip.

- Engadget

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has been denied regulation of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services by the Eight US Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. VoIP technology allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission believes VoIP providers should be regulated as they do traditional phone companies. A lower court ruling said that Vonage(large VOIP provider) provided more of an information service than a telecommunications service and should not be governed like a phone company. The order by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis upholds a lower-court ruling.

The Federal Communications Commission last month issued its own rules saying that VoIP providers should not be regulated or taxed via the same provisions as telephone service providers.

- MORE

Time Warner is looking to offer cellphone service, expanding its services to include television, high speed Internet access, traditional phone service and wireless phone service. Reuters reports on talks between Time Warner Inc.and Sprint Corp.'s to offer cell phone service on a trial basis early in 2005 on the Sprint network with Time Warner handling billing, customer service and marketing. Time Warner Cable and Sprint confirmed they were in talks, but declined to discuss other details.

The initial trial would start in Kansas City, Missouri, in the first quarter of next year.

MORE

Networx (Germany) has announced BeamDock a wireless music transmitter for your iPod. The BeamDock includes a transmitter and includes a receiver that connects to your stereo. BeamDock has analog audio output ports for use with other audio devices. Features a 100-foot transmission range via 2.4GHz ISM broadcasting, built-in volume controls, iPod-to-computer connectivity via mini USB and mini FireWire ports, and a rechargeable battery for eight hours of continuous playback. BeamDock will be available February 2005 - $160.00.

via iPodLounge

Government Agency OPTA responsible for regulating Spam in the Netherlands has imposed their first fines for Spam since the enactment of Dutch law banning unsolicited e-mail messages to consumers. The government telecommunications agency, issued three separate fines for unsolicited e-mail sent to consumers. The largest fine, $58,000, was imposed on an individual involved in four Spam runs. Printing company Gorenendaal received a $34,000 fine for soliciting orders for the banned book Mein Kampf, written by Adolf Hitler. Yellow Monday received a $27,000 fine for spending Spam to mobile phones via SMS. Consumers who opened Spam from Yellow Monday were automatically billed $1.50.

Sony Corp. has established Connect Company, a new division which will exclusively develop products and services to rival Apple's iPod players and iTunes Music Store service. Connect Company established on Nov. 1 2004. will enter into operations early next year and will eventually employ 300 to 400 workers. Engineers will work on new hard disk based portable audio players equipped with the first product expected late 2005. Connect Company will also operate a personal computer-and cellphone-compatible music download service. Video and game distribution services planned as well.

The Sony PSP expected to hit our shores March 2005 should jump start Sony's plans for 2005. The PSP is a game machine and multimedia player designed for music and movies. The PSP portable device incorporates high-quality, full-motion video similar to PS2 that can be played anytime and anywhere.

The Play Station Portable features a 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a 480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, supports a Wi-Fi wireless connectivity that allows up to 16 PSPs to play together and uses a new, Sony-developed optical media called the Universal Media Disc (UMD), which offers game software, full-motion video and other digital content

PhoneScoop reports on approval from the FCC for the LG F9100 which is expected to be carried by Cingular. Features of the GSM LG F9100 include a QWERTY text keyboard that slides out from the side of the phone, internal antenna, world roaming, and color display.

GIGABYTE Technology has announced shipment of the second generation GIGABYTE Bluetooth USB Adapter (GN-BTD02). The GN-BTD02 Bluetooth USB adapter features increased wireless range, up to 100 meters with a 723Kbps data rate and a silver finish case with colored accents. You connect the GN-BTD02 Bluetooth USB Adapter to the USB port of your Desktop or Laptop PC for Bluetooth wireless connectivity

Other features include support for up to 7 Bluetooth devices simultaneously, Bluetooth management and connectivity software makes it easy to discover and connect to nearby devices and two LED indicators on the GN-BTD02 that indicate when there is power, (Green LED) and when a wireless Bluetooth link (Blue LED) is established.

The Bluetooth USB Adapter (GN-BTD02) is available now -- $58.

- MORE

Force Field Wireless has developed three products that reduces the leakage of wireless signals from a room or building adding an extra layer of security. When the DefendAir Radio Shield latex paint, which contains copper filings and an aluminum compound is spread evenly on a wall, the paint reflects signals in frequencies from 100 MHz to 5 GHz.

