February 10, 2006, 4:10 PM PST
Golf just got a lot easier (for Tiger)
Posted by: Molly Wood

The U.S. Golf Association has decided that tournament players can now use nanotechnology-enhanced golf balls out on the links. The balls are able to correct their own flight in midair--albeit very, very slightly. Can I get a new nanotech TV that makes golf look like football? But keep the quiet clapping. I like it.

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February 10, 2006, 4:08 PM PST
Google gets a no-no
Posted by: Molly Wood

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google has taken search way, way too far. The organization says no one should even use the new program, which indexes your entire hard drive and uploads the info to its servers so that you can search across multiple networked computers. What they don't tell you is that you can turn that feature off. Like Google Desktop? Cool. Find the preferences.

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February 10, 2006, 1:40 PM PST
Be careful if you use Google Desktop
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Researchers at Kaspersky Anti-Virus say not to turn on the Search Across Computers feature found within the latest release of Google Desktop. The feature, which ostensibly allows you to find documents on other computers, uploads copies of your Web history (from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, and Mozilla) as well as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, Adobe PDF files, and text files located in My Documents on the Google servers so that you can access them from anywhere. Kaspersky researchers note that these files are protected via your Google account, however, should that username and password fall into someone else's hands, they too could access your personal information. The feature Search Across Computers is not turned on by default. Kaspersky researchers and others recommend that the feature remain turned off.

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February 10, 2006, 12:16 PM PST
Vista enters the green zone
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

If you think it's lame that other countries get the best cell phones before we do, check out this quote about Iraqi internet cafes from today's New York Times:

"After their long isolation, young Iraqis are quickly erasing their technological gap with the West. In some ways they are even further along. Thanks to the absence of piracy laws here, many Iraqis use software that is not yet in common use in the United States. The new Microsoft Vista operating system, for instance, scheduled to be introduced for commercial use in late 2006, is already widely used here."

Check out the full article on the Times Web site. Or, if you don't have a free NYTimes.com account, try the reprint at their sister paper, the International Herald Tribune.

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February 10, 2006, 11:16 AM PST
2006 Chicago Auto Show
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

CNET Car Tech isn't attending the Chicago Auto Show this year, but News.com has a slide show of some of the concept vehicles on display. The Chicago show isn't big on technology, and many of the concepts were also seen at Detroit. One concept that caught my eye, however, is the Bluetec Jeep Grand Cherokee. This car represents some of the research DaimlerChrysler is doing into clean diesel. At the Detroit show, we also saw a Bluetec Mercedes-Benz ML series, and at Frankfurt, a Bluetec S-class hybrid. In the Grand Cherokee, the Bluetec system makes the diesel engine more efficient and uses various technologies to clean up the emissions. The Grand Cherokee could certainly use the help. We had a 2006 model in for review recently, and, though powerful, it got only 11mpg with its gasoline-fueled V-8.

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February 10, 2006, 11:08 AM PST
Samsung's not pleased
Posted by: Kent German

Samsung may have done its best to capture the essence of the famed Motorola Razr with its MM-A900, but apparently the Korean company is none too pleased with a few Chinese and Taiwanese companies whose cell phones resemble a Samsung model. DigiTimes reports that Samsung is considering legal action over the DNET DG212 and the Hitachi HTG-208. Both phones are almost dead ringers for the Samsung SGH-D508.

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February 10, 2006, 9:15 AM PST
Cingular 8125 officially announced
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

T-Mobile has its MDA and now Cingular has its 8125. The Cingular 8125 (a.k.a. HTC Wizard) is the latest Windows Mobile 5 device to join the carrier's smart phone lineup, right behind the Cingular 2125. The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone comes with integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and EDGE support. In addition, there's a full QWERTY keyboard hidden behind the slider design, and since it will be upgradable to Microsoft's Messaging and Security Feature Pack, you can receive your e-mail in real time with push technology. Cingular will offer two versions--one equipped with a 1.3-megapixel camera and one without. The Cingular 8125 is available now to corporate users through Cingular's B2B sales channel, while the rest of us will have to wait till the end of February. Oh, and start saving now as the smart phone's price is set at $299, although you should be able to get it for less with service. We are due to receive our evaluation unit today, so check back very soon for our First Look video and full review.

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