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Google prepping Apple iPhone's Siri rival 'Majel' for Android phones

2011-12-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

LONDON: Google is reportedly planning to expand its existing voice-recognition assistant for Android that will allow users to perform actions in their natural language similar to how Apple iPhone's Siri functions.

According to AndroidandMe.com, the company is planning to add a natural language processing feature to Google Voice Actions, already available on most Android phones.

Voice Actions allows users to give commands by saying keywords such as "send text to". But the updated software could allow it to respond to commands by using more natural verbiage, similar to Apple's Siri.

The feature has been codenamed "Majel," after the woman who does the voice of the computer in Start Trek: The Next Generation, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

It's expected Google will use Majel for search queries at first, and will incorporate other commands such as controlling phone and app actions down the line.

Majel could be released before the end of the year, but more likely in the next few months, the report said.

Apple Inc had unveiled a new version of its smartphone, the iPhone 4S, in October. The new phone is equipped with The "Siri" voice-command software which had pundits gushing over its ease of use versus rivals' offerings. Siri allows for using voice to send messages, make calls, set reminders and many other things.

The handset is also equipped with the new operating system iOS 5 and has over 200 new features, including notification centre and Twitter integration. The phone hit the US market Oct 14.

The software upgrades - including voice commands for everything from sending messages to searching for stock prices -- may be enough to keep people hooked on iPhones.

iPhone 4S sold more than four million units in three days since its launch Oct 14, making it the fastest-selling iPhone ever. More than one million units were pre-ordered in the first 24 hours after the new product was revealed Oct 4.

Globe, Smart war looms over iPhone

2011-12-15T05:31:00.000-08:00

THE country’s leading telecom giants, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, are in a tight battle again, this time over this year’s hottest gadget, the iPhone 4S.

Starting tomorrow, Friday, Globe and Smart subscribers can start availing themselves of the iPhone.

Globe was the exclusive dealer of iPhone for three years since 2008. Smart got the dealership license for the new model in October.

The war is expected in pricing. Neither Globe nor Smart wants to reveal its prices. Obviously, one is feeling its way on the other. One will try to outsmart or outsell the other by offering a lower price.

Globe, sole distributor of iPhone 3G and 4 since 2008, said that their orders before Friday have reached "record levels".

Globe started accepting pre-orders for both online and from walk-in customers last December 1, and an insider said that orders have reached "thousands".

Peter Bithos, senior adviser for Consumer Business at Globe Telecom, said that their pre-orders for iPhone 4S have already outpaced the volume of orders when Globe launched the iPhone 4 last year.

"Globe is one of the first in Asia to carry iPhone from the very start," Bithos said. "We know iPhone from inside-out, we’ve had years to study the habits and patterns of our customers who use iPhone and we have great offers that combine mobile browsing with SMS and calls that really the power of iPhone 4S."

Globe has a total mobile subscriber base of 29 million, 60 percent of which are using Internet-enabled phones. Some 1 to 2 million subscribers use smartphones, which include iPhone.

Smart, the country’s leading telecom provider with more than 60 million mobile phone subscribers, said that its pre-orders had reached "tens of thousands" as of yesterday since it started taking orders on December 2.

Both will have a major launch tonight, the highlight of which will be the release of the pricing and available bundles.

Some say that Globe may bundle the iPhone 4S with the iPad, also exclusively distributed by Globe.

Others say that since Smart is a new entrant in selling the iPhone, it may offer the product in a lower-priced bundle.

But the number of available units is also in question.

An industry insider said that Globe was able to procure "around 30,000 units" while Smart has on hand only "around 20,000 units."

The battle has reached even social networking sites, with Filipinos asking Globe and Smart to release their price packages so they could decide whether they will switch telcos or not.

And just like when it was launched in the US last October, the Philippine launch was also full of controversies, mostly centering on the telcos’ shipments.

Both denied the rumors, saying that they have the units already in their possession.

The Philippines is part of the third batch of countries that are releasing the iPhone 4s along with Brazil, Russia, Chile, Malaysia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey and Taiwan.

The iPhone 4s is packed with incredible new features including Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. iPhone 4s has a reworked cellular architecture complete with dual-mode HSPA+ and CDMA2000 compatibility, making it a world-phone device.

Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4s phones in the first three days after its release, which made it not only the best iPhone launch in Apple’s history, but the most-successful launch of any mobile phone ever.

iPhone 4S to be launched in Taiwan Friday

2011-12-15T05:29:00.000-08:00

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan's major telecom giants and Apple Inc.'s participating stores will start selling iPhone">iPhone 4S, Apple's latest handset model, Friday at more than 1,000 venues nationwide.

It will mark the first time that Apple's premium outlets will synchronize sales with Taiwan's three largest telecom operators-- Chunghwa Telecom Co., Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. and Taiwan Mobile Co. iPhone">iPhone 4S will go on sale at more than 1,000 telecom outlets and at 16 Apple stores, according to market analysts and Foxlink Group, the parent company of Studio A Inc., a premium reseller of Apple products in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The mobile carriers will bundle handset sales with telecom services, while Apple stores will sell standalone handsets.

Market estimates have put the standalone price of iPhone">iPhone 4S at around NT$20,000 (US$658.8). Foxlink Group, whose retail business has benefited from strong sales of iPhone">iPhone 4S in Hong Kong, said its sales revenue for November had jumped more than 40 percent from a month earlier to NT$1.4 billion. The group estimated that the entry of iPhone">iPhone 4S in the Taiwan market will push its revenue to a new high.

The three telecom giants will hold promotional sales events for iPhone">iPhone 4S in Xinyi District in Taipei on Friday. Chungwha Chairman Lu Shyue-ching, Taiwan Mobile Senior Manager Cliff Lai, and Far EasTone President Yvonne Li are scheduled to attend the events. (By Han Ting Ting and Ann Chen)

iPhone 4S to hit Russian market at midnight

2011-12-15T05:24:00.000-08:00

Sales for Apple’s new iPhone 4S smartphone will be launched in Russia at midnight, two months after its launch in the United States and at a higher price than the previous version.

The handset will sell for 35,000 to 46,000 rubles ($1,120-1,500), depending on memory size, retailer, and color.

The iPhone 4S will be priced higher than the iPhone 4 with the same memory size at the launch in Russia in the fall of 2010.

Experts do not anticipate “panic buying.”

“Given iPhone’s traditionally modest share of the Russian market (around 5%), as well as the declared prices, I do not expect any over the top demand for iPhones in Russia. There will be no deficit,” said Alexei Boiko, an expert with the MForum firm.

The iPhone 4S was already launched in the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan on October 14, selling over 1 million units on the first day of sales.

Comparing iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

The 'iPhone 5′ and scampi feature in Google's top UK searches of 2011‎

2011-12-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

Twitter has done its year in review, Facebook revealed the top shared news stories of 2011, so it’s only natural that Google would follow suit with its very own annual recap.

The search giant has unveiled its UK Zeitgeist 2011 search list, and few will be surprised to learn that the Royal Wedding between Prince William & Catherine Middleton topped the list, in an event that saw hundreds of millions of people watch from around the world.

But it’s the normal, everyday searches that are of most interest here. It seems that in 2011, Britons were really eager to find out more on the much-mooted iPhone 5 which, as we now know, actually ended up being the iPhone 4S, as that was the second most searched phrase in the UK.

You’ve probably made many search queries that begin with ‘what is…’, and Google has produced a specific ‘top 10′ list of questions that begin with those two words. ‘What is scampi?’ was a popular search term in 2011, with interest rising by 80% on the same period in the previous year.

Seafood, however, didn’t top the ‘what is’ list. In a year that saw Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg get his dream of a referendum that would see the electoral system overhauled, the most searched for question in this category was: What is AV?

Sometimes, though, knowing the answer to something isn’t enough and people want to know ‘how to’ do things. As such, the ‘how to’ list was topped by queries seeking revision tips for students, followed by how to kiss. At least the UK youth have their priorities straight…

Finally, the UK has a deep fascination with celebrities. The top 10 most searched celebs were almost entirely female-dominated, with Ricky Gervais the only man on a list that had Kim Kardashian and Rebecca Black at the top.

Whilst the non-existent ‘iPhone 5′ attained a lofty overall search position, both the iPad 2 and Groupon featured in Google’s ‘fastest rising’ search list too.

You can peruse Google’s Zeitgeist lists ranging from 2001 through to 2010 now, with the 2011 one going live some time today.

Ten reasons to pick the iPhone 4S over the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon

2011-12-15T05:20:00.000-08:00

The dramatic saga (at least according to phone geeks) of the Verizon Galaxy Nexus ends today as the device appears in stores for $299.99 with a 2-year contract. There has been loads of hype surrounding the device, but before you get too swept up on the moment I wanted to offer up ten reasons that I am sticking with my Apple iPhone 4S on Verizon. As regular readers know I have now had my own HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus for two weeks and can speak from experience with both devices.

There are a number of new Android devices on Verizon, but the only one that really impresses me is the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung with the latest Android operating system and outstanding specifications. Verizon also has the Apple iPhone 4S and I found the device and iOS 5 attractive enough to bring me back to iOS from Android.

As a writer who focuses on mobile technology, I also am blessed (often it feels like cursed) to have a couple of wireless service providers so I have the Galaxy Nexus running on T-Mobile. I considered picking up the Verizon model to replace my iPhone 4S so I could then get a Windows Phone 7 device on T-Mobile.
Ten reasons to select the iPhone 4S

After sitting down and listing out pros and cons, here are ten reasons I have for choosing the iPhone 4S over the Galaxy Nexus. Keep in mind that some of these are subjective and my personal opinion, but I just wanted you to have some information to make an intelligent purchase decision and think before you leap. The Galaxy Nexus is priced the same as the 32GB iPhone 4S so I don’t consider cost as a factor.

1. Applications and services: The selection, quality, and design of applications is better on iOS devices. It seems that just about every day I find some fantastic apps for iOS that appear first on this platform and honestly if it wasn’t for all the apps and services I would likely get bored of iOS and move to another platform.
2. iPhone 4S quality is better: The iPhone 4S is an extremely well built phone with glass, plastic, and metal components. I have gotten used to my Galaxy Nexus, but it still feels a bit cheaper (Samsung Android phones are known for using thin plastics) and side-by-side you can feel the difference.
3. Apple has Siri and she is good: I am testing out a number of personal assistant applications on my Galaxy Nexus, but nothing can currently compare with the conversational nature of Siri. The ease with which I create reminders and appointments, call and text people, check weather for the places I travel, set alarms, create notes, and search the web has changed dramatically thanks to Siri’s advanced features.
4. iPhone 4S camera is better: I posted a basic comparison of several shots I took in “typical situations” with the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus and while the Galaxy Nexus was not as bad as I was led to believe by reading some other sites, the iPhone 4S still performs much better. If taking photos and leaving your point and shoot camera behind is your plan then you will be MUCH happier with the iPhone 4S. I wish Samsung would have used a better camera module, even one just like their Galaxy S II would have been fine.
5. Galaxy Nexus speaker blows: The speaker on the Galaxy Nexus is basically useless and one of the worst speakers I have ever used on a phone. It is nearly impossible to use it as a speakerphone and forget about listening to music and podcasts without a headset or external speaker. Some have suggested it might be a software issue and I can only hope so since I can’t even use it with such low volume. The speakers on the iPhone 4S are much better and I have no complaints at all.
6. Galaxy Nexus display is too big: I have medium to large sized hands and even then I can only reach about 50% - 60% of the display with my thumb while holding the device in one hand. With the iPhone 4S I can cover 95% of the display so the Galaxy Nexus is definitely a two-handed device. My buddy Mickey Papillon was quite bothered by this and ended up getting rid of his Galaxy Nexus after about a week.
7. Android is still complicated: Ice Cream Sandwich is clearly the best version of the Android operating system. It is not perfect and lacks some polish, but there is more cohesiveness than before and more standardization. That said, it is still a rather complex and non-intuitive OS that can be overwhelming for some. I think it is way too much for someone like my mother-in-law and I actually just helped her order her first smartphone, the Apple iPhone 4S.
8. iPhone 4S is world phone: Unlike the CDMA/LTE only Galaxy Nexus, the iPhone 4S is a CDMA and quad-band GSM/UMTS device. As I detailed before my trip to London it is easy to use the iPhone 4S with an international microSIM card or here on the expansive CDMA Verizon network. The Galaxy Nexus from Verizon is limited to just Verizon here in the U.S. If you are a world traveler, then do what I did and consider the penta-band HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus.
9. Malware is growing on Android: Last weekend I had a conversation with a woman who owns an Android device and was extremely upset that “the little green man ate all my contacts” and all the data on her phone was wiped. Now, she was drunk at the time so I am not clear if a real green Android character appeared on her phone, but malware is definitely a growing concern (as reported by CNET) on the Android platform.
10. iOS web browser is better: The web browser in ICS is good and I appreciate the large display for surfing. However, there are some issues with how it handles text on many websites (no changing of settings cures the issue) and there are still some sites that do not render nearly as well as they do on iOS. ICS is also not as smooth as iOS and this is apparent when doing things like surfing the web.

Six reasons to consider the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon

Now, there are definitely reasons to also consider the Galaxy Nexus over the iPhone 4S and if you just can’t stand Apple products the decision is easy. Also, the Galaxy Nexus does let the serious phone geek do a lot more due to the open nature and those phone enthusiasts reading this blog will likely be happier with the Galaxy Nexus. Some obvious benefits of the Galaxy Nexus are:

1. Fast LTE data network support
2. Large, beautiful display (if you don’t care about one or two handed operation)
3. Ice Cream Sandwich operating system (refreshing if you are a current Android user)
4. Replaceable battery
5. Standard microUSB port with full HDMI out experience
6. Google Maps Navigation experience

I was always under the impression that the intent of Nexus devices for Google was to offer up the purest Android experience and be as open as possible with very little carrier impact and have an easily unlockable bootloader so developers could push the limits of the platform. As I wrote a couple of days ago, the world GSM/HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus lets you unlock the bootloader and get Google Wallet installed with straightforward instructions. It remains to be seen if the Verizon Galaxy Nexus allows this, but I am sure we will soon see developers and enthusiasts making attempts this weekend.

There has also been a lot written and said about bloatware on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, but honestly having a couple of Verizon utilities that help you manage your account (and from what I understand can be disabled) hardly counts as bloatware. If they had a bunch of V CAST crap on there then I would be concerned, but the device still appears to be a pure Android smartphone.

Grand Theft Auto 3 out now on iPhone, iPad and Android

2011-12-15T05:17:00.000-08:00

15 December 2011 - To celebrate the tenth anniversary of crime epic Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar Games has released a mobile version of the seminal PS2 classic on iPhone, iPad and Android.

The game lets you run loose in Liberty City -- a toothy satire of New York -- doing driving missions for mob bosses, shoot-out chores for corrupt cops or just causing chaos with reckless abandon.

GTA made popular the open world, something that's been influential in endless sandbox games that followed, and caused a stir in tabloid headlines for its senseless violence: something that's stuck with the franchise ever since.

This mobile adaptation is a faithful recreation of the console game, only adding virtual buttons for touchscreen devices, auto-saving, the ability to instantly restart a mission if you fail and some spiffy new graphics, and character and vehicle models.

The iPhone version is supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, the fourth generation iPod Touch 4, iPad and iPad 2. It costs £2.99, and is available on the App Store here. Unless you're in a slightly more prudish nation, like Germany or Australia, where you'll have to settle for blood-free censored versions.

The Android version has a huge number of supported devices. It runs on HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R and T-Mobile G2x phones, and the Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S and Toshiba Thrive tablets.

Those are just the officially supported devices. From Twitter comments and Android Marketplace reviews, it seems that the game runs on the Samsung Galaxy S2 and even the Xperia Play -- complete with the PlayStation-style buttons. Your mileage may vary on these unofficially-supported Androids, though.

The Android edition will set you back £3.23, and can be found on Google's digital marketplace here.

iPhone Users Now Able to Manage Their Mobile Data Usage

2011-12-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec 15, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today, Mobidia Technology, Inc., a leader and innovative provider of mobile data solutions, announced the launch of the iPhone version of their smartphone application, My Data Manager, a popular smartphone application that helps mobile subscribers understand and manage their data use on their phones with real time information. The new application is also available to mobile operators and handset and tablet OEM's as a component of a fully customizable and extendable carrier-grade data management and analytics solution. The Windows Phone and Blackberry versions will also be available in the very near future.

Downloads of the applications have been increasing rapidly on both the Android Marketplace and iTunes. Total downloads will surpass 500K in the first six months of availability and with the release of the iPhone version, recent daily download rates have been over 50K+. Mobile phone users want and need accurate, robust, easily understood tools to help them comprehend how they are consuming the mobile data through their carrier plan that they are buying on a monthly basis.

"Almost any day, in any country, one can read numerous news articles describing incidents of 'bill shock' -- where mobile phone users have received a bill for mobile data consumption that is much higher than expected," says Mobidia Vice President of Marketing, Chris Hill. "People around the world are clearly struggling with this issue and have been unable to find suitable, helpful tools. Mobidia's My Data Manager offers an easy-to-use and powerful solution to this problem and that is why we see downloads of the app growing everyday!"

Mobile operators are also recognizing the value of My Data Manager solution for its extensibility and ability to deliver value in the following ways:

-- Decrease the costs of managing "bill shock" and lower the frustration of misunderstanding mobile data usage.

-- Increase revenue by increasing the effectiveness of mobile data offers and upsells.

-- Increase the carriers' real-time understanding of which apps and services subscribers value and are using on 3G/4G, roaming, and WiFi networks.

A complete, carrier-grade service is available to extend the My Data Manager application for mobile operators and OEM's. The white-label service can fully integrate into the operator's existing infrastructure or on existing smartphones and tablets. Mobidia is working on an ongoing basis with mobile operators in every major geography of the globe to deploy customized versions of My Data Manager.

About Mobidia Technology, Inc.

Mobidia develops software and solutions for enhancing mobile data networks. At the core of Mobidia's technology is a client-centric architecture that introduces network-edge intelligence to make mobile data networks more efficient, more profitable, and more usable. By leveraging the collective, distributed computing power of hundreds of millions of smartphones, Mobidia can increase network efficiency and enhance experiences for subscribers. In addition to offering a transport optimization solution, the My Data Manager consumer application, and subscriber-centric policy technology for managing mobile data, Mobidia provides a wide range of development services for developing and licensing custom mobile solutions.

Mobidia is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with local U.S. and European and Hong Kong presence. For more information, visit www.mobidia.com or call 604-304-8640.

SOURCE: Mobidia Technology, Inc

Paltrow Recommends NYC Hotspots

2011-12-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

Gwyneth Paltrow is letting us in on her NYC recommendations in her goop City Guide iPhone app. Find out if it's worth downloading.

Gwyneth Paltrow releases iPhone app

Most days we wake up and wonder: "How does Gwyneth Paltrow spend her days in New York City?"

Our prayers have finally been answered: Paltrow's email newsletter, goop, now has its very own iPhone app.

"I have always dreamed of finding a city guide that would be just right for me, like a trusted friend whose opinion you knew you could count on," Paltrow wrote in this month's goop.

"After years of being steered in the wrong direction by bribed concierges, biased opinions and just plain bad suggestions, I decided to create what I had been missing: The goop City Guide! We begin with New York City and you can expect many more over the coming months. This app will be your resource for the tried and tested of the best and coolest of Manhattan (and Brooklyn, and a bit of Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey)."

Paltrow then goes on to detail the making of the iPhone app, including the hours and hours of filming and scouting it took to create it.

"Julie Drazen, our video editor, took about 40 hours of video and pared it down into two short films," the Country Strong actress wrote. "We found Bernadette Pascua, an amazing illustrator, who made our app look beautiful."

How did they decide the locations to recommend?

"Having grown up mostly in New York City and having lived there on and off my whole life, over the years I've carefully gathered a list of all my most favorite spots and services," she said. "We put all of it, over 220 tried and tested listings that made the cut, in this app: restaurants, specialty shops, book stores, beauty parlors, doctors, health practitioners and more. It's ultra-useful for both those who live in the city and those who want to visit."

Of course, Paltrow's recommendations include the best-of-the-best that NYC has to offer, including shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and hotel stays in the Eloise Suites at the Plaza Hotel.

"If the $995 a night price tag is a bit steep, the Eloise store has a dress up section," Paltrow writes in the app, according to writer Matt Cherette.

She also gives recommendations on books, "St. Marks Bookshop is in NYU territory and so it's no surprise it stocks a bevy of scholarly titles in Cultural Theory."

Um… we guess the target market for this app is people in her insanely-high income bracket.

We'll give Paltrow one thing: Her review of the High Line on Manhattan's West Side is spot-on. "A wonderful place to go for a walk and take a short break from the city," she says of the park.

Interested in getting goop recommendations? It'll cost you $3.99 on iTunes. Yes, seriously.

Image courtesy WENN

Maxis launches iPhone 4s at midnight

2011-12-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a widescreen iPod with a touchscreen, mobile phone, and Internet communicator.

Highlights include a voice recognising and talking assistant called Siri, personal computer independence, cloud-sourced data (iCloud) and an improved camera system. A selection of the device's functions can be controlled by voice.

The iPhone 4S comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

The recommended retail price starts at RM 2,190.

Panasonic to launch Android mobile phones in Europe

2011-12-13T04:50:00.000-08:00

Panasonic has announced plans to re-launch its range of mobile phones in Europe, after an absence of almost six years.

The Japanese manufacturer said it would launch its first 'global' smartphone next year. The new handset will be released in Europe in March 2012 and later in the US, China and elsewhere in Asia.

Panasonic said the phone featured a 4.3-inch OLED screen and would be waterproof and dustproof. The company did not confirm any other specifications for the handset.

The pictures of the handset that the company issued showed an NFC logo, raising the possibility that the device would support Google Wallet for mobile payments.

"We are well aware of our powerful competitors," said Toshinori Hoshi, head of Panasonic's mobile communications unit. "However, market shares are changing dramatically and if we launch into this fast-changing market, we believe we have a chance of a hit."

The company said it hoped to sell 1.5 million smartphones in Europe in the next financial year, with the aim of reaching 15 million handsets worldwide by 2016.

Panasonic has not sold mobile phones in Europe since January 2006 but it continued to make handsets for the Japanese market.

Samsung cell phone sales top 300 million units in 2011 for first time

2011-12-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd said on Sunday its annual mobile handset sales this year had exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company's history.

The world's second largest handset maker by volume said in a statement it had broken its sales record by the end of last month.

Handset sales in 2010 were about 280 million.

"We look forward to extending this success going into 2012," JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business, was quoted as saying.

Samsung said the company's flagship Galaxy S smartphone series -- Galaxy S and Galaxy S II -- contributed significantly to the results.

The GALAXY S II, launched in April, set a new sales record for Samsung, generating 10 million-unit sales.

(Reporting by Sung-won Shim, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Microsoft Releases More Mobile Apps for Other People’s Devices

2011-12-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

Microsoft on Monday released an iPad version of OneNote as well as versions of its Lync corporate communications program for iOS, Android and Symbian.

It’s part of the difficult balancing act facing Microsoft in mobile. While Redmond does its most extensive work for its own Windows Phone operating system (and did so for Windows Mobile before that), the company knows it can’t afford to ignore the more dominant operating systems.

Microsoft has a number of iOS apps, including PhotoSynth and Bing, among other titles. It recently added an Xbox Live app, though its features are considerably more narrow than the Xbox Live capabilities available on Windows Phone.

Android apps from Microsoft have been less common, though it does have a handful, including Halo Waypoint and a Chinese version of Bing.

In addition to bringing OneNote to the iPad, Microsoft is also updating the iPhone version and now plans to charge users once they have more than 500 notes on their mobile device.

The real question is when will Microsoft bite the bullet and deliver a full-fledged version of Office for a rival’s mobile platform. OneNote aside, Microsoft has continued to keep Office for itself rather than do a version of iOS or Android. The company has pledged to do a version for Symbian, as part of its broader tie-up with Nokia.

Top 10 mobile phones to buy, this holiday season

2011-12-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

It was back in June 29, 2007, when Steve Jobs transformed the mobile phone market with the launch of the very first iPhone. Thus started the era of smartphones. Since then, hundreds of thousands of mobile phones got launched in their bid to play catch up with the flagship phone from Apple.

Whoever had imagined that Google would launch a whole new mobile OS, Android? Even the traditionally sloth Microsoft went back its drawing boards and came up with a very polished operating system, something very uncharacteristic of their corporate image. And then there was WebOS that was fancy, fresh and intuitive, and yet could make no mark in the market. Thanks to Android being open source, a lot of OEMs were born and reborn. Some of them are Samsung, HTC, Micromax and Lava. And there are much more trying to make a mark.

Choosing a smart phone isn’t that easy, today. There are at least 5 mobile platforms to choose from, and then the manufacturers’ reputation, the hardware of the phones, the bundled accessories, everything play a vital part in choosing a great phone. Today, we present to you 10 mobiles phones (well, technically eleven) that you’d love to take home with you, this holiday season.

Motorola RAZR Xt910

The new Motorola Droid RAZR XT910 takes the best of Motorola’s Android expertise, adds in the super-slimness of the old RAZR phones and then tops it off with some of the rugged durability features of the Defy for good measure.

The phone makes you drool not just by its style, but by its power too. It’s got a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB RAM, Corning Gorilla Glass, 4.3-inches display and a TI OMAP 4430 chipset. The only drawback is the 1780mAh battery that won’t last too long under heavy usage.

HTC Sensation XE& XL

The HTC Sensation XL was launched in India recently and is also branded as the costliest Android phone in the country. On the other side, the HTC Sensation SensationXE was launched couple of weeks back and comes packed with real good specifications for that amount of money.

Both these devices from HTC are exclusive devices with a partnership with Beats by Dr.Dre Audio system and optimized software and come with a special pair of headphones made by Dr.Dre exclusively for HTC.

Both the phones sport 1.5 GHz processors, but Sensation XE has dual cores, compared to the XL’s single core. However, XL is larger is size with 4.7-inch display, and the XE is 4.3-inch. It is surprising that even with a larger display, XL has a resolution of 800x480 whereas XE has a resolution of 960x540.

Samsung Omnia W

Sumsung’s Omnia W is a fresh change from others in the market, thanks to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. The phone is a regular candy bar in design, but it’s surely rock solid, powerful enough to run Mango without a hitch, and comes at a sub-20K price point.

The phone sports a 1.4GHz Scorpion processor, with 512MB of RAM. It has 8GB of storage space, with no slot for an extra memory card slot. The camera is a 5-megapixel shooter with autofocus and LED flash.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is the reason why you’d want to pick up from a nearby store. The operating system is snappy and doesn’t freeze at all. Plus, the data connectivity over 3G also felt much faster than its competitions. The only caveat, it’s hardly a stunner in looks, other than the beautiful super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.

Blackberry 9900

For many users, the BlackBerry Bold represents the perfect image of a business-orientated smartphone, and its physical keyboard has certainly won it plenty of fans. The new BlackBerry Bold 9990 adds a touchscreen interface above the keyboard, but returns to a look and feel that we first saw on the Bold 9000.

The Bold 9900 is RIM's slimmest Blackberry yet and has a mean processor under its hood. What follows is an in-depth look at what the new Bold has to offer.Looks alone will make BlackBerry addicts crave this new device. With its 0.4-inch profile, the Bold 9900 is the thinnest RIM handset yet. Extremely pocket-friendly, this 4.6-ounce phone begs to be shown off.

AT the price of Rs 33,360, calling the phone overpriced is an understatement. But then again, people buy iPhone too.

Motorola Defy+

The Motorola Defy Plus is a follow-up to the company’s popular rugged phone, Motorola Defy. The new model shares most of the features with its predecessor, including the same screen (3.7-inch Gorilla Glass capacitive touchscreen) and the same camera (5-megapixel with LED flash).

The major upgrades come in the form of the processor, which gets bumped up to a 1GHz behemoth, and the battery, which offers over 7 hours of talk-time and 16 days of standby time. And of course, it comes pre-loaded with Google Android v2.3 Gingerbread, augmented by the custom MotoBlur UI. It also sports 512MB RAM, 1GB of application memory and a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus.

Water resistant and dust proof, the rugged smartphone claims to survive a sudden rain shower, a day on the beach, an all-night party, or even a tough workout with the pre-loaded CardioTrainer application, which transforms the device into the perfect running mate. Here’s a video that you must watch –

Nokia Lumia 800

The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Windows Phone handset to spring from the Microsoft / Nokia tie-up announced in February. shares its exterior styling with the previously substantially less hyped Nokia N9, a Meego-based smartphone, although the screen size is reduced from 3.9" (854x480 pixels) to 3.7" (800x480 pixels) to conform to the Windows Phone spec list.The CPU, however, increases from the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 to the 1.4GHz MSM8255 Snapdragon/Scorpion which certainly helps add snap to the Windows Phone Mango OS.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is one of the most stunning smartphones around. It is made of a single piece of polycarbonate (basically a posh variety of plastic), a first as far as I know in the world of consumer electronics. Unlike other devices with a unibody design, there is no way of getting into the Lumia 800. Unless you were to break it open, the device is completely sealed from the public world. The use of polycarbonate not only improves reception, it also means that if the Lumia 800 were to suffer from a fall, the damage will not so apparent as the plastic is coloured inside out.

