Author: Andy Merrett
Quick! Encrypt your hard drives now: Euro police could be hacking your PC
It’s very easy to become alarmed by some of the scaremongering stories which appear in certain sections of the UK press when it comes to technology and privacy, but this one – if abused – could be pretty serious indeed.
According to The Times, The Home Office has developed plans to give the UK police force the power to remotely hack into the personal computer of anyone it suspects might be involved with something dodgy — you know, terrorism, paedophilia, drug trafficking, that kind of thing — without a warrant, with the additional joyous notion that police forces from across the European Union can request information on any British Citizen.
Yes, it does all sound a bit Daily Mail, but unsurprisingly it’s raised the hackles of the human rights group Liberty, which has said that it will mount a legal challenge.
LG to build Netflix-enabled HDTVs, Adobe bringing Flash to HD equipment
LG should announce today that it is to manufacture high definition LCD and plasma TVs with the Netflix Internet streaming service built in for the US market.
The two companies launched a partnership to manufacture set top boxes just before CES last year. This news means that consumers will be able to buy an integrated TV rather than a dedicated STB and additional cabling…
Nvidia reveals Ion Platform which could bring high-definition and high powered gaming to netbooks
Nvidia has unveiled its Ion Platform, based upon the GeForce 9400, claiming that if it were to be put into an Intel Atom-based netbook it could allow high definition footage and high-powered games to run with ease.
Nvidia reckons that the GeForce 9400 offers up to ten times the performance of the integrated graphics solution that comes with the Atom chip, featuring 16 processing cores and 52 GLOPS of processing power. Therein lies the problem, though: Intel’s Atom comes with its own integrated graphics, so separating it and allowing other manufacturers to sell their own GPUs along with the main processor is going to require some lobbying of Intel…
Dell launches XPS-730X extreme gaming desktop with Intel Core i7
Looking for an extreme last-minute present for a gaming freak? How about the Dell XPS 730X extreme gaming desktop featuring Intel’s powerful Core i7 or Core i7 Extreme processors and ATI Radeon 4870 X2 graphics card.
Also fitted is the Bigfoot KillerNIC gaming network card which offers more responsive online game play than a standard NIC.
Other features include internal lighting from a series of battery-powered LEDs, optional H2C high-performance cooled CPUs and chipsets, and up to 2TB of hard drive storage and 6GB of DDR3 memory…
BBC iPlayer programme downloads finally coming to Mac and Linux users via Adobe AIR
Yes, that long-winded title pretty much sums up it up – Mac and Linux users who have been (im)patiently waiting for the BBC to develop software that will allow them to download programmes from iPlayer will soon see their wish come true.
The BBC has partnered with Adobe (makes a change from Microsoft) to launch an AIR version of the iPlayer software. As Adobe’s AIR platform is (allegedly) cross-platform, it should mean that any operating system capable of running it will be able to download content…
Christmas Tech Trumpet: Twelve Days of Christmas
It’s the third Christmassy Tech Trumpet, where I attempt to make vaguely musical (and festive) sounds using a variety of gadgets and computers.
Actually, I’ve cheated a bit this week due to the pressures of Christmas preparation and a lack of Vitamin C, and instead am sharing with you one of the most wonderful Christmassy MIDI files I’ve ever heard…
Watch TV on your BlackBerry with free SlingPlayer Mobile beta
Sling Media has announced that it’s making its SlingPlayer Mobile software available for a range of BlackBerry devices from 30th December.
If you’ve got a BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900, Curve 8820, Curve 8320, Pearl Flip 8220 or Pearl 8120 then you’ll be able to download the public beta version for free from the SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry web site and start controlling your Slingbox while on the move…
Odeon/UCI to expand digital and 3D cinemas across Europe
In case you hadn’t realised by now, analogue media is on its way out across the board, which is why Odeon and UCI Cinemas has announced that it plans to increase the number of DCI-compliant digital cinemas to 111 locations out of 200 across Europe.
As part of this upgrade, the number of 3D digital screens will be tripled, with a proud statistic that over 70% of Odeon/UCI cinemagoers will be within half-an-hour’s drive of a 3D screen. All digital cinemas will be kitted out with 2k digital projectors and servers…
Sony shows off new home cinema systems
Sony has launched a range of home cinema systems in time for the holidays, so if you’ve got a bit of money to spare and want an all-in-one package, these are worth considering.
First up is the HTP-BD3iS, which combines Sony’s BDP-S350 Blu-ray player and HT-IS100 5.1-channel surround sound system that features subwoofer, powerful S-Master digital amplification, surround sound processing, and automatic audio calibration…
Vodafone launches pre-pay USB broadband modem
The rise in popularity of pay-as-you-go mobile services has now extended to mobile broadband, with news that Vodafone has launched its first pre-pay USB modem.
The “TopUP and Go” 3.6Mbps modem costs £39 and comes with a £15 credit which offers 1GB of data. Good news: purchased data doesn’t expire after 30 days.
Customers simply use a voucher or call a phone number (08080 101238) to buy additional data…
