Since the first day mobile phone invented, we have seen more and more functionalities a mobile phone has. First, it was for making calls, then text messaging, after that manufacturers added cameras, e-mail, music etc into the phone.

After introducing handsets last year that double as debit cards, now, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. wants to entrench the once-humble cell phone even deeper into consumer lifestyles by turning it into an electronic wallet – as a full-fledged credit cards.

Quoted:
To boost its effort to make mobiles the new way to pay, DoCoMo is taking a 34% stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.‘s credit-card business. In late April, DoCoMo said it would pay $935 million for the stake in Japan’s second-largest credit-card issuer. DoCoMo has also held talks with Japan’s No. 1 issuer, JCB International Co., about some sort of tie-up, though no details have been released.

Regarding security, DoCoMo says that won’t be a problem. Each time a customer makes a purchase using the phone, the company will automatically send an e-mail confirming the transaction – which should aid in detecting fraud sooner than with traditional credit cards.

Well, this is no doubt another big step in mobile phone evolution. :)

Ebay announced on Wednesday, 1 June, 2005, it agreed to buy Shopping.com, which enables consumers to compare products online and to read consumer reviews.

Quoted:
The purchase price of about USD$620 million in cash, or USD$21 a share, is a 20 percent premium over Shopping.com’s Wednesday close of USD$17.44 and shares surged nearly 20 percent in after-hours trading. eBay lost over 1 percent.

The move by eBay would strengthen its business in providing online comparison shopping. Besides, users of Shopping.com can specify an item they are looking for and the Web site will direct the user to vendors providing that product in eBay..

Shopping.com also has more than 400,000 Epinion reviewers that Ebay said would complement its own community-feedback-based marketplace.

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Intel unveiled a concept PC that closely look alike with Apple Computer’s Mac Mini on Tuesday, 31 May, 2005.

Quoted:
The AOpen prototype is one of several designs on display at Computex this week, said Intel spokeswoman Barbara Grimes. Intel is working with multiple computer and device manufacturers on similar designs and expects the products to come to market later this year, she said.

The squarish metallic box, originally code-named Pandora, will be released under AOpen’s XC Cube product line and is similar to one revealed by the chipmaking giant at its Intel Developers Forum in March.

As we can see, the new design lets Intel take another move to entertainment PC. Moreover, Don MacDonald, a vice president with Intel’s home product group, has said that future living room units will be smaller, more stylish and likely less costly. Analysts believe Intel will need to keep production and software bundle costs down if it is to compete with Apple’s $499 Mac Mini.

According to Silent PC Review, AOpen’s Pandora device has a slot load CD drive and power button in the front, along with three USB ports, a keyboard hookup and a serial port in the back for hooking into displays. The computer also has internal wireless networking connectors and uses a single blower fan to keep it cool.

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Recently a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of browser maker Opera Software was given to 2800 people to test the hypothesis that “Is web browser choice a factor affecting security“. This survey revealed that many people still don’t realize how applications might affect overall system security. Personally, I do not entirely trust all kinds of survey, but somehow I quite agree with the outcome of this survey.

51% of those respondents thought that their choice of browser software could be a factor in whether their systems become infiltrated by malicious software, while the rest thought otherwise. Of that 49%, 17 % thought that the browser played no role in overall system security and 32% said they didn’t know about the fact web browser could be one of the sources of malware and spyware.

Quoted:
Chief technology officer at Opera Software, HÃ¥kon Wium Lie suggested, “Changing to a more secure browser is one of the simplest ways for Web users to make surfing safer and minimize the risk of falling victim to virus, spyware or phishing attacks”.

In fact, there are several other ways to improve browser security such as simple adjustments to Internet Explorer’s security zone settings (whether through configuration dialogs or registry hacks) can dramatically improve overall system security. Before I switched to Firefox more than 2 years ago, I set any trigger of Active-X should prompt me for notification because I know some Active-X scripts are nasty. :D

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Pretec Electronics Corp. is demonstrating USB Flash Drive Fashion Accessories based on patented CU-Flash technology, at Computex 2005 (Hall 4, T202B) in Taipei.

With a volume of 0.47cm3 (27mmx12mmx1.9mm), 40% smaller than a US Quarter coin, CU-Flash is about 10% of the size of a typical USB flash drive.

Quoted:
Examples of USB Flash Drive Fashion Accessories such PRETEC ear-rings based on CU-Flash technology will be worn by PRETEC staff in the show; so small that most people will have a hard time to believe that around 10,000 pictures (1GB) can be fashioned to one’s ear lobe.

Furthermore, CU-Flash can be an ideal add-on for any stationery such as jewelry or accessories such as watch, necktie pin, cuff link, key chain so on and so forth.

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LoL, just came across this hilarious news…

Linc and Helena Moore, chicken owner had been fined on 26 March after their chicken wandered onto a road in the small rural mining town of Johannesburg in Kern county. However, the fine was dismissed after a lawyer for the bird’s owners argued that the fowl was domesticated and could not be classified as livestock because according to California law, the law bans livestock from highways, but not domestic animals. :)

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So, why did the chicken crossed the road ? To get fined !! LoL !! :))