 | August 12, 2003 | | | | | | Sadly, summer is ending, but it's already shaping up to be a pretty exciting fall for gadget hounds as HP announces its largest-ever lineup of new consumer-oriented products. Plus, you readers get serious about security, checking out the best firewalls and antivirus apps. |
|  | | | | HP
With Gateway doing all kinds of consumer products and Dell branching out into handhelds and printers, we knew that eventually Hewlett-Packard would have to get in on the diversification game. And on Monday, HP joined the fray in a big way. At a huge party in New York City, HP unveiled its largest-ever roster of new products, with more than 100 new consumer devices set for release by the end of 2003. And our editors were there to give the story on what's coming your way. Expect a slew of printers, digital cameras, scanners, and other gadgets that are all designed to work well together and deliver a better consumer experience, which is the idea behind HP's new slogan, "Radically simple, better together." Whether that's all just marketing hooey remains to be seen, but we have to say that some of Monday's goodies look pretty darn cool. So, we rounded up all our faves in a showcase of HP's fall line, including the HP DVD Movie Writer all-in-one moviemaking device, the top-of-the-line Photosmart 7960 photo inkjet, and the sleek, svelte Scanjet 4600 scanner. |
|  | | | | Free firewall
Perhaps, like many of you, I once thought that hackers were a threat only to big corporate networks and banks, but then I started hearing more and more about own friends getting struck by hack attacks. One friend of mine got slammed with attacks the first time she connected her PC to DSL. When she asked me what to do, I immediately pointed her to our security expert Robert Vamosi's column on the importance of personal firewalls, which details the best strategies for keeping invaders at bay. Apparently, many of you readers are already hip to Robert's message, since an increasingly large number of you in recent weeks have been searching for the best free firewall for personal use. If you're still curious about which is best, we recommend ZoneAlarm, which has a free version that's easy to install and handles monitoring and protection from incoming and outgoing traffic. If you're willing to spare a few bucks, we highly recommend upgrading to ZoneAlarm Pro. The latest version, 4.0, features privacy tools and a pop-up ad killer on top of its top-notch firewall, and it builds in a cool reporting tool that traces hackers' IP addresses and reports them to their ISPs. Unfortunately, it doesn't include an antivirus program in the mix. |
|  | | | | Antivirus
Wow, talk about the perfect segue. Along with firewalls, you've also been searching for good antivirus alternatives--and none too soon. Just in the last two days, Windows users all over the world have been struck by the MSBlast worm, which exploits a known Windows flaw. While Microsoft issued a patch on July 17, many people have yet to patch their systems, and that caused a lot of problems. Within 24 hours, the virus was said to have infected about 100,000 computers. So if you haven't already gotten the patch, do it, and also get yourself the right tools for protection and detection. Our top antivirus pick is PC-cillin 2003, which handles virus scanning with little impact on your PC's performance and delivers virus-busting extras such as e-mail and instant-message scanning and virus alerts via the Web. Want more ideas? Check out our top-rated security apps list. |
|  | | | | Rio
The iPod is definitely the hottest MP3 player around, but--out of the flames of Sonicblue's bankruptcy--Rio is hoping to heat up the race to beat Apple's little player with some new goodies of its own. Just this week, Rio, now a subsidiary of D&M Holdings, announced five new players with a wide range of capacities and designs and some of the weirdest names around. Perhaps the most exciting is Nitrus, a potential iPod killer that's the first MP3 player to take advantage of the new inch-wide 1.5GB hard drive. Another awe-inspiring model is Karma, which has a 20GB hard drive and an Ethernet port. It also supports two burgeoning open-source codecs: Ogg Vorbis and FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). These models, plus three flash players, will all be available within the next month, along with the supercharged Rio Music Manager 2.0 music-organization software. Check out our early look at Rio's upcoming line and maybe even preorder one to be the first owner on your block. |
|  | | | | 802.11g
Much has been made of all the wireless technologies available, but the difference between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 802.11g is still a mystery to many of you readers. Still lost? Find your way to our Wireless World, the one-stop shop for all our knowledge on the latest and greatest wireless products and news. Our editors have put together a guide to not only the gear you'll need to survive in the expanding wireless landscape, but also to the tips and tricks to using public wireless, and a glossary of all the wireless jargon (just what is the difference between WPA and WPAN anyway?). And when you're ready to roam, find a Wi-Fi hot spot near you to try out your new hardware and know-how. |
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