Lab gets personal with five of the latest PDAs
Finding the right personal digital assistant is about as hard as hiring the right human assistant. You might choose a PDA that costs too much or is unqualified for the job you need done.
Look me in the eye--or in the face
Vendors of biometric devices are betting that their face and eye recognition technologies can make a camera lens as efficient as a security guard's watchful eye. Far-fetched? Maybe not.
Fingerprint readers prove reliable at log-in
Biometric vendors are doing their best to supplant password security, but GCN Lab tests indicate they're not quite ready yet. Some developers of biometric products have continued to improve already good products, but others need to go back to the drawing board.
Tiny but also capable: the SyncMaster 151MP
The 7.6-pound Samsung SyncMaster 151MP LCD goes where PC monitors have seldom gone before: on the road. For example, it can serve as a portable TV as well as for high-definition presentations from a disk, when connected to a host's PC.
DiskOnKey turns on USB storage
It's a paradox: Storage devices are getting smaller but holding more.
State Point Plus states the facts'big and little
Westinghouse Electric Co. slams the door on network vulnerabilities with its State Point Plus integrity control suite.
The eMachine is easy on your wallet
The $800 eMachines T4155 desktop client breaks the gigahertz barrier but not the bank.
Which comes first: handheld or phone?
Although Samsung calls the $500 SPH-I300 a 'Palm-powered' smart phone, it's as easy to use as a Palm OS personal digital assistant and a separate wireless phone.
Notebooks stake claim to desktop real estate
The portable PC started out luggable'20 pounds or more'and took more than a decade to shrink to its present 5- to 7 pound weight. Because portables used many of the same components as desktop systems, their portability came at a cost in performance.
The i.Picasso can paint voice over IP
The i.Picasso 6000 IP phone from Congruency Inc. is not quite a technological work of art. Although it functions over an Internet connection, it requires a dedicated network running several applications to support IP service.
Microsoft rolls security bandage for Win 2000
Reacting to criticism of piecemeal patching, Microsoft Corp. has released all its Windows 2000 security fixes after Service Pack 2 in a single, free download for Win 2000 Professional, Server and Advanced Server.
Mouse and USB hub are mini but mighty gear
Travelers soon begin to hate notebook PC mice that require a horizontal surface larger than an airplane seat tray. And most notebooks have only a single Universal Serial Bus port.
PocketBlue walks a beat wirelessly and silently
Aether Systems' PocketBlue application on a wireless personal digital assistant or notebook PC lets law enforcement officers query databases and communicate with each other securely and silently.
Multifunction devices can do it all, except origami
The GCN Lab's call for midsized print/scan/copy devices suitable for government offices drew several impressive machines. Some were small enough for the average desk. Others were the size of a small refrigerator.
2001: an IT odyssey
Each year, the GCN Lab tests quite a few products for the government market. Many live up to their billing, some have significant problems, and a few go beyond expectations.
Who's in charge of wireless LAN defense?
It's easy to connect small computing devices to the agency LAN, or even to set up temporary wireless networks, as long as the portable clients are within about 2,000 feet of an access point.
Backup, storage units have a hold on data
The GCN Lab recently looked at portable backup and storage products for individual users. This review goes a step further, to enterprise storage and backup devices for midsize bureaus or field offices.
XP: Robust and user-friendly
The new Microsoft Windows XP operating system looks and acts differently from its predecessors. Is the relearning effort worthwhile? In a word, yes.
Enterprise firewalls halt network traffic
Keeping your network up and running while safe from attack is the first concern of every administrator.
Crimefighting tool lets users copy an entire hard drive without a trace
Even before the terrorist attacks, the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies were using the Image MASSter Solo 2 Forensic Kit, a three-piece hardware kit for covertly copying a suspect's computer files.
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