HTC P6500 Sedna Officially Released

HTC P6500 Sedna has just been unveiled and proves not to be the average smartphone right from the start. The handset targets especially the business market, people that rely on their PDA phone for handling their work when out of the office.

HTC Sedna shows some impressive specifications that make this one of the most powerful such devices out there. The 3.5 inch screen is not something you see in every smartphone out there and should prove to be extremely handy for viewing large images. The fact that it is an anti-glare touchscreen makes it even more special and in line with the current trend that finds this feature to be an extremely important one.

This is a Quadband GSM phone and also packs tri-band WCDMA technology, which should make it compatible to several networks. The handset also includes several solutions for data management, with HSDPA connectivity being the most important one. It would have been a real shame not to have this capability, as fast data transfer speeds are quite important for strong mobile devices. To make the package complete, HTC Sedna also includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.

The 3 megapixel camera that this PDA phone has included should be able to take high quality captures, especially as it also includes auto-focus. Another impressive aspect about it is that it also brings GPS technology, a feature that is rapidly spreading among mobile phones.

HTC Sedna runs on a Qualcomm 400MHz processor, which makes it a powerful device. It has 256MB internal memory with the option to add up to 1GB in addition to two external SD card slots. It works on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system, which proves the fact that it is one of the most powerful such devices out there.

HTC P6500 Sedna will be available in stores starting this November, although the producer did not mention anything about its price.

via softpedia

Sony Ericsson K660 Finally Unveiled

Just as expected, Sony Ericsson made a major release yesterday, unveiling the K660 handset. The device brings some of the most evolved features, all wrapped in a fresh and appealing design. Sony Ericsson K660 is a 3G enabled handset, which means that it will manage to provide fast data transfer speeds for its user.

It will allow him to handle blogs and surf the web at high rates, after going past the small screen issue. For this, the user can even zoom in for a closer look at text or images. Moreover, the K660 also includes a Bookmark function, a single click button that takes the user back to the Home Page and an ‘Enter Address’ shortcut, highly similar to PC based internet. The phone’s design is one of its strongest points, as it looks both sporty and stylish in two color combination of lime green with white and black with red. It also packs the Google Mapsfor Mobile, a software which manages to replace the functions of the regular GPS.

The 2 megapixel camera will manage to bring only average quality pictures and nothing impressive. There’s no harm in that, as the phone targets especially those people who need a mobile device for surfing the web rather than one for shooting pictures. “This Web-optimised phone is a clear step along that journey and will appeal to individuals who are managing their busy lives and social networks online, whether its arranging to meet up for a football match or booking concert tickets”, said Martin Winkler, Head of Web Marketing at Sony Ericsson.

This proves to be only part of “Sony Ericsson’s vision to offer ‘Generation Web’ a mobile internet experience that’s rich, user-friendly and satisfying”, he further added.

There is still a lot of time left to wait until seeing this phone in stores, as Sony Ericsson K660 will be available starting with the first quarter of year 2008.

via softpedia

SOS Tracker Function For Nokia GPS Phone

PhantomEye has announced the launch of MySpot, a personal security tracking software designed to give users a one click SOS “Panic Button” on their Nokia 6110 Navigator.

The MySpot allows a user to leave behind a personal location trail of “electronic breadcrumbs” - and notify multiple people by email, SMS, voice call, etc. when in an emergency situation, the company says.

PhantomEye Chairman, Ken W. Stokes said, “Before MySpot, users had to carry a special device to indicate an emergency situation and using conventional mobile phones, call up several numbers. The new MySpot solution from phantomEye solves all that complexity with a single SOS ‘Panic Button’ slide and click which can then call up to 20 pre-configured phones, send endless e-mail, SMS, IM and twitter messages (leaving a trail of so called cascading electronic breadcrumbs) - all with the current or last location of the user – and without further action needed on behalf of the sender. As a backup one phone number is also automatically dialled from the phone and this can be 000, back to base for security operatives, or in the case of teenage children – the parents!”

“While many mobile phones use GPS navigation for a variety of functions, most often to give location information and directions to the person using the phone. MySpot works in reverse – it allows a pre determined group of recipients to keep track of, and locate, the user. I believe phantomEye can now claim the GPS leading edge by exploiting this niche technology software and turning mobile phones into a “location documenting” device, sending/recording serial “electronic breadcrumbs” and offering high priority alert forwarding capability” Stokes added.

RRP: $30 one-time fee activation

See: www.phantomeye.com

The top 10 selling PDAs/Smart phones in October 2007 from Krusell

Krusell’s top 10 for October shows Apple iphone further will strengthen its position on the market. In United Kingdom and Germany it is already official that iPhone will exclusively be launched with the operator O2, and T-mobile. With the debut in Europe we will most likely see a boost in sales just in time for Christmas. Thus we have made an extra effort to launch model specific cases within this segment, and we will see an exiting coming months of cases in line with Apples assortment from Krusell, says Ulf Sandberg, Managing Director at Krusell.
1. (2) Nokia 6300
2. (1) Sony Ericsson K810i
3. (3) Nokia N95
4. (5) Nokia N73
5. (7) Apple iphone
6. (8) Nokia 3109/3110
7. (4) Sony Ericsson P1
8. (-) Sony Ericsson K850i
9. (6) Sony Ericsson W880i
10. (-) Sony Ericsson K530i
() = Last month’s position.
The Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, Krusell, has released their ‘Top 10′ list for October 2007. The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smart phone cases that have been ordered from Krusell during October 2007. Krusell’s list is unique due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe.

via pdasnews

[Video] Hacker clones Sony Ericsson W580i shake function to Nokia N95

The Sony Ericsson W580i has a gimmicky feature that enables you to shake the device to change track. Someone, and I’m trying to score more details on the guy, copied that functionality to the Nokia N95 which we just found out recently has a full blown accelerometer inside.



via intoMobile

[Video] Nokia N95 vs N95 8GB

Look what we’ve found this morning on YouTube. It’s the iGadgetLife’s video that compares two Nokia’s high-end smartphones - N95 and its successor N95 8GB. There’s no doubt the latter is a more powerful device. It has a larger screen, more RAM, better battery, boots faster and let’s not forget that sexy multimedia menu. That doesn’t mean the N95 is bad at all, it’s just that if you want a new Nokia smartphone, save a little and get yourself the eight gig version… Enjoy the 9-minute long video.



via IntoMobile

[Video] Comparison on Windows Mobile and iPhone!

So much of what needs comparing between these two devices is software experience, so it had to be a video. And it turned into a more general “Windows Mobile vs. iPhone” sort of deal, so we bring you a long (25 minutes, too long for YouTube!) one. So grab a cuppa joe and witness the (low-key) smackdownery. If you don’t have time just now, here’s the short version:

• iPhone: Absolutely rocks the universe with its media capabilities and its browser.


• Windows Mobile: Still the king of productivity. …with plenty of “check out this native 3rd party app” cheap shots thrown in at the end.

Basically we’re looking at a situation that matches with everybody’s expectations surprisingly well - the Apple product is hip, flashy, and surprisingly easy to use. The Windows product actually lets you, you know, work. Now in the desktop world, I find that the Mac lets me do the work I need to as well (if not better) than Windows. But in the mobile space, well, the cloying commercials fit pretty well.

via pdasnews

Opera Mini 4 final release now available

Opera, the only company that puts the Web on any device, today released Opera Mini 4, the newest version of Opera’s worldwide mobile browsing sensation. Opera Mini 4 inspires the senses with its stunning desktop overview mode, so users see the page exactly as it appears on their computers. People can then use the intuitive Opera Zoom to fly into the page and access the content you want. Or they can select Opera’s Small Screen Rendering to eliminate horizontal scrolling.Opera Mini 4 is a free download, over the air, to your phone from http://www.operamini.com/

KISS60 enables Flash Lite screensavers on Symbian S60 3rd devices!

Ever wanted to have an animated screensaver on your Nokia smartphone (or any other Symbian S60 3rd edition based device)? Well, now you can thanks to KISS60, the application which “enables users to collect, manage, share and enjoy” Adobe Flash Lite screensavers on their S60 smartphones.

