greenpois0n – Initial ReleaseInitial release of what ??? even reading their website doesn't tell me what they do ???
http://chronic-dev.org/blog/2010/10/greenpois0n-initial-release/
http://www.greenpois0n.com/
asyn
Initial release of what ??? even reading their website doesn't tell me what they do ???
Recent postings by S21sec about ZeuS targeting smartphone users are just the tip of the iceberg when considering the potential of these attacks.
Although this is from August, this still maybe helpful to some for antivirus protection for mobile phones until hopefully Avast develops one: http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/mobile/mobile2010_english.pdf (http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/mobile/mobile2010_english.pdf).
Do we really need AV on smartphones? A lot of phones have 256MB or less of RAM, so running a AV engine in the background is using very precious resources, unlike on a PC where we have 2GB+ of memory installed.Most smartphones have mini-SD cards that allow for much greater memory, so this is not a problem.
Most phones have some sort of curated App Store to eliminate or at least minimize the threat of malicious apps.Yes, and on the Android 2.2 or higher this includes an AV from another vendor. We hope Avast will take this market.
A new Trojan affecting Android devices has recently emerged in China. Dubbed “Geinimi” based on its first known incarnation, this Trojan can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user’s phone and send it to remote servers. The most sophisticated Android malware we’ve seen to date, Geinimi is also the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities. Once the malware is installed on a user’s phone, it has the potential to receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone.
Security Alert: Geinimi, Sophisticated New Android Trojan Found in Wild
http://blog.mylookout.com/
Standardized Smartphone Charger to Dominate in 2 Years:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/29/standard_charger/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/29/standard_charger/)
The link was written primarily for EU standards, not US. Currently most phones come with USB cables, although that will most likely change in the future like all technology.
Standardized Smartphone Charger to Dominate in 2 Years:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/29/standard_charger/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/29/standard_charger/)
Bit late for that really, charge cables will be a thing of the past soon...now that there are induction chargers...
...
The link was written primarily for EU standards, not US. Currently most phones come with USB cables, although that will most likely change in the future like all technology.
...
1. From what you have read and from what everyone has posted, what is the safest operating system for smart phones?1. There is no safest OP at this point however from my testing, the Blackberry seems to offer the best configuration. I've also noticed that the newer phones make it easier to find how to disable and make changes in the phone (see below). Keep in mind that it is the user that is the one that often makes the mistakes of downloading apps. without having full knowledge of what they are downloading, not having their phone secured, geolocator disabled, etc. not having a reputable AV and firewall or VPN on their phone that exposes them to everything being open to the public.
2. I am using Android, what app would make this it safer from malware, hacking, etc.?
How jailbreaking can be used to steal your iPhone password keychain
Windows Phone To Get Multi-Tasking, IE9
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/windows-phone-to-get-multi-tasking-ie9-20874
All these so called smart phones and apps aren't all that clever after all, basic security is lagging well behind the technology. This is a major reason why I still have a Dumb old phone, Samsung G600.
Poisoned Android apps taken down from official company storehttp://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/03/poisoned-android-apps-taken-down-from-official-company-store/1
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
An Update on Android Market Security
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/update-on-android-market-security.html
Apple bans iPhone 3G patch omission talk from forum
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/11/iphone_forum_patch_talk_verbotten/
Google Search app for iPhone—a new name and a new lookhttp://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/google-search-app-for-iphonea-new-name.html
Pwn2Own 2011: Day 2 - iPhone and Blackberry hacked
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Pwn2Own-2011-Day-2-iPhone-and-Blackberry-hacked-1206254.html
just a tip, with iOs 4.3 Apple has updated webkit for safari making it twice as fast as before. I could actually observe it, that's no lie. Now consider this, on iOs 4.2, Firefox "home", just an interface synced with Mozilla server (usually used for the desktop version of FF4) was much faster than Safari. Now it's not just faster, it's a rocket.http://www.tomsguide.com/us/android-iphone-google-chrome-apple-safari,news-10501.html
Don't get me wrong, due to Apple restrictions, Firefox 4 mobile won't come to the iPhone/iPad/iPod platform, and FF "home" is not a full featured browser. It will sync (from your FF4 desktop) tabs, history and bookmarks (not the passwords), but it's still worth a shot.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firefox-home/id380366933?mt=8
"From what I hear, it is possible the iPhone 5 will include NFC. An entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product told me today that he believes the iPhone 5 will have NFC and cited a friend who works at Apple as a reliable source for the information," writes Elizabeth Woyke.
Device-Level Encryption Comes to Android:
Windows 7 Phone Gets Cut and Paste Update…Finally:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/23/nodo_wp7_update/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/23/nodo_wp7_update/)
Windows 7 Phone Gets Cut and Paste Update…Finally:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/23/nodo_wp7_update/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/23/nodo_wp7_update/)
Is this really 2011 and not 1991? I feel bad for Nokia shareholders. :'( >:(
yeah... it also took a while to Apple until cut'n paste got introduced on the iPhone ;D
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market share predictions:
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS22762811
Boxcar Spreading Beyond iOS, Onto Mac, Windows & Androidhttp://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/boxcar_spreading_beyond_ios_onto_mac_windows_andro.php
iTunes Users Fume Over Account Hacks:
http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/itunes-users-puzzle-fume-over-account-hacks-033111?utm_source=Newsletter_040111&utm_medium=Email+Marketing&utm_campaign=Newsletter&CID= (http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/itunes-users-puzzle-fume-over-account-hacks-033111?utm_source=Newsletter_040111&utm_medium=Email+Marketing&utm_campaign=Newsletter&CID=)
This is why I don't have any card details attached to my account, if I want something I will buy a gift card. I had this option when signing up, and looking now, it seems that the option to have no card associated with the account is not there anymore. Which is a bad thing...When I tested the iPhone and had iTunes, I realized how difficult it was to uninstall the software (and it's nasty remnants) and remove private information. Thank goodness I didn't give them a credit card number, but I wanted ALL demographic data removed. With persistence, you can do it.
Oh Bob, that last post made me laugh so hard that I'm crying. Thanks for a good laugh! :DYour welcome. Sometimes you need a break from the serious side of life. :)
"The document demand, which was made earlier this year, was part of a larger set of subpoenas issued on an industry-wide basis to publishers of smartphone apps, Pandora said"
Pandora Subpoenaed Over Privacy of iPhone & Androids Apps:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/04/pandora_smartphone_apps_probe/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/04/pandora_smartphone_apps_probe/)
PC sales 'have passed peak'http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/14/pc-market-has-passed-its-peak
iOS 4.3.2 Software Update
This update contains improvements and other bug fixes including:
- Fixes an issue that occasionally caused blank or frozen video during a FaceTime call
- Fixes an issue that prevented some international users from connecting to 3G networks on iPad Wi-Fi + 3G
- Contains the latest security updates
Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone 4 (GSM model)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
Apple Puts Out iOS 4.3.2.to Fix Bugs:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/15/ios_updated/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/15/ios_updated/)
My posted link was slightly different from yours although the title appears the same. If you read the links they are different as my link also refers to jailbreaking. No big deal. There will be more updates with Apple, I'm sure.
Apple Puts Out iOS 4.3.2.to Fix Bugs:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/15/ios_updated/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/15/ios_updated/)
already posted
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=65103.msg630874#msg630874
skypesecurity Privacy vulnerability in Skype for Android fixed http://bit.ly/hWoZOvhttp://twitter.com/skypesecurity/status/60658540561432576
Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your moves
http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html
http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/
US Senator, Al Franken, has written a letter to Apple, asking questions about why the data was not encrypted, how precise the information is and why weren't consumers informed of the existence of the tracking.
Yeah, that little blue dot ;D
Googling revealed this?
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/23/skyhooks-wi-fi-location-technology-for-iphone-ipod-touch/
Just what we need. Politicians sticking their nose into more things that they probably know little about.QuoteUS Senator, Al Franken, has written a letter to Apple, asking questions about why the data was not encrypted, how precise the information is and why weren't consumers informed of the existence of the tracking.
http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/letter/110420_Apple_Letter.pdf
Geo Location if you don't like it, turn it off.
It now appears that turning off "Location Services" in the iPhone does not stop the collection of data in the "consolidated.db" database.
Cops Refuse to Say if They Secretly Snarf Cellphone Data:I knew about that for a while. Been privy to it myself, actually. None of it is admissible in court. ;) (well, without a warrant anyhow)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/21/police_cellphone_searches/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/21/police_cellphone_searches/)
This article pertains to the US but I'm sure it will spread. I guess the harvesting of cell phone data has been going on for a while and we didn't know about it. Now that the news about the iPhone data collection has been leaked, everyone is up in arms about it since the police have a tool to read the data from any smartphone just being near it...like parked near you and you wouldn't know they are doing this.
Been privy to it myself, actually. None of it is admissible in court. ;) (well, without a warrant anyhow)Not admissible in court, huh? That's not what the news is saying where I live. Of course this story changes by the hour. ::) I'm sure a warrant is needed if you ask me or there would be lawsuits.
That would also depend on whether you can hire an attorney or are stuck with a Public Defender. Money rules the American Judicial System. ;)Been privy to it myself, actually. None of it is admissible in court. ;) (well, without a warrant anyhow)Not admissible in court, huh? That's not what the news is saying where I live. Of course this story changes by the hour. ::) I'm sure a warrant is needed if you ask me or there would be lawsuits.
Just in time for Spring, iNtervalSoft today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of How to Pick Up Chicks 1.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. How to Pick Up Chicks is the ultimate guide to picking up chicks.
QuoteHow to Pick Up Chicks 1.0 for iPhone
Oh good just in time for Easter. :)QuoteJust in time for Spring, iNtervalSoft today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of How to Pick Up Chicks 1.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. How to Pick Up Chicks is the ultimate guide to picking up chicks.
http://7thspace.com/headlines/380165/how_to_pick_up_chicks_10_for_iphone_ipad_and_ipod_touch_devices_announced.html
;D :D ;D
okay I just found a French article about the tracking issue - or non-issue
"data file Consolidated.db required for the operation of the iPhone, are recorded but not erased due to a programming bug. The piece of code supposed to delete them has obviously never been developed "
So if you're ever lost, just call Microsoft and ask them where you are. ;D ;D ;D
Windows 7 Phone Sends User’s Location Data to Microsoft:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/27/windows_phone_location_tracking/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/27/windows_phone_location_tracking/)
7. When I turn off Location Services, why does my iPhone sometimes continue updating its Wi-Fi and cell tower data from Apple’s crowd-sourced database?
It shouldn’t. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below).
Software Update
Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that:
reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,
ceases backing up this cache, and
deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.
In the next major iOS software release the cache will also be encrypted on the iPhone.
In an effort to drum up support for its smartphone platform among existing smartphone developers, Microsoft has released a raft of information to help iOS developers find their feet on Windows Phone 7
Personal Firewall for AndroidI read about this software and it changes some dll's on your phone permanently, so I'm holding off on testing. I've tested other AV's without problems and have been able to install and uninstall without problems. Then there is the RFID pouch or aluminum foil to avoid being tracked. ;D
http://www.whispersys.com/whispermonitor.html
Then there is the RFID pouch or aluminum foil to avoid being tracked. ;D
However, there could be a downside to the innovation, if it gives people a new reason to shout into their phones as they attempt to squeeze in every extra bit of power they can.
