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Notable New Products

Six cybertools have been designated as weapons by the U.S. Air Force, allowing the programs to better compete for increasingly scarce Pentagon funding, an Air Force official said on Monday.

Lt. Gen. John Hyten, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, told a conference held in conjunction with the National Space Symposium that the new designations would boost the profile of the military's cyberoperations as countries grapple with attacks originating from the Internet.

"This means that the game-changing capability that cyber is, is going to get more attention and the recognition that it deserves," Hyten told … Read more

Manufactured by ZTE, the Sprint Force is a mid- to entry-level device that comes with a very affordable $49.99 sticker price, after users sign a two-year contract. A prepaid, contract-free version is also available from Boost, under the name Boost Force for $199.99.

But even with that price and the phone's positive features (4G LTE, NFC, and a nearly unsullied version of Android 4.0 to name a few), the handset is plagued by the poor performances of both its camera and audio speaker. This renders it an unsavory choice for Sprint users, especially since the carrier … Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to require the Defense Department to disclose whether military drones are being operated domestically to conduct surveillance on American citizens.

A requirement buried in a lengthy appropriations bill calls on newly confirmed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to disclose to Congress what "policies and procedures" are in place "governing the use" of military drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) domestically. The report is due no later than 90 days after the bill is signed into law.

The vote on the bill, which was overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and … Read more

If you didn't get enough new phones from Mobile World Congress this week, then I have good news for you. Sprint today followed through on a previous leak by announcing the Sprint Force, an Android smartphone made by ZTE.

Running on Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 and powered by an 1.5GHz dual-core processor, the Force Sprint has a 4-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) capacitive touch screen display and, for a smartphone at least, a relatively compact build (4.88 by 2.54 by 0.47 inches; 5.4 ounces).

Inside you'll find Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel main camera with … Read more

Sprint subsidiaries Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile finally joined the LTE wave today by acquiring their first devices compatible with Sprint's growing network. Though both carriers carry WiMax handsets, Sprint began phasing out that network in favor of LTE last year.

Virgin's Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE is another member of the company's ever-expanding Galaxy family. Its feature set shows that Virgin continues to up the ante on its smartphone lineup.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera with HD video capture, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, … Read more

Learning a lesson from the Stuxnet attack, Iran has beefed up its cyber forces and poses a greater threat to the United States.

At least, that was the word of warning from U.S. Air Force General William Shelton yesterday, according to Reuters. Speaking with reporters, Shelton said that the Iranian government has increased its cyber efforts since and as a result of being hit by Stuxnet.

In 2010, the infamous computer worm was unleashed in Iran and other countries. Designed to seize control of power grids and other industrial control systems, Stuxnet infected computers at Iran's Natanz nuclear … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Nvidia has never been a timid company, and at CES 2013, the chipmaker stepped on the gas.

Nvidia's aggressive plans for cloud gaming, its Tegra 4 quad core processor, and Nvidia Shield, its first Nvidia-branded gaming device, set a course for placing the company in the limelight this coming year.

Project Shield: Portable gaming companion The Android-based Project Shield is Nvidia's first attempt at selling a device bearing the Nvidia name. It strongly resembles a console controller, complete with joysticks and buttons. It can play Android, Tegra, and PC games, as well as play games streamed from … Read more