KISS60 is work of Finland-based mobile design and development company, Kuneri, and has been created using the company’s KuneriLite Rapid Application Development toolkit for Adobe Flash Lite. It (KISS60) has an easy to use interface, allowing users to seamlessly create their own screensaver collections, download new screensavers and share them using SMS or Bluetooth. The application is in public beta, and you can grab it free of charge from here.

via pdasnews

3 launches new Skype mobile phone

Mobile phone provider 3 has launched a new handset that will allow users to make free calls over the internet via telephony service Skype. Users will also be able to use Skype's instant messaging service, 3 said. But while people using Skype on their computers are able to make cheap global calls to any phone number, this will not be possible via the new 3 handset. Skype has about 246 million registered users worldwide and is one of the firms reshaping the global phone industry.
To date, mobile phone companies have been unwilling to let users freely access Skype via their handsets for fear that it would hurt their business. While it is possible to access Skype from a number of handsets, this has involved downloading third-party software, something that has put off the majority of users.

The Skype-phone will be the first instance of a phone operator launching a mass market device that is designed to allow free calling over the internet from a mobile, 3 said. "It takes an innovative operator... to challenge traditional thinking and offer the kind of product other operators are still shying away from," said Skype's acting chief executive, Michael van Swaaij. "It's is now truly mobile. Skype has now taken a giant step forward in the mobile arena. And chief executive of 3 UK, Kevin Russell, said the firm wanted to make mobile internet more accessible. "Services need to be simple to access and affordable," he said. "Mobile has the potential to massively increase access to internet calling."

The service, launching on 2 November, will be accessed by a button on the handset. As well as the UK, the 3 Skype-phone will be launched in countries including Australia, Denmark, Italy and Hong Kong. Pay as you go customers will have to top up their account with at least 10P each month to qualify for the free Skype-to-Skype calls, 3 said.

via pdasnews

Dumb iPhone Commercial Of The Week

So now the iPhone helps a pilot bust his plane out of a 3-hour tarmac delay by enabling him to surf to Weather.com? That’s the preposterous story line of Apple’s latest commercial, which was inescapable on Sunday whether you were watching football during the day on FOX and CBS, or game seven of the American League Championship Season in the evening.

At least for new “fatty” iPod Nanos, Apple took the soft sell approach, enlisting the charming Feist ditty 1234 in a meta-music-video.

No such luck with the latest iPhone commercial. This one has some guy who’s supposed to be a pilot, telling us his iPhone got him to a weather report which said the storm was breaking, so he “called the tower,” and within a half hour, he was on his way.

Even if that scenario were believable, who is it aimed at? The subgroup of the potential iPhone buying public who has commercial aviation licenses? I much preferred the original iPhone ads, which pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes by grossing inflating the Web-surfing speed of the EDGE network, and let it at that.

Here’s the iPhone “Fly Me” commercial, courtesy of YouTube:

What’s next? Steve Jobs friend Larry Ellison enlisting the iPhone to help him steer around a squall during the America’s Cup?

via InformationWeek

WiMAX is 3G!

Call it a major victory for WiMAX as a technology and industry. For the first time, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has approved a non-cellular telecommunications technology as part of the union’s 3G standards.

The decision, made at the ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector’s (ITU-R) general meeting in Geneva , Switzerland, means operators with 3G spectrum in the 2.5 GHz bands globally can use WiMAX to build out a network. Although each country’s regulators ultimately decide, the ITU decision usually has a strong influence.

“This is a very special and unique milestone for WiMAX technology,” Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum, said in a statement. “This is the first time that a new air interface has been added to the IMT-2000 set of standards since the original technologies were selected nearly a decade ago. WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people. And today’s announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population.”

IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) was approved in 1999 with five cellular standards, including W-CDMA, cdma2000, TD-CDMA, EDGE, and DECT. It essentially meant that one of those technologies had to be used in 3G spectrum. WiMAX, which the ITU calls ODDAM TDD WMAN, had been locked out until the ITU-R decision. A working group approved WiMAX in June.

The ITU’s approval likely won’t resolve the debate over which is the best technology to use in the 2.57 GHz -2.69 GHz spectrum bands. The GSM community has plans to use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in its future, with a proposed standard called Long Term Evolution (LTE). The GSM Association had opposed the inclusion of WiMAX in IMT-2000.

WiMAX, although it uses OFDMA, in its current form is a TDD (time division duplex) technology that separates signals by time slots. W-CDMA is a FDD (frequency division duplex) technology that separates signals by frequency. Engineers and companies argue over which is best.

Intel Vice President Sriram Viswanathan, who also is general manager of Intel’s WiMAX business unit, says the ITU’s decision means operators in emerging countries like India and Brazil that already have 2.5 GHz spectrum can use WiMAX for their network buildouts.

It also means that WiMAX could be used for the so-called IMT-2000 Extension Band allocations in some developed European countries later this year or next year. And it also makes WiMAX a possible inclusion in the ITU’s 4G (IMT-Advanced) decisions expected in 2009.

Ironically, the ITU decision also labels WiMAX as a 3G technology although Sprint Nextel is calling it 4G for its planned network launch this year and next.

via wirelessweek

Apple to Release Unlocked iPhone in France

Apple is releasing an unlocked version of the iPhone that will allow users to run it on various cellular networks. But you have to live in France to get it.

Under a just-announced deal, the European mobile carrier Orange will be the exclusive source for the iPhone in the French market. The unlocked phone is concession to a French law that forbids companies to bundle a cell phone to a specific mobile operator.

According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, Orange will offer both a locked version for its French net for about $560 and an unlocked version for a higher, but undisclosed price. Both are expected to be unveiled in November.

Apple recently signed exclusive deals, similar to the one with U.S.-based AT&T, with Britain’s O2, the wireless division of Spain’s Telefonica, and with Germany’s T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.

According to the Tribune report, Orange wouldn’t say whether it had agreed to give Apple a share of the service revenues generated by iPhone users. This is one of the most striking features of Apple’s move into the mobile phone market. The Tribune quoted a Nortel executive on how revolutionary this change is: ‘For operators, having an handset maker suddenly demand a slice of their revenues is like being asked to change your religion,’ said Gerry Collins, the director of strategic marketing at Nortel Networks, a Canadian company that makes wireless phone networks. “This is really a significant change for the industry.

From the outset, Apple’s decision has come under concerted attack by hackers trying to unlock the phone’s SIM card, thereby allowing the phone to run on a network other than AT&T. Apple has made a just-as-concerted counter-attack to undo those hacks.

via PCWorld

Nokia N810 gets official!

Stay in touch and on the right track with the new pocket-sized Nokia N810 Internet Tablet

Nokia today introduced the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, signifying a new phase in portable internet communication. You have ability to connect this pocket-sized device to the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over your Bluetooth mobile phone. The Nokia N810 allows you to make internet calls; check your Google Mail or Facebook Account; watch the latest videos on YouTube or update your blog using the device’s slide-out keyboard along with its stunning touch screen. Its built-in maps and satellite navigation helps you to find your way. It is expected to start shipping mid November with an estimated retail price of 479 USD (excluding local taxes).

Bringing you closer to communities
Whether you are at home, in the park or in a coffee shop, with the Nokia N810 you will never be far away. With the ability to check emails, read the latest gossip online or IM to your friends, share your moods on your favorite social sites; call via Skype, or get closer by the Gizmo video chat - with the integrated VGA camera - you’ll never be far away from those you want to keep in contact with..

Keeping you on the right track
You may feel lost without it, but with the Nokia N810, you’ll never lose your way. The Nokia N810 has an integrated GPS receiver which allows you to pinpoint your position and find a wide variety of points-of-interests using the pre-loaded maps. Upgrade to Wayfinder’s voice-guided navigation for turn-by-turn directions and explore the world on foot or in the car.

