Geekly Update August 3

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

• Gateway has yet another netbook to add to its lineup. The LT 2000 series have a 10.1" TFT LED backlit display, are powered by an Intel Atom processor and WiFi 802.11b/g. This mini-laptop is about an inch thick, weighs about 2 1/2 lbs, and is available in black or red. The netbook has 3 USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and VGA outputs, a digital card reader at a price of US$299.
• Although it's not quite official, Microsoft and Yahoo have announced that they will be coupling to take on Google. According to Reuters, Yahoo search will be powered by Microsoft's Bing, and Yahoo will be responsible for selling advertising -- providing the deal gets regulatory approval. What does this mean to us little people? I suspect that if you Google now, you will Google later.
• Olympus has a new series of cameras that have the premium name without a premium price. The FE-46, FE-4000 and FE-5020 compact cams sport 12 megapixels, filtering, AF tracking that keeps everything in focus, wide-angle lenses and super slim bodies. Included are In-Camera Help Guides to assist even the youngest of photographers. Look for prices of $99.99, $149.99 and $159.99 respectively this September.
• Adobe has issued an advisory stating that it has found a critical hole in Flash that could cause Adobe Reader v9 to crash or allow an attacker to control its computer. It may also create a PDF document with an embedded SWF file to exploit the vulnerability. The problem is in current versions of Flash Player for Windows, Mac and Linux and the company issued an update on July 30 for both v9 and v10. Make sure to apply this fix if you use Adobe Reader. Or try one of these Adobe Reader alternatives.
• Samsung has released their S9110 Watchphone with a full 1.76" touchscreen and 40MB internal memory. It features an MP3 player, voice recognition and memo, speakerphone support and Bluetooth connectivity. At a size of only 57.5 x 41.1 x 11.98mm, email can be checked through included Outlook. The watch is so far only available in France with a €450 (~$640.00) price but I suspect it will not be long before this watch and others are commonplace.
• Watch out for truckers on that next long distance drive. A study taken at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institue found that truckers who text while they are driving are 23 times more likely to crash or get into a near miss accident than a driver that is undistracted. The study also found that they were 5.9 times more likely to have an accident while dialing a cell phone while car drivers were 2.8 times more likely to be involved in an incident while dialing on their cell phones. Any way you look at it, it might be time for national legislation to restrict usage on phones when driving.
• The European Commission says that cell phone manufacturers have agreed to come out with phones that will use a single, universal charger by next year. The pledge comes from companies such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Apple.
• Computer security experts are warning that so-called smart grids could enable clever hackers to disrupt the flow of electrical power to homes, buildings or entire neighborhoods. Smart grids put computer networking between power meters and the utility company, to enable more efficient distribution of power. According to a government report in April 2009, spies have already hacked into parts the U.S. electric grid, installing rogue programs that might permit them to disrupt service at will. Security researchers have demonstrated other potential vulnerabilities, and are raising the alarm to force utilities to make security a high priority in the design of future smart grid components.