IBLOG SPACE

Victorinox has declared their Secure Pro USB flash drive to be the most secure of its kind in the world which is available for public consumption. This unique portable storage device relies on several layers of security to keep your data within safe from prying eyes, including fingerprint identification and a thermal sensor. This means a finger without body heat still won't offer access to its content - grim thinking if you're a key person for your organization, eh? Guess it is time to review your insurance policies to include a higher premium for your fingers. Being tamper-proof as well, any attempt to forcibly open it will trigger a self-destruct mechanism which burns its CPU and memory chip.

It looks like Sprint isn't the only one to offer the Motorola i1, as SouthernLINC Wireless will also sell this iDEN Android smartphone from Q2 2010 onwards. This is interesting since SouthernLINC Wireless has more or less remained in the background most of the time, offering nothing but low-end devices so it is a refreshing change to see them move to an upmarket handset for once. Hopefully with more carriers offering the Motorola i1, it will push the profile of iDEN handsets to the forefront even more. You can read more on the phone's specifications in our earlier post last week

Samsung has started to ship samples of its 40nm-based 32GB DRAM modules that will target servers which require high density and performance without sucking up too much juice from the grid. These modules comprise of Samsung’s recently unveiled 36 dual-die 40nm class 4GB DDR3 chips which offer at worst, on par performance with the 40nm 16GB RDIMM modules. According to Samsung, a two-way server is now able to achieve a maximum RAM option of up to 384GB as compared to 192GB with 16GB modules. Expect mass production of the 40nm 32GB RDIMM to being from April onwards.

Brightcove has just announced that they will be offering support for HTML5 video officially for their customers, and for those who are in the dark, Brightcove is the video platform for over 1,000 customers, where among them include high profile websites such as The New York Times and Time, Inc. This is pretty big since the iPad does not support Flash video which has more or less been the staple method of delivering online video so far. This new HTML5 support will not cost current Brightcove customers a single cent, and we guess they are just doing their part to be ready for the iPad's big day.

The news that HTC’s popular HD2 would not be getting a Windows Phone 7 Series update must certainly have disappointed many owners of the HD2. Now it seems that despite there not being any official support for such an upgrade, there might be hope via unofficial means, as a user has successfully ported Windows Phone 7 Series over to the HD2, and even posted some videos (after the jump) showing it in action. It seems that most of the features on the device are working well, including GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There is a little bit of lag, as there are still some issues with the graphics driver, but hopefully he’ll be able to overcome that soon. Are you planning to cram Windows Phone 7 Series into your HD2 when this hack becomes stable?

With only five days left, we can imagine that most of you out there are excited that you can count down the time left before you get your very own iPad on one hand. We understand the sentiment, and we realize that with these tutorial videos published today by Apple, it’s probably not going to get any easier for you. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch them. After all, when you open the box and finally get to play with it, don’t you want to feel like an expert? The tutorials cover pretty much ever native iPad application, from Safari to Videos, along with several applications you’ll have to download from the iPad App Store . Pages, Keynote, and Numbers make an appearance as well, with some great exploration happening within the tutorial. They’re not as detailed as some may like, but they do a good job of covering all the major bases, as well as throwing in a few extras. Most of all, it looks like the videos are meant to show how one would navigate through the iPad, especially in

Still listening to vinyl? Got some spare cash lying around, or a credit card you don’t mind maxing out? Have some suitably reinforced shelves? Then head on over to DaVinci Audio Labs , whose new UniSon MK II turntable promises to scythe out noise or vibration from your audio pleasure, separating the motor and its control unit from the platter, and coming in at a massive 160lbs. From the side it does look a little like a stainless steel pan on top of a portable stove, but we’re guessing that’s not a comparison DaVinci would particularly like. Underneath there are custom adjustable feet, and the company will also sell you an optional second tonearm. Don’t expect any of this to come cheap, however. DaVinci Audio Labs are asking 29,600 Swiss francs for the UniSon MK II, which works out to a heady $27,800. You’ll also need a suitably rarefied amp and speaker system, of course.