Never be bored again
Whether you’re traveling on the trip of a lifetime or on your daily commute to work, the Nokia N810 is the perfect traveling companion. No Wi-Fi connection on your journey? No need, the Nokia N810 offers up to 45 hours of music playback and memory to store up to 7,500 songs on an optional 10GB memory card*. Its large (4.13″), sharp (800×480 resolution) wide screen makes for a magical experience right in the palm of your hand.
“The Nokia N810 packs the power of a traditional computer into a pocket-sized format. Its open standard technology accelerates the convergence of multiple functionalities and services into a single device”, said Ari Virtanen, Vice President, Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia. “Our new Nokia N810 offers users a true Web 2.0 experience in a compact, stylish, yet affordable package - it connects people to what matters to them.”
The Nokia N810 is powered by maemo Linux based OS2008, updatable also on the Nokia N800, the previous internet tablet generation hardware. The Nokia N810 features a highly customizable user interface and contains various novelties such as a Mozilla based browser with Ajax and Adobe flash 9, Bluetooth headset support as well as enhanced video and audio features. The refreshed Video Gizmo, Skype and Rhapsody highlight some most popular downloads available while Boingo Wireless, Earthlink and The Cloud enable Wi-Fi connectivity, across thousands of different locations globally.
Today, Forum Nokia also announced the launch of maemo platform support services for software developers and companies around the world via forum.nokia.com. Currently, Forum Nokia has more than 3.4 million registered users, developing leading mobile applications on Symbian Series 40 and Series 60 platforms. This professional support service complements the developer offering with maemo.org, an open source community sponsored by Nokia.
*Capacity based on 3:45 per song and 128 kbps MP3 encoding.

via PdasNews

Samsung SGH-i560 GPS-smartphone introduced at Symbian Smartphone Show

Samsung has announced a new smartphone SGH-i560 powered by S60 3rd Edition at Symbian Smartphone Show in London. Samsung SGH-i560 works in GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and UMTS/HSDPA 2100 MHz networks. The smartphone holds a GPS-receiver. In addition it comes with a 2.4” 262K colors QVGA display with mirror surface, a 3.2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth (A2DP) interface. The i560 carries 150 MB of memory onboard expandable with microSD cards. The device measures 130×51x16 mm.The shipments of Samsung SGH-i560 are set for the end of this year. I’d remind you that the company had announced the release of the GPS-smartphone late in September, and now it is preparing another navigation-enabled device – the SGH-i780 communicator based on Windows Mobile 6 Professional.

via PdasNews

StyleTap CrossPlatform Brings Thousands of Mobile Applications to Symbian

StyleTap Inc. today announced StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian OS which will allow over 20,000 existing applications to run on current and future Symbian smartphones.StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian OS brings the largest library of smartphone applications to the largest community of smartphone users, with over 145m Symbian smartphones shipped to date, to over 250 major network operators worldwide.StyleTap CrossPlatform is compatible with most applications written for Palm OS® devices, and enables them to now run on Symbian smartphones. This gives consumers unprecedented freedom to choose the smartphone that meets their needs without losing their investment in mobile applications and accumulated data.
StyleTap CrossPlatform also gives application developers a compelling solution which can help leverage their existing mobile assets to target more devices. Instead of their applications running on a set proportion of mobile devices because they cannot afford to re-engineer their applications for each new device brought to market, StyleTap CrossPlatform offers developers access to millions more potential customers with no re-engineering required.
“By enabling thousands more mobile applications to be used by millions more users, StyleTap CrossPlatform creates enormous value for consumers, application developers and smartphone vendors,” said Gregory Sokoloff, CEO of StyleTap Inc., “By bringing StyleTap CrossPlatform to Symbian OS, the global market-leading smartphone OS, we are fulfilling our commitment to support the smartphone industry to the fullest possible extent.”
StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian OS is the newest member of the StyleTap CrossPlatform family of products which will continue to grow to include additional smartphone operating systems. StyleTap is demonstrating CrossPlatform at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London, and expects to ship the product in the first quarter of 2008. Pricing has not yet been finalized. StyleTap CrossPlatform will support Symbian smartphones based on UIQ 3 and S60 3rd Edition. Companies or individuals interested in receiving information about the release of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian should visit http://www.styletap.com/ and subscribe to the StyleTap blog.
“Symbian OS has established itself as the leading OS for smartphones in the world today,” said David Wood, EVP of Research, Symbian Ltd., “As smartphones play an ever increasing role in people’s lives, application software will grow more and more important. We welcome the rich library of applications that StyleTap brings to the Symbian ecosystem and encourage their developers to take advantage of the Symbian marketplace.”
“StyleTap CrossPlatform will bring great value to users of mobile phones based on UIQ. They will now be able to access an extensive set of new applications for their UIQ phones from Sony Ericsson and Motorola. We are very pleased to see this innovation come to market”, said Elisabet Melin, VP Marketing, UIQ Technology AB.
About StyleTap Inc.
StyleTap Inc. is a privately-held Canadian software company founded in 2000 whose mission is to provide the essential software ingredient that enables mobile applications to run on any smartphone. StyleTap Inc. is the developer of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian and StyleTap CrossPlatform for Windows Mobile which are robust, high performance software platforms that enable Symbian OS and Windows Mobile devices to run thousands of software applications that are also compatible with Palm OS devices. StyleTap continues to expand the capabilities of its existing products and extend its unique technology to run on additional devices and operating systems.

via PdasNews

Sony Ericsson announces K630 camera phone

Sony Ericsson has announced the K630, a stylish camera phone providing music, email and broadband speed data transfers with HSDPA.

The phone comes with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync preloaded, which allows a computer’s inbox to be mirrored on the phone’s display. This means that urgent emails can be answered while on the move.

A Media Manager function allows media, such as music or videos, to be transferred between the phone and a computer by simply dragging and dropping.

Quick access to often-used websites is provided with just one click, via animated widgets displayed on the phone’s desktop.

The K630 features a 2.0 megapixel camera for stills and moving images. The phone makes sharing photos easy, via MMS, email or postcard. They can also be uploaded to an online gallery, or blogsite.

With its HSDPA functionality, the phone can download a full-length music track in around 14 seconds.

A 256MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) is including for storing up to 3600 full-length tracks. A dedicated music key on the phone makes it easy to navigate tracks.

The K630 comes in two colours – Havana Gold and Quick Black. It weighs just 97 grams and measures 103 x 47 x 15.5 mm.

The Sony Ericsson K630 will be available in selected markets this year.

via Camera-Core

Viruses, Trojans and Remote Snooping: Hackers Release Their Own iPhone SDK

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced Wednesday that his company will release a software-development kit for the iPhone in February, to allow programmers to produce third-party applications for the device. But hackers have already come up with their own software-development kit. It allows them to deliver any code they want to the iPhone, including viruses, Trojan horses and the ability to snoop on audio and video.

Developer H.D. Moore has added support for iPhone attacks to the Metasploit Framework. Metasploit is an open source hacking tool used by computer-security administrators and black hats alike to create security applications and exploits.

Moore posted sample exploits and detailed instructions this week on how to write and deliver code that can take complete control of an iPhone.

The move takes hackers one step closer to being able to remotely and surreptitiously take control of an iPhone and turn it into a surveillance device.

But it also makes it easier for white hats to develop and install custom software for their own iPhones.

Moore’s tool and exploits take advantage of a vulnerability in the TIFF image-rendering library that’s used by the iPhone’s browser, mail and music software.

It’s the same vulnerability that has allowed numerous Apple customers to unlock and customize their iPhones. But Moore’s Metasploit Framework does much more, giving hackers remote shell access to iPhones that will allow them to run any code on the device.

“All you have to do is get somebody to open a TIFF image with an exploit in it ,and you’ve owned the phone,” says Rik Farrow, a security consultant and corporate speaker who delivered a security talk to Apple employees last year.

Attackers could conceivably write code to hijack the contacts in an iPhone address book, access the list of received and sent calls and messages, turn the phone into a listening device, track the user’s location, or instruct the phone to snap photos of the user’s surroundings — including any companions who may be in view of the camera lens.

Moore wrote on his blog that the iPhone is more vulnerable than other phones, because every application on the phone runs as “root.” That means a bug in the calculator application, for example, could lead to full access privileges on the device.

Simply patching the TIFF vulnerability in the iPhone won’t solve Apple’s problem. The Metasploit Framework allows hackers to easily mix and match exploits and payloads. That means hackers can develop code for the iPhone independent of any particular security hole, then deliver by means of whatever vulnerability in the phones is known and still unpatched at the time.

