The Reviews Factory

Features:
This Panasonic 3D TV is a fully featured three-dimension machine. It has all the basic hookup capabilities, including one composite and one component video input, as well as digital and analog audio inputs and outputs. These are clearly labeled on the back of the television. You can connect your 3D TV to your personal computer and your local area network. The TV also has three USB ports and four HDMI inputs for your DVD player, your 3D Blu-ray player and all your gaming systems. You don't have to worry about unplugging your Xbox to hook up your Blu-ray player; there is plenty of room for all your connection needs.

Those basics are to be expected. More importantly and excitingly, this television is capable of converting two-dimensional images into immersive, three-dimensional environments. This is made possible by technology unique to Panasonic's line of Viera HDTVs that produces detailed, 3D depth for 2D images. With this conversion feature, you can watch DVDs, Blu-rays and ordinary television broadcasts in three clear dimensions. However, when you use your TV to convert 2D images into 3D, the 3D effect is marginally less pronounced than when you enjoy material from 3D sources on your TV. This 3D TV also has a game mode for decreased lag and increased clarity, and intuitive settings to provide the best images possible, even in dark scenes.

Display:

As one of the only plasma HDTVs on our lineup, this Panasonic 3D TV has an incredibly high refresh rate of 600Hz. The television uses its 600Hz subfield drive to cultivate the best possible picture in either 2D or 3D mode. Most LED TVs have a refresh rate of up to 480Hz, tops. Like all plasma TVs, this one displays images using electrically charged ionized gases instead of light-emitting diodes. Plasma TVs are thin and can create rich colors and deep blacks. This 3D TV and all Panasonic HDTVs also use fast-switching phosphors that reduce afterglow and create clear images.

We reviewed the 55-inch Panasonic, but the Viera VT line also has a 65-inch model for consumers who are especially ambitious about their home theaters. It has excellent resolution, 1920 x 1080. The TV's default aspect ratio is the standard HDTV wide-screen 16:9. However, you also have aspect control so you can zoom in for traditional 4:3 broadcasts. The aspect ratio is the measurement of the TV's width compared to its height.

This 55-inch Panasonic has a contrast ratio of 2 million pixels to one, and a viewing angle of 178 degrees. The contrast ratio indicates the contrast of the brightest white the TV can produce to the darkest black. The scale of this measurement is not universal; it varies with each manufacturer. The viewing angle refers to the maximum angle at which you can effectively view 3D and HD images. The three-dimensional effect is greater on the Panasonic 3D TV the further you are from the television. As you increase this distance, the images seem to have greater depth and the 3D seems more realistic.

Accessories:

The Panasonic 3D TV does not come with any active 3D glasses. The glasses aren't too heavy and are perfectly fashionable, as far as 3D glasses go. Some vendors include additional pairs of glasses as well as other accessories in one all-inclusive bundle. The television also comes with a tabletop stand that measures 1.5 inches tall, and a Viera Touch Pad controller, compatible with most of your connected devices. It also features built-in Wi-Fi.

You can find and download the owner's manual and installation guide for the Panasonic 3D TV on the Panasonic website.

Help & Support:

Panasonic has an outstanding line of customer help and support. At the top of any window in which you're browsing through products, you can click on the Get Support tab and search for your product by model number, keyword or product type. Once you select the product of your choice, you are provided with a lineup of support including operating instructions, help and tutorials, a comprehensive selection of FAQs, technical specs, parts and accessories, and more. Here you can also review the warranty options. Panasonic provides a one-year warranty on their 3D TVs, but you can purchase additional coverage of two or three years if you so choose.

You can contact Panasonic directly via phone, mail, email or their convenient live chat option. The representatives we spoke with on Panasonic's live chat support were attentive and quick to answer our questions competently and completely. They also email you a transcript of your live correspondence so you can file it away for future reference.

