Filed under: Cell Phones

A group of drug dealers at San Diego State University was rounded up by authorities Tuesday after the conclusion of a successful sting operation that included monitoring text messages advertising drug sales and price drops to “faithful customers.”

One of the captured text messages was sent to an undercover drug enforcement agent. It said the drug dealing students were having a price special since they’d be going out of town on a trip to Las Vegas. (How’s that for customer service?)

Many of those swept up by the year-long sting were members of a fraternity, Theta Chi, and some were even criminal justice and homeland security majors. The net result of the sting arrests and drug seizures? Two kilograms of cocaine, 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash. Of the 96 people arrested, 75 were students. Five other fraternities besides Theta Chi are also implicated.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned fraternity traditions like hazing and alcohol poisoning? The sting itself was launched after the fatal cocaine overdose of a student last May.

Here at Switched, we applaud small business people and entrepreneurs everywhere for using technology - such as text messaging - to improve customer service. Is there a group of college students out there who have put this kind of mobile tech to good use - or is this ring of drug dealers the only one that has tapped into the tech [Source: MSNBC via Textually.org]

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Sony has a new digital photo frame for everyone to display their proud and happy moments in life, known as the CP1 Canvas. You will get the following with each purchase :-

• 7″ LCD display with 800 x 480 resolution


• Supports CF, MS, SD memory card formats


• Supports JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, MP3 and WAV file formats


• i.MX31 ARM11 400MHz processor


• Timesys Linux 2.6.19 operating system


• WiFi connectivity

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Can’t get enough of TV shows no matter where you go? The Asus My Cinema U3100 Mini is the answer to your prayers, as long as your computer has a free USB slot. Since it is bus powered, there won’t be a need for an external power adapter, and thanks to Asus’ Pop-Up TV technology, you will get instant display TV channels displayed on your monitor without having to manually launch programs. It is also fully compatible with the Asus Eee PC, making this perfect to tote around whenever you want to catch your favorite soap. It also works with all Windows XP and Vista platforms without running into any hiccups. Show recordings are also a snap, just make sure you have enough storage space to begin with.

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Filed under: Video Games

Amazingly, prerelease estimates of a $400 million first week for the latest edition of Grand Theft Auto turned out to be low, with publisher Take-Two trumpeting a 6 million unit, $500 million debut.

GTA in HD isn’t without controversy however, with reports of overscan issues on older HDTVs (we’ve experienced it, with the last number or letter in mission descriptions sometimes running off the screen), and the PlayStation 3 version of the game not quite meeting our 720p expectations (although some say differences in textures and lighting more than make up for it).

Being “only” 640p didn’t stop previous record holder Halo 3, and looking at the numbers, it appears that Rockstar has made the right moves as well, although we’re sure some will wait for the inevitable PC version to run the game in as high a resolution as possible. [Source: Take-Two Interactive via Joystiq]

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Sun Microsystems’s pledge to aid the widespread development of interactive content on Blu-ray discs wasn’t the only thing going down today at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco. Rather surprisingly, famed musician Neil Young announced plans to “release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs that can be updated over the internet.”

Reportedly, the first installment of Young’s archive will cover 1963 to 1972 and will be released as a ten-disc set this fall on Reprise / Warner Bros. Records, and subsequent archives will be released chronologically and “include some previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia.”

Stressing Blu-ray interactivity, it was also noted that fans could download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Needless to say, we’re pretty stoked about the whole ordeal, and can only hope that more artists follow suit in serving up their work via Blu-ray. [Source: AOL Money & Finance/AP]

[Thanks, JDS]

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You may not be aware, but prosthetics aren’t just for humans anymore. Oh no, now medical artisans spend quality time designing and fitting wild creatures with replacement parts after tragic accidents.

Braces to help dogs walk are nothing new, but some adventurous body part sculptors are taking on more demanding project like a new beak for a bald eagle and a tail for a dolphin. One DIY’er even strapped a pair of model airplane wheels to his turtle after its rear legs had been crushed by a car.

The prosthetics are far from perfect. In fact, they’re barely functional. Winter got her new dolphin tail so she could swim, but will never be able to return to the wild. The same is true for Beauty, the bald eagle who lost his beak to a bullet back in 2002. His new bill will allow him to eat food with out the assistance of caretakers with forceps, but he’ll never be able to hunt or rip apart fish again. [Sources: Daily Mail, AP/AOL News, Make, National Geographic]

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The Asus Splendid MA2850M holds the distinction of being the first stand-alone color processor with a modularized graphics card in the world, clearly targeting those who want the most accurate color reproduction possible on their computer, thanks to the latest generation of Splended video intelligence technology. It offers vibrant and fine-tuned images in conditions most favorable to the human eye, without placing an additional stress on your CPU. Asus claims that watching movies on PC monitors will be as good as the images appearing on high end consumer TVs, courtesy of the 7-region color enhancement, 12-bit gamma correction, real-time 2D peaking and dynamic contrast engine within the chip. There are also Photo, Video and Game modes to choose from, depending on what your PC is being used for at the moment. It is small enough to fit most chassis, and with a modularized design concept, future upgrades will be easy and painless.

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Filed under: Computers

Admit it. You’ve tapped into a neighbor’s Wi-Fi, siphoning off a little bandwidth for free so you can check some e-mail or maybe just surf the Net for a bit. Of course, you could get your access on the up and up by going to a local Internet cafe — but what do you do when you’re attempting a shot at the top of the world?

China has the answer.

17,000 feet above sea level, at the base camp to Mount Everest, China Mobile has built a business office and Internet cafe. The Mount Qomolangma base camp provides mobile and Internet services to “government officials, mountain climbing members and journalists,” reports China Daily.

The highest hotspot in the world was established to support the Olympic torch’s journey across the so-called “rooftop of the world.” The China Mobile office offers Wi-Fi access with remote payment, SIM change service and other basic services, “in addition to free film, vending machines and new business experience.” China Mobile claims “about 40 to 50 people go to the office and Internet cafe every day to experience the services.”

No word on the quality of their lattes. [Source: China Daily via CNET]

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The Hello Kitty tidal wave of products just won’t stop, with this Hello Kitty Car Cigar Lighter Charger being the latest in a long line of them. Fitting most in-vehicle power port sockets, it is able to charge your handset up to 90% capacity within 2 to 3 hours, perfect for state to state travel. Compatible with the majority of Japanese cell phones, I’m not too sure if this will work with handsets in other parts of the world, and whether it will have adapters for different brand phones as well. It measures 3cm x 8.5cm x 11.5cm and is compatible with DC12/24V. You can pick this up in Japan for 1,880 yen ($18).

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Filed under: Computers

We recently reported on some intriguing cell phone software that could track your weight or insulin levels and automatically contact doctors if there were any issues. Now researchers are taking that to the next level with implantable sensors that can wirelessly communicate with doctors automatically in case of an emergency.

The sensors use Bluetooth, the same tech that lets you use a hands-free kit in your car sans wires, and would be implanted in the body to monitor heart rate and other statistics, automatically warning doctors of irregularities. Additional sensors applied to medication dispensers could raise alarms if a prescription wasn’t being adhered to. And, should you fall unconscious, a call to the local emergency services could be placed for you.

Soon, it seems, you won’t even have to say “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” to get some help! [Source: TimesOnline]

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