Digital Buzz

Professor Noel Sharkey, a robotics expert at the University of Sheffield, has warned against the impending threat to humanity, thanks to the development of robot weapons. Addressing the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), he mentioned that the world is moving towards an international robot arms race, wherein robots would become a standard terrorist weapon and replace suicide bombers.

At present, a wide range of countries is in the process of developing the technology for robot weapons. In addition to US, Europe and other allied nation that includes Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Singapore and Israel have initiated the robot weapon program.

“Ease” and “Convenience” are the two keys features that are kept in mind whilst developing most devices. But in the recent times there is an addition to this list as “Security” too plays a vital role. When the USB was developed the main features were easy portability and transporting data function. But in this evolving world, protection of confidential content with ease has gained prime importance.

Japan-based Princeton has designed a USB flash drive, dubbed XiaoClef2 which adds a unique feature that is commonly known as fingerprint reader. This biometric fingerprint reader ensures secured and safe data storage, eliminating the need to remember a complicated password.

Sony Computer Entertainment and British Telecommunications (BT) have joined hands to incorporate a new wireless communication package, named Go!Messenger in the PlayStation Portable. This merger would enable PSP owners to keep in touch with their family and friends for free.

All you need to do is, get any wireless broadband internet connection and bring friends closer with no additional charges. With the Go!Messenger, PSP users can enjoy video and voice conference as well as Instant messaging capabilities around the globe for free.

Stephane Hareau, PSP European Marketing Manager, explained, “With Go!Messenger, the PSP is pushing new boundaries, adding unique communication features to all the existing multimedia experiences. Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the
world

The game story explains that after the death of the Emperor, the nation suffers from a civil war. Now it’s in the players’ hands to show the outcome of the war. The multiplayer game comes with 25 different endings and more than 100 collectible items.

“We wanted to take mobile gaming to the next level with networked game play and further enhance the player’s experience. It’s surprising that there’s not that many mobile games already out there that utilize that kind of multiplayer technology. The option for users to play with their friends makes mobile gaming even more enjoyable, and we wanted to give our players that experience with the multiplayer feature in Path of a Warrior: Imperial Blood,” maintained Stephanie Huang, Marketing Manager of GAMEVIL USA, Inc.

Gamers have the opportunity to play the game in duels or in a team with others who are also in the mission to bring the result of the war. By building up their experience in this gameplay, players can also level up their characters and gain gold that enables them to buy items in single player mode. If you win the battle, you can earn more gold, fame and experience. But it can be applied in single player mode too.

Furthermore, one-on-one and two-on-two battles in either duels or missions are also included.

GAMEVIL’s a new epic multiplayer game Path of a Warrior: Imperial Blood is available for purchase and download for mobile phones in the U.S. However, the price detail is not available as yet.

But there are rumors spreading all over the internet that Apple is soon going to launch the new kit on March 6. Reportedly iPhone’s upcoming update, 1.1.4 is expected to include the software development kit.

Apparently the iPhone manufacturer is also expected to unveil some exciting new enterprise features helping the device to work more closely with corporate e-mail software.

Software Development Kit is nothing but an open platform for developers allowing them to create their own applications.

During the announcement of the SDK kit in October 2007, Steve Jobs had said, “we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc.”

Well, that might be the reason of delay of the SDK kit. However, users can decide on how hard Apple has worked for protecting the iPhone from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, only after the release of the SDK.

Developed for the desktop, the UMAX PC 400 features a 1.3 mega pixel with the ability to rotate an entire 360 degrees and a built-in unidirectional microphone. The webcam’s lens is dust and scratch-resistant and comes with a sliding cover to protect the device when not in use.

Additionally, you can easily fold and carry PC 4000, thanks to its flexibility. It can capture videos at 30 frames per second.

Designed for notebooks, the 1.3 megapixels UMAX PC 200 webcam sports a Snap shot button, integrated microphone and detachable tripod base that ensures easy and secure placement of the product.

Backed with one year warranty each, PC 2000 and PC 4000 carry a price tag of Rs. 650 and Rs. 1,050, respectively. Both the models are slated to be distributed exclusively by neoteric in the Indian market.

The latest XNOTE R200 comes with a 2.5-inch external Windows SideShow LCD monitor that allows the user to access an array of entertainment functions that include MP3 playback, photo and mini games. More Vista gadgets are also accessible without having to boot the operating system.

Powered by Intel’s Santa Rosa Platform (Centrino Duo or Pro), the R200 features 12.1-inch internal wide display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 2GB memory and 160GB HDD (1GB Turbo memory) and super multi drive.

