Over at the Black Hat and Defcon security conferences in Las Vegas, a team of network security contractors has demonstrated a system that can eavesdrop on cellphone conversations and hack WiFi passwords using a remote-controlled airplane. Dubbed “WASP” — or Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform — the system uses a combination of an ultraportable computer running Linux, an HD camera, 11 antennas and software with a 340 million word dictionary for brute-force password cracking.

The system also spoofs a mobile cell site, and it can trick GSM handsets into thinking it’s a valid network. Calls are routed through VoIP and mobile. Once a mobile phone connects through the fake cellsite, conversations can be recorded on a 32GB flash storage. The radio-controlled plane requires human guidance during takeoff and landing, but a predefined flight plan can be programmed, so that the plane will circle the target area while in cruising speed.

But why build a WiFi-hacking and mobile eavesdropping device? The security contractors want to demonstrate that networks and communications equipment — even in government facilities — are vulnerable to hacking. Are there practical applications? This kind of technology could figure in security and intelligence operations both domestically and abroad.

Skin Scan is an iPhone application that retails for $4.99, and if it works as designed, it can detect skin cancers like melanoma by analyzing your skin features. The app will take photos of your moles or skin lesions, and uses a proprietary algorithm to determine whether these are potentially cancerous. This is done by analyzing the fractal-like shapes on skin or the shape of the mole. If these are developing abnormally, then a check with your physician might be in order.

Skin Scan also checks for your location, so that it can display mole photos from across the globe. The startup that developed Skin Scan actually received 50,000 Euro (about $71,400) in funding from Seedmoney, which will help develop the product further. The team includes two dermatologists and two mathematicians, so we do hope that the readings and analyses are accurate.

The Yale researchers have created a Coherent Perfect Absorber (CPA) which is a silicon wafer that traps and dissolves the laser light and dissipates it as heat. This sort of wafer, also known as an optical switch could be used in computers and because of the way they operate they could potentially be used to create much smaller processors than the electron processors of today. Currently the CPA absorbs as much as 99.4 percent of all light it receives but the researchers say they can get that number up to 99.999 percent. They also say they can eventually get the CPA down in size from one centimeter wide to six microns.

While all computers and laptops have a few vents that try and keep the computers cool, a cooler device will cooperate with the vent and fan that is already there to keep the computer running even better and giving off even less heat. Or course one kind of cooler that seems sort of counter intuitive is a cooler that actually includes water. The PC Waterbed Laptop Cooler actually is basically a tiny waterbed that your laptop can sit on and it will keep your laptop plenty cool. Like most waterbeds, the cooler’s main plastic covering is a strong plastic that isn’t as easy to puncture as you might think.

Still, there are those who are bound to be a bit nervous when combining water and electronics which may be why the PC waterbed is relatively cheap at $24 apiece.

[Geeky Gadgets]

The Qualcomm sonic pen has a battery powered transceiver that allows the microphones on the tablet; laptop or Smartphone can actually pick up vibrations from the movement of the pen from as far away as 30 centimeters. The included Epos software then converts the picked up vibrations and turns them into digital text. This text then gets shown up on any sort of text application that is included with the mobile device that is hooked up to the sonic pen.

When exactly this particular sonic pen is going to actually go on the market and what the price will be is still unknown but Qualcomm should have it on store shelves relatively soon.

[Geeky Gadgets]

The Gun O’ Clock offers the solution to throwing your alarm clock across the room (and thus probably destroying it) by attaching a target to the top of clock. The target springs into position when your alarm goes off, and you have you shoot it down with the provided pistol before the alarm will shut off. How many times you have to shoot the bulls eye depends on what setting you’ve chosen – normal mode only requires one hit, while hard mode requires five.

There’s also a challenge mode that doesn’t include an alarm and just tallies how many hits you can rack up, in case feel the need to shoot at your clock more than once per day.

[Source: Geeky Gadgets]

The Mine 2 is basically a cube that has a powerful fan wedged in between two heat sinks. In addition, if the one fan isn’t doing enough cooling for you, two additional fans can be mounted on the top of the heat sinks. There is also a control that will allow you to control the speed and power of the middle fan and a universal attachment cable that makes it easier to attach the Mine 2 to most CPU sockets.

Unfortunately for those dying to get their hands on Scythe’s newest device, when these will actually ship and for how much is still unknown.

