Ad: Manage updates with the Download App

rf

The Klipsch RF-7 II: A great rock speaker

Live concerts are louder than ever, but home audio systems that sound great turned up loud are increasingly rare. If you're into loud music and lucky enough to live in a place where maximum volume won't get you evicted or arrested, or earn the wrath of neighbors, treat yourself to a set of big speakers.

Sure, small satellite speakers with a powerful subwoofer can sound great, but not in the same league as large speakers. Big systems really do have huge performance advantages over even the best small ones. If you've got the space to accommodate a pair of Klipsch Reference RF-7 II speakers, they deserve an audition. The only downside to listening to the RF-7 IIs is you'll never be satisfied with a Bluetooth speaker ever again.… Read more

Tawkon: The Android app that detects radiation spikes

The reality of cell phone radiation Buried deep in the pages of your cell phone manual is an often-ignored section on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which is the measure of the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy (radiation) absorbed by the body when using your handset. Every phone is measured and rated, and in the U.S. and Canada, the maximum allowable SAR for any handset is 1.6 watts per kilogram. For our database of current cell phone SAR ratings, be sure to check out our ongoing chart on Cell phone radiation levels.

What we don't know, though, … Read more

RIM acquires Paratek to boost BlackBerry

Weeks after Research In Motion's shakeup, losing two co-executives and gaining a new CEO, the company is beginning to make some changes. The latest is acquiring Paratek Adaptive RF, which designs and manufactures adaptive radio frequency front-end components for cell phones.

"Watch out providers of mobile phones," General Partner of Polaris Venture Partners Alan Spoon, which is a lead investor in Paratek, wrote in a statement today. "Integrating Paratek's technology into mobile phones is a game changer."

Spoon writes that Paratek technology will allow Blackberry users to upload and download large amounts of data … Read more

CTIA moves to block SF cell phone law

San Francisco and the CTIA are at odds yet again now that the wireless association has formally challenged cell phone warning legislation that the city passed earlier this year.

In a statement released Tuesday, John Walls, the CTIA's vice president of public affairs, called San Francisco's actions "both alarmist and false" and disputed any suggestion that the radio frequency (RF) emissions produced by cell phones have detrimental health effects. "The FCC and FDA have repeatedly found that cell phone use does not pose a danger," he said. "The Ordinance recommends such things as … Read more

A cell phone case for reducing cell phone radiation

Outside of the battle between iPhone fans and Android advocates, few debates in the cell phone world are more divisive than that over whether the radio frequency (RF) energy emitted by cell phones is harmful. Though the industry and some members of the scientific community insist that there is no danger, other researchers and a growing number of public officials believe that there is cause for concern. No consensus exists, and as CNET has reported, any agreement or firm evidence may not come for a long time, if it does at all.

In the meantime, some CNET readers will feel more comfortable erring on the side of caution. If you're concerned, you can use a headset, text instead of talk, and limit calls when your carrier signal is low (more RF energy is emitted when a phone is working harder to reach a tower). Yet, since that advice isn't always practical, Pong Research has another solution, with a case that is designed to refocus RF energy, or radiation, away from your head while not reducing signal strength. So in other words, you can use your phone just as you normally would.

If you think that sounds like pseudoscience, I don't blame you. Honestly, I've never taken seriously the cheap radiation "shields" that you can find online. Usually nothing more than tiny stickers, I didn't believe that they did anything, except spread a false peace of mind. Few of the products backed up their claims with solid proof, and, even worse, some can actually interfere with your cell phone's signal. That's why I was pretty skeptical when I first heard of the Pong case. But as it turns out, the company has done its homework. … Read more

On Call: Are you carrying your phone wrong?

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

Next Monday, the Environmental Quality Committee of the California State Senate will hold its first hearing on a bill that would require retailers in the state to inform consumers of the possible health risks of cell phone use. SB 932, which was introduced by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would add notices on product packaging and at the point of sale explaining that phones emit radio frequency (RF) energy. If it passes, it would be the first statewide law of … Read more

Hold your breath to hide from surveillance robot

If you want to creep past this new security bot, you'd better be good at holding your breath.

TiaLinx's new Cougar20-H is a lightweight, remote-controlled surveillance robot that can detect human breathing and scan through concrete walls with its ultra-wideband radio frequency sensor array.

The Cougar20-H moves around on tracks and can roll up to a building, extend its arm, and start scanning through the wall with its RF array, developed with funding from the U.S. Army.

Operated from a laptop that can be more than 300 feet away, the robot can scan through reinforced concrete by detecting reflected radio waves. It can find people who are moving or even keeping still, so the operator can see them in real time. … Read more

Samsung debuts new QX, RF, NF and SF laptops

A year ago, Samsung wasn't much of a player in the laptop space aside from a few Netbooks. This year, however, the equation changed. We've seen Samsung midrange laptops that have offered great value for their components, with designs that seem to be getting progressively better. With the company's newest batch of laptop announcements, that trend seems to be continuing.

The NF and SF series of Netbooks and laptops adopt a similar design, with curved, glossy lines and raised walls around the keyboard deck. The look feels particularly suited to living-room use, as if these laptops were … Read more

Ferrari-red robots greet visitors to Santander Bank

Bored with your bank? Spain's Santander banking group has introduced sexy, autonomous robots to escort visitors around its lavish headquarters outside Madrid.

The sleek crimson droids, dubbed Santander Interactive Guest Assistants (SIGAs), show up once you step into the bank's opulent El Faro Visitors Center, located on a 400-acre financial campus. In the giant glass cube that serves as the entrance hall, a console with a touch-panel screen takes your destination and summons a robot via Wi-Fi. Then you're off, following your wheeled usher as it plays ambient music.

The SIGA robots operate on a multi-agent programming system designed by YDreams, a Portuguese IT company. The firm says the robo-butlers are one of the first applications of swarm robotics, the decentralized control of relatively simple machines, to a commercial setting. … Read more