DefendAir is nontoxic, contains no lead, and meets all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Force Field sells 32 ounces of a copper/aluminum powder that homeowners can add to their own paint for $34. The company also makes a window film that cuts down on signal leakage: A 30-inch-by-25-foot roll is priced at $45.

The paint does have a few drawbacks, aside from blocking wireless networks, it also blocks mobile-phone signals and TV antenna signals.

- MORE

ThinkSecret reports on news(rumors) of a $500 iMac computer codenamed "Q88" set to be unveiled at the Macworld 2005 show January. As the iPod continues to dominate the portable audio market Apple hopes to capitalize on that success with this low cost model. The model will have no display unit. The Q88 is rumored to feature a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 processor, small form and will be housed in a flat enclosure with a height similar to the 1.73 inches of Apple's Xserve, 256MB of RAM, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem and AirPort Extreme support.

If true, this could expand Apple's computer market share. I am sure some Apple enthusiast will not be too happy about their elite baby crossing over to masses.

Sharp JP has announced the start date for shipment of the 902SH 3G/GSM Mobile Phone for Vodafone. Features of the 902SH include Large, high-contrast, wide-viewing-angle Mobile Advanced Super View LCD, 2.02-effective-megapixel CCD camera with 2X optical zoom and auto focus, voice communication, e-mail, Web services, and video calls available outside of Japan and Bluetooth functions which enables wireless data communications and hands-free conversations, supports 3G/GSM auto roaming. The Vodafone 902SH will be released by Vodafone K.K. in Japan on December 29, 2004.

- MORE via Sharp

Cabir.H and Cabir.I the latest variants of the Cabir worm were detected yesterday. The new Cabir variants spread on handsets using a specially formatted Symbian operating system distribution (or SIS) file disguised as a security management utility. The worm modifies the Symbian operating system so that Cabir is started each time the phone is turned on.

Infected mobile phones scan for vulnerable phones using a Bluetooth wireless connection and then send a file, velasco.sis, that contains the worm to those phones. Cabir.H and Cabir.I can search for and find a new target if another vulnerable phone goes out of range. The new Cabir variants does not destroy data on the phones they infect, they block legitimate Bluetooth wireless connections and consume battery power.

Mobile phones running vulnerable versions of the Symbian Series 60 software and that have the Bluetooth wireless feature in "discoverable" mode, are susceptible to infection. The availability of the Cabir source code on the Internet is expected to result in a lot of new variants

- MORE via PCWORLD

The Philippe Starck designed VIOlight is a small and sleek toothbrush sanitization system. Independent tests has shown the VIOlight gets rid of up to 99.9% of bacteria living on your toothbrush. VIOlight uses a germicidal UV bulb - the same technology used in hospitals - to kill germs. You simply brush, rinse, place your toothbrush in the cup-sized holder and, with the push of a button, the sanitizer starts to kill. The VIOlight germicidal UV bulb is rated to last over 2000 hours -- $49.95.

- MORE
seen at engadget

PhoneScoop reports on approval from the FCC for the Motorola V635. The quad-band GSM V635 features color external display, megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth, video capture, EDGE high-speed data and hidden TransFlash memory card slot - The V635 is an update to the V620

26 year old University of Iowa student Jathan Desir who admitted to distributing pirated software worth up to $200,000 could face up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in March 18, 2005. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen Desir pleaded guilty December 22 in U.S. District Court in Des Moines to felony counts of copyright infringement and conspiracy. FBI agents searched Jathan's home on April 21 - the same day - the US government launched a worldwide piracy strike as part of Operation Fastlink. A joint venture between the FBI's Cyber Division and the Department of Justice's Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section to crack down on pirates.

- MORE via theregister.com

The Cybershot DSC-T33 is a new 5MP digital camera from Sony. Features include a 5.1 Mega Pixel CCD, 1.3 seconds Startup Time, 3x optical zoom, Digital zoom up to 12x in VGA, 2.5 inch LCD Screen, Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo compatible, image capture resolution 2592 x 1944; 2592 x 1768; 2048 x 1536; 1280 x 960; 640 x 480 and MPEG video capture capabilities. The camera is available in Korea, Thailand and Taiwan and Hong Kong. Priced at around USD 463. Measures 103 x 60 x 17 mm and weights 160 g.

