I will start with this: the developers of Graphene won last year's Nobel Prize. There are many men of science out there that belive that this new material means the end of silicone. Also it could be the foundation of a new generation of computers.
Graphene has been named the "miracle material" of the 21st Century.
What is graphene? Watch the following video.
The future applications of Graphene are limitless.
Samsung has been among the largest investors in the graphene research, together with South Korean Sungkyunkwan University. It has already exhibited a 25-inch flexible touchscreen using graphene.
Read more on BBC
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The All-New Nook eReader
The new Nook comes with 2GB of internl memory and feature a support for external SD memory.
Check out more on the official website.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Amazing Gadgets for the Poor
Imagine that you live in a poor country, without money for a pair of glasses or access to an optometrist, and you're not seeing as well as you once did.
This product, a pair of self-adjusting eyeglasses, could change your life.
Or imagine that you are one of the 1.1 billion people on earth without access to clean, safe drinking water. Your child is in danger of contracting water-borne diseases, which kills 1.8 million a year. What would you give for this portable, water-filtration device, called LifeStraw?
Maybe you are one of the 1.6 billion people without regular access to electricity. Your children study at night using a kerosene lantern, but the fuel is expensive and dirty. A solar-powered lantern would be a dramatic improvement.
These breakthrough products, all of them invented in the last 5 o 10 years, are examples of what can be done when technology is designed for the poor. You've probably heard about One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the low-cost connected computer developed by Nicholas Negroponte and the MIT Media Lab, but it's just one of dozens of high-tech, high-impact products aimed at helping to spur global economic development. The trouble is, even though many of the products are low-cost -- the LifeStraw, for example, sells for about $6.50 -- they aren't available to many who need them.
That's where a nonprofit called Kopernik comes in. Kopernik connects innovative technologies, poor communities and people who want to help.
Print images on your CDs with ease
CD and DVD recording is a very useful thing, not always legal of course. We remember the times, when CD recorders were very expensive, trashed blank CDs and recording took a long, long time. Nowadays CD or DVD writers are used by almost everybody- and burning a CD is a common and usual form of data exchange and backup. However, blank CDs are literally blank - they must be marked to know what is recorded on them. Using a CD marker is amateur, no matter how beautiful you write. Solution? Of course there is one gadget that can help you with that.If you want to beautifully decorate newly written CD or DVD, use printable discs. But what if your printer can’t print on CDs? Then, you’ll probably need this gadget. DiscPainter printer, produced by DYMO, is especially designed for CD and DVD printing.
It is capable to print crisp and vivid images with 600 dpi and 1200 dpi resolution, which takes 1 to 3 minutes to finish. One of the good design moves is transparent window, with help of which you can watch closely how your CD is printed, from beginning to the end. This CD printer is using rotational method of printing, so it is very interesting to watch how your CD gradually becomes a work of art.
This interesting and useful device is sold for 279 dollars. Pretty expensive for a printer that can only print on CDs, while there are many usual printers that can print everything and have this function as well. However... If you like interesting gadgets, or think that every function must be made built into different device, this DiscPainter can be your choice.
Copy CD\DVD on the go without PC
CD and DVD burners are so common nowadays, that it is hard to find a PC without CD-RW\DVD-RW drive. Sometimes, when your friend brings another cool DVD, it is a pity that you cannot just copy it without going to nearest PC. It slows the process, and laziness prevails in most times. Imagine that there is a gadget that will simplify this process. That will be capable of copying CD and DVD without need of PC connection, portable and rapid! Fortunately, such gadget really exists.EZ Dupe Ultra Slim Single-Target Portable DVD Duplicator is a portable disc-copying machine. Just slide into source DVD and blank one and in minutes you will get one complete copy of source disc. It is slim, so it can fit in your pocket; it is capable of high speeds reading / writing, so you will get a copied disc very quick. The drive is capable of copying DVDs at 8x and CDs at 16x speeds, which is a good achievement for such portable and slim device. It is also multi format, meaning that it will burn both plus and minus DVD discs, in addition to CDs, Multi-session Photo CD, and VCDs; and best of all, this gadget can mark your discs via Lightscribe technology. When copying Audio CDs, you can even change the track order and position them as you like.
This gadget is cool, but what about copyright issues that RIAA is so cared about? In the most cases, copying discs is not completely legal. However, following quote from some old cartoon, "We are not thieves, we are just honest pirates" - this gadget can be very popular at warez parties, if there are some nowadays. Of course, there are many legal ways of using this gadget, which are exactly ones that Portable DVD Duplicator manufacturers thought about. Price is high, about 400-500 dollars, so think twice about usefulness of this kind of device.
Inkless photo printer that can be used in digital cameras
There is one more way to print your favorite pictures now. You can do it using no ink. That means that photo printers will become hand-held and you will be able to carry them around and print pictures whenever you want. No need to get home or to a shop to print out the pictures anymore.Palaroid Company has invented a new way to print pictures. Now their printers do not use ink to print. These printing gadgets can be built into phones or digital cameras. The product will appear on market in the end of year 2007.
The principle of work is very simple; the paper is changing its color when heat is applied. So applying certain amount of heat will make the piece of paper change color to a specific one. You will not have to have liquid ink cartridges in your printer.
The paper that is used is not usual. It is originally white plastic that has several very thin layers. The layers are micro-thin layers of different colors: yellow on top, then goes magenta and on the very bottom cyan. When heat is applied the paper changes it color thanks to the different color layers.
When the heat is applied to the surface of the paper, the size and shape of the dye molecules changes from crystal to amorphous glasses and allows you to see the layer beneath it, releasing the color. The temperature and exposure on every pixel is controlled and you will be able to make some good pictures right after you have taken the shot. The yellow layer needs the highest temperature and has the shortest melting time. The magenta layer needs lower temperature and some more time to melt, and finally the cyan layer needs lowest temperature and longest exposure time to melt. This is how you can have color pictures at your hands any time you want.
A picture 5 cm x 7.5 cm will take about 30 seconds to print. Good speed for a new technology. However, the picture size is not that big. I think that it would take this new technology very long to replace our standard ways of printing photos. Old-fashion way of making photos is much faster and less expensive.
The printer will cost you about 0 and 100 sheets will cost you $ 20 so you should thing what you would like to buy. It is a pretty big price for something like that. We will se how good the pictures will be.
MP3 Player Running on Sugar with new Sony's Bio Battery
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
Have problems with electricity and recharging your batteries? You would not have those problems if you were using Sony's Bio battery that converts sugar into electricity. This would be a perfect solution for replacing ordinary batteries. It is not a very powerful gadget yet but as technology develops we will be getting more and more powerful units.Sony has unveiled a prototype battery that converts sugar into electricity. But how does it work? All you need to make it work is sugar solution in each cell of the battery. There enzymes break it down that generates electricity. Then the electricity is being collected and directed to your device. The four cell (1.5 " each cell) battery gives 50 milliwatts of power which is enough to power an average digital MP3 player.
This is a wonderful replacement for usual batteries because it can produce electricity in places where there is no civilization. You will not take a bag of batteries with you when camping, however you can take a small bag sugar with you to power up your media gadget.
The only problem that I see with this gadget is that the battery is pretty big which will be problematic to carry around cause now it measures about 6 MP3 players.
Ultrasound Tactile Display - touch and feel virtual objects!
