July 20, 2005, 4:35 PM PDT
Hello Moto
Posted by: Kent German

As the Motley Fool reported today, the Razr V3 has done wonders for Motorola over the past year. The hot handset sold about 5 million units in the second quarter, which helped boost the company's market share to 18.1 percent during the same period. Motorola is now the number two cell phone player behind Nokia, which no doubt has leaves Samsung and LG grumbling.

It seems like just recently Motorola was a still bit stodgy. Yet as the company has emphasized design, its image has grown much cooler. Sure, the Razr isn't perfect, but that hasn't stopped the slim mobile from appearing in more TV shows than Betty White. Just last weekend, it was featured on Queer as Folk and Six Feet Under. Motorola has also introduced a black Razr, a thin candy bar-style mobile called the Slvr, and the very sexy and aptly named Pebl. The phone getting the most buzz, however, is the Rokr, which is set to be the long-awaited iTunes mobile.

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July 20, 2005, 3:17 PM PDT
On phishing, pharming, and (yes) phlooding
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

You knew it had to happen; a security company wants to coin a new computer security word by playing on the success of phishing and pharming. Phlooding, as described by AirMagnet, a wireless security company, is basically a denial-of-service attack on wireless network authentication servers that prevents legitimate users from making a connection. But security experts aren't so sure a new name is needed. The SANS organization recently had some fun with this marketing phenomenon on its daily Internet Storm Center. Some of my favorites include pheature, an undocumented program perk; phorgetful, what users are when asked if they clicked Yes on the security warning; and phlaming, conducting a denial-of-service attack using angry insults.

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July 20, 2005, 2:26 PM PDT
My first Creative Zen Micro accessory
Posted by: Jasmine France

Last week, I met the president of a company called Rivet to discuss iPod accessories and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the company is also releasing an add-on for the Creative Zen Micro. (I'd recently grumbled about the lack of such niceties for my player of choice.) The Grab, which is also available for the various iPods, will be released for the Micro in August, but I've gotten my mitts on one already. Although the Grab doesn't protect my Micro as much as I'd like (I'm hoping Rivet will soon release a Micro-ready Flip to this end), I discovered just how handy it is upon using it for just one day. As an offender who haphazardly throws her player into a capacious bag or purse, I often find myself rummaging for it in haste, ultimately dragging it out by the headphone cord. The Grab, coupled with an E-Clip and Hook Plate, lets me hook my Micro around the handle of my bag or purse and have it dangle right inside within easy reach. Fabulous.

You can also pair the E-Clip with the Belt Clip Plate for affixing to your person or the minimalistic Dash Adhesive Plate for use in the car. When the Grab for the Micro becomes available to the public, it will be sold as the Grab Lanyard for $24.99. This package comes with the chain lanyard and the Micro Clip, which, like the E-Clip, attaches to the pin on the back of the holster (see photo). In order use the option I outline above, you'll have to wait a bit longer for that package, which will cost $29.99.

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July 20, 2005, 2:22 PM PDT
Don't Blinkx or you'll miss it
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

In the interest of feeding my media-hungry PC, I checked out the beta version of a new online video search tool today. Blinkx launched its free service on Tuesday, and you can check out its site at blinkx.tv. Behind the thickly worded About Us section is a fairly clever concept: finding your search terms in video clips by using speech-recognition software. The site looks a little rough at the moment, but it did what it claimed to, popping up video clips from sources such as CSPAN and ESPN. It'll also kick up a quick RSS feed of video sources for, say, Supreme Court nomination, or whatever keywords you want.

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July 20, 2005, 9:50 AM PDT
Cowon's iAudio A2--a new kind of portable video player
Posted by: James Kim

A video iPod with a 2-inch screen would be kind of cool, but it would be a small fish next to Cowon's upcoming iAudio A2. The Korean company's first true PVP, the A2's endearing feature is the ability to playback MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, and WMV video files--without the need for transcoding. Basically, what this means is that you simply transfer a file over as is, and it will play back. Or so Cowon claims.

Here are some more specs:

Codec support:
Video: MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, WMV without transcoding
Audio: WMA, AC3 5.1, MP3, OGG, G.726, WAV
Image: JPEG, GIF, BMP

Playback time:
Video: 10 hours
Audio: 20 hours

Capacity: 20GB/30GB/60GB

LCD: 4-inch TFT LCD (16:9 Wide Vision)

Output: 20mW + 20mW

Dimensions: 133mm by 78mm by 22mm

TV recording: Yes (720x480, 30fps)

DivX DRM: Yes (WMA 10.0, DivX, and so on)

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