We all happened to have to deal with unwanted phone calls, either of a business or personal nature. It’s not exactly pleasant to receive a call while you are in the shower, crawl out, and answer the phone just to find out that it’s just another telemarketing operator calling us for the umpteenth time to sell us something that we don’t really need, or a person we do not really have the time (or the mood) to talk to.

Sometimes, especially if the person who receives the call is a woman, and in particular if she is living alone, unwanted calls might turn into a real harassment, in some cases even of a sexual nature. To protect yourselves from these fastidious calls, there is a technological remedy, an electronic voice changer.

The name says it all: a voice changer is a device that allows you to change the sound of your voice when you answer the phone, either landline or mobile. A woman picking up the phone, for example, might sound like an older man, a child or a boy, while a man can turn his voice into that of a woman, in a completely natural way.

Voice changing devices work on the frequencies of the human voice, manipulating them electronically in a totally natural way, without adding a metallic sound, You just select the kind of voice you want to sound like, and you will be free from molesters, salespersons, creditors and so on.

Furthermore, thanks to a voice changer you will be able to add some background noises or sounds, such as the sound of a doorbell, a barking dog or a crying baby, which will give you a perfect excuse to hang up on an unwanted call. So, if you don’t want to change your phone number… just change your voice!

Some weeks ago, we have showed you the latest model of digital video recorder by Flip, a manufacturer which is also inspiring its competitors for the launch of their new products. Vivitar has just introduced a model which, though with a smaller memory capacity compared to Flip (4Gb vs. 8), sports some characteristics which make it unique.

The size is equally tiny, and within just 11 by 6 centimeters, DVR 510 has all the features of a high-end miniature video recorder: a 1.8” display, 8X digital zoom, a built-in USB connector just like its competitors’ namesake, a 640×480 pixel resolution in AVI format, a TV output and a 2Gb in-built memory which, with a MicroSD card, can be expanded up to 4Gb.

What makes it one of a kind, though, is the night vision and, most of all, its waterproof shell which makes it suitable for shooting underwater footage. In fact, DVR 510 can be used at up to 5 meters of depth. It is by no means a professional underwater camera, but can surely be a useful accessory to shoot memories of your adventures during your seaside holidays.

Infrared night vision makes it suitable also for a wide range of potentials, such as a useful support for surveillance operations, or as a hidden camera for night videos, both leisurely and professional. All this, furthermore, comes at a very reasonable price. In fact, the retail price of Vivitar’s new toy starts at 50 dollars.

With more and more professionals, business men, journalists and students laying their hands on the voice recorders, these products are being marketed and sold like hot cakes. The latest craze around is the handheld digital voice recorder. It is a common observation that people with lesser experience are often misguided and finally land up buying an inappropriate tool.

So to safeguard all Endoacustica constantly floods quality products to suit individual requirements. Leading the charts Endoacustica has recently launched one of the best handheld digital voice recorders. To initiate, the tool is designed to support more than 37 hours of recording. Also, its aptness to function on multi channels it can be conveniently used to record all kinds of voice signals.

Further, the LCD display allows one to check on the operating mode and recording time respectively. Tie clip microphone along with facilities to double speed recording the product surely stands out in crowd. Also telephonic conversations can be recorded with the version by means of a telephone adapter. Amazingly, the tool is developed to support 280 hours of recording with 1 GB flash memory.

A research team from University of Utah is at work on a project that allows usage of a small network of wireless radio transceivers, in order to detect movements of people on the other side of a wall.
Thanks to this detection system, based on the RTI (Radio Tomographic Imaging) concept which allows the images to be send via airwaves, police, surveillance forces and firemen will be able to detect intruders or casualties trapped inside a building, by simply placing these small transceivers in the area.

The RTI system is basically reading the “shadows” of radio waves when they pass through a person in motion, and based on these shadows it builds an image. In an experiment that has been used as an example, scientists have created a small network with 28 transmitters, placing them in rectangular shape in a room and in the garden outside the house.

At this point, the radio signal strength was measured, first when the rectangle was empty, and then with a person inside it. By transferring the relevant data to a computer with a calculation software, a very blurred image, resembling a shadow, is created by this software.
By improving method and detection systems, it has been possible to detect human movements on the other side of a wall.
The network used is not a normal Wi-Fi network such as the one normally used at home for computers, so it can not be detected by devices using such protocol, and can be used for surveillance purposes. The Zigbee communication protocol used for this system can generally be found in automated domestic appliances.