LG also offers wireless LAN 802.11n-draft, Triple Hexa-band Antenna and three USB ports. It also supports 128MB of ATI HD 2400 graphics and 135 Mbps data transfer speed.

At present, the LG XNOTE R200 Notebook PC is available with the suggested price of KRW 2,240,000 (approx. Rs. 97,600) in the Korean marke

Apple's updated notebook range features the Multi-Touch trackpad on the MacBook Pro, along with faster processors.
First used in the MacBook Air, the Multi-Touch trackpad supports pinch, rotate and swipe gestures. These interactions are supported in Apple applications including Safari, iPhoto and Aperture, and an API makes them available to third-party developers.Notably, the MacBook Pro's touchpad appears to be the same size as the previous models, not the oversized unit fitted to the MacBook Air. It's going to be interesting to read user reports of how convenient gestures - especially pinch and rotate - are when they must be performed within a more confined space.If Multi-Touch does gain wide support from users and developers, it will also be interesting to see how long it takes to spread to the MacBook and - at least as an option - to Apple's desktop keyboards.Three stock MacBook Pro configurations are offered. The minimum specification is a 15in screen, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2G of RAM, a 200G hard drive and 256M of video memory ($US1999/$A2699). The next step pushes the CPU speed to 2.5GHz, the hard drive to 250G and doubles the video memory ($US2499/$A3399), while the $US2799/$A3799 17in model is otherwise similar to the 2.5GHz 15in configuration, including LED backlighting.Options include upgrading from the 2.5GHz processor to a 2.6GHz part for an extra $US250/$A350. The Apple Remote included with previous models is now an optional extra costing $US19/$A29.

Where do you want to surf today? No, that’s not the question behind the upcoming public beta of IE 8, which will start life in limited beta testing first, before moving on to general beta availability for all, probably in ‘beta 2’ before mid 2008.
Cnet has uncovered an ActiveWin posting on the upcoming limited availability of Internet Explorer 8 beta 1. It’ll be a closed, technical beta to start with, but before the second half of the year is here, we’ll all be able to try IE 8 for ourselves, probably in beta 2 form.ActiveWin’s IE 8 post includes an email from Microsoft, only intended for those invited to the IE 8 beta 1 testing program. Part of that email states: “IE8 Beta 1 is focused on the developer community, with the goal of gaining valuable feedback to improve Internet Explorer 8 during the development process. Participation in the Technical Beta will enable you to evaluate a common release of Windows Internet Explorer 8, the ability to submit feedback, post bug reports, download software answer surveys on product quality as well as vote on top bugs filed by others from the technical beta program”.As Firefox 3 is already at beta 3 status, Microsoft could well be coming out with a public beta at the same time Firefox comes out with their release version, but if things go well Microsoft will surely look to release the final version of IE 8 sometime in 2008, and not beyond. Developers wanting more information on coding sites to be IE 8 compatible can visit the MSDN IE blog, although serious developers most likely already know about this site and have been following progress happening there, especially after IE 7 changed the way developers were used to things happening in IE 6. Cnet mentions that the upcoming Microsoft MIX 08 event in Las Vegas will have more information on IE 8.

With Firefox 3 nearly ready for primetime, and as Netscape is formally no more, Mozilla celebrates over half a billion Firefox downloads with a program to donate free rice to the poor.
Users of the 64-bit version of Vista may have noticed something strange over the last couple of days – a notification that Vista SP1 has downloaded to their computers and is ready for installation, despite availability still set for March 18. Has Microsoft gone mad?In a move that is of no surprise to anyone, Microsoft has finally decided it will no longer manufacture the HD DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360, although they will naturally continue to support customers who purchased the drive.Late last year Uruguay landed its first shipment of 100,000 units of the much lauded, sometimes criticised XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation. Buoyed by that success, Walter Bender, president software and content at OLPC effused over the next countries in line for the little green machine. The question is, however, can the likes of Peru, Mexico, Ethiopia, Haiti, Rwanda, Mongolia and a myriad of other impoverished countries stump up with the cash needed to join the OLPC bandwagon?

Cyberstar announced the launch of new Lexmark Color Printer Z1320 in India.

The Lexmark Z1320 prints up to 22 ppm (pages per minute) black and 16 ppm color. This latest desktop inkjet printer from Lexmark comes with an optional 6 color printing features and is capable of printing color photos and professional quality text and graphics and borderless prints up to 5x7-inch.

