Smartphone tracking raises concerns

Marketing and software companies are increasingly using sophisticated technologies for smartphones and other mobile gadgets to track consumers and target ads based on their location, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The new commerce using phone users' location to sell ads is raising privacy concerns among US lawmakers and privacy advocates.

Recent studies have found many of the businesses that use location technology do not clearly inform consumers about the kind of data they track, how it is used or with whom it is shared.

Apple has released a completely redesigned Mac mini, featuring up to twice the graphics performance, a new HDMI port and a new SD card slot, all in an amazingly compact aluminium enclosure, states Gizmodo.

A new integrated power supply eliminates the need for an external power adapter, reducing overall system volume by 20% and keeping cable clutter to a minimum. A removable panel underneath provides quick access for memory expansion.

The updated HDMI output connects Mac mini to an HDTV and the new SD card slot enables easy transfer of photos and videos from a digital camera.

Open source hardware hobbyists now have a chipset to play with that's comparable to the powerful processors found in smartphones such as the Nexus One or HTC Incredible, says Wired.

Texas Instruments has released a new version of its low-power, single-board computer called BeagleBoard-xM. It is based on the same 1-GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor that drives the most sophisticated smartphones.

That gives it far more processing power than the open-source micro-controller platform, Arduino, which many hobbyists currently use to create robots, sensors, toys and other DIY devices.