Normally, people would associate downloading videos and music from the Internet without paying a single cent from Torrent sites as well as other host providers with piracy, but what happens when a legitimate company allows you to do all that without forking out any dough? The BBC has done exactly that, launching an online video service that enables subscribers to download a wide range of TV programs for free since last week. There are over 400 hours of programs to choose from - that number is roughly the equivalent of 60% to 70% of total TV output. You won’t just get third string media as even hit shows such as Planet Earth will be made available. The service is currently free and can be downloaded here, but unfortunately it is currently limited to those living in Britain only.

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The Japanese company Oki Electric announced the development of an iris recognition technology for cell phones, in the first application that uses the existing video camera of your phone or PDA, in an ultra high level of security protection. No one will ever be able to make any calls, or to access the web from your phone, unless it is authorized by you. The software Iris Recognition Technology version 1.0 needs a 1 or 2 megapixels camera to function properly, and is based on a proprietary algorithm designed to work with standard cameras on mobile phones.
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Wow, so many of you may have tried Plaxo, back in the day (it was a Wednesday, about 3 or 4 years ago I think). Well, they’re back, and surprisingly, they’re great!

I’ve been wrestling with organizing and consolidating my contacts for years, I’ve got Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo! Mail, and more, plus my old Palm Pilot data too. Since my Pilot died, ugh, (still waiting for you Gandalf (or iPhone)) I haven’t been happy at all with my contacts and scheduling, and as my phone isn’t particularly web savvy well, let’s just say I’ve been vexed with integrating everything. It seems those worries are coming to an end.

Yeeehaww!!

Testing: In no time at all I had brought my Palm data into my Yahoo! account (just click on the sync help button in Yahoo! Mail and it brought all my Palm Vcard data in (it’s not too hard, select all your contacts then export vcard)). Then in Plaxo, I selected, Yahoo! Mail, then GMail, then Hotmail.

Voila!! All my woes, gone!!! Check the Plaxo video! Read the rest of this entry »

Back in June, we reported on Logitech’s new MX Air mouse. Now, in mid-July, it’s finally out and the reviews are in. So far, they’ve been excellent. For those wondering why a mouse is even remotely interesting to them, you should know that the MX Air lets you control your computer using hand gestures in the air. The best part of this though, those hand gestures actually work.
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Disney-ABC has teamed up with Microsoft to allow Xbox 360 owners to rent movies online, courtesy of the Xbox Live service. Since the Xbox 360 already comes with integrated networking capabilities, it makes sense to give them access to online game demo downloads, simple arcade games, videos, and movies. Movies from Disney studios aren’t the only fare up on offer, as the spread includes titles from Miramax and Touchstone Pictures.

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Games are supposed to be fun, even more so computer games. Unfortunately, it loses its fun factor when cheats fall into the equation. The computer folk at Intel share your pain of meeting a person in an online server who seems to have unnatural reflexes and superhuman aim, and yet do not carry the handle Fatal1ty. How does Intel confirm your suspicions that this isn’t a really skilled player but someone who has been hiding behind the facade of aimbots? Let us read to find out more on how Intel develops technology that detects cheating in online games.

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Most people don’t realize that you can usually get free HDTV if you use an antenna. Really, you don’t have to pay the cable/satellite company too much money for too little content– it’s probably easier to simply pony up that $15/month, but if you’re willing to do some tinkering, a gadget like the Laptop HDTV receiver is for you. And, be warned, it will cost you a bit of money up front, to the tune of $200, but in the long run, you’ll be saving money.
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Safari is Apple’s answer to Internet Explorer, it’s the default web browser that ships with OSX. And it now runs under Windows - so I thought I’d give it a try.

Installation was painless and it hasn’t (so far) taken over all my file associations to become the default browser. It automatically picked up both my IE and Firefox bookmarks too which is handy.

Could this be the first step into tempting me away from my Wintel bias and onto the Mac bandwagon? First impressions after the jump…
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