Research In Motion (RIM) will ship the BlackBerry Bold 9000 multimedia smartphone this northern summer. It features a world-first for a BlackBerry: It supports Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g), tri-band HSDPA high-speed Internet access and has an integrated GPS. The new “Push Button Setup” will make it faster to connect to protected wireless networks that require a sign on process

The BlackBerry Bold comes with 128 MB Flash memory, 1 GB on-board storage memory and a microSD/SDHC memory card slot where you can add further storage. Apart from being a phone, it also manages your email, messaging, organiser and web browser. The supplied DataViz Documents to Go suite enables you to view and edit Word, Excel or PowerPoint files.

The 480 x 320 colour display is fused to the lens, which promises to show videos and pictures with great clarity. The photograph on the left suggests that the viewable area is very small, but judging by from other images seen on the web, it appears that during video playback the full screen area is used. That is probably also the case while browsing the web or reading emails. Streaming videos can be watched via RTSP – real-time streaming protocol and you can download files from websites and save them on the phone’s memory storage.

At 2 Megapixels, the camera won’t attract much interest, but it has a flash and 5x digital zoom. The USB 2.0 interface enables the device to sync with and transfer files from a PC.

The media player comes with Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry and Roxio Photosuite 9 LE, which enable you to enhance pictures and create photo albums on your computer. You can also sync iTunes music collections with the smartphone. Music can be played through its stereo speakers or headphones and you get 11 pre-set equaliser settings.

The integrated GPS works even while you are on a call, so you can be talking to a rescuer while giving them your precise location!

Premium phone features include Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Bluetooth 2.0, which supports hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including the ones that adhere to the Bluetooth Remote SIM Access Profile) and other Bluetooth peripherals. Its quad-band EDGE and tri-band HSDPA support global roaming.

Smart phone features include dedicated “send”, “end” and “mute” keys, smart dialling, speed dialling, conference calling and call forwarding. Its noise cancellation technology masks background noise. There is a powerful speakerphone and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones.

The removable rechargeable 1500 mAh battery provides talk time of about 5 hours and 13 days standby time. Supplied extras include a stereo headset, travel charger, carrying case or sleeve and USB cable.

You will soon be able to pre-order the BlackBerry Bold 9000 at Amazon.

Popularity: 32% [?]

So says a press release from Transcend, announcing the new StoreJet 35 Ultra, an actively cooled eSATA external hard drive. Of course, you would say that if you were flogging an actively cooled drive. I have about six external drives and none have cooked themselves to death so far.

All the same, the StoreJet 35 Ultra has attractive specs. It measures 197.5mm by 127.5mm by 48mm and comes in an aluminium case that takes a 3.5-inch SATA hard drive. There are two connection options: A 3.0Gb/s eSATA interface and a 480Mb/s USB 2.0 interface.

What does active cooling mean? For this unit, it means an extra-quiet 80mm high-flow fan that cools the hard drive. It also comes bundled with StoreJet elite software, which offers intelligent backup scheduling, security, and file compression.

The Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra supports all commonly used operating systems, including Windows 2000 / XP / Vista, Apple Mac and Linux . You can buy it with either a pre-installed 500 GB SATA hard drive, or you can buy just the enclosure and add your own 3.5-inch drive.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Now your computer can think outside the box, says Ash Nallawalla

Your PC has an intrinsic weakness that makes it easy for hostile files such as viruses or spyware to get past your defences. There is no need to be alarmed, as this is true for most PCs on the planet. In spite of installing the usual protection, such as a software firewall, an anti-virus program, your PC might be safe, but it is losing as much as 30 percent of its usable power. This power consists of CPU time and RAM.

Yes, it is quite normal for a PC to lose (actually, “use” is a more accurate word) its resources temporarily for every additional task it performs, which is why you should buy as much additional RAM as you can afford. I have 2 GB RAM and could buy more, but I cannot add more CPUs to my home PC. So what do I need to get?

I need a mini-computer. Yes, you read correctly. No, not those boat anchors from the 1970s, but a Yoggie Gatekeeper Pico to be exact. It is about the size of a thick USB flash drive. It can clip to a shirt pocket and comes with a spare cap in case you tend to lose the caps of USB drives.

Israeli company Yoggie Security Systems has come up with the classic “outside the box” solution by placing a complete Linux-based computer inside a USB flash drive. This mini-computer (is it a micro-computer?) acts literally as a gatekeeper by routing all incoming and outgoing traffic through itself and blocks all the nasty stuff.

Yes, the tiny computer has 128 MB RAM and runs at 520 MHz - those specs are good enough for its limited role. The memory is split so that the operating system cannot be reached from the part that processes the data stream.

The Pico acts as a firewall, like your hardware firewall at home (you do have one, right?), but you can’t take it with your laptop computer to a wireless hotspot. Many of those hotspots are usually wide open, so as not to cause problems for users who cannot configure WEP keys or type passwords. Your laptop is then visible to others who are sharing the same hotspot and one of them may have malicious intentions. Gamers remove unnecessary programs to get the most from their PC, so this little device is very relevant to their cause.

The Pico also protects against new virus threats for which a signature file has not been supplied by your anti-virus maker. If any part of a file looks suspicious, it is blocked. Yoggie has three pending patents in this area, so the smarts go beyond a basic heuristics scanner.

