I've had the iPhone for a few months now, after using Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Phone 7, and Android. Android obviously had excellent integration with Google's services such as GMail and Google Talk. The transition to the iPhone took a little time, but I've gotten a lot of things to work pretty good. One thing I noticed the other day was when I would supposedly delete my emails from my phone, they weren't going into Trash in GMail, instead, they were going into All Mail.

There are a few ways you can setup GMail on the iPhone. You can use the IMAP way, which will basically just give you email, no contacts. You can also set it up as an Exchange account, which will let you sync your email, contacts, and calendars. Here is Google's walkthrough on how to set it up via Exchange.

Now, if you have multiple calendars in GMail that you want to sync, you can visit m.google.com/sync using Safari on your phone, login with your account, then click on your iPhone. You should have a list of your calendars that you can check to sync to your phone.

Now to the point of this article. If you want to actually delete items (move them to trash) instead of archiving them (move them to All Mail), there's another check box on this screen that says "Enable 'Delete Email As Trash' for this device". Check that box and scroll down to save.

Voilà! You're good to go now!

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

Image Credit: Zandog (AG Design)

 Many Infuse owners have been waiting for this day for a long time. The Samsung Infuse 4G was released in May 2011 and was promised to be upgraded to Gingerbread, however the update from AT&T was delayed and the device continued to operate on Android 2.2 through the end of the year. Those who own the device will now benefit from improved copy and paste functionality, a redesigned keyboard, improved power management, a download manager and new widgets. The push is not being sent over-the-air, so users wanting to update will need to download the latest version of Samsung’s Kies Mini to upgrade their devices.

Read

© 2012, tsowen. All rights reserved.

A few weeks ago we reported on the new untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, Greenpois0n Absinthe. Today, they offer an update with some bug fixes. Most of these fixes seem to be with the actual jailbreaking process itself and not with the phone. So if you're already jailbroken, its probably not necessary to re-jailbreak.

The update does the following:
- Mac: added support for OSX 10.5, PPC and Intel CPU
- Added consistency check on startup to make sure required files are in place
- Windows: fixed bug in payload generator that might cause a crash

Source: iMore

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

US Cellular announces their plans for their 4G LTE network today. At launch, it will cover the cities of Milwaukee, Madison and Racine in Wisconsin, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport in Iowa, Portland and Bangor, Maine, Wichita Falls, Texas, Lawton, Oklahoma and Greenville, North Carolina. The first two devices available will be a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a Samsung Galaxy S Aviator. There's no pricing available yet and their LTE network will be launching in March.

Source: Slashgear

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

We've seen these rumors before, but here's another one. Which smartphone will overtake the world by 2015? According to this study, the winner is clearly Android, but then it also shows that Windows Phone 7 will surpass the iPhone, by one-tenth of a percent. This study was done by IHS iSuppli Mobile & Wireless Communications Service.

One of the hottest new products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show was the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone-based smartphone sporting a flashy set of features that makes it competitive with the best alternatives offered by the Android camp,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “This hot product represents Nokia’s first step to reclaim its market share. Combined with Nokia’s efforts to drive the development of the Windows Phone ecosystem, the Lumia 900 and its successors will help Microsoft to reclaim its No. 2 ranking in smartphone operating system market share in 2015.

Source: WPCentral

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

Its been a long wait, but you can now perform an untethered jailbreak for your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 running iOS 5.0 or 5.0.1 using Greenpois0n Absinthe (currently only available when using a Mac).

Click Here for the how-to.

Source: iMore

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

In the next few days, Sprint will be rolling out some updates for these devices. Most are pretty minimal. The "Security Update" could be to remove the controversial CarrierIQ software. Here's what's included in the updates:

HTC Evo 4G
Security Update
Updated Peep client (to align with Twitter)
Battery life improvements

HTC EVO Design 4G
Security Update
Updated Peep and Sprint Zone clients
Battery life improvements
3LM Enterprise Tool Access (no user interface changes)

Samsung Epic 4G
Security update
Speaker feedback fix
The QIK and Asphalt 5 applications are no longer preloaded – when tapping on their icons you will be redirected to the Android market to download them from there.

Source: IntoMobile

© 2012, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.

