Telegent Systems announced that Telegent’s analog mobile TV receiver is shipping in Samsung’s Star TV S5233T handset, recently launched in Southeast Asia. With this handset, Samsung adds free-to-air TV to one of its most popular touchscreen models, providing Southeast Asia consumers with mobile access to live, free TV content.

The Samsung Star TV integrates the analog mobile TV feature with rich graphical touchscreen controls. Innovations introduced by Samsung in this model include the ability to flick the screen to change channels, one-click screen capture and record, on-screen keypad channel entry and reception of incoming SMS messages with continuous TV viewing.

“Samsung has raised the bar for the mobile TV viewing experience with the Star TV’s combination of high RF sensitivity and innovative TV feature implementation,” said Sam Sheng, president and CEO of Telegent. “Samsung has delivered superior ease of use in a small, thin touchscreen TV design that stands out in the marketplace.”

Analog mobile TV has rapidly gained the attention of consumers worldwide. Analyst firm Forward Concepts estimates that free-to-air mobile TV accounts for more than half of the world market for broadcast TV handsets shipped in 2009. Devices that support these standards enable a global market for mobile TV, with more than 88% of the world’s population continuing to receive analog broadcast TV signals during 2013.

Teletrac Inc. announced availability of a specialized solution suite — Teletrac 20/20 — for vehicle location and GPS vehicle tracking, that helps businesses gain fleet efficiencies, save fuel, improve on-time performance, and lets dispatchers and drivers be significantly more productive. Teletrac 20/20 goes far beyond traditional vehicle location and GPS tracking solutions, delivering an array of premium features utilizing today’s most advanced technologies such as Microsoft’s Silverlight and BING Maps for enhanced visualization and animation, interactive mapping, and video playback. As a result, Teletrac 20/20 technology uniquely gives dispatchers clear vision and focus for tracking mobile assets and managing operations, in an affordable, easy to use solution specifically designed for small and midsize fleets, even micro fleets.

“With the release of Teletrac 20/20, companies with small to midsize fleets needing to focus on tracking mobile assets, now have access to a solution offering a comprehensive feature set aimed specifically at their operations and business requirements,” said Tony Eales, CEO, Teletrac. “Further, as a result of our 22-year technology leadership and success of Teletrac’s flagship solution, Fleet Director 7, Teletrac 20/20 uniquely offers the most advanced big fleet technology in an affordable, easy-to-use solution for small to midsize fleets.”

Teletrac 20/20 fleet software is a specialized solution for tracking mobile assets that improves operations and reduces costs in numerous ways — through fuel savings, higher productivity, reduced driver overtime and unauthorized vehicle use, reduced backoffice paper work, improved preventive maintenance, and often lower insurance premiums.

Teletrac 20/20 is browser-based, enabling dispatchers to efficiently locate, track and monitor the position and operation of fleet vehicles in real time, 24×7, from any internet-enabled personal computer. Fleet managers gain unprecedented visibility into operations — a user friendly layout and easily recognizable icons make Teletrac 20/20 easy to use and intuitive from the start; advanced satellite mapping with conventional roadmaps in 2D and 3D views including live traffic give dispatchers more realistic and detailed maps on which to base operational decisions; automatically identifying nearest vehicle based on actual vehicle speed, actual distance and estimated arrival time provides the most accurate information for enhancing the customers’ service experience, and multiple and detailed vehicle reports help monitor driver performance and provides advanced decision support for more efficient regulatory compliance.

Advanced mapping gives dispatchers clear vision and focus for tracking assets

Teletrac 20/20 vehicle tracking system uses the latest BING Mapping technology, aggregating the best maps and data from an array of leading suppliers. Mapping is extremely powerful and layers location-relevant data on top of imagery taken from satellite sensors, aerial cameras, Streetside imagery, 3D city models and terrain, providing vivid photorealistic images. Satellite mapping with conventional roadmaps in 2D and 3D views plus live traffic data gives dispatchers more realistic and detailed maps on which to base complex decisions. The ability to easily overlay standard or custom data points makes it quick and easy for dispatchers to add custom landmarks to maps, places of interest and important or frequently visited addresses — enabling dispatchers to more readily assign and track vehicles and routes.

