Spy gadget recovers deleted text messages

Thought you could get rid of those incriminating text messages with a simple Delete? Not so fast, Tex. Gadget blogs are all abuzz over a little device that purports to enable users to recover and view deleted data stored on almost any cell phone SIM card.

"Have you ever wished you can spy on your wife, husband, teens, or colleague's phone to see what they are up to? Are they being suspicious when on their cell phone?" asks New York-based BrickHouse Security, which also sells marijuana identification kits and all manner of spy cameras. It says it has the answer to your worst fears in the form of the US$149 Cell Phone Sim Card Spy.

Simply place a SIM card into the tiny USB reader, and instantly save the data, including last numbers dialed and deleted SMS messages, to your PC. Sure, the device is also good for more benign applications like backing up cell phone contacts. But really, why use it for such boring pursuits when you can hack into your unsuspecting loved ones' secrets?

Via CNET Crave | Picture credit: BrickHouse Security

Panasonic models phone after Viera TV line

It's always seemed a bit odd that a company would model a phone after a successful line of TVs, but that appears to be a trend of sorts in Japan. Sony, for example, did this by coming out with a Bravia phone based on its high-end TVs by the same name. And now Panasonic appears to be taking the same route.

Sporting a 3.5-inch VGA widescreen, the seductively named P905iTV slider is supposed to reflect the design of Panasonic's Viera plasma TVs. The specs listed on Electronista may indicate that the phone is almost more concerned with its video delivery than communications features, including a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, 854 x 480 resolution, and something called "LCD Artificial Intelligence" that automatically adjusts brightness levels.

Oh right, the phone part. Offered by Japan's DoCoMo, it's a 3G handset with a 2-megapixel camera and microSD slot that claims to have 230 minutes of talk time and 660 hours on standby. But given its mission, it's probably just as important to note that it supposedly gets 160 minutes of video playback per charge.

Via CNET Crave

Apple releases new iPhone firmware

It's not a software development kit, but there is something new today for iPhone owners.

Apple released OS X firmware update 1.1.4 Tuesday for the iPhone, saying little about the new features. The last update, 1.1.3, introduced a few new capabilities such as the ability to customize the home page, but the only thing noted as new in 1.1.4 are "bug fixes," which are probably welcome.

It's not clear at this early juncture whether the new update does anything to the legions of jailbroken and unlocked iPhones out in the world, but if you're one of those users living outside Apple's user agreement, you might want to hold off installing the update until more details are uncovered. We'll update if we hear more.

In addition, so far on Tuesday we've learned nothing new about Apple's iPhone software development kit, expected to arrive sometime this week before the end of February. It was a busy day for the company, though, with new MacBooks and MacBook Pros making an appearance in Apple stores.

Via CNET Crave

MWg's Atom V slated for early March release

It's been a while since the last Atom handheld was made available in Asia. The O2 Atom Life was announced more than a year ago in January 2007.

Thus, we were looking forward to today's launch of the Atom V, MWg's first handheld product release since the company was formed late last year to take over O2's device business in the region. (Note: The "V" in Atom V stands for the Roman numeral 5, not the alphabet V. According to MWg, Atom V is the fifth Atom product, after the original Atom, Atom Pure, Atom Exec and Atom Life.)

The Atom V, which will retail for S$998 in Singapore, offers a similar feature set as the Atom Life. There will be HSDPA, wireless LAN, quadband GSM and Bluetooth, as well as a 2-megapixel camera and QVGA touchscreen display. What's new on the Atom V will be an integrated GPS, a slimmer sub-15mm profile and new, sleek design. (Read our first take on the Atom V here.)

According to MWg's press release, there will be three to six new products planned for 2008, including the Zinc II which will be due out in the second quarter of this year. The Atom V is expected to be available in the rest of Asia-Pacific markets between mid-March and mid-April.

Sony debuts two feature-packed shooters

If you have an insatiable appetite for cameras loaded with features, the two latest offerings from Sony might just satisfy your cravings. The Cyber-shot DSC-W300 succeeds the W200, while the Cyber-shot DSC-H50 takes over the H9.

The W-series of cameras are known for performance in a compact form and the W300 definitely lives up to this name. Clad in a titanium-coated body, the 13.6-megapixel shooter boasts an "extra high speed" burst mode that allows you to shoot 3-megapixel pictures at a rate of 5 frames per second. This is one of the fastest shooting rates (considering the image resolution) we've seen in a compact camera. However, the 3x optical zoom is a tad disappointing when most compact point-and-shoot units now come with a 5x zoom lens.

The 9.1-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-H50 gives the photographer more creative freedom with extensive controls over exposure and color balance. The 15x zoom lens will bring faraway subjects closer and, coupled with a shutter that goes up to ¼,000th of a second, this camera is ideal for capturing sports. Also, get creative with your shooting angles using the 3-inch tilting LCD screen.

Both models also have the D-Range Optimizer (DRO) plus, a feature first seen in a compact like the Cyber-shot DSC-T300. The DRO plus automatically applies an image-correction algorithm when a picture is taken in a high-contrast condition. This will bring out more highlight/shadow details in the picture while still retaining overall exposure. The popular Carl Zeiss lens still makes a presence in these two cameras, as well as the usual features of face detection, smile shutter and intelligent scene recognition.

The W300 is priced at US$350 and the H50 at US$400. They will be available in the Asia-Pacific region at the end of April. Keep a watch on this space as we will update their availability and pricing as soon as we get the information.

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