Seagate’s Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (Full Disk Encryption 2) drives are set to ship in early 2007, allowing consumers to have built-in encryption on the disks to protect their data from nosy intruders. These drives, which are of the 2.5-inch, 5400RPM kin designed for notebooks, will require you to have some form of authentication before it’s able to be read from at all. Seagate’s looking to other equipment manufacturers to add in either fingerprint or other smart card authentication to machines which use this drive. So far no PC maker has actually announced support for the drive – something that’s, you know, important – but Seagate is already calling the technology “DriveTrust” in preparation for that day. Seeing as the previous generation Momentus 5400 FDE drives were announced June 2006 and still don’t have PC support, Seagate called that one a “proof-of-concept product” to save face. So how much more will you have to pay to keep your data automatically secure? Less than $100, actually, which is around the same as comparable software solutions. Since it’s almost always faster to do things on hardware, this price isn’t too bad. But then again, if all you’re doing is keeping your MP3s and emails to your wife on your hard drive, you probably won’t need encryption at all. Seagate Readies Secure Drive [PCWorld] → Read More
Vitamin reports that UK-based Idiomag is due for launch. Styled as a personal online magazine which combines ‘glossy RSS’ with tagging, weighting and rating, TechChrunch US reported recently, Idiomag is Angel funded. It’s good to see this kind of approach to media which combines social media with more traditional publishing. idiomag plans to accept content “via direct input through the content providers administration section and via RSS.” Digital design and music will be the first focus, but the magazine plans to aggregate licensed content from other publishers delivering “an individually personalized magazine to each user”. Perhaps this is not so heard these days, but what’s different is that this tagged content will be presented via Flash which means microsites and rich-media ads are possible. The business model is to share ad revenue with content providers. Thus Idio provides a user-friendly face to RSS content which monetises RSS more efficiently for the publisher than banners inside feeds. I can’t say I haven’t seen a Flash magazine before, but it’s interesting to see an independent publisher putting a Flash filter on onto a social media tagging approach. → Read More
Today’s tedious PR-release-written-as-news comes from the little known Manchester-based Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS) which has the Telegraph today reporting that office workers who buy their Christmas presents online from their desks cost £7.25 billion in lost work time. “For many employers, every hour a member of staff spends looking for Christmas presents online is an hour they should have spent working,” says killjoy Peter Mooney of the ELAS. He advised businesses to set guidelines for the amount of time that staff spend online. I assume the subtext of this is also ‘employ us to sue workers who surf’. However, what this cod-research suggests is that the market for improving both a pure-play retail search engine and adding smarter tagging and search-based RSS feeds to a site could a) improve its sales because customers would find things faster and more efficiently and b) create a more productive workforce who don’t need to spend so much of their employers time surfing after-all. A more logical approach by employers would not be to “set guidelines for the amount of time that staff spend online” but instead recognise that they are going to do it, then give them a list of the best and quickest sites to go to for online shopping, thus saving hours on Google. And let’s not even go into how employees usually end up having smarter ideas about business when they can roam unimpeded. A snapshot look at Kelkoo and Pricerunner suggests that Web 2.0 principles haven’t penetrated that deeply into the price comparison market on this side of the pond. Ok, both sites feature user-generated revues, but neither allow you to pull an RSS feed out based on a search term which one might be able to plug into a Google/Yahoo/Pageflakes start page. So who wants to kick off the best and fastest places to find what you need this Christmas, a la Web 2.0? → Read More
MotionDSP uses military grade video enhancement technology to improve the quality of low-grade footage from devices like mobile phones. The technology compares every frame in a video to find and replace missing pixels. We profiled the company in August and today they have launched their first product. Called Ikena, the offering is a B2B deal aimed at websites hosting consumer generated video content. The company offered a brief period of free public beta use, but that period is over now. If you start seeing the quality of mobile shot video on the web improving, don’t assume it’s an improvement on the phone side. MostionDSP’s resolution enhancement could become an industry standard for video sharing sites. You can see the quality of the video enhancement on the company’s sample page or on the MotionDSP user page on YouTube. The difference isn’t huge, but when consumers had a choice between the two I think the demand will be clear. MotionDSP began in 1998 as a US military funded project at UC Santa Cruz. Its first product provides real time enhancement (meaning a one-minute video will take one minute to enhance) using a system of 3 dual core servers. Those systems start at $30,000 but most large companies will want to buy them in bulk. A company representative told me that future products could include chips to perform the resolution enhancement on phones or laptops. Anything that can run its algorithm is a potential platform, they said. They have taken about $500,000 in angel funding and are expecting to close Series A funding before end of year, probably in November. → Read More