Determining nearest vehicle for more effective response

Teletrac 20/20 provides “nearest vehicle” locating, based on Teletrac’s computed combination of actual drive time, actual distance and current traffic conditions — far more accurate than as-the-crow-flies estimates. Dispatchers simply enter a street address or an unlimited number of landmarked locations. Dispatchers are immediately presented with maps showing all vehicles within the map area plus crucial information such as speed, actual distance and estimated time of arrival. Dispatchers can also apply this process to multiple vehicles, enabling them to converge on a destination.

At-a-glance dashboards and complete reporting supports decision making

Dispatchers can view real-time information and summary data in at-a-glance “dashboard” displays to support rapid, optimal decision making for most productive use of vehicles. These dashboards can drill down and include information customized to the needs of individual users.

Teletrac 20/20 generates 15 different reports for viewing via web-browser, or reports can be downloaded and printed. Up to four reports can also be automatically generated, scheduled and delivered via email — daily, weekly or monthly — according to each recipient’s needs and preferences.

At MIX10, Microsoft Corp. showcased advancements in its platform technologies that enable the developer and designer community to deliver compelling user experiences across a broad set of devices. Building on the excitement of the recently announced Windows® Phone 7 Series, Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, .NET Developer Platform, and Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president, Windows Phone Program Management, detailed the opportunity for developers to use proven technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight and the XNA Framework to build new mobile applications and 3-D Games.

“As the browser, server, Web and devices evolve, a focus on delivering consistently great user experiences has become paramount,” Guthrie said. “By extending our familiar platform technologies and tools to phones, Microsoft is delivering the premier application development experience across a variety of devices and form factors.”

End-to-End Application Development Platform for Windows Phone 7 Series

During the keynote, Microsoft provided the first deep dive into Windows Phone 7 Series application development. By combining Silverlight features for rich application development and the XNA Framework for games, Windows Phone 7 Series empowers millions of developers and designers to build visually stunning and immersive applications and games — one of the industry’s most profitable mobile application categories — while taking advantage of device-specific capabilities. Specifically, developers will be able to take advantage of the following features:

• Accelerometer, an intuitive control that responds to motion
• A Microsoft Location Service to provide developers with a single point of reference to acquire location information
• Microsoft Notification Service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an application is running
• Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)
• Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for the industry’s highest quality content viewing experience
• Multitouch
• Camera and microphone support

“Windows Phone 7 Series brings together a rich application environment, powerful hardware, a fresh approach to software and a smart new design,” Belfiore said. “It was designed to generate incredible opportunities for developers and designers to quickly and easily deliver compelling applications and games. With the best developer tools, an established ecosystem and marketplace, and a path for developers to use their Silverlight and XNA Framework skill sets, we are delivering an application platform that is simple, powerful and inspiring.”

Free Tools for Windows Phone 7 Series Developers and Designers

To further support an end-to-end development experience, Microsoft announced the availability of comprehensive tools support for Windows Phone 7 Series. The easy-to-install package includes previews of the following:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone
• Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC
• XNA Game Studio 4.0
• Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing
• Expression Blend for Windows Phone Community Technology Preview

A Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series Applications

Microsoft also showed how developers and designers will be able to bring applications and games to market with a new Windows Phone Marketplace. The Marketplace features a panoramic design and active merchandising to increase the discoverability of games and applications, and supports one-time credit card purchases, mobile operator billing and advertising-funded applications. The Marketplace will also enable customers to try applications before buying them and allow developers to cross-promote their applications through deep linking.

Several leading companies will be creating exciting applications and games for Windows Phone 7 Series. They include The Associated Press, Archetype International Inc., AWS Convergence Technologies – WeatherBug, Citrix Systems Inc., Clarity Consulting Inc., Cypress Consulting, EA Mobile, Fandango Inc., Foursquare Labs Inc., frog design inc., Glu Mobile Inc., Graphic.ly, Hudson Entertainment Inc., IdentityMine Inc., IMDb.com Inc., Larva Labs, Match.com LLC, Matchbox Mobile Ltd., Microsoft Game Studios, Namco Networks America Inc., Oberon Media Inc., Pageonce Inc., Pandora Media Inc., Photobucket Inc., PopCap Games Inc., Seesmic, Shazam Entertainment Ltd., Sling Media, SPB Software Inc., stimulant, TeleCommunications Systems Inc., Touchality LLC and Vertigo Software Inc.