Jobs said in his announcement that the company is moving slowly on releasing the official SDK because it wants to provide broad access to developers, while also protecting users from hackers and others who might have ill designs on cracking the phones. That suggests the company recognizes it made a blunder by allowing full system privileges for every application.

“Apple is savvy enough to realize that this is really terrible,” says Farrow. “And it’s going to take them until February to actually be able to release the SDK, because they’re going to have to do basic things to the cellphone operating system itself to make it secure. So we’re not just talking about a software-development kit, we’re talking about fixing something that has major flaws in the security of it as it exists.”

But Moore and Farrow say to fix the problem, the company will need to do more, such as create precise rules in the system to limit what a malicious application can do on the phone.


“From what I’ve seen of the design of the phone, it doesn’t look like an easy task,” Moore says.

So why didn’t Apple do this before releasing the phone?

“Apple wants to sell really fancy, glitzy appliances that have great consumer appeal,” Farrow says. “And security has never been one of those things that has great consumer appeal. So Apple is totally correct to ship out an insecure product, because people snap them up. But at the same time I’m sure that there were engineers at Apple saying, ‘This is totally insane. We are going to get so hammered for this.’”

“There are some very clue-ful people there. But my impression is that they have to work very hard to make security a priority.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

via Wired

Apple asserts iPhone meets eco standards

Facing a lawsuit for allegedly using toxic substances in the iPhone, Apple today told MacWorld that the device "meets the restrictions placed on hazardous substances."

"Like all Apple products worldwide, iPhone complies with RoHS [Restriction of Hazardous Substances], the world's toughest restrictions on toxic substances in electronics," an Apple spokesperson told Macworld. "As we have said, Apple will voluntarily eliminate the use of PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008."

The declaration comes in the wake of a report from Greenpeace accusing Apple is using phthalates in the plastic earphone wiring. Phthalates is considered a reproductive toxin.

Although the iPhone may meet ROHS standards, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is asserting the Apple has violated California law, which says that products that can expose consumers to phthaltes or other such chemicals must carry a warning label.

The CEH has given Apple 60-days legal notice, which is the first required by California law before a lawsuit is launched.

via infoworld

Palm Treo 500v Launched in Singapore

Palm announced the availability of the Treo 500v smartphone in Singapore on the MobileOne network. The Palm Treo 500v runs on the Windows Mobile 6 standard platform and includes high speed 3G/UMTS Internet access.

The Treo 500v, is the first device in Asia to carry the new Vodafone user interface on Windows Mobile 6 Standard edition (formerly WM Smartphone edition). The new device delivers enhanced usability and ease of navigation to customers who want to keep on top of their work and social lives while on the go.

"The Treo 500v's sleek design and social-centric functionality, combined with M1's high-speed 3G/UMTS network, deliver a compelling solution to a new generation of customers that enhances their mobile experience," said P. Subramaniam, director of Enterprise and Alliances, M1. "The Treo 500v on the M1 network will appeal to a growing number of customers who are using their mobile devices to keep them in touch on the go, and helps balance work and leisure." "The new Treo 500v adds a third internet ready Vodafone live! and Microsoft Windows Mobile device to our recently announced Global Handset range," said Jens Schulte-Bockum, Global Terminals Director, Vodafone Group.

"When combined with our high-speed 3G/UMTS network and fast access to the internet, along with great browsing and messaging support, we are confident the Palm Treo 500v will appeal to the growing group of consumers looking for the same functionality and ease of use our business customers continue to enjoy from this type of premium device."

The Treo 500 comes with a full qwerty keyboard and a 240x320 Transflective display with support for 65k colours. It has a tri-band GSM radio supporting the 900/1800/1900 bands and UTMS 2100. It includes 256MB memory with 150MB available for user storage and a microSD expansion slot. It also features a 2 megapixel digital camera and a Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and stereo headset support. A mini USB port is provides for charging and connectivity as well as a 2.5mm headset jack. A removable 1200mAh battery is present for a claimed 10 day stand-by rating with 4.5 hours of talk time. It has dimensions of 16.5mm (D) x 61.5mm (W) x 110mm (H) (.65" x 2.4" x 4.3" inches) and weighs 120 grams (4.23 ounces).

The Palm Treo 500v smartphone is available now from M1 shops and selected M1 dealers for S$498 (on a two-year plan, inclusive of GST). For a limited period, customers also will receive 6 months of free subscription to M1's 3G SunSurf 10 Plan/VAS (Value Added Service) which is bundled with 5MB of free local data monthly and valued at S$10.70 per month. The Treo 500v also will be available from major retail outlets in Singapore.

via pdasnews

Vertu Signature 18K ripoff

Here is the latest Vertu ripoff direct from China. Like all previous Vertu ripoffs/clone…they just don't look good and expensive like the real deal. They look cheap, tacky and even ugly. This one is marketed as a mini Vertu since it has smaller dimensions than the real one. It tries to look premium since it is constructed with metal and is 18K gold plated (it also has leather on the back) . Anyways, here are some specs.

- 1.8 inch 260K 176×220 touchscreen
- VGA camera
- microSD support
- A2DP
- measures 100×40×15 mm
- weighs 75 grams
- comes in two color versions
- metal construction with 18K gold

via mphonefrenzy

Fake Nokia N82 (CECT N82) spotted

Even though we still wait to see Nokia N82 released, China-based CECT has already made their “version” of the device. To be fair, there’s no Nokia branding on this phone — it’s just the name “Nxx” ala Nokia that bother us.



Anyway, the CECT N82 comes with a 2.6″ QVGA touchscreen, 1.3 MP camera, stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth support, and the standard microSD memory slot. It measures 110×50x17 mm, weighs 80 grams and no, we don’t know how much it costs, though I would expect it to be quite cheap.

Check out two more photos after the jump.





via IntoMobile

Nokia N95 8GB pre-loaded with Spider-man 3 Movie

Nokia started to ship the Nokia N95 8GB smartphone pre-loaded with the full-length Spider-man 3 movie loaded on the phone.

Boasting up to 8GB of built-in memory, the Nokia N95 8GB has all the key features of its predecessor, including a 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, built-in A-GPS, WLAN, HSDPA and an 2-way slide mechanism.

You can watch Spider-man 3 on the 2.8" (240 x 320) QVGA display of the N95.
The Nokia N95 8GB started to ship from Nokia globally today and should be hitting a store near you soon. The Spider-man 3 movie is pre-loaded on the N95 *GB in Europe and selected countries in Middle East and Africa region.

The N95 8GB multimedia computer has an estimated retail price of EUR 560 (~$800) before taxes or subsidies.

via i4u

"Ship Me!" Says the Nokia N95 8GB

The stunning Nokia N95 8GB made its debut global shipments today, and will be hitting a store near you soon. The Nokia N95 8GB is the memory-packed big brother of the Nokia N95 multimedia computer.

"Our Nokia Nseries family has expanded with added pizzazz and performance with the Nokia N95 8GB, a device as personal as it is powerful," said Jonas Geust, vice president, Multimedia, at Nokia. "We've reached a pinnacle with the Nokia N95 and now with the addition of one of the largest ever displays, built-in Assisted-GPS and improved battery power, the Nokia N95 8GB takes entertainment enjoyment to another level."

Boasting up to eight gigabytes of built-in memory, the Nokia N95 8GB has all the key features of its predecessor, including a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, built-in A-GPS, WLAN, HSDPA and an innovative 2-way slide. The sleek black N95 8GB also boasts a luminous 2.8" (240 x 320) QVGA display, so watching videos, browsing the Internet or viewing maps is a real pleasure. With its expanded memory, the N95 8GB offers up to 20 hours of video or up to 6000 songs(i).

Entertaining yourself has taken on a whole new meaning with this multimedia computer, optimized for enjoying videos, playing games, or even locating your favorite destinations with A-GPS.

The ideal companion for any lull in your day, the Nokia N95 8GB supports services like Nokia Music Store and N-Gage Games(ii), so you can delve into a world of leisure. Access millions of music tracks from the Nokia Music Store or get a sneak-peak at N-Gage gaming - live later this year. Test out games like FIFA 2007 and Asphalt 3: Street Rules(iii). Once N-Gage goes live, you'll be able to try games for free before deciding on your purchase.

