Marc Saltzman
Sun

Identity theft — a type of fraud in which someone pretends to be someone else for financial gain — can be accomplished in many ways: pickpocketing a credit card, rummaging through letters from a mailbox, or phone scamming that tricks victims into giving out personal information.

Increasingly, identity thieves are going online, sending out “phishing” scams on fake websites that look real or using other high-tech means to retrieve information you type on a public computer’s keyboard.

According to PhoneBusters (www.phonebusters.com), a Canadian anti-fraud agency jointly managed by the RCMP, the Competition Bureau Canada and the Ontario Provincial Police, identity theft is on the rise in this country. In 2007, the organization received 10,279 complaints, of which 9,970 were victims, totalling a loss of $6,438,123. So far this year, by the end of August, PhoneBusters had received 8,233 complaints (7,649 victims), with a valued loss of $6,573,335.

So, what can you do to protect your identity in an increasingly online world? Here are a few tips:

– For websites that require a password, such as your banking institution, company site or social networking home, pick one that’s at least seven characters long and use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use your child’s name, dog’s name or your phone number.

– If you get an e-mail from your bank or credit-card company asking you to act fast to confirm your account information, it’s probably a phishing attempt that will take you to a phoney website. (Look at the URL and you’ll see it’s not your bank.) Do not click on the link in the e-mail, which takes you to the spoof site. If you do, never type in any info being requested. When in doubt, contact your bank directly.

– Peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, such as LimeWire, may be used by thieves to access your private information. So if you use these services, be sure to configure them not to expose personal folders. (Disable the sharing feature in the Options menu.)

– If you’re a Windows user, be aware that Microsoft regularly releases software fixes. Choose “automatic updates” in your operating system’s security settings, so you won’t forget to manually update them. These fixes plug holes that hackers know how to exploit in order to gain access to your files.

– Don’t buy anything online with your credit card unless the website is secured with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), indicated by an icon of a padlock in your web browser. On a related note, if you shop at such online marketplaces as eBay.ca, use a secure payment method, such as PayPal or a credit card, to protect your purchases in case of a dispute.

– According to Symantec, the makers of the popular Norton anti-virus software, you should never save your log-in information on a website. While it might be convenient when sites and programs have an automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password, you should disable this option so no one can log in as you. And always click “log out” when you leave the site; it’s not enough to simply close the browser window or type in another address.

– If you set up a wireless network in your home, make sure to use the security features to prevent people from joining. (Note: WPA security is better than WEP.) If a neighbour joins your network, they will not only get free Internet access, but could read your computer’s files. This is more important now that 802.11n Wi-Fi routers are offering twice the range of older 802.11g devices.

– Try to avoid entering confidential information on public computers (for instance, those in a hotel, library, airport lounge or school). These systems may contain “keylogger” software that records everything you type. Symantec also suggests deleting your browsing history after surfing on a public computer (including your cookies, form data, history and temporary Internet files). Finally, when you’ve finished using a public computer, do a hard reboot, which will not only clear the page file if you’ve enabled that option, but will also clear out everything you did from the physical memory (RAM).

– While it might be tempting to sniff for unlocked, i.e., free, Wi-Fi networks at a cafe or hotel, they could be the work of nearby hackers out to access files on your PC. Be sure to ask what the establishment’s wireless network name is to ensure you’re logging on to the correct one.

– Finally, watch out for over-the-shoulder snoops at cafes, schools or on airplanes.

© Canwest News Service 2008

Earphones not needed, easy to carry, good quality sound

Jim Jamieson
Province

What is it? Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere

Price: $169.99

Why you need it: You love to listen to your music library without earphones and take it with you when you’re out and about.

Why you don’t: Earphones are fine, thanks.

Our rating:

Portable iPod speaker systems have been widespread almost since the Apple music player hit the market seven years ago.

Some hit the mark and others don’t. Personal electronics maker Logitech has come up with a comprehensive set of features in its Pure-Fi Anywhere portable speaker set.

The Pure-Fi Anywhere speakers feature a rechargeable battery, a soft-body travelling case for easy transport and a remote control.

Sound is a key measure of quality in this product category. The Pure-Fi Anywhere lives up to its name, at least to our ears.

The sound is excellent, even at high volume levels.

The unit’s footprint is 34 centimetres wide by nine cm tall by four cm deep and comes in a white or black plastic enclosure.

It is supported by flip-out metal feet with rubber pads.

According to Logitech, the Pure-Fi Anywhere will supply 10 hours of battery life with its rechargeable cells. The four-stage battery-life indicator lets you know when a recharge is needed.

Plugged into an AC outlet, the iPod — in its universal dock connector — also gets recharged as it plays tunes. The package comes with a variety of iPod adapters, making connection simple.