One of the major selling points of the Lumia 800 will be the inclusion of Nokia maps, in replacement of Bing Maps. It allows you to download maps of cities in the SD Card, thus doing away with the need to have an active Internet connection for navigation. It also features turn-by-turn voice navigation and a showcase of places of interest, nearby.

No doubt the Lumia 800 and 710 are Nokia’s ‘comeback devices’.

Motorola Atrix 2

An attractive and comfortable phone with a great screen and solid camera, Atrix 2 is a high-end Android phone that improves on the original Atrix, adding a better display and camera, faster 4G, and a few other refinements. One thing it lacks from its predecessor is the fingerprint sensor.

It has a dual-core 1GHz Cortex-A9 processor on TI OMAP 4430 chipset. It has 1GB RAM< 8 GB of storage and a 8-megapixel autofocus camera. The display screen is 4.3-inch and is Gorilla glass capacitive touch screen.

The phone is not in the market yet, but sources reveal that it shall be launched in India during January 2012.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Typically, no list of must-buy phones can ignore the high and mighty Galaxy S II. However, the upgrade to the super phone Galaxy Nexus, is expected in India during the first month of 2012.

The Nexus series is the flagship device from Google and is the first phone to sport Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS. ICS is supposed to be the bridge between Gingerbread and Honeycomb and can run on both tablets and smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus sports a dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 processor with iGB of RAM, The phone shall come in 16GB and 32GB of storage, but has no microSD card slot. The camera is a 5-megapixel shooter with autofocus and has absolutely no lag between two successive shots. Did we mention that it also has a 4.65-inches Super AMOLED capacitive display with an amazing resolution of 1280x720 pixels?

Samsung Galaxy Note

Personally, I was in serious dilemma to feature this beast in the category of mobile phones. Frankly, with a 5.3-inch display, it should ideally be called a mini-tablet, than a phone.
Samsung has been going great guns with its Galaxy lineage, right since they launched the first, Galaxy S. With the Galaxy Note, Samsung has taken the Streak 5 and changed every detail possible. The Note has a newer version of Android, a dual-core processor, a higher clockspeed on each core, a larger screen with higher resolution and better screen technology (TFT of Streak vs Super AMOLED HD on Note). Overall, Samsung Note’s 5.3-inch crisp display, a diminutive weight of just 178 g and 9.7 mm thickness come together really well.

Note has a gargantuan battery of 2500mAh. Equally impressive is the Note’s 8-megapixel camera and LED flash.A stylus is included with the Note, an add-on that we thought was buried with Symbian and resistive touchscreen devices. The stylus is very well integrated into the Note and a host of apps which allow sketching and drawing. The stylus fits securely into the body of the Note and should be a boon for those who feel they need to actually write rather than type. You won’t need the stylus for general business applications such as mail and browsing.

iPhone 4S

How can a list like this be ever devoid of an iPhone? And we wouldn’t want to disappoint you either.Let's make no bones about it: the iPhone 4S is one of the best phones on the market at the moment, and the best thing Apple has ever created.

It's got all the right bits right: good camera, slick web browser, quality screen - and made it all work together in the way we've come to expect.

Some people might be disappointed not to have seen the fabled iPhone 5, with the larger screen and new design, but the iPhone 4S is more than enough to keep Apple fans happy.

Simply put: if you've got an iPhone 4, you don't need to upgrade (as long as you update to iOS 5) but for anyone else on an older device, or hankering after finally making the jump to an iPhone, you should run down to the shops and pick one up now - you won't regret it.

The name of the next Android superphone is..

2011-12-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

Is what you see in the image, the "Sony Ericsson Atrix Black Z Plus Prime," the name of a phone or an American Gladiator?

Sadly, this is a question I've asked myself before, as cell phone names have become a bit ridiculous these days. It appears that I'm not the only one who feels this way either because a company called YinzCam has come up with an entertaining way to poke fun at phone-naming schemes.

The Android Phone Name Generator is a simple site that randomly generates names based on existing Android phones. Some of my favorites include the Samsung Amaze Neo Z II G1, the Motorola Hero Neo, and the Sony Ericsson Motivate Black One. There are also some that I could actually see becoming real names, such as the Samsung Nexus Touch.

To be fair, the process of naming cell phones isn't a particularly easy one, but still, there had to be better options than these, right?

Simple rubber band adds macro lens to any smartphone

2011-12-13T04:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, the simplest gadgets turn out to be the most useful, and such is the case with the Macro Cell Lens Band.

What you see here is pretty much what you get: a rubber band with an embedded macro lens that you can wrap around any smartphone to take close-up photos. When not in use, you can simply wear it on your wrist or store it in your wallet on a credit card.

There are a number of add-on lenses available for the iPhone, such as SLR Mount and the Olloclip, but they're not always cheap. The Macro Cell Lens Band? Only $15.

The accessory has already proved to be quite popular, as it's currently sold out at Photojojo.

Mobile phone imports rise by 60pc

2011-12-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

KARACHI: A strong demand for cellular phones has led to their higher imports which increased by 60 per cent in the last four months.

Mobile phone imports in July-October 2011 swelled to $220 million from $137.3 million in the same period of last year while imports in July-June 2010-2011 went up by 66 per cent to $523 million from $315 million in July-June 2009-2010.

The cell phone market is now bustling with buyers because of a wide range of varieties.

Carrying low price tags, various Chinese brands are competing with Nokia and Samsung. Many people prefer buying low priced phones, mainly of Chinese origin, as snatching of cell phones is on the rise and in many cases mobile phone robbers had even killed those who offered resistance.

Though many customers do not feel satisfied with the quality of Chinese phones, in view of rising food prices and high cost of living, low-priced Chinese brands, with camera, FM Radio, memory card and other options attract a number of buyers.

Chinese made smart phones are also available at low prices, from Rs5,000-7,000, but dealers say they are gradually losing customers due to lack of warranty and mediocre quality.

Total cell phone subscribers as per data of Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) till June 2011 stood at 108.9 million in the country.

In 2003-2004, there were five million subscribers.

Director Business Development United Mobiles Ejaz Hassan said that total cell phone sale now ranges between 1.4 and .5 million per month which was one million some six to eight months back.

He linked rising sale of cell phones to huge network expansion by cell phone operators in remote rural and urban areas.

When asked about any negative impact on Nokia sales from Chinese made sets, he said actually market share of Nokia had risen 55-60 per cent from 45-50 per cent some six months back, especially after the introduction of dual SIM option.

He said Nokia might have faced tough times in other world markets, but Pakistan has remained the best market for Nokia phones.

Teletec Enterprises Director Azad Lalani said that Chinese mobile phones now hold 30-35 per cent market share, but overall share of Chinese cell phones and Nokia is improving which is evident from a sharp hike in imports.

He said out of total import of mobile phones, the share of cell phones carrying price tag under $40 or below Rs3,500 stands at 80 per cent. In this category, Chinese phones are in competition with Nokia, Samsung etc especially after the introduction of dual SIM option.

Azad said that Chinese phones and even branded ones (manufactured in China) are arriving under Free Trade Agreement with China and only one per cent presumptive tax is being charged. However, duty on mobile phone arriving from other countries is Rs250 per phone.

A number of people now hold multiple SIMs since the cell phone operators are in intense competition and are introducing various packages.

Researcher proves hidden software logs everything on mobile phones

2011-12-13T04:21:00.000-08:00

By now, you have already heard about the claims made by 25-year-old Trevor Eckhart that the Carrier IQ software - designed by an eponymous Mountain View company - can be considered a rootkit that logs practically all actions made by the mobile phone users on which the software has been secretly installed.

You also might have heard about the company trying to make Eckhart retract his claim, threatening him with legal action and denying that its software does anything except collecting information needed by carriers to improve the quality of their services.

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation piped up to take Eckhart's side, the company stepped on the brakes and apologized to him, likely in the hope that the matter will end there - as well as public scrutiny.

Unfortunately for them, Eckhart decided to make a video that proves that the Carrier IQ software does, indeed, log things like keystrokes, the text in received and sent SMS messages and that it has insight into browser searches even when HTTPS is used.

He points out that the software acts like a rootkit - it enables continued privileged access to the mobile devices, hides its presence from the users and subverts standard operating system functionality.

"It’s almost impossible for users to find off switches, user interfaces, policies, or references to IQRD anywhere on the phone," he writes. "Using standard functionality, the only place you can see that the application is installed on the phone is in Menu -> Settings -> Manage Applications -> All, then scroll down to IQRD. This application has a non-descript icon and offers no information about itself."

It apparently cannot be switched off, and it's programmed to run every time the device is booted.

Here is the list of permissions it requires - although the user is never asked to give them:

And, setting aside they collecting of data, another problem is that the software can be terminated and deinstalled only if you root the phone and replace the OS, but its code, which is present in almost every other application, will still continue to make trouble for the users by showing unexpected errors.

Eckhart demonstrated his claims by using his HTC device, but says that the software is present on most Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones.

And Wired makes a good point: is sending your communications to Carrier IQ a violation of the federal government’s ban on wiretapping?

The iPod Turns 10: How It Shaped Music History

2011-10-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

Though the Apple Store memorials have since given way to long lines for the iPhone 4S, it's still difficult to imagine the technology company without Steve Jobs at its helm. And while much has been written about the gadgets that defined perhaps Jobs' most productive decade, it's tough to isolate one device for its impact above the rest.

But this Sunday marks 10 years since the keynote that announced the iPod—a device that started the chain of successes in an Apple renaissance, and one that completely redefined the experience of listening to music, as well as making it.

Jobs and his team at Apple seized a moment as much as created a culture with the iPod.

Though the specter of the internet and the high-speed connections that made MP3s available and largely free of charge had already reared its head by the late 1990s, the music industry itself had been slow on the uptake.

It wasn't until the year 2000 that record companies—and famously, Metallica—filed their first lawsuits against Napster, accusing the service of robbing musicians of their royalties. By that time, file sharing had become an unstoppable force, and the music industry was scrambling; but importantly, it was still an unwieldy process to steal music.

Mismatched file names and catalogs of thousands of songs almost negated the value of having a library larger than your record (or CD) collection.

Cell phone-cancer link challenged in new study published in British Medical Journal

2011-10-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

The largest study of its kind found no link between long-term use of mobile phones and increased risk of brain tumours, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reported on Friday.

Danish researchers found no evidence of enhanced risk among more than 350,000 mobile-phone subscribers whose health was monitored over 18 years.

Earlier research on the possible link between cell phone use and cancerous tumours has been inconclusive, partly due to lack of long-term data.

CANCER - LEARN THE BASICS

In June, the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified the radio-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

The new study follows up an earlier investigation that compared the cancer risk faced by all mobile phone subscribers in Denmark -- some 420,000 people -- with the rest of the adult population.

Patrizia Frei, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Danish Cancer Society, and colleagues examined health records from 1990 to 2007 for 358,403 cell phone subscribers.

Overall, 10,729 tumours of the central nervous system were diagnosed.

But among people with the longest mobile phone use -- 13 years or more -- cancer rates were nearly the same as for non-subscribers.

"The extended follow-up allowed us to investigate effects in people who had used mobile phones for 10 years or more, and this long-term use was not associated with higher risks of cancer," the study concluded.

The findings, however, could not rule out the possibility of a "small to moderate increase in risk" for very heavy users, or people who have used cell phones for longer than 15 years.

"Further studies with large study populations where the potential for misclassification of exposure and selection bias is minimised are warranted," the researchers said.

In a commentary, Anders Ahlbom and Maria Feychting from Sweden's Karolinska Institute said the new evidence was reassuring but called for continued monitoring of health registers.

There are about five billion mobile phones registered in the world, a figure that continues to rise sharply along with the average amount of time spent using them.

The IARC does not issue formal recommendations, but its experts pointed in June to a number of ways consumers can reduce possible risk.

Texting and using hands-free sets for voice calls lower exposure to potentially harmful radiation, compared to device-to-ear voice calls, by at least 10-fold, they said.

AFP/Relaxnews

Crackdown on drivers using mobile phones

2011-10-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday 23 October 2011 - NINE drivers were caught using mobile phones in north east Fife during a police crackdown.

An increased presence on the area’s roads between September 1 and October 6 led to more than 70 motorists being charged with various offences.

The initiative was in response to concerns raised at community engagement meetings across north east Fife — particularly about people using mobile phones while driving.

Community Sgt. Brian Poole, who co-ordinated the operation, said: “While the number of drivers actually detected for the offence of driving using a hand-held mobile device appears low, I am of the view that our increased presence and enforcement activity has played a part in encouraging appropriate driver behaviour and reduced the number of drivers engaging in this risk-taking activity.

“This initiative also allowed us to tackle other road safety issues and some notable results were achieved.

“During the month some 27 drivers were detected for speeding on north east Fife roads, including one individual who will be reported to the procurator fiscal for travelling at 58 mph in a 30 mph limit.”

Sgt. Poole added that six people were caught drink-driving during the crackdown, along with another six for driving without insurance, three for driving without a licence, 20 for not wearing a seatbelt and one for driving while disqualified.

Five motorists will be reported to the procurator fiscal for dangerous or careless driving.

The scheme was particularly focused on roads around schools and ended on October 6 with a ‘day of action’ in St Andrews and Cupar.

Sgt. Poole concluded: “While this particular initiative is now complete, we will continue to tackle inappropriate driver behaviour throughout north east Fife at every opportunity and will deal with risk-taking drivers as robustly as the law allows to ensure that our communities are as safe as they can be.”

North east Fifers can have their say on local priorities by attending the community engagement meetings in their area.

The next round of meetings begins early next month.

Details are available at www.fife.police.uk

Mobile phone users risk 'text neck'

2011-10-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

A condition dubbed "text neck" is being seen in people who spend time hunched over their mobile phone and tablet computer screens, British chiropractors say.

The say the condition occurs because the joints and tissue in the neck are not meant to flexed for long periods, and hours spent peering down at a screen causes too much stress, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"Imagine sitting on your ankle sideways for 10 minutes," Rachael Lancaster of Freedom Back Clinics in Leeds said. "It would feel stiff and sore when you returned it to its natural position.

"That is exactly what people are doing with their necks. If people continue to put their necks in these positions, the body will gradually adapt to the stresses."

This could eventually cause the natural curvature of the neck to reverse with possible serious health issues, she said.

Children are more at risk because their heads are larger in relation to their body size than adults, Tim Hutchful of the British Chiropractic Association said.

People should take regular screen breaks, sit up straight while texting and hold their phones or tablets a little higher to avoid problems, chiropractors said.

10 ways mobile gadgets have changed our lives

2011-10-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

By Doug Gross, CNN

Editor's note: This is part of "Our Mobile Society," CNN's weeklong series examining how cell phones and other electronic devices have revolutionized the ways we work, play and communicate.

(CNN) -- It's a mobile society.

Call it good. Call it bad. It just is.

With an estimated 5 billion mobile phone connections in the world, not to mention the emerging number of tablet computers and other on-the-go connectivity gadgets, mobile technology has altered the way we live.

It's as hard to imagine spinning a rotary dial or fumbling for a quarter for the pay phone -- both staples of the generation before us -- as it is imagining what new mobile technology may exist in the generation to come.

But, for now, here's a look at 10 ways the omnipresence of mobile gadgets has already changed the way

Meeting up is easier

"We'll meet you there."

There was a time when those words would have required a bunch of follow-up details. That time is called "all of human history before everybody had a mobile phone."

Now, all we need to do is get our friends in, generally, the same geographical region. To finish the drill, dash off a quick "Where R U?" text. (Or, "Where are you?" if you're not into the whole brevity thing. Or if you like grammar).

Change the old adage. "Close" now counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and meeting each other when you have mobile phones.

There's no excuse to be bored

Standing in line? Killing those last five minutes before quitting time? Stuck in the doctor's waiting room or *shudder* the DMV?

There was a time in human existence when all of these occasions would have left us staring at the walls in a zombie-like stupor, particularly if there's not a magazine or book handy.

Now? Chat with a friend. Surf the Web. Check your stocks. Fling birds at pigs.

Smartphones, or tablet computers, put an amount of computing power in your pocket that would have taken up an entire room a generation ago. If you can't find something to entertain you for a few minutes of down time, you just haven't downloaded the right app.

(Editor's note: Notice we didn't say you could do any of this while stuck at a red light. Because we'd never endorse fiddling with your phone while driving. Nope. Never. Ahem.)

Fast-twitch brains

And here's the downside of that one.

Find yourself with a dead battery, malfunctioning phone or -- gasp -- a few minutes away from the thing, and watch what happens. Getting twitchy? Afraid that Words with Friends game has gotten out of control? What if you missed a text?

Or there are those moments when you really should be doing something else, but the buzz of the BlackBerry draws you to its screen again and again and again.

No less an authority than the New York Times posits that "computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning."

Gadgets help us do things fast. But sometimes, it's worth wondering whether their constant, glowing allure helps us do them well.

You're always around

Call this one a blessing and a curse.

There was a time when "Sorry, I popped out for a few minutes" would have worked as an excuse when you're boss called to ask you to go ahead and come in on Saturday. Now, even "I'm on vacation in Bulgaria," "I'm in the middle of L.A. rush-hour traffic" or "I'm currently on the operating table" might not work.

It's just expected that we all have a mobile phone on us at all times. Honestly, when's the last time you heard the phrase "I don't have a cell phone" from someone who lives in an industrialized nation?

The upside is some of the other stuff mentioned here. The downside is that, in a way, we never leave the office.

Horror movies had to add a line

There was a brief moment in the '90s, before Hollywood caught up with real-world consumer technology, when horror-movie audiences were getting their suspension of disbelief slashed to bits.

I mean, sure, we'll accept a kill-crazy animated children's doll or a horde of slavering, reanimated zombies. But how could a cabin full of randy co-eds or a baby-sitter left alone in a creepy house not have a cell phone to call for help?

Fear not. The writers and directors got more savvy, and soon, every single horror movie contained a pivotal "Why the Cell Phones Don't Work" scene.

Don't believe it? Watch this video for five straight minutes of soon-to-be-terrorized scream queens and kings bemoaning their lack of signal or otherwise losing, breaking or abandoning their life-saving phones.

We're particularly fond of "The Hills Have Eyes." "Nothing," our hero says. "Ninety-seven percent nationwide coverage, and we find ourselves in that 3%."

We bet some mobile customers in big, tech-centric cities can sympathize.

Smile! You're on camera!

In our mobile world, everybody's a one-man or one-woman reporting crew.

If you've got a mobile phone, you've probably got a camera on it. If you've got a smartphone, that most likely means camera, video and sound recording abilities.

All this means that, with no planning whatsoever, we're able to document our lives quickly and easily when the desire strikes.

This can lead to great stuff. Our own iReport thrives on it. And much has been made of the role participant videos and photos have played in circumventing crackdowns on traditional media in places like Iran and Egypt during recent political unrest.

It also means that, if you're planning on any sort of bad behavior in public, you'll be surrounded by digital shutterbugs more than happy to put it on YouTube for you.

Update anxiety

What? You've got an iPhone 3G? Luddite!

You like your Droid X? That's so July 2010. The guy in the next cubicle just walked in with the Droid Bionic.

The lightning-fast cycle of electronics updates these days can cause folks walking around with perfectly functional phones, tablets and the like to feel like low-tech outcasts.

We all know that the iPhone refreshes itself roughly once a year (the unveiling of the 4S being slightly behind schedule). So, for roughly half of your phone's life, you'll know the world is closer to seeing a newer, sleeker, shinier model than it is to the day your current phone seemed ... well ... new, sleek and shiny.

All-In-One

A phone. A map. A compass. A camera. A video recorder. A video-gaming device. A portable music player. A laptop. A GPS device. A flashlight.

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when, if you wanted to have all of those things, you had to carry all of those things.

And that's just the first 10 that came to mind.

Today's mobile devices keep you lighter on your feet, cramming them all into one device.

Conversation killer

She's chatting you up. You're checking your e-mail.

They're laughing at a hilarious joke. You're tweeting about your appetizer.

He's declaring his undying devotion. You're cutting the rope, blitzing jewels or angering birds.

Yes, our gadgets provide a world of possibilities. But if we're not careful, they can sometimes pull us away from the real one.

Conversation killer (Redux)

On the other hand, some conversations aren't necessarily awe-inspiring.

There's the guy on the airplane who wants to tell you all about affordable business-overhead expense-disability insurance. Or the one you barely knew, and didn't much like, in high school who, 20 years later, insists upon an awkward stop-and-chat.

Dive deep into the friendly confines of your mobile phone and you're safe.

It's essentially a ... wait. I'm sorry. I've got to take this.

source: edition.cnn.com

Mobile Phone Maker Taken To Court

2011-10-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mobile phone maker Motorola is being sued by Intellectual Ventures over the use of six patents, BBC reports.

The patents are all used in Motorola-produced Android smartphones, the BBC report says. According to the report, Intellectual Ventures is accusing Motorola Mobility of “using its technology to perform file transfers, updates and remote data management and other functions on some of its smartphones.”

The two companies had reportedly been discussing a licensing deal for the patents since January. When no agreement was reached, Intellectual Ventures filed the lawsuit. Intellectual Ventures is reportedly seeking a trial and unspecified damages.

According to BBC, a statement from Intellectual Ventures said, “We have a responsibility to our current customers and our investors to defend our intellectual property rights against companies such as Motorola Mobility who use them without a license.”

Intellectual Ventures, owner of more than 35,000 patents, buys technological intellectual property from inventors and then negotiates licensing deals with major firms, generating money for investors and providing new technology for companies like Motorola Mobile.

BBC Reports that Google, which tried to buy Motorola Mobile for $12.5 billion in August, has invested money in Intellectual Ventures. Although the money from Google is associated with a different Intellectual Ventures fund than the one being used to sue Motorola, patent expert Florian Mueller told BBC that Google's backing of Intellectual Ventures was an "own goal.” Questioning its ability to defend its partners, Mueller also told BBC that Google’s failure to defend Android partners was “inexcusable.”

According to BBC, neither Motorola Mobile nor Google has commented on the case.

Link-to-Cell merges handsets

2011-10-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

The post-midnight call a few weeks ago arrived on one of our cellphones. They were getting their usual overnight charge in the kitchen while we were one floor up and many dark steps away in the bedroom.

It was the sort of situation Panasonic had in mind when it developed new cordless home phones with a technology it calls Link-to-Cell.

Link-to-Cell uses Bluetooth communication to connect a set of conventional cordless home phones with one or two cellphones. Once the devices are linked, any incoming cellular calls will ring through to one of the Panasonic handsets.

You can answer the call from a handset in your garage, basement or other location around the house, regardless of where your cellphone is parked.

Pairing a cellphone with the Panasonic home phones is just slightly more complicated than pairing a wireless phone with a headset or an in-car receiver. Once the two are linked, you can transfer up to 3,000 numbers stored on your mobile phone to the Panasonic handset.

The home phones will also display Caller ID data for incoming cellular calls and mimic any special ringtone that you've programmed into your mobile.

The Link-to-Cell concept has other advantages as well. For example, it doesn't require a landline to function. You can make and receive all of your calls over your wireless carrier's network while still having the convenience of multiple handsets.

And a Panasonic handset will extend cellular coverage to areas of your house where service might be sketchy or unavailable.

The Panasonic system comes with a built-in answering machine, and its handsets can work as speaker phones or as an intercom. However, the intercom feature is accessible from the phone's menu, not from a dedicated button that would be more convenient, and the call-answering feature supports only one mailbox, not one for each family member.

Panasonic offers several versions of the Link-to-Cell phones under the KX-TG76 model number. A setup with two handsets costs about $100 at Target, Walmart or Best Buy. Additional handsets cost about $40 each.

Is it really worth shelling out for mobile phone insurance?

2011-10-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

With mobile phone theft the fastest growing crime on our streets, people are reconsidering the value of having insurance to replace their handsets -- if not the annoyance of being without it.

Gardai have said that hundreds of handsets are being swiped by "bicycle thieves" snatching phones from unsuspecting pedestrians.

A recent spike in thefts of iPhones has resulted in a new initiative deployed to stop them, but as long as people like to "walk and talk", it's an on-going problem, especially where fancy iPhone 4 is involved -- the gadget of choice of the thieving population.

Best to get indoors safely before making that call.

A total of 96pc of Irish adults have a mobile phone -- among the highest saturation in Europe -- and an estimated 40 are stolen every day.

If you've been a victim, then you're probably wondering what you can do about it. Well, for some, the answer is buying insurance so that at least they get a new handset quickly.

But the Consumer Association has repeatedly said that mobile phone insurance is not worth the money. And it is expensive.

It might only look like a tenner on your bill every month but that can be 20pc of the amount insured. The equivalent premium for, say, a €5,000 house insurance claim would be €1,000!

So think long and hard before committing, and study the different packages carefully. We've compared the four main providers along with some independent insurers.

Locked

In all cases, there's a hefty excess (so you're never fully covered), some don't include accessories such as pouches, batteries or cables and none include mobiles taken from unattended cars (unless locked in the boot or glove box). In addition, if you don't report a stolen phone to the gardai, you will not be covered for the theft.

Your decision to buy might be influenced by the fact that more than half the home insurance companies don't cover mobile phone loss -- but do check your policy before shelling out twice

Some companies, including Phonesonline, have odd restrictions such as having to sign up within a month of buying the phone.

Others, such as 02, don't cover the iPhone for the first 60 days. It's hard to see the point of these, except to be aware of them.

What option you choose in this case largely depends on what type of phone you have and who your service provider is, but we're plumping for 02 as best value for money.

LG Mobile Enlists Rachel Zoe to Target Young Females for Marquee Phone

2011-10-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

LG Mobile has hooked up with stylist Rachel Zoe to launch its newest phone -- dubbed the "Marquee"-- as the company sets its sights on attracting young female consumers.

The crux of the initiative is an LG Mobile-sponsored web series dubbed "Style Rules." The series will feature a competition in which Ms. Zoe tasks style bloggers with creating looks tied to the Android smartphone's brand: "Thin, Light and Bright." The phone product, which Ms. Zoe will use to communicate with the contestants, launches Oct. 2, and beginning today, six webisodes will air on sites across the Alloy Digital Network once a week through November.

"We're targeting a younger female audience and we're calling it the stylish phone," said Erica Molina-Cortez, senior digital manager for LG Mobile. "Naturally, Rachel Zoe is almost a perfect plug-in for us. We wanted to leverage her style and social-media stature and that's also why we're doing it in a digital media environment."

Smartphone marketing in the U.S. has seen a recent surge this year, with LG competitor Samsung installing new North American marketing leadership. Nokia, another foreign handset manufacturer, has set North America as a priority, following the runaway success of Android handsets and, of course, Apple's iPhone.

LG's latest campaign strategy is part of its overall strategy to become a more lifestyle-oriented brand. In an interview last year, LG CMO Kwan Sup Lee told Ad Age: "Our strategy is to portray our product portfolio as a strength -- not as hardware manufacturers, but as a lifestyle company, and we have many household devices and home electronics and personal-communication devices that are lifestyle devices. LG is talking about "Life's Good," freedom and infinite possibilities -- all those kind of emotional attributes -- for a broad range of products."

The LG deal marks another extension of the increasingly visible Rachel Zoe brand, an endeavor overseen by Ms. Zoe herself as chief creative officer and husband Rodger Berman, who serves as CEO. Ms. Zoe is in her fourth season of Bravo reality show "The Rachel Zoe Project," and her endorsements and brand tie-ins include Bing, Piperlime and lipstick line Exude. She also recently launched her own clothing line.

Phones are a bit out of her comfort zone, compared to her normal arenas: fashion and makeup. When asked why LG is a good fit for his wife's brand, Mr. Berman drew a comparison to Apple's role in elevating design's influence on purchasing. "We look at ourselves as transcending fashion. We do beauty, home, we can do a partnership with a hotel, with an automobile. We're about good design and taste and glamour and see ourselves going across many different spectrums.

The group is also set to launch two new verticals by Oct. 9: a beauty newsletter called Zoe Beautiful and an accessory platform called Accesszoeries.

Alloy, which produced the webisodes, is a linchpin in the partnership, with ties to Zoe Media Group and Mr. Berman. The company has also worked with LG on branded entertainment initiatives in the past.