I hear if you use profanity it charges them in half the time ;D
AT&T Announces It Will Launch a Consumer Wireless Service:
Lol, I thought they were a Wireless Service already.Well, they are supposed to be, but I'm having so many problems with them right now that I can't even call them a wireless service, so I guess it was a Freudian error. ::) I have now fixed it. Thanks.
Add the "security" part!
Lol, I thought they were a Wireless Service already.Well, they are supposed to be, but I'm having so many problems with them right now that I can't even call them a wireless service, so I guess it was a Freudian error. ::) I have now fixed it. Thanks.
Add the "security" part!
iOS 4 Hardware Encryption Cracked:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/25/ios_4_encryption_cracked/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/25/ios_4_encryption_cracked/)
Google Apps. To Only Support Latest Versions of 3 Browsers:
DroidDream Light a malware nightmare, booted from Android Market.
By Ryan Paul | Published June 2, 2011 9:21 AM
A number of malware-encumbered applications were found in the Android Market back in March, but the infestation was brought to a swift end when Google deployed its kill switch. A new variant of the same malware recently resurfaced and was identified by security researchers over the weekend. Google has responded by booting the new round of infected applications out of the Android Market.
The malware was discovered by Lookout, a mobile security company. They found just under 30 infected applications across six separate developer accounts. Several of the infected applications were existing third-party programs that the attacker copied and then repackaged with the malware.
The malware-bearing programs spanned a diverse range of functions, including a scientific calculator, a solitaire game, and a photo enhancement tool. Malicious developer Magic Photo Studio had the most colorful assortment of infected apps, including a soundboard called Sex Sound and a photo gallery program called Beauty Breasts.
The infected applications appear to have been widely downloaded prior to being shut down by Google. Lookout estimates that between 30,000 and 120,000 users have been affected by the attack. We used Google Cache to examine the Android Market pages for several of the malicious apps. The Beauty Breasts program had a 3.5 star rating and been installed between 1,000 and 5,000 times
Google's Web mapping can track your phoneAs the same as Blackberry, iPhone, Smartphone, etc. ::)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20070742-281/exclusive-googles-web-mapping-can-track-your-phone/
Has anyone heard of malware that sends itself out via Bluetooth? I saw it on the news and wikipedia but I'm still not sure if it's true.
jailbreakme times 3
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/7295551750/jailbreakme-times-3
Caution: http://twitter.com/saurik/status/88368173992263681
iOS updates fix certificate validation vulnerability
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/iOS-updates-fix-certificate-validation-vulnerability-1285524.html
The large and growing number of apps available for Android tablets and smart phones means a growing risk for apps that will gain access to your private data – in some instances without you knowing.
Private will delete all personal information and browsing history each time you click out of the app, and it will do another sweep, once more, when it’s clicked on the next time. The result is browsing privacy that many will find comforting, or even essential if using Web services, when using the iPad on the go. While many other iOS-supporting browsers provide incognito functions, we like the simplicity and snappiness of Private and think you might want to give it a try for browsing on your iPad or iPad 2.
Available as a free download from the Apple iTunes App Store, Zoho Invoice ties into your (necessary, but free) Zoho online account. From your iPhone, you’re now able to create customer contacts, work estimates, sale items, service items and expenses with just a few clicks. A few more clicks, and the invoice or estimate is automatically synchronized with your account on Zoho’s servers, and you can immediately email a PDF version of what you’ve created to your customer.
Last week, security researchers uncovered yet another strain of malicious software aimed at smartphones that run Google's popular Android operating system. The application not only logs details about incoming and outgoing phone calls, it also records those calls.
Beware of Juice-Jackinghttp://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/08/beware-of-juice-jacking/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KrebsOnSecurity+%28Krebs+on+Security%29
You’re out and about, and your smartphone’s battery is about to die. Maybe you’re at an airport, hotel, or shopping mall. You don’t have the power cable needed to charge the device, but you do have a USB cord that can supply the needed juice. Then you spot an oasis: A free charging kiosk. Do you hesitate before connecting your phone to this unknown device that could be configured to read most of the data on your phone, and perhaps even upload malware?
Web OS to be discontinued :oIt will probably wind up as Open Source and find a little corner there. :)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20094232-94/webos-goes-down-in-quiet-death/ (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20094232-94/webos-goes-down-in-quiet-death/)
Printing has remained one kludgey, undeveloped area in the tablet and smartphone space. There are too few apps available to enable printing from phones or tablets, even though they are the fastest-growing segment in the client computing space.
But some manufacturers are beginning to bring better printing technology to the table in the mobile world, and Samsung has developed a truly simple-yet-elegant app that marries mobile devices to its lineup of wireless-enabled printers.
The demonstration was done at the Black Hat convention, which is a meeting of computer security professionals that takes places in Las Vegas.
According to an article published by SC Magazine, Don Bailey and Matthew Solnik employed a technique they call “war texting,” which allowed them to setup a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network that could intercept the messages being sent between the Subaru Outback test car and the server that controls its software updates and other remotely-transmitted information.
While security products that protect computers have been around for years, mobile security software products have just started to roll out. Less than one out of 20 mobile phone users worldwide have security software installed in them, according to Juniper Research.
Companies that provide (security) software for computer threats are now recognizing that mobile apps and mobile technology is increasingly an environment open to risks.
Dropbox is one of the better-known, online storage services – along with Box.net and others – and among the reasons for its popularity is its drop-dead-easy setup and navigation. Begun as a browser-based service on the web, the iPhone app is just as simple.
Microsoft removes anti-virus app from Windows Phone marketplaceI would not want AVG on my Windows 7 phone
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Microsoft-removes-anti-virus-app-from-Windows-Phone-marketplace-1341231.html
Microsoft has removed the AVG Mobilation for Windows Phone 7 virus scanner from its marketplace as doubts had been raised about its functionality and compliance with data protection regulations. By default, GPS tracking is active, so the user's location is sent to AVG's server with a unique ID. While an app that is partly designed to allow users to find a lost mobile phone would be expected to provide such a function, former Microsoft employee Justin Angel tweets that he is still concerned.
With so many free or 99-cent apps available from all the app stores that focus on organization, calendaring and task management, it’s rare that you’d even give a second look at one that’s a $6.99 download.
But Extreme Agenda – Calendar, Contacts & Tasks is one such app, and it’s certainly one of the more robust organizational apps we’ve seen on any of the major platforms. Available in the Apple iTunes App Store for iPad, Extreme Agenda – Calendar, Contacts & Tasks was developed by Birdsoft LLC and provides a visually powerful, tile-based GUI that integrates all the essential organizational tools many will need.
Given the ever-increasing quality lenses and photo capabilities built into tablet and smart phones, the ability to clean photos up and edit them on the fly is becoming more important over time and an important consideration.
PicSay for Android, a free download from the Android Market, is one such app that can provide enough basics to clean a photograph up for use in a number of different scenarios. While it lacks some of the more robust features of Photoshop, or even its mobile version, PS Express, PicSay for Android is a great compliment for Google’s Picasa photo service. If you use Picasa and an Android device, PicSay is worth consideration.
Skype is working to fix a security hole in its iOS app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows a hacker to steal a person’s entire address book. The vulnerability, located in the app’s chat message window, can be exploited with JavaScript code. It was pointed out by security researcher Phil Purviance of AppSec.
"Skype uses a locally stored HTML file to display chat messages from other Skype users, but it fails to properly encode the incoming user’s ‘Full Name,’ allowing an attacker to craft malicious JavaScript code that runs when the victim views the message," Purviance wrote on his blog.
Skype confirms XSS vulnerability in iPhone app
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Skype-confirms-XSS-vulnerability-in-iPhone-app-1346284.html
Massive Security Vulnerability In HTC Android Devices
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/10/01/massive-security-vulnerability-in-htc-android-devices-evo-3d-4g-thunderbolt-others-exposes-phone-numbers-gps-sms-emails-addresses-much-more/
Report: Android malware continues to riseAndroid malware in the open marketplace
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Report-Android-malware-continues-to-rise-1379924.html
wow its sad people have intrests in making things to do such evil thingsReport: Android malware continues to riseAndroid malware in the open marketplace
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Report-Android-malware-continues-to-rise-1379924.html
https://blog.avast.com/2011/12/13/android-malware-in-the-open-marketplace
Are free android virus scanners any good?.......nope they are not :-\Would certainly like a reply from Avast on this one.
see pdf report fom AV-test
http://www.av-test.org/fileadmin/pdf/avtest_2011-11_free_android_virus_scanner_english.pdf
Why as the avast mobile security isn't in the test ?Because my information has avast! beating every one of these. :)
The best results claimed the products of Kaspersky and F-Secure, which detected at least 50% of all malware samples already in inactive state. The best free app was Zoner AntiVirus Free with 32% detected malicious apps. All other scanners detected at best 10% of the apps, some didn’t detect anything at all. The results of the real-time guard functionality were quite shocking.10% Is this a joke? Well... it won't even help to install such a free application...
Adding a new layer to Android security
Today we’re revealing a service we’ve developed, codenamed Bouncer, which provides automated scanning of Android Market for potentially malicious software without disrupting the user experience of Android Market or requiring developers to go through an application approval process.
According to a Fox News article, Google will be offering smartphone glasses later this year. The URL is http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/22/google-to-offer-terminator-style-smartphone-glasses-later-this-year/ (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/22/google-to-offer-terminator-style-smartphone-glasses-later-this-year/).I can see these glass being worn while attempting to drive.... Thought texting and driving was bad enough.
Packages that detected more than 90 per cent of the Android malware thrown at them included Droid security software from Avast, Dr Web, F-Secure, Ikarus, Kaspersky, Zoner and Lookout.
Dell has discontinued its Venue and Venue Pro smartphone lines in the U.S., eliminating the last of its U.S. mobile device offerings. The phones, which launched starting in late 2010, had been available running either Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS.
Despite the elimination of its last-standing U.S. tablet and smartphone lines, Murphy said Dell does not plan on exiting the mobile market entirely. Sometime later this year, she said, the company will launch new tablet and smartphone lines in the U.S.
Unfortunately for today’s Android users, they’re facing more threats because there are more of them using the operating system. As in the PC space, mobile hackers want to target the operating system that’s most likely to deliver a major financial return. For now, that’s Android.
With a price tag of $2,000, the exclusive Porsche Design P'9981 Smartphone from BlackBerry is a Bold 9900 in an expensive new skin. It's a collaboration between Porsche Design and BlackBerry that you'll either love the look or hate it. The unibody stainless steel frame gives the P'9981 some heft and a sturdy feel.
For those in the tech industry, it's easy to forget that mobile devices are not strictly for business. There are countless mobile apps available to help you organize your social life, ease the pain of travel, improve your exercise routine or enhance your television time. Here's a look at 10 mobile apps that are either entertaining, useful, or both.
Malware authors are using the popularity of the Angry Birds series of games as a way to infect the smartphones of users who download the exploit from unofficial Android app stores, according to a security software firm.
The first smartphone running on an Intel processor will hit the market later this week, reportedly in India.
Speaking to reporters and analysts in a conference call to announce the giant chip maker's first-quarter financial results, Intel CEO Paul Otellini outlined the key points the company expects to hit as 2012 wears on—particularly in the mobile space—from more than 100 new Ultrabook designs to more devices powered by next-generation "Ivy Bridge" processors.
"We expect to see another important milestone for our business later this week: the launch of the world's first Intel architecture-based smartphone," Otellini said.