Follow and you’ll get to lots and lots of text, but before you close the tab and move on to shinier, prettier things, check out exactly what that text is seemingly referring to. The document, hosted on Nokia’s site, is apparently an XML file for the Nokia N8 , the high-end smartphone tipped to arrive sometime this year. According to the document – which refers to the N8 by its presumed prototype name, the N8-00, the handset will have an nHD display and run Symbian^3. nHD refers the 360 x 640 resolution, and the panel is seemingly capable of 16m colors. We’ve previously heard that the N8 will use a capacitive touchscreen rather than a resistive one, though there’s no mention of that in the XML file. What we do get is confirmation of connectivity, including GPRS, EDGE, 3G/HSDPA and WiFi/Bluetooth. There are plenty of empty gaps and unconfirmed rumors, but at least it seems pretty safe to say that an Nokia N8 is in the pipeline. Whether it will have the 12-megapixel camera, multitou

The HTC Desire is the company’s second-strike in what they hope will be a one-two sucker punch for the Android competition. Following on from the excellent HTC Legend, the Desire borrows plenty from Google’s Nexus One but packages it with HTC Sense for arguably better out-of-the-box usability. It makes for a tricky argument, however; HTC manufacture both smartphones, and have been accused by some of purposefully building the Desire to a price by snipping away at the spec sheet. We’ve got two questions, then: is the HTC Desire any good, and does it hold its own against the Google Nexus One? The Desire measures in at 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm, which is just the tiniest broader and thicker than the Google Nexus One at 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm. Thanks to the rubberised back-panel, however, the Desire feels chunkier in the hand than the numbers might suggest; everyone we asked told us they thought the Nexus One was significantly thinner. Build quality is high, with sturdy front-panel buttons and a cre

Camcorders come in all sorts of shapes and sizes on today’s market from tiny camcorders designed to slip into a pocket to massive prosumer units that look like the beta cams from my youth in size. Samsung has unveiled a new camcorder that has a strange lens orientation intended to make using the camera more comfortable. The camcorder is called the SMX-C20UN and the strange looking design has a lens that is angled to 25-degrees to all of for a more natural and comfortable hand position while shooting. Samsung claims that the lens angle allows a hand position that eliminated wrist pain and fatigue, but it won’t make that boring school play any more fun. The camera stores video to SDHC memory cards and has a 1/6″ CCD sensor with 680K pixels. The optical zoom is 10x and the camcorder has 1200x digital zoom. The LCD on the side of the camera is a 2.7-inch unit with 320k pixels. The camera records in H.264 format and has image stabilization. The camera can upload video directly to YouTube a

Typically when we talk about watches that turn up on Yanko Design they are concepts that might be cool, but aren’t likely to make it to production so you can actually buy them. The Maze of Time watch is a good example of an interesting watch that you can’t buy. A new watch has turned up on Yanko Design that might not be as cool looking as the concept devices we often see at Yanko, but you can actually order this one. The watch is called the 1/4 Watch and it comes in black, white, blue, and red colors. The case of the watch is 39mm x 31mm x 7mm and it is water-resistant. The case is made from stainless steel and the strap is rubber. The lens of the watch is mineral glass and a battery powers the works. If the watch tickles your fancy, you can buy it now for $85. The watch has no hands, apparently the sections of the face turn to show the time.

Earlier this month Maingear announced that its suitably awesome SHIFT personal super computer was getting the new and wonderful Intel Core i7-980X CPU . The SHIFT computer is now getting another new and powerful option to choose from. Maingear has announced that the SHIFT personal supercomputer can be ordered with the new NVIDIA Fermi video cards as options. The machine can be fitted with the NVIDIA GTX 480 and GTX 470 video cards. The new video cards are DX11 compliant and have twice as many CUDA cores as older NVIDIA cards offered. The SHIFT can be optioned with the Fermi-based cards online or over the phone. I don’t even want to think about how expensive the SHIFT fitted with the i7-980X and Fermi video cards would be.