Continued Innovation With Silverlight and Expression Blend

Microsoft announced a release candidate (RC) for Silverlight 4, available for download today, which builds on the beta version released at the Professional Developers Conference in November 2009. The Silverlight 4 RC provides powerful media and enterprise application and media capabilities, out-of-browser flexibility and world-class tools support via Visual Studio and Expression Blend with Sketchflow to enable robust application development and rich interactive experiences.

In addition, Microsoft unveiled the Expression Blend 4 Beta, a design and development workflow tool. New features such as Path Layout enable developers and designers to build and animate innovative user interface design via a groundbreaking visual layout mechanism, without the need to write code. Expression Blend 4 Beta also adds support for Silverlight 4, .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010.

Silverlight Customer Adoption

Silverlight adoption has continued at a rapid pace with installations approaching 60 percent of all Internet devices worldwide — an increase of nearly 15 percentage points in just four months. Customers such as Major League Soccer, BBC, eBay Inc., Netflix Inc., NBCOlympics.com and CT Corp., a Wolters Kluwer business, demonstrated how they are taking advantage of the power of Silverlight to deliver compelling consumer and enterprise experiences.

“Microsoft Silverlight technology will be the backbone of the video platform on our newly launched MLSsoccer.com,” said Chris Schlosser, director of digital strategy for Major League Soccer. “Our work with Microsoft allows us to launch cutting-edge digital and mobile experiences for our loyal fans. As part of our increased focus on digital media, we view a rich video experience as absolutely critical to accomplishing our goal of ’super serving’ MLS supporters.”

DIRECTV Gives First Panasonic Full HD 3D System Customer One Year of Free Service

Panasonic and Best Buy continued their commitment to bringing 3D technology into American homes with the world’s first consumer purchase and retail availability of Panasonic’s Full HD 3D1 home entertainment system certified2 under the new Blu-ray DiscTM Association (BDA) 3D standard, sold exclusively at select Best Buy stores via Magnolia Home Theater.

The new range of Full HD 3D capable VIERA Plasma HDTVs and a fully-featured 3D Blu-ray Disc3 player will bring a new era of immersive visual entertainment into consumers’ homes, by creating a 3D experience that easily rivals the best that can be seen in cinemas. By delivering a full 1080p-resolution image to each eye, Panasonic’s Full HD 3D technology offers consumers the highest possible visual experience. To enjoy Full HD 3D programming, users wear a stylish and lightweight pair of active-shutter eyewear.  The sets are also Full HD TVs that display pristine 1080p content in two dimensions (2D) for conventional HD viewing.

“Television has successfully moved from black and white, to color, to High Definition. But immersive, totally realistic 3D imagery has been the final frontier and beginning today, Panasonic has conquered that as well,” said Bob Perry, Senior Vice President, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Best Buy has been a proactive and important partner in bringing 3D into the living rooms of America and we are happy to share this milestone with them.”

“The demand for 3D technology in the home is just beginning for consumers,” said Michael Vitelli, President, Americas, Best Buy, “and Best Buy is uniquely positioned to bring this experience to life for our customers through our Blue Shirts and Geek Squad Agents.  We are thrilled to partner with Panasonic as it allows us to be the first retailer to offer this complete 3D home theater solution and underscores our promise to always deliver on the latest and greatest technology.”

Beginning today, Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Home Theater System will be exclusively available at select Best Buy Stores via Magnolia Home Theater. The total combined SRP of the Panasonic Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theater System components is $2899.99.  The system consists of a 50-inch class (49.9” measured diagonally) Panasonic VIERA VT20 Plasma 3D HDTV (TC-P50VT20 – SRP $2,499.95) which includes one pair of Panasonic 3D Active Shutter Lens Eyewear (TY-EW3D10U), and the Panasonic BDT300 3D Blu-ray Disc Player (DMP-BDT300 – SRP 399.95).   Additional pairs of 3D eyewear will be available with an SRP of $149.95. The individual components of the system will also be sold separately.

The VT20 is a Best Buy exclusive model and is equivalent to the VT25 series that was voted “Best of Show” at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.  The BDT300 is also a Best Buy exclusive model and is equivalent to the BDT350 which received the Consumer Electronics Association’s esteemed Innovations Award for its innovative 3D technology.

In addition to the 50-inch class size, the Panasonic Full HD 3D Home Theater System will also be available in a 54-inch class (54” measured diagonally), 58” class (58” measured diagonally) and 65” class (64.8” measured diagonally) screen sizes with suggested retail pricing and availability to be announced at a later date.

