Computer Gadgets New

Fakes. We love them. We love them so much that we have a whole category dedicated to iClones. This knockoff of Nokia’s N95 keeps up the all-mouth-and-no-trousers tradition of Chinese clones. Before detailing the specifications, allow me to quote from the publicity:

STRAIGHT FROM THE CLONING GODS OF CHINA! […] A CLONE THAT IS TRULY WORTHY TO BE CALLED AN EXACT REPLICA! SAME DIMENSION, MARKINGS, FEEL …. OVER ALL CLOSEST TO THE REAL N95 BLACK 8 GIG.

The “Black 8 gig” actually contains just 256 MB (in SD form), and MP3/MP4 player, a 2MP camera and Bluetooth. The dual slider keyboards are also there, as is the rotating view. Otherwise, your $160 buys you nothing more than a fancy box which has actually been downgraded from the previous version:

NOT A PDA TOUCH SCREEN PHONE LIKE EARLIER CLONES

Product page [Sulit via Red Ferret]

Smart DisplayCard is the first product to incorporate a one-time passcode display and a PKI chip into a wafer-thin card format.

Developed and supplied by Innovative Card Technologies, the ICT DisplayCard integrates the security of a one-time passcode token directly into a card the size of a standard payment card. At the push of a button on the card, a one-time passcode is shown on the card’s integrated display. During an online transaction, this number is entered into a user interface with other information such as the user’s login name and static PIN for multifactor authentication.

The addition of a chip on the Smart DisplayCard enables PKI login, email encryption and digital signature capabilities, and is fully integrated with the ActivIdentity Software portfolio: SecureLogin SSO, ActivClient, ActivID Card Management System, 4TRESS AAA Server and 4TRESS Authentication Server.

“The Smart DisplayCard is the first time that the one-time passcode security of a token has been implemented alongside the authentication and encryption capabilities of PKI in such a unique form factor,” said Thomas Jahn, CEO of ActivIdentity. “This thin card can easily be stored in a user’s wallet, offering unprecedented convenience with the very latest in multi-channel authentication technology.”

Link

Nick Garvan of the Thames Valley Police, London, is skeptical about the purported number of security cameras in the UK. He says that the often quoted number of more than four million was based on a single study in 2002 which took its numbers from a single London street and scaled them up. He has not given an alternative figure.

He and the ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) do, however, want to commandeer the existing cameras operated by local councils (around 30,000 of them). They also want to tie these together into cohesive network, coupled with a national facial recognition database. Garvan, somewhat ironically given his plans, said:

Any perception on the part of the public that there is some kind of Orwellian infrastructure sitting behind society where these cameras are terribly well integrated and joined up as part of the surveillance state is entirely wrong.

I guess that might soon change.

UK CCTV numbers ‘may be over-stated’ [The Register]

Photo: Takomabibelot/Flickr

Posted Mar 24th 2008 10:42PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

Nothing beats that straight-from-the-oven firmware smell, and Sony just hit the internet with its PS3 2.20 firmware update goodness. The big win here is BD-Live interactive Blu-ray compatibility (Blu-ray 2.0), but there are some other minor tweaks as well, mostly multimedia and web browsing related. Unfortunately, portable copy didn’t make the cut, but there’s always 2.30, right?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Personal Pocket Safe USB flash drive from CHDT Corp. prides itself in being the first “encrypted, epoxy coated, pin-protected smart drive.” You get military-grade encryption, a password vault and a track-covering feature that ensures no one will be able to trace its presence the moment it is removed from a system - and to think I don’t know such a thing is possible. Ah well, it is always good to learn something new everyday. In addition, you get a rubber key PIN-pad that allows you to enter a 4 to 10 digit passcode before the drive can be accessed. Neat! There doesn’t seem to be any plans to bring this to the US at this point in time, so just be more careful with how you store your data till then.
[ Source ]

The ipod is definitely not short when it comes to peripherals, and the iWake Clock Radio from Memorex is another in a long line of such peripherals to be released. Available in blue, purple, and red metallic finishes, you get a white backlit LCD display, snooze function, an integrated AM/FM radio just in case you run out of fresh MP3s to listen to on your iPod, a wireless remote and a universal dock. Target is currently selling the Memorex iWake Clock Radio for $79.99 nationwide.

This new LongHorn GoGo800 GPS is one that comes with many features but manages to remain a basic one. Even without the price being known, it will probably be an inexpensive GPS, however, still worth every penny.

Beginning with its screen, it comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, memory expansion via SD/MMC cards, which can be used to add on any additional maps or music/video, and a 20 channel GPS receiver. Additionally, it comes with a nice 1300mAh battery, which offers a battery life of around 3 to 4 hours on a single charge. Since it uses SD/MMC cards, it obviously plays music and video, and it supports formats including MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF, AVI, MP4, WMV, JPEG, BMP, GIF, and PNG. With all these formats, it certainly makes for a nice media player. It even comes with an e-book reader, and supports many languages such as Chinese, German, Danish, English, Swedish, Dutch, Italian, French, Norwegian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Polish, and Greek.

Unfortunately, no word on pricing or availability at this time. However, we expect it to soon be available in the US and Europe.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Microsoft last week bolstered its security software suites by acquiring rootkit specialists Komoku.

Komoku was founded in 2004 with the help of funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and has close links with the University of Maryland. Its main focus is advanced rootkit detection and its president and CTO, William A. Arbaugh, is an expert in the field of embedded system security and an associate professor of computer science at Maryland.

With the purchase, Microsoft not only gains access to the company’s technology, but also to its clients, which include the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.

Speaking of the acquisition, Arbaugh said:

I’m excited about the Komoku team joining Microsoft and building on our successes in detecting sophisticated rootkits for customers … Microsoft’s commitment to building the next generation of malware detection is very strong, and we at Komoku look forward to continuing the tremendous progress Microsoft has already made in the anti-malware space and building the anti-malware products that can handle today’s sophisticated threats.

Microsoft plans to integrate Komoku’s technology into its existing software security solutions, including Microsoft Forefront and Windows Live OneCare. Most of the staff at the company will transfer into positions at Microsoft, and it is the intention to stop using the Komoku name and product line once the transfer is complete.

Read more at ZDNet.

Matthew’s Opinion

Is it just me, or is there something worrying about the Department of Defense possibly using Microsoft security solutions? I have little experience of Forefront, but Windows Live OneCare has not performed well since its inception and has caused a number of headaches for those brave enough to use it.

I remember when Microsoft first announced it was to release a security suite, and the reactions of other security software vendors to that threat. So far, the threat of Microsoft in this sector hasn’t appeared, but it looks like that threat will slowly start to creep in if Microsoft continues to buy other companies offering very good focused security. Komoku certainly counts in that regard and will offer Microsoft’s packages a boost in testing and another set of features to market the products around.

So, the question now is, who will be next on the list of acquisitions to improve Microsoft’s security packages?