Summary:

With technology ever improving, it's senseless to spend your hard-earned entertainment budget on a 3D television that is already trumped by a more advanced option. Invest in a top-of-the-line 3D machine. We recommend the Panasonic TC-P55VT50 because it is simply the best 3D TV on the market from the leading name in 3D technology. We found that its picture is superior to other models and its 3D is the most lifelike. This plasma television has an astounding color variety, deep blacks and bright whites. Panasonic is a name you can trust with a reputable line of customer service to back it up. If you want three dimensions in your entertainment, this is an investment worth making.

The malware, a rootkit variously called TDSS, TDL or Alureon, has been active since 2006, continually evolving and growing more powerful. Due to its devious and damaging capabilities, it is nearly impossible to detect and has been called "indestructible" by researchers at the security firm Kaspersky Lab.

Its newest variant, TDL-4, is "the most sophisticated threat today," Kaspersky wrote. Often hidden on adult content and bootleg websites, as well as file-storage services, TDL-4 infected 4,524,488 computers around the world from January through March of this year. A quarter of them were in the United States, the most lucrative market for cybercriminals.

Once it worms its way into users' systems by bypassing authentication protocols, TDL-4 opens a "back door" to cybercriminals, making it possible for them to load keystroke loggers, adware and a host of other malicious programs onto the infected computers.

TDL-4 allows attackers to remotely take over infected systems, manipulate search engines and act as "a launch pad for other malware," Kaspersky Lab wrote.

Like other rootkits, TDL-4 inserts itself into the kernel, the main program at the heart of a computer's operating system, making it extremely difficult to detect or remove.

Microsoft shielded Windows 7 against rootkits by demanding that all new software show digital certificates signed by trusted sources before installation.

But TDL-4 has gotten around this obstacle. It now infects the master boot record of a PC, the section of the hard drive that the computer reads when starting up, and alters Windows 7 upon loading to permit unauthorized software installations. TDL-4 is present before the computer is even up and running.

"I wouldn't say it's perfectly indestructible, but it is pretty much indestructible," malware expert Joe Stewart of Dell SecureWorks told Computerworld. "It does a very good job of maintaining itself."

TDL-4 encrypts the protocol used for communication between infected computers and the command and control servers of the master botnet — a massive network of Internet-connected computers programmed to distribute spam and malware and launch cyberattacks.

This encrypted connection makes TDL-4 difficult to detect, and even more difficult to slow down its spread.

It also does a security scan of its own, seeking out and destroying competing viruses, Trojans and worms in order to dominate the environment and lull the PC user into thinking everything's OK.

Finding TDL-4 is a little like detecting a black hole in outer space — you can't actually see it, but you can observe its distorting effects upon system processes and network traffic. Removal would mean erasing the entire hard drive and reinstalling the operating system.

It is "one of the most technologically sophisticated, and most complex to analyze, [pieces of] malware," Kaspersky Lab wrote.

Despite its prominence, and the threat it poses to computers all over the world, there's one place where TDL-4 has infected no systems at all.

"Remarkably, there are no Russian users in the statistics," Kaspersky Lab wrote. This is because, as researchers explain, the cybercriminals that pay to have their spam and malware sent via the botnet "do not offer payment for infecting computers located in Russia."

Online thieves have kicked off a new campaign to steal your money, and this time they're using the long arm of the law to hide their devious scheme.

At this FBI command center, they probably aren't after you. Credit: FBI

Researchers at the security firm AppRiver noticed a batch of emails spreading around the Web claiming to be from the FBI, with the accusatory subject line: "You visit illegal websites."

The message informs the recipient, "We have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal websites." although it specifies none of the sites.

Such a social engineering scam can resonate with guilty (or gullible) Web surfers. The criminals behind the scam know this and have included a questionnaire with the fake FBI message that, presumably, could help you out of your legal jam.

Of course, downloading the attached document, titled only "document.zip" will not help you at all.

Instead, the file will automatically drop a piece of malware onto your computer that is capable of opening "a permanent backdoor on your PC in order to further download malicious payloads such as keyloggers and spyware," AppRiver wrote.

