Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s downright frightening that we’ve become numb to this news, but here again we’re faced with another report of e-passports being hacked within minutes. The University of Amsterdam’s Jeroen van Beek was reportedly able to clone and manipulate a pair of British passports in about the time it takes you to sip down your first cup of joe in the morning, and worse still, they were accepted as genuine by the software “recommended for use at international airports.” The tests point out a number of vulnerabilities, including the fact that the microchips could be susceptible to having falsified biometrics inserted for use. As expected, talking heads at the Home Office still insist that any chip manipulation would be immediately recognized by the electronic readers, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide who’s telling the truth here.

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Filed under: Displays

It’s been a tick since we’ve heard anything noteworthy on the e-passport front (that’s probably a good thing, truth be told), but Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei are out to break the silence. The two have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a “slim and bendable” OLED color display within a “polycarbonate data page.” Predictably, the aforementioned display can be used to “provide a raft of information including a video of the document holder.” It’s also noted that the units will be heat-resistant, enabling officials to laminate the cards and make them less susceptible to manipulation. Information about a potential release date wasn’t divulged, but it sure sounds like this stuff is dangerously close to being ready for use.

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Filed under: Storage

Face it, that 80GB HDD your laptop entered the world with isn’t cutting it anymore, and just any add-on won’t do. No, you’ve gotta do it up right with a newfangled 320GB 2.5-inch portable drive, and Western Digital’s got just the thing with the newest member of its Passport lineup. The drive weighs less than 5 ounces, runs on the latest and greatest platters, and will set you back $230.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Wireless

Considering just how well the first round of RFID ePassports withstood subversion attempts from hackers, we’re amazed that anything needs to be tweaked at all. Sarcasm aside, NXP is all set to make Germany the first country on the planet to utilize second-generation ePassports, as the EU-set deadline to migrate doesn’t pass until June of 2009. The new passports will include a SmartMX chip that allows biometric data to be “securely stored on the passport,” and the 80kb of onboard storage also holds the individual’s photo, name, and date / country of birth. Of note, NXP even goes so far as to gloat about the chip’s ability to “guard against attack scenarios,” but we’ll be interested to see how long it takes the oh-so-motivated hacking community to find a backdoor when these launch later this month.

[Via TheRegister]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Storage

Just weeks after Western Digital colorized its Passport line of external hard drives, the firm is at it once more with a metallic pink iteration. This particular unit, however, promotes something a bit more important than your obsession with nightly backups, as WD has pledged to donate an undisclosed amount of cash to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for each one purchased from now until February 29, 2008. The drive comes stocked with 250GB of space, gets its juice directly from your USB port and is available now for $199.99 for those interested.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Storage

While we’re sure some folks were just fine with WD’s glossy black 250GB Passport, the firm is looking out for those who like their external drives a bit more flashy. Western Digital is now offering up its quarter-terabyte Passport in vibrant green, glossy white and metallic red, but aside from the hues, everything else looks to be staying the same. No official word on price just yet, but it should line up pretty evenly with the black iteration already out.

[Via CNET]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!