You can also use it for parental control on a child’s PC. It will block access to inappropriate sites, phishing emails, and stop spyware in its tracks.

You get a Kaspersky anti-virus CD that installs on your computer, not on the Pico. This is to clean your PC before you use the Pico, which comes with its integrated Kaspersky anti-virus engine. You can also use the software to scan a floppy disk or USB drive.

In Use

Installing and using the Gatekeeper Pico is easy. You plug it in and then install the drivers and Yoggie software. Next, you register it at the Yoggie website and you are ready to go. Unlike its corporate big brother device the Gatekeeper Pro, which works with the Yoggie Management Server, it works in stand-alone mode.

The device gets quite warm. The Pico is a computer, so this is normal and it is stated on the website. Come to think of it, some of my USB flash drives get warm to hot as well.

I have been running the Pico on my Windows Vista desktop for a couple of months and no nasty programs or spyware have been detected, so it is doing its job. I pulled out the device and instantly lost my Internet connection, so that feature works as claimed. All in all, the Yoggie Gatekeeper Pico is a clever device that does its job silently and keeps your PC protected. You may find it available for as little as US$95 (plus postage) from online discount outlets.

Vendor: Yoggie

Popularity: 100% [?]

Recently, while I was in the US, an Indian friend asked me to buy him an iPhone because they can be unlocked in India (or elsewhere, if you know how). I did some hunting and found out that this is quite a hot topic. There is a lot of speculation online and quite a few Made-for-Adsense sites with nothing other than the iPhone name in an article, but there are some gems in there.

iPhone India Edition - Hidden Features is quite a funny read. It has a PhotoShopped picture of an iPhone with features such as “GPMS - Gutter and Pothole Management System”.

There are some posts that allege to show how to unlock an iPhone - take them all with a pinch of salt, as you could end up with an expensive paperweight if something goes wrong:

• iPhone India
• iPhone Elite

Buying an Unlocked iPhone

If I were lusting after an unlocked iPhone, I’d be looking at Apple Germany or France, where Apple has been forced to sell unlocked units. T-Mobile has them for €399 on a plan, and unlocked units were selling for about $1480 for a while until the courts gave T-Mobile the right to sell only locked ones. In France, you can still get unlocked models for €749. But if you are in India, your current options are:

• Palika Bazaar or Sarojini Nagar in Delhi
• Heera Panna in Mumbai

The going grey-market price is about $650 (Rs 30,000).

Will an iPhone Work in India?

Locked or unlocked, the iPhone will work in India because it has four GSM bands, two of which work in India (900 and 1800 MHz). All you have to do is ensure that your carrier supports roaming in India. Unlocking also depends on the firmware supplied with the phone - the latest version apparently cannot be unlocked, so don’t upgrade an unlocked phone. Here is someone who got his phone working in India:

iPhone Unlocking Jargon

• iPhone Elite = A set of tools that can brick your iPhone if you don’t know what you are doing.
• iPhone SimFree = A GUI-based unlocking tool that worked with firmware 1.1.2 but the site hasn’t been updated since November 20.
• iBrickr = A ringtone management tool for older firmware - don’t try it on 1.1.1 or later.
• Unlocking = Allowing the phone to use a SIM from any carrier, not just the one that sold you the phone on a contract.
• Jailbreaking = Allowing you to access all parts of the SIM’s file system.
• Activating = Conversely, this means bypassing the activation step via iTunes.
• Re-virginizing = Restoring the iPhone’s lock table if damaged by an anySIM 1.0x unlocker.
• Turbo SIM = Czech company Bladox sells this SIM-sized chip that slips in with your SIM and does amazing things, including unlocking the iPhone (acc to Wikipedia, but contradicted by the website). Their site says that as of 17 December 2007, a tsunami hit their shop, so they are closed. This probably means that most of Western Europe is under water by now…

Unlocking Just Got Harder

Firmware 1.1.3 was confirmed at Macworld 2008. It can’t be unlocked with AnySIM, so life for users of unlocked iPhones just got harder.

Popularity: 52% [?]

At my other site, ZuneUserGroup.com, I have reviewed the recently released Microsoft Zune 8. Do check it out — it is a positive review.

Popularity: 37% [?]

Enroute from SFO to LAS for Pubcon, I noticed my neighbour get out a device that I had not seen before. Turns out my neighbour was Fred Vallaeys, a Google Product Evangelist, who was a fellow speaker at Pubcon!

Fred kindly let me have a play with the Kindle, which is sold by Amazon. It cost $399 plus $24.99 for a protective, book-like cover. The display is easy to read in bright light. The scroll wheel works well but the keyboard is awkward to use. The Kindle is linked to your Amazon account, so you can order books and magazines from it.

Non-USA people like me can forget the Kindle for the time being. It connects to a special wireless service in the US, so it won’t work outside the US, other than to display content that is already in it. You would have to get the content with a PC and then transfer it with a USB drive. However, such problems have a silver lining in that we usually see a second generation device with all the kinks taken out. But Amazon hasn’t come to Australia, so who knows if we will see the Kindle in Oz.

Popularity: 24% [?]