We mentioned back in February that the Sony Ericsson XPEREIA X10 would be landing on the Vodafone network in April. If you have been waiting for the device to land it will be available on April 2 reports Vodafone. You can pre-order the device right now on the Vodafone network and take delivery on Friday. The device runs Android 1.6 and will include apps for Vodafone MyWeb and Music services pre-installed. The X10 has a big 4-inch touchscreen and 1GB of internal memory. The storage space can be expanded to 16GB with a microSDHC card. It also features an 8MP webcam with face detection. The handset will be offered free with a new contract at 35 pounds Sterling monthly. The plan offers 900 talk minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of mobile data per month.

Back in February Google announced that it was looking for communities that would be interested in participating with the search giant on a plan to introduce high-speed fiber optic networks into communities to deliver faster broadband speeds. Google was looking for communities that would be interested in being part of the pilot program. Google has announced that the deadline for communities and individuals to respond to Google’s fiber optic plan and possibly have networks installed in their cities. Google reports that it received more than 1100 responses from communities and more than 194,000 responses from individuals. Google has a map that shows the highest concentrations of interest in the country and most were on the western parts of the country. California and Texas also had high concentrations of consumers interested in the fiber optic networks. Google reports that it will evaluate the interest over the coming months and determine where to start the network build.

The iPad is set to launch within the week and the device will be the first time that many non-AT&T customers have been able to get their hands on anything closely resembling the iPhone. Research group NPD has unveiled some new statistics about the consumers most aware of the iPad and hence more likely to purchase the iPad. According to the NPD Group , consumers with income of $100,000 yearly or more make up 80% of consumers aware of the iPad. 82% of consumers who are already Apple customers are aware of the iPad and the age group most aware of the device is the 18-34 year old segment. I would presume more aware means more likely to buy the product. Looking at these numbers if you are a 34-year-old iPhone using consumer making $100,000 a year, you simply can’t resist the iPad.

Rugged computers are designed for very specialized uses such as military work and for workers who are out in the field in rugged conditions. You can’t send a plain notebook or netbook into harsh environments and expect it to last long. Logic Instrument has announced a new rugged handheld computer called the FieldBook that is strong and compact. The machine is designed to be operated with a single hand and has a 7-inch touch capable screen that can be easily read in the sunlight. The screen resolution is 1024 x 600 and can be used while wearing gloves. The CPU inside the machine is a 1.6GHZ Atom processor and the machine has 2GB of RAM and a 120GB HDD with a G-Sensor. The machine runs Windows and has runtime of up to five hours thanks to a pair of hot swappable batteries. Other features include GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth USB, RFID, Barcode reader, and more.

Samsung has been making all sorts of memory and storage products for consumers and enterprise machines for a long time. The company has announced its latest memory modules for server systems that are built using 40nm technology and have a very high capacity. The new modules have 32GB of memory on a single RDIMM module. The new high-density modules are designed for use in server environments. The modules use Samsungs new 40nm, 4Gb DDR 3 chips and represents a two times increase in capacity compared to the 16GB 2Gb modules introduced last March. Using the new RDIMM modules, a dual CPU server can now have up to 384GB of RAM. Samsung also reports that replacing 12 DRAM modules of 16GB capacity with six 32GB modules would cut power use in the server by 40% while increasing DRAM operating speed by 33%. Mass production of the 32GB RDIMM is set to start next month.

It has only been a short while since Intel pulled the wraps off its Gulftown CPUs. AMD has now tossed its own new server platform CPUs into the ring with the introduction of the new AMD Opteron 6000 series CPUs with 8-cores and 12-cores. The new CPUs are aimed at sever users and machines using the new line will be coming from HP, Dell, Acer, Cray, and SGI. AMD claims that the new parts are the industry’s only server processors performing at up to twice the level of previous generation 6-core parts from AMD. AMD claims that the processors offer 88% more integer performance and 119% more floating point performance than other processors. The parts have an enhanced memory controller supporting up to four channels of DDR3 memory. The CPUs also have a number of features to improve stability and reduce power consumption. The processors range in price up to $1,386 each.