The series will be broadcast through sites in the Alloy Digital Network with promotion including branded contextual editorial and video integrations featuring Ms. Zoe and her team of stylists, along with blogger and social-media outreach. LG Mobile will also advertise on Ms. Zoe's daily newsletter The Zoe Report and Zoe Media Group's RachelZoe.com.

Decide.com Adds Mobile Phones and Ability to "Follow" the iPhone 5 Launch

2011-10-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Decide.com, the only electronics shopping service that predicts when to buy consumer electronics with no regrets, has expanded its offering to include phones, making it easy for shoppers to stay current on top product price changes and new model releases. Decide also enables shoppers to "follow" the iPhone to get the latest news and rumors on the upcoming iPhone 5 launch from hundreds of sources including CE manufacturers and expert news services like CNET, Engadget, Gizmodo, MacRumors and others. Now shoppers can use the power of Decide's price and model prediction technologies plus news aggregation to purchase phones with no regrets.

"Like wristwatches a generation ago, mobile phones are the gadget status symbol of our age and making a bad purchase decision can be devastating," said Mike Fridgen, CEO of Decide.com. "Shoppers can now check Decide.com to know when to buy phones before getting stuck with that two-year contract."

In a survey conducted by Decide, almost half of all consumers stated they would wait five months for a new model of a phone to be released - the longest "willingness to wait" of any CE product category. Decide is currently recommending wait on thirty top-selling phones because there is a newer model available or a new model predicted to arrive soon.

Want to stay on top of the latest news and rumors to know when to buy the iPhone 5? Decide's new iPhone feed aggregates and helps you track the latest news and rumors on the iPhone 5. To support its recommendations, Decide has included a "No Regrets Filter" that allows shoppers for the first time to filter only to products recommended to buy now, which indicates that prices are not likely to drop soon and that a new model is not coming soon.

Simply visit Decide.com and search for iPhone, or follow @d_iPhone on Twitter to be one of the first to know when to buy the iPhone 5 and get all the latest news and rumors.

About Decide

Decide is a new shopping service that helps consumers purchase laptops, televisions, cameras and now phones with no regrets. The company utilizes proprietary data and predictive algorithms to tell shoppers when to buy with confidence or wait for a price drop or newer model to be released. Decide was co-founded by Internet search pioneer Oren Etzioni and has gained support from consumer Internet and ecommerce veterans. The company raised $8.5M in venture capital from Madrona Venture Group, Maveron, and angel investors. To follow Decide, visit the company's blog, Facebook and Twitter. www.decide.com

Internet access majority shifting from PCs to mobile phones

2011-10-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Internet access is switching from standard wireline use via PCs to mobile access via smartphones. That's the news coming from Framingham tech market research firm IDC, which found in its research that the switch in majority Internet access may take until 2015 to happen.

IDC noted in a report released today that smartphones have begun to outsell simpler feature phones, and that media tablet sales are taking off. IDC predicted that the number of mobile Internet users will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 16.6 percent between 2010 and 2015. As a result, IDC says that the number of people accessing the Internet through PCs in the U.S. will level off, and then start to decline, with Japan and Western Europe following the same trend.

Karsten Weide, research vice president, media and entertainment at IDC, noted in a press release, “Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it’s going to make the Internet a very different place.”

That won’t shock the generation who stay connected to Facebook and regularly browse the Web through smartphones. But it will change the way businesses deal with the Web. IDC said the total number of Internet users will grow from 2 billion in 2010 to 2.7 billion in 2015. During that same timeframe, global business to consumer spending will grow from $708 billion to $1.28 billion. In addition, worldwide online advertising will almost double from $70 billion in 2010 to $138 billion in 2015, according to IDC.

18 PSDs For Mobile Phones UI Design

2011-09-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

Mobile UI is becoming bigger every year. I did a post call 25 Beautiful Mobile Websites showcasing some really beautiful UI for mobile websites. Underworld Magazines will be launching a mobile tab soon on the website just to give you guys all the latest updateds on mobile and some tutorials. In this post you will find 18 Mobile Phones UI Design PSDs that will help you with the UI design. Mobile websites and apps will keep getting big over the years, so if your a designer its about time to get your hands on Mobile UI designs.

Android GUI Set free Photoshop files

A free set of mobile UI design elements

Apple iPhone 4G psd layered material

inSET HD

Google Nexus One phone pictures layered template material

Android GUI PSD Vector Kit

Nexus One by Google .PSD

iPhone GUI PSD Version 4

iPhone PSD Vector Kit

Fireworks toolkit for creating iPhone UI mockups

HTC G2 .PSD

iPhone 4 PSD : HD

Google Nexus One Template

Google Nexus PSD

iPhone 4 PSD file

HTC HD2 Smartphone .PSD

Samsung Nexus S .PSD

HTC Incredible Smartphone .PSD

source: www.underworldmagazines.com

Lawsuit: Microsoft tracking cell phone users against their wishes

2011-09-04T04:45:00.000-07:00

September 4, 2011 - Microsoft has been tracking Windows Phone 7 users movements despite promises that customers can opt out of the location-reporting program, according to a lawsuit recently filed in federal court.

In a potential class action filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court at Seattle, attorneys for a Michigan woman claimed she and countless other Windows Phone 7 users have been reporting their movements to Microsoft even after attempting to opt out of the location- tracking program.

While users of the camera application on Windows Phone devices are asked whether they want Microsoft to access their geolocation data, the attorneys contend clicking “cancel” does not prevent Microsoft from gathering that data.

Asserting that the Redmond corporation has violated the privacy of its customers, attorneys for the plaintiff do not assert Microsoft has done anything with the information yet. But, according to the lawsuit, Microsoft is collecting the information in an effort to build a targeted-marketing system.

“Before Microsoft is able to effectuate such a marketing campaign, however, it must first compile a digital map by collecting geographic information and unique identifiers from cellular towers, wireless network routers, cellular telephones, and computer systems,” wrote attorney Kim Stephens, one of five attorneys for the plaintiff.

“Faced with the expensive and laborious task of collecting this information, Microsoft has elected to gather instead the necessary geolocation information through its customers’ mobile devices. In this way, Microsoft uses its customers as a virtual army of surveyors who constantly gather and transmit the geolocation information necessary to build its digital map.”

The attorneys go on to claim Microsoft lied to Congress earlier in the year during a hearing on mobile privacy.

According to prepared remarks from the May 9 hearing, Microsoft's mobile president Andy Lees asserted that Microsoft collects “limited information” to provide users with “rich experiences."

“Collection is always with the express consent of the user and the goal of our collection is never to track where a specific device has been or is going,” Lees told the congressional committee. “Rather, our goal when providing users – or, more specifically, the location-based applications they select – with this service is to find landmarks that help us determine the approximate location of the device more quickly and accurately.

“Microsoft recognizes that consumers should have control over the location information they share and that the information collected should be narrowly designed to support specific experiences on Windows Phone 7 devices.”

Microsoft has not yet responded with the court. Once the company does, a federal judge will be asked to decide whether to approve the class action, which would allow other Windows Phone users to join the lawsuit.

PogoPlug Mobile streams content from home to phone

2011-09-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sep. 4, 2011 - Cloud Engines, creators of the original PogoPlug, launched a new mobile hardware product on Thursday that streams home media to smartphones and tablets. Dubbed the PogoPlug Mobile, the small $80 device stores videos, music and photos on removable memory cards. The concept is simple: Plug in the hardware at home and while on the road, securely access stored media on the go over mobile broadband with a handset or tablet running either Google Android or Apple iOS.

The PogoPlug Mobile hardware is small; close to but not quite as svelte as an Apple TV, so it won’t take up tons of space on a shelf at home. Instead of a set storage limit, Cloud Engines opted for SD memory cards, which are relatively inexpensive and offer limitless storage. A USB connection supports traditional external drives. Media can be shared with others and accessed over the web as well.

While the PogoPlug Mobile provides media streaming to both Google and Apple mobile devices, Android owners gain some additional benefits. In addition to remote media viewing, the hardware can automatically backup photos and movies taken by a smartphone or tablet in the background, which is handy.

The device is available for pre-ordering today and is expected to start shipping in October. There’s no monthly service fee, so it’s a pay-one-price up front solution. At $80, it’s essentially an impulse buy for those who want to beam their own media to their phone or tablet around the house or on the road.

Note that the PogoPlug Mobile isn’t focused on delivering pre-packaged media content, although you could theoretically rip DVDs to a memory card or store purchased movies. The main focus, however, is getting at your own photos, media and purchased music, which is in line with company’s “personal cloud” strategy. And it does this by removing the internal storage limitations of a mobile phone or tablet.

Obviously, there are many ways to remotely access content on a mobile device, so the PogoPlug Mobile isn’t breaking new ground in that regard. The appeal may be the simplicity of the solution because consumers don’t want to get involved with complicated setup processes; having setup the original PogoPlug in 2 minutes and 18 seconds, I think the company has ease of use covered. And the idea of unlimited storage through swappable memory cards could entice sales as well.

HTC launches first Windows Phone ‘Mango’ devices

2011-09-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

Microsoft’s latest update to its mobile phone operating system, Windows Phone, has launched on two new devices made by HTC. Radar and Titan will both feature the new operating system, codenamed ‘Mango’, and are likely to be the first phones that will see Microsoft able to compete with Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone.

Unveiled at a series of “consumer meet-ups” in London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin, the Titan will offer a 4.7 inch display, in a 9.9mm aluminium case, while the more mass-market Radar offers a more compact size and a 3.8” screen.

HTC is emphasising the improved cameras on both devices, and their ability to record HD (720p) videos.

The new version of Windows Phone is available as a free update to all current users of the platforms, as well as on the new devices. It adds improved functionality, including better integration with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and enhanced access to Microsoft Office, as well as better gaming options and the ability to handle multiple email inboxes. It also includes enhanced local search options, called Local Scout, faster web browsing and better multi-tasking.

Microsoft launched Windows Phone almost a year ago, to a mixed critical reception. An HTC source said that the new devices were the first that will allow manufacturers to claim the platform now offers real competition to rivals from Google and Apple.

Samsung Leading Mobile Phone Manufacturer in US

2011-09-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

Korean electronics giant Samsung is one of the biggest cell phone manufacturers in the United States, comScore data reveals.

According to the data, there are 234 million mobile phone users in the United States that rely on both smartphones and non-smartphone devices, as of June 2011.

Samsung led the pack with a 25.3 percent market share, followed by LG with 21.3 percent, Motorola with 14.5 percent and then Apple with 8.9 percent. The phone maker is exactly one percent ahead of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.

The data also showed a rise in the number of smartphones, with 35 percent of US mobile phone users now owning a smartphone device.

Google’s Android operating system leads the smartphone market with a 41.8 percent share, up by 5.4 percent from the previous quarter. Apple’s iOS on the other hand, increased its market share by 1 percent to end the quarter with 27 percent in June.

Research in Motion ended the quarter in June with a 21.7 percent share down by 4 percent while Microsoft had a market share of 5.7 percent. Nokia’s Symbian floats at the bottom of the list with a 1.9 percent market share.

Apple May Tap China Mobile's 600M Users With IPhone on 2G

2011-09-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Aug 31, 2011 7:10 pm

There are signs that Apple may soon allow China Mobile to distribute the iPhone, a deal that could give Apple a bigger share of China's mobile phone market. But Apple faces a tough choice in order to reach such a deal, say analysts: develop an iPhone specifically for China Mobile, which operates a 3G network incompatible with current models of the iPhone, or make iPhone buyers use the carrier's slower 2G network.

"It's possible the iPhones China Mobile will sell are meant for its 2G network," said C.K. Lu, an analyst with research firm Gartner.

China Mobile is the country's biggest network operator, with more than 600 million customers. Apple's current Chinese partner network, China Unicom, has around 183 million customers.

China Mobile has been talking with Apple about reselling the iPhone for some time. Last week, China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou gave an indication that the two parties were reaching an agreement when he said he had talked with Apple CEO Steve Jobs over the phone and in person about cooperation. Apple COO Tim Cook had also recently visited the carrier's office, according to a China Mobile spokeswoman. No agreement has yet been announced, however.

Even though China Mobile is not an official Apple reseller, the company already has 7.4 million iPhone users on its network, Wang said last week.

Those iPhone users may have bought their phones direct from Apple stores in China or abroad, or put a China Mobile SIM card in an iPhone bought from China Unicom. China Mobile even offers a free service to cut its standard SIM cards down to the micro-SIM size required by the iPhone 4.

The success of the iPhone with China Mobile customers is all the more remarkable given that iPhones won't work on China Mobile's 3G network, which is based on China's own TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) standard, but are instead designed for the WCDMA 3G networks operated by most other carriers around the world. They do, however, work on the slower second-generation GSM mobile phone network that China Mobile operates.

Apple did develop a special version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon in the U.S., as that company not only uses a different 3G standard, but also has no GSM network.

The likelihood of Apple designing an iPhone for use on China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network is slim, according to Lu, the analyst. "I don't think Apple will want to use this immature technology," he said. "Unless China Mobile can make a deal with Apple that gives them a lot of money, I think it would be hard to see this phone come out soon."

Apple has a fall-back option that will let it target China Mobile customers while avoiding the cost of developing another new phone: China Mobile's second generation mobile network uses the GSM standard to carry phone calls, but also carries data using GPRS and the faster EDGE standard.

One China Mobile customer who is already using an iPhone on the 2G network is Tong Ga, a 28-year-old from the Chinese city of Dalian. He decided to use his iPhone 4 with China Mobile because he would be forced to change his phone number if he switched carriers.

While China Mobile's network has been slower, Tong said, "It is quite enough for checking some emails, weather and news. And 2G is very cheap."

Users like Tong are common in China, according to analysts. Among the country's 900 million mobile phone users, only about 85 million use a 3G network, according to carrier statistics. The rest use 2G networks, which are seen as more affordable and reliable, said Sun Peilin, an analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

"There will be those users who buy Apple products, but only use it on a 2G network," he said. The result means fewer downloads off of Apple's App Store in China and mobile carriers making less money from data plans, he added.

But another factor holding back 3G adoption is China Mobile's use of the TD-SCDMA network standard, which is not widely adopted outside of the country.

As a result, Apple's iPhone and other popular smartphones are not built for the country's biggest network, putting China Mobile at a disadvantage compared to its smaller rival, according to analysts. China Unicom is currently the only official carrier of the iPhone in the country, and possesses a 3G network the device can operate on.

In response, China Mobile has been working with handset manufacturers to improve its smartphone offerings. In the case of Apple, so far the carrier has only publicly said future versions of the iPhone will support the carrier's 4G (fourth generation) network. But the earliest that such a phone could arrive would be in 2013, when China's 4G networks are projected to go online commercially, said Lu.

Apple's iPhone 4 has proven to be one of the hottest selling products in China ever since it was launched last September. Apple's share of the country's smartphone market has tripled from 4.2 percent in the third quarter of 2010 to 13.3 percent in the second quarter this year, putting it behind only Nokia and Samsung, according to research firm Gartner.

Smartphones, however, only cover make up about 22 to 27 percent of China's total mobile phone sales, according to different analysts. The majority of Chinese consumers still buy cheaper feature phones, Sun said.

"To hit the mass market, Apple could come out with a cheaper iPhone for China," he said. "This way they would have a chance to sell to lower-end users."

While Apple may still be scratching the surface of the Chinese market, the company reported a sixfold year-on-year increase in revenue in China for the second quarter. A major driver has been iPhone sales, which grew almost 250 percent for the first three months of 2011, when compared to the same period a year ago.

Part of the reason why Apple is seeing success in China is due to its status as a premium brand, said Daryl Chiam, an analyst with research firm Canalys. News of shops posing as real Apple stores in China have only underlined the growing consumer demand for the products, he said.

"If Apple brings up production of its products this may help it increase market share. But at the same time you have to think about the company as a status symbol," he said. "A mass market product could change this. So it's a double-edged sword."

Phone Thief Accidentally IDs Himself via Photobucket

2011-09-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

Photobucket has a cool mobile application that allows users to automatically upload mobile pictures to the company's photo-sharing website. That's something that Korey Heess is unlikely to forget anytime soon, after allegedly snapping a picture of himself that was used by police to identify him as a smartphone thief.

Police in Salinas, California, had been investigating a rash of purse snatchings at local stores when one of their victims uncovered some new evidence a few days ago. Not long after her phone was stolen, a picture of a young man with a goatee and earrings popped up in her Photobucket picture-sharing account.

The man was staring intently at the camera -- her camera -- as he snapped a self-portrait on a wall-sized mirror.

She recognized him instantly, according to Commander Terry Gerhardstein of the Salinas Police Department. "She looks at Photobucket and she says, 'I've never taken this picture,'" he said. "This is the guy who stole my phone."

With photo in hand, police linked the man to two other thefts. And when they broadcast the picture on a local TV station, the tips started pouring in, Gerhardstein said. "We had callers calling in within the hour."

The tipsters told police the thief was Korey Heess, 26, of Salinas. He was arrested on felony robbery and theft charges early Sunday morning.

Photobucket acquired the mobile-phone Auto Uploader feature that helped ID Heess as part of its December 2009 merger with Ontela, according to Lisa Dilg, a Photobucket spokeswoman. But this is the first time it's been used to solve a crime. "We have never seen anything like it," she said of the case. "We thought it was pretty funny."

Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com

Mozilla hopes to help Web apps match phone apps

2011-09-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

What if, when you fired up your mobile phone's browser, it showed a list of the same basic apps your phone does today? And what if a developer who wanted an app to span iPhones, Android phones, and Windows phones only had to write one Web application to do that?

That's the vision that Mozilla, developer of the Firefox Web browser, wants to enable through a project called WebAPI that's designed to make Web-based applications compete better with native apps. And Mozilla has begun hiring programmers for it as part of a plan to build the necessary plumbing by next February, CNET has learned.

Web apps have grown steadily in maturity and sophistication over the years, but they still can't do all of what software written to run natively on a computing device can do. And with the arrival of newly powerful mobile devices--those using Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems in particular--native app programming has experienced a renaissance.

Mozilla, though, wants the Web to catch up--at least as far as mobile phones. The WebAPI effort aims to provide HTML-based software with the necessary application programming interfaces (APIs).

"We are aiming at providing all the necessary APIs to build a basic HTML5 phone experience within the next 3 to 6 months," the Mozilla wiki page on WebAPI said. Among the interfaces planned are those to interact with a phone's dialer, address book, contacts list, and camera.

If Mozilla succeeds in the effort, the project could ease the lives of developers who today must decide whether to allocate resources for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and other operating systems. And, given that Firefox is front and center in the project, it could help Mozilla address its competitive weakness in the mobile market compared to the iOS and Android browser that both are based on the WebKit project.

Mozilla need not start from scratch. Some related work has been under way already through a group called the Device API, a project that browser maker Opera has pushed. In addition, some of the abilities are present in Adobe Systems' Flash technology, though that hasn't spread widely through the mobile device market.

Mozilla is hiring
Mozilla's Jonas Sicking revealed the WebAPI project on a mailing list yesterday and said Mozilla is hiring several full-time programmers to support the effort.

"We invite our community to work with our newly formed WebAPI team on closing the device API gap that exists today between the open Web platform and native APIs," Sicking said. "As with all other additions that we make to the Web platform, the goal is for them to be available in all browsers. We believe that Web developers should have a consistent and reliable platform to build on."

Mozilla hopes to standardize the new WebAPI interfaces--and significantly, it plans to do so through the World Wide Web Consortium. Years earlier, the W3C lost some HTML standardization initiative to a browser group called Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). The W3C, though, re-engaged with HTML standardization and now is working to speed its standardization process to match the pace of Web development better.

Web programming is growing by leaps and bounds for many reasons. Among them: the arrival of mobile phones with capable browsers and higher-speed Net connections; the surging performance of JavaScript, the programming language used for Web applications; the embrace of cloud computing, in which applications live on a server on the Internet and can be accessed from any device with a browser; and the competition among Microsoft, Apple, Google, Opera, and Mozilla to advance their browsers with competitive new features.

Nonetheless, it's native programming for mobile devices that's arguably the hottest new area. It's a market without dominant incumbent companies, flush with new customers and well integrated with payment mechanisms to deliver money to coders. The fact that Google's Chrome OS has strong internal competition from Android shows just how big a challenge Mozilla has in bringing its Web app programming vision to reality.

Linking with B2G
The Mozilla project dovetails with Mozilla's Boot to Gecko (B2G) effort. Its goal is "building a complete, standalone operating system for the open Web," all with a mobile device focus, such that opening your browser is the functional equivalent of turning on your phone.

In that regard, WebAPI also helps Mozilla match Google's Chrome OS, a browser-based operating system project that in recent months has arrived on lower-end laptops called Chromebooks. While the Mozilla and Google efforts compete to an extent, fundamentally they share a common goal in making the Web suited for advanced apps, not just basic ones. Right now programming something complex like Google Docs requires herculian abilities, and even that can't yet do basic things such as store data when the network goes down.

One more project of note, from the company that arguably has the most to lose from Web applications: Microsoft. Windows 8 will use Internet Explorer 10 for "tailored mode" applications, giving Web programming another big shot in the arm and, in all likelihood, significantly advancing the programming tools available to developers.

It's a somewhat ironic move, given Microsoft's fear in the 1990s that Netscape's effort to make the browser and the Web into something of a replacement for Windows. That fear led Microsoft into aggressive actions that ultimately led to the expensive, drawn-out antitrust lawsuit that took some of the wind out of Microsoft's sails.

What's not yet clear is how universal applications written for these foundations will be. Google has its Chrome Web Store, for example, for distributing Web apps that work with Chrome; some of those are Web apps that work on other browsers, too, but browser incompatibilities can interfere with that--particularly with new, immature Web interfaces. In addition, the Chrome Web store comes with payment and permission mechanisms that won't necessarily carry over beyond the Chrome realm. Windows 8, though it's using the same basic ingredients such as HTML and JavaScript, could come with other constraints. However, Microsoft hasn't detailed plans yet.

Web Intents
Chrome OS and Mozilla's B2G also are embarked in parallel on efforts to mirror a technology on Android phones called "intents." The intents system lets applications register to be mechanisms to handle certain actions that can be performed with certain types of data. For example, the intents system can hand off a photo in the photo gallery to the Facebook app for posting when a user taps the "share" button.

To this end, Google is working on a project called Web Intents that does the same thing, but Web applications are registered to perform the actions and the browser hands off the content. Mozilla's parallel is called Web Activities, part of its experimental OpenWebApps add-on.

Mozilla is tackling other uncertainties, too: should its interfaces be high-level ones such as one for the camera, or low-level ones such as one for communicating over USB? And what's the best way to constrain the APIs so they don't cause security problems?

The work, combined with the rapid development of browsers themselves, means Web apps have a vibrant future. It means a certain amount of chaos for Web programmers, but the confusion of active projects is a better alternative to the stagnant waters of dormant or dying environments.

Stephen Shankland

China Mobile Demo 4G LTE TDD Phone

2011-09-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

Mobile operator China Mobile and telecommunications equipment supplier ZTE showed this week a smartphone operating on a 4G (fourth generation) LTE TDD network.

China has been holding large-scale trials using LTE TDD technology in a bid to move the country to faster 4G networks. The trials are expected to last until the end of 2012.

The smartphone, which was demonstrated during the Universiade sporting event in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, is a multi-mode phone that operates on the LTE TDD (Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex) standard, as well as China Mobile's 3G TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) network standard, according to a statement from ZTE.

It also features a 3.5 inch touch screen and uses the Android 2.3 operating system.

LTE TDD, also known as TD-LTE, is one of two LTE variants that China Mobile is trying to promote as a global standard. As part of this effort, China Mobile has been pushing for the development of lower-cost smartphones that can operate on LTE TDD networks.

The other LTE variant, LTE FDD (frequency division duplex), is largely being used by telecommunications companies in North America and Europe.

China Mobile has more than 600 million mobile phone users, making its customer base a major market for handset manufacturers including ZTE. Taiwanese chipset vendor MediaTek said earlier this week it has developed a handset for use on LTE TDD networks. The device is still being tested, and the company plans to trial the device in China soon.

Gresso shows off extremely rugged mobile phone

2011-09-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

The last time we talked about Gresso was last year when the company showed off a seriously high-end iPad that had a wooden case made of 200-year old wood and an 18K gold Apple logo. Not everything that Gresso makes is packed with bling and wood though. The company has unveiled its new super rugged mobile phone called the Extreme X3.

This phone puts the E in Extreme and has some ruggedness claims that are impressive to say the least. The phone is made to survive just about anything and has a IP67 certification for water resistance. The phone is supposedly so water tight that you can swim with it in your pocket to a depth of 1 meter for an hour. The phone is also very resistant to shock.

Gresso says that the phone can survive drops from 7-meters up onto concrete and it can survive having weight of 1 ton on it. That means you could run the phone over with most cars or trucks and it would survive. The phone also can cope with temperatures from -15C to +60C without issue. It operates on 800/1800/1900Mhz networks and has an integrated flashlight, Bluetooth 2.0, and a FM tuner. I’m not sure what the phone costs, but judging by the company behind it and the specs it won’t be a cheap device.

Mobile technology update

2011-09-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

(CBS) - T-Mobile has been bragging that the new myTouch 4G Slide, which hit stores yesterday, is the most advanced camera ever available on a mobile phone. Does this new gadget live up to the hype?

The cons? At first glance, tech reporters said the quality of this $199.99 cell phone is iffy (sharp edges, slippery surfaces and all), plus some question its battery life. However, along with its Dual-Core Snapdragon Processor, nice user interface, the latest Android Gingerbread software and HTC Sense 3.0 - all pros - the myTouch 4G Slide really does take great photos.

When we surfed around for reviews, the overwhelming sentiment seemed to be: the camera on this mobile device trumps others on the market. Here's what tech reviewers said:

Gizmodo loves the camera phone

"The cameras in your average smartphone today are, by and large, pretty okay. But they're generally not good enough to replace a cheap point-and-shoot," according to Matt Buchanan. "If you're on T-Mobile and having a solid camera built into your phone is a serious priority, well, it's kind of a no-brainer - if you don't mind the added heft or Android, which could be two serious downers, depending on who you are."

Engadget says your mom won't be disappointed

"The myTouch 4G Slide is certainly a worthy contender in the race for best cameraphone, but it takes more than hardware and software wizardry to make 'the most advanced camera of any smartphone,'" explains Myriam Joire. "There's room for improvement in the display and keyboard departments, which don't quite live up to our standards. Ultimately though, none of this really matters -- the Slide is pleasant and easy to use, looks and feels great, and takes gorgeous pictures. As such, your mom won't be disappointed."

TechnoBuffalo doesn't hate the keyboard

"There are three things that are going to make you want to buy this phone: The keyboard, the camera and the fact that it is one of the latest and greatest. I was definitely impressed with the overall user experience of this phone and the camera really made me feel comfortable leaving my Canon point and shoot at home," says Jon Rettinger. "You will hate the keyboard if you never use it, because it adds bulk and weight."

New Mobile Phones for One Cent?

2011-09-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

TheCheapPhoneShop is open for business and ready to show consumers just how much time and money they can save buying their next mobile device online. Choose your Provider, narrow your search by Operating System or Phone Manufacturer, compare prices from the leading online wireless companies, then place your order online to have your new phone shipped directly to you for free.

"We're really trying to spread the word about how much time and money people can save by buying phones online," said Founder Michael Anthony. "It's far less expensive than the brick and mortar stores. You have all the specs of all the phones from all the providers right there in front of you, which makes it easy to compare them and get exactly what you want. The phones are then shipped for free, usually overnight, so it's not like you'll be waiting any longer than you would if you went to the store."

TheCheapPhoneShop currently partners with Amazon.com and Wirefly, two well-respected players in the mobile phone industry, selling phones from all the major providers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless. Anthony mentioned that they will be adding prepaid options in the near future for consumers not interested in long term commitments.

Online tools are available, which allows customers to see if they are eligible for a discounted upgrade and customer reviews for the phones give you an idea of what to expect should you place your order. Each phone also includes a video review sourced from YouTube so you can get an idea of the look, speed, and functionality of the phone as well.

"Ordering phones online is the future; once people see how easy it can be and how much better the entire selection process can be they will never go to a brick and mortar store again," said Anthony.

For more info or to shop for your next phone online, head over to http://www.thecheapphoneshop.com.

Visa Unveils Incentives to Speed Shift to Mobile-Payment Systems

2011-08-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Visa Inc. (V) unveiled plans to encourage U.S. retailers to shift to checkout systems that let consumers pay using their mobile phones, as the biggest payment network aims to jump ahead of rivals and curb credit-card fraud.

The company said it will let merchants that switch to credit-card readers supporting so-called EMV technology forego costly annual security certifications. Starting in 2015, it will also stop requiring banks to reimburse most merchants for some types of credit-card fraud, which can be prevented by using EMV systems, Visa said in a statement yesterday.