It is a sort of unspoken rule that many things earlier existing only in the sci-fi books are now real. It started with "Nautilus" of Jules Verne, and it continues even now. Twenty years ago many modern things was thought impossible and futuristic. Even now there are some things that are impossible if we think about them on a current stage of technology progress. However, technology developes and some of that variety of futuristic sci-fi things already exists in reality. Remember those holographic projectors? Their prototypes already exist, and they can show an image in full 3D, so you can go around them and see it from all sides. This invention is even more interesting - it creates virtual object in air, so you can feel it and even touch it!Scientists from University of Tokyo made a very interesting research. They tried to incorporate all that is known about ultrasound, and make it work for creating an ultimate effect of touching objects, that exist only on computer screen. This is possible by using a small pad, made from ultrasound emitters. Controlled by computer, they make static distortions in the air, so we can feel like we are touching something. Camera controls position of fingers and other objects so the pad knows when to start working. This device was named Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, designed by Professor Takayuki Iwamoto. It has some limitation on the current stage, capable only of producing vertical objects, but scientists are working to make it produce objects in full 3D.
Some industrial and gaming companies are already interested in this device, seeing its bright future. And they are right - if scientists will make it fully operational, it can bring the interaction with computer on a whole new level. Combined with holographic displays, it can fully imitate a real object, made entirely by your computer. It can be used in many ways - by engineers who design new machines or vehicles, 3D designers, and also in many other domains. Maybe this is the next level of interaction between user and computer - just like the mice and keyboards are nowadays?
Virtual Keyboard from i-Tech
Everybody uses keyboard every day. However the keyboard has not changed for several years now. You still get a piece of plastic with buttons on it. Besides, they are all big and take too much space. My office is not that big so I have to manage my space in there. There are some flexible keyboards that can be rolled up however they still come as a piece of something with buttons that is not really small. Besides, you will not take your keyboard with you to a vacation. The i-Tech Company has created a gadget that is totally different but it is a keyboard. The trick is that it does not look like a keyboard until you turn it on. Besides, it has the Bluetooth technology built in to communicate with your computer.
It looks like a box covered with leather which makes it look presentable. What this gadget does is that it projects the keyboard on to the table. However, you have to be attentive here: the desk has to be as flat as possible in order for it to work properly. You just put it on the table turn it on and install some drivers to your computer and it is ready to work. You have to have the Bluetooth on you computer though. When you turn it on it projects a keyboard onto the table and you can type just like you would do using a regular keyboard. There is no speed loss in typing when you start using this gadget. It uses the Bluetooth technology so it has no wires to be connected to the computer. That makes it perfect transportable keyboard.
You can be writing something sitting on the sofa by the computer instead of sitting on an uncomfortable chair. A cool thing about this gadget is that it is compatible with almost any device that has Bluetooth built in. I have a palm PC from Dell and I have tried to connect this device to it. It really worked and now I can type and control my palm PC with help of this keyboard. It is very convenient because now I do not have to take my Laptop with me when I go somewhere far. It is a very handy device. Its bottom is weighted so it is somewhat stable besides I was even able to use it in my car while my wife was driving. It has a lithium rechargeable battery and is charged form an AC outlet. I think that this is an ultimate gadget keyboard made by i-Tech. After I bought this gadget I have thrown my old keyboard away because it is more convenient to use this one instead. However, when I take it with me my wife cannot access to the computer and therefore I had to buy another one so she has one too. It is really fun having such a nice gadget and I advise all of my friends to get one too.
USB Mouse with VoIP technology
We have reviewed a few VoIP enabled devices recently. There where telephones that had this technology, mice and other accessories. Here is another accessory that can be used as a telephone when you talk using Skype. You don't see these gadgets very often in the stores because they are not very popular. However, this one might be one of the best ones. This is the VM-01L from Skype-on. You can use it as a usual mouse and transform it into a phone by just flipping it open.
When you flip it open it turns into a regular phone that has all the features of the phone. There are even the number keys and you can dial the number playing your favorite game.
This mouse is different and is much more sophisticated than the ones that I have seen before. Besides, having the VoIP technology built in it has some more features that I would love to use.
1. It has a TFT display that has the resolution of 128 x 64 pixels where you can see all the info that you need. It is very comfortable because you can see who is calling when watching a video or working on some graphics when you do not see the notification on the computer monitor.
2. USB be cable 1.5 meters long. I uses USB 1.1, however it is still enough for the mouse and phone features.
3. The thing I like about the mouse part is the resolution of optical sensor. It is 1000 DPI which is pretty good for a mouse and especially a mouse like this.
4. The thing I like the most about this gadget is that you can connect 2.5 mm headphones with microphone and talk to anybody you want still having your mouse on the table. This is very comfortable because if not having this technology your would have to buy another mouse or just wait when you finish the talk if you want to do something on your computer while talking.
This mouse is not big and its shape is made in the classic style so no surprises here. Its dimensions are 55 mm x 105 mm x 33 mm. It is smaller then my regular mouse at home. And it weighs amazing 85 grams so it is lighter then a cell phone.
Rings that can help us communicate with each other...
Or not, who knows? The thing about these rings is very unusual it will prevent us from that small introduction so you can start talking to the person like you already know him. Each ring would have the information stored about its owner. When you shake hands with somebody else the ring will transmit your information and till download the information from his or her ring.
You can read the info about the man later on when you have some free time to find out who you have been talking to. Besides, this gadget stores all the information like his or her name, phone number business etc. It would be very convenient to use them because you wouldn't need any business cards anymore.
It is very convenient on one hand. When you are at somebody's party and you do not know anybody it is very easy to make friends and just to talk to somebody.
The technology is progressing so fast that these rings are now possible to make. These rings are a concept and they are not being produced yet. However I think that they will appear in future because it saves a whole bunch of time to people.
There is problem with these gadget rings too. First is that you have to necessary shake hands with the person that you want to meet. I heard some people say that it will help the bacteria spread and stuff. I do not really agree with that but I think that the range of work of these rings should be increased to several inches so people do not have to touch each other's hands.
The other problem about this rings and I think very serious. You get the information about the man later on when you have some free time. Why don't they make it readable at the moment you get it? When you meet a person you do not even know his name. So I think that these gadgets should have some kind of reading assistant or something like that to help you find out more about the person that you have just met.
The opinion that only the freaks and people who are afraid of touches and stuff would wear those gadget rings is not correct. Communication will still be at the same level. Of course if a person wants to communicate. However, if you do not have time these rings will save you the time that you would need to talk to the guy.
I think that these gadget rings will certainly appear in our society and very many people will use it. However there are some changes that have to be made in order for this product to have success.
Just another thought: Why do people create gadgets that replace communication but do not create gadget just to enhance the communication? That is a good question and I do not really know the answer.
Nano Sized Bendable Batteries - Future is Near
The biggest problem of all gadgets is battery life. Cell phone or audio player, it becomes completely dead when its battery is depleted. Sometimes it is very annoying when in the middle of long trip you are left with no gadgets to entertain you. Moreover, dead GPS in a forest or tourist journey can mean a ruined trip. The only solution to this problem is better batteries. However, the laws of nature are cruel - the more battery holds, the bigger and heavier it is. However, an answer comes straight from nanotechnologies.
Scientists at UCLA have made an interesting, yet useful invention. They built and showed to the public the first nanotube batteries, which will be, as we think, a great replace for modern Li-Ion or Li-Pol batteries. They are less than millimeter thin, and have the structure almost like the old rechargeable batteries do, using zinc-carbon makeup - they are composed of thin layers of zinc and manganese oxide over a layer of nanotubes. They are very thin and small, and because of nanotubes they are bendable too.