Other music players can also use the speakers via auxiliary line-in.

We found the device to be a good quality speaker system. The only quibble is that the remote was a little flaky in terms of its range.

Available at electronics stores.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Sun

SONY ERICSSON G705

Sony Ericsson’s new 3G slider phone has a six-centimetre screen with an illuminated zoom Web shortcut key in case those Web pages are making you squint. It also features a full HTML browser, built-in GPS with Google Maps for Mobile and Wayfinder navigation. Sony Ericsson has announced a partnership with Google so users will be able to instantly download and upload video directly from their phone to YouTube, making it another alternative for the iPhone. That’s plus music, a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, WiFi and all the other gizmos you’d expect. It’s to be released in time for Christmas. www.sonyericsson.com

WINDOWSEAT, GRIFFIN, $32

Give your iPhone 3G or your iPod touch its own place in your car with the WindowSeat mount that has an adjustable mounting bracket to let you view the device at any angle. It includes an audio cable to play your iPhone/iPod music through the car stereo and it’s designed for use with Griffin’s PowerJolt auto charger or its iTrip Auto FM transmitter. http://www.griffintechnology.com/devices/iphone/iphone3g.

IDP-100 DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME, SONY ERICSSON

For all those photos that never get out of your phone, plus the ones in your camera, Sony Ericsson has come up with a seven-inch (17.8 cm) frame that makes it easy to transfer photos in a number of ways including Bluetooth, USB flash memory, M2 card and micro SD, SD or MS Duo. The digital frame, a first for Sony Ericsson, has Digital Image Correction (DIC) to automatically adjust to make your digital masterpieces look even better. And auto rotation so the photos come out looking as they should. The price hasn’t been announced but the frame is expected out in the fourth quarter. www.sonyericsson.com.

SWISSFLASH, VICTORINOX, FROM $85 TO $240

Your trusty Swiss army knife is looking pretty old school. Pull out this Victorinox pocket knife and out comes up to 16 gigs of memory on a USB drive plus an LED light and a ballpoint pen. With write-protection to guard against accidentally deleting data. www.victorinox.com.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

David George-Cosh
Sun

TORONTO — When Google unveils the first phone to be powered by its Android software system next week, the online giant is hoping the mobile phone will mimic its website by being easy, accessible and — more importantly — used by everyone.

On Tuesday, U.S. wireless operator T-Mobile is expected to show off the first Google phone, otherwise known as the HTC Dream. Equipped with a touchscreen smartphone with a slide-out keyboard, the device will run on the company’s open source Android platform, a key feature Google hopes will change the mobile world in the same way Apple’s iPhone has done in the past year.

It is inevitable that the devices ultimately will be compared with each other. Both are touchscreen phones geared to the consumer market that come with a $199 US price tag and are supported by an online application store — but the similarities will end there.

While the iPhone holds some prestige as a niche device, Google is leveraging its skills as an online giant to ensure that its Android-powered phones will become as ubiquitous as its search engine, which transformed the Internet.

The main goal, industry watchers say, is to reshape the smartphone market while enabling a better way of accessing the Internet in one swoop.

Kevin Branden, a director of mobile devices with ABI Research, said people expect their online experience on the phone should rival, if not match, what they can do on their PCs.

“People will think a Google-branded phone must mean a superior web experience than you get with the current crop of smartphones.”

The unveiling of the Android-powered phones will also serve as the first major test for open-source technology on mobile devices. This policy is a major strategic shift from Apple and other competitors such as BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, which allow developers to create programs for their phones but control distribution and licensing.

Critics say this lack of open-source technology has hampered innovation.

At a technology conference on Thursday, Android co-founder and Google mobile platform manager Rich Miner said the key thing people should take from Google’s new technology is that no one party will control the platform.

“While Google has had a heavy hand in this, there’s no technology that we control ultimately here. It’s all open source,” he said. “If Yahoo wants to take Android and build a phone on top of that platform, all the more power to them.”

Although its revenue model is unknown, Google is widely expected to incorporate its online advertising platform within Android’s applications.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Sun

A mobile telephone tailored to run on Google’s Android software is to debut next week in New York City.

US telecom carrier T-Mobile is slated to unveil on September 23 a “Google phone” built by Taiwanese firm HTC and to have the device for sale in stores as early as October.

Google is hoping Android will become the dominant operating system for mobile phones. It is designed to improve the speed and quality of using the Internet on handsets.

Android is being developed as an “open source” platform, meaning anyone is free to use the technology to make mobile telephones compatible with the networks of multiple carriers.

Google announced Android plans late last year and analysts reacted by saying it could potentially transform the mobile telephone market by providing service supported by advertising instead of subscription fees.

