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Armed with some strong test results and new features, ZoneAlarm's latest consumer security suite revamp released today is a solid effort to attract new users and retain older fans. Available exclusively from CNET Download.com today, ZoneAlarm has updated its four main consumer options for download: ZoneAlarm Extreme Security, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, ZoneAlarm AntiVirus + Firewall, and ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall to feature a new unified look, more-effective threat scans, and some interesting value-added features for users who don't mind paying more to get ancillary security features.

The interface is the most apparent change to the suites, ditching a … Read more

TrustWare's BufferZone Free takes a "proactive" approach to Internet security by isolating your browsing activity and personal data in a "Virtual Zone" that excludes all existing and potential threats, even "zero-day" threats that haven't yet been added to antivirus updates. BufferZone doesn't require regular updates, and it doesn't replace your antivirus, firewall, and other security tools. It adds an additional layer of protection by buffering your computer's connections to potential threats. It supports all major browsers and messaging tools as well as other popular software. However, the free version … Read more

ZoneAlarm SocialGuard (download) from Check Point Software Technologies is a Windows program released today that allows parents to monitor children's Facebook activities to see if they're bullying, being bullied, friending strangers, or engaging in potentially dangerous online activities.

No stealth mode For parents to monitor their kid's profile, the child has to sign in once with his or her Facebook user name and password. That password is not passed on to the parent and the parent can't actually see the child's profile or what they're posting. Instead they get alerts of anything that the … Read more

SocialGuard is part of a relatively new and burgeoning field of desktop apps that look to address growing parental concerns about how to keep children safe online in the Facebook age. It does a remarkable job of balancing cost with useful tools, although parents should be warned: SocialGuard is designed to make kids safer while encouraging communication, not impose draconian restrictions on your children's Facebook activity.

From the makers of the ZoneAlarm firewall, SocialGuard is a desktop client with deep hooks into Facebook. The company wants parents to use it as a starting place to encourage communication about online … Read more

LAS VEGAS--On the heels of a study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reminding us that only a small percentage of resolutions are kept each year, this year's Consumers Electronics Show will, for the first time, include a Fitness TechZone, where the latest sports and fitness tools and innovations will be on display.

Sponsored by Living in Digital Times, the Fitness TechZone is described as a "focused lifestyle exhibition and conference embedded within the International CES." In simpler terms, it's gadgets gone wild for sports enthusiasts and digital couch potatoes alike.

The more than 25,000-square-foot … Read more

AT&T is expanding Wi-Fi access in New York and San Francisco where customers have run into trouble with the carrier's overcrowded celluar network, according to the Associated Press.

The company is due to announce today that it will expand its Wi-Fi hot zone this week in New York City's Times Square, which launched in May. "Hot zone" is a term for a large, outdoor, public area covered by multiple hot spots.

AT&T is also eyeing new hot zones around New York's Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral areas, according to … Read more

Sports fans can easily find the live stadium experience to be paradoxically out of touch compared with the instant stats, superior commentary, and HD replays available to home viewers. DVRs, HDTVs, and smartphones can't follow you to the live game. At stadiums, it's hard to get any smartphone to work properly. Streaming radio apps black out live game broadcasts, unless you're using Sirius. As for video, unless you've got some portable TV with an HDTV antenna converter box, you're out of luck.

This is the promise that NFL FanVision offers to a seasoned fan. At first glance, the device--a dedicated ruggedized handheld with a 4.3-inch screen formerly used at Nascar events--looks like a castoff from the early '00s, some idea of a personal media player from the early age of iPods. Purportedly waterproof (though we didn't test it) and boasting a 6-hour battery life for streaming, it's a bit too big to pocket and hangs from a lanyard around one's neck. Sure, it's not nearly as elegant as an iPhone. What it does, however, bears consideration. A live TV feed of the current game (plus audio commentary), multiple viewing angles, instant multi-angle replay after every play, plus live video of other games around the league, the NFL Red Zone channel, and stats...it's compelling for a hard-core fan.

How it works Others might ask, why not just watch the real live game in front of you? That's a valid point, but not for me. I'm a New York Jets fan, and my dad has been one for 45 years. We know the players, and we like to know what's happening down to the fine details. FanVision's audio commentary and stats offer more than what's given via the minimalist PA system and the infrequently updated HD megascreens. And instant replay, the killer app for the home user, is offered up at the press of a button.

Even better, FanVision seems to be set up to be overload-proof. FanVision works via a dedicated local UHF channel that's licensed to broadcast in the stadium and the parking lot area. The device is really a higher-tech TV, one that can receive up to 10 channels of digitally compressed video and stat data and cache highlight videos for replays. Once booted up via a small power button, the device locates the nearby broadcast tower and downloads team-specific data and channel programming. After a few minutes of initialization, the device is up and running. By avoiding Wi-Fi or 3G, FanVision's broadcast concept shouldn't suffer from slowdown.

It all sounds great on paper, but we wanted to test it for ourselves.… Read more

For the last several years, every time the Sonos PR team meets with us to talk about its new products, we ask when the black version is coming. It's become sort of a running joke, so much so that I like to think we had a little something to do with the company's decision to finally put out a black-colored product after years off sticking to white.

Whatever the case (somehow I doubt the company takes us too seriously), Sonos has a new black option for its single-speaker streaming audio system, the ZonePlayer S5. No, it isn't … Read more

Quieter yet more effective, the latest ZoneAlarm Firewall Free should be considered an excellent tool for replacing the otherwise adequate default Windows firewall.

It's a stronger option that includes quieter outbound protection, behavioral detection from the ZoneAlarm Internet security suite, automatic Wi-Fi security setting activation, antiphishing protection, an overhauled ZoneAlarm toolbar that will protect you even when hidden, six months free identity theft protection, and 2GB of free online storage.