GPS devices and services provider Pharos Science & Applications Inc. has rolled two new models for its Drive GPS line. The Pharos Drive GPS 250 and GPS 150 includes a SiRFStarIII GPS receiver and is compatible with most smartphones on the market today.

While it doesn't exactly have dual-purpose capabilities like other GPS devices, this specialized device does its job quite efficiently.

Check out the specifications of the new models right after the jump!

Sending men to the moon is a tall order, so NASA is being extra careful with its plans to send astronauts back there by 2020. Plans to establish a lunar outpost are being drawn up, and information is vital if we're ever going to make it happen.

To make sure that all is calculated and that minimum risks are taken, astronomers in the agency are going to send lunar robots to "scout" ahead of their masters ti survey the shadowy parts of the Earth's lone satellite. Though they're not alive, these machines need some preparation, too so NASA took them on a field test.
 
Scientists needed a place which can best simulate a trek on the lunar surface, so they had to pick one very carefully. Deserts were the prime candidates, but the one chosen isn't a place where you'd guess it would be: The frigid Arctic Circle.

According to NASA, a place called the Haughton Crater in Devon Island, Canada is the ideal place to go. It has a dry, rocky desert about 6.4 miles in radius and has a spot called Drill Hill which is similar in features to some lunar landing sites. The cold weather also simulates conditions in shadowy parts of the moon where temperatures drop to unearthly lows.

The robots are called K10 Red and K10 Black. They're similar in structure to small lunar rovers and they weigh about 160 pounds. They're equipped with high-tech laser sensors, GPS, cameras and terrain-penetrating radar to guide it and facilitate data collection. It can carry 110 pounds worth of samples in case lunar debris are required to be taken in.

Plans are also set to have these robots employed for the long term study of the moon. Even as humans make their way back to the moon, they will still be assisted by these robots which will serve as advance units in exploring uncharted parts. NASA's astronomers say that the images that the robots will bring home should be very crisp in high-resolution 3D.

Toshiba has reportedly announced that it will be scaling back its expected target of 1.8 million HD DVD players released in Canada and the U.S. down to 1 million. This drastic 44% drop has been attributed to low sales of their players in both markets.

Most are finding this surprising considering that Toshiba recently announced it was leading the market and holds 60 percent of the disc player business versus its opponent, Blu-Ray.

Apparently, those facts, while true did not account for the PlayStation 3. The reason they weren't included in the equation according to Universal Studios Home Entertainment VP Ken Graffeo is that they believe people purchasing the said system are not a major movie market.

Most PS3 owners buy movies only sparingly compared to those who buy the players alone. Consumers who are buying Playstation 3 are buying it as a game console. They're simply not buying it for watching as many high-definition movies as Sony said they would.

Nonetheless, it appears that the format wars have really taken its toll not only on the consumers but the creators of hardware themselves. A lot of people have been holding out to see which group would win before they decide to invest their hard earned money on it. After all, who would buy a thousand dollar movie player if it was to be deemed obsolete by next year? Keep checking back for the latest industry news here on QJ.net.

Canadian gambling authorities recently decommissioned or physically removed a total of 87 video slot machines manufactured by Japanese game company Konami for alleged subliminal messaging embedded in the video display of the units.

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gambling Corporation, the machines flash a two-second display showing the jackpot screen. Players won't be aware of what they just saw but the duration is enough for the message to be recognized by the brain.

Theoretically, subliminal messaging taps into the subconscious of a person, which eventually influences his behavior in subtle ways. It was first tested in the U.S. during the time when silent movies were the cutting edge of entertainment. Back then, dialogues were flashed onscreen to make up for the lack of speech.

Little did the viewers know that popcorn companies had brief, unnoticeable screens inserted into the frames of the real. A message that read "Eat Popcorn" was flashed for every ten seconds. Although there was no real study conducted to verify the effectivity of the campaign, but it's a fact that popcorn sales increased afterwards.

