Live from court
Prisoners are unlikely to escape on their way to preliminary court hearings, when these are conducted over new video links between prisons and 30 crown courts. These include the Old Bailey in London, where video links went live this week. The £2.3m programme has been piloted in Manchester's crown court, where it has saved money on transporting defendants and on court delays caused by traffic jams. It has already been implemented in 156 magistrates' courts. The system includes a facility for defendants to confer secretly with their legal representatives. It also allows witnesses to give evidence remotely, when there is a risk of intimidation.
Health on the cards
Europeans should get easier access to state health care across the EU, with a health insurance smart card. Six countries will issue 167m smart cards by 2010, replacing existing health entitlement cards. France and Germany will provide smart cards to all citizens from 2006. Countries without card schemes, including the UK, will introduce cards to replace the voluntary E111 form for healthcare abroad. The scheme will allow efficient cost-reclamation from a traveller's home nation, according to Noël Nader, a consultant speaking at last week's ID Smart conference in London. The cards will be piloted in Athens, during next summer's Olympic Games.
Hands free PDA
Toshiba Europe has launched the Pocket PC e800 handheld computer, aimed at corporate users. It offers Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless connectivity, voice over IP (VoIP) phone capabilities, and the audio playback of text documents. It can be controlled using voice commands for hands-free operation. The e800 PDA has a 4in screen to provide a larger viewing area, and supports VGA graphics to drive an external monitor. An optional USB port accessory allows users to connect a full-size PC keyboard. The "value based" Pocket PC e400 offers many of the same features (but not VoIP) in a cheaper package with a 3.5in screen.
Nuke box
An Exeter University student has pleaded guilty to hacking into a US nuclear weapons laboratory's IT system. A hearing at Bow Street magistrates court was told that first-year undergraduate Joseph James McElroy, 18, gained access to 17 computer systems at the Fermi National Accelerator laboratory. Although no data appears to have been compromised, a large quantity of digitised movies and music files were downloaded to Fermi's storage systems. McElroy claims he thought Fermi was a university and admitted he belonged to a group that regularly hacks into university systems to store and distribute files. The case has been adjourned pending pre-sentencing reports.
Palladium show
Microsoft is making the code for its Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security technology available to developers. The NGSCB, formerly called Palladium, provides a secure vault inside the PC to protect sensitive data. The move follows Intel's release of its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) motherboard. This is based on standards from the Trusted Computing Group, an industry body backed by Intel, AMD, Microsoft, IBM and others. Both systems provide an encrypted environment in the computer where documents, passwords, encryption keys and more can be protected from other users and hackers. Intel is already marketing TPM motherboards, but Microsoft says NGSCB will not appear until the Longhorn of Windows in about 2006. www.microsoft.com/resources/ngscb
www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/home
Web jungle
RSA Security's chief executive Art Coviello fears the internet has become less secure over the past year despite efforts to secure it. Speaking at RSA's European conference in Amsterdam, he blamed the increased use of wireless networks without securing inter-application links, and the fact that hackers are becoming more sophisticated. www.rsaconference.com/rsa2003/europe/
FSC swivels
Fujitsu Siemens is breaking with its past by offering a convertible Lifebook T series Tablet PC, the company announced at its user conference in Augsburg, Germany. Siemens, a backer of the clipboard-like slate format, is adding the swivel-screen convertible to encourage traditional laptop users to try the new format. Adrian von Hammerstein, chief executive of Fujitsu Siemens, denies the move is a response to disappointing sales of pure Tablet PCs, but says technical problems had to be overcome to produce a less bulky but resilient hinge for the screen. www.fujitsu-siemens.com