- via i4u

More at shop4thai

Researchers from the Photonics and Sensors group at the University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering have developed a holographic laser projector for potential use in pocket-sized digital video projectors, cell phones, note books and PDAs. The projector features a custom chip that can generate 200 holograms a second -- four times faster than that needed for 50 frames per second for video playback. The prototype, shown at an innovations forum at the St. John's Innovation Center, Cambridge, was monochrome but full-versions can be made by using red, green and blue lasers. The prototype converts a standard composite video signal into high-quality 2D holographic video, in real time.

Seen at Engadget.

- MORE

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are hoping their lightweight organic solar cells will revolutionize the power industry. Made from cheaper materials, the organic solar cells flexibility and featherweight construction promise to open up new markets for solar energy, potentially powering everything from Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to iPods and laptop computers. By using pentacene, researchers have been able to convert sunlight to electricity with high efficiency. According to Kippelen professor in the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering the crystal make of pentacene makes it easier for electricity to move through than some other organic materials, which are more amorphous. The solar cells are still at least five years away from residential applications but Kippelen estimates that they'll be ready to use in smaller devices, such as RFID tags within two years.

- Seen at UberGizmo

The MS400 is a new handset from Motorola aimed at Korean CDMA 3G market. Features include built in MP3 player, 262k color TFT main display, 128x160 resolution, VGA (640x480) resolution camera, video, messaging MMS/SMS and email capabilities, E-book viewing, 3D gaming with the GIGA engine, 87MB of internal memory and transFlash memory card slot. We talked about the MS400 on December 15, at that time no detailed specifications were available.

230 hours standby time 150 minutes talk time. Measures 90mm x 32.4mm x 21.2mm and weighs 99g.

- MORE via MobileBurn
- Seen at Engadget

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd (Panasonic) has developed the Oxyride battery, which will offer longer battery life ( about 2x current battery life). The Oxyride battery maintains higher voltage and output longer because its electricity-producing materials can be packed more closely inside the cell. The Oxyride battery will be available in the United States and Europe in April. AA and AAA Oxyride batteries will cost about 10 percent more than regular, alkaline batteries.

Nokia recently announced the Nokia 3128 a new mobile phone geared at the Chinese market. The GSM Triband (900/1800/1900Mhz) Nokia 3128 phone features GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) support, a compact fold design, features a 65K color internal display (128x128 pixel resolution) and a 4K color mini external display (96x65 pixel resolution), SMS and MMS capabilities, Text input predictive software, two way English-Chinese-English dictionary and games. The Nokia 3128 talk time - 4 hours and standby time - 200 hours. Colors blue, gold, and red. Available January 2005.

- MORE

Amid news of America being the largest Spam sending country in the world with a whooping 42% of all Spam sent, AOL the world's largest Internet service provider is reporting a 75% decrease in Junk e-mail based on its internal member reports. E-mail messages destined for America Online Inc. members averaged 1.6 billion in November a day, down from 2.1 billion daily a year earlier, the drop according to AOL is mostly Spam. AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham attributed the drop largely to spammers moving on after realizing that many of their messages won't get through AOL's anti-Spam filters or that they might get sued for trying.

- MORE

Sun Microsystems Inc. has moved a team of its research engineers into its Network Storage product group to work on new storage units designed for large data archives. "Project Honeycomb" originally developed at Sun Labs is the baby of the new technology. Honeycomb uses new indexing and storage software designed to make it easier and quicker to search and retrieve files in large storage systems. Sun has worked with the University of California's San Diego Supercomputer Center, building a prototype Honeycomb storage system out of commodity parts.
Eventhough finals specs have yet to be announced Sun built a 3U (5.25-inch-high) Honeycomb "shelf" that contains four server nodes, each running Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Opteron chips. Each node also has four 400GB Advanced Technology Attachment drives. Honeycomb appliances can be networked together, giving you a way to index and search as much as a petabyte, or 1 million gigabytes, of storage. The Sun researchers also wrote software that prevents data from being lost in the event of disk failure. Honeycomb is about six months away from being unveiled as a product.

- MORE via computerworld

The Los Angeles Police Department is currently testing facial-recognition software that will help identify the bad guys. Alvarado Street just west of downtown Los Angeles to be exact is the location of testing. Capt. Charles Beck of the gang-heavy Rampart Division states the technology is like having a mobile electronic mug and will not be used unless it helps put more criminals behind bars. Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the technology was unproven and could encourage profiling on the basis of race or clothing. The LAPD has been using two computers donated by their developer, Santa Monica company Neven Vision, which wanted field-testing of its technology. The computers are still considered experimental.

