The Lost Smartphone: An ID Thief's Dream

Where's your smartphone? Did it fall out of your pocket or did you leave in that rental car?

If you did those cameraphone photos from the bachelor party might be the least of your worries. With a wealth of personal information and possible application links to things like your bank accounts and your personal schedule, today's smartphones offer lots of data that would be valuable to an ID thief.

So what can you do to protect your data? Add-on applications like tenCube's WaveSecure can protect your phone even when it's out of your hands. Take a look at my latest piece in PC World for more information. And let me know what you think.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

HP ePrint: No Print Driver? No Problem

Hewlett Packard led off Internet Week in New York Monday by unveiling ePrint, a new Web print service that allows users to print from any Web-enabled device whether it has built-in printing support or not. The new ePrint service will come with a wave of new all-in-one inkjet printers starting at $99.

During a morning press conference, Vyomesh Joshi (right), HP's executive vice president for Imaging and Printing Group, noted that all of the new printers will come with their own e-mail addresses. Sending a print job to any of the ePrint-enabled printers is as simple as sending an e-mail he said.

While three of the four new printers will be available in August and September, the $99 HP Photosmart e-All-in-One printer, which features a 2.4-inch touchscreen and a flatbed scanner, will be available later this month.

For more on the new ePrint service, see my piece at PCWorld.com.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

Sound ID 510 Bluetooth Headset: Now Hear That!

According to the folks at Sound ID, you are what you hear. That's why the new Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset comes with something no other wireless headset to date has offered: Its own personalized iPhone app.

The new app, called EarPrint, allows you to fine tune the incoming audio of the headset to your own ear. Depending on how you set the app, you can have the earpiece dull loud sounds or increase the volume of soft ones.

The headset will be available at AT&T stores and the Sound ID website on June 6. So what else does it offer? Read my first look at PC World.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

CES 2010: Parrot's AR.Drone Quadricopter Creates Buzz by Buzzing the Media

One of the stranger sights at last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was a flying toy "quadricopter" which created quite a buzz by buzzing over the heads of wide-mouthed journalists at CES Unveiled, the first big press event of the week.

The AR.Drone, a four-engined flying toy built by Parrot, a company better known for its wireless speakers and other Bluetooth-enabled devices, is outfitted with two wireless cameras and can be controlled with an iPhone or IPod Touch. It comes with two "augmented reality" (that's what the "A.R." stands for) video games which let you use the video feed from the cameras as part of a semi-real-life video game.

You can read my story on the A.R.Drone and watch my short video at PCWorld.

Jitterbug J: Phone for Seniors Graduates

Just days after some Jitterbug phones were recalled due to a problem with making some 911 calls, Great Call Inc. is back with the Jitterbug J, its newest easy-to-use phone for older adults.

Jitterbug and Samsung recalled some phones sold after March 1, 2008 after they had problems making 911 calls when outside of Jitterbug's network. The problem is being repaired with a software patch.

The new Jitterbug J is sleeker, but still simple and has none of the 911 problems.

For more information, see my piece on the PC World Web site: Jitterbug J: Keeping it Simple

Copyright 2009 Stadium Circle Features