Hackers To Join Britain's Cyberspace Army

Tim Marshall, skynews
Fomer computer hackers are being recruited for a British cyberspace army, as the UK seeks to defend itself from the growing risk of web terrorism and espionage.
The Chinese government made serious attempts to break into the Foreign Office system in 2007 - and the Government believes future cyber attacks are likely and could be deadly.
In response, it has anounced the creation of a national cyber security centre with a cyber security chief to be based at the intelligence-gathering hub of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham.
Lord West, who chairs Britain's National Security Forum, told Sky News: "Terrorists' ability in cyber warfare will grow, there is an intent from al Qaeda and others.
"We are working very closely with the US on combating this.
"It would be silly to say we don't have any offensive capacity," he revealed, adding that some ex-hackers would be employed to create a force against cyber attackers.
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RIM BlackBerry Tour

by Jennifer Bergen, zdnet
I got to play around with Research in Motion’s newest BlackBerry yesterday, and I have to say, I liked what I saw. Don’t get too excited though, the BlackBerry Tour is not far off from other recent BlackBerry models — it’s more like the love child of the Curve 8900, the Storm, and the Bold.
The Tour (pictured above, right) is being released later this summer, and will be offered through Verizon and Sprint. The Curve 8900 (pictured above, left) was recently released for T-Mobile. The Tour is a tiny bit larger than the 8900, with only a 20 gram difference in weight.
Actually, there’s not too many differences between the two phones. They both have a very nice high-resolution 480×360-pixel color display, they both come with 256 MB of internal Flash memory, and they both have a 3.2-megapixel camera.
I was extremely impressed by the quality of screen resolution. At times, I forgot I was looking at a phone screen while browsing the Web. Also, the photos I took were crisp and clear, and the video I shot was just as good.
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Pentax W80 New Rugged Digital Camera

Launching today, the Pentax Optio W80 is an update to the Optio W60, boosting the ruggedized camera from 10 to 12.1 megapixels.
More adventure-proof than ever, the Pentax W80 digital camera is waterproof, dustproof, coldproof, and now shockproof enough to withstand impact from a fall of more than three feet (one meter). Pentax first introduced dunkable digital cameras in 2003 to the delight of outdoor enthusiasts, travelers and families everywhere.
Like the W60, the new W80 offers a top ISO setting of 1600 (ISO 6400 at 5 megapixels in Digital Shake Reduction mode), can capture 720p AVI video at 30fps with mono sound, and features a Super Macro mode that can focus on subjects as close as 1 cm. Both cameras feature a variety of capture modes, including Underwater, Underwater Movie, and Surf & Snow, and include face detection with support for up to 32 faces.
With a Pentax-developed imaging engine and a high-performance Pentax zoom lens, the Optio W80 delivers brilliant, high-quality images with well-defined details. A Super Protect (SP) coating applied to the mineral crystal cover of the internal zoom lens helps repel water, grime and finger marks.
The W80's ruggedized features include an operating range of 14 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (shared with the W60) and waterproofing to 16 feet (compared to 13 feet with the W60). The W80 is also shockproof to 3.3 feet, a feature not offered on the W60. The W80 features a "Super Protect" coating on its transparent external lens cover, which helps to repel water, grime, and fingerprints.

Google Rolls Out AdSense for Mobile in Growing Market

Google has launched a beta of AdSense for Mobile Applications to let developers earn revenue by displaying ads on applications for Apple, Inc.'s iPhone and Android-based devices. AdSense for Mobile debuts as mobile advertising is expected to grow. An analyst said AdSense for Mobile pits Google against other mobile ad networks.
Google launched the Android mobile operating system last year to tap into the growing demand for smartphones and the applications that run on them. Now Google is launching a beta of its AdSense program for mobile applications.
Appropriately dubbed AdSense for Mobile Applications, the platform allows developers to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads on their iPhone and Android applications.
"Lower prices, faster network speeds, and unlimited data Relevant Products/Services plans mean that people often reach for their cell phone rather than their computer when they are seeking information," said Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google. "As a result, mobile applications have become more and more popular, helping people find music, make restaurant reservations or check bank balances -- all on their phone."
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Windows 7 Home Premium on pre-order at $50

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
For two weeks starting Friday, Microsoft will pre-sell Windows 7 upgrades for as little as $50.
As a way of saying thanks to our loyal Windows customers, we are excited to introduce a special limited time offer," Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc said in an entry to a company blog early Thursday.
Microsoft also will launch its Windows 7 free upgrade program for buyers of Vista PCs. | Preparing for Windows 7? Get the overview you need in the Windows 7 PDF Report from InfoWorld's J. Peter Bruzzese. | Can your PCs run Windows 7? Find out with the compatibility checker in InfoWorld's free Windows Sentinel monitoring tool.
Microsoft offered a similar deal prior to the launch of Windows Vista three years ago. Those figures represent a reduction of between 50 percent and 58 percent from the standard list prices for the upgrade editions of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional. Orders can be placed with participating retailers, such as Best Buy and Amazon.com, or at Microsoft's own online store.
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HTC Hero - Android Smartphone

The first great Android phone may have finally arrived.
HTC has just launched a new HTC Multitouch device dubbed HTC Hero, running a brand new build of Android called Sense. The device looks pretty slick, sporting a 3.2-inch HVGA (480×320) multi-touch screen, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, GPS, digital compass, gravity sensor, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
It looks like HTC is really starting to play the App game, going beyond the amount of hardware to software possibilities that that Palm Pre or the iPhone 3GS has.
The smartphone also has a dedicated search button to search through Twitter, locate people in the contact list and find emails in the inbox.
The HTC Hero is available in Europe starting in July, Asia in the summer and North America later in 2009.