2008 April 27 | high tech blogger

Apr 27 2008

American companies selling hi-tech police equipment to China?

Posted by: admin in Oline Networking News

Did American companies violate U.S. law by selling hi-tech police equipment to the Chinese? The Old Gray Lady asks this today, analyzing a recent Chinese police equipment trade show held in Beijing where several American companies, including Motorola and DuPont, were notably present. (An old law going back to Tiananmen Square prevents American companies from […]

Did American companies violate U.S. law by selling hi-tech police equipment to the Chinese? The Old Gray Lady asks this this day, analyzing a current Chinese police equipment trade show held in Beijing where several American companies, including Motorola and DuPont, were notably present. (An old law going back to Tiananmen Square prevents American companies from selling police equipment to China.) On display: Kevlar bulletproof vests, advanced police radio systems, fancy protective boots and a device that “swiftly” copies the entire contents of a hard drive without leaving any trace of having done so. That one’s developed by Intelligent Computer Solutions, which is based in California.

This all comes just a few weeks after China’s crackdown on Tibet protesters, never mind the controversy surrounding the Olympic Torch relay.

Of course, all companies deny any wrongdoing, stressing that they haven’t broken any laws. Be that as it may, I wonder if it’s worth sullying a company’s image just to make a few dollars from the Chinese. Not trying to pull a Jack Cafferty or anything, but selling American-developed technology to be used by Chinese authorities, that doesn’t seem like it’d be too popular with Joe Sixpack.

Via [crunchgear]

Apr 27 2008

Vertu throws its own party with Constellation Rococo collection

Posted by: admin in Mobile Tech

Filed under: Handsets, Vertu, GSM, EDGE

You know how it goes — when you’re this high-end, don’t even bother waiting for your bestest of friends to toss you a birthday party to celebrate ten years of mindless self indulgence. Instead, Vertu’s doing the only thing it really can by cranking out a fashionable new collection to commemorate its decennial anniversary. The Constellation Rococo collection was reportedly inspired by “the eighteenth century French art, fashion and interior design movement by the same name,” and if you’re into floral patterns, bold colors and monogrammed Vs, you’re sure to fall head over heels for this lot. Rest assured, however, that the epicurean handset maker won’t be giving these away as gifts (or anything close to it) when they land this summer.

Apr 27 2008

China-bound Philips M600 touts SRS WOW technology

Posted by: admin in Mobile Tech

Filed under: Handsets, Others, GSM

Not that we haven’t ever seen a mobile get that mildly interesting SRS WOW badge slapped on it before, but Philips is becoming the next to do so with its M600. This oh-so-sleek candybar makes a play for the music lovers heart — well, so long as stated adorer is in China, anyway. Aside from providing one click access to your stored tunes (not to mention simple access to volume / track controls), the handset packs a 2-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth, a very welcome 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, support for MIDI / MP3 / WMA / AMR files, USB 1.1 connectivity, dual-band GSM / GPRS connectivity and a number of preset equalizer settings to boot. Ideal of all, Philips keeps its tradition of providing ultra-longevous phones alive by giving users up to 40-hours of music playback on a single charge. ‘Tis a shame there’s no information on pricing just yet.

Apr 27 2008

Analysts project Linux in 20% of mid- to high-end handsets by 2013

Posted by: admin in Mobile Tech

Filed under: Handsets, Software, Linux, Studies

There’s tiny doubt that Linux has quite a bit going for it in the mobile realm, but a current report put out by ABI Research asserts that just about one in every five mid- to high-end handsets sold in 2013 will boast a Linux-based OS. Citing the mounting momentum behind LiMo Foundation as well as the alleviation of “issues with framework fragmentation and silicon requirements,” the research firm is projecting Linux to be an integral part of some 20-percent of higher-end mobiles in just 5 years. ABI Research’s VP even noted that “Linux OS solutions will be far more cost-effective than incumbent solutions, even when silicon stipulations are taken into account, given that a fuller application layer will be included in the standard package and that the burden of customization falls mostly on the independent software vendor.” Hey, you won’t find us kvetching about the proliferation of open-source.

[Via mocoNews]