Now with A-GPS, Nokia N95 8GB connoisseurs can whiz to their locations on Nokia Maps faster and enjoy maps for over 150 countries. Explore the world, find specific routes or locate services such as restaurants and hotels, covering more than 15 million points of interest. Purchase additional features, such as city guides and voice guided navigation, is an option too.

The N95 8GB multimedia computer has an estimated retail price of EUR 560 before taxes or subsidies.

(i)Capacity based on 3:45 mins per song and 48kbps eAAC+ encoding. Capacity with 128kbps AAC encoding is up to 2000 songs.

(ii)The Nokia Music Store and the N-Gage Games Service are expected to be available during the fourth quarter 2007

(iii)Games will vary according to the region

For full technical specifications, visit http://www.nseries.com/n958gb
For more information about Nokia Maps, visit http://www.nokia.maps.com

via cnn

Greenpeace: iPhone Not Good For The Environment

International environmental group Greenpeace has launched an attack on Steve Jobs’ claims that Apple is a company with green credentials by releasing an analysis of the iPhone that finds toxic chemicals that have or are in the process of being eliminated by other mobile phone manufacturers.



According to Greenpeace, the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds (indicating the prescence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs)) and hazardous PVCs.

Two of the “phthalate plasticisers” found at high levels in the iPhone headphone cable are classified in Europe as ‘toxic to reproduction, category 2′ and are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe.The report noted that Nokia is totally PVC free and that Motorola and Sony Ericsson already have products on the market with BFR free components.

Greenpeace called upon Apple to truly revolutionize the mobile phone by producing an environmentally friendly handset for the iPhone’s European launch.

via techcrunch

What a Future IPhone With WiMax Might Look Like

Imagine an iPhone from Apple that makes VOIP calls, gets faster-than-Wi-Fi internet access, and boasts weeks of battery life. Best of all, it's not tied to a pokey Edge network.

Taiwan's DigiTimes reports the rumor that Apple will base future iPhone versions on Intel's upcoming Moorestown processors -- low-power, high-performance systems-on-a-chip aimed at smartphones and mobile handsets.

The rumors sparked a lot of excitement on Mac gossip sites and forums about better battery life and increased software compatibility with Apple's Macs.

What many ignored, however, is the fact that Intel's Moorestown processors will also be an integrated WiMax platform. Intel has already announced that its Moorestown platform will feature a CPU, fast 3-D graphics, HD video decoding, Wi-Fi and WiMax on a single chip.

"The iPhone is the perfect device for (Moorestown)," says analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies. "I mean, (the iPhone) is really a mobile internet device with a phone tacked on for good measure."

WiMax is an emerging standard for 4-G wireless data networks that promises maximum download speeds of 70 mbps -- more than six times the speed of 802.11b Wi-Fi's 11 mbps. In practice though, WiMax speeds will likely not reach the theoretical maximum, but will probably match that of Wi-Fi.

After years in the lab, WiMax is about to go mainstream, according to Intel. In 2008, the first devices from the likes of Nokia, Lenovo, Toshiba and others will debut. At the same time, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are working on nationwide WiMax networks, which should be completed by 2010. Intel is on task to begin Moorestown production in 2009.

The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker has been a strong proponent of WiMax over the years. WiMax will theoretically compete with Wi-Fi and let service providers build ultra-fast networks using radio antennas. A WiMax-enabled iPhone could even signal the end of the traditional carrier-pricing models, because high-speed internet network connectivity would become virtually ubiquitous.

Intel is a powerful ally of the WiMax technology. After all, Intel's Centrino chip set is a major reason Wi-Fi is now nearly universal, and the company is hoping Moorestown will do the same for WiMax.

Apple's adoption of Moorestown could also provide a big boost. The research firm iSuppli predicts Apple will sell close to 22 million iPhones in 2009.

Whether Apple uses Moorestown processors for the iPhone, iSuppli says WiMax will find its way into devices like the Blackberry and other smartphones.

"You have to remember Apple isn't the only device maker that could be implementing WiMax," says Kay. "Everybody's seen this timeline. It's certainly no secret that a lot of companies are going down this road."

However, Apple’s position on WiMax remains unknown. Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

Tina Teng, iSuppli's mobile communications analyst, says Intel is a force to be reckoned with, but there could be stiff competition from other 4-G wireless technologies. Other semiconductor vendors are supporting a technology known as LTE, an ongoing project to improve the existing 3-G UMTS mobile phone standard.

Which brings up another potential problem: As Chris Hazelton, senior analyst for mobile devices at IDC, notes, there might also be sticky exclusivity deals with AT&T that could hamper Apple's WiMax iPhone ambitions -- if indeed it has any.

AT&T itself is currently working on building out its own 3-G high-speed downlink packet access, HSDPA, network and has already said it's not interested in joining the likes of Sprint and Clearwire in WiMax build-outs.

In that sense, the real key to Apple's WiMax decision may come down to whether there's a decent infrastructure for iPhone customers to use in the first place.

via Wired

Korean Mobile Makers Step Up iPhone Attack

LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics will confront Apple in a Christmas battle to take down the iPhone, the "blue chip" phone in the U.S. Verizon, one of the leading U.S. mobile operators, on Wednesday unveiled three new mobile phones to compete with the iPhone, which is available only through Verizon's rival AT&T.

Verizon has the biggest subscriber base in the eastern U.S. Among Verizon's new products, the Voyager from LG Electronics has a touchscreen display as wide as that of the iPhone. And the Voyager uses a wireless Internet service that is faster than the one available for the iPhone. Beside the touchscreen, it also has a flip-open keypad, which is expected to attract iPhone admirers who want a traditional keypad, experts say.

Another LG Electronics phone, the black and pink Venus, also has a touchscreen display with a keypad that slides beneath it. Both Venus and Voyager have 2-megapixel cameras and allow high-speed mobile Internet access for speedy music and movie downloads. Verizon will release the two phones next month.

Verizon's third iPhone competitor is the Juke from Samsung Electronics, an ultra-slim phone that looks like a bar-type but has a swivel keypad. In fact it's among the shortest swivel phones ever launched in the U.S. It doesn't support high-speed wireless Internet, but its high-tech design should appeal to young early adopters. The Juke will go on sale Oct. 19.

Verizon's new phones cost from US$100 to $400, less expensive than the iPhone ($399). It will kill the iPhone," promised Mike Lanman, Verizon's chief marketing officer.

via Chosun

Sony Ericsson and Vodafone present the Havana collection.

It's amazing what some decent marketing can do. These phones were presented to me as 'the Havana collection' and I immediately fell in love with them. A more objective person might liken the colour pallet to something else altogether, which would have a decidedly less exotic connotations.

All the phones are exclusive to Vodafone. The W880i walkman phone comes in plain old Havana, whilst the W910i is Havana Bronze and the V640i is Havana Gold. Whilst the W880i is an old favourite, the other two are new phones.

source ShinyShiny

Orange and Apple still arguing iPhone details

Orange's exclusive deal to distribute the iPhone in France may not be as solid as claimed, with the handset strangely absent at the Apple Expo in Paris, and a French newspaper reporting that the revenue share details are still under discussion.

The Challenges website reports (in French) that Orange's exclusive is far from a done deal, with the companies still in discussions over how large Apple's pound of flesh will be.
Click here to find out more!

It's certainly hard to explain why there were no iPhones at the Apple Expo otherwise, which could mean the French deal is still on the table, or perhaps Orange will successfully hold out for a more operator-friendly split. That could really annoy T-Mobile and O2, in Germany and the UK respectively, with their deals already inked and announced.

Just when we thought all the secret launches and quiet network-building were done, Apple still manages to keep us guessing... or perhaps that's the idea.

source TheRegister

iPhone's Bluetooth Bug Under Hackers' Microscope

Almost lost in the hubbub over the latest iPhone firmware update and whether it would "brick" unlocked phones was the fact that Apple patched 10 vulnerabilities.

Almost lost in the hubbub over Thursday's iPhone firmware update and whether it would "brick" unlocked phones was the fact that Apple Inc. patched 10 vulnerabilities -- twice the number of fixes issued since the phone's June debut.

The iPhone 1.1.1 update, which like previous upgrades is delivered through Apple's iTunes software, fixes seven flaws in the built-in Safari browser, two in the smart phone's Mail application and one in its use of Bluetooth, the short-range wireless technology.

