T-Mobile has already offered up a standard issue Eee PC as part of a mobile broadband package, and it looks like it's now set to take things one big step further by introducing a special Eee PC 901 GO model with built-in 3G. As you may recall, a disassembled Eee PC 901 recently revealed some pretty clear accomodations for a 3G card, so this latest development is hardly a huge surprise, though it is certainly a welcome one. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of details just yet, but T-Mobile says the "jointly developed" ASUS Connection Manager will get you up and running within seconds, and you can apparently expect about to get about five hours of mobile broadband use out of the battery before it runs dry. Given that T-Mobile chose to make the announcement at IFA, however, we'd assume they'll have a bit more to say about it before all is said and done, and we'll be sure to let you know if they do.

[Via jkkmobile]

It looks like U.S. International Trade Commission judge Carl Charneski has managed to cause quite a stir in the GPS industry this month, with him first ruling earlier this month that chipmaker SiRF infringed on six of Broadcom's GPS patents, and him now recommending that the ITC issue an all out product import ban on products using the offending chips. Given that one of the supposedly infringing chips is the ever-present SiRF Star III, that would obviously shake things up in a pretty big way. A final decision on a ban won't come until December, however, and SiRF looks to be exploring all of its options in the meantime, including asking the U.S. Patent Office for reexamination of the contested patents. As Reuters reports though, that hasn't stopped SiRF's shares from falling 24 percent to an all time low on Tuesday, and at least one GPS device manufacturer doesn't look to be waiting around to see how things shake out either, with DigiTimes now reporting that Mitac is set to stop using SiRF chips in its GPS devices in the fourth quarter of this year. Then again, that is DigiTimes, but we doubt that'll be much consolation for SiRF right about now.

Read - Reuters, "SiRF hit after ITC judge urges product import ban"
Read - DigiTimes, "Mitac to give up SiRF GPS solutions due to patent dispute"

[Via Linux Devices]

While it doesn't appear to be nearly as serious as some of the computer problems the International Space Station has faced, it looks like a virus has managed to find its way onto some of the laptops used on the Station, which NASA is now describing only as a "nuisance." According to SpaceRef.com, the virus is the W32.Gammima.AG worm, which is normally used to swipe sensitive information for online games. As Wired's Threat Level reports, the worm has also spread to more than one laptop on the Space Station, which would seem to suggest that it has either been spread via an on-board intranet, or via a thumb drive. Somewhat disconcertingly, when asked by Threat Level if any mission critical systems were connected to the same network as the laptops, NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries simply said, "I don't know and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you for IT security reasons."

[Via Threat Level, thanks a.c.e.r.]

Rumors of Samsung's BD-Live-ready BD-P2500 Blu-ray player first started cropping up a few months ago, and the strikingly similar BD-P2550 just slipped out at Best Buy a few days ago, but if you like your Blu-ray news all official like, you'll be glad to know that Samsung has now finally actually talking about the player, and it's set to show it off at the big IFA show later this week. In addition to BD-Live support (which will apparently come in a future update), Samsung also confirms that the player packs the always-desirable Silicon Optix HQV video processing chip, and support for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD in addition to the usual non-HD formats. No firm word on a price just yet, but you can look for the official launch to happen in September. If that Best Buy slip is any indication, however, it seems likely that they could start showing up even sooner than that.