Visa wants to boost sales of new terminals and accelerate the move to transactions made via cell phones with near field communication chips, an emerging standard in mobile technology. When tapped on the new readers, enabled mobile phones can function like credit and debit cards. Research firm Crone Consulting LLC estimates that only about 200,000 of 6 million store terminals now accept such contactless payments.

erminals now accept such contactless payments.

“It will speed up adoption of mobile payments by a year,” said Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst at Aite Group LLC in Mesa, Arizona. The total value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and near field communication transactions will reach $670 billion globally by 2015, up from $240 billion this year, according to U.K.-based consulting firm Juniper Research Ltd.

Visa’s security certification compliance costs businesses more than $2 billion a year, according to industry association Smart Card Alliance. The cost savings are an incentive for merchants to invest in point-of-sale upgrades, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the group.
Support From Banks

Visa, based in San Francisco, also said it will require payment processors such as First Data Corp. to support EMV transactions by April 2013. Other credit-card networks are likely to offer similar inducements for merchants to switch to EMV terminals soon, Vanderhoof said.

“There’s been a stalemate between issuers and the merchants about EMV that’s finally going to be broken,” he said.

Banks support EMV’s adoption as a way to combat credit-card fraud, in which thieves copy magnetic-stripe cards. While EMV has taken off in Europe and Canada, U.S. merchants have resisted spending money to upgrade. Visa announced similar incentives for businesses abroad in February, but waited to offer them in the U.S. until implications of recent regulatory changes became clear, said Eduardo Perez, Visa’s head of global payment system risk.

“It’s going to provide a significant boost for merchants to adopt contactless terminals,” Perez said. McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) have endorsed Visa’s plans, the company said.
Competing Networks

Visa’s push to get merchants to adopt its system sooner may make it more difficult for a competing payment network to arise, said Richard Crone, who heads Crone Consulting.

Google Inc. (GOOG) and ISIS, a joint effort of AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, have built their own mobile-payment applications. While ISIS originally planned to introduce its own payment network to compete with systems such as Visa’s, ISIS later scrapped that plan and is now working with existing credit-card networks. Google is working on its mobile-payment service with MasterCard Inc.

“It locks in merchants to Visa’s applications and processing,” Crone said.

Facebook gets creative with mobile phone data

2011-08-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Facebook wants to hook into mobile phone users who don't necessarily have a profile set up on the dominant social network.

The company has launched a service in the US that's a separate app linking messages in Facebook with texts, chats and emails on a mobile phone.

In effect, the Web2.0 outfit has tapped into the SMS market by fanning out its existing messaging service to a mobile phone app that's available on Google's Android and Apple's iPhone, but, somewhat surprisingly, not on the Windows Phone.

Facebook, of course, has a much closer relationship with Microsoft than with Cupertino or Mountain View. But then Mark Zuckerberg's company is simply following the big money-making and data-raking players in the mobile market.

"You can use Messenger to reach all of your friends - whether they're on Facebook or in your phone contacts. All you have to do is type the person's name," noted Facebook in a blog post yesterday.

In other words the app, which requires Facebook login credentials to work, can send phone messages to individuals who aren't signed up to the world's largest social network.

At the same time messages are synched across devices for existing Facebook users. The service can be used to communicate with groups, much like Blackberry's private BBM network. It also allows users to include location details and attach files like photos.

If such a system comes to the UK, it's unclear whether the data, as is typical with SMS services, would pass through Facebook servers based in Blighty, thereby keeping the communications geographically land-locked.

Facebook has a tendency to farm out the data it gathers to the US, which could prove an issue for regulators in Europe when the Messenger app lands on this side of the pond in the not-too-distant future.

The Register asked Facebook to tell us its plans for how it will store such data when the app arrives in Europe, but a spokeswoman at the firm couldn't immediately provide us with an answer. We'll update the story if a full statement is forthcoming.

"When you're on the go, coordinating a bunch of people can be tricky, especially if plans change at the last minute. With Messenger, you can quickly start a group conversation and message everyone at once," noted Facebook yesterday.

"If you choose to add your location, the people you're messaging with can easily find each other on the map. You can also attach photos, so everyone else can see and comment on what you're looking at."

Given the recent headline-grabbing news about Blackberry's messenger service and its alleged role in the UK disorder, it's not unreasonable to wonder how Facebook's service will differ from, or indeed replicate, BBM's server behaviour. Blackberry's archives could potentially be scrutinised by police authorities to pinpoint troublemakers, for example.

Meanwhile, Facebook is not immune to skirmishes with data protection watchdogs in the EU. Just last week, Germany waded in against the firm's recent unannounced decision to switch its facial recognition technology on by default for its European userbase.

It's unclear whether Messenger will face similar criticism, but some might be unhappy with the app's ability to tap into private contacts stored on a mobile phone that have no accompanying profile set up on Facebook, especially if related data streams are shipped out to the US.

Mobile phone eavesdropping made easy: Hackers crack GPRS encryption

2011-08-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

After outer space was proclaimed as hackers' newest target, thunderous applause followed at the opening of Chaos Communication Camp 2011 in Finowfurt, Germany. In the next ten years, hackers want to have their own communication satellites in orbit, reported Heise Online. Nick Farr (@hackersonaplane) of Hackers on a Plane said, "We can conquer the entire galaxy, if we stop for five minutes, to behave like idiots."

The plan to conquer space was followed by former WikiLeaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg announcing four days of public testing of Open.Leak.org. Domscheit-Berg told Forbes, "We need to be sure for the people who use such a system that it can't be compromised. Whistleblowers are the ones who take the risks. And they're the ones that get screwed if something goes wrong. So it's inherently important for us to make these people as comfortable as possible." The live testing will be here.

In case you didn't guess, this is no small hackers' shindig. Chaos Communication Camp is an international hackers' camp that takes place every four years. Among the attendees are EFF Senior Staff Technologist Seth Schoen and EFF co-founder John Gilmore.

How creepy would it be if it were easy to snoop and intercept all those texts, emails and photos you send over your mobile phone? Do you think that's impossible, that the majority of the world's mobile Internet traffic is protected by encryption? Think again.

The greatly anticipated presentation by crypto specialist Karsten Nohl, chief scientist of Berlin-based Security Research Labs, will show how to crack the encryption that is meant to protect information sent over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Mobile phones that do not support 3G use GPRS and iPhones use GPRS when the connection reads "E" as opposed to "3G."

The New York Times reported that Nohl and a colleague, Luca Melette, intercepted and decrypted all wireless data traffic in a 3.1-mile radius by "using an inexpensive, modified, 7-year-old Motorola cellphone and several free software applications."

Golem.de added that Nohl modified the Motorola C-123 and enhanced it with the open-source software project Osmocom, then recorded and decrypted transmissions in the German mobile networks of T-Mobile, O2 Germany, Vodafone and E-Plus. Nohl called the level of encryption "weak" and he will demonstrate ways to decrypt GPRS traffic. While he does not intend to publish the encryption keys, Nohl will release software that he used for the attack. Almost all of the world's networks that use GPRS, do not bother to encrypt at all.

Nohl also told the NYT, "One reason operators keep giving me for switching off encryption is, operators want to be able to monitor traffic, to detect and suppress Skype, or to filter viruses, in a decentralized fashion. With encryption switched on, the operator cannot 'look into' the traffic anymore while in transit to the central GPRS system."

According to MIT's Technology Review, it costs 10 euros (about $14) for the radio equipment that Nohl and Melette designed to attack GPRS. Nohl said companies that ignore the risks "will be negligent." He hopes this applies pressure to improve security and require "better authentication among devices and base stations communicating over GPRS." He suggested "mobile applications take steps now to use encryption such as SSL, which already protects much of the sensitive information sent over the Internet."

Nohl has spent the last two years researching and releasing tools which should twist carriers' arms to upgrade the security in their networks. In 2009, he worked with others to release a 2-terabyte GSM rainbow table to "inform about the fact that GSM calls are already being intercepted and decrypted using commercial tools." Then Nohl and Chris Padget spent $1,500 on hardware and cracked the code that was supposedly meant to prevent such snooping of radio signals as they hopped between mobile phones and base stations. The researchers said, "Cloning, spoofing, man-in-the-middle, decrypting, sniffing, crashing, DoS'ing, or just plain having fun. If you can work a BitTorrent client and a standard GNU build process then you can do it all, too. Prepare to change the way you look at your cell phone, forever."

Then in 2010, Nohl "bundled many of the various tools he helped develop into a comprehensive piece of software that gave amateurs the means to carry out many of the attacks," reported The Register. "That same year, other cryptographers cracked the encryption scheme protecting 3G phone calls before the so-called Kasumi cipher had even gone into commercial use."

Before you next send that naughty photo, text or IM, consider the possibility that the GPRS encryption protecting your "sensitive" mobile device data can be cracked for cheap . . . and the German researchers behind it are showing other hackers how to snoop and create chaos too.

Evo 3D 4G Review: What the First 3D Mobile Phone

2011-08-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

The EVO 3D is a successor of the largely popular and perhaps the first 4G smartphone to be launched in the U.S., the EVO 4G. This is the latest release from the Google, HTC collaboration following the EVO 4G and the Nexus One, and offers first ever glasses free 3D technology. On the HTC Evo 3D, you cannot only view 3D content, but you can also create your own 3D photos and videos.

Hardware

The EVO 3D has many style elements merged into it and primarily takes inspiration from its parent, EVO 4G and the Incredible 2. However the subtle 2D to 3D mode switch and the missing silver gating from the earpiece help identify this phone from its predecessors. The gHD screen is almost 4.3 inches in size and is protected by a sheet of Gorilla glass to protect the capacitive touchscreen underneath.

The materials used in exude a build quality that most of the phones in this price bracket usually boast about.

Performance

The gHD display is probably the best in the market probably only rivaled by the Motorola Droid or even the Super AMOLED Plus screen of the Samsung phones, giving the HTC Evo 3D the ideal platform for watching movies, videos, playing games, and surfing the Web.

The battery life on the device is not one of its best features lasting a little under 15 hours after a reasonable number of phone calls, a little web browsing and a few 3D photographs. The battery drains by almost 60% for about 80 photos and a few videos shot in 3D. The 3D camera is therefore especially taxing on the device.

Multimedia

A major chunk of the back of the phone is occupied by the dual LED flash and the twin cameras both boasting 5 megapixel autofocus lenses. These lenses separated by around 3.25 cm enable the user to capture stereoscopic content which can be viewed glass free which is probably the first time it is available on a commercial mobile device.

You can also choose to take the images in conventional 2D format at full resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels which is a little more than the resolution in 3D which captures at a wide screen format of 1920×1080 pixels from each of the two cameras on the HTC Evo 3D.

Video capture is smooth at 720p and 30fps and is encoded into the standard H264 format. Audio capture is in stereo both in the 3D and 2D modes. In 3D mode however the video is recorded by the two cameras and merged into one at 1280×720 in a method similar to anamorphic technique. The video shooting also comes with the autofocus and the touch to focus options for further clarity.

Being one of the first 3D phones to be commercially available on the market, this phone has a lot of promise. The display of the phone and the processing capabilities of the phone are a few other selling points of this phone.

Growing attacks through cell phone apps

2011-08-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

* By: Maria Tomasch

As more consumers use their smartphones for banking and shopping, threats to your phone become more prevalent.

That is according to the Mobile Threat Report released Wednesday by mobile security company, Lookout.

In January, there were 80 Android apps infected with malicious software, according to their data. By June, there were more than 400. The report claimed as many as 1 million Android owners were affected.

The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money gives a list of problems the group warns about. Some are problems that commonly threaten your home computer like malware, spyware and privacy threats.

Check out some of the top threats:

Phishing scams: These are attacks designed to trick you into providing log-in information or other personal information. Attackers send links in emails and text messages that redirect users to web pages designed to mimic legitimate businesses, often banks. Avoid clicking on links in emails, and look for telltale signs like misspellings.

Drive-by downloads: Downloads that begin automatically when a user visits a web page. You’re usually lured there by spam or advertising, so be careful where you click.

Wi-Fi sniffing: Attackers intercept data from apps and web pages that is sent unencrypted. Be cautious about what you do on your phone, and check that apps or sites for mobile banking are both encrypted and secure.

Check out all 10 threats to your cell phone’s security at Smart Money.

Nokia hanging up on Symbian in U.S., Canada

2011-08-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

(Credit: T-Mobile)

In preparation for honoring its commitments to make Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system Nokia's primary OS going forward, the Finnish cell phone maker will stop selling Symbian smartphones and feature phones in the U.S. and Canada, according to All Things D.

In addition, Nokia will apparently wave goodbye to its traditional model of selling many of its higher-end phones unlocked, says All Things D's Ina Fried, and will work more closely with wireless carriers to price and distribute Nokia's Windows Phones. This is a wise move that will give Nokia its best chance for competing against other Windows Phone vendors, and subsidized Android phones as well.

Related stories
• Imagining a Nokia Windows Phone
• Report: Nokia N9 not coming to the U.S.
• Nokia circles back to Symbian with its 500 smartphone

"When we launch Windows Phones we will essentially be out of the Symbian business, the S40 business, etc.," Nokia's U.S. President, Chris Weber, told Fried in a story published today.

Interestingly, Nokia's plans for the U.S. contradicts Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's promise in May that Nokia would stick by Symbian until 2016.

"We're in a period where the investment in Symbian absolutely continues," Elop had said.

Even if Elop's pledge was only meant to apply to existing Symbian users in specific global markets, like China, it isn't surprising to see Nokia gather forces in the U.S., the home of Nokia's adoptive Windows Phone OS, and Canada, the stomping grounds of Nokia's Elop.

Nokia still faces steep hurdles in forging tighter bonds with carriers, relationships that are crucial to getting its new, untested phones into carriers' lineups at competitive rates. Making matters trickier yet will be convincing carriers of Windows Phone itself, which is still a newbie smartphone platform and has struggled with sales.

Adding a third layer of complexity is Nokia's best bet for exposure, T-Mobile. Although T-Mobile currently carries the Nokia Astound, there's no guarantee that a fruitful relationship will survive a successful T-Mobile merger with AT&T.

With its work cut out for it, it's none too early for Nokia to refocus its North American presence in preparation for launching Windows Phones. For their sake, we hope it's not too late to push off Nokia's new ventures in this pocket of the world.

Smartphone and tablet stats: what's really going on in the mobile market?

2011-08-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

The mobile phone market is deluged with data. Four times a year there is a spike in market share estimates just after quarterly financial results are released, while the time in between is filled with analyst forecasts and surveys from market research firms trying to get to the bottom of changing market trends.

July has been a particularly big month, with a number of studies, surveys and predictions. Individually they're of varying interest and credibility, but there is some value for app developers in pulling the data together and poring over the likely implications. So that's what we've done.

Global mobile shipments

IDC's estimates for global shipments of mobile phones is a good place to start. The company says that 365.4m units were shipped in the second quarter of 2011, a figure that includes feature phones and smartphones. That's up 11.3% year-on-year from the 328.4m phones that IDC thinks shipped in Q2 2010, although below the 13.3% growth that the analyst had expected.

IDC says that sales of feature phones actually fell 4% year-on-year in the latest quarter: the first time it has done so since the third quarter of 2009. The overall growth is thus being driven by surging sales of smartphones.

IDC describes this as a "transition point", and is backed up by US market research firm Nielsen, which claims that in its home market, more smartphones were sold between March and May 2011 than feature phones. However, the transition point is not just happening in big Western markets: IDC notes strong sales of low-cost Android smartphones in Latin America, and also in south east Asia.

The company's tale of the top five mobile phone vendors shows Nokia still in first place, having shipped 88.5m units, but with its market share having fallen from 33.8% in Q2 2010 to 24.2% in Q2 2011. That raises the spectre of second-placed Samsung (70.2m units / 19.2% market share) overtaking it in the near future.

Smartphone shipments

That's for all phones, but many app developers are focusing purely on smartphones. There is no shortage of estimates for that sector of the market in the second quarter of this year, and some hard data too.

Starting with the latter, Apple sold 20.4m iPhones in Q2, overhauling Nokia, which sold 16.7m "smart devices" – the term it uses for smartphones. HTC has just announced that it sold 12.1m smartphones in Q2, while other companies revealing their smartphone figures include LG (5.4m), Sony Ericsson (5.3m), Motorola (4.1m).

Samsung and Research In Motion are a bit more awkward. In the former case, it's because Samsung declined to give exact figures for its smartphone sales in Q2, citing competitive fears. In RIM's case, the difficulty is that its financial year doesn't follow the calendar year, so in its fiscal quarter ending on 28 May, it shipped 13.2m BlackBerry smartphones. Analyst ABI Research has provided predictions for both, pegging Samsung's Q2 smartphone shipments at around 19m, and sticking with RIM's figure of 13.2m.

Divvying smartphone shipments up by manufacturer is one thing, but what app developers are more interested in is the operating system split. ABI Research thinks Android took a 46.4% share of smartphone shipments in Q2 with 47m units, ahead of iOS (20.4m), Symbian (16.7m) and BlackBerry (13.2m).

Source: ABI Research

Smartphone penetration

The data above applies to new shipments of smartphones, but there are other companies looking into how many devices each OS has out in the wild. Nielsen has just published a handy chart tracking OS share among smartphone owners with a contract in the US, for example.

It puts Android's share at 39%, followed by iOS (28%), BlackBerry (20%) and then Windows Mobile and Windows Phone combined with 9%. Android and Windows Phone penetration is also broken down by manufacturer, which is useful.

Source: Nielsen

comScore caused controversy in July 2011 with its own estimates for smartphone OS penetration in the UK, which suggested iOS has a 27.1% market share, followed by Android (26.7%) and Symbian (22.5%), with BlackBerry some way behind.

Research In Motion complained publicly about these stats, however, saying that while comScore estimates it has 3.6m BlackBerry users in the UK, the actual figure is just under 7m.

Source: comScore

Smartphone and apps predictions

What about the future, then? Or at least the near future. Analyst firm Gartner has made its predictions for sales of smartphones to end users – note, this is different from shipments, since it covers phones actually being bought by people, as opposed to being stocked by retailers.

It sees Android taking a firm grip of the market this year running right through to 2015, when Gartner thinks Google will be powering just under half (48.8%) of all smartphones sold. The company thinks 467.7m smartphones will be sold in 2011, rising to 1.1bn by 2015.

But the key point is that it thinks this will continue to be a four-horse (at least) market, with Windows Phone (19.5% in 2015), iOS (17.2%) and BlackBerry (11.1%) all having healthy sales bases for the next four years. Yes, it's easy to scoff at any company making bold predictions for the next four years of a market that's changed hugely in the last four years – Apple's iPhone is four years old after all.

Gartner: Smartphone OS sales to end users (m) and market share
	2011 units	2011 share	2012 units	2012 share	2015 units	2015 share
Symbian	89.9m	19.2%	32.7m	5.2%	0.7m	0.1%
Android	180m	38.5%	310.1m	49.2%	539.3m	48.8%
BlackBerry	62.6m	13.4%	79.3m	12.6%	122.9m	11.1%
iOS	90.6m	19.4%	118.9m	18.9%	190m	17.2%
Windows Phone	26.3m	5.6%	68.2m	10.8%	216m	19.5%
Others	18.4m	3.9%	21.4m	3.4%	36.1m	3.3%

The obvious follow-on from these predictions are estimates for how app developers will benefit. Canalys has some forecasts on this front, claiming that direct revenues from sales of apps, in-app purchases and app subscriptions will top $7.3bn (£4.4bn) in 2011, rising to $36.7bn (£22.3bn) by 2015. These estimates do not include advertising revenues.

Strategy Analytics thinks that by the end of 2012, paid downloads will reach nearly $2bn every quarter, with Android Market overtaking Apple's App Store for the volume of downloads (but not the revenues) by the end of that year too.

Meanwhile, IDC has its own research into apps, albeit with figures for the number of downloads rather than revenues. It thinks that mobile app downloads will rise from 10.7bn in 2010 to 182.7bn in 2015, with social and location features contributing to a shift away from paid download revenues towards in-app purchases and advertising.

Tablet sales / predictions

The last area experiencing some frenetic number-crunching in July was the tablet market, both in terms of what's selling now, and what will be selling in the rest of 2011 and beyond.

Strategy Analytics recently published its estimates for Q2 2011, claiming that Apple's iPad took a 61% share of tablet shipments with 9.3m units, with Android nabbing a 30.1% share with 4.6m. The company thinks 0.7m Windows-powered tablets edged RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook (0.5m) into fourth place in the tablet OS market.

Separately, investment bank UBS predicts that iPad will take a 63% share of the tablet market for 2011 as a whole with 37.9m units, although it divides the market by manufacturer rather than operating system. That sees Samsung in second place with 5m sales, followed by Asus (2.2m), RIM (1.9m) and Motorola (1.8m).

Informa Telecoms & Media also has its crystal ball working overtime on tablets, suggesting that iPad currently has 75% of the market, but that this will fall to 39% in 2015, just ahead of Android's 38% – Informa thinks 90m iPads and 87m Android tablets will be sold that year, with Android finally overtaking iOS in 2016.

Lies, damned lies and statistics? Quite possibly: this can only be a snapshot of what people think is happening in the market. Expect many of these predictions to be revised during the second half of 2011, as the smartphone and tablet markets continue their dizzying evolution.

Mobile phone app helps manage diabetes

2011-08-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that a mobile phone app can help patients manage their Type 2 diabetes. Their study, which is one of the first to look at mobile health technology, involved software that provides real-time feedback on blood sugar levels – if levels are too high or too low, patients are prompted to take the necessary steps to correct it. The 163 patients who participated in the interactive program over a 12-month period were able to lower their hemoglobin A1 (a key measure of blood sugar control) by an average of 1.9 percent.

Charlene C. Quinn, PhD, RN, led the study and explains in a release why the results are encouraging:

The 1.9 percent decrease in A1c that we saw in this research is significant. Previous randomized clinical trials have suggested that just a 1 percent decrease in A1c will prevent complications of diabetes, including heart disease, stroke, blindness and kidney failure.

Quinn says the study also shows the potential of mobile phone software to help patients manage other chronic diseases: “We tell patients that they can meet these goals if they eat a healthy diet, exercise daily and take their medication as directed, but we don’t really give them the tools to do that.” Her paper will appear in the September issue of Diabetes Care.

Previously: Turning to an app to help your health and Health-care consumer apps: helping or hurting?
Photo by lululemon

Nokia Remains World's Top Maker of Smartphones.

2011-08-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 11.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2011, despite a weaker feature phone market, which declined for the first time since Q3 2009. Nokia Corp. remained the top maker of mobile phone despite of major losses of the market of smartphones.

According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), vendors shipped 365.4 million units in Q2 2011 compared to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 11.3% growth was lower than IDC's forecast of 13.3% for the quarter and was also below the 16.8% growth in Q1 2011.

The feature phone market shrank 4% in Q2 2011 when compared to Q2 2010. The decline in shipments was most prominent in economically mature regions, such as the United States, Japan, and Western Europe, as users rapidly transition to smartphones. This was the first decline since Q3 2009 and reflected a combination of conservative spending and continued shift to smartphones. The feature phone forecast isn’t expected to be any rosier in the quarters and years to come. Shipment growth of the device type won’t exceed 1.1% in any year forecasted by IDC.

"The shrinking feature phone market is having the greatest impact on some of the world’s largest suppliers of mobile phones. Stalwarts such as Nokia are losing share in the feature phone category to low-cost suppliers such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, and Huawei," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's worldwide mobile phone tracker.

"For the overall market to grow by double digits year over year, despite the decline in feature phones, is testament to the strength of the global smartphone market. While this is not a new trend – smartphones have been the primary engine of growth for the last several quarters – it does mark something of a transition point, as demonstrated by the growing number and variety of smartphones featured in the vendors' portfolios," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's mobile phone technology and trends team.

Nokia’s hold on the top global mobile phone spot weakened last quarter as inventory buildups in traditional strongholds, namely China and Europe, led to sharp year-over-year shipment declines. Nokia’s global feature phone and smartphone businesses suffered a similar fate. One positive sign for Nokia last quarter were dual-SIM devices; the company shipped over 2.6 million of these in the second quarter. Over the long term, Nokia’s smartphone fortunes will be dictated by its ability to sell Windows Phone 7 smartphone devices, which are expected to hit the market this year. It is Nokia’s primary smartphone platform of the future. In the meantime, Nokia is trying to sustain shipment volume with low-cost mobile phones and devices powered by the aging Symbian smartphone platform.

Samsung posted double-digit growth from the same quarter a year ago, and just slightly slower growth than the overall pace of the market. Like other vendors it realized a decrease in demand for its feature phones, but made up the difference with continued success for its Android-based Galaxy smartphones. The difference between Samsung and market leader Nokia continued to shrink, with less than 20 million units separating the two vendors, mostly resulting from Nokia's struggles in the market. Still, Samsung expects continued growth into the second half, which could put it in closer contention with Nokia.

LG Electronics held on to its number three position during the quarter, thanks in part to its Optimus smartphone sales worldwide. However, a combination of factors – including soft demand for its feature phones, slow pace of smartphone releases, and competitive pressures, led the company to downgrade its outlook for the year by 24%. Originally, LG had anticipated flat growth in 2011 from 2010 levels, even as it expected the overall market to increase by 8%. Should LG's volumes decrease as much as it anticipates, other vendors may jockey for position ahead of LG.

Apple maintained its number four position overall but closed the gap on Top 5 competitors thanks to another record unit shipment quarter. The company easily posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders despite the fact that its flagship iPhone 4 is now more than a year old. The triple-digit shipment volume growth allowed Apple to more than double its share when compared to the same quarter last year. Apple’s ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it’s less successful, will help dictate the company’s smartphone fortunes in future.

ZTE likewise improved volumes and picked up market share during the quarter, enough to maintain the number five position. Long known as a purveyor of simple, voice-centric mobile phones, ZTE has stepped up its smartphone game with the continued success of its Android-powered Blade and Racer smartphones while announcing Libra, Skate, and Amigo smartphones for release in the second half of this year. Feature phones continued to be popular for ZTE, with the release of its 547i, a social networking-centric device in Europe.

Chinese company Alibaba release new mobile Operating System

2011-08-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

The E-Commerce company Alibaba Group has introduced its own mobile operating system for mobile phones and tablets in China. The aim of company is to promote its online products in its home country as both Android and Apple’s iOS devices are increasingly popular in China.

Alibaba subsidiary Alibaba Cloud Computing launched the Aliyun operating system. A Chinese handset manufacturer, Beijing Tianyu Communications Equipment will launch the first smartphone running on Aliyun operating system by the end of July. Aliyun OS based tablet will also be unveiled in China later this year.

The President of Alibaba Cloud Computing, Wang Jian said, “The business model on the web is already established, if you can bring the web on to the phone, you can basically bring that business model on to the phone. ”

The Aliyun operating system can run Android apps and it can also run web-based apps built with JavaScript or HTML 5. The new mobile operating system has 20 “Cloud apps”, including Internet search and a barcode scanner to search products online that access Alibaba company services over the Internet.

The Aliyun OS also offers 100 GB of virtual data storage to each user over the Internet.

ShapeMix Mobile for iPhone - Intuitive Music Mixing App Now Available for Free Download

2011-07-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

ShapeMix Music Marketplace Unveiled for iPhone and iPad Apps

Enhance Mixes with Music from Tokyo Police Club and Pigeon John (Bank Robber Music); Kid Sister (Downtown Music Publishing), Radio Freq (SONGS Music Publishing) and more

NEW YORK and BOSTON, July 13, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ShapeMix Mobile for iPhone, an intuitive, patent-pending music mixing application that turns your device into a fully featured music studio,

is now available for free download via the App Store. ShapeMix Mobile for iPhone enables music fans to simply drag and drop audio tracks with their fingertips to create an original mix and share it via www.shapemix.com, email, Facebook, Twitter and other online sites. ShapeMix for iPad is also available for paid download in the App store for $4.99.

In addition to having access to nearly 100 free tracks, ShapeMix Mobile for iPhone and ShapeMix for iPad users can now take their mixes to a new level by downloading songs from the new ShapeMix Music Marketplace. Accessible via the menu within the app, the Marketplace currently features music from Tokyo Police Club, Kid Sister, Pigeon John and other artists. Full songs are available for $1.99 and each song is separated into audio tracks for easy mixing. A variety of influential publishers and licensing companies such as Bank Robber Music, SONGS Music Publishing and Downtown Music Publishing have signed on to contribute music that will be released on a regular basis.

To customize each mix, users can add effects like reverb, delay, flanger and low pass to each track and adjust BPM. Upon completion, mixes can quickly be shared via email, Facebook, Twitter and other online sites. Users can visit shapemix.com, like ShapeMix Music on Facebook, and follow ShapeMix Music on Twitter to receive music updates, access sample mixes and share mixes of their own.