With Android threats popping up faster than weeds in the springtime, it's probably a good idea to recommend a strong security tool to mobile-device buyers. One particularly tough customer is Avast! Mobile Security, a free virus and security app by Avast Software.
The Avast installation process requires the host device to go against Android's default setting and permit downloads from non-Android Market sources. Ironic perhaps for a security tool, but necessary so it can receive updates to threat and virus definitions. After downloading the latest updates, the app scans for viruses and if none are found, presents a settings screen where further scans can be performed.
ORLANDO, Fla.—Imagine if you will a BlackBerry with no physical keyboard, but with an improved keyboard none the less. Or imagine a BlackBerry that has a suspicious resemblance to Windows Phone 7 software, but doesn’t run Windows. Then consider a BlackBerry that multitasks and, while it’s at it, remembers your typing style and word usage. Sounds a little frightening, doesn’t it?
But that active tiled interface, the ability to have multiple apps open at the same time and a keyboard that knows what you might type next are all part of the new BlackBerry 10 OS demonstrated by Thorsten Heins, CEO of Research In Motion, at the BlackBerry World conference here.
When evaluating the smartphone market today, it’s hard to get excited about products from any other company than Apple or Samsung. It seems that countless vendors are trying their hardest to make a mark in the mobile space, but devices like the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S II continue to hold center stage. What’s worse, the chances of that changing anytime soon seem slim.
In a recent study, Canaccord Genuity technology analyst Mike Walkley reported that Samsung and Apple have “captured a remarkable 99 percent of first-quarter 2012 handset industry profits.” If that’s not impressive enough, consider that between them, Apple and Samsung own the majority of the smartphone space, leaving only scraps for the others. Simply put, Apple and Samsung have cornered the smartphone market.
>snip<
Whilst some tablets may have phone access built in and a 10" (ish) screen making them somewhat ungainly to be used as a phone whilst out and about. Without having something like a bluetooth headset, so you don't look like a dork talking to a tablet.
Verizon and the group of cable companies from which it is planning to buy a chunk of AWS spectrum don't want you to know about a new Joint Operating Entity (JOE) that would control all aspects of how you get access to the Internet, what you can do online and how much it's going to cost.
Cloaked in a layer of secrecy behind a wall of redacted documents, filings to the Federal Communications Commission that can't be read and responses that are deliberately concealed, Verizon and its cable partners have agreed to stop competing directly with each other, to stop offering services that the others offer and to jointly develop technology that would control what you can do on their networks.
Sources familiar with Verizon's FCC filings said that the plan laid out by Verizon and its partners is "deeply troubling." Others familiar with the Verizon-Cable plan indicated that if it actually happens, it would effectively cancel the provisions of the Communications Act of 1996 that requires competition among carriers.
In its “Mobile Threat Report, Q1 2012,” the company credits the popularity of the Android platform as a key magnet for malware authors. In first-quarter 2011, the report discovered 10 new families and variants of malware. A year later, this number jumps to 37 new families and variants discovered in the first quarter of this year, quadrupling last year's figures. Meanwhile, the report claims the number of malicious Android application package files (APKs) has spiked from 139 to 3,063 counts, year-over-year. According to the authors, this sharp escalation is largely caused by malware authors “Trojanizing” applications in an effort to circumvent antivirus signature detection, and sometimes Trojanizing bootleg copies of popular applications.
A number of additional companies and consumer interest groups rose in opposition to the revelation that Verizon and several of the largest cable companies in the United States, including Comcast, Cox and Time Warner, were working together to create what looks like a non-competitive Internet market cartel.
...... a group of former adversaries has teamed up to fight Verizon’s proposed purchase of Advanced Wireless Services (ASW) spectrum owned by several cable companies. But there is more to it than that. The group called The Alliance for Broadband Competition includes such diverse players as Public Knowledge, T-Mobile, Sprint, the Competitive Carriers Association and the Rural Telecommunications Group.
“Verizon and the cable companies are truly creating an axis of broadband power that threatens competition and consumer choice to their very core,” said Carri Bennet, Rural Telecommunications Group’s [RTG] general counsel, in a prepared statement.
“Very quietly, this axis has entered into complex transactions that will forever change how consumers access voice, Internet and video service, which companies these consumers will purchase those services from and, at the end of the day, what those services will cost. Tens of millions of Americans, including those in rural America, are now in the cross-hairs and the Alliance is ringing the warning bell calling for a stop to the onslaught before it is too late.”
Today's Daily App borders on creepy, but can be useful for keeping tabs on employees or offspring. Phone Control is an aptly named remote control app for Android smartphones and other devices that tracks all incoming and outgoing voice and text communications on the host device and can send notifications of such activities via SMS or e-mail, including GPS locations.
Phone Control can forward incoming SMS messages or phone call notifications to another SMS destination or e-mail account, including location of the call origin. It can also record phone calls to an audio file and forward that file as well as forward (via email only) videos and pictures taken with the host device's camera. Functions can be started and stopped using SMS keywords.
LinkedIn mobile app subscribers may be surprised to learn that the calendar entries on their iPhones or iPads— which may include details about meeting locations, participants, dial-in information, passwords and sensitive meeting notes — are transmitted back to LinkedIn’s servers without their knowledge.
That practice, which is not communicated to users, may violate Apple’s privacy guidelines, which expressly prohibit any app from transmitting users’ data without their permission.
TomTom for iOS has been out for a long old time now, but there's never really been any traction behind an Android version appearing. There is now hope though, as co-founder of TomTom, Peter-Frans Pauwels, has told Pocket-lint that the app will be released "fairly soon."
He couldn't put an exact date on the launch, but went on to say "I can confirm it is real" and that the "summer season is important for us." He also confirmed that the Android version would contain the same feature set as is iOS compatriot. There was no indication of price, but make no mistake. TomTom is a premium application that will come with a premium price.
The latest Instagram for Android update has now appeared in the Google Play Store and is ready for download. This release looks to solve a number of issues users were having with the app, and the folks from Instagram has ever so nicely laid out the full change log for everyone.
The applications, along with the iPhone or iPad, won’t necessarily be able to replace all your office desktop tools, but they might come close. And when on vacation, coming close is usually good enough. Take a look at what’s available in this eWEEK slide show.
The malware is linked to the infamous Zeus Trojan, a common tool used in the theft of banking credentials. The phony security applications were first observed earlier this month, and newer versions have continued to appear ...
All totaled, there are at least six files that pretend to be “Android Security Suite Premium,” but in actuality steal incoming SMS messages, the researcher said. The point of stealing incoming SMS messages is to swipe the victim's mobile transaction authentication number (mTAN), which is used by banks to authenticate online bank transactions. When a device is infected, the SMS messages are uploaded to a remote server.
T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have entered into an agreement in which T-Mobile will purchase some Advanced Wireless Services spectrum from Verizon, and the pair will also exchange some AWS spectrum licenses, helping each to attain “more contiguous blocks of spectrum and realign spectrum in adjacent markets,” T-Mobile said in a June 25 statement ......
In exchange for cash and spectrum covering 22 million people, T-Mobile will receive spectrum covering 60 million people, most notably in Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Minneapolis; Seattle; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn; and Rochester, N.Y.
Bouncer, the gatekeeper for the Android app store, looks ready for a rough adolescence. Two groups of security researchers have probed the security service for weaknesses and have had few problems bypassing it. Nicholas Percoco and Sean Schulte, both of security firm Trustwave, submitted increasingly malicious versions of an Android application to Google Play. Each variant of the application was scanned by Bouncer, Google's security-checking application, and it failed to flag them as malicious......
"We came up with a technique to hide the malicious activity from Bouncer," Percoco says. "We would upload some code (using the technique) and that would get past Bouncer, and then we upload some more, and we finally got to the point where we had a botnet."
Remember when it was considered a major feat just to be able to check email on your phone? Well, things have changed, technology has advanced, and now smartphones can seemingly do everything short of walk or drive a car ... at least not yet, that is.
The smartphone market in the first half of 2012 alone has seen a number of newcomers that are raising the bar even higher, delivering new features like pocket-sized projectors or coming in new ultra-thin form factors that take the concept of portability to whole new heights.
From handset makers ranging from Samsung to Nokia to HTC, here’s a look at the 10 coolest smartphones to launch so far this year.
Apple's fifth-generation iPhone reportedly will sport a screen that is thinner than its predecessors by incorporating a new ultrathin panel technology called in-cell.
According to a report Tuesday from The Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter said both Sharp and Japan Display, a joint venture comprised of three Japanese tech companies, already are ramping up production of LCD displays for the new iPhone's screen. They also said these displays are based on in-cell, a new design process in which the screen's touch sensors are embedded directly within the LCD, eliminating the need for a separate touch-screen layer.
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Sparrow, maker of popular email apps for iOS and Mac OS X, has just announced that it's been acquired by Google. Expectedly, details on the acquisition are being kept under wraps at the moment, but company CEO Dom Leca has confirmed in a blog post that Sparrow will be joining the Gmail team at Google to "accomplish a bigger vision."
Tawkon produces a free app for Android that alerts you when the radiation level of your phone climbs to dangerous levels. According to tawkon, the Samsung Galaxy S III is low on the chart with an SAR of 0.34 watts per kilogram (W/kg), while the iPhone clocks in with a hefty 1.1 W/kg. The phone at the top of infographic’s totem pole is the BlackBerry Bold 9700 with 1.37 W/kg.
Customers can grab the SAR app from the Google Play Store. iOS owners are out of luck as the app was pulled by Apple because there was “no interest in the app“. It is available in Cydia, though, for those who jailbreak their phones.
Orange created a free Android app called Travel Angel that monitors your smartphone use, helping you manage the cost. It’s super easy to use, and will even detect the country you’re in to provide you with accurate prices (for calls, texts and data).
As far as I can tell, it’s a must-have app for every Orange customer planning to visit some other country during the summer.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 smartphones face an uphill battle against the iPhone and Android devices. However, carriers are planning to support WP8 in order to have a third platform with lower subsidies, according to a new report.
In these iPhone and Android-centric days, smartphones running the Microsoft Windows Phone 8 platform will face a major challenge no matter when they arrive. Not likely to do them any favors, these smartphones are scheduled to launch when a good number of eyeballs will be focused on the newest iPhone. Still, benefitting Microsoft, says a new report from Technology Business Research, will be the support of the wireless carriers.
Microsoft will launch WP8 in the fourth quarter with support from four hardware partners: Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei, according to the report. While Nokia will remain its “chief” partner, said the report, all four manufacturers are expected to contribute marketing and other resources.
“Operators are looking for leverage over Apple and Android OEMs, which dominate the marketplace and saddle carriers with high device subsidies,” wrote Technology Business Research analyst Michael Soper, who conducted the study.
There has been considerable discussion lately about the ease of eavesdropping on cell phone conversations through mobile phone taps and the lack of cell phone security or tools like Spy Bubble. There are many products and hacks available which allow for monitoring of cell phone activity. Is your phone bugged and what can you do to keep your private information from being intercepted?
ARM grew its lineup of low-power processors Monday with the launch of its second-generation Mali-T600 GPUs.
They are also the first-ever chips to be based on ARM’s Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression (ASTC) technology, a compression technique said to increase a device’s battery life ......
ARM said its new Mali-T624 and Mali-T628 GPUs are optimized for use in smartphones and smart TVs, while the Mali-T678 was specifically designed for tablets.
Google has confirmed plans to cut about 4,000 jobs from its Motorola Mobility subsidiary, representing about 20 percent of the unit's 20,000-employee headcount.