Today, HP decided to drop an early Christmas present for WebOs loyalists and development. A few month prior things looked bleak for HP after spending $1.2 billion on Palm only to have their Tablets collect dust and carriers refusing to carry their devices.

It almost seemed like an end to WebOS when BesyBuy and other distributors decided to send all their stock of TouchPads back, forcing HP into making the best of it and selling it at a loss on a fire sale. People were able to get their hands on a HP Touchpad for as low as 99$ - 149$ depending on capacity. Even though HP officially discontinued the HP TouchPad they still maintained updates and promised that WebOS would live on.

Still, the future of WebOs seemed uncertain as HP itself seems to have went on to reshuffling, and talks broke out of possibilities of licensing the os, selling to os, or even as far as selling off the entire consumer division of HP. These talks eventually came to an end as HP denied any ongoing effort to sell their divisions but the future of WebOs remained shrouded.

Fast forward to today, HP has finally decided on a course for WebOS, it will now be distributed under an open source license. While certain components of WebOs were always open source like the Linux Kernel which was distributed under the GPL license. HP has yet to announce under which open source license they plan to release the source code.

This effectively moves HP from competing in the iphone's business model to direct competition against Android. HP was quick to point out in the press release though, that they plan to keep a tight grip on licensees to prevent fragmentation.

Personally I think the best start for WebOs would be to include the ability to run Android Applications, this will pave doors open for larger app support until they can build up their own app library.

What do you make of this? Does this put a new interest in webos? Are you already really thinking about porting WebOs to that TP2?

Source

© 2011, gTen. All rights reserved.

Computer scientist from North Carolina State University have discovered a weakness in smartphones running Google’s Android operating system that allows attackers to secretly record phone conversations, monitor geographic location data, and access other sensitive resources without permission.

Devices sold by HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and Google contain code that exposes powerful capabilities to untrusted apps. These “explicit capability leaks” bypass key security defenses built into Android that require users to clearly grant permission before an app gets access to personal information and functions such as text messaging. The code making the circumvention possible is contained in interfaces and services the device manufactures add to enhance the stock firmware supplied by Google.

The researchers wrote in a paper (PDF) scheduled to be presented at next year's Network and Distributed System Security Symposium. “We believe these results demonstrate that capability leaks constitute a tangible security weakness for many Android smartphones in the market today,” said the scientist. “Particularly, smartphones with more pre-loaded apps tend to be more likely to have explicit capability leaks.”

A diagnostic app named Woodpecker was created by the scientist and ran on eight smartphones from the four vendors. The most vulnerable was HTC's EVO 4G device, which was found to leak eight functions, including its precise geographic location finder, camera, text message service, and audio recorder. HTC's Legend came in second with six leaks. Samsung's Epic 4G contained three leaks, including the ability to wipe data and applications off the handset. Google's Nexus One and Nexus S contained one leak.

The researchers found that the manufacturer-supplied enhancements offer a way to circumvent this permissions-based model. In a video demonstration, they show how an app they designed is able to access audio-recording and SMS functions on an EVO 4G without first getting approval from the user. As a result, the app is able to turn on a recorder that collects nearby audio or phone conversations. The app is also able to send unauthorized text messages.
 

 
The researchers said both Google and Motorola have confirmed the vulnerabilities in their handsets, but that HTC and Samsung “have been really slow in responding to, if not ignoring, our reports/inquiries.”

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

A security researcher Trevor Eckhart  has posted a video detailing hidden software installed on smart phones that logs numerous details about users' activities.

In a 17-minute video posted Monday on YouTube, Trevor Eckhart shows how the software – known as Carrier IQ – logs every text message, Google search and phone number typed on a wide variety of smart phones - including HTC, Blackberry, Nokia and others - and reports them to the mobile phone carrier.

 Eckhart showed his findings off first in the XDA Developer Forums. Once his first findings were found by Carrier IQ (again, an app that runs in the background that you may never have known is on your device right this second), they threatened legal action against him. As it turns out thanks to the support from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), Carrier IQ has decided not pursue a lawsuit against TrevE, issuing a statement apologizing for their actions.

“Our action was misguided and we are deeply sorry for any concern or trouble that our letter may have caused Mr. Eckhart. We sincerely appreciate and respect EFF’s work on his behalf, and share their commitment to protecting free speech in a rapidly changing technological world.”