Unfortunately, the energy produced by this type of batteries is very small at this level. However, with the current rate of technology development, it will be easy to solve that problem - that's what lead scientist George Gruner says.
In the future, these nano-batteries can be used even for producing a powered T-Shirts or jackets - imagine your clothes, that recharge your gadgets while you are on the go. It is amazing to think that huge and heavy box-like batteries as we know them now will become a thing of the past, making way for a true high-tech thin and bendable ones.
With new TRRAM chips transparent phones are no longer a dream!
Usually, concepts, while looking curious and interesting, rarely make their way from the paper to the real device. Not so long ago, when Nokia Morph pictures hit the net, it was clearly obvious that it is just an original idea, nothing more. How an electronic device would be fully transparent? However, due to recent technological developments, we possibly have a chance to see it implemented in real life, or even buy it!Scientists from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology made a revolutionary discovery that can be used to bring all these concepts of transparent devices to life. It is called TRRAM (Transparent Resistive Random Access Memory), and is almost fully transparent, while operating just like normal non-transparent chips. It is similar to usual CMOS chips in functionality, so it can be easily used in manufacturing various devices, cell phones included.
As stated by Jung Won Seo, one of the Korean researchers: “It is a new milestone of transparent electronic systems. By integrating TRRAM device with other transparent electronic components, we can create a total see-through embedded electronic system.”
This development can truly revolutionize the world of modern devices and gadgets. With transparent chips it will be possible to implement electronic hardware into the windshield of a car; it can be used in sunglasses or highly-fashioned transparent cell phones. It really widens the area in which electronic devices can be implemented, making many concepts look much closer to the real life. Bendable screens, transparent chips - all these improvements are making electronics more flexible and easy to use.
Transparent chips have some disadvantages though: transparent phones would be much easier to hide or lose, and how do you solder a chip if it is fully transparent? Of course, these are not serious, hope that technology doesn't have any major disadvantages that will prevent it from being widely used. First devices on these chips would appear no sooner than after 3 - 4 years, so let's wait until TRRAM will be used in a working prototype.
The first bionic eye
Doctor Mark Humayun, professor of the ophthalmology and biomedical engineering together with experts from the Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California initiated the first bionic eye.Bionic eye consists of a video camera at the dimensions of the haricot bean grain implanted in the eyeball. The camera is connected to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images to the brain by the optic nerve.
The invention gives blind people the ability to see and scientists say that it may be launched in serial production in 3-5 years. Using this invention at the institute where he works, d-r Humayun has already tested the first artificial sight system called Argus.
This gadget is connected to a camera installed in the eyeglasses which catches images that are converted into electric signals which are transmitted by wireless technology to an implant situated behind the retina. Electrodes from the implant decode the signal and create a rudimentary black and white images, transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain.
By now the usage of 10 electrodes has been obtained. Afterwards, at the second stage in is supposed to use 60 electrodes, which offer the patients possibility to see clearer images, but the specialists try to create the third implant with 1000 electrodes, which will offer face recognition.
Eyeball-implanted camera
A lot of efforts were made to help blind people restore their sight. Yet, despite the fact that many promising ideas appeared it's very hard to find a solution for such a complex problem. But in case we really want to make all those people happy the research on this issue must go on.Thus, according to the recent patent application implanting a micro-camera directly into the eyeball may be a future solution for restoring sight to blind or people with damaged vision. Actually technology to restore sight to the blind by using electronic retinas was developed some time ago, but the link between the retina and external cameras was involving wires, which represents a significant disadvantage of such a method. But now it's said that the camera could be charged wirelessly and communicate directly with a chip implanted at the back of the eye, so very little external hardware would be needed.
UCLA Optical engineer Michelle Hauer thinks that technology may have advanced enough to insert a tiny camera inside the lens of the eye, capable of adapting for corneal optical effects and perhaps using haptics to stabilize its position. The camera would transmit images to a nerve-stimulating chip at the back of the eye, resulting in a complete electronic vision system.
It sounds great, so if scientists are able to make this technology true in near future, it will be an outstanding achievement. However, it seems a little bit unreal to implement such a perfect technology.
High-Tech Glasses that help to Read Comfortably
Unfortunately, as we are getting older, so do our eyes. This means that even if you have a healthy eyes and a good clear vision now, that won't last forever. Old people that need to read something need to carry a different pair of glasses - one for reading, one for main use. Technologies try to help people to step over these problems, from contact lenses to a laser surgery. This solution is the most unusual and high-tech one. Vuzix SightMate looks just like a virtual reality glasses. However, it has only one "eye", and is made to help people with eyesight problems read comfortably. It is magnifying all that is in front of you, to make the image clear and readable. This gadget uses a combination of edge detection, contrast enhancement and optical zoom to help those with Glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy diagnosis. The worst side of this gadget is a very narrow field of usage - it can be used only when sitting down, because it impairs your peripheral vision very bad. Nevertheless, it greatly improves reading, so choose for yourself.
Nowadays, technologies can help almost every handicapped person to live a full life. If you want to improve your reading experience, if the poor vision makes you unable to read your favorite books, and you are not afraid of looking like a cyborg - this gadget can be interesting for you. However... Everything nice in this gadget can be forgotten looking at its huge price tag of 3499 dollars - a very big price for upgraded glasses. You can get a laser eye surgery nearly at this cost and forget about poor vision at all, or buy these high-tech glasses that you will need to carry all the way around you. Choose what is most appropriate for you.
Siafu computer
Nowadays many scientists try to find a way to return vision to blind people. If they succeed, it will be one of the greatest achievements. Meanwhile PC producers, taking into consideration the fact that blind people can not use modern technologies, decided to create something that will improve and diversify their everyday life. Given gadget named Siafu represents a personal computer designed to give people with vision loss a more intuitive computer experience. The designer of this wonderful device is Jonathan Lucas. It looks like a flat tablet that allows the user to fully interact with it by simple touching. The surface of the device utilizes a conceptual material called magneclay or magnetized liquid. This material has the ability to morph upward into any shape via a controlled electromagnetic field enabling the device to create a Braille (a system of writing for the blind consisting of raised dots that can be interpreted by touch) surface for reading and even pictures in 3D relief.
The main technology used in Siafu - Magneclay - represents an oil based synthetic agent that possesses limitless morphing capabilities. It has a loose molecular structure but can be infinitely rearranged when acted upon by electrical and magnetic charges. As long as the charges acting upon it remain stable, the magneclay will hold its structural rigidity, allowing it to be touched without deformation.In addition to that Siafu’s magneclay surface can generate full spread Braille layouts, allowing users to enjoy reading digital content in a large book style relief. The surface of the gadget can form a working 9-button Braille keyboard. The Braille output allows the user to conveniently review what they just typed.
Moreover Siafu possesses a built-in microphone, which provides an alternative to typing. Its high performance voice recognition software allows the user to simply speak into the microphone, and the words are instantly appeared on the screen Braille relief.
But that's not the half of it. Given gadget also has the ability to display screen images such as web pages. It can even go one step further and convert all the active text on the screen into translated Braille relief. Device utilizes 2D to 3D image conversion technology to process screen images. It then generates a 3-Dimensional digital wire frame which is then processed through electrical currents into the magneclay. The end result is a highly accurate 3-Dimensional representation of the image.Unbelievable gadget, isn't it?
