I must have - I must have now - the instinctive response when Mummy wheeled your stroller past the Hershey aisle. The same instinct is alive and kicking as thousands line the streets today for the latest in electronics gluttony- the 3G iPhone.(SUPER-SIZE ME!)The iPhone is a phenomenal product - no question - and would have remained a phenomenal product unchanged for another few years  - but now it’s just another piece of junk pushed aside for a spanking new upgrade - the 3G iPhone.Let’s face it - features like GPS and 3G could have been included in iPhone 1.0 but were held back to (1) Create further record sales for a later model and (2) ensure that the original iPhone would be perceived to be obsolete as quickly as possible.It’s a prime example of the marketing employed by companies like Apple who have deliberately instigated the e-waste crisis. I call it deliberate because Apple and the other electronics giants are fully aware that greater amounts of e-waste is a direct result of their drive to make previous models obsolete as quickly as they can.How different is the new iPhone 3G from the iPhone 1.0? Surprisingly, not very much. Apart from having 3G and GPS.What else is new?

• Your inbox will be the same and act just as fast and soon you’ll be able to download software to make your iPhone 1.0 email faster and more secure.

• Your old iPhone supports ActiveSync just like the new one.

• Your old iPhone supports all the new enterprise functionality of the Blackberry.
• Plus you’re old iPhone (it’s just crazy to call this thing old) is going to be able to capitalize on all the new applications pouring out thanks to the long awaited SDK release (Software Development Kit).
• 3G streaming video will be faster, but none of the stuff I love to watch on YouTube will be there because of copyright protection - and of course in a Wifi area you’ll have no advantage over iPhone 1.0.

Oh yes- the old iPhone is about 2 mil thinner, so the 3G will feel a little bulkier in your pocket.I find 3G still sluggish compared to the broadband speed I’m used to in most Wifi Cafes… for a good all round review go to engadget.  A better alternativeMy advice is to stay with your original iPhone - if you really have to have the 3G model because you totally rely on the Edge for internet connectivity and not Wifi then at least wait 2 or 3 weeks until some mint pre-owned 3Gs are on the market.Then just sell your old iPhone and upgrade. This way you won’t be adding another new cell phone onto the market. Every time you buy a new cell phone you’re adding another onto the e-waste pile - and only 12.5% of that will be recycled.Later in the year we’re going to start trade 2 save. We’ll happily accept the iPhone 1.0 in graded conditions and sell pre-owned 2.0 and 1.0 iPhones in graded conditions, from like new, very good and good (all with a 1 year warranty). By trading in this way you’ll be able to upgrade without breaking the bank and without creating more e-waste.What’s more, trade 2 save will be a pre-owned electronics market place, where you can trade-in all your used electronics in working condition including all electronics, accessories, computer hardware, laptops, PCs, Gaming, Movies and entertainment.

The counterfeit game is stepping up and gone are the days when you could shrewdly spot the PlayStation logo spelled PloyStation. The real scams are the ones which are out to defraud you – and that means counterfeits looking exactly like the real thing, down to the hologram certificate on the packaging.

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is, but then again, scammers are getting round this too with a ‘close to market price’ for their counterfeit goods on eBay. Plus there’s plenty of opportunities to hack eBay accounts and assume the identity of reputable dealers.

Perhaps the best advice is Know your source. Avoid online merchants who you don’t know, a website with spelling mistakes on their homepage is an instant giveaway – reputable dealers can afford a proof reader and Chinese tricksters are notoriously bad spellers. A whopping 87% of all fake IT originate from China.

This makes it harder for consumers to trust the pre-owned used market in particular. Trade 2 save, where customers will be able to buy sell and trade consumer electronics gaming products and cellphones is helping to combat this by stringently testing every product they buy off of the public. Testers are  especially trained in spotting counterfeits, from checking screw fittings, hardware analysis, to micro components. A whole array of counterfeits are flooding the market from China, especially so for mobile or cell phones, DVD or blu-ray movies, PC Hardware in particular - it’s a growing and worrying trend that is also attacking the very best outlets who don’t test each and every product.

              China remains counterfeit central — more fake products of all kinds come from China than from the rest of the world combined.

The growing counterfeiting problem is the dark side of the incredible cheapness of PCs these days. The driving force is consumers and businesses who view PCs as commodities to be purchased based on price, rather than quality and reliability. Declining margins force OEMs to seek ever cheaper suppliers, which in turn seek out less expensive components. Often, the cheapest part is the fakest part.

             One in ten IT products sold is fake. (AGMA)

It’s possible to buy a fully counterfeit PC and think it’s original equipment. The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) says one in ten IT products sold is fake. But even a computer sold legitimately by a brand-name outfit might have a counterfeit motherboard. And even if the motherboard is real, various chips and parts on that board might be fake.

No company – (not even the Best Buys or Walmarts) — can track down and verify the authenticity of every component.

          Testing is both extremely expensive and very time consuming.

Any company that tests products before passing them on is in a good position to spot a larger percentage of fakes, however a typical PC contains thousands of counterfeitable parts.

Up to date photographs of known conterfeits, procedures for spotting them, along with hardware analysis, chipset removal and testing all help to ensure that even the most realistic fakes won’t get through the screening process.

Organizations with strict testing procedures are unlikely to be a primary target of the fraudsters, who prefer to bask in relative anonymity of auction sites like eBay.

A massive crackdown at U.S. and European airports in December 2007 yielded some 360,000 fake electronic components worth $1.3 billion, including phony Intel chips and about 40 other major brands.

Such high-visibility busts however, mask the difficulty in stopping counterfeit components.