Since being released for iPad earlier this year, the app is being used in more than 70 countries and the average mixing session is nearly an hour.

About ShapeMix Music, LLC

ShapeMix Music LLC, a Legion Enterprises company, is a Boston based developer of mobile music applications. The first product to be released is ShapeMix, a patent pending music mixing application and marketplace technology. ShapeMix for iPad and ShapeMix Mobile for iPhone turn each device into a music studio that can be used anytime, anywhere. Developed by musician and RISD graphic design professor Colin Owens, the app enables aspiring DJs, musicians, and music fans alike to remix, create and share original mixes with friends via Facebook and other sites. For more information visit: www.shapemix.com.

About Legion Enterprises, LLC

Legion Enterprises LLC incubates and creates digital media companies that focus on a core audience of 16-24 year-old males. The portfolio of companies focus on areas such as music, sports, video games and over-the-top television and currently include: ShapeMix Music LLC, a Boston based developer of mobile music applications including the ShapeMix music mixing app for iPhone and iPad; Fast Shadow, a soon to be launched digital video brand that delivers high quality entertainment content; and Major League Gaming (MLG), the world's largest professional videogame league and largest provider of cross platform online videogame competition. For additional information visit: http://www.legionenterprises.com.

Cable carriers for reliable protection under dirty operating conditions

2011-07-22T03:22:00.000-07:00

Wood or metal chips, other rough dirt particles, even flying sparks, may considerably affect cable carriers' functionality in machines and installations. In a worst case scenario, this may even result in a total breakdown. For applications with the corresponding environmental conditions, KABELSCHLEPP GmbH supplies closed cable carrier chains and systems, in the best design possible. This considerably improves operational safety.

No rare occurrence in day-to-day industrial production: sharp or hot chips, flying sparks, aggressive liquids, rough dirt and separated material particles. Certain operating conditions are critical for the cable carriers in automated work and manufacturing processes. When cables are damaged, the power fails, signals are not received, data are not communicated. There is a danger of costly production losses. Special protection is needed here. For such cases, KABELSCHLEPP provides the products of the TUBE-series. If operation conditions require it, TUBE-series provides reliable protection against damage or wear of the cables installed.

In order to meet the customers needs or the application specifications, and to always be able to deliver the best solution for any kind of industrial applications, the cable carrier specialist from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, can rely on a great variety of materials in its portfolio. Whether designs made of plastic, steel, or hybrid variants (plastic chain bands with aluminium stays), or economic versatile standard types, robust, weight-optimised, extremely stable fast or quiet cable carriers for large unsupported lengths, with fixed chain widths, or chain widths accurate to the millimetre, with a large internal height or special design requirements - the portfolio offers the suitable solution for any need. Accordingly, the covered solutions are also available in various designs. There are, for example, plastic covers which depending on the application, are mounted on one or on both sides. Aluminium covers are particularly light and strong and therefore have a better long-term heat resistance. Sometimes, hot swarf or sparks remain on the covers for a short while until they die down, so aluminium is definitely the best choice compared to special plastics materials.

Steel chains are recommended for areas with extremely high mechanical loads. With steel chains solutions for long-term loads or application-dependent maximum values of up to 600 °C may be realised. In a stainless steel design chains may even be exposed to short-term peak temperatures of up to 1,000 °C. In this instance, aluminium covers offer reliable protection without increasing the weight of the chain excessively. Steel band covers offer a lighter and above all, more economical option. They are available up to a width of 1,000 mm for all chain types. The steel band cover is fastened to the chain bands with corresponding holders.

The enclosed cable carrier CoverTrax is one of the most recent additions to the TUBE series. It offers effective protection against chips, dust and dirt and prevents alien objects from entering in the cable area. This has been achieved by optimised chain geometries and a reinforced cover contour, allowing for very small gap widths, even for large chain widths. Alien objects cannot be deposited in the narrow gaps, nor can they penetrate into the interior cable compartment while the chain is in motion. Dirt is also deflected to the sides, since the covers provide a sealed enclosure flush with the sides. Moreover, the design is convincing, thanks to its enclosed stop system and internal damping resulting in quiet operation. With a new linking mechanism, the chain can be opened quickly and easily, both inside (model 60) and outside (model 080), and the cover may be completely removed - essential for a quick cable installation. The separating stays also contribute to this: they can be moved in the chain's cross section; however, they can also be quickly fixed by simply turning and locking them into place.

Aside from performance and functionality, the optical aspect plays a major role; for this purpose KABELSCHLEPP has developed designer TUBES. Among them the CONDUFLEX chain with a visually attractive appearance due to stainless steel brackets and frames made of fibre glass reinforced polyamide or the flexible metal spiral tube MOBIFLEX with a very dense construction, ideal for areas exposed to hot swarf.

Cover variants are designed for easy installation and can be easily and quickly opened, unfastened, unscrewed or unclipped. Different stay systems tailored to the application are available in order to reliably keep the installed cables in position - which is also particularly important for installations where the cable carrier is installed on its side.

Hands-on: Spotify is a Tour de Force for Mobile Music Lovers

2011-07-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

With last week’s launch of the Spotify music subscription service in the US, American listeners now have the option of joining their European pals in an all-you-can-eat musical smorgasbord. After spending some time with a Premium subscription, we have to say that this is a buffet that many music lovers won’t want to miss.

If you’ve heard about Spotify invites and kept away because you didn’t feel like tracking one down, have no fear – you can join immediately. Free memberships are not yet open in the US, and for those you will need an invite. However, those wanting to jump right in can become a member instantly by simply signing up for one of Spotify’s paid options.

Those paid options are:

Unlimited – which, for $5/month gives you unlimited streaming and no ads
Premium – which gives you all of that plus access to mobile apps and music storage for offline listening. Those with iOS and Android devices will then want the $10 Premium plan.

The Spotify Experience
Having played with Spotify on iOS for a while now, we are very pleased. The music selection is outstanding. Of course there are

no Beatles tracks, but we all know Apple has the digital incarnation of the Fab Four locked up exclusively for now. Otherwise, most songs and albums we searched for – ranging from recent to decades-old, popular to somewhat obscure – were there. There were enough exceptions to remind us that they don’t quite have everything, but it’s close enough that few are likely to be even remotely disappointed.

Some songs will be unlocked to all but Premium users. These will be shaded out for Unlimited or Free members, but will be ready and waiting for those forking over $10 per month.

Searching for songs is quick and easy. Results pop up instantly, and – provided your connection is good – songs will generally start playing almost immediately after clicking on them.

Playlists are at the heart of your Spotify experience. If you want an album to be saved in your Spotify library, creating a playlist is the way to do it. If you want a single song to be saved on its own – again, it will be via playlist. Want to create a virtual “mix tape” of booty rap songs from the early 90′s? Yep – playlist. Playlists are a cinch to create. Individual songs or entire albums can be easily and quickly added to one.

Social is another core element of Spotify. When you find a song you like, you can share it via email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can even share entire playlists. When friends get your recommendation, they simply click a link and can then play it in their own Spotify player. They also have the option to add it to their own libraries. As with every other part of the iOS app, sharing is implemented in a remarkably simply and efficient manner, and can happen in a matter of a few seconds.
Local Files

One big advantage Spotify has over other subscription services is the ability to sync local music files. This lets you fill in the few gaps that Spotify has with your own music. Two albums we came across, Play and 18 by Moby, weren’t available on Spotify.

But since we had the two albums on our PC, we only had to create a playlist on our PC that includes the local files, open the Spotify iPhone app while on the same network, marking that playlist as “available offline,” and it synced.

Now the two best albums from the techno-making vegan are in our Spotify library. Sure, it requires using some storage on your iPhone, but with all of the space you’re saving from the rest of the music that Spotify does have, that shouldn’t be an issue.
Spotify vs. the Competition

Of course unlimited music streaming memberships are really nothing new in the US. While it never really got a hip and fun aura attached to it (as Spotify currently has), Rhapsody has been offering essentially the same thing for years (though Spotify’s local file syncing is absent in Rhapsody). The more recent Rdio is also basically the same thing, with more of an emphasis on social networking (and also a less extensive catalog). Grooveshark is another competitor, who has the biggest “catalog” – but is operating on shaky legal ground (and is therefore only available on jailbroken iPhones).

Which of these services is for you? That will likely depend on your taste. We prefer Spotify due to its large (and legal) catalog, local syncing, and for its simple and attractive interface on mobile. But another huge perk is that Spotify offers sharing of tracks and playlists without jamming the social element down our throats.

For those who love finding a new social network and making friends – perhaps Rdio is better for you. Those of us who like a more subtle social element will prefer Spotify.

No matter which you choose, though – we think all-you-can-eat music subscriptions are the easiest and most enjoyable form of cloud music. Take this model vs. some of the other current and upcoming cloud music options:

Internet radio services like Pandora and Last.fm are great for building “stations” around songs or artists, but if there is something specific you’re looking for, you’ll have to create a station and wait – hoping for it to come up. These are great when a genre is what you want – but not so great when specific songs or albums are what you want.

Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player both require your uploading your entire music collection – and require individual purchases (or uploading from elsewhere) in order to get new music.

The upcoming iTunes Match will scan your library and instantly add all tracks to the cloud, but it requires you to download it all to your iDevice (it doesn’t stream). It also, of course, requires purchases for new music.

Subscription services like Spotify, on the other hand, give you the chance to have nearly all the music you’d ever want at your fingertips. You don’t have to download anything, but the option is there (especially nice for those on capped data plans).

Summing Up

When it comes down to it, $10 a month to listen to (almost) any music you want – including on your mobile device (online and off) – is going to be a solid trade-off for most people. It’s 24/7 instant gratification for the music lover in you. Sure, there will be the occasional frustration of looking up an album that isn’t there, or a track that is blacked out – but those are the exceptions rather than the rules. Local syncing can fill in those gaps, provided you have the songs’ files. Spotify can bring a world of music to any device you own without a single upload, download, or transfer.
So, loyal readers – have you tried Spotify? Do you dig it as much as we do? How does it compare to its competitors that you have tried? Why don’t you leave us a comment and let us know!

Spotify Launches Free, Unlimited and Premium Streaming Music Services in US

2011-07-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Anglo-Swedish streaming music provider Spotify launched its music service in the US on Thursday, nearly two years after the company first discussed the plan.

In an updated statement about its US launch, Spotify -- which was first launched in Sweden in 2008 -- said it has more than 1.6 million paying users in Europe and more than 10 million registered users in total.

Spotify recently set limits on the amount of free music users could listen to before paying a fee. It now said the ratio of paying subscribers to active free users was "well over 15 percent."

The company was set to initially launch an invite-only beta phase and offer its free service and two paid subscription types in the US.

A premium subscription, which allows users to play an unlimited amount of music without hearing any advertising, on a computer or cell phone would cost US users $9.99 a month. Spotify Unlimited, which allows advertising-free access to Spotify only on computers, would cost $4.99 a month.

Spotify said it has teamed up with "exclusive launch partners" Coca-Cola, Motorola, Chevrolet, Reebok, Sonos and The Daily.

It said these brands would be launching campaigns in partnership with Spotify in the coming weeks and months.

iPhone 5: "Future product transition set for September quarter" say Apple

2011-07-22T02:58:00.000-07:00

22nd July 2011 - Apple has announced during its quarterly financial meeting that a ‘future product transition’ will happen in the September quarter.

Going no further than that, the clever money is on this transition being for Apple’s iPhone range. It is approaching a year and half since the iPhone 4 was released to the public, and there’s been plenty of rumours and half-truths about how the next generation iPhone will turn out.

Apple's Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, said that Apple had "a lot going on in the fall with iOS 5 and iCloud", alongside a "future product transition that we will not talk about today" that would have a material impact on the September quarter.

Many suspect the iPhone 5 will arrive as part of Apple’s annual music event, where the latest generation of iPod is typically announced; with the current focus on cloud music, it wouldn’t be a massive stretch to see a new iPhone make an appearance then. There’s also been rumblings of staff recruitment ahead of a September reveal, with iPhone experts getting snapped up for August.

ITC rules HTC infringed two Apple patents

2011-07-22T02:56:00.000-07:00

22nd July 2011 - The Apple Vs HTC patent war continues as the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled HTC infringed two Apple patents.

HTC released a statement on its website stating the judge had ruled it had infringed two of the 10 patents Apple submitted. However the decision by Judge Carl Charneski is not final; it’s subject to review by a six-member commission in Washington, where HTC has also confirmed it will fight the decision:

Grace Lei from HTC said: “We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible. We strongly believe we have alternate solutions in place for the issues raised by Apple. We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers.”

According to All things Digital the two patents are:

5,946, 647: A system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data and 6,343,263: A data transmission system for serially transmitted data.

Writing on his blog intellectual property activist Florian Mueller stated this could have a far-reaching effect not just for HTC, but for Android: 'Those patents are apparently infringed by code that is at the core of Android. It's telling that those two patents are also at issue between Apple and Motorola (and the '263 patent was also used by Apple against Nokia). … This could (in a worst-case scenario) result in an import ban against all Android-based HTC products in the U.S. market’

This is the latest in the long-running series of disputed between HTC and Apple. The ITC previous ruled that Apple is infringing the patents of S3 Graphics, which was acquired by HTC earlier this year for 300 million. We'll have to wait until later this year to find out if the decision is upheld.

Nokia N9 ‘won’t support contactless payments', lacks NFC security protocol

2011-07-22T02:54:00.000-07:00

Its great smartphone hope, the Nokia N9, is set to arrive with a near-field communication chip, but won’t be able to act as a mobile wallet and handle payments, lacking a critical security protocol.

Getting slightly more technical, an embedded secure element or the Single Wire Protocol (SWP) is necessary for NFC to be used for contactless payments or as a ticket.

Nokia are reportedly focusing on tyhe connectivity features that NFC can bring; like streaming music to Nokia’s own Play 360 speakers, or sharing content between NFC-enabled devices.

Nokia UK and Ireland’s head of services, sales and marketing, Rupert Englander told NFC World that mobile wallets are still over a year away from becoming a major feature.

"Nokia's view is NFC is about more than just mobile payments," says Englander. "We're probably a little while away from being able to go into a shop and easily use our mobile phone to pay for things with NFC.

"We think the phone as the mobile wallet, where it's simple to buy and it just works, is 12 to 18 months away. There are various trials out there and some services, like Orange's Quick Tap, but there are restrictions, like you have to be an Orange subscriber, a Barclaycard customer, and can only shop in certain places.

"NFC mobile payments won't take off until these barriers go, and while the recently announced UK joint venture for NFC between Telefonica UK (O2), Everything Everywhere and Vodafone will help take those barriers away, it will take time to come to fruition," he added.

Nokia continues to experiment with different applications of NFC, with recent results including a special edition of Angry Birds where extra levels can be unlocked when another NFC-enabled Nokia phone is nearby.

Mobile phone charges drain text donations to charities

2011-03-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

'Excessive' operator costs mean small charities lose up to 20% of what people give via their mobiles.

Mobile-phone companies have been criticised for charging fees to process charitable donations made via text message, an increasingly popular way of giving. Many people who give money using their mobile phones are unaware that some of the cash may end up going to the operators, with smaller charities complaining they can lose as much as 20% of a donation via text message.

Although only a maximum of £10 can be donated via text message, the new form of charitable giving is a fast becoming a substantial income stream for many of the UK's 150,000 charities.

Comic Relief made more than £7m from text message donations last month. All mobile-phone operators waived their fees for the appeal, as they have done for all large one-off pleas such as those launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee and several big name charities. But many charities are not exempt from the charges.

"We appreciate that they have to cover costs, but the perception is that the costs are excessive," said Orin Lewis, head of ACLT, a charity helping people with leukaemia which receives about 15% of its funding through text donations.

As the top 6% of good causes receive 88% of all charitable giving, smaller charities complain the current situation hits them unfairly.

In a sign that the mobile-phone operators are anticipating a backlash from consumers, 02 and Vodafone have scrapped all charges.

"We're seeing a lot more charities use text donations and our customers keep telling us it's an easy and simple way of supporting charitable causes," said Vodafone UK chief executive Guy Laurence.

"It would be great if other mobile-phone companies followed O2 and Vodafone's lead," said Hannah Terrey, head of policy and public affairs at the Charities Aid Foundation. "If they can waive the fees for all charities we think the others could lower their charges, though we are realistic that it costs to transfer money and it's important that mobile phone companies sustain whatever they commit to."

Mobile-phone operator Three currently charges smaller charities 5% commission,which it insists is to cover its costs, while T-Mobile and Orange, which both give 100% to major charitable campaigns, charge 10% for donations above £2 and 20% below. T-Mobile said it was reviewing its charges while Orange stressed it had simplified its fees.

A spokeswoman for Virgin, which charges 11% for donations to smaller charities, said: "Work is under way to ensure all registered charities benefit from the full amount donated to them."

Charity text donation campaigns have been increasing in popularity since 2009 when they were exempted from VAT and network providers agreed to reduce their charges. Previously, as much as 40% of a donation made via a text message could be lost to tax and network handling costs.

Roger Craven, director of Vir2, a company specialising in text giving campaigns, said mobile-phone donations would be a common form of donating in the future: "Around 44% of donations are under £10, so if we can increase the efficiency with which charities process these payments it will have a huge effect on the sector."

Separately, pressure has been mounting on Apple to allow donations via iPhone apps. Apple's guidelines stipulate donations must be collected through a website or in a text message, not via an app. An online petition urging Apple to change its guidelines has attracted almost 40,000 signatures from around the world.

Wysips to enable solar-powered screens for phones

2011-03-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

French startup Wysips has an awesome idea to bring solar energy to mobile phones. Instead of putting a large and ugly solar panel on the back of the device, they want to integrate it into a phone display in such a way that user wouldn’t even know there’s a solar panel on their phone.

The trick is in using a superthin, flexible and transparent film that is applied onto the mobile phone’s screen and which doesn’t interfere with the phone’s functionality, even allowing for touch-based controls.

A battery would still be required to provide the backup power and store the energy created by the film, but because the energy would be created constantly (not only from the Sun but also from other light sources), it [battery] could be smaller, enabling thinner mobile phone and tablet designs.

Sounds awesome and we’re not surprised such a technology earned Wysips 1st Place in CTIA’s 2011 Emerging Technology – Green Telecom and SMART Energy competition.

At the moment, Wysips is pitching OEMs and mobile display companies, with plans to integrate its technology into devices within a year. Love it!

What’s Next in Android Phones? Product Review of Samsung Nexus S

2011-03-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

What did we ever do before mobile phones and the industry movements behind it all?! Every time you blink there is either another new device or a new merger. One can only guess at how the duopoly of the AT&T acquisition will affect consumers, particularly those who consistently rack up the most in mobile expenditures each and every month: African-Americans. And since the ratings and statistical giant Nielsen also seems to think that our demographic is the key to the smartphone wars as well, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at one of the latest smartphones, Samsung’s Nexus S.

Now, those who are really into the smartphone game will know that this phone hit the market just a couple of months ago, but what is new is that Sprint just announced earlier this week that it will now make the phone available via its network in the spring of this year. So this phone poses a new option for those on that carrier who are toying around with upping their Android game. (The Samsung Nexus S is available currently on AT&T, T-Mobile only).

Peep the video below now to see me put the phone through its paces but also watch some “person-on-the-street” reaction as well. I also have some hot Playbook news right before the Nexus S demo jumps off…. Let me know what you think of the device in the comments below. Also note, while the Playbook comes out on April 19th pre-orders are being accepted right this moment.If you want to bypass the video tech review, here are the highlights:

The Nexus S, the world’s first handset to feature the latest version of Google’s Android operating system 2.3 he 4-inch Contour Display features a curved design for a more ergonomic (who made up that word, anyway?) style and feel when held in your hand and to your face. Nexus S also features Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which allows you to read information off of everyday objects like stickers and posters that are embedded with NFC chips. They’re not here yet, but they are coming. Mark my words and remember those three letters! Powered by a 1 GHz Samsung application processor, Nexus S produces rich 3D graphics, faster upload and download times and supports HD-like multimedia content. Nexus S is equipped with a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and camcorder, as well as a VGA front facing camera. In addition, Nexus S features a gyroscope sensor to provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience when you are tilting the device up or down or panning the phone to the left or right. Nexus S is reported to come with 16 GB of internal memory though the brand new unit I had for test-driving had 13 GB. Hmmmmm…
All in all, a hot device.

Important tip: don’t just always react just as a consumer. You know I always want you to think about how the phone can make you money, as well. Have a business? Sell a product? A mobile phone application is one of the hottest ways to brand and drive revenue. Of course, it’s got to make sense and provide real value for the end-user, but at least price need not be the factor which holds you back anymore. A new start-up called Mobiflex has developed a system for people to create an iPhone or Android mobile app incredibly low prices. No, it’s not going to offer 3D and all the other bells and whisles, but it’s a good start and can be customized accordingly. If you can build a PowerPoint presentation, you can now make an app. Google Mobiflex for more information.

Usage of cell phone could reduce bone mineral content in human body

2011-03-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

Astudy has found that men who routinely wear their cellphone on their belt on the right side have reduced bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) in the right hip,according to the study by Fernando Sravi of National University of Cuyo,Argentina.

His research on how electromagnetic radiation from cellular phones may adversely affect bone strength appears in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
Sravi writes,”The different patterns of right-left asymmetry in bone mineral found in mobile phone users and nonusers are consistent with a effect of electromagnetic waves not previously described.”Sravi measured BMC and BMD at the left and right hip in two groups of healthy men: 24 men who did not use phones and 24 men who carried their cellphone in a belt pouch,on the right side,for at least one year.

Measured using a test called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry,BMC and BMD are standard markers of bone strength.Average hip BMC and BMD measurements were not significantly different between groups.
However,men who did not use cellphones had higher BMC in the right femoral neck (near the top of the thigh bone): a normal left-right difference that was absent in cellphone users.

Thus men who wore their cellphones on the right side had a relative reduction in femoral neck BMC in that hip.The phone users also had reduced BMD and BMC in the area near the thigh bone,close to where the phone would be worn on the belt.The difference between the left and right hip was significantly related to the estimated total hours spent carrying a cell phone.

There are concerns about potential harmful effects of phones.However,few studies have looked at if the electromagnetic fields emitted by them could affect bone mineralisation.With the rapid growth in cell use,any significant effect on BMD could have a substantial effect on the rate of osteoporosis.

Although small,the new study raises the possibility that long-term exposure to radiation from phones could adversely affect bone mineralisation.Larger follow-up studies will be needed to confirm or disprove this hypothesis,according to Sravi.He suggests that studies may be warranted in women,who have higher rates of osteoporosis;and children,who would have longer expected lifetime exposure to mobile phones.

Google purges tainted apps from Android phones

2011-03-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

12 March, 2011 - SAN FRANCISCO — Google has remotely purged Android smartphones of applications tainted with a malicious code that could take control of the handsets and steal information.

Mobile phone security firm LookOut said the purpose of the "DroidDream" code was to "download additional applications and install them silently as system applications on the device.

"DroidDream could be considered a powerful zombie agent that can install any applications silently and execute code with root privileges at will," it said.

Google was patching the vulnerability that cyber crooks could exploit and adding measures to prevent applications containing the "malware" from getting into the Android Market of programs for mobile devices.

Google yanked the contaminated applications from the Android Market and then took the unusual step of hitting a "kill switch" that remotely removed from smartphones any of the more than 50 applications containing the dangerous code.

"We removed the malicious applications from Android Market, suspended the associated developer accounts, and contacted law enforcement about the attack," Rich Cannings of Android Security said in a message posted at the Google blog during the weekend.

"We are remotely removing the malicious applications from affected devices."

Google believed that hackers were only able to get codes identifying smartphones and which version of Android ran particular devices. The attack didn't work on handsets operating on Android 2.2.2 or newer.

ZoomSafer Automatically Locks Your Phone While on the Road

2011-03-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

With very few exceptions, killing people is bad for business.

Driving is good for business, since it gets your employees where they need to go. And mobile phone use is good for business, since it keeps them productive wherever they are. But driving while using mobile phones is bad for business, insofar as it leads to killing people, which it sometimes does. Twenty percent of crashes resulting in injury in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving; 18% of the fatalities in such crashes involved a phone.

All of which, on top of being very sad, could cost your business serious money. Distracted driving is "a ticking time bomb in terms of corporate liability," said Matt Howard, CEO of ZoomSafer, which announced a new $1.1 million in funding today.

ZoomSafer works to control and prevent distracted driving. It does this in a number of ways. For individual clients who sign up, it can use your phone's GPS sensors to see whether you're speeding; if so, it will disable your cellphone until you stop the car. For corporations, ZoomSafer can be applied to your entire fleet, automatically preventing your employees from texting, tweeting, surfing, or doing any of the manifold other distracting things you can do with a phone while driving.

"FleetSafer," as ZoomSafer's fleet-wide service is called, also offers businesses analytics for employers to measure employees' cell phone use while driving. There's a few reasons why this analytics tool is important, Howard tells Fast Company. While ZoomSafer can exert and influence over smartphones, it can't do so over traditional mobile phones. And for the time being, smartphones are the minority of the market share (even though that will tip in the next year or two, say analysts). But FleetSafer Vision, the analytics tool, allows employers to monitor even those on traditional mobile phones. Flagrant violators of mobile-use policy can then be called into the office for a warning, based on the data.

FleetSafer Vision is also a more realistic product for companies that regard flat-out disabling phones as oppressive. There are some who say, "This feels a bit draconian, feels a bit Big Brotherish," admits Howard; for them, they might prefer to eschew the "big hammer" approach of disabling phones for the "small hammer" approach of passive monitoring. That way employers can single out the problem cases, and issue a few warnings before deciding to disable phones on the road.

Since helicopter parenting is big business, too, ZoomSafer also has a product called TeenSafer, which prevents your teenaged kid from texting or emailing from driving. In an effort to ease the inevitable, "But, Mom...!" conversation that follows the announcement of this new digital restriction on your kid, TeenSafer enables an automatic text-message response to friends you ping the teen while driving. A video shows an outgoing text on an iPhone: "matt received your text but is driving and focused on the road. Try ZoomSafer for free at www.zoomsafer.com."

ZoomSafer plans to use the new cash to expand marketing and develop new products. One of the most recent developments has been software for Android phones, which launched in January.

How you can Spy On Phone Mobile phone

2011-03-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of all the lies you companion tells you? Do you suspect that your employee is accomplishing anything mistaken with your online business? Would you desire to know who your children are talking to? If your response to people concerns is WITHOUT A DOUBT, then you certainly will need the help of a spy cell phone. What is it? Tips on how to spy on phone telephone works? Spying on cell phones is just not new nonetheless it was earlier than constrained to men and women who have dollars and used for secret operations. Now, spying on mobile telephone just expense several bucks and can simply downloaded on the internet.

How to spy mobile cell phone operates? It’s uncomplicated as a, b, c. Locate a web page that presents spy on mobile phone, buy and obtain it for the cell cellphone of your man or woman you would like to monitor and that is it. Each of the conversations will be despatched towards the web site. You can simply discover the internet site by using other desktops as extended because it has net connection. Just enter your person identify and password on the website and you will see all the textual content messages finish with time, date and location. For telephone calls, time, date, place along with the duration of calls are also submitted. The number and locale in the receiver will even be famous.

Although acquiring the mobile phone of the person you desire to monitor may very well be challenging, you have to believe of a means on how to have it an install the spy on his cellular cell phone. In your loved ones, you may very easily acquire a whole new phone as being a reward and install the spy software 1st just before offering it. For personnel, you are able to allow it to be appear like it is really an incentive.

It is really genuinely uncomplicated on the way to spy mobile phone. The person whom you need to monitor could have no clue that he is getting monitored.

Mobile Phone Accessories Purchase Online

2011-03-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

Mar 11, 2011 – Mobile phone accessories consumers usually wants to find out something new and unique coming in mobile market. Now a days mobile phone accessories are available new and unique in the mobile market. Mobile phone accessories are found to be in demand now as some brands came into competition. The most common mobile phone accessories that are used commonly are batteries, travel chargers, Bluetooth headsets, cases and pouches, LCD screen protectors, USB data cables and more.

Mobile phone accessories adds new features to the mobile phone. A mobile phone cant be operated without mobile phone accessories. One of the mobile phone accessory which is usually in use is batteries. Batteries are the main mobile phone accessories used to operate a mobile phone. Travel chargers are another mobile phone accessories which is used to charge our mobile phone while we are in drive.

Usually mobile phone accessories used to protect our mobile phone. Mobile phone accessories can be used any time whenever we need. These mobile phone accessories can be shopped online. Shopping mobile phone accessories online is an easy way to purchase. Mobile phone accessories online shopping stores have came in vast now a days. People are confused to purchase from which mobile phone online store. Mobile phone accessories are in vast now available.