Being the gadget lovers we are, we can’t count the times we brought home yet another expensive toy only to have our wives look at us in disgust, refusing to finish the “delicious” dinner she’d been making. Well, actually we could easily count the times by counting the scars on our backs thanks to the god-awful couch we end up sleeping on each time. Nevertheless, it would be nice to avoid such a situation entirely. Thanks to this list of the 10 most wife-acceptable gadgets, that may be possible. The list has some unlikely stuff like a Sony VPL-VW50 projector (we don’t think so), a 50-inch plasma for less than $2,000 (maybe), Slingbox A/V (doubtful unless you married a nerd), and a Sonos bundle. The items she probably will accept are the iPod Nano, a TiVo Dual Tuner, and a Philips Digital Photo frame. From experience, we recommend you bringing home some flowers and an invitation for her mother to visit along with your new gadget anyway, just in case. Top 10 products with high ‘wife-acceptance factor’ [CNET] → Read More
The crew over at Slashphone has dropped a video from Digital Life featuring the Parrot MK6000 handsfree kit. The Bluetooth 2.0 device features dual microphones, ambient noise dampening and text to speech. And it can stream music from any A2DP device. Parrot says it’s the next big thing in mobile, I doubt it would overstate the significance of its product (it does actually seem pretty cool though). Parrot MK6000 Handsfree Kit [SlashPhone] → Read More
Nintendo showed up this weekend at a convention one probably wouldn’t expect to be encountered by video games at: The AARP Life@50+ convention in Anaheim, Calif. The company was showing off its Wii in force, demonstrating to the 20,000 attendees that the Wii wasn’t just for kids. It also had demonstrations of “Brain Age” for the DS, with Nintendo operatives wandering the grounds wearing badges that read, “Ask Me My Brain Age.” I believe this will go down as one of the most brilliant moves of any gaming manufacturer. Its an untapped goldmine of consumers. Retirees with gobs of cash looking for more entertaining ways to spend their time. But the real beauty is in the fact that many of these retirees have grandchildren who will embrace the technology even further—brilliant really. Nintendo at AARP Event to Court the Grayer Gamers [NY Times] → Read More
Fans of the updated tie clip-like iPod Shuffle should rejoice, as Apple’s finally sending out ship notifications with a confirmed delivery date. The date: November 3. Despite having to wait nearly two months from the September Showtime event to now, Apple customers will undoubtedly be happy with the tiny player. We saw it, and it was microscopic. The only question we have is what held up the player, and will that possibly be a problem when the device hits your hands? My mother had similar problems hitting the ship date when she had me, but all future attempts to return the product (me) to the factory (my father) were ignored. But if you’ve been waiting for the new shuffle to arrive before ordering, you can now go on the Apple site and click away. Product Page [Apple via Engadget] → Read More
Maybe it’s not as big a deal as I think, but how the hell is Hong Kong-based tech manufacturer AMEX Digital going to get away with calling its new, and decidely cool-looking, USB VoIP phone the i-Talk Nano? I just assumed Apple’s lawyers would have protected any combination of those names. Oh well. The audio player phone is cheap at just $25, supports Skype, FireFly, MSN and other VoIP services, has a built-in speaker phone, noise reduction, echo cancellation and is available in black and white versions, naturally. AMEX Digital IT-N501 i-Talk Nano [press release] → Read More
Apparently the fans of the Xbox 360 keep the case cool enough so you can’t cook an egg on the outside – like the MacBook we saw a few months back – but you can cook it on the inside. How? By using the heat sinks. A guy who got the big 3 red lights of death on his Xbox 360 decided to have a little fun and open up the case. After some experimenting, he discovered that the heatsinks were hot enough to boil water and flame sambuca. With that knowledge, they quickly went to work and dropped the egg right in. As you can see from the video, it actually looks, well, edible. We’re not sure how many chemicals from the heatsink and inside of the machine got into the eggs, but if this guy ever wanted to have children he should probably get started soon. Xbox 360: gaming console, media hub, and frying pan? [Engadget via TechEBlog] → Read More
WikiHow has a detailed discussion on how to grab and place YouTube video on your iPod or other portable video player. Good news if you like 5 minute videos of kids skating with their hands. Firefox (Windows only) 1. Add the Greasemonkey extension to your Firefox browser. 2. Go to www.userscripts.org and install the Download YouTube Video script. 3. The next time you watch YouTube, you’ll see a Download Video option beneath the screen. Click it to save the file to your desktop as QaQw9V4Upj4.flv or whatever. 4. Install and launch the free Super video converter (www.erightsoft.com). Download is located here. 5. Select Apple – iPod from the Output Container option, and then the output video codec H.264/AVC. Set size to 320 x 240. If you get an error message when converting, unclick the Use DirectShow button. Otherwise, drag the converted file into iTunes and it’s ready for viewing. → Read More
If you’ve enjoyed reading CrunchGear over the past few months, it’s time to repay the favor. We’re conducting a little readers’ survey to help us get a better feel for our demographic. By completing the survey, you will not only provide us with much needed beer money (CG is fueled by beer), but, perhaps more importantly, you will also enable us to serve you better with more relevant advertising. So please take a gander at the CrunchGear Survey, it’s nice and brief. → Read More