Other experiments with facial-recognition software have had mixed results. Officials in Tampa, Fla., stopped using it last year because it didn't result in arrests. And a Boston's Logan International Airport in 2002, two systems failed 96 times to identify people who volunteered to help test it. The technology correctly identified 153 other volunteers

- MORE

Sagem has launched the "myX-8" a tri-band GSM/GPRS handset that features a 1.3-megapixel camera with a CCD sensor with flash and 8X progressive zoom, 2.2-inch thin film transistor (TFT) - 240x320 pixels, 262,000 colors, Bluetooth, record and video playback, MP3 play back, mini-SD support, and 40 MB memory.

Offer 350 hours of standby time and five hours of talk time. The myX-8 retails at RM1,999 - $526 us dollars .

via Mobile Tech News
- Seen at MobileMag

The Taiwanese manufacturer MiTAC recently launched the Mio 138 a new portable multimedia system. Features include Windows CE .net 4.2 backbone, 300Mhz Intel PXA255 CPU, 64,000 color 3.5" TFT LCD, 32MB of RAM, SD slot, GPS and MP3 capabilities!

The Mio 138 measures 120x71x16.5mm and weighs 163 g. Available in Korea priced at 499,000 won. No word on if the Mio 138 will make it to American soil.

- Seen at Dapreview

Buy MiTAC Mio 138.

Creative Media has announced the availability of the final 3 color from their 5GB HDD Zen Micro line. The new colors include purple (CZM5G-PU), light blue (CZM5G-LB) and pink (CZM5G-PK). Models will be available in Japan for around 32,800 Yen. The digital-music player features include storage of up to 1,250 songs at 128 kbps or 2,500 songs at 64 kbps (MP3/WMA), Vertical touch pad simplifies navigation, 1.4" Blue EL back light liquid crystal display - 160x104 dot resolution, FM radio with 32 station presets for listening and recording; 10-hour voice recording through built-in microphone and 12 hours continuous playtime using the supplied rechargeable lithium-ion battery; extend your listening using multiple batteries (sold separately). When the Zen Micro was released in November the black and silver model were released, the dark blue, the green, the orange and the red, and white followed, the latest rounds out the 10 colors. All 10 models are available in the USA.

In other Creative news DAPreview reports on a set of lime green speakers to match perfectly with your lime green Zen Micro player.

Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) has announced two additions to their 4:3 flat front tube "2SHOT T" line. The new televisions with built-in VHS player will be available in Japan January 20th 2005. Models include the 21inch "TH-21VFA60" which features HiFi/ stereo speakers -- expected to be around 49,000 Yen, while the "TH-21VFR60" also with a 21inch screen features monaural speakers -- expected to cost around 47,000 Yen. Other key features include VHS player capable of 50x Fast Forward and 600x rewind (a 120 minutes tape rewinds in 36seconds), SuperDrive mechanics and Large-sized indicatory window.

Both models measure 512x478x507mm. The TH-21VFA60 weights 25.3kg and the TH-21VFR60 weighs 25.2kg.

- MORE

Sharp Corporation Japan has announced a new compact electronic dictionary "PW-M100" with 400 hours electric battery life. The dictionary will be available January 21st 2005 for around 15,750 Yen.

Features include 159x80 dot FSTN liquid crystal display and and it t contains 15 contents: six Japanese related, two English related, two health related, three living related, and two business/travel English related. Measures 125x79.4x14.7 - 16.7mm and weighs 148g (including electric battery)

- MORE

Pantech Group has announced the "Exclamater EX" handset design as the winner of the 2004 Curitel Design Competition. The "Exclamater EX" based on an exclamation mark is a multimedia phone featuring built-in camera and camcorder. The LCD can be stretched and the "Side Push" button allows for efficient manipulation of the handset more efficiently.

via slashphone

Ubergizmo reports on a new variant of the Santy worm using the Google search engine to make it's work of finding victims easier. The PhpInclude.Worm as it is now called targets vulnerabilities on application levels (but also common programming mistakes like file "include()" and "require()". It exploits file inclusion vulnerabilities on web sites randomly chosen on search engines, and attempts to install a Bot which is controlled afterward through an IRC channel to launch denial of service attacks, find other vulnerable targets or any other malicious action. Google put a stop to the original Santy variant. Since then other variants exploiting the same phpBB vulnerability are using the Yahoo Cade, AOL, and Teoma search engines to find victims.