Web users are advised never to open suspicious attachments, even if they come from trusted sources like friends or co-workers. Just a few weeks ago, the government-managed Oak Ridge National Laboratory was hacked via an email that claimed to be from the company's human resources representative.

Credit: FBI

While most of the world slept after -- or possibly through -- President Barack Obama's announcement late last night (May 1) that bin Laden had been killed in a targeted attack on his Pakistan compound, cybercriminals quickly rushed to the offensive in an attempt to cash in on the earth-shattering news.

Here's what to watch out for in the coming days and weeks, as news of the death of al-Qaida's top terrorist takes over the Web. (This morning it was leading in Google searches and Twitter hashtags.)

A spam message found by the security firm Sophos claims to have the "real" story of how bin Laden was killed, complete with images. Although the message carries an air of legitimacy by purporting to be from a real news source, clicking on the link, however, directs users to an ad for window replacement.

This particular ad won't harm your computer or steal your money, but it's a definite sign of what's to come.

Undoubtedly, as with any news that grabs the world's attention, there are sure to be scores of people who will chase down any potential development on bin Laden's death.

Be careful of news stories -- especially from sources you may never have heard of -- that promise footage of information no other site has. As the saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If you had the chance to see a live video of U.S. ground forces killing bin Laden, would you watch it?

Cybercriminals certainly think so, and a fake video claiming to have such highly coveted footage is already making its presence known on a Spanish-language website. The website, according to Michael Sutton with the security firm Zscaler, hits visitors first with a gruesome -- but fake -- photo of bin Laden after being shot.

If that isn't enough to lure readers in, the site offers visitors a video of bin Laden's killing. But, as with the fake news stories, the video is a setup -- a clever front. If you click on the video, you are first told to upgrade a Flash Player plugin, which is actually a piece of malware that allows criminals to gain unauthorized access to your computer.

Fake videos, as seen during March's devastating tsunami in Japan, are surefire tactics cybercriminals deploy to capture users' attention following global news events. If you click on a video, make sure its source is legitimate, and not a clever spoof of a real news or video website such as YouTube.

A similar video quickly showed up on Facebook, still ripe new territory for scammers. A link circulating today promised "Shocking NEW VIDEO of Osama Bin Ladens DEATH!!," reported Sophos.

But of course there was no video -- Facebook users who clicked on the link got yet another video that generates ad revenue for the poster, and also had the privilege of the link being broadcast to all their friends.

The hashtags #osama and #obl (Osama bin Laden) are currently the top trending topics on Twitter. And as with all events that draw worldwide online attention, bin Laden's death is spreading quickly through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

You can be sure online criminals are scheming to divert some of that massive Web traffic to their own malicious pages.

As the aforementioned rigged videos and fake news stories find their footing and start spreading virally through the social networking giants, it's important to exercise caution about what you click. Even if your friends' Twitter feeds and Facebook walls are flush with bin Laden-related messages and links, it doesn't mean it's safe to click on those links.

"Don't blindly trust links you see online, whether in emails, on social networking sites, or from searches," Sophos' Paul Ducklin wrote.

Another vector for attack cybercriminals often use is poisoned SEO and images -- the tactic of creating malicious websites and rigged pictures tied to high-profile topics.

Last week's Royal Wedding, for instance, sparked criminals to quickly build phony websites -- including enticing pictures -- aimed at cashing in on search terms such as "Royal Wedding" and "Kate Middleton wedding dress." The Japanese tsunami drew similar scams, targeting people's natural curiosity to back up what they'd been reading about with visual proof.

With a news item as international as bin Laden's death, it's important to remain vigilant while browsing the Web. Online criminals are constantly looking for the next big topic, and this one is sure to stick around for a while.

A new malware campaign is targeting Mac OS X users, trying to convince them their computer is infected with a virus, then trick them into downloading a corrupted version of the popular MacDefender antivirus software, The Next Web reports.

The new malware targets victims of Apple's Safari Web browser via rigged Google Images; when users click on the infected pictures, the bogus MacDefender program automatically downloads onto their systems. Once downloaded, the rogue antivirus software asks victims to pay for protection they don't need.