Since it is based on radio waves, it can also work in the dark, and due to the very blurred image that can be obtained, it does not pose any kind of threat under the privacy point of view. In order to obtain images with a better quality, an optimal solution is the usage of optical fiber devices, such as for example a fiberscope, made up of a tiny cable, only 2.5 mm in diameter, which carries a drill bit camera at one end.

Just dig a hole in the wall and insert the cable, and maybe connect the fiberscope to a digital video recorder to record high quality images inside a room. Alternatively, a non invasive option, used only to listen through the wall to what happens in the room nearby, is the usage of a wall microphone.

A wall microphone is basically a technologically advanced version of our doctor’s stethoscope, equipped with high sensitivity microphones and connected to a power amplifier, which makes it capable of listening through brick walls without arising any unnecessary suspicion or attention. Once again, in this case you can use a digital recorder to store any information or evidence gathered.

When someone pays attention to all details of what happens around him and does not miss a detail, you can say that “he’s got eyes even behind his back”. Now this saying can become true, with a small difference: the eyes can effectively be located … inside your ears!

Relax, we are not talking about some kind of medieval torture, in which the unfortunate prisoners got their eyes taken out and forced into their ears for some macabre punishment. We are rather talking about an ear camera, in high definition and color, that you can use for hidden high quality video footage.

Thanks to Ear Cam, you will have at your disposal a professional system for discreet vision, which can also be connected to a wireless transmission system for hidden video shooting and transmission, both for leisure (for example for candid camera videos to be shot with a hidden cam), or for covert monitoring or surveillance operations.

At a first glance, it will look like you are listening to music, or that you have an earphone connected to your mobile phone, while through the micro camera hidden inside one of the earpieces, you are actually taking a video of all that happens around you, with a resolution of 400 TV lines on 316k pixels.

For optimal performance, Aar-Cam can be connected to a digital micro recorder, which looks like a normal MP3 player, on which you will be able to store up to 1 Gb of footage, that is, over 4 hours of evidence to be used in trial.

All this, while the people around you will probably laugh at you and your MP3 player fixation…

Recently on Wikileaks, the independent site which collects classified and confidential material, often coming from government agencies and published anonymously, a manual was published, which instructs agents and businessmen how to protect themselves from… uhm, leaks!

To be specific, the manual dates back to 2001, and is coming from the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom, teaching its agents how to prevent news and information from leaking, and how to protect themselves against investigative journalists, terrorist cells and foreign agents.

The manual against leaks describes characteristics of secret services from countries like Russia and China, their operating procedures, how they build a rapport with foreigners to gather as much information as possible.

The manual is aimed not only at agents, but also at businessmen who travel frequently abroad, and the idea is not to discourage them from trading with Chinese or Russian companies, but rather to warn them against any possible threat to national security which might be hiding behind a face of respectability and professionalism.

According to some excerpts from this document, shoes leak was labeled as “non relevant” by the Ministry due to the eight years passed since it was written, Chinese agents use alcohol and blackmail, especially of a sexual kind, along with planting bugs inside hotel rooms, while the Russians are extensively using eavesdropping technologies such as hidden recorders.

The manual may be outdated, but certainly the fiasco for Her Majesty’s secret service is new… and for those who travel to those countries on business, the information could be useful anyway!

As we know, in your life you cannot always trust all the people you meet, and sometimes you may happen to give your phone number to persons who later prove unworthy of your trust, and may even end up harassing or threatening you by phone, at any time of day or night.

This kind of occurrence is happening more frequently to women, especially if they are living alone, who might become the subject of unwanted attention not only from hard-headed telemarketing operators, but also from stalkers or sexually-oriented molesters.

To protect yourselves from this kind of trouble, you may want to have a voice changer at home. It is a device that, when connected to your phone line (but there are also models for mobile phones), allows you to speak normally with your voice, while changing it according to standard presets, so that the person on the other side will believe that he is talking to an adult man, a boy or a girl, or even an elderly or a child!

