If you've always wanted a front projector that you could take with you anywhere, the upcoming PocketProjector from Mitsubishi might just be what you've dreamed of.

Certainly rating as one of the smallest projection units out there, the new Mitsubishi PocketProjector is a tiny 14oz powerhouse of a projector. A unit small enough to fit in your hand, run off batteries or car adapter, yet create a 20" screen with only one foot of throw.

The PocketProjector can drive 800x600 SVGA resolution through its Lumileds tri-LED DLP system, rated at over 20,000 hours of lamp life. And it sports composite, s-video, and VGA connectors, great for visualizing anything from a laptop presentation to a portable DVD player.

Owners of vehicles with onboard computers should brace themselves for an onslaught by hi-tech criminals who are causing havoc by infecting the devices with viruses.

Those with systems such as satellite navigation have been warned to secure the devices, after reports last week that the on-board computers of several Lexus models in the United States had been infected via cellphones.

Melamed said about 150 000 cars in the US had been affected last week.

"Many of the vehicles also had their security codes breached," said Melamed, a former computer expert with Interpol. "And with our high car theft and hijacking rate, it is only a matter of time before car owners in South Africa become targets. It is only a matter of time before these criminals (in the US) brag about their achievements on the Internet and spread the information on how to spread the virus or breach a vehicle’s computer security code."

Many of the vehicles had satellite navigation systems linked to hands-free phone kits, via wireless Bluetooth technology and this was likely how the on-board systems of the cars had become infected, said Melamed.

Scientists have made them walk and talk. There are even robots that can run. But a South Korean professor is poised to take their development several steps further, and give cybersex new meaning.

Kim Jong-Hwan, the director of the ITRC-Intelligent Robot Research Centre, has developed a series of artificial chromosomes that, he says, will allow robots to feel lusty, and could eventually lead to them reproducing. He says the software, which will be installed in a robot within the next three months, will give the machines the ability to feel, reason and desire.

Kim said: "Robots will have their own personalities and emotion and - as films like I Robot warn - that could be very dangerous for humanity. If we can provide a robot with good - soft - chromosomes, they may not be such a threat."

A new kind of copy-protected music CD will likely hit U.S. shelves early next year, as record label SonyBMG experiments with a technology created by British developer First 4 Internet, according to sources familiar with the companies.

Gilliat-Smith said his company has been waiting to improve its technology. Better-known companies Macrovision and Sunncomm have seen sporadic--and sometimes controversial--use of their products on CDs released around the world.

For several years, the major record labels have sought a way to protect CDs against unrestricted copying and "ripping," or transforming songs into files such as MP3s that can be swapped widely online. Early experiments proved unpopular, prompting reports that the discs could not play in certain kind of stereos, or might even damage computers.

The same company that makes those cute little household vacuuming robots now has a military robot that is equipped with a pump action shotgun capable of firing shotgun rounds and presumably killing enemy combatants (or anyone who happens to be standing in front of the 'bot). The robot is called the Pacbot, and it has already seen action in Iraq. The Pacbot weighs about 40 pounds, and is propelled by heavy-duty tracks. It also has chemical sensors that detect nuclear, biological, and chemical contaminants. It's currently being tested by the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Of course, the big story here is not that robots are being used in Iraq or tested by the U.S. Army – the big news is that they are being equipped with lethal weapons. Up until now, robots have always been limited to support roles, such as carrying equipment, sniffing out bombs, or performing remote detection of nuclear, biological, or chemical contaminants. But now there are Army robots with shotguns. Next up? Robot-controlled Hummers that can't drive straight, but can still shoot. Once they get the bugs out of the software, they'll even be able to limit their shooting to the enemy rather than just randomly firing off shotgun rounds at anything that moves.

Boffins and Boffinettes at Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems have worked out a way of controlling a computer without needing a mouse.

They have wired up the brain of a 25-year-old quadriplegic to a computer using 100 wires coming out of a connector stuck in his skull.

According to USA Today the system is not fool proof as it only works 70 percent of the time and more challenging games such as Doom 3 are a long way off. However the unnamed 25-year old told doctors that the device has changed his life.

The boffins have called their system 'brain gate' and the long term goal is to build artificial limbs that can learn to read signals from the brain. It could also be used in combat situations where a fighter pilot, for instance, might operate some controls just by thinking. Of course for the idea to really get off the ground, they have to work out a way of doing it without drilling holes in people's head and sticking sensors like drawing pins into people's lower cortex.

British scientists are developing a robot that will generate its own power by eating flies.

The idea is to produce electricity by catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells that will break down sugar in the insects' skeletons and release electrons that will drive an electric current.

Chris Melhuish and his team, who are developing the robot, have to manually feed the flies to EcoBot II because they are still designing some type of pump to suck the insects into it.

Hence the downside of the fully autonomous robot: it will have to use sewage or excrement to attract the flies and is bound to smell appalling.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the use of Video Content Protection System (VCPS), the DVD+RW Alliance's preferred copy-protection system.

The idea is that pirates will not be able to use digital broadcasts as a source of material for illicit DVDs, but quite clearly it has the potential to stop fans recording and archiving their favourite shows.

The FCC's Broadcast Flag rule comes into force on 1 July 2005, and all digital TV receivers must be capable of supporting the DRM technology from that date onwards. The technology is not mandatory for recorders, but equipment and discs without VCPS capability will be unable to record or play TV broadcast in the US that is protected with the Broadcast Flag.

Protected and un-protected content can be recorded on the same disc, Philips says.

The memory cards in most cameras are virtually indestructible, found Digital Camera Shopper magazine.

They were dipped into cola, put through a washing machine, dunked in coffee, trampled by a skateboard, run over by a child's toy car and given to a six-year-old boy to destroy.

Most of them did fail to get through two additional tests - being smashed by a sledgehammer and being nailed to a tree.

Even then, data experts Ontrack Data Recovery were able to retrieve photos from the xD and Smartmedia cards.

"We've tested the durability of the leading memory card forms and have found that even if your camera doesn't remain intact, your precious memories should," said Geoff Harris, editor of Digital Camera Shopper.

Movie studios, computer chipmakers and consumer electronics companies said Wednesday they are working together to build a new copy-protection standard that would allow home viewers to watch and share high-definition video among various entertainment and portable devices, but prevent pirates from making perfect copies.

The companies haven't yet developed the technology. But it would work with any future format -- including HD-DVD, Blu-ray and other formats in the works, said Steve Ballogh, business development manager with Intel's corporate technology group.

"There are some key decisions coming up in making HD-DVD and Blu-ray," said Richard Doherty, analyst at the Envisioneering Group. "And those decisions on how they protect content (and) make content more convenient were starting to make some people sweat."