Luckily for users, this scareware scam goes after only their insecurities; it doesn't actually infect systems with any damaging viruses that will steal sensitive information.

To stay safe and prevent Safari from automatically downloading the fake MacDefender software, The Next Web says, Safari users are advised to select "Preferences," then "General," then uncheck "Open 'safe' files after downloading."

To stop the app from running if it's already in use, check "Activity Monitor" under the "Applications" tab, and "disable anything that relates to MacDefender."

Malware makers largely have spared Macs while concentrating on attacking bigger sellers, but this isn't the only Mac-specific scam on the loose right now.

Ed Bott of the security website ZDNet has spotted a "fully operational kit specifically designed to build malware aimed at the Mac OS platform."

The kit, available on underground malware markets, is called "Weyland-Yutani BOT," according to the Danish information technology firm CSIS Security Group.

Researcher Brian Krebs spoke with the maker of Weyland-Yutani BOT, who told Krebs he designed the exploit kit to target Mac users running the Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox Web browsers.

The malware targeting Mac users could have widespread and damaging implications, Bott explained. And with malware coming from all angles -- Safari, Chrome and Firefox -- Mac users are threatened whichever way they go.

"Only a tiny percentage of Macs run antivirus software,” Bott said, “and Mac users have been conditioned to believe they're immune from Internet threats. That's a deadly combination."

The Creative Zen 32GB is easily the high watermark in flash MP3 players, providing impressive audio, video and other multimedia capabilities without breaking the bank, or taking up more space than a pocket. This flash MP3 player comes equipped with a 2.5 inch LCD screen, which renders images at an impressive resolution ratio of 320x240, and includes, among other things, a digital radio tuner and a voice recorder.

While its weight and size make the Creative Zen 32GB flash MP3 player capable of going anywhere, its multimedia features make it capable of doing just about anything. While it might lack the memory to host an entire video or audio library, it extends itself beyond entertainment functions, without forgetting them for a moment.

Experts praise the Creative Zen 32GB flash MP3 player for its attractive design. Housed in a sleek, black body, this flash MP3 player offers an easy-to-use set of controls housed safely and discretely on the right side for a better aesthetic feel and added protection against weathering and damage. Users love the Creative Zen 32GB flash MP3 player for its versatility and user-friendliness. Despite having a diminished memory capacity, this flash MP3 player is ideal for everyday use and makes certain of this by including everyday features like a digital radio tuner, voice recorder and card reader.

There really is no getting around it, the Creative Zen 32GB MP3 player is in a class of its own.

The Walkman X-Series isn’t just an iPod rival. It’s a Walkman saviour. Sony invented portable music in the late 1970s and dominated for two decades. Then the Apple iPod appeared and Sony didn’t so much drop the ball as meekly hand it to Apple. The Tokyo giant refused to support MP3, put out a succession of horrible-looking novelty players and looked on in horror as Apple sauntered off with its crown. That’s all history now, though. The X-Series is where the Walkman fight-back begins.

beefed up by both digital noise cancelling and an advanced digital sound processor. Extraneous hubbub, from chit-chat to moderate train noise, is comfortably filtered out by the noise cancelling, while the S-Master digital sound processor ensures that even if you’re playing music loud, it still remains crystal clear.

The X-Series isn’t fussy about what it’ll play, with MP3, WMA and AAC supported. With iTunes Store music now DRM-free, there’s nothing stopping you from putting tracks purchased there on your X-Series. Although there’s still nothing as elegant as Apple’s iTunes software for managing tunes, you can drag and drop tunes, in fuss-free style.

The X-Series offers a slightly smaller screen than the iPod Touch – 3 inches compared to 3.5 – but what it lacks in girth, it makes up for in crispness and vibrancy. Put simply, the OLED screen here thrashes the iPod’s LED one, putting in a better performance with video and photos alike. It does make you long to live in Japan, though – their X-Series can receive digital TV broadcasts, which look stunning. Over here we’ve got YouTube, which is a pretty poor consolation, visually.

