India’s government is currently in the process of testing a solution that will allow it to spy on BlackBerry users sending and receiving data over India’s cellular airwaves. The country’s Telecom Secretary has confirmed that India’s Department of Telecommunications is testing the solution, which will allow government officials to monitor several services tied to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones. The new solution being tested is part of India’s demands to gain access to messages sent by its citizens, and the government has threatened to ban BlackBerry devices if it is not granted access to users’ data. RIM has cooperated with some of India’s demands in the past, having provided it with the means to see messages sent via BlackBerry Messenger and to monitor web browsing, but the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor has insisted on multiple occasions that it does not possess the capability to monitor encrypted emails sent and received via its corporate BES service. India’s Telecom Secretary would not specify which BlackBerry services this new monitoring solution addresses.

BGR has provided extensive coverage of an ongoing saga that has seen numerous digital properties belonging to Sony fall under attack. To date, personal information belonging to well over 100 million Sony customers has been compromised, and nearly 13 million credit card numbers have been stolen. For IT professionals or other tech enthusiasts with weak stomachs, we can understand if reading one story after another about Sony’s security woes might make you a bit queasy. As such, a new site launched recently that has you covered. Hassonybeenhackedthisweek.com answers a single question for those who simply want to cut to the chase: Has Sony been hacked this week? The answer right now, by the way, is “yes.”

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India’s government reiterated its stance on Research In Motion and other companies providing officials with access to to monitor encrypted data. “It’s not a question of their giving access. Under law, they have to give access, everybody has to give access,” federal Home Secretary Gopal K. Pillai told reporters on Tuesday. “Whoever gives access will be allowed to operate. Whoever does not give access will not be allowed to operate.” The Indian government notified several companies last year that they would have to provide access to emails and other data in order to comply with regulations and remain operational in the country. Following the ultimatum, the spotlight turned to RIM, a company known for providing secure and encrypted mobile services to its global subscriber base. RIM would later state publicly that it does not have the capability to give the Indian government, or anyone else, access to emails sent and received using its corporate email solution. Unless RIM can come up with a solution that falls within the guidelines set forth by applicable laws, India appears ready to pull the plug on BlackBerry smartphones.

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Research In Motion confirmed on Thursday that it will not give the Indian government access to email sent to and from BlackBerry smartphones in its country. The refusal to comply with India’s request is less a moral stance and more an issue of technology, according to RIM. “There is no possibility of us providing any kind of a solution,” RIM VP Robert Crow said to reporters. “There is no solution. There are no keys to be handed.” India demanded access to email and all other BlackBerry services last year as part of larger efforts to monitor security threats within the country. RIM gave the Indian government access to its BlackBerry Messenger service earlier this month, but complex email encryption will apparently not allow the company to provide similar access to its email services.

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Along with updated iMacs and Mac Pros — not to mention a new Magic Trackpad — Apple announced that it will be updating its Cinema Display to a full 27-inches (the current model is 24-inches). The new screen is LED powered and boasts a built-in iSight camera, microphone, speakers, USB 2.0 hub, and MagSafe connector for Apple laptops. The screens resolution will be 2560 x 1440 and (obviously) in the 16:9 aspect ratio. The display meets Energy Star 5.0 specifications, will be priced at $999, and will be available in “September.” We’ve got the full press release after the bounce.

Apple Unveils New 27-inch LED Cinema Display

CUPERTINO, California-July 27, 2010-Apple® today unveiled a new 27-inch LED Cinema Display with stunning 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60 percent more screen real estate than the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. Featuring a built-in iSight® video camera, microphone and speakers, powered USB 2.0 hub, and universal MagSafe® connector, the new LED Cinema Display is an ideal companion for the MacBook® family or a Mac® desktop, and is available for $999.

“With built-in MagSafe charging, iSight camera, speakers, and USB ports, the LED Cinema Display is ideal for MacBook and MacBook Pro users,”said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With its massive 2560 x 1440 resolution, the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display is a perfect fit with our powerful new Mac Pro, and it gives iMac users an easy way to double their screen real estate.”

The new, larger 27-inch LED Cinema Display features a beautiful 16:9 edge-to-edge glass display on an aluminum stand with an adjustable hinge that makes tilting the display almost effortless. The LED Cinema Display has vivid colors and exceptionally high contrast and uses a premium display technology called in-plane switching (IPS) to provide a brilliant image across an ultra wide 178 degree viewing angle.

Designed as a companion for any Mac notebook or desktop, the 27-inch display includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, an integrated MagSafe charger to keep Mac notebooks charged, built-in Mini DisplayPort connectivity for video and audio input and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub so customers can charge their iPhone® or iPod® even when they take their MacBook with them.

The new LED Cinema Display now includes a new ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts the display brightness based on external lighting conditions and uses only as much energy as necessary to provide an optimum viewing experience. Made with mercury-free LED technology, arsenic-free glass and highly recyclable materials, the LED Cinema Display meets stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status.* The new display contains no brominated flame retardants and all cables and components are PVC-free.