Linksys E2000 Advanced Wireless N Router review
The Linksys E2000 is an affordable Wi-Fi router with excellent features. For the price, you get a 300Mbps 802.11n dual-band wireless access point that can run either in 2.4GHz or 5GHz mode, as well as a four-port Gigabit Ethernet switch. The best part is that it's very reliable and fast.
Just like the older Linksys WAG320N (which unlike the E2000, had a modem), the E2000 can't run both the 2.4GHz network and the 5Ghz network simultaneously, so you'll have to pick one network frequency and stick with it. We can't fault the router for this given its price. You'll have to consider purchasing the Linksys E3000 if you want simultaneous dual-band operation.
The Linksys E2000 looks the same as the older Linksys WAG and WRT models. It doesn't have external antennas, it can be wall-mounted, it has bright LED status lights and its capabilities can be gleaned by the colour of its wing (grey means it has Gigabit Ethernet capability). It lacks fancy features such as storage ports for turning ordinary drives into NAS devices, but if you want this function you can opt for the E2100L. The E2000's web interface hasn't changed, but the special setup software that Linksys ships with its wireless routers has been simplified in a bid to make it as easy as possible for novice users to install it.
In our tests, the E2000 proved to be solid as a rock; we used it with the Billion 5200S RD ADSL2+ modem and our iiNet connection never once dropped out unexpectedly during our week-long test period. Furthermore, the router's wireless performance was stellar.
When transferring video files from our server (which was connected to the router over Ethernet) to our dual-band capable notebook, the E2000 never faltered. Using the 2.4GHz band, we achieved transfer rates of 9.47 megabytes per second from 2m away from the router and 8.38MBps from 10m away. These are excellent results that pretty much blow away the competing routers at the same price point, such as the Netgear Wireless N 300 WNR2000 and the D-Link DIR-600. From 2m away, the 5GHz tests produced the exact same transfer rates as the 2.4GHz tests (9.47MBps), but from 10m the transfer rates dropped slightly to 6.74MBps.
The router offered great range in our test environment; it was able to supply a usable Internet connection from over 35m away, but its range will vary depending on the environment where you install the E2000. We think it will perform well in a mid-sized house for streaming video in addition to sharing a fast Internet connection across many computers.
Linksys has done a lot over the years to try and take the pain out of setting up wireless routers. With the E2000, the supplied CD-ROM autoruns the Cisco Connect software, which goes through all the steps you need to undertake in order to first connect your new wireless router, and then asks you type in your ISP username and password. That's all there is to it. In our tests though, we also had to manually restart the router in order for it to work after the program updated its settings.
The only thing that caught our attention about this setup procedure was how long it took. We were able to set up the router a lot quicker by logging in to the web interface and entering all our details manually. But the CD-ROM is aimed at people who don't want to have to deal with advanced settings, and in this respect it's definitely useful.
Security layers on a modern website
Last time, we looked at a basic website design. Now it’s time to start digging into the details around what’s really being used behind the scenes. This time, we’ll focus on security aspects. When a user starts their browser and connects into the website, there are many layers of security that may be present to ensure only authorized users can access the data. The more valuable the data, the more steps required to ensure that this data is protected. Here is a typical setup for higher value content websites:
Each piece adds a different layer of security. All combined, they can act as a strong defense against unauthorized access of the information. The first two, are best done by a dedicated network engineer or network consulting services company that understands security implementations and is up to date on best practices and the latest procedures.
1) Firewalls are familiar to most. You setup firewalls in a static configuration to stop all traffic – unless to a service that you want available. For this, we use a Juniper SSG20 firewall:
http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/security/ssg-series/ssg20/
2) Next, if you’re on the internet with valuable data, you should have a Intrusion detection system and Intrusion Prevention System. These detect abnormalities and protect the service by denying access from computers that act incorrectly. Perhaps the user fails login more than X times. Perhaps they’re fishing for a URL and doing iterative attempts to try and discover content.
Perhaps they’re requesting a URL that’s a known buffer overflow attack? Juniper makes this unit which is a good starter:
http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/security/idp-series/idp75/
3) From here, the application takes over security responsibility. It’s recommended to have an application server management consultant setup Single Sign On (SSO) due complexity. From there, an application programmer can handle the rest.
There’s typically a SSO that allows for authentication of the user. This authentication can take the form of a simple user/password. It can be extended to require SecureID cards with randomizing passwords. Or higher end retinal, face recognition, or fingerprint scanners may be used depending on the value of the data being presented.
4) After a person authenticates, they need to be authorized for the data they’re requesting. This is typically an LDAP lookup against Active Directory or some other.
5) Most companies stop here and allow the user full access to the SSL web service. However, one thing that’s common today: You no longer can trust the client computer that’s connecting into the site. It could be a company Desktop or Laptop and relatively safe. It could be a personal smart phone, iPad or other PDA, or worse: a public computer. You can no longer treat all computers the same.
For instance, what happens when your CEO logs into a kiosk at the airport because his computer broke. He/She needs to approve the latest acquisition plan of the XYZ Company. He/She can authenticate correctly…he’ll be authorized to see the content. What’s stopping a download of this criticalinformation onto a public PC? Will any of this data be left in cache after he logs off? This is where Endpoint Integrity Checks are used.
Endpoint integrity are checks against the client PC. They can be as simple as: Did you run a virus scan in the past 30 days. More typical today is: will the data remain secure if loaded on the device. Is there an encrypted hard drive? Is there a BIOS password? Is the device a “sanctioned” platform?
6) SSL encryption of the transaction between the client and server. This is the last step of defense. Information passed between the two computers are encrypted in transit.
Security today is complex. And the cost of getting it wrong is harsh. During RSA 2011 discussions, the average cost for a single incident: $250-300k. Has HIPPA been compromised? Is Sarbanes–Oxley affected? Did company confidentialinformation get disclosed? In the end, a better plan and execution up front can save money and aggravation in the end.
PCI Express
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a computer expansion card standard designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X, and AGP bus standards. PCIe has numerous improvements over the aforementioned bus standards, including higher maximum system bus throughput, lower I/O pin count and smaller physical footprint, better performance-scaling for bus devices, a more detailed error detection and reporting mechanism, and native hot plugging. More recent revisions of the PCIe standard support hardware I/O virtualization.
The PCIe electrical interface is also used in a variety of other standards, most notably ExpressCard, a laptop expansion card interface.
Format specifications are maintained and developed by the PCI-SIG (PCI Special Interest Group), a group of more than 900 companies that also maintain the Conventional PCI specifications. PCIe 3.0 is the latest standard for expansion cards that is available on mainstream personal computers.
History
While in development, PCIe was initially referred to as HSI (for High Speed Interconnect), and underwent a name change to 3GIO (for 3rd Generation I/O) before finally settling on its PCI-SIG name PCI Express. It was first drawn up by a technical working group named the Arapaho Work Group (AWG) which, for initial drafts, consisted of an Intel only team of architects. Subsequently the AWG was expanded to include industry partners.
PCIe is a technology under constant development and improvement. The current PCI Express implementation is version 3.0.
PCI Express 1.0a
In 2003, PCI-SIG introduced PCIe 1.0a, with a data rate of 250 MB/s and a transfer rate of 2.5 GT/s.
PCI Express 1.1
In 2005, PCI-SIG introduced PCIe 1.1. This updated specification includes clarifications and several improvements, but is fully compatible with PCI Express 1.0a. No changes were made to the data rate.