The seven Safari vulnerabilities include several cross-site scripting (XSS) flaws, one that can disclose the URL of other viewed pages -- an online banking site, say -- and another that lets attackers execute malicious JavaScript in pages delivered by the SSL-encrypted HTTPS protocol. One of the Safari flaws, and an associated vulnerability in Mail, involve "tel:" links, which can be exploited by hackers to dial a number without the user confirming the call.

But it was the Bluetooth bug that got the attention of security researchers. Symantec's DeepSight threat network team pointed out the vulnerability in an advisory to customers Friday. "Reportedly, the Bluetooth flaw occurs when malicious Service Discovery Protocol (SDP) packets are handled; any attacker that is within Bluetooth range can exploit it remotely," wrote DeepSight analyst Anthony Roe in the alert. "Successful exploits are reported to allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code."

According to Apple's security advisory, the Bluetooth bug was discovered and reported by Kevin Mahaffey and John Hering of Flexillis Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that specializes in mobile security development and consulting. Flexillis may be best known for its reverse engineering of the exploit used to hack into several celebrities' T-Mobile cell phone accounts in 2005, include Paris Hilton and Vin Diesel.

The Bluetooth bug may prove to be dangerous to iPhones, Roe speculated, since the potential range of the technology is much greater than most people think. While Bluetooth's potential range -- and thus the maximum distance between attacker and victim -- is about 400 feet, "Several proof-of-concept Bluetooth antennas have intercepted Bluetooth signals at almost a mile," he said.

Roe also pointed out that HD Moore, the driving force behind the Metasploit penetration framework, had recently demonstrated that shellcode could be run on an iPhone. Moore, said Roe, proved that "exploiting security vulnerabilities affecting the iPhone is by no means out of reach."

In a post to his blog -- and to the Metasploit site -- on Wednesday, Moore said that because every process on the iPhone runs as root, and so has full privileges to the operating system, any exploit of an iPhone application vulnerability, such as Safari or Mail or Bluetooth, would result in a complete hijack of the device. Moore also announced that he would add iPhone support to Metasploit, which would make it much easier for hackers to access a vulnerable phone.

Moore acknowledged that he's looking at the Bluetooth vulnerability. "The Bluetooth SDP vulnerability is the only issue I am focusing on," he said in an e-mail Friday.

He also hinted that locating vulnerable iPhones wouldn't be a problem. "The Bluetooth MAC [media address control] address is always one less than the Wi-Fi interface's MAC address," he said. "Since the iPhone is always probing for or connected to its list of known access points, the presence of the iPhone and its Bluetooth MAC address can be determining by using a standard Wi-Fi sniffer.

"Once the Bluetooth MAC address is obtained, the SDP issue can be exploited by anyone within range of the Bluetooth chip, or within range of the attacker's antenna, which can be up to a mile away in some cases," he said.

If Moore manages to craft an exploit and add it to Metasploit, it's probable that criminal hackers will quickly follow. "Once we see something in Metasploit, we know it's likely we'll see it used in attacks," Alfred Huger, vice president of engineering with Symantec's security response group, said in a July interview.

Jarno Neimela, a senior researcher with F-Secure Corp., a Helsinki-based security vendor, also hit the alarm button, but for a different reason. In a posting to his company's blog Friday, Neimela pointed out that there's no security software available for the iPhone, thanks to Apple's decision to keep the device's inner workings a secret.

"The amount of technical information [available about the iPhone] makes it likely that sooner or later someone will create a worm or some other malware," Neimela said. "This will create an interesting problem for the security field as the iPhone is currently a closed system and it's not feasible to provide anti-virus or other third-party security solutions for it.

"So if someone were able to create a rapidly spreading worm on the iPhone, protecting users against it would be problematic."

Although iPhone owners will be automatically notified in the next week that the new patches are ready to download and install, a large number of those who have modified or unlocked their phones will probably forgo the fixes, since the 1.1.1 update apparently also disables unlocked phones and wipes unauthorized third-party applications that have been added with various hacks.

soource PCWorld

iPhone firmware 1.1.1 released; breaks everything

Today Apple released iPhone firmware version 1.1.1 via iTunes and it appears to be pretty nasty toward unlocked and otherwise hacked iPhones. According to Gizmodo and Engadget the update re-locks unlocked phones and renders the brilliant AppTapp installer and other third-party applications useless.

Features of the 1.1.1 update include:

• iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
• Louder speakerphone and receiver volume
• Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites of music controls
• Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
• Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
• Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be re-ordered
• Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
• Support for TV Out
• Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
• New Passcode lock time intervals
• Adjustable alert volume

I’d rather have AppTapp installer over the iTunes WiFi Store any day. I’m going to stick with firmware v.1.0.2, thanks.

source ZDNet by Jason D. O'Grady

Unauthorized iPhone Apps Market Flourishes

There is a vibrant community of developers writing apps to install directly on the iPhone, contrary to Apple's wishes.

Software developer Dylan Schiemann used Steve Jobs' own words against him in a presentation on developing third-party software applications for Apple's iPhone.

"You can write amazing Web 2.0 and Ajax apps that look and behave exactly like apps on the iPhone," CEO Jobs said at an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June in San Francisco.

"It depends on your meaning of the word 'exactly,'" Schiemann said Monday at the AjaxWorld 2007 Conference & Expo in nearby Santa Clara.

Jobs says Apple will allow third-party software developers to write applications to run on an iPhone, but not be installed on it. Instead, the apps can only be delivered through the device's Safari Web browser. While an endorsement of Ajax from Steve Jobs is welcome, Schiemann and others at the Ajax conference say there are limitations on how their apps can run on Safari, and there is a vibrant community of developers writing apps to install directly on iPhone, contrary to Apple's wishes.

Schiemann's iPhone has 40 applications running on it, including the ones Apple ships from the factory, but also some unauthorized apps installed directly on the device. Christopher Allen, another AjaxWorld presenter who runs the Web site iPhoneWebDev.com, has 50 apps on his iPhone, including several unauthorized ones.

The Ajax conference, held Sept. 23 to 26 and drawing about 900 people, devoted five breakout sessions to developing iPhone apps using Ajax, a development tool for writing Web-based applications.

Schiemann, CEO of Web-based applications developer SitePen, promoted the Dojo Foundation's open source Dojo Toolkit for writing iPhone applications but says even it can't overcome all the limitations in trying to work with the current iPhone version of mobile Safari. Notably, he said, Web-based apps can't react to the iPhone's signature feature, which is the ability of a person to use finger-touch commands, such as the "pinch" to zoom in on a Web page.

Allen adds: "When the user pinches, the Web-based application is not notified that the end user is doing that . . . because the Web browser does not tell them."

Allen makes a distinction between hackers who add software apps and those who break into the iPhone to avoid using AT&T's wireless service. Jobs says Apple will take action to prevent unlocking.

Asked for comment for this story, an Apple spokeswoman e-mailed a company statement that seems to make no such distinction: "Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software . . . violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty."

Apple did not reply to attempts to clarify the statement.

Schiemann argues that his adding apps to his iPhone does not constitute "unlocking" it, so he doesn't consider that a violation of the terms of service. "It is, after all, still my iPhone."

The developers hope that Apple improves support for developers and fixes other glitches when it introduces an updated version of Safari, expected in October, and when its long-delayed Leopard operating system is released.

Still, Schiemann and Allen understand why Apple is being protective of its platform. If someone installs an unauthorized application and it breaks some other part of the iPhone, a customer will blame Apple, not the developer. If an iPhone software upgrade somehow disables an unauthorized app, Apple can't have to worry about apps it doesn't support in the first place.

Despite the frustrations, the iPhone app market is worth pursuing, both men say. Given the robustness of the iPhone experience, its expansion into markets abroad and Apple's sales forecast of 10 million units, it is a significant opportunity.

"This is a gold rush, but we're basically in the alchemy stage where we're trying to turn lead into gold," Schiemann says. "We're trying to do all these things with the device because it's so freaking fun to use."

source PCWorld

Nokia, Intel, NSN in sync for WiMax interoperability

In an effort to ensure that mobile WiMAX wireless products work well together and with other products globally, Intel Corporation, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks today announced that they are testing interoperability across Intel’s forthcoming WiMAX silicon for laptops and mobile Internet devices, Nokia WiMAX devices and Nokia Siemens Networks WiMAX infrastructure equipment.

