Spy gadgets pose risk

Police have lamented the proliferation of China-made spy gadgets in exclusive malls in downtown Manila, fearing such devices could get into the wrong hands-including criminals, states Philstar.

These include sophisticated spy gadgets such as camera-equipped sunglasses, cameras as small as a button that can be concealed on a shirt, or even wireless scanning devices which can be plugged into an ordinary electrical socket and capture conversations within the room.

Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut, said he was able to buy the gadgets incognito at some stalls at 168 Mall in Divisoria, which are being sold indiscriminately to anyone.

Best Buy is rolling out a dedicated gadget and e-reader gift section to its stores and Web site, says Twice.

The holiday shopping space will include novelty devices by Sharper Image, children's electronics from Leapfrog, and e-books by Sony and iRex Technologies. The latter, a joint venture with Barnes and Noble, Best Buy and Verizon, will ship at month's end.

The area will be adjacent to, and take floor space from, the centrally located music and movie department - a fading traffic driver that Best Buy plans to supplant with demonstrations of connected technologies.

A Lincolnshire author says digital devices which download books and use electronic ink rather than a computer screen could change the way people read forever, according to The Lincolnshire.

Instead of a paperback to read on the train or the beach, books can now be stored on gadgets called e-readers which can hold up to 250 000 books, newspapers and magazines.

At the forefront of this new way of thinking is Cranwell author James Snee, who writes for Steampulp Publishing's Steampunk Tales, under the name Arkwright. He has begun to be solely published for e-platforms, rather than producing a physical read, and his work can already be downloaded onto the iPhone.