PCI Express 2.0
PCI-SIG announced the availability of the PCI Express Base 2.0 specification on 15 January 2007.[10] The PCIe 2.0 standard doubles the per-lane throughput from the PCIe 1.0 standard's 250 MB/s to 500 MB/s. This means a 32-lane PCI connector (x32) can support throughput up to 16 GB/s aggregate. The PCIe 2.0 standard uses a base clock frequency of 2.5 GHz, while the first version operates at 1.25 GHz.
PCIe 2.0 motherboard slots are fully backward compatible with PCIe v1.x cards. PCIe 2.0 cards are also generally backward compatible with PCIe 1.x motherboards, using the available bandwidth of PCI Express 1.1. Overall, graphic cards or motherboards designed for v 2.0 will be able to work with the other being
v 1.1 or v 1.0.
The PCI-SIG also said that PCIe 2.0 features improvements to the point-to-point data transfer protocol and its software architecture.
Intel 's first PCIe 2.0 capable chipset was the X38 and boards began to ship from various vendors (Abit, Asus, Gigabyte) as of October 21, 2007.[12] AMD started supporting PCIe 2.0 with its AMD 700 chipset series and nVidia started with the MCP72.[13]All of Intel's prior chipsets, including the Intel P35 chipset, supported PCIe 1.1 or 1.0a.
PCI Express 2.1
PCI Express 2.1 supports a large proportion of the management, support, and troubleshooting systems planned to be fully implemented in PCI Express 3.0. However, the speed is the same as PCI Express 2.0. Most motherboards sold currently come with PCI Express 2.0 connectors.
PCI Express 3.0
PCI Express 3.0 Base specification revision 3.0 was made available in November 2010, after multiple delays. In August 2007, PCI-SIG announced that PCI Express 3.0 would carry a bit rate of 8 gigatransfers per second, and that it would be backwards compatible with existing PCIe implementions. At that time, it was also announced that the final specification for PCI Express 3.0 would be delayed until 2011, although more recent sources stated that it may be available towards the end of 2010. New features for the PCIe 3.0 specification include a number of optimizations for enhanced signaling and data integrity, including transmitter and receiver equalization, PLL improvements, clock data recovery, and channel enhancements for currently supported topologies.
Following a six-month technical analysis of the feasibility of scaling the PCIe interconnect bandwidth, PCI-SIG's analysis found out that 8 gigatransfers per second can be manufactured in mainstream silicon process technology, and can be deployed with existing low-cost materials and infrastructure, while maintaining full compatibility (with negligible impact) to the PCIe protocol stack.
PCIe 2.0 delivers 5 GT/s, but employs an 8b/10b encoding scheme which results in a 20 percent overhead on the raw bit rate. PCIe 3.0 removes the requirement for 8b/10b encoding and instead uses a technique called "scrambling" in which "a known binary polynomial is applied to a data stream in a feedback topology. Because the scrambling polynomial is known, the data can be recovered by running it through a feedback topology using the inverse polynomial"[17] and also uses a 128b/130b encoding scheme, reducing the overhead to approximately 1.5%, as opposed to the 20% overhead of 8b/10b encoding used by PCIe 2.0. PCIe 3.0's 8 GT/s bit rate effectively delivers double PCIe 2.0 bandwidth. According to an official press release by PCI-SIG on 8 August 2007:
"The final PCIe 3.0 specifications, including form factor specification updates, may be available by late 2009, and could be seen in products starting in 2010 and beyond."
As of January 2010, the release of the final specifications had been delayed until Q2 2010. PCI-SIG expects the PCIe 3.0 specifications to undergo rigorous technical vetting and validation before being released to the industry. This process, which was followed in the development of prior generations of the PCIe Base and various form factorspecifications , includes the corroboration of the final electrical parameters with data derived from test silicon and other simulations conducted by multiple members of the PCI-SIG.
On May 31, 2010, it was announced that the 3.0 specification would be coming in 2010, but not until the second half of the year.[20] Then, on June 23, 2010, the PCISpecial Interest Group released a timetable showing the final 3.0 specification due in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Finally, on November 18, 2010, the PCI Special Interest Group officially publishes the finalized PCI Express 3.0 specification to its members to build devices based on this new version of PCI Express.
Current status
PCI Express has replaced AGP as the default interface for graphics cards on new systems. With a few exceptions, all graphics cards being released as of 2009 and 2010 from AMD (ATI) and NVIDIA use PCI Express. NVIDIA uses the high bandwidth data transfer of PCIe for its Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology, which allows multiple graphics cards of the same chipset and model number to be run in tandem, allowing increased performance. ATI has also developed a multi-GPU system based on PCIe called CrossFire. AMD and NVIDIA have released motherboard chipsets which support up to four PCIe ×16 slots, allowing tri-GPU and quad-GPU card configurations.
Uptake for other forms of PC expansion has been much slower and conventional PCI remains dominant. PCI Express is commonly used for disk array controllers, onboard gigabit Ethernet, and Wi-Fi but except for graphics cards, add-in cards are still generally conventional PCI, particularly at the lower end of the market. Sound cards, TV/capture-cards, modems, serial port/USB/Firewire cards, network/WiFi cards and other cards with low-speed interfaces are still nearly all conventional PCI. For this reason most motherboards supporting PCI Express offer conventional PCI slots as well. As of 2010 many of these cards are starting to make their way over to x8, x4, or x1 PCIe slots which are present in motherboards. For instance, almost all new sound cards from the second half of 2010 are now PCIe.
ExpressCard has been introduced on several mid- to high-range laptops such as Apple's MacBook Pro line. Unlike desktops, however, laptops frequently only have one expansion slot. Replacing the PC card slot with ExpressCard slot means a loss in compatibility with PC-card devices.
Apple - Snow Leopard review
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Despite the fact that it looks almost exactly like its predecessor Leopard, there's plenty in Snow Leopard to make Mac users sit up and take notice.
From the upgrade price of just £25 (peanuts, and which makes it the best value Apple product ever) to built-in support for Microsoft Exchange Server, a smaller footprint, more comprehensive support for 64-bit architecture (though some key apps like iTunes are still 32-bit) and a bunch of sweeping behind-the-scenes stuff designed to give programmers more memory and processing power to play with; this will make life easier and more fun for them and therefore, at some point in the future, for the rest of us.
This is why Apple has been at pains to describe Snow Leopard as 'finely tuned': the pitch is that the house has been spring-cleaned and renovated, rather than knocked down and re-built.
That said, in use we noticed plenty of small, useful improvements. Expose has been given a minor facelift to make it accessible straight from the Dock and windows are zoomable by using the space bar; you can dig into Stacks sub-folders without opening the Finder, scroll through a multi-page document or watch a movie directly in the Finder; there's a new QuickTime Player which features a cleaner, iPhone-like interface, complete with the ability to trim and save video clips, record directly from iSight and create simple screen casts, and if your Mac has Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics it also supports H.264 video decoding.
In addition - and at last - you can select columns one at a time in PDFs instead of being forced to grab everything across the page (for some users this is worth the upgrade price on its own). Elsewhere you can restore items from the trash to their original location, and while problems with ejecting discs haven't gone away, at least Snow Leopard tells you what's going on.
Apple's claim that it's up to 45 percent faster to install than previous versions is hard to prove. On our MacBook the whole thing was done and dusted in under an hour, which is long enough to feel that something substantial has happened without making you want to climb the walls.
Certainly, Snow Leopard frees around 7GB of space by not installing any of the technology required to run old PowerPC programs by default (if required, it'll offer to download the necessaries from the Internet), by treating other ‘extras' like printer drivers and localisation files in the same way and thanks to some fancy file compression. Things do feel faster in Snow Leopard, too, from backing up with Time Machine to shutting down and waking up a MacBook, and the various improvements to the Finder make everything snappier.