Nokia also said it will use Intel’s WiMAX silicon product, which is codenamed "Baxter Peak" and designed specifically for mobile Internet and consumer electronic devices, in its forthcoming Nokia Nseries Internet Tablets. The Internet tablets will be among the very first WiMAX-enabled open Internet devices expected to ship in 2008.

Mobile WiMAX is a broadband wireless technology that provides multi-megabit speed, high throughput for accessing large amounts of such data as movies and multi-media content, and wide range to access the data over long distances. WiMAX devices and equipment that have been tested for compatibility with each other will help make it easier for consumers to roam from network to network with their Internet devices wherever they go for an always-connected, mobile experience.

Raviv Melamed, general manager of Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group said, "WiMAX enables the mobile Internet and makes it possible to get content on a variety of new mobile devices at broadband speed."

Early interoperability testing between multiple industry partners will help to reduce the amount of time required for their respective products to successfully pass through the technical requirements from the WiMAX Forum thus accelerating time-to-market.

Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks have already started testing their equipment and devices with dozens of other equipment vendors’ products for interoperability and conformance with industry standards in Sprint’s Herndon, Va. testing labs.

Intel and Nokia will continue to champion efforts with 500 other Forum members to deliver end-to-end specifications for global interoperability of WiMAX devices and infrastructure.

source business-standard

Researcher: iPhone has potential security problems

Apple's iPhone is a tough target for hackers, but a security researcher warned Friday that there are ways the sleek device could potentially be compromised.

The iPhone has no security software, but Apple doesn't let people load third-party programs on the device, reducing the risk of infection from malicious software. But when the iPhone is connected to the Web, possibilities emerge, said Marius van Oers, a security researcher with McAfee's AVERT Labs in Amsterdam.

He doesn't claim to have uncovered a specific security hole in the device, but listed several ways that determined hackers could use the Web to try to find a way in.

Apple is relying on developers to create rich Web-based applications that will be accessed through the mobile version of the company's Safari Web browser. Browser flaws are a proven way for hackers to get unauthorized code running on a system, van Oers said.

"It's fairly easy to send someone an SMS (Short Messaging Service) or an e-mail with a Web link," he said. "And once you go to the Web link, then that server can inject code into the iPhone, and if that happens, [a hacker] can have full control."

That's what happened with a Safari flaw found by Independent Security Evaluators, a company that detailed its findings at the Black Hat security conference in August. By constructing a malicious Web site, the researchers injected code into the iPhone and pilfered recent text messages, phone numbers and e-mail. Apple has since patched the flaw.

"Once you get access to the system, it's all over," van Oers said.

He presented his view of iPhone security Friday at the Virus Bulletin security conference in Vienna. Although he is based in Europe, he examined an iPhone purchased in the U.S. His view of the iPhone's security is more cautionary and speculative, but rooted in the well-known ways that hackers work.

Apple also allows the use of JavaScript when the iPhone interacts with Web pages, a programming language that has been used to exploit software problems, van Oers said.

Further, Apple's multimedia application QuickTime has been prone to trouble, and there are several proof-of-concept exploits circulating the Web now for version 7, van Oers said. How that proof-of-concept code could affect QuickTime on the iPhone remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, with the iPhone already popular in the U.S. and due to go on sale in Europe in about six weeks, Apple can expect more aggressive attempts by malicious hackers to meddle with it.

Hacking mobile devices is less prevalent than hacking desktop computers. But interesting malicious programs have been written for mobiles, including some that repeatedly autodial or send text messages to a premium number. The number is owned by the hackers, who collect the revenue.

The chance of those kinds of malicious software affecting the iPhone today is probably low, but "that's the future. Let's hope it will not come to that," van Oers said.

source InfoWorld

BlackBerry 8820

The first Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry offers moderately faster data speeds along with GPS navigation and improved multimedia features.

For many BlackBerry fans (and haters), the lack of Wi-Fi has been at the top of the proverbial pet peeve list for years. Well, the wait is over. The BlackBerry 8820 is the first cellular device in the company's stable to offer 802.11 connectivity. While the Wi-Fi was simple to set up, it wasn't exactly blazing, and we wish you could do more with it (like VoIP). This world phone/organizer/media player/GPS navigator has more than enough going for it to warrant the $299 price tag but not enough for current 8800 owners to upgrade.

Design
With the exception of a Wi-Fi logo in the top-right corner of the 2.4-inch display, the 8820 looks and feels pretty much identical to its predecessor. And that's mostly a good thing. Sure, it's heavier and larger than the 3.9-ounce Curve, but the black-and-silver 8820 retains the relatively light (4.7 ounces) and slim profile (0.6 inches) of the 8800. You also get the same tightly packed but speedy keyboard and slick trackball for navigating menus.

Simple Wi-Fi Setup
RIM did a nice job integrating 802.11a/b/g without making it complicated. You simply click on the Manage Connections icon on the bottom of the main menu, which brings up a list of options that includes Mobile Network (AT&T/EDGE), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. A built-in wizard steps you through scanning for and connecting to available networks, whether the phone is in the office, at home, or near a public hotspot. Should the network you're trying to connect to be encrypted, you can easily type in the encryption key (WEP, WPA, etc.)

We appreciated that the 8820 automatically connected to networks saved as profiles. Once we set up our office profile, the 8820 took only five seconds to latch onto our wireless network after turning Wi-Fi on. The device's range could be better, however. When we walked about 30 feet away from the router, our 8820 showed only one bar of Wi-Fi coverage (out of five), compared with the iPhone's two bars (out of three). Plus, you can't tell how strong your Wi-Fi coverage is on the 8820 while you're surfing the Web; you have to be in the Manage Connections utility.

How Fast Is It?
On our side-by-side tests, the 8820 downloaded pages over Wi-Fi noticeably faster than the BlackBerry Curve did via EDGE, but the margin wasn't very wide. On average, the 8820 started loading CNN.com and other sites a few seconds faster than the Curve, and it loaded pages completely two to seven seconds faster. The reason for these less-than-dramatic results is that no BlackBerry has a direct connection to the Internet; Wi-Fi simply queries RIM's own servers a bit faster, and those servers have always done a superb job delivering compressed Web pages in a hurry. (We downloaded Opera Mini, which offers a more desktop-like surfing experience, but it wouldn't work over Wi-Fi.)

Having integrated Wi-Fi is less of an advantage in terms of e-mail, mostly because RIM nailed that eons ago with its push delivery. We noticed a mere one-second speed advantage when downloading a Word attachment over Wi-Fi versus EDGE. You can use the 8820 at nearly 10,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S. ($7.99 per day, $29.99 per month) and at thousands of other hotspots worldwide with which AT&T has roaming agreements. Connecting to those hotspots costs $39.99 per month.

Sorry, No VoIP Here
Unfortunately, you can't use the 8820's Wi-Fi connection for making VoIP calls. For now, at least, it's for Web surfing and e-mail only. We did get Shape Services' IM+ for Skype to work on the 8820, but it worked only when we had the device's EDGE connection turned on. We're hoping the company will add Wi-Fi support in an update to the client.

GPS Still Good, Improved Multimedia
In most other respects, the 8820 is just as good as or better than the 8800. Like its predecessor, this BlackBerry can provide turn-by-turn directions when you purchase the TeleNav GPS Navigator software ($9.99 per month unlimited). We noticed much improved route-calculation times and appreciated how close to real time our location was displayed on the device. The 8820 incorrectly identified an illegal left turn as part of one route, but in general we were impressed with the accuracy of the results and the robust local search functionality.

The 8820 has also improved on the multimedia front. It's compatible with AT&T's music offerings, including XM Radio ($8.99 per month). That service delivered decent reception, but it works only over EDGE; we'd like to see Wi-Fi support added. As with the Curve, the 8820 ships with a media player that synchronizes with supplied software from Roxio, making it a cinch to drag and drop music, photos, and videos onto the device. You also get the same great multitasking capabilities as you get with the Curve, so you can surf the Web while listening to tunes through stereo Bluetooth headphones. (You can also use the 2.5mm jack.)

