This is what happens when you’re rushing to catch your flight: you end up leaving behind something as valuable as your laptop.

According to a study commissioned by Dell last year, over 12,000 people misplace their laptops at US airport, per week. That adds up to approximately 624,000 incidents a year!

The trend’s hotspot? LAX, featuring 1,200 absent-minded laptop owners a week. The laptops are usually lost at security checkpoints, with people trying to go through them as hastily as possible. Here’s sound advice from an airport manager, who’s probably witnessed laptop-loss numerous times:

Besides geek-squad mantras to encrypt and back up data, the tips also include some very down-to-earth wisdom: Only take a laptop if it’s really necessary to your trip and give yourself lots of time “to avoid mistakes made more likely by having to hurry. Airports are a physical and mental obstacle course.”

Amen to that.

Have you left your laptop behind? Why, where, and how?

Just to be clear, Sony Ericsson’s upcoming kitchen-sink phone is codenamed “Rachael”, not “Rachel”. So far all info on this phone found online is still unofficial, remaining rumors until made official by Sony Ericsson. That includes the UI demo video below:

What do you think of the rumored interface? It looks too flashy for its own good, taking too much time to animate elements unnecessarily. No doubt the eye candy is sweet, but as our source says, it will probably grow old quickly. Maybe there will be an option to disable the more complicated UI animations? In any case, word on the virtual streets is that the Sony Ericsson “Rachael” will:

• Be part of the Sony Ericsson Xperia family, joining the Xperia X1
• Run on a modified Android OS interface
• Use the Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon platform. The processor-chipset setup promises speeds of up to 1 GHz, and is apparently capable of 3D graphics
• Support HSPA
• Feature an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Boast a 4″ touchscreen with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution
• Make use of a 3.5mm standard earphone jack and a miniUSB port

Updates to follow as they become available, so stay tuned!

Now this makes total sense: combine a working key with a keyring, and you’ve got a key that can hold your other keys! The official name, “Split Ring Key” sounds so boring though, too technical. so let’s call it the Key Keyring!

Currently for sale at Amron Experimental at $7.00 for a pack of two blanks, the Key Keyring is designed to work with standard key cutters. It’s unclear though where Amron can ship to, and the least they can do is offer bundle discounts for large order quantities. How does $600 for a thousand pieces sound? No word on where this simple-yet-useful gadget is manufactured as well. Personally, I wonder how the new configuration affects key turning, since there’s less area for the fingers to apply pressure on.

Nevertheless, designer Scott Amron deserves kudos for this now-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that idea. He’s currently selling 30% of the patent as an “investment opportunity”. It’s interesting to see what improvements Amron will apply upon access to extra cash.

Source

Known as the manufacturer’s first Android-powered device, the HTC Magic features the classic PDA-phone form factor. Featuring a minimalist exterior and basic controls underneath the generously-sized display, the Magic is also my first experience with Google’s mobile OS.

Doing away with the classic five-way navigator, the Magic relies on a small trackball for interface browsing and selection. The virtual keyboard is reminiscent of the iPhone’s, with the device emitting slight vibrations upon keypress as physical feedback.

The Android OS was very responsive, with none of the delays the characterize the interface of—dare I say it—Windows Mobile devices as recent as last year. My unfamiliarity with the OS limited my experimentation, but it was weird how it seemed impossible to select a photo from the gallery, open it, and send it to another device via Bluetooth.

I’ll try to secure a unit for review. So far though I was pretty impressed with the clean and minimalist impression both the HTC Magic and Google Android OS made on me. More so after the HTC Magic or the Android (or both) left an impression of reponsiveness. Perhaps that alone is enough to justify the phone’s decidedly high-end price (see buy links below), but we can only be sure after a few days of use.

Apparently workers of the Keihin Electric Express Railway have to go through daily smile scans, a routine designed to increase their customer service aptitude.

Courtesy Telegraph

The system, running on software developed by Japanese company Omron, scans the worker’s face (presumably through a webcam) and creates a smile rating of 0 to 100. The assessment is based on an analysis of the worker’s “facial characteristics, from lip curves and eye movements to wrinkles.”

Obviously, the aim is to get workers to smile more:

For those with a below-par grin, one of an array of smile-boosting messages will op up on the computer screen ranging from “you still look too serious” to “lift up your mouth corners”, according to the Mainichi Daily News [MDN].

Why? Bigger smiles mean a more pleasant impression, increasing the chance happier customers. Service with a smile is a basic tenet of effective customer service.

What do you think? Personally I can believe that Omron’s system is effective. Anyone who’s gotten someone else to smile knows how this superficial adjustment can actually lead to genuine pleasantness inside. Then again, requiring something always has a way of making it a boring chore.