Of course, upgrading any operating system will probably throw up a few 'gotchas' but you can minimise these by checking the support forums on www.apple.com first, then going to snowleopard.wikidot.com and finally working your way through your own programs andchecking for updates. You shouldn't cut corners here because it's always much better to upgrade your applications before you actually upgrade the OS itself.
Most software suppliers have a Snow Leopard-specific version ready to go and even tricky things like Parallels 4.0 (our preferred way to run a Windows virtual machine on a Mac) worked fast and flawlessly.
It won't run on older PowerPC-based Macs, but for everyone else Snow Leopard is a worthwhile, cost effective upgrade that works on any Intel Mac (1GB of memory, 5GB of disk space and Core 2 processor for 64-bit operation); and the fact that Mail, Address Book and iCal now support Exchange Server means that Mac users can stay hooked into the company's servers and still use familiar software.
Apple - Snow Leopard features - Verdict
Unflashy, inexpensive OS upgrade that adds improved 64-bit support, works with Microsoft Exchange Server, includes a raft of interface improvements and a new QuickTime, is faster and takes up lessdisk space than its predecessor. Best value Mac product ever.
Gigabyte - G41MT-ES2L review
The Gigabyte G41MT-ES2L is one of the cheapest motherboards on the market and sells for less than £40 including VAT. At that price you don't get much in the way of the latest technology, and all of the functions are supplied by the Intel G41 chipset, without extra hardware to add new features such as USB 3.0.
This means that we have to take a step back from the current crop of Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs to LGA775. That'll cost you about £60 for a Pentium dual core or £100 for a Core 2 Duo. It seems unlikely that anyone will want to ally a £200 or £300 Core 2 Quad with this budget motherboard.
The two memory slots support up to 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3, which is fine for the mainstream majority who use a 32-bit Operating System and just about adequate if you plan on a 64-bit upgrade, where 4GB of RAM is considered a minimum.
Integrated in the G41 Northbridge is the Intel GMA X4500 graphics core which is a feeble piece of graphics silicon. You can forget about gaming as the GMA X4500 simply isn't up to the task, but more worryingly the chip doesn't support digital outputs. This gives the I/O panel of the G41MT-ES2L something of an historic look as it sports two PS/2 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, Realtek Gigabit Ethernet, three audio mini jacks for the Realtek ALC888B audio, as well as legacy Serial and Parallel ports.
TFT displays that only have a VGA input are thin on the ground and if you have a choice of VGA and DVI we would always recommend you take the digital route. To our mind integrated graphics with a VGA output have extremely limited value and the same is true of Serial and Parallel ports.
That leaves the analogue audio, Gigabit Ethernet and four USB 2.0 ports as the only features worthy of note on the I/O panel. There are headers for four more USB 2.0 ports mid-board, so provided you have case mounted ports you can increase the available number of ports quite significantly.
The two chipset coolers are passive units and the Northbridge cooler in particular looks stylish and attractive.
This is a small motherboard, even by the standards of Micro-ATX, and measures 244mm x 194mm which often leads to problems with the board being cramped with barely enough space for all of the components. Gigabyte has done a decent job with the layout of the G41MT-ES2L, although it has been aided in the task as there are very few components to accommodate.
For instance, there are only three power phases around the CPU socket and down at the foot of the board the ICH7 Southbridge only supports four SATA connectors, arranged in an L shape. If you install a graphics card you are certain to block at least one and possibly two of the SATA ports. The lack of space is evident when you look at the front panel headers, which are jammed up the side of the board in a tiny space that has been created between two capacitors, the IDE connector and the main power plug.
The middle of the board is taken up by four expansion slots. We reckon you'll find the PCI Express x16 graphics slot essential and may also use the PCI Express x1 slot and one or both of the PCI slots. Gigabyte has added a couple of extras in the shape of IDE and floppy connectors that take up space and which aren't strictly necessary in a modern PC, however they add some backwards compatibility that might prove useful to some people.
Gigabyte - G41MT-ES2L features - Verdict
Provided you use a graphics card alongside a Core 2 Duo CPU you can be confident that the Gigabyte G41MT-ES2L will deliver decent performance. There's no denying that the Intel G41 chipset looks like an antique and offers the bare minimum of features. The integrated graphics, in particular, are truly awful. Despite the low price of this motherboard we find it offers questionable value for money.
Asus - Crosshair IV Formula review
Republic Of Gamers motherboards sit at the top of the Asus product tree, and this was amply demonstrated by the recent IT Reviews coverage of the ROG Rampage III Extreme Core i7 that weighs in at a hefty £330.
It takes a few moments to figure out exactly where the Crosshair IV Formula fits into the ROG family as the model codes and chipsets are constantly evolving. Rampage III motherboards use an Intel X58 chipset to support LGA1366 Core i7, Maximus III uses P55 chipset for LGA1156 Core i5/i7 and Crosshair IV has the latest AMD 890FX + SB850 chipset for Socket AM3 CPUs.
The final part of the model names defines the list of features so a Formula is a regular ATX board with ‘standard' ROG features for overclocking and support for multiple graphics cards. A Gene model is a Micro-ATX design that is aimed at LAN gamers who fancy a portable PC, while Extreme models come with every last feature that the Asus engineers can muster. We understand that Asus has a Crosshair IV Extreme in the works that uses a Lucid chip to add SLI support alongside the CrossFireX support that is provided by the 890FX chipset.
The pricing of the three groups of motherboards follows the pricing of the corresponding CPUs so Rampage III is the most expensive followed by Maximus III, which means that this £170 Crosshair IVFormula is a budget product compared to other ROG motherboards.
Crosshair IV Formula is clearly based on Crosshair III but Asus has added a stack of features to create the new model. At the heart of things we have a change from AMD 790FX + SB750chipset to the new 890FX + SB850 which adds SATA 3.0 native support. This means that the six laid down red SATA connectors have a maximum bandwidth connection of 6Gb/second compared to the 3Gb/second of the black SATA 2.0 connector that is attached to the JMicron chip that also controls the eSATA port on the I/O panel.
Unfortunately the new chipset doesn't support USB 3.0 so Asus has employed an NEC chip to provide two USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel alongside seven native USB 2.0 ports and mid-board headers for another five USB 2.0 ports.
Asus has increased PCI Express graphics support on Crosshair IV so where you ‘only' got two graphics slots on Crosshair III, the new motherboard has four long slots. They provide two slots with 16 lanes of PCI Express 2.0 or one slot with 16 lanes and two with eight lanes each. The fourth slot delivers four lanes of PCI Express 2.0. We put that ‘only' in inverted commas as the appeal of dual graphics cards seems limited, while the need for triple cards is highly questionable. You also get two PCI slots.
Our sample of Crosshair IV Formula came to us from AMD rather than Asus as it was supplied with the hexa-core AMD Phenom II X6 1090T that we recently reviewed. That covers the question of whether Crosshair IV supports the latest versions of Phenom II, as it does, all the way up to a TDP of 140W. AMD has some new models of Phenom II that are due for release in the near future. Although the CPUs have two, three or four cores they are apparently based on Phenom II X6 silicon.