Google, which closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May, disclosed the cuts in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Google indicated that two-thirds of the reduction would occur outside of the U.S. and also said that the Motorola unit will close or consolidate some 90 facilities, "as well as simplify its mobile product portfolio -- shifting the emphasis from feature phones to more innovative and profitable devices."
Mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj said on Wednesday it will hold a joint media event with Microsoft Corp in New York on September 5, boosting hopes that it will unveil its long-awaited Windows smartphone upgrade before rival Apple Inc rolls out its next iPhone.
The Finnish company gave no details about the September event, but Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said earlier on Wednesday the company would unveil soon a new smartphone using Microsoft's latest smartphone software known as Windows Phone 8.
Pinterest finally has an official Android app. The popular social network is currently in the middle of an event where they're showing off brand new mobile apps for their platform. The network that relies on users pinning items for their friends has grown enormously in the past year, which has contributed to the impatience users have felt about an official mobile app. We got a hands-on preview of the app back at Google I/O, but there was no release date at that time.
A bevy of big-name retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best-Buy Co. and Target Corp., are teaming up to create a company that will give customers another way to make purchases: with their cellphones.
The businesses said Wednesday that the new company, Merchant Customer Exchange, is developing a mobile application that will be available for nearly any smartphone. The app is expected to integrate a variety of coupons, rebates and loyalty programs.
With the announcement, retailers are entering an already crowded arena where different industry groups are jockeying for position on the smartphone screen, which everyone expects will be the new way to pay.
According to Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab, the problem is really big. In a “Q2 IT Threat Evolution” report, the company claims that the “ number of new malicious programs targeting the Android platform has almost trebled in the second quarter of the year” and that during that quarter “over 14,900 new malicious programs targeting this platform were added to Kaspersky Lab’s database”.
“In the near future, we expect not only more malware, but more effective and dangerous malware targeting Android. Judging from existing trends, we should expect that cybercriminals will soon shift to more personalized attacks. This is primarily about malware hunting for confidential data with which to steal money from users’ credit cards”, said Yuri Namestnikov, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
A major security flaw that has existed in Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone since the device was first released in 2007 has been revealed by a well-known hacker. The iOS security researcher, known publicly only as “pod2g,” on Friday published details about the vulnerability, which affects all versions of iOS through to the latest beta release of iOS 6.
According to pod2g’s report, the reply-to number that is displayed when an iPhone user views an SMS can easily be manipulated to display a number other than the one sending the message. Using a simple procedure, this exploit can be used by malicious attackers to send messages that appear to be from a trusted source — a bank, perhaps — but any replies to the SMS would be routed to a separate phone number without the sender’s knowledge.
Pod2g notes that the iPhone is not the only handset vulnerable to the flaw.
Police allegedly listen in to a drug deal as a Pennsylvania man somehow manages to allow them to butt in on the proceedings.
Sometimes life does not want to bring you luck.
And sometimes it delivers a perverse sort of justice, one that makes you question just who or what is in control of this world.
Stop the madness!
The long cycle times for developing mobile apps have led to startup failures that look more like 1999 – it’s like we’ve forgotten all the agile and rapid iteration stuff that we learned over the last 10 years. Stop the madness!
Today, seed stage startups can now get funded, release 1 or 2 versions of their app spread over 9 months, and then fail without making a peep. We learned the benefits of how to iterate fast on the web, and we can do better on mobile too.
For the first time ever more Americans own smartphones than regular phones or feature phones, a new report says.
The report, put out by Chetan Sharma Consulting, shows smartphone penetration has crossed the 50% mark for the first time in the U.S.
And the trend is not exclusive to the United State's top four carriers. As GigaOM points out, regional operators and other small carriers are also "tapping into the trove of cheaper smartphones in the market."
While the amount of malicious software focused on the growing number of mobile devices on the market remains a drop in the bucket next to the amount targeting PCs, attackers are steadily turning the devices in consumers' pockets into targets.
So far this year, several pieces of malware have popped onto the radar and underscored the growing sophistication of cybercriminals targeting mobile devices. After fielding feedback from security pros, here in no particular order is Dark Reading's list of the five most dangerous, sophisticated, and prolific pieces of mobile malware that have appeared thus far in 2012.
Nokia and 21 other companies have formed a new alliance meant to help improve the performance of location-based services on mobile devices when indoors. The alliance, called In-Location, will focus on improving indoor location accuracy, reducing power consumption of location services, as well as making location services easier to use on mobile devices. The group will primarily look to using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 to help improve indoor location services ......
To better understand attitudes about mass mobility, TIME, in cooperation with Qualcomm, surveyed 4,700 people online and 300 by phone in eight countries, from June 29 to July 28. Here are some of the findings.
Apple pulled an ad campaign that never should have seen the light of day in the first place, yet it barely made headlines.
Credit gigaom ( http://gigaom.com/apple/apple-deletes-genius-ad-campaign-from-its-website-and-youtube-channel/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=gigaom ) as one of the few outlets to report the news: Apple not only pulled its horrific Genius Bar-focused advertising run from television, the company removed it from its Web site and YouTube channel. Many had criticized the ads for showing customers in an unflattering light.
Before you trash me, consider something gigaom mentioned in the above-linked article. gigaom writer Erica Ogg wondered if Ken Segall’s ( http://kensegall.com/2012/08/steve-jobs-research-common-sense/ ) critical blog post had something to do with Apple’s latest retreat.
Is iOS security unbreakable, thanks to Apple's mix of strong encryption for all data stored on such devices, combined with hardware-controlled PIN entry requirements that make brute-force attacks difficult? ......
Another weak link in the overall iPhone information security model--and not necessarily something Apple could rectify--includes any digital ecosystem attacks that might yield the same data that's stored on an iPhone. Notably, in the "epic hack" of technology journalist Mat Honan that occurred earlier this month, an attacker managed to access Honan's iCloud account after social-engineering--tricking--Amazon.com customer service. In such a scenario, an attacker could easily restore what was stored on the iPhone--especially if the phone was saving unencrypted backups to iCloud, and then read the data. Likewise, accessing an iCloud account would also reveal much of the information that was stored on the user's device. ......
In other words, iOS may offer extremely good mobile device security. But don't bet on it being uncrackable. Also don't discount techniques that a dedicated attacker might use to see the data that's stored on the device, albeit without cracking the device itself.
Security researchers from Websense, have intercepted a currently spamvertised malicious campaign, attempting to trick BlackBerry users into downloading and executing the malicious .zip archive.
The archive with MD5: 9a01293b87b058619d55b8d4d12f2a8e is currently detected by 27 out of 42 antivirus scanners as Backdoor.Win32.Androm.gi; Worm:Win32/Gamarue.I.
We're definitely going to see more systematic abuse of well known and trusted brands, in an attempt by the cybercriminals to socially engineer end and corporate users into interacting with their campaigns.
Apple's U.S. victory in its global patent war against Samsung will deal a blow to American consumers and stifle fair competition in the mobile market, according to Samsung, which has been ordered to pay Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) $1.05 billion in damages in light of its alleged copying of the iPhone and iPad.
The South Korean smartphone giant is seeking to overturn Friday's verdict, which was issued after three days of deliberation by a Northern California District Court jury. Samsung has dubbed the verdict an overall loss for U.S. consumers, and one that will trump innovation in the lucrative smartphone and tablet markets.
"Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer," Samsung said Friday in an official statement. "It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies."
Personally I think this is the biggest pile of steaming ****.Totally agree and it's not even white in color......
Who is going to confuse (or think they are buying) an Apple with a Samsung anything when it has all of the branding on it.
Software patents are another thing that is easily tested, but confuse the shape for being an Apple, total tosh. No one sells something based on an image alone. No one is trying to pass off a Samsung as an Apple and that really should be the test, not just it rectangular so it must be an Apple.
Today at IFA in Berlin, Samsung lifted the curtain on its first Windows Phone 8 device, the ATIV S. This is just the first in a big lineup of new hardware that’s coming with Windows Phone 8, but it’s a seriously impressive opening salvo. Samsung built the ATIV S with the latest and greatest technology, especially for anyone who want a superphone that’s equal parts powerhouse and head turner.
Inside the crazy-thin 8.7mm brushed aluminum chassis is a huge 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display made from Corning Gorilla Glass 2 (read: tough to break, but still light)and a rundown of killer specs: 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB of onboard RAM, and an 8MP autofocus rear camera and 1.9MP front-facing camera. You’ll have the choice of two storage capacities – 16GB or 32GB – and both models have a MicroSD slot for expanded storage. Backing all of this up is a massive 2300mAh battery to keep you rocking all day.
“This is still not that significant damage as it represents just five percent of the total handset division profits Samsung generated globally since its first Galaxy S launch,” said Neil Shah, senior analyst for the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA.
“From Apple’s point of view the damage is already done from Samsung as the Korean vendor has already taken a huge lead in terms of smartphone market share and mindshare which won’t vanish away easily in near-to mid-term,” he said.
New York, New York – August 28, 2012 –Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced a partnership with UK retailer John Lewis to bring the company’s award-winning NOOK reading experience and leading digital bookstore to its physical stores and online sales channels this autumn. The partnership with John Lewis, a premium department store brand lauded as “the UK’s leading electrical retailer,” will fortify Barnes & Noble’s newly-announced presence in the UK, and will enable UK shoppers to see, touch and experience NOOK devices and digital content.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system will include a Kid's Corner option that provides a unique parental control feature to the company's mobile handsets. Kid's Corner, previously known as Kid's Zone, will be a separate Start screen environment designed for children to access apps, videos, games, and music that is shared by a parent. Thanks to a tipster, we've learned that Windows Phone owners will be able to setup a Start screen with the specially controlled apps on, and a child will access the feature by swiping from the left on the lock screen. We understand that this feature will be making its way to all Windows Phone 8 handsets when they're available later this year.
The Federal Communications Commission today indicated that it plans to review how much spectrum a single wireless network operator should be allowed to own in any given market, how much of that spectrum is below 1GHz, and how carriers sell or divest spectrum to one another.
Smartphone sales are expected to hit 54 percent of all cell phone sales by 2013, according to new projections from IHS. That is two years faster than previous projections and shows just how big the market is becoming thanks to low-cost handsets and more smartphone adoption. But the world is not far behind and is expected to fly past the 50 percent mark by 2013, according to a new report by IHS iSuppli.
By the end of 2013, 54 percent of all phones globally will be smarpthones, IHS iSuppli predicted. That’s two years ahead of previous predictions by IHS iSuppli. Last year, smartphones comprised 35 percent of the global market.
Apple Inc. on Tuesday invited reporters to a news conference next week in San Francisco with a message that suggests that it will reveal the iPhone 5, as expected.
The email invitation shows a big "12," for Sept. 12, casting a shadow in the shape of a "5."
Various unconfirmed reports have pointed to Sept. 12 as being the day Apple Inc. shows off the new phone, which is expected to go on sale a week or two later.
The fallout from this ruling extends far into the technology space. And Microsoft is one of the companies most affected by it. The software giant is trying desperately to catch up to Google and Android. With Google’s chief vendor partner getting hit hard, this might be Microsoft’s chance to finally win one.
Android has found strong support throughout Europe, where larger displays are favored. In the last 12 weeks, 29 percent of the Android phones sold had displays larger than 4.5 inches.