 
When they found that legal threats weren’t going to do them any good, they sent out word to the public that their software does not record keystrokes or other personal information. What we’re to understand today if Eckhard’s findings are true is that this claim was quite simply incorrect.

 On its website, Carrier IQ, founded in 2005, describes itself as "the world's leading provider of Mobile Service Intelligence solutions." Carrie IQ has since issued the following press release:

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Taiwanese phonemaker HTC says its recent poor stock market performances are not "so serious", and points to its plans to release "better and more competitive" handsets for the U.S. market in 2012.

HTC has been facing a double whammy in patent infringement lawsuits and a dwindling of its product competitiveness, sources in the handset industry believe that the pressure to win in terms of product competition is more crucial for HTC.

Many have been concerned of HTC losing its strength after the company last a patent lawsuit to Apple recently and also lowered its revenue guidance for the forth quarter of 2011, pushing its share prices down.

In a recent report published on Monday, it was pointed out that HTC has become the worst performer among its competitors shares this year, with the company's stock falling over 30 percent in the last eight trading sessions alone. The Taiwanese company's chief financial officer, Winston Yung, said the situation is not "so serious".

HTC's ongoing lawsuits will not help the current financial situation either. The company recently said it has no plans to appeal a 2009 ruling that gave IPCom the winning hand in a patent lawsuit. The decision could result in a German injunction against sales of HTC smartphones, which could hurt the Taiwanese company during the holiday season.

HTC is hoping to turn its luck around with the release of two new handsets scheduled for debut at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), next year. The upcoming handsets are reportedly known as the HTC Ville and the HTC Edge.

The HTC Ville is reported to be be thinner than an iPhone measuring in at 8mm thick, with a 4.3" super AMOLED Touchscreen, HTC Sense 4.0, 1.5GHZ dual-core processor, 8 MP camera, HPSA+ network, and a 1,650mAH battery. The handset is expected to launch in April 2012.

Image credit: PocketNow

The HTC Edge is expected and rumored to have a quad-core 1.5GHz NVIDIA processor and expected to be 8mm thin too. Some other features included 4.7" HD S-LCD touchscreen, HD video recording,  720p front-facing camera, Beats Audio, Bluetooth 4.0, 1,800mAH battery and NFC. Because the device is so thin it is rumored to not have a microSD slot. To make up for the lack of a microSD slot the phone is rumored to house 32GB of built-in storage with 1GB of RAM.

Image credit: PocketNow

Many investors still remain skeptical that the Taiwanese company can remain innovative and continue to make phones attractive as it has in the past. "More foreign investors atre still selling HTC as the company doesn't have many bets in hand," Masterlink Investment Advisory vice president Tom Tang told Reuters. "And unlike last time, HTC didn't make a share buyback plan this time."

Since the second half of 2011, HTC has added more elements such as fashion and brand image to its product lineups but has done little to upgrade the hardware specifications of its smartphones. The lineups including HTC Ryhme, HTC Sensation XE and HTC Sensation XL are similar fashion models.

On the other hand, Samsung has been keen in rolling out innovative products. It has knocked out rivals with HD displays, sending competitors also adopting comparable displays. Motorola has decided to purchase Samsung's Super AMOLED panels for its smartphones, and HTC is also expected to follow suit.

HTC also has to further diversify its markets, given that sales generated from North America account for 50% of its total revenues currently.

Only time will tell if HTC can turn this slump around and continue to be one of the leading innovators in the smartphone industry.

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Previous "iPhone 5" mockup based on leaked case designs

Back in October of this year Apple released the iPhone 4S, which too many was a letdown. The media had hyped up the rumored iPhone 5 which was thought to have had a 4 inch display, and much to our surprise Apple stuck with its traditional 3.5 inch display, while other Smartphone manufactures such as Apple’s rivalry Samsung,  are sporting a 4.3" WVGA SUPER AMOLED Plus in their latest devices.

Now less that 2 months after its realse a new set of rumors are floating on the boards today. Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Sony Mobile Display Corp. have reportedly already begun shipping 4-inch displays for the next iPhone and also displays for the iPad 3, slated for release next year, according to MacRumors.

Originally posted by Japanese website Macotakara:

According to Asian source, Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Sony Mobile Display Corporation started to ship 4-inch LCD for new iOS device and LCD for iPad 3. These 2 companies will be merged their business with Toshiba Mobile Display Co., Ltd., as “Japan Display” in 2012 spring.