With previous chipsets AMD allowed motherboards manufacturers to include an option in the BIOS called ACC that could be used to unlock extra CPU cores but this has changed with the 890FXchipset . Manufacturers are no longer allowed to use AMD's ACC feature but instead have to develop their own technology, so Asus has come up with a BIOS option that looks very similar to ACC. Asus has also added a Core Unlocker button at the foot of the motherboard that performs the task instantly, but clearly you can only unlock cores if AMD has disabled them in firmware, rather than by fusing them completely at the fabrication plant. As the saying goes, your mileage may vary.
The Core Unlocker button sits alongside three other buttons. In addition to the usual Power and Reset buttons, Asus has fitted a Turbo Key II button that automatically overclocks your CPU. We used this feature to overclock our Phenom II X6 1090T from 3.2GHz to 3.73GHz with a system power draw of 215W.
Manual overclocking using the BIOS allowed us to get to 3.8GHz quite easily but the power draw shot up to 280W, so we feel that Turbo Key II did a fine job.
Asus - Crosshair IV Formula features - Verdict
Asus charges a steep price for the Crosshair IV Formula but you get masses of hardware features in return. Despite the cost we feel this AMD motherboard offers decent value for money and there is no denying that it looks absolutely gorgeous.
ASRock - X58 Extreme3 review
Over the past 18 months we've seen a long procession of Intel X58 motherboards pass across our test bench. In many respects the ASRock X58 Extreme3 looks quite familiar, as we have seen most of the features before and the layout follows a predictable form. There are six DDR3 memory slots connected to the integrated triple channel memory controller that supports up to 24GB of DDR3-2000 RAM.
Moving down the board there are three graphics slots that support CrossFireX and SLI. The two blue slots each get a full 16 lanes of PCI Express 2.0 while the long white PCI Express slot looks as though it should support a third graphics card but only gets four lanes of slower PCI Express. If you fancy running SLI with a third nVidia card for PhysX then ASRock has the hardware for you. In addition to the graphics slots there are two PCI slots and a PCI Express x1 slot.
The input/output side of things is covered by the Intel ICH10R Southbridge with the addition of a Marvell 9128 controller to deliver eight SATA 2.0 connectors, along with connectors for two IDE drives and one floppy drive. The connectors on the side of the board are laid down for maximum convenience when you plug in the cables.
On the I/O panel there are two PS/2 ports, a Clear CMOS button, audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF, Gigabit LAN, one eSATA port, five USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. Mid-board there are headers for four more USB 2.0 ports and a second Firewire port.
The unusual feature in that list is the pair of USB 3.0 ports that are powered by an NEC UPD720200 controller. We expect to see USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 move into the mainstream but that will take some time. As things stand the hardware on offer in the ASRock is fairly typical X58 fare with the addition of a sprinkling of USB 3.0 goodness.
That's not to suggest that ASRock has skimped on the goodies. At the foot of the board there are Power and Reset micro buttons and an LED debug display. The quality of the cooling system looks rather imposing with a gunmetal grey finish and there's a hefty cooler on the power regulation hardware with an active 40mm fan to keep the air moving. Generally speaking we don't like small fans as they can be annoyingly noisy, but we had no problems with the cooler on the X58 Extreme3.
The software that is included with the ASRock includes a couple of utilities that didn't really grab our attention. These are ASRock IE to ‘reduce the number of output phases' to save power and ASRock OC DNA so you can ‘record your overclocking record to share with friends'. We were, on the other hand, keen to try the ASRock OC Tuner so we could get busy overclocking.
The layout of the software is fairly conventional for a Taiwanese tech company and looks like the dashboard of a motorcycle with dials and gauges that show what is going on as you change voltage and clock settings. Unfortunately we found it didn't work very well and we were unable to make our 2.8GHz Core i7 930 run reliably at 3.36GHz. Things didn't look good for this Extreme motherboard until we dumped the software and started working in the BIOS.
Here the ‘CPU EZ OC Setting' section gives you the option to load preset profiles. In the case of our Core i7 930 we had six options that started at 3.6GHz (180MHz base clock) and went all the way to 4.2GHz (210MHz) with the click of a keyboard. Despite our apprehension, the maximum setting of 4.2GHz was completely stable and delivered superb results, albeit at the expense of a relatively high power draw. At idle the system, which used an HD 5850 graphics card, drew 150W which rose to 250W under load. Other overclocked Core i7 PCs that we have tested typically draw 20W or 30W less than that with CPU speeds around the 4GHz mark.
ASRock - X58 Extreme3 features - Verdict
We were impressed by the way that the ASRock OC Tuner section of the BIOS delivered top performance with the minimum of work. The result is a motherboard that is fairly packed with features including USB 3.0, although the price is rather steep. Despite that we found plenty to admire in the ASRock X58 Extreme3.
McAfee - Encrypted USB review
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Convenient and easy to use, USB flash memory or 'thumb' drives are an increasingly popular means of storing and transporting data. Lose one, however, and anyone can access the files they contain unless you routinely encrypt or make other arrangements to protect them. McAfee takes care of most of this for you with its family of secure USB storage devices (previously from SafeBoot) offering built-in data access and encryption facilities.
There are several different products to choose from, McAfee sending us three, starting with the Standard drive (from £18 + VAT for 128MB), which uses simple passwords to control access, with each user allotted their own private, AES-encrypted partition.
For those wanting a little bit more, the Encrypted USB Phantom drive (from £100 + VAT for a 1GB device) adds a built-in fingerprint scanner for secure two-factor authentication. Meanwhile the mIDentity implementation (from £141 + VAT for 1GB) uses a smartcard and a PIN code to more securely store user credentials and can also be used for remote VPN authentication.
All of them look much like ordinary USB thumb drives and can be plugged into any PC with a USB 1.1/2.0 interface. Up to 4GB of storage can be made available, although not all either visible or accessible straight away. Depending on how they've been configured a public and/or read-only partition may be available, but other, protected data will be hidden and only accessible by authorised users once their credentials have been verified by the device.
Additional client software is also required, in the form of a Windows-based management utility to, for example, set up new users and their storage partitions, plus a client application to make the data accessible to authenticated users. Standard and Phantom drives share the same utilities which we found very easy to install and use, although the documentation could do with updating.
Separate tools are required to manage and use the mIDentity devices and these were clearly from a different developer, with a completely different interface which we found a lot harder to get to grips with.
In use the Standard drive proved to be the quickest and easiest, requiring no more than a password to open up each protected storage area. Phantom users, however, must first register their fingerprints, the built-in scanner proving to be a little awkward in practice, requiring an extension cable to enable it to be best positioned.
To set up the mIDentity device we had first to fit the smartcard (the same size as a mobile SIM), after which we had to install the software and set up PIN codes and digital certificates. This took a lot longer and was far from intuitive.
Once everything was configured, however, the drives could all be used more or less like any normal flash memory stick, yet with integrated security and encryption which would be difficult to crack should they be lost or stolen. Added to which there are few clues on the outside and little to see if a McAfee Encrypted USB drive is plugged into a standard PC; such that, to the casual observer, protected data is almost invisible.
On the downside, the McAfee Encrypted USB drives are more pricey than equivalent standard devices. But they're not hugely expensive and, depending on how you value your data, that extra cost could well be worth paying.
McAfee - Encrypted USB features - Verdict
Although more expensive than standard USB thumb drives, McAfee Encrypted USB devices offer additional access controls and strong encryption to protect the data they contain in the event of drives being lost or stolen. Varying levels of protection are available including an optional integrated fingerprint scanner and the use of smartcards to securely encrypt user credentials.