Cowon’s reputation for strong audio performance and well-constructed PMPs has left us eagerly anticipating the company’s new J3 mediaplayer , and while we’ve still to listen to the end result, from a style point of view the J3 certainly packs a punch. Fresh to Cowon’s site , the J3 has a 3.3-inch 16m color AMOLED touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP support), T-DMB and a TV-out connection, together with a microSD card slot and their own JetEffect 3.0 and BBE+ DSP. While control is predominantly via the touchscreen, Cowon have also added a few useful hardware buttons for some frequently-accessed features. Fast forward/rewind and volume all get physical controls, but Cowon’s GUI also looks pretty darn neat (if a little bit like an amalgam of LG’s S-Class UI, the iPod touch and Windows Phone 7). Other specs include an accelerometer, FM radio, voice recorder and Flash player, together with a dictionary and a battery good for up to 64hrs of audio playback or 11hrs of video. The whole th

Archos promised we could expect the Archos 7 Home Tablet – announced back at CeBIT 2010 – sometime in April 2010, but it looks like the 7-inch touchscreen slate could be arriving in tandem with the iPad. German retailer Redcoon.de reckon they’ll have the Archos 7 HT in stock in a week’s time, though it’s the slightly more expensive 8GB model rather than the €149 ($203) entry-level 2GB version. Meanwhile Amazon Germany are suggesting only that the Home Tablet will arrive “soon”. The Archos 7 HT has a 7-inch resistive touchscreen, a battery good for up to 7hrs of video playback or 44hrs of audio playback, and runs the Android OS underneath Archos’ own UI. Despite a relatively underpowered processor initial feedback seems promising, with decent browsing speeds, 720p HD media playback (assuming your files aren’t at too high a bitrate) and good stereo speakers.

Sony have announced a new PS3 firmware update , but while most users generally look forward to such events, v3.21 is likely to cause Sony no end of headaches. That’s because, rather than add in functionality, PS3 firmware v3.21 seems only intended to remove the ability to install other OSes to the console. Sony have described the move – which will impact versions of the PS3 prior to the current PS3 Slim model – as prompted by “security concerns”, though fail to detail exactly what those concerns might be. It’s a decision that some believe is connected to geohot’s hack of PS3 back in January 2010. The firmware update is described as optional, which means that those gamers who have already installed alternative platforms – such as Linux – to their consoles will be able to leave them in place should they so wish. However, failing to upgrade to v3.21 will mean that PlayStation Network access is blocked, “playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system so

What’s that you say, 32GB of Zune HD storage simply insufficient for your A/V needs? Simmer down, Microsoft hear your plaintive, ear-splitting cries and it looks like they’re responding in the most obvious way: with a Zune HD 64. The Zune HD site has been updated with a new link for the 64GB Zune HD, though so far the URL it links to isn’t working. However, we’re not expecting anything dramatically different from the previous Zune HD models, bar the greater capacity, which means an NVIDIA Tegra chipset, 3.3-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and distinctive UI. There’s also WiFi and HD Radio, along with a 720p HD video output (as long as you have the right cables), multitouch and an accelerometer. Check out our full Zune HD review for more details. As for Zune HD 64 pricing, the 32GB model retails for around $240, so we’d expect the larger version to come somewhere in the mid-$300 range.

Since they’d already shown us the box-art for their new video cards based on NVIDIA’s GTX 480/470 GPU, it perhaps comes as little surprise that ASUS have made their ENGTX480 and ENGTX470 cards official. Using the GeForce Fermi chips, the ENGTX480 uses the GTX480 core with 1401 stream processors and a 384-bit memory interface, while the ENGTX470 has 1215 stream processors. They’re paired with 1536MB of GDDR3 memory on the ENGTX480 and 1280MB of memory on the ENGTX470. Both cards have twin dual-link DVI-I outputs and a single HDMI, and come with an adapter for VGA use; they’re capable of up to 2560 x 1600 DVI-I resolution or 2048 x 1536 D-Sub resolution. While that might not sound like much different to the rest of the new GTX 480/470 boards we’ve seen, ASUS reckon their Smart Doctor Voltage Tweak system – which can boost performance by up to 50-percent with apparently minimal user-difficulty – together with benchmarking and other tools. No word on pricing as yet.