“We are seeing a number of technology companies demonstrating how Android will operate on their technology,” Google spokesman Barry Schnitt told AFP at a Mobile World Congress gathering in Spain early this year.

“Clearly momentum is building.”

Google announced a 34-member group called the “Open Handset Alliance” in November of 2007 to develop Android, including China Mobile, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Telefonica, LG and eBay.

ARM, Marvell, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, NEC, ST Microelectronics were reportedly among companies that demonstrated Android phone prototypes at Mobile World Congress.

© AFP 2008

 

Sun

Intel on Monday rolled out its first chip with six brains, unveiling a “multi-core” microprocessor that boosts computing muscle while cutting back on electricity use.

The world’s leading computer chip maker’s new Xeon 7400 series microprocessor is tailored for businesses that want to boost server performance while conserving on space and energy.

Intel executives say the Xeon 7400 is part of an “incremental migration” toward chips with limitless numbers of “cores” that seamlessly and efficiently share demanding computer processing tasks.

Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices have two-core and four-core chips on the market.

The six-core chip delivers 50 percent more performance than its quad-core predecessor while using 10 percent less electric power, according to Intel enterprise group vice president Tom Kilroy.

Electricity and cooling expenses can account for nearly half the cost of running company computer servers.

“It isn’t just performance and energy efficiency but the use models,” Kilroy said of the boon promised by increasingly powerful chips. “One of the major ones is virtualization.”

Multi-core chips are boons to computing trends including high-definition video viewing online; businesses offering services applications on the Internet; and single servers running many “virtual” machines.

“There is a realization that we will be able to bring things to market that weren’t feasible four years ago,” MySpace vice president of technical operations Richard Buckingham said while discussing the new chip’s potential.

MySpace is among a growing number of Internet companies using “virtualization” to essentially multiply the usefulness of computing hardware with software that creates simulated computers complete with operating systems.

“When developers ask you for something you can pull it out of the air, literally,” VeriSign engineering director John Bosco said of virtualization made possible by multi-core chips.

Multi-core chips basically allow computers to divvy up tasks to work on simultaneously instead of having a single powerful processor handle a job in a linear style from start to finish.

“It helps keep things exciting. Our development community has embraced the multi-core era,” Bosco said.

Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Unisys and Fujitsu are among the computer makers building the new Xeon 7400 chips into servers designed for business networks, according to Intel.

© AFP 2008

 

Hybrid acts as cellphone, but hops to home wireless network

Jim Jamieson
Province

What is it? Motorola Z6w Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phone

Price: Starts at $60 on a three-year contract with FIDO and an UNO subscription.

Why you need it: You wonder why you’re paying for a land line when you’re doing more and more calling on your mobile phone.

Why you don’t: You can’t quite wrap your head around the idea of combining the two.

Our rating: Three mice

W ith mobile-phone usage continuing to climb, a growing number of people –especially younger ones — are not bothering to have a land line in their home.

Of course, the downside to exclusive use of a mobile as your phone is the cost — still outrageously high here in Canada — compared with the unlimited usage of a land line.

Wireless provider Fido recently launched a hybrid approach to this conundrum.

It’s a system that allows the customer to use one handset for both applications.

How does it work?

It’s through the Wi-Fi -enabled Motorola Z6w mobile phone — which functions as a regular cell phone but can hop onto a home wireless network to connect to the Internet and make a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone call.

VOIP calls essentially mimic land line calls and and these services are typically even cheaper than a traditional land line.

The idea is to let consumers seamlessly switch from their cellular at home to save minutes, and money, on their mobile plan.

The Z6w will operate on Fido’s UNO service, which provides VOIP services. You can use your own existing wireless router or buy one from Fido that is optimized for voice.

The VOIP service costs $15 a month for unlimited local calls . . . or $20 a month for unlimited local and Canadian long-distance calls at home.

Of course, a high-speed Internet connection — which most of us have anyway — is needed.

Phone: 604-605-9999

Fax: 604-605-9999

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Sun

INSPIRON MINI 9, DELL, FROM $359

Move over Eee, Dell has stepped into the sub-notebook, sub-$500 market with its newly announced Inspiron Mini 9. Weighing in at about one kilogram, it is only slightly heftier than Asus’ Eee, which is just under a kilo. The Mini 9 has a 22.6-cm (8.9-inch) LED screen. Built-in WiFi, built-in webcam and built-in Bluetooth, it incorporates everything that the “digital nomad” Dell is targeting will need. Dell has Box.net offering web-based filing storage, accessing and sharing for Mini users, starting with a free plan with two gigabytes of remote storage space and expanding to 25 gigabytes for paying customers. A version with Windows XP Home starts at $439; another with a Dell-developed custom interface is expected in a few weeks starting at $359. www.dell.ca.