To create the best possible 3D picture, Panasonic has developed new, faster screen phosphors; coupled with its 600Hz sub-field drive, the new displays output alternating imagery at 60 frames per second to each eye. The brain then combines the images and interprets them as 3D.

The BDT300 outputs stunning, rock-solid, and immersive Full HD 3D imagery to compatible displays.  It also handles a wide variety of audio standards, and up converts all standard definition video formats. The BDT300 utilizes groundbreaking technologies incorporated in Panasonic’s proprietary UniPhier LSI chip, enabling the player to flawlessly process the large quantity of visual information necessary to create a Full HD 3D image in 1920 x 1080 resolution. Adaptive Chroma Upsampling insures that colors will be faithfully reproduced; and all native digital DVD formats are up scaled to 1080p resolution quality.

Panasonic’s Full HD 3D products meet the recently announced Blu-ray 3D™ specification standard.  This standard, which represents the work of leading Hollywood studios and consumer electronic and computer manufacturers, enables the home entertainment industry to bring the 3D experience into consumers’ living rooms on Blu-ray Disc, the most capable high definition home entertainment platform. Individual manufacturers and content providers will now be able to provide the technical information and guidelines necessary to develop and bring products to market.

In January, DIRECTV and Panasonic announced a strategic relationship that will make it possible to bring 3D TV into the homes of millions for the first time. DIRECTV’s HD 3D channels, powered by Panasonic, will offer a 24/7 3D DIRECTV Cinema and pay per view event channel focused on movies, documentaries and other programming, a 24/7 3D DIRECTV on Demand channel and a free 3D entertainment channel featuring event programming such as sports, music and other content. In addition, to celebrate the launch of Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Home Theater System, DIRECTV is giving the first customer to purchase the system at today’s Best Buy launch event in New York one year of free programming, including its upcoming HD 3D service, which will be available this June.

“The superior quality of the HD 3D programming that DIRECTV will debut in June will be unlike anything that is available in the television market today,” said Eric Shanks, executive vice president of DIRECTV Entertainment.  “Being able to experience that quality through Panasonic’s Full HD 3D home theater system will make our customers feel like their living room is a 3D movie theater. We have had a long- time relationship with both Panasonic and Best Buy and we are proud to be partnering with these industry leaders to make the next frontier of television a reality.”

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has been the leader in the 3D revolution taking place in the entertainment industry.  The company has consistently supported efforts to bring consumers the benefits of 3D entertainment as quickly as possible.  In particular, Fox has distinguished itself by partnering with companies from other industries, including Panasonic, to make Full HD 3D TV a reality in the home.

“3D has invigorated the theater experience and it will be the same for the living room,” said Mary Daily, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  “Panasonic has announced amazing new products today and along with Best Buy’s commitment to the format, 3D will become a game changer for the home entertainment industry.  We are thrilled to have Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs as our debut title in the Blu-ray 3D format.  The Ice Age franchise has grossed nearly $2 billion in worldwide box office and sold more than 75 million units in home entertainment.  Blu-ray offers the premiere high definition viewing experience for the home, and Blu-ray 3D uses the advanced quality to bring the movie theater 3D experience to your home.”

In addition to its new 3D technologies, each Full HD 3D Plasma model incorporates a rich set of advanced features. VIERA CAST™, Panasonic’s innovative Internet programming package, gives viewers the ability to access  feature films plus information and communication offerings including Amazon Video on Demand™, Bloomberg News, Fox Sports, Netflix™, and Skype™ on Your VIERA TV, among others.

To bring the excitement of Full HD 3D and Panasonic’s range of home entertainment solutions to consumers, Panasonic will launch a 15-city, Panasonic Touch The Future nationwide tour next week.  The tour will kick off in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles beginning March 15 and then visit Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Phoenix, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Dallas and Houston in March and April.

For more information on Panasonic’s Full HD 3D technology as well as product images, visit www.panasonic.com/3D.

Dirt, oils and other contaminants are introduced into a card reader every time a credit card is inserted.

For the read contacts to properly access the smart chip, it is critical that these contaminants are regularly removed to help avoid card reader errors.

This newly released Waffletechnology Smart Card Reader Cleaning Card is designed to remove these contaminants by gently cleaning these critical read/write components.