[Geeky Gadgets]

With the Handyscope, you simply attach the device to your iPhone and download the app and you have a doctor’s office grade device right in your hot little hands. With this device magnification can even be up to 20x, which is enough for the trained eye to see that there might be something wrong with the skin they are looking at. Of course the best part is that once you have attached the device and magnified the skin you can actually take a picture, meaning that you can take proof to your doctor that something may be wrong.

[Geeky Gadgets]

With Quarks’ new paint, the entire wall acts as an on and off switch meaning that you no longer need to put a lamp close enough for you to reach over and turn off. The On/Off Paint will record a single touch and carry an electric current that will turn a device on or off. The best part of the paint is that it does not take a great deal of wiring in order to make it work, simply determine the area you want to paint and as long as it is around a plug you’ll be able to touch any part of that area.

While this isn’t currently available in the United States, if the company knows what’s good for it, the On/Off Switch Paint will be here soon.

The Desk Pets Tankbot will reportedly able to be controlled using your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone and perhaps even better is this little contraption won’t cost an arm and a leg. The company says that you will be able to control your little Tankbot with the iOS device while spending less than $20 to get it.

The Tankbot will be able to be controlled using gestures thanks to a built in IR sensor. The toy will also be able to roam around its maze on its own and can even be set to a free roaming mode.

Between 1945 to 1963, hundreds of atmospheric tests were conducted, in relation to atomic bombs and similar technology. In all of these tests, the government had employed photographic and video equipment to record the tests. These images, which have recently been declassified, are now part of the How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb application for the iPad.

The application is based on the similarly-titled book by author Peter Kuran, and features high-res videos and photos that detail each moment of an atomic bomb’s detonation. It’s probably not for the faint-hearted, but if you’re interested in the science (and politics) behind nuclear bombs, then the $9.99 cost of the app would be worth it.

Certainly they aren’t going to want to buy the eBook version of a book they already own. Now the Ion Booksaver can help turn all you paper books into eBooks. The Ion will scan the book and turn it into a PDF file that most eBook readers can recognize with very little effort.

Of course there are a couple of drawbacks with the Ion Booksaver. The first one is that while the device will flatten the pages of the book to better scan them, you still have to turn every page and scan it. There is also the matter of the price tag. The Ion Booksaver costs $190.

Mattel has announced that in August there will be a sequel to this incredible little contraption when the Mindflex Duel is released. The Duel will actually allow you to play tug of war with a little foam ball against one of your friends. Apparently using this little device you will actually be able to tell which of your friends actually has a greater force of will.

Of course you won’t be able to do that for several more months as the Mattel Mindflex Duel isn’t going to be released until late in the summer for some reason. You can however preorder the device on Amazon.com for $99.

Now Sega has brought the video game to the Water Closet with their new Toylet video games. There are currently four different Toylet games that incorporate a screen mounted on the wall and pressure sensors placed inside the bowl. In order to play the games, you must hit the sensors with your stream.

Choosing between the four games can be quite a tough choice. Mannequin Pis calculates exactly how much urine you discharged, while Graffiti Eraser makes you try and pee as forcefully as possible as you attempt to erase digital graffiti from a virtual wall. Milk from Nose actually has you compare your stream force with whoever used the urinal before you. The North Wind and Her is the most racy of the four as your urine represents the wind and you attempt to forcefully blow a skirt up around a woman’s waist.

The cost and when exactly these Toylets will be available to the general public has not yet been released.

Now Aiken Labs has come up with a Modular motion sensing game kit that allows gamers to stick their devices on anything they can think of and put those objects into the game. Aiken has put out tiny boxes that come with a full inertial measurement package that routs all their readings back to a base unit that also acts as a charging unit for the different devices.

The system can actually use up to eight different units to give the player 24 degrees of motion tracking freedom. Right now the sets are being sold for $300 apiece and this includes two motion tracking units and the base station. Additional tracking units would sell for $100 per box.

This little bot is actually an automatic masseuse that is small enough that it will fit in the palm of your hand. The device actually moves around your body using the same kind of technology that something like the Roomba would use. There are sensors in the devices “legs” that tell it when it is running out of real estate and it will then reverse course. So how good is the massage? Of course being small and not being held down by anything, it can’t generate that much force but it can be a nice little pick me up on a long stressful day.

With the partnership, GM will have an entire year of exclusivity in order to put Powermat devices inside their vehicles. With the Powermats fitting in the middle of the car like a compartment that holds devices like your cell phone or iPod, these Powermats will both hold them and charge them.

GM has said that these consoles will also be put in the back of their cars for those passengers. The company says that the first cars to have these will be the Volt but they plan to use them across the fleet of their vehicles. They are not expected to be incorporated until at least 2012.

