Army

CNET Road Trip Europe: Planes, trains, and automobiles

When I was in my twenties, the idea of a summer in Europe meant a big backpack, a Eurail Pass, a small budget, and a lot of freedom.

I'm not in my twenties anymore, but I've just flown across the pond to begin Road Trip 2011, my sixth annual tour of a specific area of the global map in search of stories, photos, and videos about some of the best geek-oriented destinations I can find.

And this summer, after previous journeys around five regions of the United States, my travels have taken me to Europe. But despite countless … Read more

Bin Laden's computers will test U.S. forensics

For the U.S. government, the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan represents a unique opportunity to test advanced computer forensics techniques called "media exploitation" that it's developed over the last few years.

The military's acronym for the process is DOMEX, which one Army team in Iraq cheekily sums up with this motto: "You check their pulse, we'll check their pockets."

The electronic gear hauled away by an assault team of Navy SEALs reportedly included five computers, 10 hard drives, and scores of removable media including USB sticks and DVDs. … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 45: I sue you, you sue me

Apple sues Samsung, Samsung sues Apple, the Army uses Android in the battle field, and we get a tour of the latest round of Android Tablets. Join Justin Eckhouse and guest hosts Eric Franklin and JT Tabencki as they dive into the world of Android.

News Stories

Apple sues Samsung for ‘copying’ smartphones, tablets http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20055033-248.html

Samsung countersues Apple over iPhone, iPad http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/22/us-samsung-apple-idUSTRE73L0DG20110422

Android phones record user-locations … Read more

Army enlists Android for battlefield comms

The U.S. Army is establishing a beachhead on the shores of smartphone tech, and it's got Google's Android operating system in its ranks.

The Android-based Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) gadget is undergoing evaluations and moving closer to deployment, according to a report on the Army Web site earlier this week. The JBC-P Handheld, which is currently in prototype form, is part of a broader effort by the Army to bring more mobile communications capabilities to soldiers engaged in tactical operations.

It's a significantly modified version of Android, called Mobile/Handheld Computing Environment, that's running in … Read more

GPS mortars make Army debut in Afghanistan

The average American uses GPS to navigate a road trip or find cheap gas on the way home from work. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has long been busy coming up with ways to harness GPS for warfare. Soldiers in Afghanistan have a new, very dangerous GPS gadget in their arsenal: 120mm GPS-guided mortars.

The Army loves acronyms, of course, and as such the GPS shells are known as APMI, or Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative cartridges. Translation: Fast Accurate Bombs, but FAB wasn't going to fly as a nickname for these weapons.

The usual method for using mortars is … Read more

U.S. troops getting wearable gunshot detectors

U.S. troops in Afghanistan will begin receiving wearable gunshot detector systems this month, allowing them to quickly grasp the approximate distance and direction of enemy fire.

The Individual Gunshot Detector (IGD) by Qinetiq consists of a shoulder-mounted unit with four acoustic sensors and a chest display that attaches to body armor.

Weighing less than 2 pounds, the IGD picks up supersonic waves produced by the blast and whiz of rounds and indicates where they're coming from in a fraction of a second.

An earpiece that was developed for the system provides audio warnings such as "Shot, 400 meters, 3 o'clock." It tracks the shooter and continues to provide audio updates.

Vehicle-mounted gunfire detectors have been used for some time in the field. The IGD should allow dismounted troops to quickly respond to an attack. … Read more

Manning hit with 22 additional criminal charges

Alleged WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning is facing 22 additional criminal charges, including one that involves the death penalty, the U.S. military said today.

These add to the charges already pending against the U.S. Army private suspected of being the source for WikiLeaks' massive document dumps of military and State Department files. Manning is currently being held at a military jail in Quantico, Va., outside of Washington, D.C.

Manning was originally charged last July with sending a military video to a person not authorized to receive it and with obtaining "more than 150,000 diplomatic cables" … Read more

CES: Victorinox adds solid-state storage to multitool devices

Victorinox Swiss Army, makers of the popular multitool, today announced three new secure flash drives for travelers who want more than just your generic USB-powered storage key. The Slim and Slim Duo devices are outfitted with Victorinox's classic folding pocket knives, scissors, and nail files, but each also includes a USB flash drive, with up to 64GB of storage for the Slim and 128GB for the Slim Duo.

Both drives are waterproof and shock-resistant, available for purchase in a variety of bright colors (red, blue, orange, pink, green, silver), and also available in knifeless flight-friendly versions.

The Victorinox Secure … Read more

U.S. soldier in Afghanistan gets $16,000 AT&T bill

Updated at 1:45 p.m. PT December 19: I have heard from an AT&T spokesperson, who has offered me the following comment: "We are crediting the family's entire bill." AT&T will be giving me further details. I will update further then.

Updated at 8:47 a.m. PT December 21: AT&T tells me that its Customer Care is now in touch with Pte. Rivera and says that this is a rare and unfortunate occurrence that should have been handled differently.

I cannot imagine too many U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan … Read more

Arriving on battlefield: iPhones, Android devices

Imagine the many ways smartphones have integrated into most people's daily lives: talking, texting, e-mailing, video watching, game playing, researching, shopping, and so on.

Now imagine the possible ways in which having an iPhone or an Android on hand might make a soldier's life in combat easier. Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, said the military is testing the deployment of smartphones to soldiers in the field, the Army Times reports.

"One of the options potentially is to make it a piece of equipment in a soldier's clothing bag," Vane said.

Army-issued smartphones are already in the schoolhouse and garrison, in the hands of some students at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Lee, Va., and at Fort Sill, Okla., under an Army program called Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications, the paper reports. CSDA's next step, already underway at Fort Bliss, Texas, is testing for the war zone.

With smartphones, soldiers could communicate with one another in multiple ways, watch airplane drone video live in the field, quickly go through maps, and share intelligence reports, just to name a few possible uses. … Read more