The ugly truth is that you can never be 100% certain that any PC you buy contains all legitimate components. But you can minimize the risk by shopping for reliability, not just low price.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act was originally passed in 1970 to illiminate the ill effects brought about by organized crime.
Since the 1980’s, however, civil lawyers have taken advantage of section 1964(c) of the RICO Act, which allows civil claims to be brought by any person injured in their business or property by reason of a RICO violation.

Is eBay, by making so much of its income by selling known counterfeit and/or stolen goods, in fact a criminal conspiracy under the terms of the RICO act?

Scott Augenbaum, supervisory special agent for the FBI Cybercrime Fraud unit in Washington, D.C. is adament on the subject “The vast majority (of conterfeit IT products in circulation) is still being purchased from gray market, uncertified resellers that unload their goods on eBay at extremely low prices,”

       Counterfeit products account for nearly 10% of the overall IT products market.

Counterfeit Cisco equipment, known in the industry as “Chisco” (counterfeit Cisco equipment originating in China) are being created at an alarming rate. According to a white paper by AGMA and consulting company KPMG, counterfeit products account for nearly 10% of the overall IT products market. That’s $100 billion in fake memory sticks, drives, monitors, networking gear and other IT products in circulation.

China’s policies concerning intellectual property infringement and state-sanctioned piracy have become a growing global concern. Tremendous growth of the network hardware secondary market, as well as an upturn in Chinese manufacturing have combined to push these fears to new heights. The ease at which counterfeits can be sold on eBay may be helping to encourage growth in a market that eBay is certainly making money from. A question which must be asked is how much of these profits are being redirected to help fight this growing internet phenomenon?

As a result, network managers are often avoiding pre-owned hardware from eBay simply because it is too difficult to identify counterfeit equipment. Unless products can be checked by a third party, counterfeit fraud on eBay will continue. An alternative for network managers wanting to save money and have the confidence to buy used or pre-nwed is to buy off of trading portal where products are checked and tested by professionals who can attest to them being genuine. At trade 2 save, consumers will be able to buy sell or trade their computers, cameras, cell phones, games and movies. When they sell them to trade 2 save, every product they buy is tested and give a one year warranty before being sold on. Spotting counterfeits at trade 2 save will be a top priority in procedure and training.

One of the worst offenders on the eBay site, the computer software category is unfortunately littered with counterfeit and pirated goods. Electronic entertainment media of all kinds is commonly sold illegally on eBay, whether in the form of pirated/unlicensed copies, or in the form of import or export-restricted goods.

In Wisconsin 6 defendants were sentenced in April for selling a combined total of more than $25,000,000 worth of counterfeit computer software on eBay.
eBay may well have profited substantially from these transactions and we have not been able to ascertain whether or not eBay has returned these fund to either law enforcement agencies or the many thousands of eBay buyers who were defrauded in good faith.

OK, so one 3 wheeler has 2 wheels at the front, the other has 2 at the back, but somehow I feel that after 23 years since Clive Sinclair’s hilarious C5, the Aptera suffers from the same fundamental problems – it looks ridiculous.

In a recent promotional video, an Aptera marketing boss went as far as to say that the Aptera turns head like a Lamborgini. It’ll turn head for sure, but not for the same reasons.

If it doesn’t follow the C5 into total obscurity I’ll happily eat my biodegradable hat. I mean, where do I fit the golf clubs, the groceries? And exactly how safe will I be when a cast member from Laguna Beach drives over me in his dad’s Humvee?

Should I live long enough on the merciless roads of LA, I think I’d feel about as fashionable driving one of these things as walking into my local Trader Joe’s with a black sparkling glove and a rolled up trouser leg. If someone can persuade me to the contrary I’d love to hear.

Out with the old: The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS

And in with the new: The Canon PowerShot SD890 IS

Now I don’t know about you, but I prefer the previous styling and I’m going to miss the 3 inch LDC display - of course, this always gives Canon the opportunity to make it bigger again for the next model a few months later.

Now let’s get inside:

Apart from body style and zoom levels (thanks to 2 extra mega pixels), the camera is not really a step up in terms of technology at all.

I get a tad cynical about new models when all they’re really doing is making a minute style change. The lens, red eye correction and image stabilization etc all haven’t changed from the SD870 IS. And 10 MP instead of 8MP is meaningless on its own. It has got a view finder, but this is at the expense of the previously great LCD screen, which now is merely adequate.

Bottom line: It does mean that all us folk with 6 or 8 mega pixels will start to feel very inadequate until we upgrade to a 10 Mega Pixel BIG BOY. Which is what it’s all about of course, because they’ll sell more of the same cameras to us - and we’ll send more of the same non-recyclable waste back to India and China.

Any real difference to the SD870 IS - judge for yourself -

Shawn Arch at Gadgetell writes: “What is different about the three cameras is body style, LCD size, and zoom level. The SD 890 has a 5x optical zoom with a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The 5x zoom is equivalent to a 185mm lens. With a 3x zoom, equivalent to a 105mm lens, the SD790 contains a 3-inch LCD screen. Rounding off the bunch is the SD 770 with a 2.5-inch LCD and a 3x optical zoom.

The PowerShot SD890 IS, PowerShot SD790 IS, and the PowerShot SD770 IS are set to hit shelves with an estimated retail price of $399.99, $349.99 and $299.99 respectively.”

As far as we’re concerned, this is not an upgrade, more a side grade to encourage customers to get rid of the old and buy the new when the old one works fine and hasn’t got a scratch on it. At trade 2 save you’ll be able to buy, sell and trade all your consumer electronics pre-owned or used, so you won’t have to spend a fortune upgrading to keep ahead with technology. You’ll be able to cross trade too, so you can trade in your old movies or cellphones as well as your old digital camera for the one you want. Plus you’ll be saving money and saving the planet by buying pre-owned, and have the confidence of a one year warranty.