This product not only offers superb cleaning attention to the smart card readers, but is also designed to be used in swipe and dip card readers that use magnetic stripe technology. This new cleaning card is a quick and almost effortless means of removing error causing particles from within most types of card readers worldwide.

“The New Waffletechnology Smart Card Reader Cleaning Card was designed to be the most versatile card reader cleaning product on the market. This product can be used on every chip and pin reader, smart card reader, swipe reader, hotel door lock, access control, time clock and virtually all card readers that are not motorized insertions,” explained Debra Ross, Product Manager / OEM Business Development Worldwide, KICTeam. “This product takes the guess work out of what product is needed to keep the card reader functioning. If it’s a card reader, the right cleaning tool is a Waffletechnology Smart Card Reader Cleaning Card.”

Today there are few businesses that do not have a card reader serving an important function. When the Waffletechnology Smart Card Reader Cleaning Card is used on a regular maintenance schedule, it will help maintain uninterrupted card reader service. This product offers an extremely low cost benefit when compared to the cost of conventional cleaning and replacement.

Source: KICTeam

Total course solution goes beyond the textbook to deliver precise assessments of students’ math knowledge and adapts to individual student needs

For many students, two significant hurdles stand in the way of a college education: money and math. The cost of education continues to rise, and students are experiencing high failure and withdrawal rates in developmental math and college algebra/precalculus courses. To address these concerns, McGraw-Hill Education has introduced ALEKS 360, a total mathematics solution that combines a powerful artificial intelligence and personalized learning program with a fully integrated, interactive e-book in one affordable package.

“McGraw-Hill Education is committed to delivering digital learning solutions that adapt to each student’s needs and abilities and improve student success in critical gateway courses,” said Kurt Strand, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education’s Science, Engineering and Mathematics Group. “By integrating McGraw-Hill e-books directly into the ALEKS program, students will be able to learn effectively and affordably, and faculty will be able to reduce the expense of high failure and withdrawal rates.”

ALEKS 360 acts much like a skilled human tutor, delivering precise assessments of students’ math knowledge, guiding them in the selection of appropriate new study material, and recording their progress toward mastery of course goals. Through adaptive questioning, ALEKS accurately assesses a student’s knowledge state and delivers targeted instruction on the exact topics a student is most ready to learn. College and university case studies have shown that ALEKS has increased pass rates by more than 20 percentage points versus traditional online homework systems, and by more than 30 percentage points compared to using a textbook alone.

The e-books featured within ALEKS 360 go beyond simple PDFs – they are high quality, interactive versions of their physical counterparts that offer robust virtual features such as highlighting and note-taking capabilities, as well as access to multimedia assets such as images, video, and homework exercises. E-books are accessible from ALEKS Student Accounts and the ALEKS Instructor Module for convenient, direct access.

ALEKS 360 launched this month and is available for use in summer classes. The initial e-books to be offered in ALEKS 360 include: Introductory Algebra, Second Edition, by Julie Miller and Molly O’Neill; Intermediate Algebra, Second Edition, by Miller and O’Neill; College Precalculus, Second Edition, by John W. Coburn; and College Algebra, Second Edition, by Coburn.

ALEKS was developed by ALEKS Corporation, a leader in the creation of Web-based artificially intelligent educational software. ALEKS assessment and learning technologies were originally developed by a team of cognitive scientists, mathematicians, and software engineers at the University of California, Irvine, with major funding from the National Science Foundation.

“ALEKS Corporation is committed to student success, and we are delighted to integrate some of the best mathematics textbooks available with the power of ALEKS. This is an enormous value for students and faculty and it couldn’t be better timed,” said Wil Lampros, president of ALEKS Corporation.

To experience ALEKS 360 for Introductory Algebra, please begin a free trial at http://www.aleks.com/free_trial/instructor and select “Beginning Algebra with ALEKS 360″ for your course.

Protecting customers is critical as Ford moves to the forefront of in-car personal technology. Ford’s popular SYNC system allows owners to connect digital media players and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones to their vehicle’s entertainment system and operate them with voice commands. The mobile phone also is a gateway to a number of Internet “cloud” services through SYNC’s Traffic, Directions and Information application that provides turn-by-turn directions, business searches and more.

As a result, Ford is adapting methods and technologies most often associated with the fast-paced IT world to secure its mobile device-to-car connections from unwanted entry. Think firewalls, virus protection and password-controlled access.