Fetus-Like Mobile Phone Is Creepy As Hell

2011-03-12T05:06:00.000-08:00

A professor at Osaka University came up with a creepy human-shaped phone that tickles you when it rings. The phone looks like a cross between Casper the friendly ghost and the freaky mutant things in Silent Hill. You talk into the phone’s stomach and it speaks back to you, playing the voice of the person on the other line through its face.

It also moves and is supposed to mimic the head and face gestures of the person on the other line as they’re talking. The team behind Elfoid claims they made it look

fetus-like and androgynous so that people can imagine Elfoid as whoever they want.

The creepy creation comes from the mind of Hiroshi Ishiguro, a roboticist who created a realistic android based on himself. This newest Elfoid P1 creation appears to be a shrunken mobile version of the nightmarish Telenoid R1 from a year ago in the video above.

Study: One in three mobile phone owners is a regular mobile gamer

2011-03-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

A new survey from casual gaming company PopCap shows that an incredibly high percentage of adults in the UK and U.S. is into mobile gaming.

This stat may be due in part to the uptick in smartphone adoption. According to a separate Nielsen survey, 31% of U.S. mobile users now own smartphones, and a Pew survey shows nearly half of cellphone users download and use mobile apps, too.

In PopCap's research, more than half (52%) of 2,425 respondents said they had played a game on a mobile device, whether their own device or someone else's, at some time in the past. The percentage for UK respondents was significantly higher (73%) than the rate for U.S. respondents (44%).

Around one-third of all respondents had played a game on their own mobile phones within the past month, and one out of four respondents said they played games on a weekly basis. Still, some respondents admitted to only having played a mobile game once.

The biggest gaming group was smartphone users. A full 83% of smartphone-owning respondents said they had played at least one mobile game in the past week, putting them solidly in the "avid mobile gamer" category.

Interestingly, the male-to-female ratio in mobile gaming doesn't show the pronounced gender gap seen in console and PC gaming. Men play slightly more than women by a slim margin of 2-10%. This fits pretty well with the current picture we have of the social gaming scene as a predominantly female market.

And mobile gamers aren't just biding their time on mass transit; they're also contributing to the bottom line of game manufacturers across the major mobile platforms.

Around half of all mobile gamers in this survey said they had upgraded a free trial game to the full or paid version in the past year. And one out of four mobile gamers, or one out of three smartphone gamers, said they had bought "additional content" for a game within the past year.

Also, smartphone users are more likely to buy games than their feature phone-owning counterparts, for obvious reasons. The average smartphone-using mobile gamer bought 5.4 games in 2010, versus the 2.9 games bought by non-smartphone-owning gamers.

Also, the smartphone crowd said they spent more money on games -- $25.57 per user for the year, compared to $15.70 from feature phone owners.

The gadget as a "revolutionary telecom medium."

2011-03-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

If you have ever wanted to feel closer to the people on the other end of the line then researchers from Japan must have been thinking about you when they developed the world's first ever human mobile phone. It's not only shaped and made to look like a human being, but it also has a skin-like outer layer that feels like, well, human skin.

The Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) issued a press release describing the gadget as a "revolutionary telecom medium." The press release also stated that the skin-like layer that covers the entire unit will make the mobile phone feel like the skin of the person that the user is talking to. In my opinion, this is kind of avante-garde in a strangely weird yet awesome way.

The photos of the prototype released to news agencies revealed that the phone is only slightly larger than a human hand. A closer look at the prototype shows a clear resemblance to the human physique but the details of the design are not very detailed so no one can really tell if it's a man or a woman. But I do think that it would be pretty cool (and quite an achievement) if these mobile phones will eventually be developed with specific genders.

The photo to the left shows ATR researcher Takashi Minato holding up a prototype of the human-shaped gadget. A speaker is installed into its the head while a light-emitting diode in the phone's chest flashes blue when the phone is in use and turns red when it is on standby.

The human mobile phone is actually a result of a joint project between major research institutions in Japan such as Osaka University and the country's premier mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo.

The prototype is pale and pasty colored, which makes me wonder: are African-American human mobile phones next? Do they also have plans of releasing phones to represent the yellow-skinned Asian race as well? Only time will tell.

What the researchers do plan on doing is integrate extra features to the phone like image and voice recognition features with the hopes that they can put it in commercial production within a span of five years.

Source: Yahoo! News

Trend: Games on Mobile Phones Driving Market

2011-03-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

This week, timed with the Game Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco, PopCap Games, announced the results of a new survey which found large increases in overall usage and frequency of mobile game playing among U.S. and U.K. adults. Conducted by Information Solutions Group, the survey also found that among mobile phone gamers, the mobile phone is now the primary gaming device of choice, leapfrogging video game consoles and personal computers in less than two years.

The survey was fairly extensive. Other findings include:

> 84% of all mobile phone gamers, and 97% of avid mobile phone gamers say they play games on their phone at least once a week; 92% of smartphone owners who play mobile games say they play at least once a week, and 45% say they play daily (compared to 35% of all mobile phone gamers).

> Among all mobile phone gamers, 50% said that the amount of time they spend playing games on their handset has increased over the past year, and among smartphone owners the figure climbs to 63%;

> Among all mobile phone gamers, 78% indicated that playing mobile phone games had become a regular part of their weekly activities, and more than half (59%) indicated that they saw such games as a regular part of their daily activities; for smartphone owners the figures were 84% and 68%, respectively.

> When asked which gaming-capable device they play games on most often, 44% of mobile phone gamers chose their phones, catapulting handsets past video game consoles (21%) and computers (30%) to the top of the list. 51% of avid mobile gamers and 55% of those mobile gamers who own smartphones indicated they played games most often on their phones.

Complete results of the new survey can be found at: www.infosolutionsgroup.com/popcapmobile2011. It takes you to a 94-page presentation.

Elfoid: creepy mini-robot meets smartphone

2011-03-05T05:04:00.000-08:00

5 Mac, 2011 - We can't say we weren't warned. Last August, Japan's Eager Co. Ltd. announced that it was planning to begin sales of the Telenoid R1 telepresence robot in October. The toddler-sized ghostly-looking robot is intended to be a physical stand-in for a remote user during internet communications, mirroring that person's movements via real-time face tracking software on their computer – their voice also comes out of the device. Well, Telenoid now has a little sibling. The Elfoid P1, as it's called, was unveiled at a press conference yesterday in Japan, and is intended to serve as a combination mobile phone and mini telepresence robot.

Both Telenoid and Elfoid were designed by Osaka University robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro, in collaboration with the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR). Ishiguro has been in the headlines before, for creating very lifelike robotic doppelgangers of real people, including himself.

His two telepresence robots' "neutral" features are intended to allow them to represent any caller, regardless of age, gender, race ... or perhaps even planetary origin.

Elfoid is essentially a pint-sized Telenoid, with a built-in 3G mobile phone. Given the limited amount of information available so far, it's not immediately clear how one would dial the thing, as it seems not to have any external controls. Ishiguro and company plan on adding microactuators to get the face and limbs moving, but the present version is immobile – a phone doll, really. Given that future versions could presumably be a writhing, wriggling, pocket-sized version of the person you're talking to, though, and the fact that their outer surface reportedly feels like skin ... well, let's just say the possibilities are disturbing.

This isn't the first time someone has thought of using a little robot/mobile phone to add a dimension of physicality to phone calls. Faculty and students at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University have already created Callo and Cally, two miniature phone-containing robots that dance, wave their arms, and display animated faces in response to the actions and instructions of callers.

But why, you may be asking, can't we just use video calling to get that human touch? It seems that many people feel awkward about being on camera while having a phone conversation with someone else. Knowing that the other person is currently seeing them as an animated sperm-like doll, however, is apparently not a problem.

There's no word yet on when or if Elfoid will be commercially available.

Virus experts warn next big threat is to mobile phones

2011-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

5 March, 2011 - TORONTO — Virus experts are warning that the next big security threat is on mobile phones and that the attacks have begun in earnest.

For months, security researchers have been tracking how hackers were trying to take their exploits to a new platform and infect smartphones with malware that could remotely control the devices.

Earlier this week, Symantec released a report about the spread of an infected app called "Steamy Windows" on Google's Android platform. The simple but popular app makes it look like your screen is covered with steam, which can be cleared off with finger swipes.

Unknown hackers created a copycat version of the app, secretly loaded it with malicious commands, and released it to the web on unofficial app download sites.

It's not the first time such a threat has been detected, said Symantec's principal security response manager Vikram Thakur, but it's far more sophisticated -- and successful -- than what was previously spotted in circulation.

"It definitely had a lot more features than we've been seeing with Android threats in the past few months," said Thakur, noting the malware enabled a hacker to retrieve data from an infected phone, send out premium rate text messages, show advertisements, and launch any website.

The attack could not force the phone to dial out, or activate a built-in camera but it's probably a matter of time until other viruses can, Thakur said.

"We expect more sophistication," he said. "It's definitely a step toward getting more and more comprehensive in their actions but I'm very certain this is not the end of it."

While the infected Steamy Windows app wasn't available through the official Android Marketplace, dozens of virus-laden apps somehow managed to get past Google's screening and were pulled offline Wednesday after being reported by users.

Among the infected apps were "Photo Editor," "Hot Sexy Videos," "Chess," "Falling Ball Dodge," "Scientific Calculator," "Advanced Currency Converter," "Spider Man," "Music Box," "Super Stopwatch & Timer" and "Color Blindness Test."

Thakur said experts were quite surprised that so many infected apps made it past Google and were available for several days before being pulled.

"The fact that Google has vetted them and made them available on Google's controlled website, it does instil a certain amount of comfort in the user," he said.

"I was pretty impressed that Google was able to pull the reported apps in less than five minutes (after being alerted) but what remains to be seen is what kind of process improvements they make on their end before they vet any application onto their marketplace, if any at all."

So far, virus threats have mostly targeted the Android platform. That's due to a few reasons, Thakur said. Apple's app vetting protocol is extremely rigorous and sneaking viruses into the App Store would likely be very difficult, he said. And because BlackBerrys are often tied to a corporate IT infrastructure with system administrators watching network traffic, evasion could also be difficult. The use of the Android platform is also growing exponentially, which allows hackers to cast a wide net when trying to infect users, Thakur added.

"For the malware author, the first thing he looks at is 'Where can I get my money' and he's going to follow wherever the honey is. The immense success of the Android platform has kind of lured the malware authors," he said.

There are a couple of ways for Android users to protect against downloading infected apps, Thakur said. There's an option in the phone's settings to only allow installs of Google-approved applications, although if more apps sneak past Google, a phone could still be affected. Thakur also recommends against downloading apps from third-party sites, especially if they promise free versions of popular apps.

If a phone is infected there are consequences.

"The worst case scenario for the common user is, let's say, loss of data, whatever is stored on the person's phone --whether it's contact information or emails -- or a high monthly usage bill. If someone was able to remotely control your phone and start sending premium SMS messages all across the globe then chances are you're going to be getting a bill you were not expecting."

Looking for something to do in the Mobile Bay area? There's

2011-03-05T04:54:00.000-08:00

Lauren Styler,

MOBILE, Alabama - The Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau has partnered with Alabama Coast Magazine to provide the first local smart phone app for the iPhone and Android designed for visitors in our city.

The app features events and live music schedules, dining, shopping and hotel information and also the ability to upload pictures from your phone.

You can download the free app today by visiting iTunes or the Android Market on your mobile phone and searching for 'Mobile Bay.'

The local smart phone app is just in time for Mardi Gras.

Just tap the special section and discover the complete parade schedules and which krewe will be rolling through the streets of downtown Mobile.

You can also find detailed parade routes so you’ll know where the best location is to catch beads, throws and the traditional crowd favorite, the Moon Pie!

The new smart phone app will help out-of-town guests enjoy what Mobile Bay has to offer all at their fingertips.

Battle with cell phones for bandwidth worries GPS industry

2011-03-05T04:53:00.000-08:00

Imagine the frustration in Yuma, Ariz., last year when garage door remote controls just plain stopped working.

The receivers on the openers were overwhelmed when a nearby Marine Corps air station moved its radio traffic to a new spectrum — a wavelength close to the one used by civilians to heft open those doors.

Luckily, a $2 jury rig to most openers fixed the problem. But in a conflict between military necessity and consumer convenience, there was never much doubt which side would have to tinker with its gear.

Now a radio war is brewing between two large commercial interests. It’s far less clear which side might budge.

One side is on the continuing quest to increase wireless broadband for your cell phone, laptop or tablet.

It’s come up with a new technology combination that adds a satellite — in contrast to using cell phone towers only — to give you almost unlimited wireless coverage. And it brings fresh competition to curb high-speed broadband prices.

But that new technology has come smack up against satellite-guided navigation for your GPS device. The catch is that when the new signals move in, they’ll crowd out GPS traffic.

The GPS industry fears its devices could suffer the fate of those Arizona garage door openers — but without the simple fix.

So what might be a boon to cell carriers like Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel could mean trouble for GPS companies like Olathe’s Garmin Ltd.

“It’s not just soccer moms trying to find their way to the game,” said a Garmin spokesman. “It’s emergency response people, the military, all sorts of things.”

•••

Today’s mobile phones connect us over radio signals from cell towers that dot our landscape. They give you driving directions by separate transmissions from GPS satellites.

The budding new techno-combo would also use cell towers. But when those spots fall out of range, the handsets would look skyward to a satellite — not for GPS signals but to carry our voice conversations, text messages and such.

The handsets would run on a radio channel that cell phones haven’t used before. It rests right next to, and poses the danger of bleeding into, the wavelengths we use for GPS directions.

And that’s where the conflict lies.

On one side is LightSquared Inc., an ambitious venture hoping to toggle between ground-based cell towers and satellite signals. It aims to wholesale the either/or service to cell phone companies and electronics makers. It’s a job the company says can be done without fouling GPS.

The young company would give users high-speed connections when in range of its earthbound towers. And when out of range of those towers, its users could turn to the heavens for a slower connection.

Sprint is reportedly in talks with LightSquared to share towers and other network costs. Both companies declined to comment about that, although LightSquared said it does expect more partnerships in building its network.

LightSquared’s ground-based towers would use a technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE. That so-called 4G or fourth-generation cell technology is already used by wireless industry leaders AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Sprint is contemplating use of the technology alongside, or to replace, its 4G WiMax network.

Meantime, in a spectrum uncomfortably next to the one LightSquared hopes to fill, sits an anxious GPS industry.

Garmin is the largest player, with half the portable consumer gadgets in the market and 90 percent of the GPS hardware in small-plane cockpits.

The GPS maker sounded warnings in a January report. Garmin said its lab tests mimicking a LightSquared network easily jammed both aviation and handheld GPS devices. That poses a threat, the company contends, to its business and to public safety.

LightSquared counters that the two technologies can co-exist. It has tentative approval from the Federal Communications Commission to charge ahead.

“The facts are the facts when you test for interference,” said Jeff Carlisle, a LightSquared vice president. “It’s possible there will be disagreements as we move forward … We’re looking for what’s the most efficient and fairest way to work it out.”

At the crux of the clash is a radio spectrum ever more crammed by signals zipping to and from mobile gadgets.

“This is just a symptom of a broader problem,” said Dale Hatfield, a former chief engineer and technologist for the FCC. “When you run out of elbow room, people start jostling each other.”

•••

The story begins in what engineers and regulators refer to as L-Band 1. The frequency range ends at 1559 megahertz — right where the GPS band starts. That L-band long ago was set aside for satellite communications.

Yet for years, the L-band was like a mostly empty subdivision on the border of crowded neighborhood. Companies have chased grand plans before in pursuit of a profit from the derelict property — with almost no success.

Now comes Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund billionaire Philip Falcone backing LightSquared.Unlike the failures that have tried satellite phone service, Falcone’s LightSquared is betting the marriage of a satellite with a network of conventional cell towers will prosper.

The company hopes to roll out wholesale service in Baltimore, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver this year. But in some ways, devices tuned to its network would have nationwide coverage almost immediately. Any LightSquared-friendly phone with a clear view to the southern sky will have a connection.

The FCC will ultimately referee the dispute between LightSquared and the GPS industry. The agency has reacted eagerly to the company’s plans, which would fit the Obama administration’s push for broadband wireless connections across the country.

It has granted a tentative license for LightSquared. The company would sell service to cell phone carriers like Sprint, to device manufacturers and to retail stores.

Still, the FCC has held back on a full go-ahead. An agency spokesman said LightSquared will only have full permission to use the L-band when worries about GPS jamming are satisfied.

The agency ordered a working group drawn from LightSquared and the GPS industry to hash out the question. The group has already filed one report to the FCC on the technical issues and testing methodology to figure out if GPS really is in danger.

LightSquared’s hope is that the Garmin study will be refuted. The GPS company tried to imitate real-world conditions by separating low-power devices a matter of feet apart, when LightSquared cell towers would be miles apart and typically, not always, miles from a GPS unit.

By putting in the right frequency filters on its equipment, LightSquared expects to avoid the interference that Garmin found in its Olathe lab. Garmin said it tried to buy a filter from LightSquared for testing, without luck.

Still, both sides talk about the possibility of figuring out a scientific way to be good neighbors on the radio spectrum.

Trimble Navigation Ltd., a California firm, is among those in an industry reliant on undisturbed GPS signals. Company vice president Peter Large said, “LightSquared’s proposed service could prove to be fundamentally incompatible with existing GPS uses.”

But he said the company “is confident that technical analyses … will lead to a clear regulatory decision that will protect GPS.”

•••

Some analysts think the jamming problem might be the side effect of the fact that GPS manufacturers for years could work in frequencies next to the mostly empty L-band. They might have saved costs by putting less precision into their receivers, especially when there was almost no traffic in the next-door spectrum.

“It costs more money to squeeze more people into the same space” of radio frequency, said Hatfield, the former FCC technologist who now teaches at the University of Colorado.

But Ted Gartner, a spokesman for Garmin, said it would be “spurious” to put any blame on GPS device makers. (In fact, Hatfield said, “there may be innocent parties on both sides here.”)

Gartner said reworking millions of circuit boards for new GPS devices could devastate the industry, shoot costs skyward and still not solve the problem of devices already in use. If there’s any adjustment to be made, he said, it will have to be done by LightSquared.

“We are in a signal spectrum,” he said. “We always have been and we will continue to be.”

To reach Scott Canon, call 816-234-4754 or send e-mail to scanon@kcstar.com.

Google Adds 44 New Languages to Google Docs Mobile Editing

2011-03-05T04:51:00.000-08:00

Frustrated that you couldn't edit a Spanish term paper on your mobile phone? Worry no more. Google Documents now supports editing in 45 languages on your mobile phone, Google announced in a blog post.

The company has been consistently adding features to its word processing program. In January, Google streamlined the service, revamping the way files are organized to make it easier to display and preview documents. Google Docs also recently added the ability to play video, and it's been rumored, but not confirmed that a music player would also be incorporated.

Google launched mobile editing for the program in November. To edit Google Docs on your mobile phone, you must have a device running on Android Froyo 2.2 or higher or an iPad or iPhone running on iOS 3.0 or higher.

"With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive – and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime," Google software engineer Andrew Grieve blogged when the company launched mobile editing.

To edit a document, open the browser on your phone and go to docs.google.com. Select a document and press edit to launch the mobile editor. Some of the supported languages are Chinese, Arabic, German, and French. The language settings must be changed on the desktop browser. They can't be altered on your phone.

For now, you can only edit documents on Google Docs via mobile devices, but you can't create new files.

Girl Scout Cookies By Cell Phone

2011-03-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

SAN DIEGO — Wearing a lime green vest, dotted with patches and gold award buttons, it was clear that 10-year-old Angela Rosser of troop 1177 is proud to be a Girl Scout.

"It’s really fun right now," said Rosser, as she picked up a mobile phone.

Rosser is a member of Girl Scouts San Diego. Because of that, she's part of a two-week pilot program to test a mobile credit card device called “mophie marketplace.”

Rosser demonstrates how easily it worked. First, she downloaded a “mophie” application on her mom's smart phone. Then she slipped a small card reader onto the bottom of the phone and swiped a credit card.

Next, she filled in the desired number of cookie boxes on the phone’s screen and emailed a customer receipt.

Once the order was complete, the credit information and transaction was automatically erased from the phone.

It took less than a minute, and when it was done, Rosser smiled as she handed over two boxes of Thin Mints and a box of Samoas.

Rosser said using the device has improved her cookie sales and taught her troop a lot about credit cards.

“I think it teaches girls what credit cards are like. Some kids think they can just use credit cards for everything and they don’t realize it’s going to run out eventually. Now we know better," said Rosser.

In the first week of this year’s cookie selling season Rosser has sold 116 boxes of cookies. She credited her mother for her success and for helping her with all of the credit card transactions.

The money raised form selling Girl Scouts cookies is used to fund community service projects, troop activities and to pay for girls who otherwise couldn’t afford to join a troop.

Japan Phone Makers See Opportunity in Android

2011-03-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

TOKYO — Japanese mobile phones are a gadget lover’s dream. They double as credit cards. They can display digital TV broadcasts. Some are even fitted with solar cells.

And yet, for all their innovations, Japanese-made handsets have had little impact overseas. They account for just a sliver of a global mobile phone market dominated by the likes of Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung.

But now the Japanese phone industry hopes to go global — by adopting Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system.

“We have the technology to compete in the United States,” said Naoki Shiraishi, who led software development for a new line of Android smartphones from Sharp, the largest Japanese cellphone maker. “It’s finally time for Sharp phones to go play in the major leagues.”

Sony Ericsson, NEC and Kyocera are among the other Japanese handset makers also betting on Android as their path to international sales.

While Android was initially overshadowed by the popular iPhone from Apple, its user numbers are now soaring. In 2010, global sales of Android phones reached 67.2 million units, ahead of iPhones, which sold 46 million units, according to the research company Gartner.

And Sharp, clearly hoping to edge onto Apple’s iPad turf, has introduced in the United States a lineup of tablet computers running a version of Android — the sort of competition Apple is hoping to stay well in front of with new versions of the iPad like the one it introduced Wednesday in San Francisco. For the Japanese phone makers, cashing in on Android’s popularity will mean learning some new skills, like marketing, while unlearning some old habits, like paying too much attention to the hardware and too little to the software.

Because Japan’s phone industry remains highly fragmented, no company so far has been large or savvy enough to make a strong overseas push. Instead, handset makers have long been content to serve as suppliers to Japan’s three largest mobile networks, which command a market of more than 100 million users, most of them on advanced 3G networks.

And in their hardware fixation, Japanese manufacturers have tended to bog down their handsets with clunky software platforms and fenced-in Web services that do not emphasize downloads of third-party applications.

That has put them at odds with the trend in much of the rest of the world, where attention has swung to devices like the iPhone, which runs software much as an ordinary computer does and lets users download apps from independent developers.

In fact, the success of the iPhone in Japan — together with Apple’s popular App Store, with hundreds of thousands of applications for download — has opened eyes.

“Japanese companies have been so pioneering in many fields, but they have failed to build a global business” of handsets, said Gerhard Fasol, chief executive of Eurotechnology, a Tokyo firm that advises companies on global mobile and telecommunications strategy. “What you need is a global infrastructure,” Mr. Fasol said, “and Japanese handset makers have nothing.”

Global scale is what the Japanese hope to build with Android.

Certainly the price is right: Google offers Android free to manufacturers. And Android has caught on since its introduction in 2007, as a growing community of software developers has written apps, sold via Google’s Android Market.

It took a while, but Japanese handset makers are now rushing to introduce Android devices, each married with cutting-edge technology. That includes Sony Ericsson, which dabbled with other platforms like Symbian and Windows Mobile for its high-end Xperia smartphones, but has used Android for its latest models.

And just last week, NEC introduced what it said was the world’s thinnest smartphone. At 8 millimeters thick, equivalent to about four stacked nickels, its Medias N-04C runs on Android and also comes with an electronic wallet function, digital terrestrial television and a five-megapixel camera. Although the phone is for sale only in Japan for now, NEC is planning an overseas push, focusing first on Mexico and Australia.

Another Japanese manufacturer, Kyocera, is planning soon for the United States release of an Android-based smartphone that comes with two screens, capable of running separate apps at once.

Sharp, for its part, intends to start with the fast-growing Chinese market, although officials say they also intend to bring phones to North America. Most global operators are preparing to use advanced LTE networks, which could make it easier for the Japanese phones to work on networks anywhere.

Mobile Phone Spyware - Mobile Spy Software $49 USD only

2011-03-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

Mobile Phone Spyware - Are you worried about the safety of those you care about? Would you like to know if your spouse or partner is cheating on you? Now it is very simple to remotely monitor those things by spying on any mobile phone from any where in the world. This advanced technology is better and less costly all those other spyware products sold. Here is the reason, with this software application you can now listen to live mobile phone calls, read emails, see incoming and out going text messages, view photos, analyze the web browsing history and yes see the exact location of the mobile phone. All of this is done from a remote location using one simple spyware application, all you need is an Internet connection. The cost is just a one time fee of $49 only to gain instant access to all of the spyware features. The software download can be purchased directly from the website here:- http://www.bit.ly/track-phone

This advance software application is called SpyBubble and it is completely undetectable. For the cost it is the most advanced and best selling mobile spy software currently available anywhere. Now SpyBubble is being made available for just $49.00 for a limited time as a promotional offer.

You can now spy on nearly any mobile phone including smart phones such as iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

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Android Mobile Phone Review: T-Mobile MyTouch 4G

2011-03-05T04:34:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to like Android for quite some time. I really did. I kept trying device after device hoping that the next device would be “the one”. Sadly, that never seemed to happen. Even with those devices that I initially liked I found myself growing tired of both the device and the operating system within a relatively short period of time. As a result, the Android handsets I purchased ended up on eBay within a relatively short period, and those that I had received as loaner review units went back without any remorse on my part. Yes, I wanted to like Android, but none of the smartphones I tried were able to win me over.

That was, until now.

I’ve been using the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G for the last week or so, and I have to tell you… I like this device. I like it a lot. How much? Well, let me put it this way, I forwarded my iPhone’s number to it the other day and haven’t missed the iOS handset one bit.

Yes, this iPhone fanboy is actually using an Android headset as his primary device and… liking it!

Here’s why

Before we go any further let me get one thing on the table and out of the way; this is not a good-looking phone. In a beauty contest it would be lucky to come in 10th. If it were a model it would be starving. At a dance this phone would turn heads but not for the right reasons. Yes, this is an unattractive a piece of hardware that seems a bit “thrown together”.

It has a metal back that appears to have texture but is actually smooth. It has a rubbery material around the sides that makes it easy to grip but looks somewhat unpolished. That might be okay, except that the front of the device looks like it belongs to an entirely different headset.

Put it all together and the MyTouch 4G is a bit of a Frankenstein phone (FrankenPhone?) that seems to have a little bit from one device and a little bit from another, and then parts from a third or even a fourth. It makes for a truly hybrid-style device, and I don’t mean that in a good way.

But here’s the thing, I don’t care.

I don’t care that it isn’t the most attractive of handsets. I don’t care that it looks a little bit like a bunch of parts were slapped together. I don’t care because, as a whole, the device works so well for me that I can overlook just about any aesthetic issues I might have with it. This is a case of “function is so good that form becomes secondary”, and as I have used it, I have grown to like its looks more and more.

So let’s talk about what I find to be so great about this device.

First of all let’s talk about the build quality. It is phenomenal. The handset is rather heavy. At 5oz it is only slightly heavier than the iPhone 4 and the Motorola Atrix which weigh in at 4.8 oz each, but it FEELS significantly heavier for some reason. It’s well-built and it feels more solid than just about any other device I have used. It feels solid like the iPhone 4, but doesn’t feel like a delicate flower the way that an iDevice does. [Are you listening Apple?]

No, if anything, this phone feels like it’s a little bit more on the ruggedized side of the spectrum. The rubber material that goes around the side of the phone may not look all that attractive, but it makes the phone more durable, easier to grip, and it makes me feel confident when placing the device on any surface or trying to hold onto it while walking around. Yes, this is a smartphone that is meant for the real world!

After reviewing the Inspire HD for the AT&T network a few weeks ago, I was a bit concerned about the build quality of products being put out by HTC. Some of the back plates didn’t fit properly on that device and it got worse over time. It just didn’t feel like the high-end device that I know the company can create. I was concerned that this might be the new norm for handsets from HTC. Thankfully this phone shows that is not the case.

One example to explain what I mean. The metal plate on the back of the MyTouch 4G is thick and heavy just the way a phone’s back panel should be. It snaps into place quite securely and literally needs to be “popped” off when you want to access the battery; the fit is so good that if you are not careful you can lose a nail or two trying to open it. Unlike the Inspire HD, the fit is tight and perfect; strangely, both are made by HTC.

