sfr GmbH announced the release of version 3.0 of their visKey for Pocket PC security solution. This update includes a new design for the user interface, VGA support, better performance, and much more.

A Japanese technological institute has developed a snake-like robot able to mimic the reptile’s movements, a scientist of the institute said Thursday. The flexible robot, the first of its kind developed in the world, can swim by wriggling its body.

Lions Gate Entertainment plans to format movies for the PlayStation Portable, a move that makes it the first outside film studio to support Sony’s new UMD media format. A Lions Gate representative said the studio planned to begin releasing movies in the Universal Media Disc format used by the PSP shortly after the portable game players are introduced in North America on March 24. Initial releases for the PSP will include recent thrillers such as “House of the Dead” and “Saw,” and older action films such as “Total Recall” and “Step Into Liquid.”

A new proposal in Congress would offer a new tax break to companies and individuals if they recycle old computers or monitors. Companies would receive a tax credit of $8 per piece of hardware, as long as they recycled at least 5,000 screens or computers a year. Individuals would receive $15 tax credits.

New models of the Volkswagen Passat will come fitted with a handset integration system from Nokia that’s compatible with GSM phones. The system features Bluetooth technology, which will allow subscribers to access the SIM card of a mobile phone in one of three ways: via an external alphanumerical keyboard, steering wheel controls or voice dial. When users get out of the car, they can deactivate the system’s receiving mode by pressing a button on the phone, causing the phone to log back on to the mobile network, Nokia said.

North Carolina telecommunications company accused of deliberately blocking Internet phone traffic has reached a deal with federal regulators to halt the controversial practice. The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that Madison River Communication will refrain from blocking VoIP, or voice over Internet Protocol, calls and will pay a $15,000 fine to the government.

Motorola is once again the No. 2 cell-phone maker worldwide, with strong sales of its Razr handsets pushing Samsung back to third place, industry analysts said. Motorola hopes to get an even bigger boost in the next few weeks with the release of a Razr capable of playing songs distributed by Apple Computer’s popular iTunes service.

NS BASIC Corporation announced their 6th Palm Programming Contest. All programs must be written in NS Basic for Palm, or be Shared Libraries for NS Basic/Palm. Entries may be commercial, shareware or freeware. Prizes are $100 USD for each category, with the deadline for entry being March 31, 2005 at 12 midnight EST.

NS BASIC Corporation announced their 3rd NS Basic/CE Programming Contest. All programs must be written in NSBasic/CE, or be ActiveX controls for NS Basic/CE. Entries may be commercial, shareware or freeware. Prizes are $100 USD for each category, with the deadline for entry being March 31, 2005 at 12 midnight EST.

ISP Dialer.net provides several access points for dial-up Internet connections in Hannover, Germany. All the exhibitors and visitors for CeBIT 2005 can connect to Internet and send and receive emails during the fair by using the services provided by Dialer.net international internet access service.