“Ford Motor Company delivers highly advanced technology and entertainment platforms that, just like a consumer’s laptop or smart phone, need to have security features built into it,” said Jim Buczkowski, director, Ford Electronics and Electrical Systems Engineering. “Consumers want and need to know that their personal or professional information in their vehicle is specific only to them.”

Recent industry data shows that more than 11 million people in the U.S. were victims of identity theft and fraudulent accounts in 2009 – with nearly a third of fraudulent accounts opened via mobile phone technology. As the use of smartphones escalates – with 174 million shipped globally in 2009 alone – concern over identity and information theft continues to rise.

Safeguards

To give customer peace of mind that their private information is protected, concealed and secure while in the vehicle, Ford is offering the following security features:

SYNC Firewall: With the launch of MyFord Touch for the 2011 model year, Ford is adding WiFi “hot spot” broadcasting through SYNC using a USB-connected broadband modem. To prevent unauthorized access and combat piggybackers, Ford has built in firewalls to both the wireless network and the vehicle. Using the SYNC WiFi system, a signal will be broadcast throughout the vehicle. Default security is set to WiFi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), requiring users to enter a randomly chosen password to connect to the Internet. When SYNC sees a new WiFi device for the first time, the driver must specifically allow that device to connect, preventing piggybacking on the SYNC-provided signal.

SYNC Phone Pairing Protection: The one-time pairing of a phone to SYNC is a simple process through Bluetooth wireless connectivity technology allowing up to 12 cell phones to be recognized by system. The short-range nature of Bluetooth technology makes SYNC’s connection to a paired cell phone’s stored information – contact lists and address books – possible only when the phone is inside the vehicle. If there’s no phone in the cabin, the wireless connection is broken and there’s no evidence of stored data for invaders to collect.

Encrypted Jukebox: Ford’s onboard “Jukebox,” which allows customers to download music onto a hard drive, has built-in digital rights management and encryption features. The encryption is unique to each navigation unit, which means the hard drive can’t be removed, inserted into another vehicle’s navigation system and accessed. In addition, hackers can’t access the drive from another computer and enjoy those favorite tunes. Customers don’t have to worry about someone hopping in their car sight unseen, plugging in a USB stick and doing a quick download of their personal music library, either. The Ford proprietary encryptions protect any songs saved to the system’s digital jukebox – which can hold up to 2,400 tracks – from being moved or copied to another device.

“Home” Protection: Ford also gives customers with voice-activated navigation the ability to protect their programmed destinations and addresses – such as “Home” – from unauthorized eyes. A valet mode can be engaged on the system that locks all programmed destinations from view unless a 4-digit PIN is entered with each ignition key cycle.  MyFord Touch will also offer a valet mode.

Engine Immobilizer: To help protect the vehicle, the mobile hub for all this personal information, Ford depends on SecuriLock. This patented passive anti-theft system prevents the engine from starting unless a coded ignition key is used. With SecuriLock, a wireless radio-frequency transmission is required to transfer an electronic code between a transponder in the key to the vehicle’s ignition system. There are 72 million-billion possible codes so every Ford vehicle sold worldwide for the next 10 billion years will come with a unique code.

Securicode keyless entry. The Ford-exclusive keypad gives customers the ability to lock their key fob in the car if they desire (consider not having to worry about losing the expensive fob when biking a mountain trail, sunning on the beach or jamming at a rock concert). Securicode works on a secure 5-digit code. The latest iteration of the keypad employs similar touch-sensitive technology, processors and algorithms used by the iPod and iPhone.

Versatile quality products that make entertaining at home easy and more enjoyable are high on consumer’s wish lists this year. Chef’sChoice serves up the perfect mix of professional home use kitchen electrics by  manufacturing top quality products that feature advanced technology and versatility with a model for any budget. They’re introducing and featuring the following new products at the upcoming International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago, March 14-16.

New efficient M220 Hybrid™ sharpener combines electric and manual sharpening for an extremely sharp, burr-free edge with lots of bite. The advanced Criss-Cross™ technology uses 100% diamond abrasives in Stages 1 and 2 to sharpen straight and serrated edge knives; sports knives, pocket knives, kitchen and household knives. MSRP $39.99 USA/$49.99 Canada. Assembled in the USA.

