Where I live the summers are really hot and I’m talking like 105 Fahrenheit (40+ Celsius) or sometimes even higher, therefore an air conditioning system is very much needed. Since I plan to install one at the office I had to look around and I found out that Samsung is selling some interesting bacteria killing air conditioners that use Micro Plasma Ion (MPI) technology.

Vivace Shadow Mirror

Developed by Samsung, the MPI technology claims to be able to kill up to 78 percent fungus and 58 percent bacteria in only 30 minutes. Along with the MPI technology the new air conditioners also use a carbon deodorizer that removes bad smell, a Silver Nano evaporator and a Catechin filter made of green tea (?) extract.

There will be two versions. One Samsung Vivace Shadow Mirror which is already selling in Singapore with a condenser but no installation for S$799 to S$899 ($572 to $643) while the other is Samsung Neo-Forte that will be unveiled in April and is cheaper.

via Crave

Intel has the new 45nm Core 2 processors ready. They are coming from the Penryn family and are dubbed Yorkfield for the Core 2 quad-core designs and Wolfdale which is a Core 2 dual-core.

Wolfdale processors are going to be sold as Core 2 Duo E8500 and should have increased clock speeds of 3.16 GHz, have a 1,333 MHz Front Side Bus and consumes less power .Now that I mentioned less power the Wolfdale processors are going to consume 65W at 3.16 GHz while the former lineup was doing 75W at 2.6 - 2.9 GHz. The core voltage level is down to 1.225V from 1.325V.

The fact that Intel shrunk the chips is great. They’re now packing on those 107 mm2 up to 6MB of L2 cache compared to 4MB it had before. Core 2 Duo E8500 processors will use SSD 4.1 instruction sets that will speed things up when it comes to video encoding and comes with common already, hardware virtualization acceleration, execute disable bit (xD), 64-bit processing support, and SSE-2/3 support.

There is one small drawback. Though newer motherboards support 1333 MHz FSB most of them will need a BIOS upgrade to be fully compatible.

The guys at HotHardware managed to make the new Wolfdale Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 to run up to 4.3 GHz so the 3 GHz barrier seems to be way over.  Yes, they overclocked them.  If you want to read a more in depth review check them out.

Cambridge University’s computer security lab have discovered vulnerabilities for two popular card readers Ingenico i3300 and Dione Xtreme, that make them an easy pray to attackers, because they fail to protect the card details and the PIN number.

This means that fraudsters with common technical skills could easily use a data-tapping circuit that could be placed between the inserted card and the reading circuit, allowing to record the account number or the PIN. With these details an attacker would have everything need to clone the card and then withdraw cash from an ATM machine abroad.

The three researchers that worked on the case Saar Drimer, Steven J Murdoch and Ross Anderson are not in very good relations with the banks, mainly because they are trying to demonstrate that chip and PIN systems have security issues. The big issue is that the data that is transmitted between the PED and the card are not encrypted.

“The attacks that we’ve shown have demonstrated that it’s easy to get the PIN as well as the card data out of chip and PIN terminal - and this means that simply holding your hand over the terminal is no good, in other words the customer cannot defend himself or herself no matter how astute and careful they are - therefore surely the banks need to take responsibility.” said Professor Ross Anderson in an interview to NewsNight.

Though the findings are real, the Scottish PED maker Ingenico assured customers that the products the Cambridge University researchers talk about are among the most secure on the market and that they helped reducing credit-card fraud by 47% year-by-year. They also mentioned that the way Anderson and his team hacked the PEDs is not as basic as they suggested and the “method is therefore not reproducible on a large scale, nor does it take into account the fraud monitoring used throughout the industry.”

I think Ingenico is running from responsibility and here’s the “How secure is Chip and PIN?” video from NewsNight that demonstrates what Professor Anderson and his staff found out.

I’m not a fan of screensavers but this one got my attention. SurveillanceSaver is a screensaver that will broadcast live images from over 400 surveillance cameras worldwide every time your computer goes idle. The images are not high quality, picture malls, churches, traffic stops, playgrounds, pools, backyards and more. A nice addition is the fact that city, location and other coordinates are visible at the bottom of each picture.

The software is available for bot MAC OS X and for Windows (sorry Linux guys) and Slorker says it’s virus/malware free. The reason I like it is because any time I can see something new. How about two beautiful girls in that pool?

The SurveillanceSaver screensaver reminds me of EarthTV which I always watch with so much interest to see new places, cities, buildings. They have much more cameras, though.

Here are some pictures you could see.

British carrier O2 could face a $79.6 fine and the reasons may sound weird for some of us. Country’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced that O2 they had a very slow growth and failed to build their 3G network on time, by the end of 2007.