The Screen

The screen size strikes the right balance. It is a little bit larger than the iPhone’s screen but it isn’t too large the way those behemoth 4.3″ screens that are becoming so commonplace right now are. Yes, the size of the MyTouch gives you enough screen real estate to do what you need to do, but not so much that it’s difficult to hold the device and manipulate the phone with one hand.

The Buttons

And then there are the buttons. This phone actually has REAL physical buttons. You know, the type of buttons that actually have to be PUSHED and actually make a clicking sound. You know, the things Steve Jobs said we don’t need! Yes, the MyTouch 4G has real physical buttons and… I like them! A day into using the phone I suddenly came to the realization that I missed physical buttons. They are there to give the tactile feedback and make it easy to use the phone without looking at it, and I’m sold. They just work well and, like the rest of the phone, feel heavy-duty.

The optical D-Pad in the center took some getting used to, but after a few days I found it to be quite nice for navigating the phone.

The camera works just fine. The rear 5mp camera takes nice pictures and shoots decent video. Overall it is on par with the majority of 5+mp phone cameras I’ve seen recently, and it does mean you can go without a point and shoot or pocket camcorder.

The phone also has a front facing camera that shoots stills and video. This isn’t a camera you would want to rely on for pictures, but it will do fine for video chats.

The phone is running Android 2.2. Sure it would be better if 2.3 were pre-loaded but, at least at the moment, 2.2 seems to be standard. To me 2.2 seems like the first “mature” Android release.

HTC Sense

When I got the Nexus 1 last year I turned off a lot of the graphical wizbang features to save on battery life and to make sure it maintained enough speed. That’s not an issue with this phone. It has HTC’s Sense UI and speeds though it with ease. Sense actually works great on this device. I was tempted to use a 3rd Party program such as Launcher Pro, but I’ve really found that the Sense UI does what it needs to do with good speed. It, combined with some of T-Mobile’s unique features such as the MyFavs feature, makes this an incredibly customizable, and easy to use, handset.

Speed

We are now seeing the release of the first handsets with dual-core processors. That means that this handset is already old technology. That’s the bad news. Fortunately, there’s good news, too. The MyTouch 4G may not have a dual-core processor, but it is incredibly fast. If you didn’t know you had a single core processor, you wouldn’t think twice about the speed of this device. In other words, from a spec perspective it is old technology, but from an actual “real world usage” perspective it’s more than fast enough.

Yes, every now and then I found that it did have a period of slowdown, but it didn’t happen that often and it didn’t happen for very long when it did occur. The 1 ghz processor holds its own just fine.

The T-Mobile Factor

The other thing that made using this handset so enjoyable has less to do with the handset and more to do with the carrier. Usually having devices modified to be specific to one of the major carriers in the United States is a bad thing. They lock the handset down, they add tons of crapware and they replace some applications with paid services so they can make more money. In this case, however, having the handset designed specifically to work with T-Mobile in the US is a very good thing.

The Genius Button launches voice recognition powered by Nuance, and one of the standard keyboard choices is Dragon Dictation. It is, as I have often written, the best voice recognition currently available.

Then there’s T-Mobile’s WiFi calling feature. I’ve noted elsewhere on the site and on Twitter my AT&T iPhone gets lousy reception at home. I tried to get a microcell from them, but it isn’t available in my area. AT&T’s suggestion to me was that I dropped my iPhone down to EDGE speeds since I might see better connectivity that way; that’s unacceptable! T-Mobile, on the other hand, had a number of handsets can now use their “WiFi calling” feature. It’s built into this phone, and it simply means that you are able to make calls over any known a WiFi connection once you set it up. Sure, the WiFi calling feature uses plan minutes, but T-Mobile has great plans with unlimited minutes and even if it didn’t getting good reception at home is priceless … and T-Mobile doesn’t even charge for it.

The T-Mobile TV functionality that is there is interesting, but it costs $10 a month and isn’t something that I would ever use. But it is available and does not seem to crap up the handset.

Yes, there is a lot of good news with the MyTouch 4G. The handset is made by HTC ,and the build quality is great. (This is in contrast to the Inspire HD which was quite problematic in my opinion.) HTC’s Sense UI adds a degree of usability to the handset that is quite welcome. Some have written that the interface is a little bit stale, but that isn’t my experience at all. And the battery life is good; good but not great is how I would describe it, but that is pretty much the case with all current powerhouse smartphones.

Left HD7, Right MyTouch 4G

Unfortunately the news isn’t ENTIRELY good. Unfortunately this handset seems to suffer from an issue that I’m finding across all the current HTC devices I’ve tried. The speaker stinks. Seriously, it leaves a good deal to be desired. It is usable, but it is not enjoyable for more than a brief conversation. The sound is a bit crackly and it’s a little bit too soft. This is not a handset that you would want to use to listen to music unless you’re using a headset or some sort of connected speaker.

I have no doubt that HTC could do a great job with the audio quality of their handsets, but for some reason, at least in my experience, they don’t. Since the speaker is usable this isn’t anywhere near a deal breaker for me, but I really wish that the audio quality was better.

So let’s get to the bottom line of this phone. What do I think of it?

I’ve been using the phone as my primary handset for about a week and a half now. And in that time I’ve come to like using it more and more. I was impressed the first day, but that has been the case with most of the Android devices I have tried. This one, however, actually grew on me. I like its weight, I love the way it feels in my hand, the screen is gorgeous, and it’s fast.

Left Motorola Atrix, Right MyTouch 4G

In fact, I asked for a two-week extension on keeping the review unit so that I could find the time to compare it to the Motorola Atrix that just came for review and decide which one I want. Yes, for the first time since the iPhone came out, I am not using an iPhone as my primary handset.

Left iPhone 4, Right MyTouch 4G

In addition to the iPhone I also have a Windows Phone 7 handset that I can use if I like, but the MyTouch is the one that has been seeing the most use.

iPhone 4, Motorola Atrix, MyTouch 4G, HTC HD7

I think from an aesthetic perspective the iPhone wins hands down. From a power and cool accessory perspective, the Motorola Atrix now wins handily. From a “new stuff to play around with” the HD7 running Windows Phone 7 wins. But from an overall usability perspective, the MyTouch 4G is a winner. It’s easy to check and reply to e-mail via voice, and it’s easy to find what you need and to customize each of the home screens so that they work the way you need to work. Sure all Android phones do that, but HTC and T-Mobile add a whole additional layer. The battery life is good but not great. When are I lowered the screen brightness I found that it did much better, but it still leaves something to be desired. But after all isn’t that the way things are these days with pretty much all these powerful smart phones? I like that this phone doesn’t need to be “babied”.

I was ready to go back to my iPhone when this review period was over, but I can’t bring myself to do that. I’m finding it too easy to access and reply to my e-mail and to keep up with my social network messages. So, to T-Mobile I go… Unless the Motorola Atrix that just came for review wins me over.

One final note. The big winner for me when it comes to Android is the ability to use voice transcription anywhere you might use a keyboard. I wrote the vast majority of this review using the MyTouch 4G and its Genius Button integration. Try doing that with iOS.

The MyTouch 4G is available on the T-Mobile network for $250 on contract.

What I Like: Heavy and well-constructed; crisp middle-of-the-road screen size; physical buttons; good back camera, usable front camera; holds signal well; T-Mobile customizations add to ease of use; Genius Button/Dragon Dictation make this a great device to use on the go; rubber on sides makes it comfortable to hold

What Needs Improvement: Battery life is average; speaker is horrid; already “old technology”; Android 2.2

This post was written by:

Dan Cohen - who has written 1794 posts on Gear Diary.

Facebook Will Give Your Mobile Phone, Address Info to Developers Again

2011-03-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Remember last month, when Facebook announced it was granting access to users’ mobile phone numbers and home addresses to third-party developers (upon users granting permission)? Soon after, the company suspended the feature as privacy concerns quickly escalated.

Facebook said it had received useful feedback that they could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to contact data. The company said it was temporarily disabling the feature.

Now, in a letter to Congress (pdf), Facebook (via CNET’s Declan McCullagh), Facebook is talking about bringing the feature back. In the letter, Marne Levine, VP, Global Public Policy says Facebook is "assessing potential additions to the permissions screen that would appear when an application requests a user’s contact information, to determine whether those additions would provide clearer notice to users regarding the information the application is requesting."

Mobile Gadget Users: Ruder than Ever, Study Shows

2011-03-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

Poor etiquette by mobile users is rampant and getting worse every day as use of smartphones and other wireless devices continues to mushroom, according to an Ipsos survey of U.S. adults.

The survey found that 75% of the 2,000 adults surveyed believe mobile manners have worsened since 2009. And more than 90% said they have witnessed first-hand poor mobile behavior -- activities ranging from texting while driving or walking to talking on a mobile phone in a public restroom.

Some 19% of the repondents admitted having poor mobile habits themselves, but continued such activities because others were doing the same thing.

The survey, sponsored by Intel, was conducted from Dec. 10, 2010 to Jan. 5, 2011.

Intel, which makes processors that are used in some mobile devices, said the survey is part of its research into how people use technology to drive innovation. The company sponsored a similar survey in 2009.

Genevieve Bell, an Intel fellow who heads up research into human interactions and experience at Intel Labs, noted that because mobile technology is still fairly new, "it's no surprise that people still struggle with how to best integrate these devices into their lives.

"New digital technologies are becoming a mainstay in consumers' lives, but we haven't yet worked out for ourselves, our families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of behaviors and expectations will be," Bell added. The survey also found that:
# U.S. adults see an average of five mobile "offenses," including the use of mobile devices while driving or talking loudly on a mobile phone in public, every day.
# One in five adults admit to checking a mobile device before getting out of bed in the morning.
# Of the 91% of respondents who reported seeing offenses, 56% saw car drivers using a mobile device, 48% saw people using one in a restroom, 32% saw them used in movie theaters and 9% saw the devices used by people on a honeymoon.
# Nearly 25% of U.S. adults say they have seen a person use a laptop computer while driving.

The survey relates to a theme raised by some communications executives at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recently.

On one panel there, executives cited how smartphones and similar devices can constantly interrupt our lives , keeping our attention on the devices instead of on friends, family and co-workers.

"We're starting to live in a world of interruption technology -- isn't anybody questioning this?" said MWC panelist Hampus Jakobsson, director of strategic alliances at BlackBerry smartphone maker Research in Motion. He is the former head of TAT, an interface design company acquired by RIM last year.

In response to a question on how RIM might reduce interruptions, Jakobsson suggested BlackBerry devices perhaps shouldn't run games that demand close attention from users.

Panelist and AT&T CTO John Donovan added that mobile devices have become the "serial interrupters" of modern society. "We owe it to the industry to restore simplicity where interactions and productivity are balanced," he added.

Elsewhere, Microsoft picked up on the theme of bad phone behaviors in a series of TV ads for its Windows Phone 7 devices.

The commercials lament the way typical smartphones can prevent people from engaging directly with others, and suggesting that the interface on WP7-based phones will allow tasks to be completed swiftly and thus let users more quickly get back to communicating directly with families and co-workers.

An Intel spokeswoman said the is not looking to prescribe a right or wrong way to use mobile technology by releasing the results of the survey. "We want to understand how people use and want to use their technology. It's an important part of our future product planning process," said spokeswoman Jessica Hansen.

She said Intel isn't aware of an industry group devoted to mobile technology etiquette despite the comments made at MWC and the Microsoft ads.

Intel, however, did quote tips from etiquette expert Anna Post.

In general, Post suggests that mobile users "be present ... [and] give your full attention to those you are with ... in a meeting or on a date."

Post also suggests that users stop and consider whether it would be best to postpone a call or to move away from others when talking, texting or e-mailing from a mobile device. She also suggests talking with family, friends and co-workers about setting ground rules for mobile device use.

Finally, Post said she believes that some places, such as restrooms, are private and should remain free of mobile device use.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen , or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com .

Can the Nokia deal save Microsoft?

2011-03-05T04:26:00.000-08:00

Microsoft's recent deal with Nokia will put Windows Phone 7 on millions of Nokia mobile phones around the world. Microsoft in turn will shower billions of dollars on Nokia in marketing, engineering and other costs. The companies hope that together, they can make inroads into the mobile market that has increasingly become dominated by Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.

Some people have argued that combining the forces of two companies that have been failing in the mobile market will add up to little more than failure times two. But the deal may well save Microsoft from a slow-growth future. The partnership is one of the most important that Microsoft has made in recent years -- so important, in fact, that the billions of dollars it's spending may well save the company and ensure that its technology remains relevant, and its products stay viable, well into the fast-changing mobile future.

You could easily argue, of course, that Microsoft doesn't really need saving. After all, in its most recent earnings statement, for the second quarter of its fiscal year, Microsoft reported that it took in $19.95 billion -- the highest revenue ever for that quarter. Net income was a healthy $6.63 billion. That doesn't sound like a company in need of saving.

But a closer look at the numbers shows that the revenue was bolstered primarily by yesterday's technologies, not tomorrow's. Leading the way was Office, with revenue growth of 24%, "a huge quarter, exceeding everyone's expectations" according to Kevin Turner, Microsoft 's chief operating officer. Sales for mobile and Windows Phone 7 weren't even broken out, a clear sign they were lagging. And reports that came out after the earnings report confirmed Windows Phone 7's problems with gaining traction -- only 500,000 Windows Phone 7 devices were shipped for the entire month of December , and those were to retail stores, not to consumers. By way of contrast, Google says it activates 300,000 Android devices every day.

It's true that without having a successful mobile operating system, Microsoft will still survive. Windows isn't going away anytime soon. Nor is Microsoft Office, server technologies and other successful core products.

But none of those technologies are high-growth. If Microsoft relies solely on them, it will eventually become the tech equivalent of a utility company, reaping profits primarily by providing underlying infrastructure. The best engineers, designers, marketers and other creative professionals will look elsewhere for work, leading to a further spiral downward.

In a future that belongs to mobile, Microsoft would not be able to maintain high growth without Windows Phone 7 becoming a success. That's why the Nokia deal is so important to Microsoft. With a single contract, Microsoft ensures that it will become an important mobile player, not the afterthought it is now. Although Nokia no longer holds a dominant presence in the mobile market -- where it once had more than 50% market share -- even in its weakened state, it has a 29% market share, according to Gartner.

Without the Nokia deal, it was unlikely that Windows Phone 7 would ever gain traction. Even after its well-publicized launch this fall, it didn't make up any ground against the iPhone or Android. Every week, it's been falling further behind.

Several billion dollars may sound like a sizable bet for a company to make on a single contract, but in Microsoft's case, it was justified -- it's not just betting on a technology, but on its own future. By itself, Microsoft has shown it can't survive in mobile. With Nokia, it at least has a chance of success. The deal may be the best several billion dollars the company ever spent.

Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld.com and the author of more than 35 books, including How the Internet Works (Que, 2006).

Tickets, coupons among uses for tap-to-pay phones

2011-03-05T04:24:00.000-08:00

BARCELONA, Spain - Cell phones usually are used to communicate with people far away. This year, they'll get the ability to do the opposite: communicate with things that are close enough to touch.

It may not sound immediately useful, but phones will get some surprising capabilities with the addition of chips for so-called Near Field Communications, a wireless technology with a range intentionally limited to just a few inches.

The phones will be able to talk to payment terminals designed for "smart cards," replacing credit and debit cards. They could be used as mass transit passes. You could tap two phones together to exchange contact information.

Or you could tap a "smart tag" on a poster, product or sticker to get your phone to do something, such as retrieving information from the Internet or placing a call to the product's customer support line. Yankee Group analyst Nick Holland likens these tags to the links that take us from Web page to Web page, only now they're in the real world.

Adding NFC is like adding a whole new capability on the level of GPS navigation or a camera, Holland said.

The industry has been talking about including NFC in phones for years, mainly to turn them into "electronic wallets." Beyond a few trials, nothing much has happened, except in Japan and Hong Kong, where these systems have caught on for mass-transit ticketing.

But at the world's largest cell-phone trade show, held last week in Barcelona, Spain, it was clear that the log-jam has loosened, in part because NFC chips are now cheaper. Millions of NFC-equipped phones will be in consumer hands in the U.S. and Europe before the end of the year.

Jim Balsillie, the co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., said at the show that "many if not most" BlackBerrys will have NFC chips this year. Google Inc.'s Nexus S already has one, and the company's latest Android software for that and other phones has NFC support. Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of phones, has committed to putting NFC chips in all its next-generation smart phones.

Based on job postings at Apple Inc., there's speculation the new iPhone model due this summer will have an NFC chip. Apple wouldn't comment.

NFC turns the limitation of short-range communications into an advantage. When an NFC terminal senses an NFC-equipped phone, it knows that's because the user is holding it right up close and wants to interact in some way - for instance, paying for a can of Coke.

That means a lot of the complexity that comes with establishing wireless links - like logging on to a Wi-Fi hotspot or "pairing" Bluetooth devices with each other - can be dispensed with. Tap and something happens, but your phone probably will still ask you if you really want that can of Coke.

The simplicity of NFC also lets it cut through the complications of existing mobile payment systems, which let you send money through an app or text message. These systems have been more popular in Europe.

It's possible to upgrade some current phones with NFC chips. Small memory cards that are accepted by some phones can be given NFC capabilities. Both MasterCard and Visa are experimenting with "jackets" for the iPhone that have NFC chips, for instance.

But not all phones are compatible with these solutions, so the most likely way to get NFC into consumer's hands is with new phones. Research firm Yankee Group estimates that there will be 151 million NFC-enabled phones in 2014, up from 834,000 in 2010.

The wide support from phone manufacturers comes after nearly a decade of much talk but little action. Bill Gajda, head of Visa Inc.'s push into mobile payments, said the NFC idea has faced "a series of chicken-and-egg problems."

Phone makers didn't want to include the chips in their phones if the wireless carriers didn't want them. Wireless carriers saw no use for the chips if merchants didn't have terminals that accepted them. Merchants didn't want to invest in terminals if there would be no phones to use them.

With phone makers and wireless carriers now supporting the idea, the hope is that stores will take the jump, too, Gajda said. McDonald's Corp. restaurants in the U.S. and a few other chains already have contactless payment terminals, installed to accept cards that work on a principle similar to NFC. When New York City taxi cabs were upgraded to accept credit cards starting two years ago, they got contactless terminals, too.

The Smart Card Alliance estimates that there are half a million contactless terminals in the U.S., in 150,000 to 200,000 locations. That compares to perhaps 6 million locations in the U.S. with traditional card readers, as estimated by Todd Ablowitz, an electronic-payments consultant.

On the phone company side, France Telecom SA's Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany are rolling out NFC.

In the U.S., three of the four largest wireless carriers: Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, have formed a joint venture, ISIS, to roll out payment services in limited regions of the country in the next year.

It's not clear that payment services will attract consumers to NFC phones, given that using a phone over a card only saves a few seconds.

Rajeev Chand, head of research at investment bank Rutberg & Co., believes ticketing will be the "entry point" for NFC, as speed matters more when passing turnstiles.

In stores, phones with NFC could be popular if they do more than merely replace a wallet of credit and debit cards. They could help merchants track and reward loyal customers, replacing both loyalty cards and printed coupons.

On the payments side, well, NFC is only going to go so far, in Holland's opinion. It will take time for the terminals to spread, and cash isn't going away anytime soon.

"You're still going to have to carry your wallet for the next 20 years," the analyst said.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, February 27, 2011

Smart phones make the leap to the mainstream

2011-02-27T02:39:00.000-08:00

By Wailin Wong
Chicago Tribune
February 27, 2011

CHICAGO — Ron Rakow had a cell phone but never owned a smart phone until a holiday promotion at U.S. Cellular caught his eye. He took the plunge in late December.

“It’s a computer,” Rakow, 44, said of his new HTC Desire. “I was thinking of going home and canceling my Internet service.”

Rakow recently went to a workshop at a U.S. Cellular store to get more comfortable with his phone and learn how to customize it. During the free one-on-one session, store employees walked him through using a navigation application, setting up a screen of speed-dial contacts and downloading an app that syncs with Apple’s iTunes on his home computer.

“This is a smart phone for dumb people,” Rakow joked.

Four years after Apple’s iPhone showed the world the potential of a powerful, fun-to-use mobile computer, wireless operators are looking to bring smart phones to consumers outside of the early adopter crowd.

At stake is the growing pot of data revenue that smart phones generate. Wireless data revenues totaled $46 billion in 2010, up from $41.5 billion in 2009 and $32.3 billion in 2008, according to industry association CTIA.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas early last month, T-Mobile USA Chief Executive Philipp Humm said smart phone penetration in the U.S. is just 31 percent of mobile consumers, leaving a wide playing field for carriers.

But catering to the mainstream requires different strategies than those used to woo early adopters, who are willing to pay premium prices and work out the kinks of a new product. Carriers are now offering smart phones at lower prices. These devices may lack the full processing power of the priciest gadgets, but they are positioned as entry-level products for younger users or customers who may be upgrading to a smart phone for the first time.

“Affordability is really critical to making sure we get market penetration,” Humm said at CES. Last year, T-Mobile launched four Android smart phones priced under $100 and introduced a $10 monthly data plan.

The growth potential for smart phone adoption is big. Research firm In-Stat released a report last week predicting that more than 50 percent of U.S. handset shipments will be smart phones by 2012. The 2010 percentage was 42.7 percent, a figure representing future sales to new and existing smart phone users.

“Prices have gone down for the data plans; they’re becoming more affordable,” said Allen Nogee, principal analyst at In-Stat. “Certainly the phone prices have dropped a whole lot. The operators are really pushing to have more volume.”

Demand for smart phones has also caught the attention of prepaid carriers, which in the past few years have been shedding their image of catering only to budget-conscious consumers or those with bad credit. Operators such as Virgin Mobile and Cricket Wireless have introduced Android smart phones and are offering competitively priced data packages without contracts.

“Within the prepaid space, you really are seeing what I would call a second wave of smart phone users now moving in,” said Bob Stohrer, vice president of corporate marketing at Sprint, which owns Virgin Mobile. “Those people ... weren’t early adopters and have been standing on the sidelines for a while, but now recognize that smart phones and the ways that people can connect have fundamentally changed.”

At Virgin Mobile, the $249.99 Samsung Intercept represents about 20 percent of the operator’s sales mix, Stohrer said, upending the traditional belief in the prepaid industry that customers would balk at handsets priced above $99.

Prepaid carriers historically have offered lower phone subsidies than their postpaid rivals, but no-contract subscribers are showing a willingness to pay more for sophisticated devices — a dynamic that’s boosting these companies’ ability to compete for smart phone users.

Cricket Wireless, for example, inaugurated its smart phone portfolio with the BlackBerry Curve in August and followed with two Android devices, including the Huawei Ascend, which costs $159.99. By the end of 2010, 9 percent of Cricket’s 5.3 million customers owned a smart phone.

“We saw that the demographic for prepaid and the demographic for smart phones was really a mass-market, value-driven demographic, much different than it was a few years ago,” said Matt Stoiber, Cricket’s vice president of devices.

New mobile phone app spots cancer in an hour

2011-02-27T02:37:00.000-08:00

Feb 26, 2011 - Scientists have developed a new mobile phone application that spots cancer - and is more accurate than the techniques routinely used in hospitals.

The smartphone-based system is up to 100 per cent accurate at telling the difference between benign tumours and their malignant counterparts, reports the Daily Mail .

It also takes just an hour to make the diagnosis, meaning patients don't have to spend days or weeks anxiously waiting for test results.

The U.S. researchers said the gadget could ''transform cancer care'' by also making it easier for doctors to track how well drugs are fighting the disease in a patient's body.

In initial tests, it was 88 per cent accurate in distinguishing cancerous stomach tumours from benign growths.

Refining the technique boosted accuracy to 100 per cent, say researchers.

This compares with an average accurate of 84 per cent for the gold standard technique, which involves using chemicals that stain cancerous cells and show up under a microscope.

In future, the smartphone system could be adapted to spot brain, skin and ovarian cancers quickly and accurately.

The tiny amount of tissue needed - one thousandth of a millilitre - would also spare patients the pain and risk of having repeatedly having pieces of their growth cut away for testing.

And with the most expensive piece of equipment costing just £60 or so, the system would be cheap to run.

The device, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, consists of a smartphone connected to a miniature MRI machine.

In tests, patients with suspected stomach cancer had tiny samples of their growths removed using a fine needle.

The researchers then added in antibodies designed to bind to proteins found in stomach tumours and tiny magnetic particles designed to latch onto the antibodies.

They then used the magnet in the hand-held MRI machine to excite the molecules in the sample, making them vibrate. The more the molecules vibrate, the more likely the sample is cancerous.

An app - or application - on a smartphone computes the results and provides doctors with a read-out.

The app has been described in the journal Science Translational Medicine .

Solar Powers New Umeox Apollo Cell Phone

2011-02-27T02:34:00.000-08:00

by Aaron Colter, February 27th, 2011

Chinese company Umeox Mobile announced one of the first smart phones to be put into production that can be changed using solar power. Debuting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Umeox Apollo uses a solar backing produced by the Amsterdam based firm Intivation, which provides similar solutions for other cellphones. The Umeox Apollo, however, is the first to use an Android 2.2 operating system.

A touch-based screen with 1GB of Flash memory and 512 MB of RAM, the Umeox Apollo is a competitive smart phone that comes with a 3 megapixel camera. But those standard specifications aren’t the draw for the Apollo, as the solar charging capability is what makes the phone unique. American consumers may someday see this phone, but for now distribution is outside U.S. borders.

The phone is estimated to run in the neighborhood of $100, a good price for the American marketplace should it ever be distributed here in the States. The solar powered backing would no doubt appeal to those who enjoy outdoor recreations, contractors, field scientists, and anyone else who spends a good deal of time outside and away from an electrical outlet. The phone isn’t, however, completely free from needing a traditional plug-in charge.

Although the phone can charge in under 3 hours if needing a boost, it would take 17 hours of impossible to find sunlight in order to be fully functional. The solar back has an energy efficiency of about 16%, good but not great. Still, it’s an innovative product with a rugged design that incorporates the intelligently designed Android operating system, making the Umeox Apollo a nice benchmark that domestic phones should look to reach or exceed.

Philips Xenium X516 Dual SIM Mobile Phone

2011-02-27T02:29:00.000-08:00

Philips, one of the pioneer of consumer electronics maker has revealed a new mobile phone named Philips Xenium X516. Philips Xenium X516 mobile phone is packed with a lot of magnificent functionality like 2.6 inches, TFT resistive touchscreen, 256K colors display with 240 x 320 pixel of resolution and 2.0 mega pixels of camera with with LED flash. Handwriting recognition facility is also provided with this Philips Xenium X516 dual SIM mobile phone. Along with 3 MB internal memory this Philips Xenium X516 mobile phone also poses up to 16GB of external memory.

Philips Xenium X516 Mobile Phone Features

* 2.6 inches, TFT resistive touchscreen, 256K colors display
* 240 x 320 pixel of resolution
* Dual SIM
* 2.0 mega pixels of camera with with LED flash
* 1600 x 1200 pixels of camera resolution
* Digital zoom
* WAP 2.0/xHTML browser
* Java MIDP 2.0 support
* MP3, AAC+, WAV audio suport
* MP4, H.263 video support
* Handwriting recognition facility
* Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, GPRS connectivity
* 3 MB internal memory
* Up to 16GB of external memory
* Stereo FM Radio with RDS facility
* Mini USB v2.0 port
* 3.5mm audio jack
* 102 x 52 x 16.9 mm of dimension

The Philips Xenium X516 mobile phone comes in black color. The battery of this 1530 mAH Li-ion battery of this Philips Xenium X516 mobile phone up to 12 hours of talktime and up to 960 hours of standby. having 102 x 52 x 16.9 mm of dimension this Philips Xenium X516 mobile phone weighs only 103 gm.

Scientists Warn that Cell Phone Radiation Excites the Brains of Healthy Adults

2011-02-27T02:26:00.000-08:00

Feb 27, 2011 - According to scientists working with Environmental Health Trust (EHT), new studies showing that cell phone radiation excites the brain strengthen the need for a major research program on cell phones and health, revamping approaches to setting standards and putting warnings on cell phones.

Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a team of researchers led by the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, psychiatrist Nora D. Volkow, M.D., found that just 50 minutes of cell phone radiation significantly affected brain function and metabolism of glucose – the brain’s main fuel – in those parts of the brain that received the most cell phone radiation.

Ronald B. Herberman, M.D., chair of EHT’s Board and a cancer biologist and physician, indicated that this work offers an important clue about the ways that cell phone radiation can alter the brain and also shows why it is appropriate to take special precautions with cell phones today.

“We know that increased glucose also occurs with infections and other inflammatory processes, and leads to the production of potentially damaging reactive oxygen radicals that can alter the ways that cells and genes work,” said Herberman. “This important finding should stimulate many biologists to perform in-depth studies to determine the consequences of such changes in nerve cells or other bodily cells in the region of the radiation. We need to develop a better understanding of how radiofrequency radiation might contribute to increased risk for brain tumors as well as other alterations in brain functions.”

