Does a GPS with a constant connection to the Internet make it the best way to travel in your car? Can it find the lowest gas prices, the nearest Starbucks, an ATM near your friends home, and the best pizza joint in town? Will it show you how to get to work quicker than you have ever made it before IN traffic? Does the volume setting of 11 make it that much better than anything else available?

Yes, we know so many questions to be answered but we think we do a pretty good job of answering those and even more with the newest craze hitting cars across the country in this new GPS unit. An Internet enabled GPS device that taps into Yahoo! Local and lets you send your addresses from within your web browser on your computer to your Dash Express sitting silently on your, um, dash.

Now, is it all worth it? Read on.

Orange Madagascar S.A. has released its new Orange World portal powered by Greenlight Wireless’ Skweezer technology, which optimizes Web pages and searches for mobile handsets.

Orange World is a mobile Internet portal that provides Orange Madagascar’s 1.4 million customers with access to Web content, such as news and sports scores, from their mobile phones and PDAs. Skweezer Private Label has been integrated into this portal so that Orange customers will be able to browse off-portal and visit any Web site on the Internet, whether it’s mobile-friendly or not.

“Orange Madagascar has chosen to work with Greenlight Wireless to integrate Skweezer into its WAP portal because of Greenlight’s experience, knowledge and expertise in the technology of reformatting pages to adapt them to the screens of mobile phones,” said Orange Madagascar Product Manager Tohiniaina Raherimanantsoa.

Approximately 24% of all Skweezer users are from so-called “emerging markets”. The growth in this sector is an ongoing tend that became apparent in mid-2005, when Skweezer penetration in Latin America, China, and India began to accelerate. Skweezer Private Label is also used by Orange Dominicana’s 850,000-plus customers, with further Private Label implementations due to be deployed in upcoming months.

Orange Madagascar is using Skweezer Private Label, which is a carrier-grade solution that optimizes Web content for PDAs and cell phones. Skweezer compresses and reformats content being downloaded, so that it loads faster, looks better, and is easier to navigate. Skweezer has introduced many mobile browsing innovations and has won several awards in 2007, including a Gold Star in the Mobile Star Awards and Best Web Compression Service in the Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards. Skweezer is completely platform-independent and can be accessed from Pocket PC, Palm, MS Smartphone, Blackberry, iPhone, Symbian, PSP2, and WAP 2.0 compliant devices.

Symantec Corp (Nasdaq: SYMC), makers of
Norton security software, today released the first volume of the Norton
Online Living Report (NOLR) revealing that, more than ever, adults and
children around the world are getting emotionally and socially connected
online – including dating, friendship and playing – as well as for
information and communication. The NOLR, undertaken by Harris
Interactive, revealed some startling statistics about how Internet-Age
technologies have affected families across the world.

Up to half of online adults worldwide and up to 40 per cent of online
children worldwide have made friends on line, with 72 per cent of
responding UK adults having translated at least one online friend to an
offline friend. In the UK, 43 per cent of online adults and 26 per cent
of children enjoy their online relationships as much or more than their
offline friendships. This indicates a major shift in how people relate
to one other and provides potential clues for the future of human
interaction.

Another common theme worldwide reveals that parents’ perception of what
their children are doing online does not reflect the reality of what
their children say they are doing. For example, one in five responding
children admit to conducting activities online that they know their
parents would not approve of with 24 per cent of UK online children
spending tenfold or more time online than their parents think they do.
The survey revealed that 72 per cent of responding parents in the UK are
concerned about their children’s activities online, with 25 per cent
having no idea about what their children are doing on the internet.

This can have shocking consequences: Five times as many children online
in the UK have been approached by a stranger online than their parents
believe. In UK, adults believe that four per cent of children have been
approached online by a stranger. The actual per cent reported by UK
online children is 20.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whether staying in a hotel, waiting for a flight or drinking a latte at the local coffee shop, Alltel customers can now connect to the Internet virtually anywhere. Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network providing coverage across the nation, today launched Alltel Wi-Fi, an easy-to-use solution powered by Boingo Wireless that instantly provides customers with laptop access to thousands of hotspots throughout North and South America. Alltel also provides wireless broadband access via Alltel Wireless Internet service, allowing customers to access the Internet from their laptop or smartphone at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps on its nationwide data network.

