Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

We’ve all left one of our prized belongings behind at some point or another.  Well, Trackster! has a solution for you:  the Trackster! Personal Tracking Device.

The helpful Trackster! system consists of a Master Unit that can support up to three Trackster units.  Once the Master Unit and Trackster units are separated by 15 feet, an audible and/or vibration alarm goes off, letting you know that you may be leaving something important behind.  Since in some cases you may want to leave some Trackster-protected devices behind, the alarm will stop sounding once you’re 50 away from the Trackster Unit.

It’s not a bad idea, especially for those of you that frequently leave valuables behind.  The Trackster Units are small enough to attach to a cell phone, keys, or a digital camera, so you can protect most of your valuables with the Trackster system.

No word on pricing or a release date, and the company’s website isn’t active yet.  The device did pass through the FCC today, and you can see the company’s packaging above.

Since early this year, a growing number of Hotmail users have reported that their accounts have been hacked.  In most cases, hijacked accounts have been used to send out spam to their contact list.  In other cases, emails pleading for cash have been sent from a hijacked address.  In a worst case scenario, a hijacked account can be used to reset passwords from sensitive websites, allowing a hacker to steal all sorts of personal information.

Recently, a few of my friends reported that I had sent them spam from an old Hotmail account that I had not used for years.  After logging into my account, I saw a number of email delivery failure notifications.  Yup, someone had hacked into my account and sent spam to all my contacts, many of which had changed their email addresses long ago.

Microsoft blames the increase in hijacked Hotmail accounts on spyware.  In other words, Microsoft is blaming their users for downloading spyware, which then steals their Hotmail login info.  But if this was true, why would my account, which I had not logged into for years, be compromised?  I didn’t even have the password for the Hotmail account saved in my browser.

It seems clear that this is a Microsoft problem, not a spyware problem.  My guess would be that a hacker acquired a list of Hotmail user IDs and passwords, and this list has been used to hijack the accounts of Hotmail users.

More importantly, Microsoft has done little to help users with hijacked accounts or prevent accounts from being hijacked in the first place.  Microsoft could also be more forthcoming about the root of this Hotmail hijacking problem.  A quick Google search for “hotmail account hijacked” shows how pervasive this problem is.

But really, at this point there is no reason to keep your Hotmail account and wait for Microsoft to address this issue.  The company has already shown that it won’t take a proactive role in protecting the security of its users, so why trust Microsoft to securely manage your sensitive data?

In short, no one should be using Hotmail.  Switch to Gmail instead – Gmail shows you the location of every device that connected to your account, and alerts you when a suspicious device accesses your account.  Sure, it’s a pain to switch email accounts, but this WikiHow article should make things a lot easier.

Here’s an interesting idea from iHome.  The company’s iA100 alarm clock dock, which passed through the FCC today, provides a resting place for your Apple iPad, along with a host of other convenient alarm clock features like dual alarms, an FM radio, and time syncing.

The iA100 can be used with the Apple iPhone and various iPod models as well.  The device features Bluetooth, and can be used to answer calls when paired with a Bluetooth phone.

iHome also offers a free iHome+Sleep app for the iPhone that offers a host of alarm features.  The app can even track how many times you’ve hit the snooze button.

While we like the design of the iA100, the device does seem to be a bit large for our nightstand.  It would be nice, though, to have an iPad propped next to our bed for late night Hulu Plus sessions.

No word on pricing or a release date.

Hulu has started to send out invites to its subscription Hulu Plus service for the iPhone, iPad, PS3, and a host of upcoming devices.  For $9.99 a month, you get access to the current seasons of over 40 shows, as well as hundreds of old sows, including 21 Jump Street, Miami Vice, The Rockford Files and WKRP in Cincinnati.

We’ve been testing the service on an iPad, and video quality is decent, but not spectacular.  You also still need to sit through commercials, although as with the desktop Hulu client, Hulu Plus tells you how many seconds each commercial will last.  Commercials are also marked on timelines for each show, so you know when to except commercials.

So far, we’re impressed by the service, although we’re also worried what kind of hit we’ll take on our 3G data cap.

Rumors of a Hulu subscription service have been circling for months, and today the company formally unveiled the service, now known as Hulu Plus.  For $10 a month, Hulu Plus brings you streaming HD TV to your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Samsung App-compatible device.  iPad and iPhone support includes both 3G and WiFi access.  Later this year, Hulu Plus will offer support for TVs and Blu Ray players from Sony and Vizio, with support for the PS3 coming in July, followed by the Xbox 360 in early 2011.