Europe was initially slow to back Google's Android operating system, but the continent now accounts for some of Android's fastest growth and continuing domination, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Android use in Europe rose to 67.1 percent in the 12 weeks ending Aug. 5, up from just less than 47 percent a year ago, the firm reported Sept. 3.
Nokia and Microsoft executives are scheduled to appear together at a Sept. 5 New York City event to unveil some of the first Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Specifically, Nokia is expected to show off the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920, according to several reports.
The Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 are expected to include a new feature called wireless charging, according to the Website TheVerge.com. Wireless charging is based on the Qi wireless power standard and uses a process called magnetic induction to recharge the phone battery, according to the Wireless Power Consortium.
Samsung has beaten Nokia to the punch by announcing a really high-end and pretty desirable Windows Phone 8 handset, but it seems the dedicated Windows Phone company is not taking being upstaged lying down.
Not only have they taken to IFA with placards welcoming Samsung back to Windows Phone (as if they ever left) but Doug Dawson, Media Relations head for Nokia, has called the handset just an “warm-up act"......
Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Mobility hosted Wednesday its first major product launch since being acquired by Google (NSDQ:GOOG) in May, unveiling a new family of Droid smartphones running Google's Android OS.
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside referred to the handset maker during a press event in New York City as "the new Motorola Mobility," emphasizing its close-knit relationship with parent company Google and the fact that it is "the only major OEM to go all in with Android."
We're live in London, where Everything Everywhere -- the organization formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK -- has just announced its new brand, and a new 4G LTE network to go along with it. EE's 4G network will be the UK's first, and will run on re-farmed 1800MHz spectrum from Orange and Tmo. The company promises speeds "five times faster" than current 3G offerings, allowing for faster streaming and downloading on handsets.
At its event at the Science Museum in London this morning, EE said its new 4G and fiber broadband network would launch "within weeks," and that it'd be broadly available by the holidays. The old Orange and T-Mobile brands will continue for 3G services, but new customers wanting 4G, or existing Orange and Tmo subscribers who want to make the switch to LTE, will be able to "upgrade" to the new EE network.
While Verizon in the U.S. is getting set to roll out their Droid RAZR HD, Motorola has made a few announcements surrounding other variations of the device. Rogers in Canada will have their version ready shortly and more recently, Motorola added Brazil to the locations of availability. The RAZR HD is being touted as the first 4G ready smartphone for the area.
At this point, no pricing has been announced for the device but Motorola notes it will become available in Q4 with Android 4.0.4 loaded. The full press release is available below ......
UK network O2 has secured exclusivity over a limited edition Skyfall-branded version of the phone, dubbed "The Bond Phone." By contrast, Vodafone and Three will offer the regular, less Bondier version of the Xperia T.
The Bond Phone looks virtually identical to the vanilla Xperia T, but comes pre-loaded with Skyfall-based content, including "the 007 ringtone, themes, screensavers and SKYFALL images geo-tagged to the film's locations plus exclusive James Bond packaging." (Who doesn't appreciate a good promotional geotag?) Early adopters will also get the chance to pick up the 007 Legends game on Xbox 360, PC or PS3.
With the Note II, Samsung has increased the display to 5.5 inches, slimmed down the bezel to further increase the display area, increased the battery by 25 percent while maintaining the original Note's weight and tweaked and improved the device—and its accompanying S Pen—in numerous ways. Later this year, Samsung will offer a U.S. version of the Note II.
Apple says it’s really easy to make phones that are bigger, but the iPhone 5 is the world’s thinnest smartphone. Available for Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T, the iPhone 5 measures just 7.6 mm thick and weighs a mere 112 grams. The iPhone 5 also sports a best-in-class 4-inch display with 1136 x 640-pixel resolution, an A6 processor with 20 percent better performance and 4G LTE speeds. All of this will be available September 21 in a 16GB version for $199, 32GB for $299 and 64GB and $399.
Motorola and Verizon Wireless today announced that the RAZR M Android smartphone will go on sale September 13. The RAZR M costs $99 after rebate with a new contract. It is a compact device that still includes a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 8-megapixel camera, and LTE 4G.
The RAZR M was certainly one of the more interesting phones Motorola announced last week, even if it did come with a disappointing definition of "edge-to-edge." Today, the phone launched on Verizon Wireless, but if you're already looking to score a discount, Wirefly has both the black and white versions available for $79.99 with a new two-year contract, or for upgrading customers.
The number of newly discovered malicious applications for Android is growing at a rapid pace. Just by looking at the number of unique samples seen by SophosLabs this year, we see a 41x increase over the entire 2011. And we are only in September.
The top two reported detections are for potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).
The biggest news about the iPhone 5 is that it has a bigger screen. The iPhone 5 also has Long-Term Evolution (LTE) support, and it’s thinner and lighter than previous iPhones. Some apps will take advantage of the larger screen, for example the Calendar app will show five days at a time.
Most of us had been pretty sure that the iPhone 5 would have near-field communication (NFC), but it doesn’t.
Considering that NFC is so ubiquitous that even older BlackBerry devices have this, that’s kind of a surprise.
What this means is that the iPhone 5 really isn’t a groundbreaking device, despite the mad statements of affection currently making their way around the social networks. The biggest differentiator in the hardware is the Retina display, which you can’t get from other vendors, but the iPhone 4S had that already.
Apple lags everyone else in 4G support; it lags most of the Android phones with a quad-core processor; it features the same amount of memory as most Android phones, and less than a few. The iPhone 5 has a new and improved camera that includes a panorama feature, which is very nice, but it doesn’t have the sophisticated stabilization system that Nokia announced for the Lumia 920.
The response to Apple's iPhone 5 has been mixed, though everyone seems to agree that demand for the new smartphone should keep conveyor belts churning for some time.
But these days the market—happily for us—doesn't exactly want for such things. There are great devices available today—and coming in time for holiday sales—at great prices and running both Android and the Windows Phone operating system. Is the iPhone 5 for you? Below, eWEEK put some of the device's new features in perspective. The good news, for potential buyers and enterprise users, is that there are no losers here.
If you're the owner of a mobile device running Google's Android mobile OS, the chances are pretty good that your device is vulnerable to attack, according to data from the firm Duo Security.
One in two Android devices that installed Duo’s X-Ray mobile vulnerability assessment software found known, unpatched vulnerabilities on the phone that could be used to take "full control of users' phones," according to a post by Duo CTO (and security Ninja) Jon Oberhide.
And the 50% number may be a conservative number, Oberhide warned.
Writing on the company's blog, Oberhide said that carriers' conservative approach to rolling out patches to fix Android vulnerabilities is a big part of the problem.
Virgin Mobile U.S. promises its customers that it uses “standard industry practices” to protect its customers’ personal data – but according to a Silicon Valley web developer, any first-year coder can bust into a subscriber’s account, see who they call and text, register a different phone on the account and even purchase a new iPhone.
That’s according to developer Kevin Burke, who discovered the flaws on his own account in August and notified the company, only to be told that the company had no intention of fixing its systems. Virgin Mobile U.S. serves millions of customers through pre-paid plans and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint.
Virgin Mobile U.S. account security uses a customer’s phone number as the account name, which is very guessable, and then requires a 6-digit PIN as the password — which only provides a million possible passwords. Even worse, the site allows as many password guesses as one likes — something Burke confirmed by writing a short script to guess his own password in a day.
Virgin’s website says it protects users, but can’t be responsible in the case of hacks.
That document says, in part: “You further agree that Virgin Mobile may, in our sole discretion, treat any person who presents your credentials that we deem sufficient for account access as you or an authorized user on the account for disclosure of information or changes in Service.”
Android. The word itself makes each of us think of futuristic mechanical things that evolve quickly and know no bounds in their abilities. It's a good word, and perfect to describe the devices we hold with such high regard around these parts. And like the androids we think of from Hollywood movies or dusty old science fiction novels, our phones and tablets are slowly working their way into every nook and cranny of our life, taking over one step at a time. We embrace it, we benefit from it, and most of all we enjoy it.
But Android is changing. Very few phones are released with stock Android, and the custom versions (don't call them skins) are getting more and more intricate and polished. OEMs are putting a lot of work into the software running on the phones they sell, making them stand out as their own product. Join me after the break, and let's talk about what Android is, what it isn't, and what might happen in the future.
We're seeing that with what we call Android today. HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and every other OEM can freely take the same source code you and I can use, make any changes they like, and only have to offer a small fraction of it for public inspection and use. The bits we don't get to see are what makes the magic of TouchWiz, or Optimus UI, and the companies that spent the money to develop them keep their secrets tightly guarded. We're at a point now where very few devices offered for sale run Android, and even Google Senior VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra calls his Galaxy S3 an "Android-based" phone. It's not just the big players and the for-profit folks doing it. The fellows that work hard on the CyanogenMod project have taken Android and made it into something they love, and offer methods and assistance with installing it on a slew of Android and Android-based phones. Yes, they belong right up there beside the billion-dollar names like Motorola and HTC -- they've earned that right, through work every bit as difficult and involved as anything from the big name OEMs.
Although Nokia supposedly enjoys a special relationship with Microsoft in the phone space, it's HTC that will make wat are arguably the flagship, iconic phones for the launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software. For starters, Microsoft has given HTC exclusive permission to put "Windows Phone 8" right in the phone name; the two phones will be known as the "Windows Phone 8X by HTC" and "Windows Phone 8S by HTC". Microsoft is also teaming up with HTC for a joint marketing campaign for the phones.
It's nice for HTC that Microsoft is giving them some special branding powers, but surely this specific execution will lead to some confusion. "Windows Phone 8X" sounds like an enhanced version of the OS, not a hardware model. Or, many consumers may be confused the other way, thinking "Windows Phone 8" is a line of HTC phones, rather than an OS from Microsoft. Either way, other manufacturers can't be happy about the confusion this will surely create.
LG today announced the Optimus G, a new flagship smartphone that boasts a 13-megapixel camera. The Optimus G runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and can run two applications side-by-side at the same time on the display. The Optimus G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor running at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM. The display measures 4.7 inches and has a 1280 x 768 pixels in a 15:9 aspect ratio. The main camera comes with a host of features beyond the impressive pixel count. LG says it has a smart shutter, which pays attention to vibration of the camera or the movement of the subject and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly to get the most in-focus shot possible. It also has features such as "time catch shot" and "cheese shutter," which activates the shutter via voice commands such as when the subjects say the word "cheese"
Yahoo employees soon will be giving up their company-supported Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry devices as the search company moves its workforce over to iPhone, Android and Windows 8 smartphones, according to a published report.
"New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer just sent an email to all of Yahoo's full time and part time employees in the US, promising them a new Apple, Samsung, Nokia, or HTC smartphone," said a Sept. 15 story on BusinessInsider.com.
Brett Andler, a senior mechanical engineering student at Tufts University and self-proclaimed "Apple fanboy," made a spur-of-the-moment decision late Thursday night that landed him a free iPhone 5 -- and then some.
Andler's card guaranteed a 32-GB white iPhone 5, which had been the model Andler selected.
A bidding war eventually broke out between two Apple fans who spotted Andler's sign.
"There were two people pretty close to one another, which is why I think the price got so high," he said. "One ended up backing out ... it was wild."
The victor paid $460 for the spot, on top of the $299 she will also pay for the 32-GB iPhone 5.
Amid a rash of criticism of Apple‘s new mapping system on iOS 6, Nokia deserves some bragging rights.
