Voice activated recorders

The very technology that makes us free to communicate with our business and with your loved ones at any time and from any place, could turn into our worst nightmare if, by chance, someone is trying to listen to our conversations to illegally gather information that can be used against us, either on a personal or financial level.

The good news, though, is that you do not need to be a secret agent, or a tycoon, to afford protection for your conversations from this kind of attacks, which are much more common than one can imagine. Basically, every mobile phone of the latest generations can be protected from interceptions, by using the right encryption software.

By providing your cellphone with this kind of software, very easy to install, the signal is encoded using two possible options: a 256-bit symmetric or 1024-bit asymmetric encryption key; once encrypted, it is transmitted over the GSM network in a format that the network itself would only recognize as white noise. By making sure that the phone at the other end is equipped with the same encryption key, its user will be the only person enabled to communicate with you, and the other way around.

Thanks to Safe & Talk, the encryption software marketed by Endoacustica, you will not need to worry anymore when you are talking on the phone, as your phone calls will be as private as you want them to be.

As the old and wise saying goes, even walls have ears. We know that this saying is particularly true if, within those walls, conversations take place which are highly confidential, or at least, the participants would like them to remain as confidential as possible.
We also know, though, that especially if the stakes are high and there are high amounts of money involved, there is always a chance, as narrow as it may be, that prying ears could be listening to our words.

To provide protection against this kind of events, a group of scientists from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is working on a system that would mask conversations by producing sounds through a network of small loudspeakers placed in the area to protect.

The so-called Distributed Acoustic Conversation Shielding System is made up of a series of portable transceivers equipped with an infrared sensor, a microphone and a small loudspeaker; each of the participants is equipped with one of these personal sensors, recognized by the main unit, towards which they send their position when they are moving from room to room.

As soon as the IR sensor detects the presence of someone not equipped with a similar device, the loudspeakers on the individual transceiver would send out a sound on the same frequency of the one that must be masked (like human voice) making eavesdroppers’ life impossible.

Currently this system is still in its early development stages, it will take a few years before we can see it working. To obtain more information on bug sweeping and anti-eavesdropping systems available on the market, you can visit the Endoacustica site.

Don’t be afraid, there is no typing error in the name of the famous green superhero, for one simple reason: it’s not him we are talking about.
In fact, HULC is an acronym which stands for Human Universal Load Carrier, that is, an exoskeleton designed for armed forces in order to help them carry heavy material at a long distance.

Manufactured by the California-based Berkeley Bionics, HULC is in fact designed to multiply human strength; other models of exoskeletons, though, tend to concentrate their work mostly on the arms, allowing their users to lift up to 200 kilos of material without any effort.

Unlike these types, HULC’s functionality is mostly focused towards the shoulders, on which a normal soldier generally carries something like 30 kilos of equipment. Thanks to the exoskeleton’s support, his load capability is multiplied by five, allowing him to carry up to 300 pounds (136 kilos) on the gantry applied on the wearer’s back.

The whole structure, which also includes some sort of “crutches” which provide support for the legs, is powered by rechargeable batteries; walking at the average speed of 6 kilometers per hour, you can use HULC’s assistance for approximately 5 hours, enough to carry your equipment to your final destination without big trouble.

At the current stage, the potentials of this exoskeleton are only in the development phase, although a demo version has been already presented to operators and experts, and the initial field test, thanks to the cooperation of soldiers in war zones (of course far from the frontline) will be carried out in summer 2010.

For concerned parents, worried at the idea that their pre-teen kids might end up in trouble due to their natural curiosity and penchant for exploration, Brick House Security has just created Amber Alert, a small GPS sensor, practical and easy to use, which gives concerned parents the opportunity to know at any time the whereabouts of the person wearing it, thus intervening in time if their kids are about to get themselves into some unpleasant situation.

Along with a small GPS antenna, Amber Alert also features a SIM card just like the one you have on your cellphone, All you have to do is place the locator in your son’s coat pocket, or in his school backpack. In case of need, you will just have to send a text message to the phone number connected to the SIM card, and you will promptly receive an SMS reply, showing the exact geographical coordinates and the address of the place where your son is right now.

Furthermore, if your phone is equipped with map software, you will be able to display the exact position in graphic mode. In order to avoid losing it accidentally, Amber Alert can be also placed on a bracelet or a belt, so that the kid will wear it at all times. It is currently for sale only in the US, at a price of 379 dollars, and it also features a hotline subscription.