Like being brutalised in boarding school showers, suffering the indignity of a teardown is mandatory for today’s top tech. iFixit have taken their screwdrivers and spudgers to the Nintendo DSi XL , fresh to the US this weekend, and now played across a table for us to pick through its components. In the process, iFixit came across the 25-percent larger battery and a separate WiFi card that can be removed from the DSi XL’s mainboard. There’s also been a redesigned battery connector, which will hopefully be less prone to damage (the old one was a long ribbon cable that snaked across the handheld). However, many of the other components – such as the flash and RAM controllers – are the same as what you’d find in the DSi, and of course the DSi XL’s displays, while bigger, run at the same resolution. We’ll have our review of the Nintendo DSi XL up this week.

Another week, another oddly named ebook reader. Korean shopping heavyweight Interpark have announced their own entrant to the ereader market, in the shape of Biscuit . Similar to the Amazon Kindle , though with a distinctive keyboard layout that moves the core navigation buttons to below the display rather than their more common edge positions, the Biscuit includes 3G connectivity for mobile downloads of ebooks and newspapers. As with most other ereaders we’re seeing, they’ve used a 6-inch E Ink 600 x 800 display capable of 8 levels of grayscale, and paired it with 4GB of internal storage and a battery good for up to 9,000 page-turns (presumably with wireless turned off). Supported formats include epub, Adobe PDF, MS office (doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx), hwp, TXT, image (bmp, jpg, png, gif) and MP3 files. However, one area where Interpark haven’t so closely followed Amazon is in their actual range of ebooks, which currently stands at around 25,000 titles. It’s on sale in Korea

Have Google been attempting to lure in carrier support by offering a slice of their in-app advertising revenue? According to the company’s spokesperson, despite rumors to the contrary last week, network operators only ever see a portion of ad revenue on search results, not from Google-branded apps like Gmail. In fact, the deal is just the same whether the handset runs Android or another OS. “We share revenue on search, not on mobile applications. The same is true for non-Android devices that use Google as the default search engine” Google spokesperson Competitive advertising revenue deals had been used as some as explanation for Android’s rapid proliferation, with numerous handsets being announced over the past six months. However Google maintains that they only share search-based revenue; that is, revenue from users who click on Google-powered ads in browser results.

Microsoft’s confirmation that the HTC HD2 wouldn’t be eligible for an official Windows Phone 7 upgrade certainly put a dampener on expectations of what’s still the best Windows Mobile device around. Of course, it also lit a fire under the developer community to come up with an unofficial WP7 ROM for the HD2, and sure enough – with devices running the full OS not expected until toward the end of 2010 – you’ll soon be able to load an almost fully functional build of the new platform onto your HD2. The hack is the handiwork of a team of Russian tinkerers over at htcpedia, who have managed to get the WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth all working and pretty much everything else. Still causing issues, however, are the graphics drivers, and the device is showing some unwanted lag. We’re guessing work is being done on optimizing the code for the HD2, and that lag should get brought down. The new ROM is yet to see a public release, and the team are apparently looking into downgrading solutions to put

Anyone looking for some good news to wake up to on a Monday morning could do worse than a shipping notice for their pre-order iPad . We’re seeing multiple reports on Twitter that Apple have begun sending out the WiFi version of the iPad in advance of its April 3rd debut. The presumption is that Apple have – as with the iPhone before it – negotiated fixed delivery dates with their courier, so customers probably shouldn’t expect to see their iPad a few days early. They’re the only internet customers who’ll be getting their new toy on April 3rd, however. After strong presales over the past few weeks, Apple have been forced to change the expected shipping date of new online orders to April 12th, just over a week later than the original date. Meanwhile Apple have quietly removed their in-store reservation option, which had allowed curious would-be iPad buyers to check out the tablet in the metal before deciding on a purchase. We’re guessing that stores will also have some stock availab