Hulu Plus features the current season of 40 shows, including 30 Rock, Dancing with the Stars, Friday Night Lights, House, Modern Family and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  The service also includes access to past seasons of 33 shows, including The Office, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Heroes.  You can see a full list of shows here.

The $10 per month price point is reasonable and the service does offer a pretty rich selection of content.  You can download the Hulu Plus iPhone and iPad app for free, however you must request an invite to the service – it is not yet available to the general public.

This interesting gadget for bikers passed through the FCC today.  Known as the Pedal Brain, this iPhone dock attaches to your bike frame and enables your iPhone to keep track of a wide vareity of biking statistics.  The Pedal Brain supports ANT+ cycling sensors, and monitors these sensors wirelessly to give you real time stats as well as logs for analysis of workouts.  Pedal Brain even offers coaching services that will help you train.

The Pedal Brain system consists of a free iPhone app (only 3G and 3G S models are supported currently), as well as the pictured ANT+ communication case.  Cases are expected to range in price from $130 and $200 for the plastic model, while the carbon fiber model pictured above will cost a bit more.  The company also offers subscription programs for tracking and analyzing your biking data.

There’s no release date for the Pedal Brain yet, but you can sign up here to be notified when the device is released.

Parrot unveiled their AR Drone at CES this year, and the remote quadricopter quickly became one of the more popular demos at the show.  The device, which has four propellers, is controlled remotely by an iPhone and has front and vertical cameras which take pictures and video of its surroundings.

Today, the AR Drone made its way through the FCC, a good sign that Parrot will have no problems with meeting the September release date for the device in the US.

According to the AR Drone’s user manual, the device features a 1000 mAh Lithium polymer battery that takes an hour and 30 minutes to charge, and will last for 15 minutes at a time.  The Drone’s front camera has a 93 degree wide angle lens that records video at 15fps at a 640 x 480 resolution.  The Drone’s vertical camera has a 64 degree wide angle lens and records video at 60fps at a 176×144 resolution.

In terms of processing power, the device features an ARM9 RISC 32 bit processor running at 468MHz.  The device runs a LInux-based OS and features 802.11 b/g WiFi.  You can see pictures of the AR Drone’s motherboard below.

Like others at CES, we were quite intrigued by the AR Drone.  The device’s Linux-based OS will likely offer developers a number of customization options.  However, the device’s 15 minute battery life is a bit disappointing, and WiFi will limit the range of the AR Drone.

The AR Drone is scheduled for a September release in the US, and an August 18th release in the UK.  The device will cost $299.

It’s not too often that you see books…regular print books, not eBooks…pass through the FCC.  But today we spotted a children’s book from Hallmark Cards, Inc. called Up on the Housetop making its way through the FCC.

So why would a book require FCC approval?  This book actually has a transmitter that is activated  if you disregard the reindeers instructions, below.  We won’t ruin the surprise for you (actually, we don’t know what happens when you push the red button, either), so you’ll just have to pick up your own copy of Up on the Housetop to find out.

Windows Phone 7 may be taking the bulk of the attention from Windows Mobile, but good old WinMo devices are still making their way through the FCC.  A mysterious device codenamed “Fenway” made its way through the FCC on Friday, thanks to a filing by Qualcomm.

As you can see from the text above, Fenway is a ruggedized PC that will be used in enterprise markets.  The Qualcomm chip inside Fenway supports Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g WiFi and 3G data.

We don’t have much to go on other than that, but we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

Want to hone your shooting skills, but don’t want to drive all the way to the shooting range?  Maybe you should give ReadyShot a try.  This novel gun accessory, which passed through the FCC today, fits inside your gun, allowing you to practice your aim with lasers, instead of real bullets.

The ReadyShot system consists of a cartridge, laser, trigger sensor and target.  The cartridge fits into the gun like a regular bullet magazine, while the laser plugs into the gun’s barrel.  A small sensor fits behind the trigger to detect trigger pulls.

Once installed, just aim the ReadyShot-enabled gun at the ReadyShot target and start firing.  The ReadyShot target detects laser shots, and reports on your accuracy and shooting speed.  The device can also be connected to a computer to record your performance.

Sure, ReadyShot doesn’t provide the kickback of an actual bullet firing, but it is a decent alternative if you want to do some casual target practice.  The ReadyShot system is available for a variety of Glock models here, with prices starting at $539 for a target and cartridge bundle.