BLUETOOTH HEADSET FOR PLAYSTATION 3, SONY, $50

Look for it starting Oct. 14, this new Bluetooth headset will be available as part of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS Confrontation bundle for $60, or as a stand-alone product for $50. Compatible with most Bluetooth-enabled cellphones and audio devices, the headset will have several features that will be unlocked by the PS3 system software update scheduled for a fall release. Those include high-quality (HQ) mode delivering online voice chat and high-bandwidth voice recording and playback. Among other features it also gives users the ability to direct AI characters using voice, and your in-game character can mimic you during voice chat. www.playstation.ca.

RS TRI-BOT, WOWWEE, $100

The next generation in the Robosapien robot line from WowWee, the RS Tri-bot is about 30 centimetres tall, sits on three wheels and has an animated face that can keep up a running commentary or indulge in interactive games and other entertainment. Moves with a remote control with seven play modes, including a free roam mode where he can move around independently. In a useful back-to-school function, the alarm mode lets users program a countdown alarm in one-minute intervals, up to 12 minutes. When the alarm goes off, the little robot guy will fly about frantically waving his arms and sounding the alarm until someone catches him and hits him on the head. Every parents’ dream alarm clock. Uses eight AA batteries for the robot, plus three AAA batteries for the remote. www.wowwee.com. (Check out one user’s Rocky the robot spoof at www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYAOCuntntg)

IPIG, SPEAKAL, $140

The iPig packs a powerful punch when it comes to iPod sound. Five speakers pump out 25 watts of sound from the docking station, despite its cutesy barnyard look. Volume is controlled by touching the ears, and the piggy mouth lights up with a smile when the iPig is powered on. www.speakal.com.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Kiyoshi Takenaka, Reuters
Sun

TOKYO – Japan‘s Matsushita said it would launch the world’s smallest digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, targeting female users who want a high-performance machine that does not weigh too much.

SLR cameras, high-end models with interchangeable lenses, are the fastest growing and most lucrative segment of the digital camera market. But some compact camera users are reluctant to move up to SLR models because they are bulkier and heavier.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, which changes its name to Panasonic on October 1, offers the Lumix brand digital cameras.

Its new Lumix model, DMC-G1, is 27 per cent smaller than its existing DMC-L10 SLR camera, and weighs 385 grams — slightly more than a regular can of beer.

The new machine will go on sale in Japan on October 31. Matsushita it expected a package of the camera body and a lens unit to sell for 90,000 yen ($839.5).

Overseas launches are scheduled for late October and early November.

Matsushita was the world’s seventh-largest digital camera maker with a 7.1 per cent share in 2007, according to data from research firm IDC. In the digital SLR camera market, which is dominated by Canon Inc and Nikon Corp, its share stood at 0.5 per cent last year.

© Reuters 2008

 

Sun

Facebook’s new look became mandatory Wednesday in a shift to what the popular social networking website says is a faster, streamlined and more spam-resistant format that has some devotees in a state of rebellion.

The Northern California firm actually rolled out revamped profile pages back in May, having learned from past experience how touchy Facebook members can be about tinkering with their cherished online community’s website.

Nearly 30 million of Facebook’s more than 100 million users switched to the new format before Wednesday, when the website began forcing the holdouts to adopt the new design.

Forums devoted to savaging the new Facebook format have surfaced on the website and claim thousands of members.

“Life is about change,” Nikki Gerwel of Canada wrote in a ‘Who hates the new Facebook format’ forum on Wednesday. “But I like good change, not crappy change … the changes are horrible.”

The new design lets Facebook members use tabs to give priority to fresh pictures, messages, or “feeds” on main profile pages and compartmentalize mini-applications and “static” information such as curriculum vitae.

The changes are motivated by feedback from users as well as a trend toward people flooding the Internet with videos, pictures, and musings they want to instantly share, said Facebook vice president of marketing Chamath Palihapitiya.

“We want to make sure it is easy for people to push and pull information in the form of bite-size content rather quickly,” Palihapitiya said while unveiling the redesign at Facebook’s office in Palo Alto, California.

Popular mini-applications such as “walls” and “graffiti” were preserved.

Facebook maintains that the changes make pages livelier and better organized while giving people more control over software applications they opt to install.

“We understand that some people are unhappy or concerned about the recent changes to Facebook,” a customer support representative at the website wrote in a posted message.

“We think, however, that once you become familiar with the new layout and features, you will find these changes just as useful as past improvements.”

Facebook engineer Mark Slee earlier told AFP that the website’s team is confident they can win over their users.

“We don’t look at this through the lens of messing with something that works,” Slee said. “We are focusing on innovating and making the product better.”

© AFP 2008