This particular wristwatch can basically be set so that when that alarm goes off at some ungodly early hour in the morning you can still sleep through it while your mate will still spring out of bed thanks to the vibrating alarm feature. If your mate is a light sleeper they can just have the watch vibrating on the bedside table and it still won’t be startling you out of sleep. If they are a slightly deeper sleeper they can actually wear the watch while they sleep with the guarantee that if their arm starts vibrating they are probably going to wake up.

Of course if you are looking for a product like this, you can probably find one cheaper than Analarm version which currently costs a whopping $450.

There may not be any job that people want to do less than wash the floor of their bathroom and now the new Scooba 230 is built to take care of that nasty job for you. At just 3.5 inches tall and with a diameter of just 6.5 inches the Scooba 230 is small enough that it can cover all the little corners and patches that some of the automated floor cleaners couldn’t possibly cover.

The devices sensors monitor the floor 64 times a second and the cleaning system is built to knock out 97 percent of all household bacteria. While a price has not been announced the device is set to debut at CES.

What makes Mint different is the North Star Navigation Cube that basically acts as a tiny, earth based GPS satellite. This cube makes a digital picture of whatever room Mint is currently working in and even keeps track of what part of the room the Mint robot has yet to clean.

It should be pointed out that this little device isn’t perfect, even if you think the $250 price tag means it should be. The Mint isn’t designed for carpeted floors (in fact it should avoid them at all costs) but it is great for granite or hardwood if you want a polish and a pickup. There is both a dry and a wet mode, though in wet mode you will need to monitor it closely as its cleaning cloth will dry out in about 10 minutes time.

The first version of the Ford MyKey would actually allow parents to set the top speeds which children could drive the car. There are several different speeds that can be set and a chime sounds every time a speed limit is hit. Now the advances in the MyKey will make it so that specific channels on an included Sirius radio will be made unavailable if parents decide that the content is far too adult or explicit for them to listen to.

These new additions will first be launched on the new Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer. Officials at Ford say that in the end the point of MyKey is actually to let parents feel more comfortable giving the keys to the car because of the limits that can be put in place.

The X-Ray camera 1,500 pound camera was built by researchers who wanted to learn more about these lightning strikes. Of course it is awful hard to predict where lightning will actually strike and because of this the researchers fired rockets into thunderstorms that were laced with metal lines geared towards drawing the electricity to the certain desired point.

While all this technology seems quite impressive the camera itself is extremely low resolution. With lightning moving as fast as it does it is pretty hard to take a high resolution shot even at 10 million frames per second. Still the photograph does show a pretty detailed look at a lightning bolt looks like when it strikes.

These same researchers say that holographic calling using mobile phones will be something that every carrier features by 2015. In addition to that nifty little feature, IBM also says that technological advances in battery power will allow kinetic energy (movement) to power cell phones by the same year. Cell phone technology is hardly the only big time advances that the research arm of one of the bigger computer companies in the world is predicting. IBM also says that within the next five years there will be improvements to computer technology to the point that certain software will not only be able to tell you where traffic jams have materialized but actually predict said jams allowing you to avoid them before they become reality.

Last year IBM invested $5.8 billion or 6.1 percent of its total revenue in their research and development arm.

Given that most families have relatives or kin living in faraway places, sometimes the only option for being together during the holidays would be going online for a video-chat. However, an Amsterdam company goes the extra mile, by building robots with screens displaying your correspondent instead of heads.

This way, you can have a virtual dinner with pals abroad via Skype, and they can even send visual cues that act as commands to their avatar. The custom built mechanical dolls will then do corresponding head or hand movements.

I’d rather fly or drive several hours to meet loved ones, but if virtual meet-ups are your thing, you can go ahead and book your 15 minutes with friends and family across the globe.

Since Skype has been having troubles lately, though, you might want to book your virtual dinner a bit later after the holidays, to ensure you have service by that time.

Censorship can also be done for fun, of course, and this is just what the Unnecessary Censorship application for the iOS does. For $1.99, you can add black boxes, blurs and bleeps to items in your iPhone’s Camera Roll folder.

With Unnecessary Censorship, you can make images look more interesting with a few blurred or blacked-out boxes. Snap photos of your friends and blur out their faces or hands. Or record videos and make your friends sound like potty-mouths.

I can see some serious uses for this iOS app. For example, you want to share funny photos or videos, but want to keep the idenitity of kids or other folks private. Blurring them out is just the thing. Or, if you’re taking a photo of a vehicle for posting online, it’s usually the appropriate thing to blur out the license plate.

