Accused child killer's alibi busted thanks to GPS

GPS systems that end up helping the fuzz track down the baddies are nothing new, and a recent case involving a Piscataway man has an inconspicuous tracking system to thank for solving a gruesome mystery. Reportedly, the culprit had informed police that he had taken a 12-year old babysitter to view horses on their way back to her domicile, but "accidentally backed over her" during the outing. Closer inspection of the GPS system -- which was installed just days earlier by his suspicious wife -- revealed that the "horse stop" lasted three hours, which led police to believe that the girl was "ran down" after trying to escape. Needless to say, murder charges have since replaced the comparatively minor accusations of "reckless endangerment" that he had previously been dealt.

Apple, Vodafone discussing iPhone minutiae?

While the Apple-Vodafone rumors have been swirling for months, an unnamed "source" has apparently found that the two firms are now breaking down the minute details that are holding back a (potentially) forthcoming launch. Most importantly, it seems that Vodafone doesn't want to "give up as much control" as did AT&T here in the States, and below is a brief list of reported "iPhone enhancements [that] carriers are looking for:"

• Vodafone wants the YouTube application to "work much more like the Internet version."
• Improvements to Outlook and Exchange support
• Improved security and firewalls
• Tweaks to Apple's WEP and WPA security key requirements
• Web browser improvements, namely, the ability to simply "cut and paste"

So, there you have it -- now how's about we just start compromising and get a deal together for all the patient Europeans, yeah?

Corsair releases "Flash Padlock" PIN-based flash drive

Innovation in the flash drive sphere seems to be limited to bringing the price down, and adding on new security features. Corsair's new "Flash Padlock" flash drive seemingly does both, by retailing at $29.99 and $39.99 in 1GB and 2GB variants, and tacking on a PIN based security system that limits who can access the drive. The benefit to the Flash Padlock is that its security solution is entirely hardware based, so it's supposedly impervious to hackers and crackers and other deviant folk: the downside is that if your computer's USB ports are out of reach, then this solution is going to be extremely bad for your back.

Jabra BT8030 bluetooth headset works as a speaker too

While the kids at the back of buses everywhere may already be aware of the fact that headphones can act as speakers if turned up loud enough, the rest of humanity tends to keep the volume down, and is therefore unawares. Jabra has latched onto this concept and created the BT8030, which can act as a bluetooth headset when you're on the move, and then switch into a speakerphone mode for Skype at your laptop. The speaker / headphone combo will also play music over Bluetooth, lasting up to 26 hours in music mode, 32 hours in talk mode, and sitting in standby for up to 25 days. It'll retail for $249.99, although we're not sure when you'll be able to pick one up.

DVD playback enabled on mod-chipped Wiis

A mod chipping company called Team Symbiote has apparently created an application for owners of its Wii mod chip that enables the console to play back DVDs. This may not be the first mod to enable DVD playback, but since Nintendo still hasn't got around to providing the console with playback capabilities, we thought it'd be worth bringing it up again. Nintendo, how about hurrying up and making it so normal people don't have to buy dodgy chips to play a DVD or two on their console?

Blinged out iPod Shuffle doesn't come cheap

For the small price of 120,000 Norwegian Kroner (around $20,000) you can pick up a concentrated mix of gold, diamonds, and... iPod Shuffle. There's not a lot more to this blinged out creation: why anyone would want to place twenty gees worth of precious carbon on a $99 gadget, we'll never know.

Toshiba's REGZA Z3500 series of 120Hz LCDs: 57-inches of love for your home network

Like TVs do ya? Then go ahead and block off the next few hours to decipher the machine translated Japanese surrounding Toshiba's 11 new HDTVs. Of these, the new top of the line REGZA Z3500 series of 37-, 42-, 46-, 52- and 57-inch LCDs are by far the more interesting. Each offers a 120Hz / 10-bit IPS panel with 3x HDMI (1080/60p and 24p) supporting x.v.Color / DeepColor, 2x Firewire, and a whopping 3x Ethernet jacks for surfing the internet (browser built-in) or streaming DLNA and DTCP-IP media from Tosh's own VARDIA recorders, Qosmio PCs, your local NAS server, and plenty more. Better yet, sling a few disks off the included 2x USB jacks and you've got an instant DVR -- suuuweet. Prices start at ¥360,000 ($3,123) and run up to ¥950,000 ($8,242) for the biggie 57-incher. We'll bring you the rest of the new sets a bit later, mkay?