. With only one color Wii available, Sony is the only company that will have a multi-colored console in black, silver and white. Although Nintendo is only confirming one color, we suspect various different colored Wii versions will be released within 18 months of the launch, which coincidentally will also be smaller than the first Wii version, but have problems with its hinge cracking. It will be called the Wii Not-So-Big. Only one color of Wii [Gonext] → Read More
Boost Mobile, that “youth lifestyle-based telecommunications brand,” has announced the exclusive availability of the Motorola i835 handset, a mobile phone designed for the ladies. Available in purple and white, the exterior of the cell features a screen that lights up with “vibrant disco lights that move to the beat of a MIDI ringtone” when a call’s received. It’s also got some hand stenciling going on that’s pretty sweet that you may like if you’re a girl, which I am not. Motorola slapped a layer AgION antimicrobial coating on the phone to limit the amount of damage your bacteria-ridden face does to the body’s paint job, too. The phone retails for $130 and can be had immediately at Boost Mobile. Oh and if you’re not the type to walk around with a floral-stenciled phone with disco lights, there’s a version in black as well. → Read More
Most Americans don’t get enough sleep, period. This is because of a combination of an overwhelmingly Puritan work ethic coupled with really good late night talk shows. It’s endemic and must be stopped. The Wake-up Light can help you, though. Instead of blaring Top 40 or Stern to shock your system into wakefulness, the light starts at a dim level, gradually increasing over half an hour, until it reaches a point that your body finds acceptable to wake to. This gentle way of removing you from REM makes you feel far more rested and refreshed, as interrupting a REM cycle can leave you feeling drained all day. The Wake-up Light is made by Royal Philips and will be available early next year in Europe, but we’ll probably have to bare the Sharper Image here in the States. We’re hoping it’s got a snooze button of some sort, or else we’re screwed. The Wake-up Light [gizmag] → Read More
The Coleco “Sonic Handheld”, available for preorder at Target now, is a portable handheld gaming system that features a bunch of Sega Genesis titles. We don’t really know where this came from, Coleco announced that it was going to release a new Colecovision console back in November of 2005. A year later, we get our the Sonic Handheld instead. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of original Sega Genesis games too, but this gaming system came out of nowhere. The good news is, it’s only $49.99, and you’ll be able to play 20 original Sega Genesis games on the handheld. The games include: Drift 2 Sonic Triple Trouble Alex Kidd in High Tech World Alex Kidd in Miracle World Altered Beast Assault City Astro Warrior Aztec Adventure Bomber Raid Columns Ecco II: The Tides of Time Fantasy Zone Fantasy Zone: The Maze Global Defense Kung Fu Kid The Ninja Penguin Land Quartet Snail Maze Super Columns Altered Beast – mmmmmmmmm. Coleco Sonic Handheld [joystiq] → Read More
I’ve watched this video numerous times trying to figure out what the hell is actually going on. Are the people in this video stoned? Could that explain why they are acting like robots? Or maybe it’s cause they are nervous (the are playing PlayStation 3 with a girl). At least we get to see PlayStation 3′s slot drive and PSP-like interface in action. I have to say that the “touch” sensitive buttons on the front look great too. Keep up the “live” videos Sony, you’ve got us fooled! PlayStation 3: Not So Much In The Wild [gadgetell] → Read More
. E-Let, a Japanese gear house, knows this. It also realizes that those of us who choose to be mobile require as little encumbrance as possible, thus the love of converged devices. That line of thought went on to produce this combo WiFi finder/WiFi USB dongle it offers in Japan under the WiFiWalker brand. The smallish LCD readout on the front gives you signal strength and other information about your local hotspots, a handy thing to have before you break out your laptop. No word yet on if we’ll see this white plastic joy on this side of the Pacific yet, but items like this have an easy time of finding their own way over the ocean, usually under some other brand name. Wifi Finder, the USB wifi key [Akihabara News] → Read More
Sony hasn’t told us much about what formats we can expect its PlayStation 3 to read, but that’s all changed now. Today, we found out that PlayStation 3 will cover a wide range of formats supporting video, music and pictures. So what exactly can we expect? Will we be able to watch iTunes movies? Will we be able to listen to AAC files without any kind of patch or update? Watch PR()N? Here’s the complete list from Kotaku, after the jump. → Read More
OK, so I showed you Buffalo’s new USB 2.0/FireWire hard drives, so here’s Plextor’s external dual-layer DVD±RW drive to go with them, which includes combo ports as well. And it is also Plextor’s first external drive to feature 10x DVD+R dual-layer recording speed (6x for -R). Also, while some drive makers throw in some “lite” utilities, Plextor’s including the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 software suite along with its PlexTools Professional software, a package of six utilities for getting the most out of the drive. This seems like a great choice for a home or office where upgrading the optical drives on your computers isn’t an option. Or, since it’ll work with Windows and Mac, it’s a good option for a mixed-OS situation. It’ll be available mid-November with a MSRP of $159. For the time being, you can check out more details on Plextor’s European site. → Read More
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