The chip was developed in Australia by biomedical, electrical, and mechanical engineers and is designed to be inserted into the body along with a biocompatible device. The devices are sewn into a 1.22mm-wide polymer yarn combined with electronic wires. These wires are then sewn into the human spine without causing any damage to the spinal column. The device is then hooked up to a device containing a tiny battery and a computer processor so that the chip can be monitored and its output adjusted should it be needed. The battery can helpfully, be charged wirelessly.

The Pionen datacenter being used by WikiLeaks in Stockholm, Sweden, is an underground facility that was formerly used as a nuclear bomb shelter. The storage facility, where WikiLeaks files are being kept, employs high-security measures and even U-boat engines as emergency power sources.

The facility also has a floating conference room, suspended glass corridors, and flooring that resembles a lunar landscape.

The former bunker was reopened in 2008 as a datacenter, after a redesign by futuristic Swedish architects Albert France-Lanord. And yes, they were inspired by Bond villains of the past, likely to be Moonraker’s Hugo Drax (from Bond #11 in 1979).

Interestingly, WikiLeaks entire document cache is said to be able to fit into a high-capacity USB drive. So we wonder if storing it in such a high-tech facility is actually worth something functional, or is all for show. Hey, if you’re going against governments and banking institutions, maybe you want to appear villainous, indeed. What can best exemplify this than having an evil lair of your own?

Science fiction is often closer to science-fact than you think. The US Navy has recently done tests on the biggest, baddest railgun so far, in which a seven-pound projectile was shot to hit a target hundreds of miles away with striking accuracy.

The projectile is propelled not by conventional explosives, nor with a rocket, but rather through electromagnetism.

Accelerating to a Mach 7 speed, the projectile can hit targets 200 miles away (or more) in just a few minutes. The most recent experiment reached an energy level of 33 megajoules, which translates to 33 cars hitting the target at 100 miles per hour.

Surely, you can do some major damage to a gigantic Decepticon with such an awesome weapon. The US Navy plans to deploy railguns on all ships by 2025.

The Cobra iRadar works in conjunction with your iPhone to operate as a high tech radar detector that gives far more data than your average device. The $169.95 accessory connects to the iPhone through Bluetooth technology and when you also download the totally free iPhone app you have a system that should allow you to head on down the highway free from worry about speeding tickets.

The Cobra iRadar is actually much more than just a radar detector as it can also alert you to red light cameras, laser detection and can even keep a record of where it has detected speed traps in order to alert you to “dangerous” areas as far as getting caught for breaking traffic laws is concerned.

The phonekerchief is made from material that blocks out radio signals, which means your beloved iPhone, Droid X or just about any mobile phone won’t get any signal when wrapped in this handkerchief-like cloth. The material is made of nylon and silver woven together for best signal-blocking capabilities.

You can even personalize the phonekerchief with a name or message. For $15, you can enjoy unlimited privacy as long as your phone is wrapped in the cloth.

Sure, you can just turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode. But why do it for free when you can spend 15 bucks and make a statement of it at the same time?

Just don’t forget it’s the phonekerchief you have in your pocket. We can’t guarantee it to be sneeze-proof.

While using Google Maps or asking your Twitter friends might be good ways to find the nearest 7-Eleven, a dedicated app just does it better. 7-Eleven has announced a free Android application that helps you find the nearest store. The app gives you the directions. Driving? Walking? Taking public transportation? Just say it, and the app will get you a much-needed Slurpee fix in no time.

Even better, you can find information on the flavors that they have at your nearest 7-Eleven. And if you’re a Slurpee Nation member, you can use the app to enter reward points and purchase items like downloadable products.

The tobacco mosaic virus affects different species of plants, notably tobacco plants, but also other varieties like tomatoes and other fruits. However, it can be incorporated into Lithium-based technologies to extend battery life ten-fold.

The tobacco mosaic’s rod-like cells act as micro-conductors and bind to electrodes in Lithium battery material. What’s great is that they are self-replicating, self-assembling and self-binding because they are living cells. The nano-rods can automatically increase the surface area of the battery, which, in turn, increases its energy density.

This translates into various practical applications. First, existing battery designs can get 10 times as much charge. Imagine using your MacBook Air for three days straight instead of just seven hours. Or, it can stay in standby for 10 months. Or, a Kindle ebook reader might only need a recharge every year.

Or, this technology can also mean miniaturization of batteries. This can mean smaller and thinner devices like mobile phones and tablets, and also better power options for devices like hearing aids and pacemakers.