The printer come pre-installed with Lexmark Software Suite including the Lexmark Imaging Studio software. The printer offers print resolutions of up to 1200x1200 pixels (black) and 4800x1200 pixels (color).

The Lexmark Z1320 inkjet compact desktop printer can print on transparencies, envelopes and photo paper and supports Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, XP Professional x64 and Mac OS.

Priced at Rs. 2900, the Lexmark Z1320 reportedly has a duty cycle of 3000 pages per month and comes with a 1 year limited exchange warranty.

Has the fallout already begun from Microsoft’s serious snafu of releasing Vista SP1 early to users of 64-bit Vista? We’ve just received a report that shows two new problems we haven’t heard of before, as we unofficially rename SP1 to ‘Snafu Pack 1’.
Watch out, Microsoft – you’re in serious danger of sending people over the edge. While I’m happy with my own Vista installation, especially since a stack of driver issues were sorted out earlier in 2007, I’ve stayed well away from SP1, and based on the latest report, I’m glad I did. Now, I’m not using the 64-bit version of Vista, but only the 32-bit, yet the latest report of SP1 troubles we’ve received was experienced on a 64-bit Vista system that received a notification of SP1 ready to install last week. And as far as our reader knows, it has only affected two things so far on his system, one minor, the other much more important, which we’ll get to in a moment. Critics might say the effects aren’t such a big deal, but as we all know, it’s the little things and attention to detail that we all notice. If this problem turns out to be widespread, you can guarantee there’s going to be a few people out there that are going to get mad, and are not going take it anymore! And why? Because some doofus at Microsoft didn’t quintuple check before letting the 64-bit SP1 off the leash, and ended up sending it to many more people that was originally intended.

Telecom companies, Samsung and Spice have come up with entry-level handsets for the Indian market.

Samsung's "Guru100" is a stylish bar-shaped handset equipped with features such as MP3 ring tones, mobile tracker, 9 hours talk time, and up to 500 phone-book entries.

The handset sports a 3.86cm LCD screen and a speaker phone for hands-free comfort. It also includes a Hinglish sms feature that recognizes both English and Hindi words.

Priced at Rs 1,949, "Guru100" weighs 78 grams and measures 104 x 44 x 16.3mm.

Meanwhile, Spice's new entry-level camera phone, "S-585" features FM Radio, VGA camera, and music player.

The one-touch FM Radio and MP3 player comes along with inbuilt speaker phones. Users can also watch videos on the 65K TFT color display. The memory slot is expandable up to 1 GB.

The S-585 comes with essential accessories, including a dual-corded headset and USB cable, and is priced at Rs 2,999.

Lenovo has made announcement about the launching of its much-awaited ‘ThinkPad X300’ notebook computer, which targets business users as well as consumers.

The newly launched ‘ultra-portable machine’ weighs just 2.9 pounds and enjoys more features as compared to Apple MacBook Air.

Equipped with three USB ports and DVD Writer, ThinkPad X300 comes with a 13.3-inch LED backlit display and a removable battery with more duration of 10 hours. Therefore, the laptop computer would be very helpful in long flight hours or journeys.

The company said that its new laptop computer utilizes 25% less power than its earlier ThinkPad models.

Tom Ribble, director of Think-pad product marketing at Lenovo, stated that the lithium-polymer chemistry offers up better battery life than standard lithium-ion batteries found in the majority of laptops today.

Powered by Intel's Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV low-voltage chip, operating at 1.2GHz, the new laptop comes with Windows XP or Windows Vista. It is likely to get WiMax potentialities later this year.

Intel shrunk the SL7100 LV processor to make it 60% smaller than standard-sized processors belonging to Intel’s Merom family. The chip is fabricated using the 65-nanometer process, like other Merom processors.

In addition, the X300 provides connectivity alternatives including WiMax, WLAN, GB Ethernet connectivity and GPS capabilities.

The laptop also features 4GB of memory with integrated graphics, a digital camera, wired and wireless networking, Internal 64GB SSD, webcam, fingerprint reader, 3USB ports, 2Ghz/880Mhz Intel Merom Santa Rosa Dual Core CPU and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory. It includes both touchpad and track point scrolling capabilities.

The Lenovo X300 will be available in the US, at a price beginning from $2,799.

