Some emergency calls made from GPS-enabled Verizon Wireless cellphones in the US are being disrupted because of a glitch in the way the phones divide their processor time between GPS-location calculations and voice transmission.
Verizon Wireless, based in New York City, first announced on Wednesday that the emergency stations that receive 911 calls had noticed disruptions.
A new handset from ST Electronics uses a 56-bit key for voice encryption and decryption, although both participants in a conversation must be using the model. ST Electronics has taken the wraps off a new encrypted cellphone that thwarts high-tech eavesdroppers. Designed for highly secured voice communications, the Mirage handset is targeted at senior executives and uses a 56-bit key for voice encryption and decryption. Two units of the Mirage are required to have a secure conversation.
If you think clock speed is the most important measure of a processor, IBM's Bernie Meyerson wants you to reconsider.
Meyerson, who heads research and development efforts for Big Blue's semiconductor group, says processor chip speed is old news. Instead, he's focusing IBM's work on other areas, such as on-the-fly reconfiguration that will let chips automatically adapt to different jobs. He's also proposing a new, more open way for IBM to interact with its customers.
Counterterrorism officials from the US FBI, CIA, and Treasury Department, as well as law enforcement officers from other countries involved in the war on terrorism, are using sophisticated, high-tech methods to track suspected terrorists by monitoring their cell phone communications, and using these communications to determine a person's physical location. While these methods are not always successful, they have enabled law enforcement officials to prevent several terrorist attacks around the world and arrest dozens of suspected terrorists.
few hours after NBA star Kobe Bryant had sex with a Vail-area hotel worker last summer, the woman exchanged cell phone text messages with a former boyfriend and someone else.
What's in those messages could help determine whether the sex was consensual or whether Bryant is guilty of rape as charged. The judge himself said the content may be "highly relevant" to the case.
That the judge could order the woman's cell phone company to produce the messages so long after they were sent shouldn't surprise anyone, analysts say.
IN OUR PLEASANT chat with top ATI chip chap we learned that AGP cards will live on even after the recent PCI Express announcement.
X300, X600 and some other cores that are PCI-E only will get AGP chips and we understood that this solution should be native.
ATI believe that there is a space for AGP and PCI-E to coexist so they want to offer their customers right products.
Nvidia already solved this problem since Jen Hsun said that HSI works both way so as it can turn AGP card into PCI-E one it can turn PCI-E card to AGP.
For folks who have a tough time leaving their TV sets even to cook or use the bathroom, a few Japanese companies have come up with a way to let customers bring their tubes with them.
When photographer Clifford Ross first saw Colorado's Mt. Sopris, he was so taken with the beauty of the mammoth formation that he jumped on the roof of his brother-in-law's car -- denting it -- to photograph the landscape.
But Ross found that his 35 mm photos didn't get anyone else excited. They simply didn't capture enough detail to convey the majesty of the white-capped mountain surrounded by grassy fields.
A "smart bullet" that can be fired at a target and then wirelessly transmit back useful information has been developed by US researchers.
The projectile, created at the University of Florida in Gainesville, US, is 1.7 centimetres in diameter can be fired at from an ordinary paint-ball gun. The front is coated in an adhesive polymer that sticks it to the target.
One of the major concerns with Voice over IP (VoIP) technology with potential customers and regulators is a shortcoming in how the technology deals with emergency calls. Because the technology is not specifically tied to a single location, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location from where the call originates and emergency 911 calls may not be routed to the correct call center. This is one of the items the FCC is considering while mulling potential regulation for the emerging VoIP industry.