After years of less than engaging or clever marketing, I am pleased to see Nokia stepping up to the plate and getting its act together. Clearly Nokia marketing is striking while the iron is hot. Earlier today I took notice of a clever – and open – comparison of Nokia comparing its upcoming Lumia 920 to Apple’s new iPhone 5 (arriving on our doorstop tomorrow).
Now Nokia is standing on rooftops, calling out to anyone who will listen, that they are the best in location and mapping on phones. Not a rushed afterthought (I’m looking at you Apple). And certainly not a loss leader for an advertising scheme (I’m looking at you Google). And frankly while Google does “ok” most of the time, Nokia deserves its bragging rights because it makes you feel local, wherever you are.
This week, I had the opportunity to interview the hacking teams that used zero-day vulnerabilities and clever exploitation techniques to compromise fully patched iPhone 4S and Android 4.0.4 (Samsung S3) devices and the big message from these hackers was simple: Do not use your mobile device for *anything* of value, especially for work e-mail or the transfer of sensitive business documents.
For many, this is not practical advice. After all, your mobile device is seen as an extension of the computer and there is a legitimate need to access work e-mail on iPhone/iPad, Android and BlackBerry smart phones. However, whether you are a businessman, a celebrity or the average consumer, it's important to start wrapping your mind around the idea of separating work from play on smart phones and tablets.
Sure, anti-exploit mitigations like ASLR and DEP have put up roadblocks for hackers looking to break into mobile platforms but these are becoming more and more trivial to bypass. The hacking team from Certified Secure told me it took less than three weeks to break into Apple's iPhone 4S. That included the search for an exploitable vulnerability and the creation of a clean exploit to jump through anti-exploit mitigation hoops. Their motivation: PR and a $30,000 cash prize.
Apple added a Clock app to the iPad in iOS 6, but the company may get into trouble for the visual look of the app's analog-style clock face. According to Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, Apple's designers copied the iconic—and trademarked—look of the Swiss Federal Railway (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) clocks used in train stations all over Switzerland. And the SBB wants Apple to pay up.
Using the SBB railway clock's design could be viewed as yet another homage to a classic, but it seems SBB isn't going to simply take the compliment. And catching Apple making unauthorized copies of any design is especially ironic in light of the company's repeated claims that Samsung "slavishly copied" its iPhone and iPad designs for its smartphones and tablets.
The pair was able to build an exploit for a vulnerability in WebKit to beat Apple's code-signing features and the MobileSafari sandbox. The same bug is present in the iOS6 Golden Master development code base, meaning iPhone 5 is vulnerable to the same exploit.
Even its iOS 6 integration should make for a far better experience. But hardware and the operating system aren’t everything. In the iPhone world, the true experience is made with help from mobile applications available through the company’s App Store. Without apps, using the iPhone just wouldn’t be the same.
Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, the manufacturing company that builds Apple's iPhones, has shut down one of its facilities after a riot was sparked by nearly 2,000 of its workers.
According to a report Monday from Reuters, thousands of employees at Foxconn's Taiyuan-based facility broke out into a brawl after a scuffle occurred among a group of workers. But posts made Monday to Chinese social networking site Sina Weibo suggest differently, saying the riot erupted after a Foxconn guard beat some of the workers. Users on the site also posted that workers were setting bed quilts on fire and tossing them out dormitory windows, Reuters reported.
Foxconn has not said how long it expects the Taiyun plant to be closed, but said both police and company officials are investigating what sparked the violence.
Apple is seeking an additional $707 million in damages from rival Samsung on top of the $1.05 billion it was awarded in August when a U.S. District Court jury ruled that Samsung infringed on several of its design patents for the iPhone and iPad.
According to a report from Reuters, Apple also has filed a claim for a permanent U.S. sales ban on several newer Samsung products that have launched since the two tech giants went to trial last year, including Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphone.
Beyond the hardware, we also got another great look at the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system in action, which this time we can both talk about and actually show you. And in true CrackBerry style, we're not just bringing you one hands-on video of BlackBerry 10 in action, but two.
While BlackBerry 10 has been kept very well under wraps to date, the videos and photos below provide a much better feel for what we can expect of BlackBerry 10 when it hits the market early next year.
Today Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announced the acquisition of the Canadian company ConceptWave in an all cash transaction. The company was founded in 2000 and has developed leading-edge software solutions primarily for telecom operators.
Acquiring ConceptWave complements and strengthens Ericsson's offering in the area of operations- and business support systems (OSS/BSS) with world leading Order Management and Product Catalog solutions, providing solutions to better support network operators with their handling of activities related to personalizing end-user offerings and revenue management solutions.
Elisabetta Romano, Head of OSS in Business Unit Support Solutions, Ericsson, says: "There is a trend towards more personalization of services where end-users want to purchase communications services meeting their individual needs. This puts high demand on telecom operators to be able to offer flexible product bundles with customized pricing packages. In this area ConceptWave's solutions and employees' expertise adds considerable value to Ericsson's portfolio."
Nokia's Lumia 920 packs the industry's best image stabilization -- there's no questioning that -- thanks to a camera module that pairs both sensor and lens-based optical IS. The iPhone 5 also offers a notable improvement over its Apple-made predecessor on the video front, but considering that its stabilization is of the digital variety, we wouldn't expect it to top Nokia's new flagship. We had an opportunity to test both smartphones in a head-to-head demo at Nokia's research and development facility in Tampere, Finland, about two hours north of the company's Espoo headquarters. In fact, we're told that this is the very first such comparison shoot in the world, considering that the iPhone made it to market just last week and the only opportunity to shoot with a Lumia 920 is currently in the European country where the device was born.
Update: We also had an opportunity to test the Samsung Galaxy S III (just below) and the HTC One X (following) against the Lumia 920. Both smartphones lack OIS, so we weren't surprised to see poor stabilization performance. Check out the videos for the head-to-head.
Well, that didn’t take too long. Google has just announced that it now has another app-related milestone under its belt. According to a new post on the official Android blog, the Google Play Store has crossed 25 billion app downloads; in case you’re the type to keep track of these things, the news comes just six months after Apple’s App Store hit that same milestone.
As usual, Google has chosen to commemorate the occasion with a slew of app discounts to push that number of downloads even higher for the next five days. According to a post on Google’s official blog, titles from developers Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Rovio, runtastic, Full Fat (just to name a few) will be among those being sold for a scant $0.25 starting later today. On top of that, Google also plans to push out some other special content bundles over the coming days — think collections of 25 must-own movies, albums, and banned books.
So much for all that fuss about limited Sony Xperia T SIM-free availability. UK-based online retailer Unlocked Mobiles is now offering the Sony Mobile flagship for sale, stand-alone and unlocked for just £414.98 inc. VAT. That's a surprisingly reasonable price tag, considering the phone comes packed with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 4.6-inch, 720p HD Reality Display and 13MP rear camera.
Do you ever have that moment where you're scuba diving in the south Pacific, and you're wondering "Was I supposed to turn right at the coral reef to get back to the resort, or keep swimming straight?" It happens to me all the time. Luckily Google, as ever, has us covered. The Google Maps team has just released a handful of new Street View locations that are underwater. Various spots along the coast of Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii can take you down to see some of the wonderful aquatic landscape, wildlife, and flora in the region. You can find some of the more spectacular shots in Google's Street View gallery for the ocean.
Apple made much ado of the Lightning connector it launched side-by-side with the iPhone 5, but what we've known about it has been limited outside of the presence of an authentication chip. Double Helix Cables' Peter Bradstock has delved deeper and tells AppleInsider that there's some clever wiring that clinches the reversible design. While Lightning's power supply is truly symmetrical among the contact pins, the data isn't -- which suggests a chip inside is redirecting data to keep the plug working as intended. The technique helps explain why Apple would need any elaborate circuitry in the first place.
The Nook HD+, the larger and more higher-end of Barnes & Noble's two new tablets, has a 9-inch, high-definition display with a 1,920-by-1,280 resolution. It sports a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, has 1 GB of RAM and weighs in at 18.2 ounces, making it slightly more lightweight than Amazon's 20-ounce Kindle Fire HD.
Available in late October, the Nook HD+ will come in a 16-GB model for $269 and a 32-GB model for $299. Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, by comparison, is available in a 16-GB model for $299 and a 32-GB model for $369.
Barnes & Noble also seems to be taking a direct aim at Apple's iPad with the new Nook HD+, claiming the tablet's "amazing display rivals the 'resolutionary' display screen of the leading high-resolution large-format tablet, but is offered in a device that's more than 20 percent less weight and nearly half the price."
AMD is arming users with the ability to play Android apps on Windows-based PCs through the launch of its own app store called the AMD AppZone.
The Android apps in AMD's AppZone are compatible with any Windows-based PC that is powered by either AMD Radeon GPUs or AMD accelerated processing units (APUs). The launch of the AppZone was enabled by AMD's partnership with BlueStacks, the software firm that first enabled Android apps to play on x86-based PCs with its BlueStacks App Player for Windows solution.
Samsung released Wednesday an over-the-air update for a vulnerability discovered in its Galaxy S III smartphone that lets hackers remotely tap into and wipe personal data from the device.
The vulnerability was first discovered last week by Ravi Borgaonkar, a researcher in the Security in Communications department at Technical University Berlin, according to a report from ZDNet. Borgaonkar discovered that the way in which the Galaxy S III submits information to an application server leaves it vulnerable to a breach.
According to Samsung, users can update the software on their Galaxy S III smartphones to alleviate the risk.
Apple is one of the more fascinating companies in the technology space. Unlike so many other producers of mobile devices and computers, Apple has found a way to get the market to love each and every device and software solution it launches. With each review, Apple products earn praise. With each purchase, Apple has found another loyal customer that will continue to buy its products for years to come. To some consumers, Apple can do no wrong and that means Apple’s hardware and software can’t be anything but perfect. But once one steps outside the Apple reality distortion field, they start to realize that the company’s products are by no means perfect. In fact, they come with a variety of issues and odd omissions that would usually be enough to annoy any consumer or enterprise user. The same holds true with Apple’s latest launches, the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. Combined, the two products deliver a really great experience. But when taken as stand-alone products, several issues emerge that will annoy some folks and make others simply scratch their heads. Simply put, neither the iPhone 5 nor iOS 6 is perfect. It’s about time these issues are highlighted just as much as all of their virtues are.
Sony Mobile today announced the U.S. availability of both the Xperia Tipo and the Tipo Dual. Both devices run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and feature 3.2-inch displays with 480 x 320 pixels; 3.2-megapixel cameras with video capture; 800MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processors; and 1500mAh batteries. Other features of the Tipo/Tipo Dual include 2.5GB of on-board storage, support for 32GB microSD cards, as well as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. Both devices have quad-band GSM/EDGE radios and can be used on AT&T's 3G network. The Tipo costs $179.99 and the Tipo Dual costs $189.99. The only difference between the two are that the Tipo Dual supports two SIM cards. Both devices are sold unlocked.
Apple CEO Tim Cook distributed a letter to the company's customers today apologizing for the performance of its Apple Maps software found within iOS 6. "At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers," said Cook. "With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better." Apple said that it is working to improve its maps software, but noted that customers may want to seek alternatives. "You can try downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Nokia, with help from Microsoft, is reimagining itself. The Finnish company that dominated the mobile phone market for more than a decade and in 2004 gave us the Communicator, among other then-impressive-looking silver and black handsets, eventually found itself no match for Apple's iPhone or Samsung's lineup of Galaxy devices. In February 2011, it gave up Symbian for Windows Phone, refreshed its ranks, and began working to re-establish itself in the minds of consumers ......
