ATM hacking made easy

In today's podcast: Amazon updates Kindle; Windows 7 and WebOS but no Android on HP tablet computers; and ATM hacking made easy.

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Amazon has unveiled the latest iteration of its Kindle e-reader, with an enhanced display, faster navigation, and an entirely redesigned chassis that is 15 percent lighter and 21 percent smaller than the previous model. The Wi-Fi and 3G version will cost 189 dollars, while the Wi-Fi-only model will cost 139 dollars. The new Kindle uses the same E-Ink Pearl screen found on the Kindle DX, and the screen refreshes 20 percent faster than its predecessor. Amazon will accept orders from tonight, and ship on August 27.

Nintendo reported a net loss for the April to June quarter as the strong Japanese yen and weak demand for its game consoles hurt earnings. The company lost 25 billion yen, about 2.2 billion dollars, compared to a 42 billion yen profit a year earlier. Sales fell by a quarter, to 189 billion yen, with sales of the Nintendo DS handheld console dropping by almost half. New game launches also fell during the period, leading to the weak sales, Nintendo said.

Hewlett-Packard will use Windows 7 in a tablet exclusively for enterprises, while making a consumer-oriented unit based on WebOS. The tablets will go up against Apple's blockbuster iPad and other devices, including Cisco's recently announced Cius business tablet. HP has no plans to offer a tablet running Android

Exploiting bugs in two different ATM machines, IOActive researcher Barnaby Jacks was able to get them to spit out money on demand and record sensitive data from the cards of people who used them. At the Black Hat hacking conference in Las Vegas, he showed the attacks on two systems he had purchased himself. Patches have already been developed for the systems, built by ATM-makers Triton and and Tranax, Jack said. He found a way to connect to the machines by dialing them up via a remote management interface, and developed a way of bypassing the remote authentication system and installing a homemade rootkit that lets him override the machine's firmware.

And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I’m Peter Sayer in Paris. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.