As consumer electronics become more powerful and less expensive, we're seeing an increase in military-grade gadgets that use COTS (common, off-the-shelf) components. At this year's Association of the US Army conference, for instance, ITT is showing off something called GhostRider. This piece of hardware attaches to your phone (in this case, a Dell Venue) and encrypts communication (including voice and text) transmitted over the Army's data networks. Sounds like the perfect compliment to your Raytheon TransTalk communicator, doesn't it? Also in the pipeline is a tablet variant, called GhostWarrior. The phone is being tested at Fort Gordon, Georgia and Fort Bliss, New Mexico.