The Israeli army on Friday unveiled a new crowd-dispersal device emitting painful bursts of sound at a special frequency to help break up a violent Palestinian demonstration, military officials and witnesses said.

Israeli military officials confirmed soldiers used a new “nonlethal” tactic in the West Bank village of Bilin, where hundreds of demonstrators rallied against Israel’s separation barrier.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army regulations, said the weapon uses special frequencies to disperse crowds. No further details were immediately available.

Source: AP

The company that makes the Skype software for letting Internet users call one another for free anywhere in the world is launching two premium services as the number of downloads topped 100 million on Friday.

SkypeIn and Skype Voicemail are built into the latest version of the software, available for the
Linux, Mac OS, Pocket PC and Windows platforms, Skype Technologies SA said Friday.

With SkypeIn, users get regular phone numbers and can receive calls from landline or mobile phones without having to pay roaming charges. Users can purchase up to three numbers from their home country in Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States during the initial test period.

Skype Voicemail lets users receive a voicemail message up to 10 minutes long from any user or traditional phone.

Source: AP

In a sure sign that the era of mobile computing has arrived, notebooks have for the first time outsold desktops in the United States in a calendar month, the research firm Current Analysis says.

After tracking sales from a sampling of electronics retailers, Current Analysis says notebook sales accounted for 53 percent of the total personal computer market last month, up from 46 percent during the same period last year.

Notebook prices fell 17 percent during the past year while desktop prices dipped only 4 percent. Some of the features common in most notebooks are longer-lasting batteries, CD burners and wireless capability.

Source: AP

Before upgrading to 64 bit operating system such as Windows XP Pro 64 bit, you need to find out whether your hardware has all the necessary drivers to operate with the 64-bit operating system.

Lucky for us AMD has put together a pretty good webpage that details driver availability of hardware drivers for 64 bit operating systems (Windows and Linux) by manufacturer.

Apple Computer Inc. launched a recycling program Friday for its popular iPod, encouraging owners to bring their digital music players to Apple retail stores for free, environmentally friendly disposal.

The company has been under siege from environmentalists, who say the company hasn’t done enough to promote recycling of its products, which often end up in landfills in the United States and in developing countries.

People who bring their iPods to one of about 100 stores nationwide will also receive a 10 percent discount toward the purchase of a new iPod. The discount is only good the day people drop off their older iPod, iPod mini or iPod photo.

Source: AP