Transcend has launched its 32GB 133x CompactFlash (CF) card in the Indian market

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32GB 133x CF card operates in both dual-channel mode and Ultra DMA mode 4.
The newly launched card features rapid read and write speeds of up to 45MBps/18MBps that make sequential shooting and non-stop video recording much easier.
Further, the card also features an inbuilt ECC (Error Correction Code), which assures greater consistency. This forbids the risk of data corruption and missing files.
The other features of the Transcend 133X CF card includes dual channel flash interface, CF Type I, complies with the new CF 4.1 standard, ATA interface, low power consumption, multi-platform compatibility, RoHS Compliant, lifetime warranty and many others.
Along with a lifetime warranty, the newly launched 32GB 133x CF card is priced at Rs 10,500 in India. Theese high-speed 133x CF cards are also available in different capacities such as 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB.

Panasonic VDR-D310 DVD type digital video camera features with 10X optical zoom, 3CCD 3.1MP Leica lens camera system, 2.7 inch wide LCD screen and image stabilizer. Panasonic VDR-D310 supports the media with multi-format: 8cm DVD-RAM/DVD-RW/DVD-R/DVD-R DL (Dual Layer).
Specifications:No. of Image Sensors 3
Image Sensor Size (Inches) 1/6
Total Pixel Count (000) 2400
Effective Pixel Count (000) 1620
Optical Zoom (x) 10
Digital Zoom (x) 700
Aperture F1.8 (Wide)/F2.8 (Tele)
Focal Length f = 3.0-30.0mm
Lens Type LEICA DICOMAR
Lens Filter Diameter (mm) 37
Minimum Illumination (lux) 1
Focus Modes AF/Manual
White Balance Modes Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, Set
Shutter Speed Range Tape Mode: 1/50 - 1/8000sec., Card Mode: 1/50 - 1/500 sec.
Iris AF/Manual
16:9 Recording Yes
Backlight Compensation Yes
View Finder Type Colour
View Finder Size (inches) 0.33 Colour EVF (113K pixels)
Inbuilt LCD Screen Yes
LCD Monitor Screen Size (Inches) 2.7
LCD Monitor pixel count (000) 123
Stereo Zoom Microphone Yes
Wind Noise Reduction Yes
Titler Date/Time Yes
Image Stabiliser Type Optical
Recording Medium Type DVD-Ram Disc
Still Picture Storage Format JPEG
Still Picture Storage Dimensions 640 x 480 - 0.3 MEGA, 1280 x 960 - 1.2 MEGA, 1920 x 1080 (16:9) - 2.1 MEGA, 2048 x 1512 3.1 MEGA
Picture Bridge Compatible Yes
Recording Mode XP, SP, LP
Playback Mode XP, SP, LP
Remote Control Yes
Audio Recording System Dolby Digital (2ch)
USB Connectivity Yes:2.0 Full Speed (mini B)
HDMI Input/Output No
S-Video Output(s) Yes
A/V Output (mini) Yes
Microphone Input Yes (stereo mini)
Accessory Shoe Yes (Cold)
Accessory A/V Cable (RCA - 4 pin) Supplied
Accessory S-Video Cable Supplied
Accessory AV/Cable AV Multi
Accessory Lens Cap Supplied
Accessory PC Cable Supplied (USB)
Power (Mains) Battery Charger/AC Adaptor (Input:110-240V AC) (Included)
Input Requirements (DC V) 7.9
Power (Battery) Lithium-ion battery pack (7.2V)
Power Consumption (Watts) 4.1
Power Consumption (Watts) with LCD 4.4
Weight (g)1 510
Height (mm)2 91.1
Width (mm)3 66.7
Depth (mm)4 142.7
$969.00

Competition is at a record high in the mid-level digital SLR category and Nikon has staked its claim with its D300. At $1,800 (body only), the D300 is one of the more expensive prosumer models on the market but its advanced features, above average image quality, strong low-light capabilities and speedy autofocus performance can certainly justify the extra dollars, especially if your bank account is flush and you’re looking for a D3/D300 back-up combination.

It has been a while since there’s been a really heated (or justified) Nikon versus Canon debate but the D300 – and, more likely, the D3 – has re-ignited the competitive flames. Despite loyalties to one brand or the other, the D300/D3 one-two punch is definitely food for thought regardless of which side of the fence you’re on.

Nokia N95
Manufacturer Nokia
Available 2007
Screen 320x240 px, 2.6 in, TFT LCD
Camera 5 Megapixels (Back)
2nd Camera CIF video call (Front)
Operating system Symbian OS v9.2, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1
Input Keypad
Memory 160 MB
Memory card MicroSD
Networks HSDPA (3.5G),Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
Connectivity USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi b/g, InfraRed
Battery BL-5F (950 mAh)
Physical size 99x53x21 mm
Weight 120 g
Form factor Slider
Successor N96