« April 2005 | Main | June 2005 »
May 28, 2005
CIA war game simulates major Internet attack
The CIA is conducting a cyber-war game this week geared to simulate a major Internet attack by enemy computer hackers, an intelligence official said Thursday.
Dubbed "Silent Horizon," the three-day unclassified exercise is based on a scenario set five years in the future and involves participants from government and the private sector.
"These are people who could likely be affected or enlisted in a real situation," the intelligence official said.
"Its goal is to help the United States recognize indicators of a large-scale cyber attack."
06:11 AM in Games, News, Web/Tech | Permalink
May 16, 2005
Cingular Wireless Launching Audiovox SMT 5600
Cingular Wireless is launching the Audiovox SMT 5600 Windows Mobile 2003 smartphone handset. The tri-band (850/1800/1900 MHz) GSM/GPRS handset will feature Bluetooth wireless, VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, and speaker phone.
The smartphone will be loaded with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software suite that includes Microsoft Outlook, Windows Media Player 10, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, and much more.
As for the physical specs, this phone is defiantly a looker; the black and silver finish with huge 2.2-inch screen really makes this phone stylish. The phone weighs in at 3.6 ounces and measures 4.24 x 1.82 x .69 inches. 32MB of built in storage and a Mini-SD slot will keep you busy with all your data.
The Audiovox SMT 5600 should be available starting today in select markets for as low as $199.99 with a two-year voice and data service contract
06:11 AM in Cell Phones | Permalink
May 13, 2005
Sony Direct DVD Camcorder, the DCR-DVD7E
Sony has launched their new DVD camcorder which features an odd circular design and direct DVD recording. The DCR-DVD7E records your footage straight to a DVD disc so you can instantly watch the footage on your DVD player.
The DVD7E will feature a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lense with 10x optical zoom and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. DVD formats include DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW. No release dates indicated, but expect to the new camcorder to set you back approximately $1200.
06:08 AM in Digital Cameras, Gadgets, MP3 players, Music | Permalink
May 12, 2005
Konica Minolta Entry Level X60
Konica Minolta has announced an upgraded to their X50 digital camera. The new DiMAGE X60 entry level camera features a 5 megapixel sensor, 2.5-inch LCD screen, and 3x optical with 4x digital zoom.
The X60 will come in three different colors; blue, brushed metal silver, and red. Other features include 5 cm macro mode, fast startup times at 0.5 seconds, and Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection which picks the correct scene mode for you. As for the memory, it will come included with 15MB built in useless storage, but you can grab a SD or MMC card to fit your needs.
The X60 should ship near the end of May with a price of around $349.99 US.
06:06 AM in Digital Cameras | Permalink
May 11, 2005
Hilton iPod Alarm Clock
T he Hilton Family of Hotels introduced the new Hilton Family Alarm Clock, which will be installed in Hilton hotels nationwide. The custom designed clock allows guests to plug their iPod or other mp3 device to listen to tunes without headphones. To celebrate, they are giving away iPod minis and free hotel stays when you enter their Hilton Family Timing is Everything Sweepstakes.
06:01 AM in Apple iPod, Gadgets | Permalink
May 10, 2005
The best digital music players
It might be easy to forget that there are companies besides Apple Computer that make portable digital-music players. In fact, the market for portable players, which initially used flash memory instead of hard drives, was born way back in 1998.
FORBES Best MP3 players
• Zen Nano Plus Compare Price
• iPod Shuffle Compare Price
• iFP-799
• Rave MP Sport AMP: 1.0 Compare Price
• Rio Forge Sport Compare Price
06:09 AM in Apple iPod, MP3 players, Music | Permalink
May 09, 2005
Chanel
This year, 2005, opens the door to a new creation from Chanel. The "J12 Tourbillon": Chanel's first "grand" complication.
The J12 Tourbillon in ceramic and 18-carat white gold is the perfect fusion of high technology. The J12 Tourbillon is one of horology's most challenging complications and is highly respected by connoisseurs.
For the first time in watch-making history, the bottom plate, which serves as a support for the mechanism, has been fabricated in high-tech ceramic, as easily seen through the exhibition back sapphire crystal.
The J12 will be presented in the two key colors that are symbolic of Chanel, black representing intenseness and white representing purity and elegance. For this 2005 vintage, only 12 examples of each version will be produced, each bearing its edition number engraved on the back of the case.
06:08 AM in Watches | Permalink
May 06, 2005
The Pavilion MD6580n, HP’s 65-inch DLP TV
We logged a few hours at the Home Entertainment Show yesterday afternoon, not a ton of major stuff (some big players like Sony decided to skip out this year) but we did get a chance to get up close and personal with the Pavilion MD6580n, HP’s new 65-inch microdisplay DLP TV. Not sure who’s actually building these for HP, but the MD6580n specs out quite nicely: 1080p, 8500:1 contrast ratio, HDMI, and support for CableCARD. Should be out sometime in July or August.
May 05, 2005
MPIO-one micro media player
I don't know how practical the MPIO-one is, considering it's a movie player with a ONE inch screen, but it certainly solves the problem of
portable media players being too bulky to really carry around easily. It's flash memory so it's extremely lightweight, just over an ounce, but storage only goes up to 1 GB. The MPIO-one can play mp3 and wma
files as well as jpeg images and text. Of course you'll go blind trying to see anything on the screen, but it can be done. The MPIO-one, unlike so many other media players actually comes with software that will convert many types of video files (ASF, AVI, MPEG, WMV) into an MPEG-4 file that's playable on the device.
I saw lots of movie players of this size at CES in January, and while I was predictably blown away by their tiny size, they weren't exactly very useful. I am pretty skeptical about anybody ever getting the portable movie player right because I'm not sure there's a need. If you've got time to painstakingly convert video at home, you've got time to watch America's Next Top Model (not that I do). I latched on to the idea quickly and had an Archos Multimedia Jukebox with a 2 inch screen several years ago and watched half a season of Buffy on it, but because the battery life was so bad, I had to do it while the thing was plugged in, which, of course, defeats the purpose of having a portable. My niece has one of the newer players and while the battery life is a little better, rarely will it stay alive long enough to let you watch an entire feature-length movie.
MPIO-one will be available in May in Japan, no announcements for the rest of the world yet.
06:09 AM in Digital Cameras, MP3 players, Music | Permalink
May 04, 2005
Aroma personal espresso machine
I am so sad that I can't actually get this yet. David Mansueto, the Australian designer of Aroma, is seeking help to bring this very important product to market.
In the meantime, chocolate spresso beans are a really good way to have portable caffeine fixes.