For other types of GPS trackers, not only for children, but also for pets, objects or elders suffering of diseases such as Alzheimer, you can visit the Endoacustica site for further information.

In spite of its small size (approximately 10 centimeters in length), this small robot is capable of providing science fiction-like performance, such as for example running at one meter and a half per second (that’s roughly 15 times the length of its body!).

Also, since the shell that covers it is entirely made of laminated cardboard, which on the inside contains a thin layer of polymeric material, its weight does not exceed 16 grams. Thanks to its extreme lightness, DASH (Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod) is capable of surviving a free fall from an 8-storey building.

Preparation and printout of the cardboard, as well as assembly, can be carried out within less than 30 minutes. Motion on DASH is provided by 6 legs, whose motion is based on an imitation of insects or cockroaches in order to reach such high speed if compared to its size.

At the current stage, DASH, a project from University of Berkeley is still in its early experimental stages, and researchers are studying the possibility of mounting miniature devices on it, such as a listening device, a miniature camera, an array of sensors and even a SIM card module, in order to be able to use it in surveillance operations and long-distance information gathering.

And on top of this, the entire system might be powered via a tiny nuclear battery, which would make it perfectly suitable for long-term surveillance operations.

DASH Video

We thought we had seen a lot of things in technology, but this is really something new and unusual even for us, and honestly speaking we did not think that it could ever be possible to imagine something like this.

Created by Isaac Daniel, a designer who has always been on the cutting edge as far as high-technology clothes and accessories are concerned, the Blue GPS Shoe, at a first glance, looks just like your average sport shoe, with a modern and a bit eccentric design, but nothing more than this.

What makes this shoe unique, though, is well hidden at the bottom, inside its sole. In fact, it is in the plantar area that lies the very heart of Blue GPS, that is, a connection module which on the inside contains a tiny GPS antenna, a modem, a GSM antenna and a wireless communication system.

The whole thing is powered by a lithium battery, which is conveniently located in the same place, And on the body of the shoe, you have a USB connection plug, that you can use to connect your shoe to your computer. The usage of a GPS shoe does not seem to be the common man’s cup of tea, something they can use for their Saturday or Sunday morning jogging, although the price is very affordable (around 150 dollars).

It is rather a very useful tool for the adventurous traveler or the lone sailor, who can use the shoe as an antenna to connect to their laptop and go online anywhere, detecting their position and sending it to their base camp. Another possible usage might be, for the same reason, in the field of covert espionage and surveillance operations, where communication with operations center is vital.

For the rest of us, it could be a useful present for your kids, in order to track them down at any time…

Today we would like to talk to you about an idea which was developed, for once, not by us or by one of our consultants, but by one of our customers; the idea, which is still in its early stages, might end up into the world’s first restaurant in which waiters are in constant real-time communication with chefs and bartenders, thanks to a network of Bluetooth micro earpieces.

A restaurant, whose name we will not disclose due not only to privacy reasons, but also to the fact that the project is only moving its first steps, is planning to provide its waiters with a wireless earpiece. This earpiece, once it is inserted into the ears of personnel working the tables, as well as those who prepare meals and drinks, would allow them to communicate remotely and in real time with each other across the place.

By doing this, while the waiter is by the table gathering customers’ requests, he will just have to “dictate” details of the order via a microphone connected to his earpiece, and the bartender or chef, equipped with the same device, will be able to start preparing whatever has been requested in real time, thus getting rid of any in-between time between the moment when the order is accepted (and the waiter ends his route), and it is actually taken to the kitchen.

Naturally, all waiters will also be equipped with small terminals, equally connected via Bluetooth protocol, which will be used to transfer the order electronically to the kitchen, where it will be printed and displayed.

Furthermore, the earpieces network will also function the other way around, carrying information from the kitchen to the waiting staff. In fact, through this system, the chef who just prepared a meal or a dish, can inform the waiter in real time, who will be able to run to the kitchen without wasting time, even if he is on the other side of the place, and present the customer with his dish, still smoking hot.

Another advantage of the real-time information flow is that the customer will get to know in real time about any problem caused by lack of a specific ingredient. How many times did it happen to us, going to the restaurant, to see the waiter come back to us a minute after taking our orders, to inform us with a sad expression that unfortunately there is no more bacon in the kitchen, and that plate of Spaghetti Amatriciana that we were waiting in anticipation will never come?

