For 2005, Hasbro is rolling out ChatNow, a cell-phone-like communication system aimed at kids who want a cell phone, but whose parents don’t want to pay airtime charges. ChatNow, which will be in stores by fall and cost $74.99 for two, looks like a cell phone and lets kids “call” or “text” each other, with technology similar to that of a walkie-talkie. Each ChatNow comes with a seven-digit “Buddy Number” that can be used like a phone number so kids can call each other directly within a 2-mile radius.

Future PCs may bar children from Internet sites by using an ultrasound device to gauge their age from a hand bone. The technology, known as Age-Group Recognition (AGR), is the brainchild of Israeli company i-Mature. The company has teamed with security technology firm RSA to develop the technology for the consumer PC market. To access a site that required authentication, a person would place their fist against the device. Using ultrasound, the i-Mature measures the bone density of the longest bone in a middle finger to determine a person’s age.

A new line of multimedia phones has hit the streets in Japan over the past few weeks that incorporates three-dimensional sound technology from British start-up Sonaptic. As yet, the content for it is slim–a fishing game, a handful of sound and video clips–but the technology promises a substantial advance for mobile-phone audio.

Microsoft on Friday forced its millions of MSN Messenger users to download a new version of the software to plug a vulnerability discovered earlier this week. The mandatory upgrade began early Friday morning after a security company posted a how-to guide describing how the vulnerability can attack computers. MSN Messenger users were then greeted with a notice to upgrade before they could open their instant messaging clients.

Commuters will soon be able to use their mobile phones and personal digital assistants at four of Boston’s busiest subway stations by this fall. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors has reached a 15-year contract with InSite Wireless of Alexandria, Va. to provide wireless service at the Park Street, Downtown Crossing, Government Center and State Street stations as well as the tunnels that connect them.

A glitch in the latest version of Microsoft’s Tablet PC software is causing significant performance problems for those running the new operating system, the company has confirmed. The bug is in the redesigned virtual ink input menu in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, released last year. Over time, the panel that handles pen input eats up more and more of a system’s resources, choking off computing power needed for other programs. A Microsoft representative said late Tuesday that the company is aware of the issue, which appears to affect all machines running the latest version of the Tablet OS. The representative said Microsoft hopes to have a fix soon. However, the company did not offer a specific time frame for a solution.

A group of Utah 911 dispatchers faced an emergency of their own this week when a Motorola cell phone overheated and exploded. Dispatcher Kris Munford’s V300 camera phone grew “red hot” just as she and her co-workers settled in for their 6 am shift on Sunday. The handset burned a hole in her jacket pocket, fell to the floor and exploded, Munford said, adding that burning parts landed as far as 10 feet away and smoke filled the room.

Satellite radio carriers hope to make their services the latest must-have travel accessory with new partnerships announced this week. AirTran Airways, a budget regional airline mostly serving the East Coast, announced Wednesday that it will become the first major airline to offer satellite radio programming on all of its flights under a new partnership with XM Satellite Radio. Rival programmer Sirius Satellite Radio, meanwhile, will try to grab travelers on the ground with a new partnership with W Hotels, which will stock high-end suites with Sirius receivers.

Verizon Communications has floated an informal acquisition offer in cash and stock for MCI, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation. The newspaper said the informal offer is priced near Qwest Communications International’s tentative offer of $6.3 billion for MCI. According to the newspaper, Verizon and MCI are still discussing details of any deal and the talks could fall apart. The paper said no formal offer has been presented.

PDAmill has released Arvale: Journey of Illusion, their much-anticipated Role-Playing Game (RPG) for the Palm OS. This title has already proven popular on the Pocket PC platform. Arvale: Journey of Illusion is an epic Role Playing Game, with over 20 hours of gameplay, six immense continents with 280 maps to explore, 200 different monsters to fight against, and over a hundred different items, weapons, and magic spells to use.