Through Alltel’s relationship with Boingo, the world’s largest network of Wi-Fi hotspots, Alltel customers will be able to enjoy a fast connection all over the country. To provide customers with maximum coverage, Alltel is offering a Wi-Fi and EVDO Wireless Internet “bundle,” delivering unlimited Wi-Fi access from any supported hotspot starting as low as $9.99 per month, in addition to the customers’ Wireless Internet Plan. Pre-paid Wi-Fi cards are available at Alltel Wireless retail stores for $19.99 per week or $9.99 per day. Additionally, users can purchase Wi-Fi access at https://wifi.alltel.com.

“Wi-Fi is an excellent complement to Alltel’s existing portfolio of wireless internet solutions and is a good fit with Alltel’s strategy to provide customers with more ways to connect wirelessly to the Internet, email, or corporate intranet,” said David Maddox, director of product marketing for Alltel Wireless. “Alltel customers will get the best available wireless broadband connection throughout the country with EVDO and Wi-Fi from Alltel.”

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I tell that just because you dragged something to the Trash can on your Mac and emptied it, it’s not gone. Or how you deleted a bunch of e-mail in Mail.app. It’s not gone. How ’bout all your Internet History that you “cleared”? Not gone. Only the index marker is gone. The actual data is still there. Ask former CEO Kenneth Lay of Enron how that works. Worse yet, even your Keychain really isn’t safe from prying eyes.

SubRosaSoft.com Inc. of Union City, California, has just released a tool that will help forensic specialists get some interesting stuff off of any OS X computer. With the simple insertion of the MacLockPick to any USB port on a Mac, the MacLockPick starts digging into the operating system looking for gems and jewels. MacLockPick knows where to go for finding the large vein and thus starts cracking your Keychain for the real goodies. “Once the MacLockPick software is run it will extract data from the Apple Keychain and system settings to provide the examiner fast access to the suspect’s critical information with as little interaction or trace as possible,” so says SubRosaSoft’s press release. Wow! This is some heavy stuff. For the mind-blowing specifics, check out the list after the jump.

Now, don’t worry. SubRosaSoft is only selling this to “Licensed Investigators, State and Local law enforcement professionals, (as well as to) Federal law enforcement professionals.” Though, I just added one into my cart under PI and it hasn’t yet asked me for my license (though I suspect it does further into the purchase phase.) Pricing starts at $499.95 for PIs and the Feds get the best deal at $399.95. eBay buyers will most likely pay double. Read the rest of this entry »

Taxes are due next Tuesday and many will be spending their weekend “finishing” (read: starting) their taxes. Many will eFile. Check Point sent SvenOnTech this great write up on what to watch out for when filing over the Internet.

Despite the growing awareness of online identity theft, many electronic filers still do not know the basic and necessary measures to protect themselves and their tax information, said the security experts behind Check Point’s ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite today. The IRS reports that last year, about 73 million people submitted federal tax returns electronically. About 20 million of these individuals filed via the Internet using home computers, an increase of 18% from 2005.

“It’s amazing how many e-filers take pains to keep their jewelry in a safe at home and their financial paperwork in a locked desk but don’t take minimal precautions on their personal home computer,” said Laura Yecies, vice president at Check Point Software Technologies and general manager of the ZoneAlarm consumer division. “For starters, we hope everyone knows by now that they shouldn’t wirelessly file tax returns from the local coffee shop, which may not be secure.”

The IRS expects a steady increase in the number of e-filers this year as consumers are increasingly taking advantage of the conveniences of the Internet to file, getting their returns faster and helping them avoid the long lines that mar the post office on Tax Day. Read the rest of this entry »

Navicore, one of the leading European providers of GPS navigation software for mobile phones and devices recently declared that Navicore Personal will be made available for the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, also recently released by Nokia. New upgrades to the GPS navigation system includes maps of North America, Australia, the Middle East, and South Africa, though I don’t personally know anybody planning trips to places such as the Middle East.

There are many benefits that come from the partnership between Navicore and Nokia, including the latest and greatest features of navigational software, internet enhanced navigation, and high resolution wide-screen display. The portable internet access enables consumers on the go to have access to a variety of internet services directly on the Nokia N800 tablet, along with clear voice guidance. The new system is designed specifically for connected mobile devices that is not only convenient for road trips and bike rides, but also an awesome pocket guide to the thousands of points of interest located in your area. Find restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and local hot-spots in your vicinity using this GPS system. Once the software is installed on your mobile device, it is free of charge. the maps and everything you need is stored on a memory card and no network operator is required.

