Gadgets Future

Social networking fans, beware! There is a virus going around that parades around as messages from your ‘friends’ from your MySpace or Facebook accounts, but in reality is an extremely destructive virus. Known as Win32.Koobecaf.a, it sends malicious content to MySpace users, while Facebook fans will have to contend with a variant known as Win32.Koobecaf.b. Be on your guard always, put on your thinking cap before you click on just about any link, and do keep your computer updated with the latest anti-virus software (and definitions) always.

by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 5th 2008 at 11:31AM
Seriously, we’ve been hearing about the EOS 7D for well over a year now, with the chatter predictably heating up before every major trade show — and with just over a month before Photokina, it’s happening all over again. Hopefully Canon actually has this semi-legendary $1,899 full-frame DSLR to show us this time — the 5D is getting pretty ancient.

P.S.- We have no way of knowing if this image is real or not, so don’t get too excited out there.

[Thanks, David]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

I want you to remove all innuendo while you read this dialogue.
“Hey is that some new type of cellphone in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?”
“Yes, that is a new cellphone in my pocket, and I got a woody.”

You see, the second guy has the concept phone that is made of wood, not a (ahem). Maybe I should quite while I’m behind here, but I’d rather just stay on task here and complete my article.

The Maple phone is the creation of a Korean team Hyun Jin Yoon and Eun Hak Lee, and it definitely challenges the notion that all our phones must be made of plastic. The phone also has touch sensitive keypads and even has a camera.

Well, with those features, it can’t be completely made of wood. I just can’t imagine how the touchpad keys work on the wooden frame.

However, since wood is a very natural and renewable resource, I can see it being used for very environmental purposes. However, why stop there? Let’s make some wooden plasma screens, laptops, or MP3 Players.

Well, we will see where this goes. Right now, it looks more like a block of wood with some red numbers taped to it, along with a big sticker for a screen. The image on the right with the “keyboard” looks like a projection made by a laser.

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Oh, what to say about Chocobo’s Dungeon?

Well, it has a magic baby that allows the starring bird to enter dungeons located in people’s minds. You definitely cannot say that about many games. It also stars Cid, who is to Final Fantasy what Tim Meadows was to Saturday Night Live, in that he’s got more title appearances in the series than any other character I can think of, unless you count Mogs as a whole… which I don’t.

Anyway, Cid is back and he owns a chocobo named Chocobo. Which is kind of like a cat that is named Cat. It isn’t really that original or creative, and makes you wonder what is wrong with the owner. Cid is searching for something to build his first airship, I think. There was also something about a town where people forget things, and the baby and the bird team up to reclaim the towns people’s memories. It’s like Groundhog Day, except not funny. Despite my best efforts I was so bored by this game it was hard to pay enough attention to piece this overly-juvenile, puerile story together.

Which brings me to my first gripe. The rating on this game is 10+, but I cannot imagine anyone over the age of five being the least bit amused by it. It’s sort of like a “my first video game” type of thing. Square Enix has really outdone themselves this time, creating the sort of story line here that makes the Crystal Chronicle series seem dark and cutting-edge by comparison. Which is to say, this game is revoltingly over-cute and infantile in its narrative and feel.

Worse yet, the action follows the same path. There is literally one button that is pushed to do one attack… and that is pretty much it. Players wander around exceedingly simple mazes and kick at enemies on the screen with the A button over and over. Yawn. Even worse, the Wiimote makes a really annoying, loud chirp every time you hit that attack, which is constantly. It’s as if they are trying to irritate the gamer. You can mix things up by going into the menu and selecting a generic special attack, but really this does nothing to change the oversimplified gameplay.

The upgrade and item-collecting portions of this game are just as lackluster. You pick up two types of upgrades, one for “armor” and one for “weapon.” Oh, and there is food to pickup and feed Chocobo when he gets hungry. Yes, it’s just as mind-crushingly boring as it sounds. A job system attempts to give this game depth, but it’s just not enough to save this title from its repetitive bland-ness.

This is by far the most disappointed I have ever been in a release from Square Enix (yes, it’s far worse than The Bouncer was.) I’m admittedly a lifelong Final Fantasy fanboy, but I don’t begrudge this game for not living up to typical standards for the series. I begrudge this game for being an utterly miserable example of basic game design. It’s like they weren’t even trying for this one. Considering that oversimplified garbage has somehow equaled massive cash flow for Wii games, (thanks, casuals) I guess I can see why they wouldn’t particularly try.

Stay far away from this title, unless you are seeking a non-prescription alternative to insomnia, or have a child of questionable intelligence that you wish to entertain.

Elvis Presley is not really gone, as he is consistently one of the top earning dead celebrities in the world despite passing away in the last century. ZVUE has not forgotten about The King, and will be selling an exclusive Media Player that comes pre-loaded with 10 music video clips from two concert specials starring Elvis Presley - “68 Special” and “Aloha From Hawaii.” Known as the Elvis Presley Media Player, this will cost $49.88 and can be picked up from any Wal-Mart stores nationwide from August 12 onwards. Elvis fans will note that this comes just in time to coincide with Elvis Week at Graceland in Memphis. Well, I’m sure the Elvis estate could do with yet another dollar in their coffers…

Users of the MySpace and Facebook social networking sites are being warned of two variants of a new worm discovered by security vendor Kaspersky Lab.

The worm is called Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface, with .a and .b variants found to be in use. Koobface is spreading due to the fact it uses your friends to travel across the social networks infecting machines.

