IBM and Adobe lock up PDFs

Acrobat 6.0 keys into IBM security software IBM and Adobe have announced new security features that take advantage of Adobe's Acrobat 6.0 and IBM's encryption utilities. ...more

CES: Samsung debuts thumbless texting

Samsung may have just made life easier for SMS text addicts. The company is showing a mobile phone with speech-to-text dictation technology, whereby users speak into their handset and the device converts the words directly into text. The p207 phone is said to be the first in the world with the technology - called VoiceMode - and is said to enable 'virtually hands-free and eyes-free communication. ...more

All quiet on the Microsoft patch front

In Microsoft's advance notification for March's 'Patch Tuesday', it reveals there will be no patches to fix outstanding vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. The company did announce, however, that it is planning to release an updated version of its malicious software removal tool as well as two non-security high-priority updates for Windows Update (WU) and Software Update Services (SUS). There will also be four non-security high-priority updates for Microsoft Update (MU) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). ...more

Budweiser teaches the world to say

Are you infuriated by the current batch of Budweiser adverts that are clogging up TV screens everywhere? Well now you can suffer even more with the help of a new Whassup-flavoured messaging system. If you surf over to the Budweiser Web site here, not only can you watch all the adverts in the Whassup series, but you can also download a specially themed messaging system. Using Deskplayer, the system lets you send animated messages to your pals featuring the characters from the adverts. ...more

ATI unveils graphics chip to chop through demanding games

Aimed at demanding gamers, ATI has announced a new high-end graphics offering, the Radeon X800 GTO, a graphics chip featuring SmartShader technology to provide what ATI claims is 'the most-advanced pixel shader engine available anywhere'. With 12-pipelines and GDDR3 support (clocking a memory data rate of up to 1GHz on a 256-bit interface), other elements of the spec include a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface, SmoothVision for improved gaming realism, 3Dc compression technology to minimise memory usage and HyperZ for lossless Z-Buffer compression for reducing memory bandwidth requirements. 'ATI's new Radeon X800 GTO will let you get into the game and lose yourself in a truly immersive gaming experience with any of today's top titles,' said Rich Heye, General Manager of ATI's Desktop Business Unit. ...more