O2 is one of the five carriers to have a 3G license and by June 30th they should supply up to 80 percent of the British population. Right now they only serve 75.7 percent and though they are well behind rivals such as Vodafone UK/

The company focused on corporate accounts rather than population and mentioned that there should be no difficulty in reaching the goal. Another reason why they didn’t stress about the deadline was that O2 has the most 3G subscribers even if they have a smaller than average coverage.

If they fail to build their network once again, the $79.6 million fine will be applied.

Samsung have just announced their 3D-ready PDP plasmas to the Korean market, today.

Samsung PAVV Cannes 450 is the name, has 3D content support, comes in two sizes, both 42 and 50-inches with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and should work just fine with 3D glasses or high performance 3D software. It uses Cell Light Control, 2008 Daylight technology and a DNIe+ chipset and will have three entertainment modes : games, movies and sports. The prices are $1,850 for the 42-inch version and $2,656 for the 50-inch version.

There is also a HD version, dubbed Cannes 550 and should be sold for $4,145.

Electronic Arts is going to provide the 3D content.

Source and picture copyright: AvingUSA

Fujitsu’s Lifebook S6510 is a ultraportable laptop that weighs 4lbs and was obviously designed for business. The main specs are :

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor running at 2.4 GHz
• 2 GB of RAM
• 14.1-inch wide-screen display
• Intel GMA X3100 graphic card
• 802.11n WiFi
• dual layer DVD+R optical drive
• built-in 1.3 megapixel camera
• 3 USB and FireWire ports, S-Video jack
• Works on Windows Vista Business
• Starting price : $2,039

Now that you see what the two grand price will get you, it’s time to know if it’s worthy, too. Here’s our review.

Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 PROs

For me when I buy a laptop or I look for one the weight is very important and I always tend to have that number as low as possible. It’s great to see that Fujitsu managed to pack a 14-inch display in just 4-lb, total weight. The secret is the use of LED backlights technology instead of fluorescent tubes that not only makes a display weight less but also thinner and consumes less power.

Another one in favor of the screen is the Fujitsu’s CrystalView technology with great colors, richer and sharper image details.

The air circulation technology that Fujitsu is great because it helped keeping the temperature around 85 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s like 30 Celsius) across the base and palm rests.

Last thing. A decent battery life, thanks to the low voltage processors and the LED display.

Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 CONs

I’ll start with the keyboard. I appreciate the fact that it’s a full-sized keyboard but the keys are not that great to use. They’re very weak, there’s no resistance when you press them. Next on the list, the speakers. Also weak and if you need to have a conference call with your partners you won’t enjoy it.

No dedicated graphics. It depends on the business. If it’s Word processing, charts and such then you probably won’t need it, but if it involves some designing you may want one.

And I will end my list with the fact that Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 doesn’t come with an internal cellular modem (cellular broadband). It’s useful if you’re traveling and need some quick Wireless, but there’s a solution: WiFi.

All in all, this sounds like a good ultraportable laptop, but I’ll have to be honest, the price is a little steep.

Dell Precission M6300 is getting a small upgrade. Since the laptop manufacturer is keen on putting Penryn processors in more and more of their products if you want to buy a Precission M6300 you now have two processor options, a 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo (T9500) or a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Extreme (X900).

If it was a new graphics card you wanted, rest assured, there are two of them available. NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M with 512 MB of dedicated RAM or the 1600M model with 256 MB dedicated. In terms of RAM memory it goes up to 8GB (which seems to be enough these days) divided in two 4GB DIMMs.

The standard version for the new Dell Precission M6300 starts at $1,769 and if you need a 32 or 64 GB SSD add $631 or $1,030.

Dell vie Electronista

After seeing Sony H50 released a few days ago there is a new Cyber-Shot on the market, Sony W300, a compact point-and-shoot camera that features a stunning 13.6 megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom from those Carl Zeiss 2.8 - 5.5 / 7.6 - 22.8 lens.

Other goodies of the new Sony Cyber-Shot W300 include up to ISO 6400, hardware image stabilization, smile detection and automatic scene detection that adjusts the color balance. The price is going to be $300 and the release date is May. I think the specs are very good if you need to keep your camera in your jeans’ pocket and shoot fast as soon as you find something nice.

I’ll try to get my hands on it when it’s going to be available and do a proper review.

via NewLaunches

If you were wondering how to make your bathroom stunning we have the solution (if you can afford it). It’s a diamond studded bathroom faucet that was designed by architect Nilo Gioacchini and then tweaked by International jewel Oscar winner, Alberto Cotogno. It’s completely made of gold and has 282 natural diamonds.

I don’t have a price for the Oz Diamond Edition faucet yet, but I’m sure it’s only for the filthy rich. If any of our readers gonna buy one, please shout back and tell us how it works and if the skin is softer after a bath.

via BornRich