The X-Series’ touchscreen is a tad basic compared to the Touch’s, a little unresponsive at times and lacking multi-touch or an accelerometer. You do get a coverflow view if you want to finger your way through your collection, as well as more traditional list views.

Looks-wise, the X-Series is a more butch counterpoint to Apple’s curvier, more attractive Touch. It’s slightly smaller and more pocket-friendly, while the granite sides give it a look and feel that’s tough yet tactile. The rough edges also house oft-used buttons including the noise-cancelling switch. It’s not as tidy as the ’Pod, sure, but it also saves you fishing the X-Series from your pocket every time you want to fast forward or adjust the volume.

This is a superb PMP. Things like a poorer interface and lack of Mac compatibility put it at a slight disadvantage to the iPod Touch, but its screen and audio quality really shine. After numerous false starts and a general drubbing from the iPod, the X-Series puts the Walkman right back in the game.

The Apple iPod Nano was been one of the leading MP3 players in the world for quite a while. It’s light weight, compact and has a sleek design which makes the portable aspect very nice. Probably for that very reason this has become a popular MP3 player to people who want something for on the go. After only about a year, it seems Apple decided to move on from the fourth generation Nano and brought out the latest fifth generation. The back to back releases sort of make sense because the fifth generation is almost the same as the forth. It seems like they basically just added a few little goodies to boost sales with the “new” factor. Although it may make been just a marketing tactic, there are some decent new additions.

Features:

One thing that iPods have been missing until now has been the lack of radio. Radio is a very good thing. Sometimes it is just fun to step away from your music collection and listen to something different. Plus, radio stations frequently get songs before they’re actually available to the public, singles that are nearly impossible to find, etc. There are also many of us that have a radio show or two that we enjoy listening to like National Public Radio for example. Things like that make radio valuable and the addition of the FM tuner was much needed. They didn’t go all out and throw in HD radio but FM is a great start and good enough for now.

The one unique thing that they added to set them apart from everyone else is the ability to pause live radio. How is that possible? Well first of all the Nano has support for RDS data which does a few things that are quite nice. First of all it basically gives you all the information about what the name of the song and artist is that is playing. When it downloads that information it basically works like the old portable CD players that had anti skip. All anti skip was usually, was the player would record x number of seconds in advance so that if the player got jostled, rather than skipping, it would play the prerecorded file. In this case it records the information from the RDS data and allows you to pause live radio for 15 seconds. RDS data also makes it so you can tag songs that you like on the radio so that you can download them the next time you sync up with iTunes. The only problem people have had is if the songs don’t have a data file, then you can’t tag it. Also reception varies depending on your area. If you don’t get reception in your car then you probably won’t on the iPod.

One more minute addition is the fitness program. It’s basically just a pedometer unless you get the Nike + iPod Sport Kit to go with it. If this is important to you than the extra kit is essential since knowing how many steps you take isn’t the most useful information. With a few more numbers and some quick math it could but those other numbers like distance walked, aren’t available without the Nike kit. The other thing is that the pedometer works based off the accelerometer which means when it gets jostled it reads as a step. With all the potential jostling of everyday life, many are skeptical to how accurate it can be.

The final major point we’d like to mention is the video recording. This feature probably doesn’t deserve the hype that Apple gave it. The video quality is equal to that of the camera on your cell phone. That is basically what it is except that it can’t take still frames like your phone can. If your cell phone is one of the rare ones that doesn’t have a camera yet or you don’t take your phone with you always but you do take your iPod, then the video could be nice. For most thought that isn’t the case so it’s a feature that ends up not being used. Another downside to this camera is the location of it. It sits right where most people would naturally hold the thing to shoot video or do anything else on it. Not one of Apple’s most brilliant moments.

For an MP3 player, the Apple iPod Nano is still one of the best. On the other hand though, most of the extras have a long ways to go before they become a main reason to get this iPod. Get it for music or go with something else. We’ll let Apple finish whatever thought process they were having when they decided to make these additions. Surely the fully realized idea will be better.