On Sept. 5, Nokia introduced two new Windows Phone 8 Lumia smartphones and a number of accessories that together make a strong brand statement. On Sept. 19, however, HTC introduced its own Windows Phone 8 handsets, in colors that suggest the palette is actually Microsoft's and an assertion of the operating system, not the hardware makers.
When asked why Google Maps was dropped from Apple's iOS 6 mobile operating system, both Apple and Google regularly refer to the end of the original five-year partnership the two companies signed in 2007 when the first iPhones debuted.
Skeptics, however, have always felt there was certainly more to the change, including the increasing competitive friction between Apple and Google as they battle more directly in the mobile marketplace.
Exactly, says a new report from The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital site, which describes the chasm as rooted in the lack of voice-guided navigation in Google Maps. "… multiple sources familiar with Apple’s thinking say the company felt it had no choice but to replace Google Maps with its own, because of a disagreement over a key feature: Voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions," reported ATD.
While Google's own Android nav app has had voice navigation features for a while, it's inclusion in iOS was apparently not part of the original Apple-Google deal. That feature is what Apple wanted in a new deal, the story reported. "Requiring iPhone users to look directly at handsets for directions and manually move through each step—while Android users enjoyed native voice-guided instructions—put Apple at a clear disadvantage in the mobile space."
While it wasn't one of RIM's planned news stories for last week's BBJAM event, we did get a first unofficial look at the upcoming BlackBerry N-Series phone. The images showed up on the information super highway thanks to a RIM internal marketing video which appeared to have been haphazardly uploaded by the contracted video editor (people don't say information super highway enough anymore... I'm bringing it back old school).
The N-Series phone -- the N standing for Nevada and Naples, the codenames for these devices -- which I still can't help but think will eventually be part of the Bold family, couples a physical keyboard to the BlackBerry 10 operating system.
The phone appears to feature a form factor extremely similar in size and shape to the BlackBerry Bold 9900, but with a few important design differences. Making room for the now taller 720x720 display, gone is the row of buttons between the display and keyboard, which traditionally features the navigation trackpad and call / menu / back / end keys. As for the keyboard, instead of the smiling keyboard layout of the 9900, it features a linear layout more akin to that of the Porsche Design BlackBerry. These changes are a little startling at first glance, though from my point of view were not unexpected.
Deutsche Telekom today confirmed earlier reports that it is discussing a strategic tie-up with MetroPCS and its T-Mobile USA subsidiary. Deutsche Telekom said that "significant issues have not yet been finalized" regarding the deal, and it has not reached a final decision on the matter. Separately, MetroPCS issued its own statement confirming the talks. It said, "MetroPCS is in discussions with Deutsche Telekom regarding an agreement to combine T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS. There can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these discussions, and the Company does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached." T-Mobile and MetroPCS are the fourth- and fifth-largest network operators in the U.S., respectively. T-Mobile provides post- and prepaid services using GSM-based technology and is currently planning to roll out LTE in 2013. MetroPCS provides prepaid services using CDMA technology. It is already deploying LTE in some of its markets. Both companies have 1900MHz and 1700MHz spectrum holdings. Deutsche Telekom has been mulling options for its T-Mobile USA business for years, and failed to sell it to AT&T in 2011.
The Asian continent has been a boon to,economic and technological development over the last few decades. Rapid uptake of technology as soon as it is economically available to users is a trend we see in many Asian countries, especially with the Opera Mini web browser for both smartphones and feature phones.
This month in the State of the Mobile Web report, we take a look at the Asia Pacific region in the State of the Mobile Web report. Overall, there is strong growth in the number of users and they view more and more web pages. One interesting trend observed while gathering this information is the strong growth of smartphones as the preferred device for many users in the area.
Latin America shares the large trends with most of the online world, with the “big three”, Google, Facebook and YouTube, occupying the top spots in each of the 32 countries examined in this State of the Mobile Web report, which focuses on Latin America. Spanning from Mexico in the north to Chile in the south, Opera Mini browser users in Latin America like to shop and read up on regional news, as shown in the top 10 lists of sites surveyed for this State of the Mobile Web report. The regional growth is strong, and nearly all countries show a growing user base of Opera Mini users in Latin America. There is also a significant growth in pages viewed on each device and data consumed by the increasing user base.
Oregon Scientific has just launched a a kid-friendly Android tablet, now on sale for a scant $149.99. Though it might have modest specs, the MEEP! tablet includes a whole range of parental controls through a web-based interface and kid-friendly apps, e-books, and games suitable for anyone 6 years old and up. It also comes with a silicone sleeve to help soak up the inevitable punishment your kids will lay into this thing. There's also a whole range of tailor-made accessories to go along with it, like a game pad, headphones, case, and a bunch of instruments for music games.
As much as MEEP! was designed for kids, the tablet also appeals to parents with customizable cloud-based settings that parents can control and adjust without having to take the tablet out of their child’s hands. By simply visiting the Parents Portal on MEEPTablet.com from any device with a web browser (computer, smart phone, tablet), parents can not only hand-pick (“whitelist”) which websites or keywords their kids have or don’t have access to, but they can add words to the tablet’s built-in “bad word” list so their child will not be able to search for those words or use them in the chat feature. Oregon Scientific also maintains a “blacklist” of inappropriate content that is updated by moderators on an ongoing basis which parents can add to. In addition, parents can actively monitor their child’s online activity, limit play time duration and provide a virtual allowance for purchasing apps via MEEP! coins without needing to access the physical tablet.
Even though Windows Phone 8 is lined up for a launch event at the end of this month, many members of Microsoft’s developer community still don't have access to vital tools needed to bring their apps up to speed with the latest features and capabilities. A Software Development Kit (SDK) for the new platform has been released to a limited number of developers under a non-disclosure agreement, but the software giant is taking a secretive approach to Windows Phone 8 in general. What's the big secret?
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There are evidently no big surprises in the SDK and Microsoft’s limited access policy is a different approach — especially from Windows Phone 7, when developer tools were publicly available months before the release — that the company claims is designed to build excitement. "We are working hard to not only continue delivering the best developer tools and resources in the industry, but to also bring Windows Phone 8 to market in a way that creates more opportunity for the ecosystem," a Microsoft spokesperson tells us. Microsoft says early reactions to these devices tells them they’re "on the right track," and that the company "will continue to listen to developer feedback and work to improve our platform, tools and processes with every step."
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The build up suggests the software maker has something special to unveil in late October. If it doesn’t, then many developers and potential Windows Phone owners will be left wondering, "why all the secrecy?"
Deutsche Telekom penned a deal Wednesday to merge its T-Mobile USA unit with rival U.S. carrier MetroPCS, in a bid to grow T-Mobile's subscriber base and position it as a more serious competitor to industry leaders Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T).
Deutsche Telekom announced the merger just one day after it confirmed it was holding talks with MetroPCS to discuss the details of the deal. The German telecommunications company will hold a 74 percent stake in the combined entity, while MetroPCS will hold 26 percent and pay out $1.5 billion to its shareholders.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was inspired and inspiring. When he co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak, he wanted to create a computer that was naturally intuitive so the average person could use it effectively with minimal training or practice. Jobs stuck to that basic design goal with product after product as Apple grew. After Apple’s board of directors made the misguided decision to dismiss Jobs, he returned a few years later barely in the nick of time to rescue the company he founded from an ignominious bargain buyout by Sun Microsystems. He returned the company to a creative vigor almost unheard of in American business history. Jobs did that by introducing the iPod and revitalizing the Macintosh computer line. Later, the company broke new ground by moving into the mobile market with the revolutionary iPhone and next the iPad. In the meantime, he also proved that Apple’s App Stores could be a big business selling mobile applications. Last year, unfortunately, Jobs died after a long battle with cancer. And for more than a year, his successor, Tim Cook, has been running the company. If one examines Apple’s financials, Cook might look like a fine leader. But someone examining the decisions made over the last year is apt to wonder if Jobs would have done the same. This slide show looks at the many things Jobs probably would have done differently if he was still leading Apple over the past year:
***Charley,
Bob,
I do not make disparaging remarks about your posts, although I surely could many a times, and so I would appreciate it if you stopped doing so to my posts.
In my posts, I give both good & bad, no matter the brand, as information to those who might want to know.
Thank you,
Charley
***
Anyone following the tech world is familiar with Research In Motion's woes. Over the past two years, the former industry giant has seen its lunch get eaten in the smartphone market by rivals Apple and Google, with its market share (and its profits) slipping steadily.
But, that doesn't mean the Waterloo, Ontario-based company should be pronounced dead just yet. Beneath all the bad news are little silver linings that could offer RIM a glimmer a hope.
Whether it's RIM's own resolve to pick itself back up, or the anticipated arrival of a new mobile OS, here are five reasons BlackBerry may get that shot at revival after all.
When late Apple CEO Steve Jobs passed away on Oct. 5, 2011, Tim Cook had some big shoes to fill. As Jobs' successor, he was tasked with maintaining that iconic Apple brand Jobs had worked so hard to build during his 14 years at the helm.
And now, one year later, it's obvious Cook can play the part. Whether it's the launch of the new iPhone 5 or Apple's high-stakes legal victory over archrival Samsung, Cook has not only retained Apple's massive fanbase but also helped it grow.
In honor of one of technology's greatest visionaries, here are 10 recent Apple milestones that would have done Steve Jobs proud.
Microsoft is poised to have an awfully big fourth quarter. The company on Oct. 26 will release Windows 8, the latest version of its venerable desktop operating system. In addition, Microsoft will finally launch its latest mobile operating system version, Windows Phone 8. That platform will make its first appearance on Nokia’s Lumia 920, but will likely come to a host of devices from several major vendors, including HTC and Samsung. For those in the developer community, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have quickly become known quantities. For months now, Microsoft has allowed developers to try out the operating systems and create programs for them. And along the way, we’ve heard some good and bad things about both software products. But the legions of people who haven’t had a chance to try out Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 yet, are sure to have many questions about Microsoft’s latest operating system products. Will they work well? Will they be secure? And perhaps most importantly, will they be worth using? None of those questions will be answered so quickly. But for both consumers and enterprise users, now is a good time to find out about the features worth checking out to determine if, at least on paper, these operating systems are worth your hard-earned cash. Take a look at this eWEEK slide show to find out what features have the potential to make Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 worth buying.
Apple Inc. is set to reveal a smaller, cheaper version of the iPad at an event on Oct. 23, according to several reports published Friday.
The reports from Bloomberg News, Reuters and the AllThingsD blog are based on unnamed sources "familiar with the plans."
Apple Inc. hasn't said anything about a smaller tablet, a concept company founder Steve Jobs derided two years ago. But company-watchers have assumed for months that an "iPad mini" will appear before the holiday season.
Apple Inc. has struck a deal with Switzerland's national rail company to license the use of its iconic station clocks for the iOS 6 operating system, which is used by iPhone and iPad mobile devices.
Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, says the two parties have signed a licensing agreement, ending their dispute over Apple's use of round clock faces with black indicators except for the second hand, which is red.
SBB had approached Apple to tell the company that it owned the clock design.
In a statement Friday, it said the deal's terms including the amount of the licensing fee would remain confidential.
Engineer and designer Hans Hilfiker developed the SBB railway clock in 1944.
Samsung has introduced a Galaxy S III Mini, a "compact" version of its Galaxy S III smartphone, the company announced Oct. 11—exactly the day tipsters pointed to, after Samsung showed off the device abroad.