Echoing advice he had issued as director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in 2008, Herberman noted that this new report provides additional reasons for taking steps to reduce direct exposure to the brain from cell phone radiation.

“We need to take simple precautions to reduce brain exposures to cell phone radiation, while research on the biological impact of exposure to microwave radiation from cell phones is carried out in the meantime,” he said.

Beyond Cancer Concerns

Dr. Devra Lee Davis, president and founder of Environmental Health Trust, also stressed that this new work reinforces the need for revamping our current approach to cell phone safety.

“The current study shows, along with other studies, that there are additional concerns related to cell phone use, besides tumors,” Davis said. “Tumors are just the tip of the iceberg, but their development is preceded by years of other biological perturbations that have profound medical relevance – and this study confirms that significant biological changes occur after relatively brief exposures such as those that take place daily with the world’s five billion cell phones.

“Could the stimulating impact of cell phone radiation to boost brain energy explain some of the growing addiction many of us feel for our phones?” Davis asked. “That is one of the many research questions that should be addressed.”

EHT is working with experts and governments in a number of U.S. cities and states, and in Finland, France, Israel and other countries around the world, to encourage a major independent research program on cell phones and simple precautionary policies in the meantime. Phones should be used with headsets or speakerphones and not kept directly on the body, and children should take special care not to have direct exposures.

“There are now more than 4 billion people, including children, using mobile phones,” wrote professors Elisabeth Cardis and Siegal Sadetzki. “Even a small risk at the individual level could eventually result in a considerable number of tumours and become an important public-health issue. Simple and low-cost measures, such as the use of text messages, hands-free kits and/or the loudspeaker mode of the phone could substantially reduce exposure to the brain from mobile phones. Therefore, until deﬁnitive scientiﬁc answers are available, the adoption of such precautions, particularly among young people, is advisable.”

Misleading Research

A recent, widely publicized piece in the journal BioElectromagnetics concluded that because the United States and U.K. do not currently have a brain tumor epidemic (from 1998–2007) and cell phones have been in use for a decade, cell phones therefore are safe and there is no need for precaution.

Allan Frey, a well-known expert in the field of bioelectromagnetics, noted the fallacy of this argument. “It is well established in the scientific literature that generally a cancer is not seen until 10 to 30 years after the exposure to an agent,” he said. “In addition, the radio frequency-biological literature shows that cancer is not seen until at least 10 years after the exposure, which is consistent with the rest of the scientific literature.”

Frey added, “The authors analyzed data on brain tumors gathered before most of their study population owned a cell phone. Also, most of their population did not have a cell phone for more than 5 years. Thus, the authors knew or should have known that if cell phones induced or promoted brain cancer, that their study would not have shown it … to conclude that cell phones are safe misreads the science and misleads the people.”

pMDsoft Mobile Charge Capture Software Now Available on Verizon iPhone

2011-02-27T02:23:00.000-08:00

This month, Apple released the much anticipated Verizon Wireless iPhone, breaking the AT&T monopoly on the smartphone and giving pMDsoft users more flexibility in choosing a device and cell phone carrier.

pMDsoft creates easy-to-use mobile applications for doctors to capture medical billing charges, manage patient information and communicate with each other. The software company, which in 2008 released the first native charge capture app for the iPhone, is committed to providing an outstanding user experience.

Once the iPhone was released on Verizon, the pMDsoft development team rigorously tested the mobile charge capture app to confirm that it worked on its new CDMA network as expected.

"Congratulations to Apple for creating a new version of the iPhone for a new network and network technology without having an impact on existing applications," said pMDsoft CEO, Philippe d'Offay. "It's a testament to their obsession with usability."

Verizon and its iPhone operate on a CDMA network, while the previously released AT&T iPhones operate on a GSM network. The technologies differ in how they transmit data, which has some effects on the end user. GSM technology can support 3G data usage and phone calls simultaneously, while CDMA can only support one at any given time. So someone browsing the Internet on a CDMA device could lose their search if they answered an incoming call.

Unlike most other iPhone apps, which are web-based, pMDsoft has full offline functionality and is not impacted by phone calls. The pMDsoft application works identically on Verizon's CDMA and AT&T's GSM networks because it is a native application running on the device rather than the Internet. So doctors entering their patient billing charges can still answer their important calls while they are using pMDsoft, and when they hang up, they will be exactly where they left off with their billing.

pMDsoft's mobile charge capture software supports today's physician by allowing them to enter their patient charges into their iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, and BlackBerry devices at the point of patient care. The patient visit is then visible to other doctors within the practice and can be billed immediately. Doctors using charge capture are increasing their ROI in a time where Medicare cuts and other costs are significantly impacting profitability. pMDsoft increases efficiencies in a practice through automation, and it provides free interfaces with almost every major electronic medical record and medical billing system, including athenaCollector by athenahealth (Athena), Centricity, Medicity, NextGen and Sage Intergy. For more information, visit www.pmdsoft.com.

For the original version visit: PRWeb

Skype To Go Lets You Make Calls From Any Phone, No Need For Internet

2011-02-27T02:21:00.000-08:00

Skype announced today their Skype To Go service as a new way to save on calling abroad. This new service lets you enjoy great rates on calls without needing an internet connection or being in an area with 3G coverage. It works on any mobile phone as well as landline phones.

The Skype To Go service works by assigning a unique Skype To Go number to the overseas number that you want to call. Then you simply call the assigned local number whenever you need to dial that overseas number. It’s free to setup Skype To Go numbers, with a limit of up to nine.

You do have to pay for Skype To Go service which can be charged through Skype Credit or via subscription. You get the same low rates you enjoy as when you call with their regular VOIP service, but local operator charges may apply if dialing from a landline and airtime minutes will be used if calling from a mobile phone. Skype’s standard connection fee also applies.

Track EVERY text, EVERY call and EVERY Move They Makes Using our EASY Cell Phone Spy Software!

2011-02-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

Worried about your spouse cheating? Concerned with who your child communicates with while your away? You suspect your employees are abusing their company phone privileges?

ePhoneTracker is the ultimate solution for monitoring all the activity that occurs on your smartphone! This application will provide you with the proof you need to confirm your suspicions.

Introducing ePhoneTracker:

You have the right to know the TRUTH.

ePhoneTracker is a hybrid software/service which allows you to monitor your spouse's, child's, or employee's smartphone in real time. This unique system records every activity they perform in real time and sends the results directly to your e-mail. You will know the entire truth.

Simply install the application directly onto the device and it starts every time the phone is turned on. The invisible application remains stealth and doesn't show up in the running processes.

Silently records EVERYTHING including full SMS messages, call info, GPS locations, web sites visited, contacts added and more.

Logs are then e-mailed directly to your e-mail address. This way you can read the results at home on your computer or on your smartphone while you're away.

Another unique feature is the SpyCall feature. You can call the phone from any other phone and secretly listen to surroundings without anyone knowing you've called!

You'll be able to see all these activities:

	Every text message with full text even if the phone's logs are deleted.

	Each incoming and outgoing call's number along with duration and time.

	GPS postions captured at an adjustable rate with a link to a map.

	Every new and active contact in the phone's Contacts list.

	All website addresses visited using the phone's web browser.

	All inbound and outbound emails from the primary email account.

Armed with this information you will know the truth about what your spouse, child, or employee does while you're not around. You will be able to confirm your suspicions and have peace of mind.

Compatible with Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and more!

ePhoneTracker is compatible with most smartphones running either Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile 6, or Symbian OS 9 operating systems. For a complete list, check our compatible phones page.

Learn the TRUTH and Take Charge!

Track your cheating spouse with phone software

2011-02-27T02:08:00.001-08:00

If you suspected your spouse, child or employee was up to no good, would you want concrete proof? Would it help if you had access to every phone call, text and e-mail they sent?

If so, a new cell-phone spying application might be right up your alley.

Made by Retina Software and released this week, ePhoneTracker allows users to monitor every move made on a person’s mobile phone, from call info and text messages to websites visited, e-mails sent and received, new contacts added and even the GPS coordinates of the phone’s user.

Even deleted e-mails and texts can be retrieved by ePhoneTracker.

“Armed with this information, you will know the truth about what your spouse, child or employee does while you’re not around,” ePhoneTracker.com reads. “You will be able to confirm your suspicions and have peace of mind.”

The person doing the tracking receives e-mails of all actions performed on the targeted cell phone, while the person being tracked remains blissfully innocent (to the electronic spying, at least). No signs that he or she is being watched appear on the phone.

The software sells for $49.97. It is available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile 6 or Symbian OS 9.

Xperia 'PlayStation Phone' Pre-Orders Open At £519.99

2011-02-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

After months and months (and months) of speculation and rumor, Sony smacked us all with a one-two punch in recent weeks between the announcement of its upcoming NGP handheld (or PSP2, as some refer to it) and its also-upcoming Xperia Play mobile phone, which was referred to before its announcement as the "PlayStation Phone." We only knew the specs on the phone until today; now, a UK-based online retailer's product page may have outed the price for this puppy... and it ain't cheap.

UK retailer Play.com, the exclusive provider of the white Xperia Play, lists a price of £519.99 for an unlocked version of the black model. This converts to just shy of $840 at the present exchange rates. The site also notes that the phone is due for release on March 28.

The phone packs in a ton of features, though whether that makes it worth an $800+ price tag -- even for an unlocked model -- is another question entirely. The phone runs on the Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. It's got a 1GHz Snapdragon processor with a built-in Adreno 205 GPU. It comes with an 8GB microSD card, though the slot supports sizes up to 32GB, and 400MB of onboard memory that is likely reserved for the operating system and other essential features. There's also a 5.1 megapixel camera (with a flash), built-in GPS, Bluetooth support and a Micro USB port.

In addition to all of that are the buttons and basic functionality that you've come to expect from a PlayStation controller or rough facsimiles of the same. Four face buttons, a D-pad, two touch-sensitive analog pads (instead of analog controllers) and left/right shoulder buttons. The device will ship with a number of games pre-loaded, including "Tetris" and "The Sims 3."

Now to be fair, Play.com might have posted this prematurely and that number could very well be wrong. Also note that unlocked phones tend to be considerably more expensive than those same phones tethered to one carrier or another. That said... $840 is an insane amount of money, no matter what the features are. If Sony announced an $800 price tag for the NPG, which by all accounts is a more powerful piece of technology, consumers would be in an uproar.

New capabilities for mobile phones

2011-02-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

25 February, 2011 - Mobile phones are usually used to communicate with people far away but soon they could get the ability to do the opposite: communicate with things that are close enough to touch.

Phones will get some extra capabilities with the addition of chips for so-called near field communications (NFC), a wireless technology with a range intentionally limited to just a few inches.

The phones will be able to talk to payment terminals designed for "smart cards", replacing credit and debit cards. They could also be used as public transport passes or two phones could be tapped together to exchange contact information.

Nick Holland, analyst for research firm Yankee Group, said adding NFC is like adding a whole new capability on the level of GPS navigation or a camera.

The industry has been talking about including NFC in phones for years, mainly to turn them into "electronic wallets". Beyond a few trials, nothing much has happened, except in Japan and Hong Kong, where these systems have caught on for mass-transit ticketing.

But at the world's largest mobile phone trade show, held last week in Barcelona, it was clear that the log-jam has loosened, in part because NFC chips are now cheaper. Millions of NFC-equipped phones will be in consumer hands in Europe and the US before the end of the year.

Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, said at the show that "many if not most" BlackBerrys will have NFC chips this year. Google's Nexus S already has one and the company's latest Android software for that and other phones has NFC support. Nokia, the world's largest maker of phones, has committed to putting NFC chips in all its next-generation smart phones.

Based on job postings at Apple, there is speculation the new iPhone model due this summer will have an NFC chip.

It is possible to upgrade some current phones with NFC chips. Small memory cards that are accepted by some phones can be given NFC capabilities. Both MasterCard and Visa are experimenting with "jackets" for the iPhone that have NFC chips, for instance.

But not all phones are compatible with these solutions, so the most likely way to get NFC into consumer's hands is with new phones. Yankee Group estimates that there will be 151 million NFC-enabled phones in 2014, up from 834,000 in 2010.

Zeus trojan is back and targeting Windows Mobile phones

2011-02-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

A new variant of the Zeus trojan has surfaced and it's targeting Windows Mobile phones. In September a variant was discovered that targeted Symbian and BlackBerry phones.

Windows MobileDon't want to get all fire-and-brimstone about the trojan. The trojan is mostly interesting in that it is another warning about the kinds of security issues that smartphone users will be increasingly facing. But there isn't much direct risk of this particular trojan to users in the U.S. It is based on a phishing scam geared toward Polish users of accounts hosted by ING Bank Slaski accessed via the bank's two-factor authentication.

It's a man-in-the middle attack. The trojan, dubbed Zeus in the Mobile, is itself a variant of a trojan for Windows (a file identified as Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.bbmf). Users are exposed to Zeus either by visiting an infected Web site, or by first being attacked on the PC. Once infected, users are asked to enter their cell phone number and smartphone model for a ‘certificate update,’" according to the Kaspersky Lab Expert blog.

The trojan wants to steal the "mTANs" or mobile transaction authentication numbers, which banks are using to strengthen security as more people want to do online banking via their phones. The banks sends a one-time password in a text message. A certificate is needed to login to online accounts. In the case of this trojan, once the user responds with the phished info, the black hats send the user an SMS message with a link to the malware geared for the phone's specific OS, Symbian, Blackberry and now Windows Mobile phones. After that, the malware secretly sends text messages with all mTANs to the bad guys, according to The Register.

So far, iPhones and Android don't seem to be affected. But Android has also been the subject of its own SMS trojan. In December, researchers discovered what they thought was the first one -- malware dubbed "Movie Player," masquerading as a media player and targeted at Russian users. And then there were more, for Android ... two more trojans were found that targeted Chinese users. Again these infect users who download apps from the Android Market. The second Android Trojan, was discovered earlier this month.

Company-owned app marketplaces (Google's, Microsoft's) do have restrictions in place to limit malware-infested apps, but the rate of application development seems to be outpacing the resources companies have dedicated to validate the apps. Mobile app developers are required to apply and become authenticated before they can submit their apps. But fake companies can get through. And if an application uses a certificate, the phone is more likely to think the certificate and application is legit, according to an article in Computerworld.

Security researchers will also be increasingly highlighting mobile malware as they look for reasons to validate the up-and-coming mobile security software market. Kaspersky, for instance, sells Kaspersky Mobile Security 9, which requires an annual subscription of $30 per phone to protect Windows Mobile, Symbian, Blackberry, and Android phones.

While most employees won't be accessing corporate bank information on their phones, enterprises are wise to start looking at affordable, reasonable methods to secure their road warriors' smartphones, and to watch the ways that black hats are duping users. IT departments may also want to add a smartphone security user training/education/wiki to their 2011 protection plans, such as to be as wary of links in text messages as they are in e-mail messages.

Study Finds That Cell Phone Radiation Temporarily Affects the Brain

2011-02-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

A new study released Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that 50 minutes of continuous cell phone use causes temporary changes in the brain. That period of cell phone use was associated with increased brain metabolism of sugar in the region closest to the phone antenna. However, researchers cautioned that it was too early to determine whether these change are harmful.

"The dramatic worldwide increase in use of cellular telephones has prompted concerns regarding potential harmful effects of exposure to radio frequency-modulated electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs)," and the potential carcinogenic effects from those emissions, the study authors note. Yet studies trying to find a link between "cell phone use and prevalence of brain tumors have been inconsistent (some, but not all, studies showed increased risk), and the issue remains unresolved," they add.

Similarly, studies to investigate the effects of RF-EMF exposure from cell phones have yielded variable results. Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institutes of Health and her colleagues tried to evaluate if acute cell phone exposure affects brain glucose metabolism, a marker of brain activity.

Researchers scanned the brains of 47 participants using Samsung model SCH-U310 cell phones both during phone use and with the phones deactivated. They found that whole-brain metabolism did not differ when the phones were on, but there were significant regional effects. Metabolism in the brain region closest to the antenna (orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole) was significantly higher (approximately 7%) when the cell phones were on than when they were off.

"These results provide evidence that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of RF-EMFs from acute cell phone exposures" and "that acute cell phone exposure affects brain metabolic activity," the authors write. But the researchers are unclear how RF-EMFs could affect brain glucose metabolism.

Possible Health Consequences Are Still Unknown

The researchers also caution it's too early to draw any conclusions. "[T]hese results provide no information as to their relevance regarding potential carcinogenic effects (or lack of such effects) from chronic cell phone use." They conclude, "Further studies are needed to assess if these effects could have potential long-term harmful consequences."

An accompanying editorial in JAMA notes that even though the health consequences are unknown, the results "add to the concern about possible acute and long-term health effects" and raise several question such as how an increase in metabolism affects brain function and consequently organs, and whether there is possible chronic increased metabolism from regular use.

Other experts are even more cautious about drawing conclusions, pointing to years of inconclusive and conflicting results from studies of cell phones. An estimated $100 million or more has been spent so far around the world on research into possible health risks from using mobile phones with no solid findings. The largest study on 420,000 mobile phone users in Denmark, found no link between phone use and cancer.

Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 1.6 billion units in 2010, a 31.8% increase from 2009, according to Gartner Research. Another estimate puts shipments of mobile phones in 2010 at nearly 1.3 billion, which is worth $172.2 billion -- a number that's expected to double by 2015. By June 2010, the CTIA estimated there were 292.8 million active mobile phones in the U.S., and the estimates range between 4 billion and 6 billion phones worldwide. Whatever the true number is, it's growing rapidly.

Mobile phone giant Verizon rapped for failing to connect 10,000 emergency calls during snowstorm

2011-02-25T05:03:00.001-08:00

23rd February 2011 - Verizon has been told to investigate the 'truly alarming' figure of 10,000 dropped calls to emergency services in one area alone during a snowstorm at the end of January.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the mobile phone giant, the largest carrier in America, failed to connect the calls to 911 services in Washjngton DC's suburbs during the January 26 storm.

Jamie Barnett, head of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, said in a letter to Verizon on Tuesday: 'We are particularly concerned that this problem may be widespread across Verizon’s footprint.'

The agency wants Verizon to determine the extent of the problem across its whole network, he added. It 's calling for a plan of action and the introduction of new monitoring systems to prevent it from happening again.

Verizon have been quick to respond, Bloomberg.com reports.

Company spokesman Harry Mitchell said: We have been addressing this issue directly with the counties involved, and will work cooperatively to address the FCC’s questions, as well.'

Mr Mitchell added that the problems, which affected Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, were triggered by a 'mass call event.'

Verizon's figures indicate the pressure mobile phone companies are under to improve their technologies as dropped calls remains the number one reason why people switch to another carrier.

The company, however, consistently tops satisfaction surveys.

Finding the best mobile largely depends on where you live. A J.D Power and Associates survey in 2010 showed that for the 12th time in a row, Verizon Wireless was the most popular in the north east, mid-Atlantic and western states, and tied for first with Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in the south east. Verizon customers reported the fewest dropped calls and initial connection problems and the least interference.

A survey by ChangeWave Research, which identifies trends in consumer spending behavior, industry and technology, indicated AT&T had much higher dropped calls than its US competitors: 4.5 per cent compared to 2.8 per cent for T-Mobile, 2.4 per cent for Sprint, and just 1.5 per cent for Verizon Wireless.

In response, AT&T said it was dropped call rate was 1.4. Now the company has even taken to monitoring the location of tweets in its drive to improve performance.

Nevertheless, the FCC letter will come as an embarrassment to Verizon, which released its iPhone 4 to much fanfare earlier this month, a launch boosted by the widespread belief that Verizon’s wireless network is more stable than anyone else's.

Digging out: Verizon's spokesman claimed the 10,000 dropped calls in snow-hit areas were the result of a 'mass call event'

It was claimed that the emergency services that missed out on the calls in Maryland were not told about the connectivity failure. Maryland's Montgomery County officers were the ones to inform Verizon of the fault it was having, which was then promptly repaired within 15 minutes.

Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said: 'We need more emphasis put on the importance of emergency preparedness. By doing so, more Americans will feel confident in their abilities to react to an emergency.'

Montgomery County, just north of DC and south west of Baltimore, has a population of more than 971,000 residents and, according to a 2008 survey, is the eighth richest county in the US, with an average household income of $91,440.

Neighbouring Prince George's County has a population of over 834,000 and, according to 2009 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, is the wealthiest county in the nation that has African-American majority.

Samsung TVs send pictures to your remote control or mobile phone

2011-02-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

25 Feb 2011 - The new D7000 and D8000 range of Samsung Smart TVs incorporate a "second TV feature" that allows users to send visual content between devices.

Viewers will be able to push Blu-ray, DVD and live TV from their screen to Galaxy Tab 10.1 or Galaxy SII phone, as well as between the remote control supplied with some models.

Samsung had confirmed the service at this year's Consumer Electronics Show is Las Vegas, but had not said what technology it would be available on. The company has now said that older generations of Galaxy devices won’t make use of the second TV feature.

The recently announced Galaxy SII and Galaxy Tab 10.1 both feature powerful dual-core processors and are as such capable of handling the high-resolution video stream that earlier single-core Galaxy devices cannot.

As well as being able to send video content, the D7000 and D8000 both feature Samsung’s ‘Smart TV’ functionality. This essentially incorporates social networking and on-demand video services directly into the television, without the need for a set top box or games console. Users will be able to send tweets from their sofa or check Facebook updates while watching TV. Smart TV also includes services such as a BBC iPlayer app which can stream both SD and HD content from within the television itself.

Samsung’s Content Manager for TV & Blu-ray, Darren Petersen, said that the Smart TVs allow use of simple applications to help viewers interact with social networks without interrupting viewing. Rather than using browsers and complex on screen displays, Samsung hopes that the simple apps will allow easy navigation of on-demand services.

On mobile phones, girl gamers outnumber the boys

2011-02-25T04:55:00.000-08:00

February 25, 2011 - In the booming arena of mobile phone gaming, girls outnumber boys. Only just - by 53% to 47% - but the edge is significant because the figures are the other way round in traditonal gaming on consoles like the Xbox or PS3.

According to research by Flurry Analytics on RWW, the mobile social gaming audience is also likely to be younger than the normal gaming audience with an average age of 28 compared to 34 for traditional gaming. Mobile social gamers also have more disposable income than traditional gamers.

And Asians are disportionately represented among mobile gamers compared to other ethnicities.

In fact, Flurry go so far as to say that the age of the hardcore 18-34 year old game is over:
"The video game industry is transitioning from an era of hardcore male gamers who have dominated the landscape, to more mass-market usage across mobile social games. 18 - 34 year old males are being supplanted as the most attractive segment to target by big brands and agencies. The Mobile Social Gamer segment is highly engaged, younger, made up of more females, more educated and more affluent. In terms of usage behavior, they use social games far more often than they watch prime-time television shows, and using for 25 minutes per day, are heavy users of this interactive content. Mobile social gamers are the new mass-market powerhouse."

Here are the graphs...

Retailers clamoring to buy your old phones

2011-02-25T04:52:00.001-08:00

(CNN) -- As demand for the latest smartphones and other mobile devices soars to a fever pitch, more retailers are jockeying to snatch up older gadgets.

Electronics chain Best Buy, Web auction house eBay and most major cellular carriers have either launched or ramped up their trade-in programs in recent months. Each of them, along with myriad startups, wants a bite of the huge resale market.

How much you get for an old phone or other gadget depends on a variety of factors, including its age, its condition and how in demand the particular brand is. For example, a newer iPhone model will net you much more than a 3-year-old Windows Mobile smartphone.

Retailers have a word for this cultural trend toward perpetual buying of newer consumer technology: upgrades. And as these consumers look to upgrade their hardware every year or two -- even if their current handset works fine -- they tend to build up a trove of slightly outdated gadgets.

Retailers are offering incentives to reclaim these past-their-prime phones that can be refurbished and resold, or passed off to overseas merchants.

These buy-back retail services usually offer traders only store credit, rather than cash. Also, all of these companies will recycle a gadget that's too old to warrant payment.

This is an especially attractive business for cell providers, which are always at risk of losing out-of-contract customers to other carriers. Giving customers credit toward a new phone is an incentive for them to keep paying their subscriptions.

Cell carriers take phone trades

AT&T Mobility stores began letting customers trade in phones, including those from competitors, this month. The second-largest U.S. carrier by subscribers is partnering with a company called Flipswap, which specializes in trading phones.

To Flipswap, which carrier a phone is tied to isn't important. Most of the company's revenue comes from reselling used phones overseas. Hot markets include Asia, Africa and Latin America, where people aren't as willing to pay top dollar for the latest technology.

Being able to take other carriers' devices was a nice selling point for the AT&T partnership, said Flipswap CEO Dave Stritzinger.

"It's a great way to say, 'Hey, we're sorry you're on our competitor's network. Bring that phone in, and we'll give you some money for that.' "

Verizon Wireless, which launched its program in October, and Sprint Nextel stores both take competitors' phones as well. Since introducing its buyback program in 2001, Sprint has taken 23 million trade-in devices, said Chad Lander, a Sprint director overseeing the service.

Last year, Sprint began accepting competitors' phones. As a result, the program saw a 100% increase in trades last year compared with the year before, Lander said.

Best Buy, a newcomer to trade-ins

For the shopper who doesn't want a monogamous relationship with his cell carrier, Best Buy debuted the Buy Back program in January in all of its U.S. stores and mobile kiosks. It allows customers purchasing electronics to pay up front for the ability to trade them in for store credit later.

The big-box retailer publicized the program with a high-profile Super Bowl commercial featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber, in which the celebrities puzzle over "5G" and "6G" phones.

Best Buy has seen some blowback from critics who characterize the program as yet another "add-on" at checkout, that, like those product warranties, may not end up being a great deal for the consumer.

Last week, the company extended a promotion to offer Buy Back for free on purchases made by Sunday. After that, the program will cost $60 for most electronics people would want to insure. Best Buy pays consumers in store credit.

Trading a mint-condition product in the first six months after purchase nets 50% of the original price. Unlike the carriers that take only cell phones, Best Buy also covers laptops, tablets and televisions. With phones, that 50% applies to the unsubsidized price, which is much higher than what people pay when they get phones with two-year contracts.

"Consumers don't realize the real value of these devices," said Scott Moore, a Best Buy Mobile marketing executive. "They may be buying it for $199 right now and getting $265 back."

But how likely are you to turn around just six months later and buy a new phone? That's when the offer starts to look less attractive. Buy Back knocks off 10% of the value every six or eight months until, after two years, the $60 ticket is worthless.

The Buy Back program was birthed from a long trial in New York stores. Flipswap, the AT&T partner, manages Best Buy's trade-in service at its stores in Canada.

EBay simplifies resale process

Best Buy's offer works only in stores, but customers can check eligibility online. The Verizon and Sprint buy-back programs also apply online, and dozens of Web startups are popping up to offer similar services.

Feeling the pressure, eBay stepped in last year with a service called Instant Sale. The auction site partnered with a company called CExchange to handle the physical trades.

Transactions look a lot like an eBay seller listing, except for the annoyances of writing descriptions and uploading photos.

Once your phone is appraised through the listing process, the site lets you print a FedEx label granting free shipping. CExchange inspects the product, and if it works, the promised money appears in your PayPal account after a few days.

Creating a service to compete with the spirit of eBay, which has always been about letting the average person sell their old stuff online, can seem odd. Acknowledging shortcomings of the core business, Arnaud Collin, eBay's director of seller experience, said that with the old way, "nothing is guaranteed. You may not sell it at all if you're unlucky.

"You have to pack it, send it, pay for the shipping and everything," he added. "Most people don't have time."

Since launching a promotion around Verizon's launch of the iPhone 4, eBay's Instant Sale racked up 1 million trades in a week, Collin said.

Which store has the best prices?

Unsurprisingly, every trade-in retailer CNN talked to said it offers the most competitive prices.

Best Buy said its up-front fee ensures a good price later. Sprint said it constantly monitors competitors to offer an attractive price that doesn't constantly fluctuate. AT&T's Flipswap said it can offer good value because trading is its core business focus. EBay said most of these third-party resellers end up flipping their goods on eBay anyway, so it had the pick of the litter when it landed on CExchange.

Not everyone can be the best, except when it is.

When one retailer has a better price on a BlackBerry Bold, another will best the others on its payout for a BlackBerry Curve. In our tests, the prices were often close, with most offering between $110 to $140 for a 2-year-old iPhone, for example.

EBay asks subjective questions that noticeably affect price estimates. CNN wasn't able to test the evaluation process to see how stringent its hardware tests were. But eBay pays via PayPal, which can be deposited into a bank account, whereas most big competitors pay in store credit.

But the lesson is simple: "Never put a phone in a drawer, because they're losing value every day," Flipswap's Stritzinger said.