VGA Over Ethernet
Epiphan VGA2Ethernet™ is a compact external DVI/VGA network frame grabber that is capable of capturing single link DVI and VGA signals at rates of up to 60 frames per second. VGA2Ethernet also supports a stereo 3.5mm audio input. Epiphan Systems VGA2Ethernet uses a common RJ45 10/100/GigE Ethernet port to interface itself with the target computer, allowing for up to 1 Gigabit transfer rates.
With a maximum capture resolution of 1920 x 1200, this is the only compact network frame grabber capable of capturing both DVI and VGA signals and sending the data over Ethernet. Using the latest state-of-the-art pre-compression technologies developed by Epiphan Systems specifically for the VGA2Ethernet, the user is able to acquire diagnostic-quality 100% lossless images from any DVI/VGA/RGB source.
VGA2Ethernet can be used in meeting room or conference environments to capture and stream video from a presenter's laptop to a server or computer display. It can also be used to capture the VGA or DVI signal from radars, high resolution cameras, ultrasound devices, servers, computers, or any other mission-critical equipment, using the VGA2Ethernet from Epiphan Systems will ensure effortless and reliable DVI or VGA capture every time that it is used.
VGA2Ethernet is also able to capture a component video/RCA signal using a component to VGA converter cable, purchased separately.
Key Features
- Transmits DVI or VGA + audio over Ethernet at up to 60fps
- Supports any resolution up to 1920 x 1200
- 100% lossless signal transfer
- Allows you to remotely connect a monitor or projector/beamer over Ethernet
- Network frame grabber
VGA2Ethernet is fully compatible with DirectShow in Windows and QuickTime in Mac OS X, meaning that it can be used in conjunction with any third party software that allows the use of an external camera as a video input. Alternatively, the VGA2Ethernet software, available as a free download, supports not only the viewing and saving of the VGA signal as an image or video, but also allows the user to:
- Setup an automated or periodical "save" command
- Send the DVI/VGA output to an attached paper printer
- Broadcast and share the VGA over Internet
- Archive the DVI/VGA output in a variety of formats, including JPEG, PNG, BMP, AVI, and MP4
An SDK, API, and examples are available free of charge for those users wishing to integrate the VGA2Ethernet into their custom applications developed for Windows and Mac OS X.
Bose IE2
Audiophiles have thumbed their noses at Bose for years because the company has convinced many consumers that it makes "the best" audio equipment that you should aspire to own—but at a price that's affordable for the masses.
But with the IE2 earphones, an improvement upon Bose's original In-Ear Headphones (2.5 stars), the company taps its greatest strength: innovation. The eartips on the IE2 offer supreme, are-they-even-in-my-ear comfort coupled with booming bass and crisp highs. For $100 earphones they possess a unique design and hearty, exciting audio performance.
It should be noted the IE2 is also offered with iPhone/iPod controls (the MIE2i is $129.95) or with phone controls for other mobile devices (the MIE2 is also $129.95). We tested the least-expensive $99.95 version, without mobile controls.
Design
If you've kept your eyes open at the gym or on the bus or train, you are likely familiar with the predecessor to the IE2, the aforementioned In-Ear headphones, which were originally called Tri-Ports. Both models flaunt a signature black-and-white, intertwined audio cable. The earpieces for the IE2 are oddly shaped. Underneath the StayHear eartips (Bose's new style of covers for the earphone, of which you get pairs in varying sizes), the IE2 resembles a hybrid earbud/earphone.
That is to say, the earbud portion sits in your ear the way iPod earbuds do (without entering the ear canal), but a part of the earbud forms a short in-ear piece that approaches your ear canal. Both the earbud and the earphone sections produce sound, with the earphone portion sending audio directly into your canals and the earbuds sending audio on a less direct path. The effect creates a nice sound field (more on that later). The IE2 comes with a black, zip-up protective pouch.
The StayHear eartips themselves are also peculiar—from the side they look like the fat portion of the Nike swoosh logo. The top portions of the eartip press against the front, inner portion of your ear, helping to secure the fit. The design is similar to the excellent eartips on the Sennheiser CX 680 Sports ($119.95, 4 stars), which are ideal gym earphones. As our tests show, the secure fit of the IE2 has its ups and downs—staying in place is always a plus, but since the eartips can fit securely at a variety of angles, it's hard to get an accurate representation of the stereo mix. One slight twist will, while still offering you a secure fit, give you a slightly different frequency response in that ear.
It's clear, however, what Bose was after: These eartips are so comfortable, something feels wrong. It feels like they aren't in all the way, and so you fiddle with them, but they always feel the same: light, barely there, and completely secure. This fit feels as if the in-ear portion is not nearly as close to the ear canal opening as it needs to be to get quality audio response, so before you press play for the first time, you expect poor bass response, and for things not to sound right. And then: boom. They sound intense, and the genius of Bose is readily apparent.
Audio Performance
This isn't a pair for critical, audiophile listening. It will, however, bring out the low end of a lot of mixes you would normally miss on under-$100 earphones. And despite our graph results, the pair doesn't seem nearly as unbalanced, in terms of bass to treble, as it appears on paper. This is likely due to the design—much of the treble comes from the earbud portion, which our testing system is less likely to pick up on. Part of the genius of the IE2 is that it doesn't form a perfect seal in the canal, so you can still hear these frequencies coming from the earbud portion.
As our HEAD Acoustics ACQUA frequency response tests indicate, the IE2 packs a tremendous amount of bass. And yet, I have heard more unbalanced, bass-heavy earphones before—the Radius Atomic Bass ($39.95, 3.5 stars) earphones come to mind. It's rare that I say this, but you may want to take our tests with a grain of salt this time. I don't believe there is a device out there designed to accurately measure the response of a hybrid earbud/earphone with a non-sealing in-ear eartip. Because treble is so directional and much of it comes from the IE2's earbud portion, which is aimed to the side of the ear canal, I think the graphs miss out on the overall balance of the pair. There is tremendous bass, but it is complimented by generous high frequency content, as well. Thus, our graphs are useful for reference, but for once, I'd implore you to put a little more stock in my description here.
Our linear frequency response graph, which shows how well-matched the responses of the left and right earphones are, needs no grain of salt. As mentioned earlier, the IE2 can securely fit in a variety of angles, making it difficult to get a truly accurate representation of the stereo image without fiddling—another reason audiophiles should steer clear of this pair.
On a song like the Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off," the low-end response pleasantly accents the kick drum and the electric bass, but make no mistake—it's Keith Richards' guitar strumming and picking that shine here. On a song that has serious deep bass, like the Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones pump out some serious low end on the electronic drum beat and never distort until pushed to absolute maximum volume, and even then do so only slightly. Because they only distort at an actually dangerous listening level, we'll let that one slide—at comfortable moderate-to-loud levels, there isn't a trace of distortion on a song that has humbled many lesser contenders. The percussion and strings on "The Chairman Dances" by John Adams shine, and the low-end drum hits at the end of the philharmonic piece offer plenty of rumble without ruining the balance of the pristine recording.
For $100, it's unlikely that any audiophile will be truly thrilled with the earphone selection out there, but if flat response is more your thing, the Etymotic MC3 ($99 direct, 4 stars) boosts the bass by far less than Bose's IE2. At $100, however, the extremely comfortable IE2 is a bargain—it offers dynamic audio performance and seems ideal for long listening sessions. One caveat: The earbud-hybrid style does mean some sound will escape. In other words, when you are rocking Chumbawumba on the subway, the guy next to you will probably hear it. You've been warned.
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