New! Chef’sChoice® Diamond Hone® Sharpener M4623 is a versatile and affordable three-stage manual knife sharpener that restores and recreates both a 15 degree edge for Asian style knives and a 20 edge for European/American style knives. It puts an excellent, longer lasting edge on both straight edge and serrated blades. This professional quality knife sharpener combines key features essential for consistent razor-sharp edges: bevel angle control; multi-stages–a sharpening stage for 15 degree edge and a sharpening stage for the 20 degree edge with a third stage for honing; and 100-percent diamond abrasives, in an easy-to-use design for both right and left handed sharpening. Safe for quality knives. Made in the U.S.A. MSRP $29.99 US/$39.99 Canada.

Critically-Acclaimed With Rave Reviews:

Sharpens In Any Language: Recommended by leading consumer cooking and test kitchen publication, the Chef’sChoice® Diamond Hone® AngleSelect™ Model 1520 is the world’s most versatile professional electric sharpener. It’s designed to restore and recreate both, a 20 degree edge for European and American style knives and a 15 degree edge for Asian style knives. Also recommended for sports, pocket knives and serrated knives. Assembled in the USA. MSRP $169.99-$199.99/USA and $219.99-249.99 Canada. Available in white plastic casing or brushed metal.
The Temperature Is Perfect! Recommended by the leading consume cooking and test kitchen publication and dubbed “user-friendly” this Chef’sChoice® SmartKettle™ is the world’s most advanced electric kettle and quickly heats water to either boiling or precisely to the ideal temperature for preparing temperature sensitive teas such as green and white. The SmartKettle™ heats water faster than a microwave or stove top and uses less than half the energy compared to an electric stove top. MSRP $99.99 USA and $119.99 Canada.

Boiling Water Is A Visual Delight. Ranked #1 electric kettle by Good Housekeeping magazine, the Chef’sChoice® Cordless Electric Glass Kettle Model 679 is faster than a stove or microwave and uses less than half the energy compared to a kettle on an electric stovetop. Functional as it is stylish, the M679 is handsomely crafted from heat resistant glass and brushed stainless steel and features a concealed heating element that delivers 1500 watts of power. No more guessing water levels with this transparent kettle that also makes water boiling a visual delight. MSRP $69.99, not available in Canada.

Sharpen Steel and Strop. “Highly Recommended” and dubbed the “rolls Royce of sharpeners” and favorite by leading consumer cooking and kitchen testing magazine, the Chef’sChoice® Professional Sharpening StationÔ 130 provides the ultimate “destination” to professionally sharpen steel or strop all brands and types of knives; straight edge or serrated, kitchen, Asian style, sports and pocket knives. Built-in, high precision angle guides eliminate all guesswork to ensure hair splitting sharpness every time. Assembled in the U.S.A. MSRP $149.99 to $179.99 USA; MSRP Canada 189.99–$219.99.

The Cutting Edge. “Highly Recommended” by leading consumer and kitchen testing publication, the Chef’sChoice® Asian Pronto™ Manual Diamond Hone® Sharpener 463 is the fastest manual knife sharpener on the market. It puts a flawless, razor sharp, durable, double beveled “Gothic-Arch” shaped 15 degree edge on serrated and straight edged double-sided Asian-style knives.
MSRP USA $39.99, Canada $49.99.

Puttin’ On The Pizzelles! The Chef’sChoice® PizzellePro™ Model 834 bakes two thin traditional sized (4¾) delicious and delicate pizzelles in less than 30 seconds. Makes perfect size pizzelles for cannolis too. Featuring a baking indicator light and consistent even heating for perfect baking, it’s always ready to bake with instant temperature recovery and non-stick easy release coating. MSRP $49.99 USA, Canada $69.99.

The spacecraft will fly on a NASA suborbital Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket between 6 and 9 a.m.(EST), March 11, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The backup launch days are March 12 and 13.

The two spacecraft, also known as cubesats, will be ejected during the suborbital flight at approximately 77 miles altitude, 72 seconds into the flight. NASA is flying the cubesats as secondary experiments on the flight which has a main purpose of testing the Improved Malemute rocket motor.

James Lumpp, Director of Space Systems Laboratory at the University of Kentucky and faculty advisor for the project, said, “This is the first time cubesats will be ejected in space on a suborbital trajectory. This capability of leveraging the cubesat satellite standard on a NASA sounding rocket could open a whole new chapter in fast, inexpensive access to space for small payloads.”