Pricing & Availability
The new LED Cinema Display will be available in September through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US). The LED Cinema Display requires a Mac with Mini DisplayPort.

*EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the 23 required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

Sling is coming to Vegas with four new placeshifting media devices that will allow you to sling your HD content around your house, control your Sling media with the touch of a finger and, in typical slingbox fashion, access your content on portable media devices while on the go. The four products include the following:

• Slingbox 700U – a traditional Slingbox that will connect to an internet-connected set top box via USB
• Sling Monitor 150 – a remote monitor which displays HD streaming media from an in-network Slingbox
• Sling Receiver 300 – a companion device which will stream HD media from an in-network slingbox to a remote TV
• Sling Touch 100 – a touch-enabled remote control with a UI based upon the SlingGuide electronic program guide and the ability to control SlingGuide-enabled DVRs and most line of sight controlled AV equipment

All four devices are targeted for television service providers so they may attract new customers and are not for general consumption. We know, we know. Hit the jump for the full press release and press photos of each device.Sling Media Unveils Suite of New OEM Products at CES 2010

Innovative new placeshifting products improve time to market, simplify installation for television service providers

Las Vegas, Nev., USA – Jan. 6, 2010 – SlingMedia, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), today unveiled four products as part of an expanded strategy targeted at television service providers and consumer electronics manufacturers. Leveraging the award-winning technology in its core Slingbox® product, Sling Media has created elegant, easy-to-install new products that deliver video placeshifting, allowing anyone to enjoy their video around their home or around the world.

New Sling Media OEM Products Unveiled at CES 2010:

* Slingbox 700U
* Sling Receiver 300
* Sling Monitor 150
* Sling Touch Control 100

“For the past 12 months, we have been fine tuning an all new product lineup. We believe manufacturers and TV service providers realize that building Sling Media products and services into their offerings is the best way to acquire new customers and delight their current ones,” said John M. Paul, executive vice president of Products at Sling Media. “We are open for OEM business and excited to work with any television service provider or CE manufacturer to integrate our products and technology to bring placeshifting to the mainstream.”

About the Slingbox 700U

The Slingbox 700U is the fastest way of adding award-winning Slingbox capabilities to an existing Internet-connected set-top-box with a USB port such as the EchoStar 722K. Using a simple connection, an existing HD set-top box can be quickly SlingLoaded™, giving viewers the ability to watch HDTV via the web-based SlingPlayer anywhere in the world on a PC, Macintosh or smart mobile device.

About the Sling Receiver 300

The Sling Receiver 300 is a companion to a SlingLoaded™ set-top box such as the EchoStar SlingLoaded 922 HD DVR that can deliver an HD DVR’s full HD video stream to any other television in the home using a home network, eliminating the need to run cables or purchase a second HD DVR.

About the Sling Monitor 150

The Sling Monitor 150 is a light-weight, portable flat screen display that wirelessly takes a viewer’s primary HD DVR video experience to any location in the home, eliminating the need to run cables or purchase a second DVR. Now viewers can watch HD programming in places they may not have installed a second TV like the kitchen, office or workshop.

About the Sling Touch Control 100

The Sling Touch Control 100 is a next-generation, touch-screen remote control with an interface based on SlingMedia’s popular SlingGuide™ electronic program guide. It interacts with and controls SlingGuide-enabled DVRs as well as most line-of-sight controlled audio-visual devices.

SlingMedia will be demonstrating these new technologies in Booth 9021 at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. we’ll let you know what we think of them.

Recently at the NVISION2008 conference, ViewSonic unveiled a 22 inch 120Hz monitor targeted at gaming and digital entertainment. The prototype monitor promises blur-free performance and a 3D viewing experience for games, motion video, and computer animation. It boasts a 1680×1050 resolution (whaaa? No 1080p?, 3ms gray-to-gray response time, 300 nits of high brightness and a 1000:1 contrast ratio.  According to the press release, “When coupled with NVIDIA’s GeForce Stereoscopic 3D technology, the ViewSonic 120Hz display provides game enthusiasts with realistic depth, intense motion, rich graphics and detailed images that literally leap off the screen. ” So BGR readers, weigh in. Is this revolutionary or is it just hype? We doubt you could beat our 55″ Sony XBR8 in terms of gaming… Oh wait, we weren’t supposed to say we had one.

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Well what do we have here? A few upcoming Eee PCs were recently uncovered as images made the rounds earlier this week but here we have something completely new from Asus. So what is it exactly? To be completely honest, we’re not really sure. The unit is reportedly called the Eee Monitor and it had been discussed briefly at Computex earlier this year but the Taiwanese computer company made sure to sit on many key details. Well say hello to our little friend. Several shots of the Eee Monitor are now swimming around the internet and it looks like a gem. As was the case before, details are still a bit scarce but a quick look at the display, the logo in the bottom right corner on the face of the unit and the ports on the back of the unit lead to some pretty probable speculation. How about a self-contained PC with built in Denon audio hardware, a 19″ display and a rumored integrated TV tuner? We’ll take two, thanks. Word on the street is that there will be a 19″ and 21″ model and the price point will start at… Ready? $500.

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