Typically you will receive a message from someone tagged as a friend on MySpace or Facebook, there are many messages in use including the following:

• Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The Street
• Examiners Caught Downloading Grades From The Internet
• You must see it!!! LOL. My friend catched you on hidden cam
• Is it really celebrity? Funny Moments

The messages contains links to what looks like a YouTube address. Visiting the address does display a video clip, but clicking to watch it brings up a message box stating you need to download the latest Flash Player plug-in. The actual executable downloaded is called codecsetup.exe and this is what infects your machine.

Once infected the worm then uses your friends list to send out more messages in the hope of spreading further. Kaspersky also believe that the payload delivered means that infected machines will be used as part of botnets in the future.

Alexander Gostev, senior virus analyst at Kaspersky Lab commented:

Unfortunately, users are very trusting of messages left by ‘friends’ on social networking sites. So the likelihood of a user clicking on a link like this is very high … At the beginning of 2008 we predicted that we’d see an increase in cybercriminals exploiting MySpace, Facebook and similar sites, and we’re now seeing evidence of this. I’m sure that this is simply the first step, and that virus writers will continue to target these resources with increased intensity

Read more at Kaspersky.com, found via ZDNet UK

Matthew’s Opinion
Using friends on social networks is a clever idea because we do tend to turn off the safety thinking if a message from your friend pops up to read. I’d be a bit suspicious if my close friends sent me a video of Paris Hilton tossing a dwarf, but if I received one saying “You must see this”, then I would at least look at the message if not going as fas as clicking the link to the video. Many others obviously would.

The one clear problem all this malicious software seems to have is total lack of spelling or grammar. You only have to look at the example messages above to see this and it should be used as a good hint these messages are malicious, or at least written by friends whose English isn’t their strongest skill.

Memorex has just announced its latest range of portable hard drives - the sexy and stylish Essential TravelDrive that uses 2.5″ hard drives of up to 320GB capacity, and it will come in a plethora of vibrant colors while fitting into a pocketbook or purse easily.

With capacities of 160GB, 250GB and 320GB respectively, the Essential TravelDrive portable hard drive provides users convenient, portable sharing and safeguarding of precious data, including photos, videos and music. The drive’s USB interface ensures compatibility with both Mac and PC desktops or laptops, and is powered via a USB connection, eliminating the need for an additional power source. Backup software and a blue, flashing LED data transfer display completes the package.

You will be able to pick the Memorex Essential TravelDrive portable hard drive from Spring Blossom, Tropic Green, Caribbean Blue and Cool Silver colors. Prices start from $89.99 upwards, depending on the capacity.

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Skone definitely wants to help you out in the kitchen, as it empowers kids to do their bit at home while promoting a closer bond between parents and their offspring. After all, a family that works together stays together (or should it be eat?), and Skone has a couple of devices that help make that possible - the Garden pourer and Kitchen pourer. The former is a garden bottle spout that measures 13″ long, while the latter is a kitchen bottle pourer that is 3″ shorter. They fit onto virtually any soda/water bottle to make an instant watering can to help dad out in the garden or mom in the kitchen without creating a mess, as kids can learn to pour beverages efficiently and quickly.

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Last week there was the combination webcam that featured four other gadgets built-in.  Well this has just as many gadgets built-in, but has a slightly more streamlined look.  Instead of having multiple arms with different devices on the end, this one merely puts all the gadgets into one piece.  Within this little guy is a webcam, speaker, light and microphone.  The light itself features 8-LED lights to make sure your work space stays illuminated.

One down side with it being all one piece is that wherever the webcam is pointed is directly where the light will be pointed as well.  Which means you lose your task lighting when you’re broadcasting.  On the plus side, you will always have a perfectly angled spotlight.  I still am not entirely sold on the combination desktop products.  I tend to prefer a combined gadget to several different ones, however, ones like this have too many drawbacks.  Having them all-in-one piece just makes things more complicated than necessary.  It is being sold for £29.99 or about $59.

Source: everythingusb

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I guess Lenovo cannot help but look on in envy at Asustek and their success with the phenomenal Eee PC series which now comes in a whole slew of variants and sizes unlike the original 7″ version. The China-based company decided to take matters into their own hands by releasing a new netbook known as the IdeaPad S10. This extremely slim and small netbook will target customers who are looking for a first-time notebook purchase that won’t burden your shoulders nor your wallet, and it makes for the perfect companion for people who already have a primary desktop to work with. The IdeaPad is not a processing powerhouse, so don’t expect it crunch numbers for a scientific experiment anytime soon. What you can do with it, however, is what most other people do in the world - check your email, update your blog, read Coolest gadgets, and other basic computing tasks. More on the IdeaPad S10 right after the jump.

The 10.2-inch screen IdeaPad S10 netbook comes in flavors of classic white and bold black as well as a glossy ruby red. For a comfortable, more natural computing experience, Lenovo designed the keyboard to be 85 percent of the size of a full-function notebook PC’s keyboard, and an energy-efficient LED backlit display helps provide longer battery life than traditional displays. For easy connection to the Internet, the IdeaPad S10 netbook includes WiFi and also has an Express Card slot so users can enable the IdeaPad S10 for optional high speed mobile broadband2 connectivity. To optimize the social networking experience, the IdeaPad S10 comes with tools such as a built-in web camera for video messaging, and its two USB ports and a 4-in-1 multicard reader make connecting other devices and transferring photos, music and videos simple. The IdeaPad S10 netbook comes equipped with Microsoft Windows XP.

The Intel Atom-powered IdeaPad S10 will come in a couple of configurations for you to choose from - 512MB with an 80GB hard drive and another model with double the respective amounts. Prices will start from $399 upwards as the IdeaPad S10 hits retail stores early this October.

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