Solid Phone and Battery Life
Call quality was good on our tests. We noticed a little background fuzz on our end of the line, but conversations sounded pretty clear and loud overall. Other callers said we sounded very clear and almost too loud. The speaker provided more than enough volume for calls, music, and navigation. Our only nitpick is that calls sometimes took a while to connect, a complaint we also had about the Curve.

The 8820 is rated for 5 hours of talk time and 22 days of standby time. Not surprisingly, having Wi-Fi on and being connected to a network reduces this smart phone's endurance, but as usual, RIM does a nice job with power management. Even though the 8820 uses the same 1400-mAh battery as the 8800, the device lasted nearly three days with intermittent use.

Verdict
Mobile workers who consider Wi-Fi a check-off item when shopping for a smart phone won't be disappointed by RIM's implementation, but they won't be blown away, either. We consider the 802.11 connection a good backup plan for EDGE, especially when you can't get a strong cellular signal indoors. So long as you don't need a built-in camera, the 8820's snappy overall performance, GPS navigation, and multimedia features make it a solid choice for AT&T customers. Others may want to wait and see what RIM cooks up for T-Mobile.

source laptopmag

The iPhone Goes Orange

The iPhone's latest move is to France.

France Telecom will start marketing Apple Inc.'s million-selling iPhone in France through its wireless arm Orange.

Thursday's announcement came days after Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs visited Britain and Germany to unveil similar deals with mobile operator O2 and Deutsche Telekom AG.
The iPhone, a combined cell phone-iPod media player that also can wirelessly access the Internet, will go on sale in all three countries in November -- in time for the holiday season.

The latest deal was announced by France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard during a conference in Hanoi. Apple said last week that it had sold 1 million iPhones in the United States in the first 74 days it was on sale, shortly after slashing the price by a third. The iPhone debuted in the United States on June 29, with service exclusively through AT&T Inc.

France Telecom will be counting on the popular iPhone to raise sales, boosting its share of the cell phone market. Jobs said Tuesday his goal was to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, representing 1 percent of the global handset market.

Officials with Orange would not say how much the phone will cost in France.
Consumers in Britain will pay 269 pounds ($536) for the 8-gigabyte model -- or about $139 more than what Apple charges in the United States.

In Germany the phone will cost 399 euros ($553). Both European price tags include value-added tax.

The company cut the 8-gigabyte iPhone to $399, from $599, and discontinued the $499 4-gigabyte version. It apologized to those who had paid full price and offered $100 credits to early buyers.

via AP www.ctv.ca

Nokia Unleashes First Unlicensed Mobile Access Cell Phone.

Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, on Thursday unveiled the world’s first phone that can provide voice calls both over conventional GSM networks as well as via wireless local area networks (WLANs). While the Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology deserves applauds, its wide adoption is under question as it does not has obvious benefits to end-users.


The new Nokia 6301 cell phone can boast with stainless steel frame, 2” 320x240 pixels screen, 30MB of internal memory, built-in MP3 player, FM radio, microSD card slot, support for GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 networks and other peculiarities of a business-oriented cell phone. The Nokia 6301 weighs 93 grams and measures less than 13.1mm thin. The Nokia 6301 comes with an attractive desk stand, the Nokia Desk Stand DT-23, to hold the phone and keep its battery charged while connected to WLAN. The main feature of the device is support for the so-called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology.

UMA technology makes it possible for users to seamlessly roam and handover between wireless local area networks (Wi-Fi) and wide area networks (such as GSM) using the same dual-mode device. Instead of constantly communicating with a base station, UMA allows the phone to also make calls through WLAN internet networks, provided that those networks are capable of establishing secure IP connection through a gateway to a server called a general access network controller (GANC) on the carrier’s network.

Nokia claims that with UMA technology ensures excellent indoor coverage both at office and home as WLAN/UMA provides excellent coverage and sound quality even in areas where mobile phone reception has previously been poor. Besides, UMA benefits operators as well, allowing them to deliver voice and data services to subscribers over WLAN, substantially increasing mobile service availability while decreasing the costs related to network deployment.

Orange will be one of the first operators to offer the Nokia 6301, as part of its Unik/Unique portfolio.

“The Nokia 6301 is a stylish new addition to our Unik range of converged fixed and mobile phones. Orange’s Unik offer brings together the convenience of a single phone and tariff at home and on the move and the widest range of UMA handsets. The Nokia 6301, with its sleek candy bar design and attractive stainless steel exterior adds to the appeal of Unik for Orange customers,” said Yves Maitre, senior vice president of devices, Orange.

The Nokia 6301 is expected to begin shipping to select markets in Europe during the fourth quarter of 2007 with an estimated retail price of €230 before subsidies or taxes.

The clean lines and recessed buttons of the Nokia 6301 are highlighted by a stainless steel frame with hand-hugging curves. In addition, the Nokia 6301 includes:

• 2-inch QVGA screen
  
• USB/PC Synchronization
  
• Internal user memory of 30MB and 128MB in-box microSD card, with support for up to 4GB microSD cards
  
• Voice dialing, voice commands and voice recording
  
• MP3 player, FM radio
  
• Integrated hands-free speaker
  
• talk-time of up to 3.5 hours and a standby time of up to 14 days
  

source xbitlabs mobile88

Konan - New Concept Phone from Sony Ericsson

There is a new concept phone in the works from Sony Ericsson. Rumors have emerged that Sony is developing a concept phone that will change the way we use our mobile phones. According to reports, the new phone will be called Konan: Beauty Renaissance 2.0.

As for its functionalities and capabilities, not much has been revealed. Pictures above however shows that it is indeed an eye candy for mobile users. Well, we all just have to wait.

» via mobilewhack | esato

Sony Ericsson Unveils 5 MP Cyber-shot K850i Handset in India

Sony Ericsson has launched the 5 MP Cyber-shot K850i mobile phone in India. The K850i was unveiled by the two International WTA players Mario Kirilenko and Marto Domachowska.

The K850i 5 MP Cyber-shot phone with a 16X digital zoom packs state-of-the-art digital camera features into a slim-design mobile phone. The K850i allows a user to click life-like images with features like BestPic that allows clicking as many as nine images in one click and choose the best one amongst all. The Photofix feature automatically adjusts the combination of light, contrast and brightness to give to the best images.

The K850i is a capable multimedia phone. The new media browser puts all of your photos, video, music or podcasts, in one place offering users a unique Sony Ericsson media experience. Users can scroll, sort and access their media from a single point in the menu.

The phone also allows users to carry out an intelligent search to see photos by the month they were taken, view thumbnail images or scroll through in full-picture mode on its 2.2" crystal bright display. The auto rotate feature displays it in the correct aspect, portrait or landscape, irrespective of the orientation it was taken in.

The K850i Cyber-shot handset at a glance:
Camera Features: 5 MP camera, Auto focus, 16X Digital zoom, Xenon Flash, PictBridge, BestPic, Photo fix, Automatic postcard creation, Slideshow with music, Pocket album - thumbnail, Fast scroll, Intelligent photo
Display: 2.2" QVGA 262K TFT scratch resistant crystal bright display
Phone memory: Up to 40 MB
Memory card support: Memory Stick Micro (M2) and SanDisk micro SD/Transflash, 512 MB M2 in box
Phone Functions: Video call, Music tones, Polyphonic ringtones, Speakerphone, Vibrating alert, Picture messaging (MMS), Text messaging (SMS), Predictive text input
Talk time GSM/UMTS: Up to 9 hrs/3 hrs 30 min
Standby time GSM/UMTS: Up to 400 hrs/350 hrs
Video call time (K850i): Up to 3 hrs 20 min
Internet: WAP 2.0 XHTML, Push email, Web browser
Entertainment: Video recording, FM radio, Streaming audio/video, PlayNow 4.0 Media browser, Podcasting (Access NetFront)
Other Features: Navigation key, Picture wallpaper, Java support, Sound recorder, Alarm clock, Calculator, Calendar
Networks: (UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100-GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900)
Size: 102 x 48 x 17 mm
Weight: 118 grams
Colors: Luminous Green / Velvet Blue

» via ITNewsOnline