VITO Technology gladly presents VITO VoiceReminder v 2.0–a talking alarm-clock capable of playing back your voice messages at a set time. The new polished user interface is intuitive and allows for creating new reminders in a second.

Apart from completely new user interface VITO VoiceReminder v 2.0 features several skins for full screen clock, so that you can pick the most suitable. The new version of VITO VoiceReminder allows you to disable full screen clock from popping up every time you turn on your device. Time announcement can be turned off as well.

Mobile-gadget makers are starting to take advantage of software-defined radio, a new technology allowing a single device to receive signals from multiple sources, including television stations and cell phone networks.

But a new federal rule could mean that radios built on “open-source elements” may encounter a more sluggish path to market–or, in the worst case scenario, be shut out altogether. U.S. regulators, it seems, believe the inherently public nature of open-source code makes it more vulnerable to hackers, leaving “a high burden to demonstrate that it is sufficiently secure.”

Blacklists have their place for detecting and identifying malicious content and activity, with the whole signature-based malware detection industry effectively being built around the concept that blacklists are reliable mechanisms. The only problem is that they aren’t.

They certainly are an important element of security models, but the last couple of decades of security research has shown that they quickly become ineffective in the face of a rapidly evolving threat.

Blacklists of known spam-generating IPs and malware-serving sites, we start to see significant problems emerge with this particular approach to protection.

Many mail server administrators will have encountered at least one period where they have found their IP on an RBL (Real Time Block List) alongside IPs that have seen to be spewing spam across networks (or they could have just had AOL mailing list subscribers who find it easier to report as spam than unsubscribe from something they manually subscribed to). With the use of dynamic IP addresses and virtual hosts, many have found that if they have a bad network neighbor, they can be hit with the same blocking (we’ve had it happen a few times) from indiscriminate RBL maintainers.

Even important registries are not immune from arbitrary blockage and ongoing annoyance from poorly developed RBLs.

This great article compares several eBook providers and gives their price for Stephen King’s novel Cell and Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles for comparison purposes. This will help you get a feel for how the prices of eBooks from top authors vary and where to get the best deals. One thing that surprised us: some stores offered the identical book for almost 60% less money than some of the other stores.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

Mobile ad-hoc networks have the potential to turn the dream of being connected at anytime into reality. Before our dreams come true, there are a few obstacles in the way. In this article, Contributing Editor Humayun Bakht takes a look at those obstacles and how to work around them.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

A well-known hacker claims to have overcome restrictions on Apple’s iPhone, allowing highly technical users to bypass AT&T Inc.’s network to use the phone’s Internet and music features.

In a post dated July 3 on his blog, Jon Johansen, 23, a prolific hacker of consumer electronics gadgets since he was a teenager in Norway, said “I’ve found a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone” without signing up for AT&T service.

“The iPhone does not have phone capability, but the iPod and Wi-Fi work. Stay tuned!” he wrote on his long-running blog, which is combatively named “So Sue Me.” The post was entitled “iPhone Independence Day,” a play on the July 4 U.S. holiday.

The site contained technical details for other hackers, as well as links to software necessary to complete the process.

Oops, I’m Late! is a Windows Mobile app that takes a look at your location via GPS, compares it to your appointment in Pocket Outlook, and then if things are going badly auto-sends an SMS message to attendees (or your secretary) letting them you know you’re en-route but late. It’s a little steep at $69.99 for the Standard and $99.99 for the Pro (the Pro lets you use email instead of SMS and also set a default contact rather than just the attendees).

Pocket PC TV Guide v1.2 is a program for the Pocket PC to get the latest TV schedules very quick and easy on your mobile phone or handheld so that you are always informed about what’s on TV, wherever you are. Includes Dutch and International TV schedules like Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Eurosport and many more.

ASUS has launched the A696 ultra-slim GPS PDA which is described as a “power accessory.” The ASUS A696 is pretty skinny at 1.57cm but manages to incorporate full GPS functionality without a protruding antenna, and is encased in stainless steel with that now all-important anti-glare 3.5-inch touchscreen. The A696 GPS capabilities come courtesy of Destinator Technologies’ routing engine and navigation content and it boasts a QuickNav button making it quicker and easier to travel directly to a predetermined address or POI.

Eight years of trying to sell BlackBerrys in China has paid off for Research In Motion, which finally won permission from the Chinese authorities to sell its handsets there. The breakthrough could help the Canadian company continue its wave of financial good news.

RIM co-CEO James L. Balsillie is reported to have made the announcement in a conference call with analysts last week. According to an unnamed manager in RIM’s Beijing office, cited in Canada’s Globe and Mail on Wednesday, RIM received approval from the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry in June.