US waltzes to Matilda in Afghanistan

The US military`s latest weapon to hunt down Taliban fugitives in Afghanistan`s mountain caves is a robot named Matilda, reports Reuters. Matilda is equipped with a video camera and special sensors to check air quality and for toxic gases. The robot will be used to search for booby traps in buildings and go ahead of soldiers in the equally dangerous work of searching caves and tunnels. Matilda costs $38 000 and is expected to be put into service soon.

Palm has joined the ranks of manufacturers offering converged data and voice devices with the launch of its Tungsten W GSM/GPRS-enabled wireless handheld device, reports WirelessNewsFactor.com. The Tungsten W provides users with a combination of wireless e-mail, text messaging, Web browsing, phone functionality and business applications. It uses the Palm OS 4.1.1 and features several productivity, communication and entertainment applications. Palm says the battery of the voice-enabled Tungsten W is strong enough to last 10 hours.

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