The voice is changed by electronically working on the frequencies of the human voice, in a completely natural way, without metallic sounds as it may be the case with voice synthesizers, and the person you are talking to will not suspect that the child he hears is actually a man, a woman or what else.

You can also add sound effects such as the bark of a dog or a buzzer ringing, thus giving you the opportunity of putting an end to an unwanted call.
In short, a lonely woman will be safe, without changing her identity, but just changing… her voice!

Fortunately for public health, the total figures of smokers worldwide are slowly but constantly decreasing, thanks to several kinds of campaigns, but also to the increasing level of access to information about the damages caused by the smoking habit.

In spite of this, one does not necessarily have to be a smoker to carry a cigarette pack or a lighter in the front pocket of his coat or jacket, especially if he is working as a private detective or a police agent, and the cigarette pack actually contains a miniaturized digital video recorder.

Within the size of a normal cigarette lighter, which can aptly be hidden inside a cigarette pack, it is a real professional system to shoot hours and hours of covert video footage in digital format.
In fact, aside from being equipped with an embedded needle pin camera, capable of recording high quality video with a 176×144 resolution, it also houses a Micro SD memory card of up to 2 Gb, where it can store up to 37 hours of movies, which you can comfortably download on your PC thanks to its USB plug, or by just removing the memory card.

Once the footage is downloaded on your PC, you will be able to scan it for evidence that you can use for your investigations, and use them before a court of law if necessary. The recorder is powered by a rechargeable lithium battery, which allows for 2 hours of continuous recording.

Video recording is started with one simple button, so you will not have to struggle (at the risk of being exposed) to start your recorder, and you can just pin the camera on your front pocket as if it were a lighter, and not a professional video recorder!

At the Berlin IFA, Olympus has introduced its new model of miniature digital recorder, the LS-11 model, which will be available for sale within a few weeks at a price around 400 dollars.
It is a microrecorder which, despite its small size, encompasses a series of features which make it a real professional recording system.

It can record in three different audio formats, through its two high sensitivity noise-reduction microphones, storing its recordings on an internal in-built 8 Gb memory, which can be extended up to 40 Gb by adding a 32 Gb SD memory card. The recorded files can be edited directly from the recorder, by cutting them, erasing them or moving them between the internal memory and the SD card.

A new feature for this series of Olympus miniature recorders is the VCVA variable voice activation sensor, which allows for an automatic recording start when it detects a certain volume level around it.

When recording is activated manually, LS-11 can be the perfect travel and work companion for journalists or writers, who can use it to take quick notes on the go, recording small audio excerpts or interviews. By setting up the suitable level of sensitivity, the automated recording start sensor makes it perfect for covert recordings and eavesdropping of meetings, confidential conversations or for evidence gathering by private detectives or law enforcement agents.

Its weight is a mere 142 grams, and it is operated by two AA batteries, providing up to 23 hours of recording time. It is also equipped with two small 16mm loudspeakers for immediate listening, and it also features a pre-installed version of Cubase, a popular software which is the standard among musicians for editing operations on audio tracks.

Relax, this is no gossip about the Russian tycoon’s private life, after all what you are reading is a technology oriented blog!

Those of you who actually follow the latest gossip news, though, might be familiar with the fact that the owner of Chelsea Football Club is waiting for delivery of his Eclipse, that is, the biggest privately owned yacht on Earth, as well as, obviously, the most expensive (and could it be any different when talking about him?).

Among the endless array of gadgets and signs of opulence, it features an impressive list of security systems, ranging from an armored master bedroom to an anti missile system, to state-of-the-art systems against audio eavesdropping and interception. To protect himself against intrusions of paparazzi, the oligarch is installing a revolutionary system, capable of detecting the presence of digital cameras within its range, and disabling them with a laser beam which makes them temporarily useless, without destroying them.

By doing this, any spy photos would be lost. The anti-paparazzi system would not be permanently active, so the fortunate guests on board of Eclipse could take snapshots of their holidays, but if the security personnel see a suspicious boat, they would immediately activate it. It would then detect the digital camera’s CCD sensor, and send a laser beam towards it, which would erase the camera’s memory.

For paparazzi trying to capture images of Red Rom with his girlfriend or powerful friends, hard times are a-coming. Unless they decide to go back to an old faithful reflex camera, which would have nothing to fear from a laser beam…