“With its impressive widescreen display and extremely fast mobile Internet connectivity, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is the ideal platform for consumer friendly GPS navigation. By combining the award-winning Navicore Personal with the innovative Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, we can offer a superior navigation user experience that further extends fun and functionality, as well as control and confidence for the mobile lifestyle,” said Juha Murtopuro, CEO of Navicore.

Maps for this GPS navigation system are provided by TeleAtlas and provide highly accurate street maps with rich digital content. The current Navicore Personal 2007 version is available now at http://shop.navicoretech.com. The 2007 version for the N800 Tablet will be available next month through selected outlet stores and at www.nokia.com.

As a guy that has been on the Internet since 1991, I can tell you that I’ve seen just about every form of filtering out there. The majority of them just don’t work. Plus, savvy kids that have grown up with the Internet know how to usually get around the filters as well. In short, none really are worthy of any price they charge. That is until I found Safe From Sites.

Founder Shaun, whose last name we’re withholding to protect him from the porn industry, ran into a situation at his employers while in charge of its IT infrastructure. The employees were visiting porn sites which in turn brought to the network virus issues. Trying to figure out how to resolve the problem from a central point, for easier manageability, Shaun went to the source: DNS. DNS, or Domain Name Server, is what translates the SvenOnTech.com and other sites into numbers which the computers need to connect to a site. By changing ones DNS to point to Safe From Sites servers, this then gives the ability for Safe From Sites to weed out the objectionable sites and send you to door mat on their site stating you’ve been prevented from going to a naughty site. Protecting you from porn, viruses, phishing, and other harmful sites, Safe From Sites does what it says.

With hundreds of thousands of sites blocked daily, Safe From Sites really does work. SvenOnTech tested it for weeks on end and found very little legitimate sites being blocked. Safe From Sites was quick to make the needed corrections to their servers and we must note that we were using it during the beta phase of development, too. We were pleasantly surprised to find even certain pictures on “safe” sites such as AutoBlog blocked (and based on the revealing captions, we knew the block was from Safe From Sites.)

Not only is Safe From Sites great for home users but essential for businesses. With sexual harassment a sticky thing to deal with in the work place, removing any objectionable material from ones screen will aid in reducing reports to HR. Since Safe From Sites works using DNS, this solution works for all devices from PDAs, to cell phones, to PCs, to Macs, to even X-boxes and PlayStations. Configure once, block all.

Safe From Sites is an affordable alternative to other filters and this one works. ISP and IT departments can also join Safe From Sites profit sharing program.

There has been much concern over all the things people can do over the Internet, especially children. Parents are and very well should be concerned about what their kids are doing and who they are talking to on the World Wide Web, especially with websites like MySpace and Xanga.

One British company in particular has realized this and released a security device that can help parents keep their children safe from online predators. The new device, XGate, was developed by Manchester based Global Security One (GSEC1) and gives parents the ability to monitor what kids are doing on the internet via mobile phone. Act as the fly on the wall and see what conversations kids are having, block access to and even shut down online chat rooms, or the PC itself if you are uncomfortable with the situation. Do all this with your mobile phone from your office, couch, supermarket, car, or wherever you are on the globe. All with the touch of a button.

XGate is compatible with all broadband requirements and can be connected to a maximum of 4 computers at once and it’s innovative technology will actually stop the threat before it reaches the computer. XGate can do this because of the extensive research on pedophile behavior. It’s database can detect the grooming language used by pedophiles and other predators. Unlike other programs, XGate is not a piece of software that you have to install on the PC that eventually just slows down your computer. Instead, it just plugs right into the computer with an ADSL modem, providing safe and secure internet use that can be monitored from anywhere on the globe.

Mark Brooks, International Technology Marketing Manager of GSEC1 said this about the new product:”The fact that I have a four year old son makes me particularly sensitive to the threat posed by pedophiles who stalk the Internet to groom unsuspecting children. I am proud to be able to say that I have been involved in the XGate project which will save children’s lives. We are launching the ADSL compatible version now as our research highlights that the greater proportion of the country has that type of Internet access and so we can offer a wider population of children the protection they need. The next iteration of the XGate will be compatible with cable Internet connectivity and wireless.”

Not only does XGate provide parental monitoring of chat room use, but also Identity protection, keeping your information (such as credit card numbers) safe from spyware and hackers. Also included is virus and firewall protection, Email and web filtering, secure gaming, and even remote access. For example, you can access your work computer from home, with all the protection you need from viruses, spyware, and hackers.

XGate is available now for about $195 at Amazon.com. For more information on XGate and how to order, check out www.xgate.com.