Less than a week. That’s the length of time remaining for the hundreds of thousands of people out there who pre-ordered their very own Apple tablet. And in classic Apple pre-launch goodness, we’re in the middle of a deluge of images, leaked information and general goodness regarding what’s coming. This time around, we’ve got video of what we should expect from the iPad App Store come this Saturday, cover flow and all. There isn’t much in the way of news here. It’s just a 90-second video of what we probably already had all envisioned in our minds, anyway. Either way, it still looks good. From the list of Apps, we can see some familiar faces: Twitterific for one, along with Flight Control HD. The video also goes a bit into the applications themselves, showing us what their individual screens will look like after you’ve chosen one from the available list. And, just as we’ve noticed in other leaks, the “HD” moniker is definitely going to be a big part of the iPad App Store. That is, unl

You know the hacked Pre firmware releases that have been coming out lately, first for 1.3.5.1 and then recently for 1.4? We tested out that later one and found the results to be good, and indeed one of the creators, caj2008, sent us plenty of data from early testers showing minimal heat gains and battery losses. Still, Palm isn't exactly thanking these guys for their hard work, going so far as to issue a warning: While we appreciate the effort the webOS community has put forth to try and help us along that path, the use of this application is neither endorsed nor recommended by Palm and will likely result in a voided warranty. Frankly you can't be surprised that Palm isn't thrilled about users cranking up the clock multiplier on their phones, nor can you think less of the company for indicating that those doing so might face some warranty issues going forward. And, as we've said before, despite all data that these mods are safe users should exhibit caution before dialin

Remember that little guy up there? We spotted video of the Black Edition Desire exactly a week ago, but had few details to go with it aside from the fact it existed. Now we have word from Conor Maples, Orange UK's PR guru, saying that the operator will stock not only the standard-issue gunmetal Desire, but also the special Black Edition, which will be exclusive to Orange in the UK. The more familiar model will be arriving on the carrier's shelves some time early next month, with the darker, edgier Desire making a fashionably late entry in the latter part of the month.

Motorola Milestone owners, your moment is now. The Android 2.1 update you've been waiting for is now available en masse. Users outside of Hong Kong (which already got served) have received notice that an over-the-air update is available to unlock the nine home-screens, Google Earth, and other goodness that comes along with the latest flavor of Google's mobile OS. When can US-bound Verizon subscribers hope to get their point release of goodness? That, sadly, is still TBD, but we're guessing it'll be any day now.

If you've yet to lose faith in Windows Mobile 6.5, or if you're holding out hope for community-made Windows Phone 7 patches magically upgrading your OS, here's another handset for your consideration. Toshiba's K01 comes with a 1GHz Snapdragon inside and a QWERTY keyboard plus 4.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen (capacitive) on the outside. Its stroll through the FCC today revealed support for 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/EDGE frequencies, meaning you may get a choice between AT&T and T-Mobile's networks. So now that we've narrowed down the carriers a little bit and certified this WiFi- and Bluetooth-equipped beastie, all that remains is to wait and see if the pricing is sufficiently alluring to entice all those starry-eyed T-Mobile subscribers who keep giving the HD2 lusty looks. Not long to go now. FCC label pictured after the break. Update: Looks like this one is headed to Europe and Asia with test reports indicating support for UMTS Bands I and VIII and some expensive 1

The HTC Desire is spreading its wings today with the announcement of a distribution deal with Japan's SoftBank. One of the big heavies over on that most famous archipelago, SoftBank will carry a WCDMA version of the handset with the standard Android 2.1 with Sense software and brownish externals. Sorry to disappoint our dear readers yearning for a silver or black option. Maybe in the future, eh? We don't know what reaction to expect from the Japanese audience, but we suspect the language of effortless responsiveness and snazzy AMOLED screens will prove to be universally understood.

Sony Ericsson's flagship Android smartphone, the Xperia X10, has been plagued by laggy performance since we first laid eyes on it, but that won't always be the case; the company has confirmed repeatedly that upgrades (including a newer Android OS version) will come. However, it now seems that multitouch is not in the cards. "There's no multitouch in X10 - and I also can confirm that it's not only related to [software] but also to [hardware]," said product manager Rikard Skogberg at the official company blog. If true, that means the X10 won't get multitouch even when rooted, much less a Nexus One or Milestone-like level of native, official multitouch support. But remember, Sony Ericsson has fancy UI quirks of its own -- though you may never pinch-to-zoom on an X10, at least you can enjoy reticulating Splines.