Students from Kentucky Space (a consortium of Kentucky universities) and California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, built the cubesats using primarily off-the-shelf components. The standard cubesat, a miniaturized satellite for space research, weighs around 2 pounds and is a 4-inch cube. Students from Cal Poly developed the cubesat ejection system used for the flight and students at the University of Kentucky adapted it to work in the sounding rocket.

The Kentucky cubesat, called ADAMASat, was developed by students to allow experimentation with hardware and software subsystems they intend to fly in an orbital cubesat called KySat-1 that will be launched with the NASA Glory mission no earlier than November 2010. The subsystems include an antenna deployment system and power conditioning circuitry.

The Cal Poly cubesat, developed as a test bed for Poly-Sat bus technologies, will be testing an attitude determination system.

Kentucky Space is a consortium of universities including:

University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, University of Louisville, Murray State University, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Students will staff several ground stations at Wallops, as well as stations at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Morehead State University and at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., to capture the telemetry during the flight. In addition, students will distribute software packages for amateur radio enthusiasts to participate in the project.

Amateur radio operators can get details on how to participate on the Internet at: http://ssl.engr.uky.edu/suborbital/adamasat/links

Western Digital introduced its new My Passport(TM) Studio(TM) portable drives featuring the super-fast FireWire® 800 interface and a customizable e-label that’s always visible, even when the drive is unplugged. Sporting a sleek and stylish design, the new high-performance My Passport Studio drives are formatted for Mac® computers, compatible with Apple® TimeMachine® software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare(TM) software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Available now at select retailers and shopwd.com, the new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB.

WD’s My Passport Studio drives are designed for creative professionals and Mac enthusiasts. Their production and use of many large files require the fast transfers from computer to My Passport Studio drives that FireWire 800 provides. Professionals such as photographers also benefit from the e-labeling system to effectively organize their work.

The e-label smart display on the front of the My Passport drives can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Users can easily create a label to personalize their drive or remind themselves of its contents. The e-label also shows available capacity and whether the drive is locked. Utilizing e-paper technology, the information on the display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is unplugged.

According to research firm Parks Associates, the average U.S. broadband household currently has over 120 GB of digital media and files which is projected to grow to over 1 TB of data by 2013.

“Many of our customers store their content on multiple external drives, making it difficult to know what content is on each drive,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing of WD’s Branded Products group. “The e-label smart display is an elegant and practical solution for organizing and keeping track of one’s digital life and work. WD SmartWare software makes it easy for users to protect their valuable content with automatic and continuous backup and encryption.”

The new My Passport Studio is fully compatible with Apple TimeMachine software for easy backup of your most important files. It also offers the option of the simple and intuitive WD SmartWare software, with automatic continuous backup and real-time visual interface, giving users a reassuring view of their backup as it happens. After the first backup, users’ files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file.

My Passport Studio drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. Typically found only on much more expensive drive systems, the encryption acts as a virtual padlock to keep users’ data safe.

Price and Availability

The new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB and have a 3-year limited warranty. My Passport Studio ultra-portable drives are available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. MSRP for the My Passport Studio drives ranges from $149.99 USD to $199.99 USD depending on capacity.

My Passport Studio
The new WD My Passport Studio ultra-portable drives feature:
– Smart display – a customizable e-label that reminds users of what is stored on the drive and provides available capacity and security status at a glance even when the drive is unplugged;
– FireWire 800 – users can save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface;
– Plug-and-play, designed for use with Mac computers and compatibility with Apple TimeMachine software;
– WD SmartWare software that visually presents consumers’ data in a software control center;
– 256-bit hardware-based encryption and password protection for peace of mind knowing that data is protected from unauthorized access;
– USB 2.0 interface – for convenience and compatibility among multiple computers;
– Planet-friendly packaging derived from recycled materials to minimize waste;
– HFS+ Journaled formatting and are compatible with Mac OS X Tiger®, Leopard® and Snow Leopard®; and,
– 3-year limited warranty.

WD SmartWare Software
WD SmartWare software features:
– Visual backup displays that show content in categories and shows the progress of backup;
– Automatic, continuous data backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file;
– Retrieve valuable data to its original location whether it’s lost data or the file has been overwritten; and,
– Customizable data backup that allows users to set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.