While we figured the NYPD could just install Magic Message Mirrors in every mafia hotspot in the Manhattan area, the Genovese family has proven quite the eagle-eyed bunch when it comes to spotting wiretaps, tailing, and other (failed) attempts of bugging their conversations. In order to tap into critical conversations by known mafioso and other, less glamorous criminals, police are utilizing a "roving bug" technique which remotely activates the microphone of a crime lord's cellie, giving the boys in blue convenient access to their secret agenda(s). The presumably controversial tapping was recently approved by top US DoJ officials "for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques." Software hacks (and actual phones, too) have previously allowed such dodgy eavesdropping to occur, with "Nextel, Samsung, and Motorola" handsets proving particularly vulnerable, but this widespread approach in tracking down criminal conversations could hopefully pinpoint future targets where prior attempts failed. Of course, if mafia members hit the internet every now and then, they're probably removing those batteries right about now anyway.

We've got phones so tiny we can barely dial our intended contacts, Bluetooth headsets that allow calls to be placed by just lifting a hand, and now Sanyo Semiconductor is giving the couch dweller in us all another glimpse of jubilation with its latest chip. Although typical BT earpieces combine a speaker and microphone for an all-in-one conversation solution, even the tiniest of units aren't exactly discrete, and if your surroundings happen to drown out your voice, your only solution is to escape the racket or yell louder. Sanyo is hoping to ease the frustrations of current handsfree applications by creating an LSI chip that can be worn in one's ear and yet still transmit outgoing audio. The device operates by picking up the faint diaphragm movements that occur whenever you utter even a whisper, and magnifies the vibrations into spoken words that your recipient can comprehend. While the eardrum emits voice signals "at a strength of about one-30th that of the voice itself," the circuity can reportedly transform comments made under your breath into phrases heard loud and clear. The company isn't handing out release details nor giving any indications on how much these will cost, but it looks like we'll all be one step closer to double-agent status should these ever hit store shelves.

As the saying goes, "You snooze, you lose." Such is the case for LG Telecom, Korea's 3rd-largest carrier behind SK Telecom and KTF, which purchased a license to deploy 3G services on the 2GHz band in 2001 for 1.15 trillion won ($1.2 billion, give or take), but has yet to do anything with said license. According to the terms of the license agreement, the services had to be in place by the end of last month, and an advisory board has subsequently given the thumbs-up to Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication to yoink the license. LG Telecom's CEO, Nam Yong, has said that deploying 3G at 2GHz would be counter to market trends and they'd like to upgrade their 1.8GHz network instead, but it appears the heart-of-stone MIC is going ahead with the revocation nonetheless. And here's the real kicker: Korean law stipulates that any company failing to make good on a 3G rollout remove its chief executive. Oh, but don't you worry about Mr. Nam; rumor has it he'll likely land comfortably somewhere within LGT's corporate parent -- you guessed it -- LG Electronics.