Thursday, December 11, 2008

Japan installs cellphone jammers near ATMs to prevent fraud

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/10/japan-installs-cellphone-jammers-near-atms-to-prevent-fraud/


If you're tired of being scammed at ATMs by kind, gentle-hearted con artists (and then forgetting it ever happened), you'll be stoked to know that Japan is looking out for you. Chiba Bank has installed phone signal jammers at four unnamed ATMs at bank branches in the Tokyo region, and while it has gone down as the first institution to go to such lengths, we highly doubt it'll be the last. It's not entirely clear what exactly the criminals were able to convince people to do via mobile, but it's probably something like "psst... get me out some cheddar and meet around back." Not that we have any experience in the field or anything...

[Via textually]

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Japan installs cellphone jammers near ATMs to prevent fraud originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:53 PM

Ericsson and Intel developing remote kill switch with GPS locator for stolen laptops

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/11/ericsson-and-intel-developing-remote-kill-switch-with-gps-locato/


While a power-on password and encrypted drive in your laptop could protect your data in the event of theft, it doesn't come close to the satisfaction you'd feel at being able to locate and prosecute the bastage who stole it. While Lenovo has its Lockdown PC Now feature that allows you to remotely disable your lost or stolen laptop via SMS, it lacks GPS to pinpoint your gear's location. Enter Ericsson, who just announced its intent to make its HSPA-capable Mobile Broadband Modules compatible with Intel's Anti-Theft Technology. Ericsson's modules will support remote-SMS disable like Lenovo's slabs but adds GPS to transmit the laptop's location. At least they will once commercial products begin to ship sometime in the second half of 2009.

P.S. To all thieves and malcontents: just because we gave you a picture of the module above doesn't mean you're allowed to remove it and disable the service. Not cool.

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Ericsson and Intel developing remote kill switch with GPS locator for stolen laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:39 PM

Large Hadron Collider damaged and we have the photos to prove it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/11/large-hadron-collider-damaged-and-we-have-the-photos-to-prove-it/


Is it possible that shoddy workmanship has once again saved the planet from an untimely demise? Not really, but this next tale should give our paranoiac readers plenty to mull over regardless. CERN has recently released pics of damage wrought when an electrical fault caused a liquid helium leak a mere nine days after the Large Hadron Collider started smashing atoms in September, wrecking interconnects between the magnets in sectors three and four. According to CNET, the doomsday machine will be out of commission until at least summer of 2009. So breathe a sigh of relief, little ones... and pray that the grey goo or the replicant hordes don't get us in the meantime. Hit the read link for all the pics.

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Large Hadron Collider damaged and we have the photos to prove it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:38 PM

Ratoc introduces Wireless USB kit for your PCMCIA-equipped laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/11/ratoc-introduces-wireless-usb-kit-for-your-pcmcia-equipped-lapto/


Still getting by with PCMCIA, are you? Looking to get into the potentially crumbling world of Wireless USB? Well then, step right up! Ratoc is pumping out its very first WUSB kit with the REX-WUSB1, which includes a rather bulky PC Card (with ultra-wideband antenna) and a four-port WUSB hub. Users with Windows XP / Vista-based machines simply plug in the card, load up the drivers and link their favorite USB peripherals to the hub; from there, you can kick back and enjoy the spoils of wireless printing, wireless cooling and wireless warming -- two of which really aren't all they're cracked up to be. Anywho, the bundle is expected to go on sale in the Land of the Rising Sun later this month for ¥31,500 ($340).

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Ratoc introduces Wireless USB kit for your PCMCIA-equipped laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:38 PM

Fusion-io's ioDrive tested: world's fastest storage confirmed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/11/fusion-ios-iodrive-tested-worlds-fastest-storage-confirmed/


See all those little Samsung squares? That's NAND flash memory, 80 gigabytes worth on Fusion-io's ioDrive. Tweaktown got an exclusive look at the PCIe storage card and came away mightily impressed by its "near nonexistent latency." It's faster than the best SATA II SSD or fastest 15,000RPM drive loaded in an 8 drive RAID config. Put simply, it's the fastest storage device they've ever tested. Tweaktown was so impressed that they proclaim, "Fusion-io has raised the bar so high that once adopted, traditional solutions will be considered legacy products." Mind you, this is enterprise class storage designed for data center servers requiring ultra-fast IO. Still, the only thing preventing you from installing it inside your own 64-bit OS (only) gaming rig is the price: the 80GB ioDrive lists for about $3,000 on up to $14,400 for the 320GB model. Yeah, expensive, but not for your CIO. Eveyone else will have to wait for the consumer model said to be in the works. Hit the read link for all the benchmarks.

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Fusion-io's ioDrive tested: world's fastest storage confirmed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:37 PM

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