Cards

Dutch chipmaker sues to silence security researchers

Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors has sued a university in The Netherlands to block publication of research that details security flaws in NXP's Mifare Classic wireless smart cards, which are used in transit and building entry systems around the world.

NXP, formerly Philips Semiconductors, sued to prevent Radboud University Nijmegen from publishing a scientific paper on the technology in October. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the Dutch court, Rechtbank Arnhem.

"We feel the publication would not be responsible," NXP said in an e-mail statement when asked to comment for this article on Wednesday. "We cannot … Read more

Asetek offers a new liquid solution to cool those hot video cards

If you think the new generations of video cards, the Radeon HD 4800 series and the GeForce GTX 200 series, from ATI and nVIDIA, respectively, are hot (as they actually are, literally and figuratively), then just know that they can be cool, too. Liquid-cooled, that is.

Asetek announced last Friday their first liquid cooling solution, called LCLC, for the latest video cards from the two leading GPU companies. Asetek's new liquid cooling solution is compact yet powerful enough to bring the temperature of the card down to less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit during peak performance. This allows users to … Read more

London transit cards cracked and cloned

Last week a Dutch researcher rode free on the London transit system, having hacked the public transit system's card system; he used a clone of a paying passenger's transit cards. His point? The transit smartcards, which are used my millions worldwide, are vulnerable to attack.

Dr. Bart Jacobs of Radboud University in Holland used an ordinary laptop to show how to clone the Mifare Classic smartcard used in London's Oyster transit card. The Mifare Classic smartcard is used for worker access cards as well.

Once he obtained the key used by the London transit system, Dr. Jacobs … Read more

Moo ginormousizes its mini cards

Web-savvy printing company Moo.com has finally buckled from the requests of customers and is launching full-size business cards. The new offering will be available in the next few days.

Card design will still use the same Web-based editor that's been available for Moo's other products, although users will be getting more than twice the size they're used to with Moo's flagship mini cards. There's also a selection of design templates for the front side of the card that will contain all the contact information, which can now be slurped up right from LinkedIn.

For the back side of the card, users can grab up to 50 different photos from popular hosts like Flickr, Facebook, Bebo, and others and get them printed out for $21.99. However, users who sign up to be part of Moo's mailing list can get 20 percent off, bringing the price down to $17.60.

For the environmentally conscious, the new cards also come in two different stocks: the original stock used in the mini cards and a new "green" stock made from 100 percent recycled paper.

A promo video for the new cards is below.… Read more

Report: Starbucks scaling back music offering

UPDATE: To include Starbucks' response.

Turns out what people want from Starbucks is the caffeine jolt and maybe a morning bun. The country's largest coffee chain is giving up on much of its music offering, including iTunes gift cards.

According to Silicon Alley Insider, Starbucks is planning to carry only four CD titles at a time in it's stores by September.

"We're shifting how music is merchandised in the store," said Bridget Baker, a Starbucks spokeswoman. "There's going to be a concentrated selection as we refocus on our core business."

Seattle-based Starbucks … Read more

Information Card Foundation launched

A group including Equifax, Google, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and PayPal, plus nine leaders in the technology community announced on Monday the creation of the Information Card Foundation (ICF) with the goal of increasing awareness of the use of electronic ID cards on the Internet, and encouraging interoperability in business around new standards.

"We need to come together in a neutral body to continue to promote the adoption of this technology," said Paul Trevithick, CEO of Parity and chairman of the ICF.

Information cards are online equivalents of physical ID cards, such as a driver's license. The basic … Read more

A tech buying success story

It's interesting how we make assumptions about people. Having worked in an environment where everyone "lives and breathes" technology, for a long time, I personally assumed the masses--like those I share public transportation with--would have some general level of understanding about what to do when it comes to technology. That said, I was appalled by my recent realization.

Over the years of commuting, I have made more than a few friends just from carpooling and sharing the daily bus ride. One of those is Michele, who works for a financial firm in downtown San Francisco. We commute … Read more

SanDisk debuts Mobile Ultra memory cards

Memory card maker SanDisk is launching what it claims is the industry's first premium mobile phone storage cards at the CommunicAsia trade show. Labeled under the company's Mobile Ultra lineup, the new memory cards will offer improved transfer speeds when used in compatible devices. According to a representative at the SanDisk booth, the Mobile Ultra media transfers data at up to 20Mbps, more than four times the 5Mbps attainable with the current SanDisk Mobile flash cards.

The new Mobile Ultra memory cards will be available for the microSD/SDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) formats at 2GB, 4GB, … Read more

Panasonic says Tru2way TVs on track for later this year

Panasonic has confirmed to CNET that it still intends to deliver Tru2way TVs to the market before the end of 2008. A company representative e-mailed us with the following statement:

Panasonic's Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTV is in the certification process at CableLabs. Panasonic expects to deliver Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTVs to the market in time for the holiday season.

Of course, the company's expectation does not equal a guarantee that we'll see the product on store shelves before the end of the year. But it does represent an affirmation that Panasonic is actively working to address the alleged issues … Read more