Monday, October 29, 2007

Next-gen credit cards to feature miniature displays and keypads

from Engadget by

As if there wasn't enough temptation to get into debt, credit card manufacturers are now looking to stick fancy displays and keypads directly onto cards. The "Credit Card Embedded Authentication Device" was put together by Innovative Card Technologies and eMue Technologies, and uses the screen and keypad to provide security for online and mobile based banking transfers: the user enters their pin into the card, which gives back a one-time use code to authorize online transactions. The card will get its "consumer debut" -- whatever that means -- in Paris this November, at the Cartes & IDentification event.

[Via Bsams]

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EZFetch HD media streamer can stream off N-series phones

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The FCC database continues to be full of weird and wonderful toys, and the EZFetch HD media streamer from EZ 4 Media certainly fits that description -- in addition to streaming content off networked PCs, it can also grab content from Nokia N-series devices and display it on your TV. Connections include the usual SD composite jacks, as well as optical audio, DVI-D, Ethernet, and built-in 801.11g wireless, and codec support is pretty spectacular, including H.264, XviD, DivX HD, MPEG4, WMV, and VOB. The N-series integration is the big feature here, however -- not only does the EZFetch stream content from any WiFi-capable N-series device, you can also use the N-series as a remote to control the entire EZFetch system. No word on pricing or availability, sadly, but RF spectrum test geeks can check out all the test results at the read link.

Read -- EZ 4 Media website
Read -- EZFetch FCC listing

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3's Skype/Cellphone Phone Launches in UK [VoIP]

skypephone3a.jpgThe Skype/Cellphone we've been keeping our eye on has just launched under provider 3 in the UK. It looks quite similar to Netgear's old Skype phones, but of course has standard cellphone calling as well as Skyping capabilities. It's cool because Skype to Skype is free, but SkypeOut and SkypeIn—which uses the Skype network for cheaper calls to regular numbers—is disabled. [RedHerring via Reuters via WirelessInfo]

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Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX9650 review roundup confirms the 45nm Penryn hype


Intel's first 45-nm processors have just rolled off the assembly line in the form of the quad-core QX9650 desktop CPU. This 3.0GHz Yorkfield-class proc based on Intel's Penryn microarchitecture brings a 1,333MHz front side bus to Intel's Core 2 Extreme family of processors. Sounds a lot like Intel's 65-nm 3.0GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Kentsfield-class processor launched in July, eh? Not so. According to benchmarks already announced by Bit-tech, Hot Hardware , PC Perspective, and more, the new processors are smokin' fast while consuming "much less" power in the process. With final thoughts like, "the new Core 2 Extreme QX9650 is simply the fastest processor for gaming, media encoding and just about anything else you could do on your PC," really, what else does the average consumer need to know? Overclockers, silencers, and enthusiasts: these links are for you:

[Via I4U News]

Read -- PC World review
Read -- Hot Hardware review
Read -- Bit-tech review
Read -- PC Perspective review

 

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NVIDIA debuts cooler, cheaper, smaller GeForce 8800 GT

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Even if it's smaller, cooler, and cheaper than its higher end brethren, that unfortunately doesn't mean it's better: the formerly G92-codenamed NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT sits in the middle of the 8800-series with a single slot configuration that uses 100 Watts less power than the top of the range model, but with a lower clock speed and six less "stream processors." It's a fair bit higher spec than the GTX and GTS models though, with the same "stream processor" (what the hell are these?) clock speed as the Ultra at 1500MHz, and a memory frequency of 900MHz. It also supports PCIe 2.0 and the PureVideo HD engine which offloads H.264 encoding onto the GPU. It sells for between $199-249, and should be available within the next few days at the usual online stores.

 

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