The Galaxy S III Mini runs Android 4.1, known as Jelly Bean, and features a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED) display. There's a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera up front and a VGA on the back ......
amsung adds that the Mini has an "ultra-minimal curved frame" that has a "rich, natural feel." It also has S Voice, Samsung's voice-recognition software that can be used beyond searching for tasks like unlocking the phone, launching the camera or lowering the volume.
Microsoft's Surface tablet, which was unveiled earlier this year, has officially gone on preorder. The device, which comes with a 10.6-inch screen, Gorilla Glass 2, and Windows RT, starts at $499 for a model that includes 32GB of storage and doesn't include the Touch Cover, which covers the screen when the computer is off, but acts as an attachable keyboard when the computer is in use. The price quickly rises to $599 when the Touch Cover is added to the bundle and $699 for those who want 64GB of storage.
Apple has announced that on Oct. 23, it will hold a special press event. The company hasn’t said what it has planned for that event; its invitation said only that it has “a little more to show you.” But speculation abounds that the company will show off the long-awaited iPad Mini. That device, according to reports, will come with a 7.85-inch screen, and could deliver storage of between 8GB and 64GB. There’s even talk of the iPad Mini coming with support for 4G LTE in some versions.
Yet another case of malware found on Google Play. A 20-year-old man suspected of an elaborate Android Trojan SMS scheme was arrested in France. The alleged hacker tallied over 17,000 Android users that installed malicious software posed as copy cat apps. The scheme works by sending SMS messages at a premium cost. The hacker then earns a micro-transaction fee, leaving the unsuspecting user with an unexpected hefty monthly bill.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is having a bad week—a week that epitomizes its struggle to hold on to users amid the growing popularity of Apple's iPhone and Android-running devices.
On Oct. 15, The New York Times ran an article airing the grievances of some BlackBerry users who wish they were iPhone or Android users. ("I want to take a bat to it," said one.) On Friday, Oct. 19, BloombergBusinessweek reported that RIM had been dropped as the smartphone supplier to Booz Allen Hamilton—a company whose 25,000 employees provide consulting services to government agencies, including the U.S. Army, Navy and Department of Homeland Security.
In an event at the 85-year-old but still glistening California Theatre in downtown San Jose, Calif., Apple finally ended all the speculation about its forthcoming scaled-down tablet, iPad Mini, by introducing it to about 2,000 journalists and analysts from around the globe. The Mini, with its 7.9-inch diagonal screen, is lighter and thinner than its larger relatives ......
Apple was expected to introduce an iPad Mini Oct. 23 and it delivered—but not before showing off a fourth-generation iPad, two outrageously thin all-in-one iMacs with a new storage option called the Fusion Drive, an updated Mac Mini and a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display.
The activity in the third quarter is a steep increase from the previous quarter when the firm only found 30,000 apps that appeared to take malicious actions or aggressively gather information on a user. While mobile operating systems typically have more security controls than their desktop counterparts, much of the popular Android operating system's security relies on a knowledgeable user and regular policing by Google
Nokia introduced the Lumia 510 for emerging markets Oct. 23. While that's a group Nokia has so far addressed with its Asha line, with the 510, it's showing it has figured out how to fit the Lumia Windows Phone experience into a device for $199. That's not $199 after subsidy with a contract; that's $199 retail, no strings attached.
Apple finally took the wraps off the consumer technology industry's worst-kept secret, the iPad Mini, on Oct. 23, resulting in yet another device that will battle for market share in the increasingly competitive 7-inch tablet market. Sales of the iPad Mini may have more to do with initial supply constrains than any lack of consumer demand, despite a price point for the device, which starts at $329, that struck many critics as too high.
A blog post from NPD DisplaySearch senior analyst Richard Shim, who specializes in notebooks and tablet PCs, said although Apple is expanding its partner base for the iPad Mini, issues with the display panel will limit initial shipments.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II, introduced Aug. 29 in Berlin, is finally headed for U.S. shores. It will arrive on Sprint's 4G network Oct. 25, priced at $299.99, and for the same price at AT&T Nov. 9. In the coming days or weeks, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular will also begin selling it. The Note II runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and a quad-core processor, but its most radical feature is its 5.5-inch (on the diagonal) display. It's a big device, and unapologetically so. Like other Note devices, it also comes with an S Pen—Samsung's smartened-up version of a stylus—making clear that it's as much a small tablet as a large smartphone.
In a speech in California after the release of Sprint’s third quarter financials Sprint CEO Dan Hesse explained mobile carrier’s net loss of 400,000 subscribers by claiming that it is moving subscribers off its Nextel network, but moving the majority of them onto Sprint’s.
Dan Hesse said here Oct. 25 that the reason the wireless carrier reported a net loss of subscribers in the third quarter is that it is moving subscribers off the soon-to-be-shutdown Nextel network, but it is successfully moving many of them to Sprint’s.
Hesse sought to provide context to news of the net loss of subscribers Sprint reported in the third quarter of 2012 in an address at the Sprint Open Solutions Conference at the San Jose Convention Center. Earlier in the day, at 5 a.m. PT, Hesse joined the conference call on which the company's results were released.
The Nextel network—which Sprint acquired, along with other Nextel assets, in a $35 billion merger of the two companies in 2005—is going to be shut down by 2014, and the spectrum will be used for other telecommunications services, Hesse explained.
Speculation continues unabated about what Google will unveil at its planned Oct. 29 press event in New York City, but now the world knows of one item that’s likely to be announced: a new LG Nexus 4 smartphone running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Details for the new phone, which would be LG's first entry into Google's Nexus line, were apparently leaked by a U.K.-based smartphone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, which inadvertently listed the phone as available for preorders on its Website, according to a report from The Verge.
"An entirely official-looking preorder page has been put up for the handset, whose display is said to measure 4.7 inches diagonally with a 1280 x 768 resolution," reported The Verge. "Other salient features include Android 4.2, still called Jelly Bean, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, NFC and an 8-megapixel camera. Looking into the more detailed spec sheet, the Nexus 4 is listed as being 9.1mm thick and is offered with 8GB of on-board storage."
Of the four major wireless carriers operating in the U.S., AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless were all front and center on day one Oct. 29 to say “step right up and buy your Windows Phone 8 gadgets from us.” Sprint’s official response could be summed up as “meh.”
“Sprint is working with Microsoft on plans for Windows 8 devices, including smartphones,” said a Sprint spokesperson in a statement shared with eWEEK Oct. 31. “We do not have specific launch dates to share at this time.”
Smartphone manufacturer HTC admitted several of its phones running Google's Android operating system have a security flaw that allows hackers or an application to view and access WiFi security information. The affected phones include the Desire HD, the Glacier, the Droid Incredible, the ThunderBolt, the Sensation, the Sensation 4G, the Desire S, the EVO 3D and the EVO 4G.
MetroPCS was the first U.S. carrier to launch a Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network, and on Oct. 31, it announced the added distinction of being the first in the world to launch Rich Communication Services (RCS) on a 4G LTE network.
Small businesses are always the most cost-conscious of companies, with limited resources to spend on IT, no matter how beneficial. This is especially true in an economy where many small and midsize business owners are concerned about their future growth prospects. On the other hand, emerging technologies such as tablet devices, coupled with the general consumerization of IT and the growing popularity of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives, is helping small businesses improve productivity, while allowing them to connect with new customers, thanks to location-based applications and cloud-based social networks. In the past few months a number of high-profile tablet devices have been unveiled, namely Apple's latest shiny, happy, people-pleasing device, the iPad mini, as well as Microsoft's Surface tablet, which runs Windows RT, and other convertible tablets optimized for the new Windows 8 operating system. For the small business owner who values mobility over all else, a 7-inch tablet may be the best fit, but companies using tablets in hazardous or rough-and-tumble environments may lean towards a more rugged device. Which one is right for your business? Let's compare some of the more high-profile models coming to market and see where they stand.
Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins has announced that 50 carriers are now conducting lab trials with BlackBerry 10 smartphones, suggesting the long-awaited devices and the equally long-awaited new BlackBerry 10 platform they run on, are on track to launch in early 2013, as promised.
"This process will continue in the coming months as more carriers around the world formally evaluate the devices and our brand-new software," Heins said in a statement
New sales figures show that the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system holds only a 2 percent share of the global smartphone market based on current OS market rankings, putting pressure on the new Windows Phone 8 to increase that number substantially.
Research released Nov. 1 by IDC shows that just 3.6 million phones running Windows Phone 7 were shipped in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, versus 1.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The third-quarter numbers do not include Windows Phone 8 sales, as devices running it only came out Oct. 29.
The good news is that Windows Phone is the fastest-growing mobile OS in the market with 140 percent growth from the third quarter of 2011.
Apple is viewed as a company that's insulated against hard times. The company's iPhone and iPad are too popular, its brand too appealing and its legion of fans too supportive to ever allow the company to falter.
There's no debating that Apple is successful and will likely continue to be so for the indeterminate future.
But to view the company as invulnerable fails to acknowledge that it's facing increased competition across its most important markets. In some market segments,
A mobile security report from security vendor Bit9 said that 100,000 applications it examined on Google Play were questionable or suspicious due to the types of permissions they requested, the reputation of the application's publisher and other factors.
Bit9's criteria for defining an application as "questionable" or "suspicious" included permissions requested by the application, categorization of the application, user rating, number of downloads and the reputation of the application's publisher.
In its examination of more than 400,000 Android apps, Bit9 found 72 percent use at least one high-risk permission. In addition, 42 percent of the apps access GPS location data, including wallpapers, games and utilities; 31 percent access phone calls or phone numbers; 26 percent access personal data, such as contacts and email; and 9 percent use permissions that can cost the user money.
"Most consumers are willing to click “allow” for mobile apps in situations they probably would never have allowed on a Windows computer," he said. "This is because people do not yet consider their smartphones as vulnerable or as sensitive as they do their desktops and laptops; even those smartphones are essentially just smaller computers, and debatably store even more personal information than the average laptop."
"Another problem is that there are dozens of different permissions on an Android device," he added. "The disclosure dialog box cannot list or properly explain them all. Even if it could, some are simply too esoteric or technical for an ordinary consumer to understand. If the warning described the possibly risks, not just the permission requested, that might help, but then you would be talking about a dialog box as large as a license agreement—how many people actually read license agreements in full?"
Running outdated software on your smartphone can make you an easy target for malware and viruses. The latest report by Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab reveals that 28% af all Android phones infected by malware are running Gingerbread, the operating system’s 2.3.6 version, released in September 2011.
That high number has something to do with the fact that more than half of Android devices in the market run that version of the software. Ice Cream Sandwich, ranked second, with 23% of the attacks, despite having a market considerably lower than Gingerbread — only one in four Android phones is running this version.
The report also reveals the most common malware, SMS Trojans, which infect a phone and then send text messages to numbers with premium rates, stealing large amounts of money from unbeknownst users.
Nokia has won its dispute with Research In Motion (RIM) after a year of fighting over its patent-licensing agreement. Nokia and RIM have a history of licensing patents to one another, and agreed a cross-license in 2003 for standards-essential cellular patents.
However, in 2011, RIM claimed the licence had “extended beyond cellular essentials” and took the case to arbitration to renegotiate its deal with Nokia. The move backfired though and the arbitrator ruled RIM was in breach of contract for manufacturing and selling WLAN (wireless local area network) products without first agreeing royalties with Nokia.