In the case of the Ontario incident, experts say that it would take further testing to verify the effects of the message on players. Electronic gaming specialist Robert Horley remarked "I think it's part of them trying to make their games more attractive to the players to keep them at the game longer so their machines are more profitable."

For its part, Konami denied any intentions of placing subliminal messages in its products, dismissing theories and explaining that "the flashing message is simply a bug in programming." Konami's spokesman, Steve Sutherland added that the company will never risk losing its license for such an act. Meanwhile, games Most Wanted, Sergeant Fritter, Billionaires and Sticks and Stones are already in the pull-out process.

Several other Canadian jurisdictions and states in the U.S. are considering the same action regarding the Konami incident. Sukhi Grewal, head of the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission assured the public that action will be taken. "We are going to take a look at it further and see if there really is anything that we need to do and we will take the appropriate action," he concludes.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) - an association of composers, recording artists, publishers, and record labels - is asking the Copyright Board of Canada to re-introduce a controversial extra fee into the sale price of MP3 players in Canada. If the fee is imposed, the average price of the said devices could climb by as much as CAN$ 75.

"We'd all like lots of things to be free," said David Basskin, a member of the CPCC's board of directors. "But those who create the music deserve to be compensated."

According to the Canadian Press, the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a similar "iPod tax" attached to the price of the hard drives of MP3 players over two years ago. The Canadian Press noted that at the time, these didn't fall into the category of "audio recording media" because, unlike CDs and cassettes, they can't be separated from the device that plays the sound on them. Under current legislation, the Copyright Board isn't allowed to place a levy on a playing device like a CD or tape player.

The CPCC is now asking the Canadian Copyright Board to consider MP3 players as a whole, hard drive included, under the category of "audio recording media." The group is seeking levies ranging from CAN$ 5 to CAN$ 75, based on the capacity of the player's hard drive.

David Fewer, an intellectual property law professor at the University of Ottawa, however, remains skeptical that the new approach will work given current copyright legislation. According to Fewer, MP3 players fall into both the categories of "player" and "medium." "They're really getting quite existential here," he said. "They're asking the copyright board to look into the soul of an iPod and determine its true identity. That's hard to do."

Now all ye landlubbers out there probably know that the whole new Windows experience is going to become one whole bank-breaking one. But the Chinese seem to have it good - up to July 2007 that is.

So what flavors does the Vista come in? There's Home, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. And because the Vista consumer editions are slated to come out on January 30, we thought we'd take a look at the consumer's choices.

Home Premium is reasonably priced for its features, but it just couldn't cut the cake with some networking and hardware failure prevention features taken out. The complete Vista experience would only be available in the Ultimate Edition which struts around in a US$ 399 price tag (plus a TV tuner is required). There's just got to be a cheaper option.

And voila! There is a cheaper way. Checking Microsoft's web site, a cheaper, basic version of Vista is available for all new computer users and low-income markets. It's dubbed as Starter Edition. It's not feature-rich, but it's affordable in the most legal sense.

You can follow up on the Read link to check up on the editions available and what you can get out of each. Oh, and about the picture, don't worry, it's not true. But it sure feels like it, doesn't it?

Here's one for the paranoid jetsetter: Boeing has a patent pending in Canada for a new anti-terrorist system that they believe will help improve the survivability of passengers and crew in the event of a terrorist takeover. The device takes the form of a  "uninterruptible" auto-pilot system, that once turned one, automatically locks the  controls and redirects the plane to the closest runway, ensuring that hijackers can't use the plane for other purposes.

The device, running on an independent power source to prevent tampering, activates either at the flick of a switch by either the pilot or co-pilot, by pressure sensors on the door reading forced cabin entry, or by ground control in the event the first two fail.

"There is a need in the industry for a technique that conclusively prevents unauthorized persons from gaining access to the controls of the vehicle and therefore threatening the safety of the passengers onboard the vehicle, and/or other people in the path of travel of the vehicle, thereby decreasing the amount of destruction individuals onboard the vehicle would be capable of causing," said Boeing regarding this device.

