Kingston Technology Company, Inc. recently announced the release of their new DataTraveler® Blackbox USB Flash Drive. The Blackbox, which is currently available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB sizes, is one of the most secure flash drives commercially available. In fact, the Blackbox is the first flash drive from Kingston that has received the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 (FIPS 140-2) Certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada.

The 256-bit AES encryption that the Blackbox brings to the table comes with a price, however, as the 2GB Blackbox retails for $165.00, the 4 GB drive retails for $242.00, and the 8GB drive retails for $424.00.

Tags: blackbox, kingston technology company, USB Flash drive

Verizon Wireless announced today that the Verizon XV6900 is now available through their online store. This new touch-screen smartphone includes a number of capabilities including Bluetooth®, instant messaging, web browsing, the ability to create and view documents in Microsoft Word® and Microsoft Excel®, the ability to view PDF and PowerPoint® files, and a number of other useful capabilities.

Unfortunately, the XV6900 is on the expensive side and may be out of the price range of anyone that is attempting to stick to a strict budget as it retails for $349.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate. The XV6900 will be available at Verizon Wireless stores starting April 30, 2008.

Tags: smartphone, verizon, xv6900

 Sharp-Willcom’s new D4 WS016SH UMPC is the first device to hit the shelves with an Intel Atom Processor in it. By shelves, I mean Japan. And by Japan, I mean, no intended release date in the United States. The D4 WS016SH UMPC has a fairly decent spec layout for its size, including the 1.3GHz Atom Z520 processor. Other features include a five-inch backlit touch screen LED running in 1024 x 600, 1GB memory, 40GB HD, 2 megapixel camera, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR.

Apparently Sharp-Willcom hasn’t heard the good news that XP has been extended specifically for devices like this, as they’ve decided to load it with Windows Vista Home Edition. What a shame.

Tags: D4 WS016SH UMPC, Sharp-Willcom, UMPC, windows vista

Rumors surrounding the next generation of iPhones to hit the shelves this year, have been flying around like crazy. Unfortunately,the only solid evidence anyone can confirm as of yet is that the new model will in fact be a 3G iPhone. Many individuals within the business world have publicly weighed in on their opinion on what else the phone will carry, the price, sizes, and additional features, but none have any solid evidence.

It does seem reasonable, however, that the new 3G iPhone will launch around the same time that the original did, and that the EDGE iPhones will receive a permanent price cut before being phased out. Looks like we’ll have to wait and find out.

Source: ArsTechnica

Tags: 3g iphone, apple, arstechnica, iphone

The format that had set Microsoft Office 2007 apart from the rest of their competition, Office Open XML (OOXML), has now officially been take under control by the ISO. The purpose of the ISO taking charge of it is to allow them to find all of OOXML’s shortcomings and fix them before officially making it the new global standard.

The voting in wasn’t exactly unopposed, but more than 75% of the vote went in favor of making it the new standard. Those notably against the vote where the founder of Ubuntu and Red Hat Linux. We’ll see if this fast track approval will create a compatibility with OpenDocument Format, or simply leave us with a promise of doing so while giving Microsoft the crown.

Tags: ISO Office Open XML, Microsoft Office 2007, openoffice.org

Flickr fans rejoice! Nikon’s new CoolPix S52c was made with people like you in mind.

Appearing to be a simple yet really nice looking 9 megapixel digital camera, the Nikon CoolPix S52c is actually WiFi capable. Once you’ve connected you’ll have access to Nikon’s Picture Town so you can upload, share, or send your photos on their site or to others as well. The camera also boasts a 3″ LCD, 3x digital zoom, SDHC support, optical image stabilization, and up to 2000 ISO, all for $280.

Now if they could only get it to make phone calls too….

Tags: coolpix S52c, nikon, wifi

Although this UMPC has one of the most uncreative names, it definitely offers a lot. This 7 inch laptop boldly goes where no mini laptop has gone before by including an optical drive (DVD burner). It’s also sporting a 1024 x 600 touchscreen display, 60 GB hard drive, and 802.11 b/g wireless card.

Supposedly, the Kohijinsha SR8KPO6S’s battery will last up to three hours and the device is only 2.4 lbs (0.2 more than the Asus Eee PC). With all the features it boasts, I’m sure that this device will cost users a pretty penny.

Source: Engadget 

Tags: Asus Eee PC, Kohijinsha SR8KPO6S, Mini laptop, UMPC

It looks like we’re not that far away from getting a text message that reads “This is a test of the emergency broadcasting network”. The FCC is finalizing their system that cell phone providers can choose to opt in to, allowing their subscribers to receive a 90 words or less alert about terrorist attacks, severe weather warnings, and Amber alerts as well.

Even at 2 letters per word, 90 words is going to take at least 2 text messages to get across the meaning.

Source: CNN 

Tags: Cell Phones, fcc

Pictures of Nokia’s Tube, the touted first touch screen device to operate with the Symbian S60 operating system, have surfaced all over the web. The guys over at Symbian-Freak and Engadget have managed to take the pictures they have received of the device and enhance them for you to see.

The Tube operates on quad-band GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA, and includes built-in Bluetooth, WiFi, uPnP, GPS, and XpressMedia support. The screen operates at a 16:9 aspect ratio but doesn’t offer any multitouch support.

It’s kind of curious as to why they keep comparing it to an iPhone. Do I smell an inferiority complex already?

Nokia is expecting this to be the lowest powered of their touch screen models to operate on the S60 firmware, so keep your eyes peeled.

Tags: Nokia, Nokia Tube, S60, Tube

Apparently Dell isn’t willing to sit out on the mini laptop design anymore and will soon be releasing their own 8.9 inch screen laptop sometime this summer. While it’s no doubt that the idea was in their minds from the second Dell saw the success of Asus and Everex, they are definitely one of the last to make it to this party.

No solid details have been confirmed, however, the summer time launch happens to match up pretty well with the expected launch of Intels new Atom processor.

Tags: asus, Atom processor, dell, Everex, Intel, Mini laptop