Limited test Blockbuster kiosks are starting to offer new release movies 28 days earlier than other kiosks like Redbox in hopes that people will be willing to pay a little bit more for newer flicks. Movies like Inception were released to the Blockbuster Kiosks the same day that it was released in stores and instead of the usual $1.99 it will cost an extra $1.00 per day. “Knight and Day”, another movie that was released in stores recently was released to the test kiosks a few weeks earlier than normal.

These new tests kiosks are part of an ad campaign called “Less waiting, more watching.”

Researchers at UCLA have unveiled what they are calling an electronic neural bridge which not only has restored movement to the paralyzed rear legs of a mouse, but the mouse can actually control the legs. Using Electromyography sensors, the device detects when the front legs start to move and sends signals to the device that makes the back legs walk in unison. So far the device and the “cure” has only been tested with a mouse on a treadmill and there still seems to practical problems with moving the technology over to human beings, since they only have the one pair of legs, but even the slightest research advances could lead to big breakthroughs later.

While the law that mandates this is drawing quite a bit of attention this week, it was actually encapsulated in George W. Bush’s 2007 Transportation Safety Act. That act slowly incorporates the new addition with just 10 percent of new cars manufactured needing the camera by 2012. In 2013, the number of cars that must be produced by each manufacturer jumps to 40 percent and in 2014 every car manufactured needs to have the back-up camera. Studies show that these cameras can save just over 300 lives and avoid somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000 car accident related injuries each year. What exactly this will do to prices of cars in the long run has yet to be seen.

That’s not to say that the average family is going to be able to pony up the $4,999 it will cost for this new movie server but it is about half as expansive as the last Kaleidescape movie server.

This particular iteration can just over 225 DVD movies or a whopping 2,500 CDs. The Cinema Now device also comes with some kid friendly features including a kid friendly remote that comes along with the standard one. This particular remote will only allow kids to access the movies that have been approved for watching for the younger set.

Various companies have sought ways to work around this limitation. Some use tactile overlays that help feel for the on-screen keyboard. Some technologies use voice prompts that identify the item that one’s finger is hovering on. New technologies being built by big laboratories will involve actual feedback from the screen in the form of vibrations or movement, which can help both visually-impaired and those who can see normally.

Most of these applications currently cost several hundred dollars, though, sometimes reaching a big percent of how much you expect to spend on the smartphone itself. Still, some accessibility features are as simple as enhancing contrast or voice-overs, which are normally included as standard smartphone features

Meanwhile, some applications don’t just focus on the interface, but with how smartphones can help visually-impaired individuals navigate and do other things. For example, some applications can help describe landmarks when you shake your phone. Some applications can help describe items that the smartphone’s camera “sees.”

With the fast pace at which touch interfaces are developed, it’s only fair that we also consider accessibility when designing user interfaces. These developments go both ways. Whatever is developed for those with disabilities will also come in useful to the rest of us, one way or another. Tactile touchscreens can help improve screen feedback. Landmark identification can help with navigation, for instance.

The groundbreaking took place at Changsha, which is located in the central Hunan province. The complex will house the Tianhe-1A, which was named the world’s fastest computer with a speed that can top 2.5 petaflops. A designer who has managed to get a look at the designs of the futuristic building said that China is certainly looking for style over substance with the latest drawings, noting that one building, which is circular won’t be able to be very efficient when it comes to space and storage.

The complex is set to be finished sometime between 2016 and 2020 according to Chinese officials.

Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International has said that they have had to revise their estimates for production over the course of this year thanks to high demand when it comes to several new electronic devices. Of course when Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International (SEMI) made their predictions the firm was still looking at a pretty rosy forecast. SEMI had already predicted that chip sales would exceed $32 billion this year which is more than double what it was in 2009.

A great deal of the new chip sales has to do with products like the iPad becoming exceedingly popular as well as devices like 3D TV and 3D Blu-Ray players that need a great deal of new chips in order to operate. After making their initial prediction in July, SEMI now says chip sales will exceed $37.5 billion.

Robotis laboratories, as well as a top researcher from Virginia Tech University has put together this newest robot is running on an open source OS that a user can download and install themselves. Because of this open source programming the newest DARwIn robot is set to cost about half of the Nao robot that is currently on the market. Robotis will sell the robot along for about $8,000 and then the CAD files are publicly available, costing nothing.

The DARwIn Bot is set to be fully unveiled when it makes its appearance at the IEEE-RAS International Conference set to open in just a couple of weeks. Just how well the robot runs on the open source programming will be truly revealed then.