MDN also reports that more Japanese service companies are implementing the Omron Smile Scan system for their staff.

Source

Seems those those “exclusivity agreements for popular handsets” have attracted the attention of the US Department of Justice. On the agency’s unofficial (so far) agenda? Whether or not these exclusivity are anti-competitive.

Palm Pre Under Sprint. Courtesy Sprint

Personally, I don’t really mind when a manufacturer and service provider agree to limit access to a particular phone. It’s just business after all, with the operator hoping to cash in on an eagerly-awaited gadget’s popularity, and the manufacturer enjoying a bigger share of the profits in return. It’s not anti-competitive when you’re trying to acquire any advantage to beat your competitors, more so when an exclusivity deal is strictly a B2B move.

What I do mind is an operator intentionally crippling a phone, apparently hoping its customers will pay for what should already be available to them. Anyone remember the RAZR from Verizon Wireless that had its Bluetooth disabled? The consensus regarding Nokia’s lackluster entry into the US is that the manufacturer doesn’t enjoy operator support because it refuses to cripple their phones for service providers. Another anecdote going around the tech journalism circles is that Palm took its sweet time integrating cellular and wireless connectivity into one device in an effort to remain operator-friendly.

And the specific deal that probably attracted the DOJ’s attention? Well, we all know how the newest iPhone still can’t do MMS and tethering—in the US. Such functionality is already available to European iPhone users, or to people who decided not to play the operator’s game.

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On tech.blorge.com, Symantec executive David Hall spoke out against free anti-virus software:

“If you are only relying on free antivirus to offer you protection in this modern age, you are not getting the protection you need to be able to stay clean and have a reasonable chance of avoiding identity theft,” he said.

Hall also dismissed Microsoft’s Microsoft Security Essentials offering (which is currently in Beta) as an incomplete solution.

“Microsoft’s free product is basically a stripped down version of the OneCare product Microsoft pulled from retail shelves,” he said.

“Consumers don’t need less protection, they need more.”

According to Hall, there is a widening gap between people’s understanding of what protection they need and the threats they’re actually facing.

“People tell me, oh well look I use free antivirus because it is free and it protects me from everything in those areas, but when you compare that with what’s really going on in the threat landscape, there is a very, very big gap between what antivirus does and the threats that are being delivered today.”

Unfortunately, it seems Hall failed to do some market research. The source article was hit by criticisms of Hall’s stance—raising a point I agree with: Why buy Norton products then if they’re so damn slow, especially if AVG Free has proven useful over the years?

My only experience with Norton was with their Antivirus (NAV). It came preinstalled on my mom’s old IBM (before they sold their PC business to Lenovo) ThinkPad, and the only memorable thing about it was how it bogged down the laptop. Eventually, I discovered AVG Free, found that it did everything Norton did (keep my system free of viruses) more efficiently through a more straightforward interface. From that point on, I never looked back.

Several years later, I still rely on AVG Free. Subsequent experiences with NAV, as early as last year, only reinforced my impression of it as bloatware. I know Norton is aware of this perception, having run ads on popular tech sites like Gizmodo touting the speed of the company’s 2009 internet protection suite. Maybe David Hall should’ve waited for the marketing to work its magic first, before making such a bold statement that challenges the market’s preconceived notions?

Source

Palringo deserves attention because it integrates numerous IM services into one mobile app. Supported IMs include MSN, AIM, YM, iChat, and Jabber/GTalk (yes, including the one built into Gmail). And unlike many mobile IM apps, Palringo does things real-time. Replies immediately show up, with no manual refreshing required.

It’s possible to switch between conversations, meaning users can chat with multiple contacts simultaneously. On the S60 version (tested on an N97), sending and receiving around 50 IMs via HSDPA added up to about 450kb/73kb of download/upload bandwidth usage. Needless to say the speed of the app depends on network coverage and phone connectivity. Connections are possible through mobile broadband and WiFi. [Read more]

Thanks for punishing the early adopters once again Valve! I kid of course, but I imagine those who bought Fallout 3 at $50 (when it first came out) are probably cringing at today’s $20 price, available under Steam’s Weekend Deal program.

What’s Fallout 3 you ask? Are you ok? It’s the best solo RPG to come out in recent memory, features a relatively massive gameplay world worth weeks of losing sleep over. Owners of the game will also enjoy free access to current or future downloadable content packs. Over five have been released or are about to be released, and they all represent additional gameplay and new ways to waste time.

Get Fallout 3 for only $20 at Steam. Today’s the last day this Weekend Deal lasts, so you’d better get going!

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