No details on how the system works yet, though a recent issuance of a $1.9 million U.S. Federal Aviation Administration contract to Raytheon for an Advanced Route Evaluation System does give clues as to how Boeing plans to program the new system with regards to landing spots. With that said and done, we're wondering what sort of protection they're offering for the pilots, as the system assumes that both pilot and co-pilot are incapable of flying the plane.

For the Bond fans, MI fans, tree huggers, and misers our there, we just found something all four groups could find interesting. The Xerox Corporation just developed a new paper that erases whatever's printed on it within the day, allowing for multiple use of the same paper, and keeping sensitive info (like Bond's martini recipe) a one-read, "For your eyes only" deal.

Xerox Research Centre of Canada, in collaboration with Palo Alto Research Center Inc, have just developed a new printing technology that treated the paper with a special compound that, while it retained the image or text like normal paper, would begin to fade and disappear from the paper within 16-24 hours after print.

"Despite our reliance on computers to share and process information, there is still a strong dependence on the printed page for reading and absorbing content. Of course, we'd all like to use less paper, but we know from talking with customers that many people still prefer to work with information on paper. Self-erasing documents for short-term use offers the best of both worlds," said Paul Smith from XRCC.

While the process and the "Bond" paper developed is still experimental, Xerox has high hopes for this program, and has already filed a patent for their "erasable paper". Hopefully, it won't follow the foot steps of the Xerox Alto. Sadly, there's no news on any developments for reusable toilet paper. Dang, we could use that.

When the need to pee strikes, men are dogs. The worst ones won't even bother to look for a toilet, as they'll opt to use any nearby obstruction to do their business. Lacking that, drunken blokes won't hesitate to piss into the wind.

Despite the numerous men who act like animals, there are enlightened people in Canada who've decided to embark on creating men out of dogs. To do this, they're introducing a high-tech public urinal to the city streets of Victoria, British Columbia: the Urilift.

As you'll see from the pictures and video, the Urilift is an open urinal for men to use after a night of drunken revelry. It sinks below the street level in the morning to serve as regular walkable ground for people, making the best use of available space. Someone just comes around in the morning and evening to use a remote, and the Urilift rises up to the task of stopping men from getting their urine everywhere.

Better still, the open nature of the urinal's alcoves keep it from being used for less than savory purposes. This is one public bathroom that will not be seeing quickies or drug deals any time soon.

The video is your standard promotion, but it has some very funny lines about riots occurring from public urination and security cameras. Most memorable of the said lines? "While women go in search of a toilet when desperate, men tend to relieve themselves in the nearest corner or doorway." Of course, we only have one question we have to ask: What happens if they miss their aim?

We've all wondered what's the reason behind that enigmatic smile from Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci's 16th century masterpiece. Considered to be the world's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa underwent the most extensive three dimensional scan ever undertaken for scientists to unveil her secrets. And now, the results will finally be revealed.

Scientists from Canada's National Research Council (NRC) used special 3D technology to scan the picture on both sides for that high resolution 3D image data of the whole painting. According to the NRC, this will shed new light on the history and condition of the work, as well as the great master's technique in painting. Da  Vinci's delicate hazy effect, known as the "sfumato" method, has generated a lot of wonder and awe from experts and aficionados alike.

The findings will be unveiled today ahead of a public lecture in Ottawa, where the Council promises their Mona Lisa model to allow both art history specialists and the general public to get closer than ever before without risking damage to the real picture. The portrait itself will remain in the Louvre museum in Paris.

The woman in the world-renowned portrait has been identified as Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco de Giocondo.

While this may seem like good news and an advancement for art technology, one cannot help but wonder if this really is necessary. After all, there are certain things and secrets that were meant to be hidden. With these secrets revealed, it will definitely have an impact on Mona Lisa's mysterious aura, which is the basis of her appeal.

We'll keep you updated on more news on Mona Lisa and her secrets.