Thanks to real time connection, we would no longer have this kind of surprises, because the waiter would be informed “live” from the kitchen through his hidden earpiece, allowing us to change our order.

This system would then allow for a faster service, long with a higher quality and freshness of the food served, thus avoiding unpleasant surprises for the customer, who would not have to wait for a long time until he gets a plate of lukewarm spaghetti instead of the hot one he was dreaming about.

Once the project is completed, we will have the first restaurant in Italy which, besides serving our famous tasty specialties, will do it in a technologically advanced fashion, gaining in terms of speed of service, but also in taste and freshness. Are you hungry?

We are in this field since a long time, but it looks like Quantek Systems has just discovered the world of unlimited distance surveillance over the GSM phone network. In fact, last month the British company has launched its GSM-Auto, a remote control that is used to activate, through a normal telephone call, any electric or electronic device connected to it.

All you have to do is call the number associated to its SIM card, and GSM-Auto, without answering the call, will recognize the calling number and, hanging up automatically, will activate the device or appliance, for example a car alarm, a security gate or a home computer.

It can also be restarted by sending an SMS with a particular text string. Basically, GSM-Auto works like your ordinary remote control, but from an unlimited distance.
On the other hand, if what we need is a real surveillance operation, listening to whatever happens inside a room or a car, wherever we and our subject are located, what we can use is a GSM bug, that is, a tiny listening device connected to a SIM card, to be concealed inside a car or a room.

In this case, by calling its number, we will be able to listen in real time, through the ultra-sensitive hidden microphone, to any conversation taking place around it. Furthermore, GSM bugs can be programmed remotely via SMS, and thanks to their voice activation sensor, they can be programmed to call us automatically as soon as the sensor detects a motion or a noise or, if installed on a car, as soon as the car is turned on or off.

In either case, both GSM Auto and a GSM Bug are capable of carrying out their function while we are comfortably sitting on our armchair at home, safely away from any danger. Easy, huh?

Between hotels which do not live up to our expectations and unexpected rainstorms in midsummer, our holidays are not always as heavenly as we plan them. And if on top of all this, we have the unpleasant surprise of finding our home visited by burglars, that would really be the last straw.

Fortunately technology lends us a hand, thanks to DVR-Sensor, a video surveillance system which, in spite of its small size, can guarantee security in your home while you are away.

In fact, DVR Sensor is equipped with an infrared automatic activation sensor, which allows it to detect movements within a 10 meter operating range. At that point, the infrared video camera would be automatically started, in order to record images of whatever goes on in the house, even in the dark, with a visual range of approximately 120 degrees.

Furthermore, the system can be connected to an external video camera, which in turn is connected to a digital video recorder, in order to provide another point of view, and mostly to be able to record any events and play them back at a later stage.

To save its recordings, DVR Sensor is supplied with an internal memory card, with a capacity of up to 1 Gb, to record several hours of footage. Upon your return, you will be able to download the footage directly on your computer thanks to the USB cable. By connecting it to your computer, it will also be possible, thanks to its easy-to-use interface, to set up and customize parameters of recording and automatic start, in order to guarantee an optimal surveillance, perfectly tailored for your needs.

In the world of miniature digital video recorders, certainly the most renowned and popular name is Flip, and one of its most famous models, MinoHD, has just been introduced in its second generation version, with newer features and improved characteristics.

First of all, the MinoHD 4Gb model has doubled its memory capacity, and as you can easily guess, its name is now… 8 Gb. Besides a bigger memory, which allows you to store up to 120 minutes of video footage, the new MinoHD 8Gb sports a bigger display with a better resolution, and a more powerful lens with fixed focus starting from 0.8 meters up to infinity.

The size of the screen has been increased to 2 inches, with a resolution of 960×240 pixels, a video quality of 720 pixels at 30 frames per second, and the possibility to connect the micro video recorder to a high definition TV thanks to the output connection and the stereo microphone. The signature pop-out USB plug, a distinctive sign of Flip after which these products are named, allows easy download of footage to your PC.

Thanks to its tiny size, it can be used practically in any occasion: leisure, recording concerts or as a hidden camera to gather images, also in the surveillance and monitoring field.
As it was the case with MinoHD 4Gb, you can still choose among a wide range of colors, with the option of customizing your MinoHD and making it absolutely unique. At the current stage, this version is only available on the US market, but its European launch will with no doubt be warmly welcomed.