Let’s just say that we’ll need a little more in the way of evidence before we start pinning our hopes on the iPhone getting a larger display anytime soon. The report doesn't specify which iOS device that the screens would be used for, but the most natural choice would be the next generation iPhone. Apple has been said to be exploring the use of a 4" display for their upcoming iPhone. iLounge previously indicated that the 2012 iPhone would use a 4" display.

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Remember the HTC Chacha (AKA HTC Status sold by AT&T) or the HTC Salsa? Both were supposed to be Facebook phones that were unveiled as the Mobile World Congress in 2001 back in February and both were a complete bust.

According to All Things Digital Facebook is still entertaining the thought of a Facebook phone and this time the new phone has been dubbed ‘Buffy”, after the television vampire slayer, the phone is planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook as tweaked heavily (scary thought) to deeply integrate its services.

Facebook once again has chosen HTC to manufacture the Facebook phone after also considering Samsung. While the idea may sound “cool” to have a Facbook phone I really don’t see the practically of it. I like most readers here do have a Facebook account and I probably spend more time than I should on Facebook but I really don’t see the need to have a phone designed specifically for just Facebook. When I am out-in-about other than checking-in, I rarely open the application on my phone.

If the reports from All Things Digital are correct, Facebook may follow Amazon.com's path in creating its own highly customized version of Android to power the phone. The problem with this strategy is, you lose access to core services of such as the Android Market and Gmail. This may be a moot issue to Facebook who probably consider running its own messaging and e-mail services on the device.

Again, going back to my previous statement, the idea may sound “cool” to have a Facebook powered phone but the practicality of it is not there. I have used HTC’s and Samsung’s integrated Facebook applications that sync my whole address book with Facebook and the outcome is always a huge address book filled with a bunch of people whom I maintain little to no contact with.

The Smartphone business is a very competitive business and with this idea still in development stages meaning we would not see an actual Facebook phone for at least another 12 to 18 months which would allow Google, Apple and Microsoft to leap way ahead in innovations leaving Facebook in the dust. If I were Facebook I would file this idea away and work on better Facebook applications for our devices.

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Thanks to tipster Agent0Hibachi inside our forum we have now learned that some hackers have cracked Siri to work on any device. A group of hackers from Applidium posted a story explaining how they were able to hack Siri to run on any device. Seems Siri uses TCP to communicate back to a server 17.174.4.4 using port 443 (SSL). From a desktop the group realized that the IP address resolved back to a Apple server named “guzzoni.apple.com”. From here the group was able to create a fake guzzoni.apple.com address and tricked Siri into sending commands there instead of Apple’s own server. In the process the group learned that every time you send a command to siri it sends a date and timestamp back to the Apple server. To get the program to run on any device you will need to have one iPhone 4S identifier and some coding know-how. The group of hackers published some tools for future developers to create Siri-enabled applications and have encouraged fellow hacker to continue and  see what they can develop.

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Adobe announced today via their blog that, after the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry Playbook, they will no longer develop Flash Player for mobile devices. Instead they are going to refocus their development efforts to better support the newly adopted HTML5 standard. From their blog:

"Adobe is all about enabling designers and developers to create the most expressive content possible, regardless of platform or technology. For more than a decade, Flash has enabled the richest content to be created and deployed on the web by reaching beyond what browsers could do. It has repeatedly served as a blueprint for standardizing new technologies in HTML.  Over the past two years, we’ve delivered Flash Player for mobile browsers and brought the full expressiveness of the web to many mobile devices.

However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively.  This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms. We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers."

Developers of current Flash sites and applications will be able to be repackage their Flash content using Adobe Air. This is very good news for the industry because, after a period of adoption and transformation, all mobile devices will be able to view all web sites in [nearly] the same fashion. More from Adobe:

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook. We will of course continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations. We will also allow our source code licensees to continue working on and release their own implementations.

Some contribute the recent announcement by Adobe to an open letter that the late Steve Jobs published in April, 2010 entitled "Thoughts on Flash." In that letter Jobs stated that while Flash was a good, marketable choice for Adobe, he believed that they should instead put more effort into adopting a higher degree of HTML5 support.

So what should we think; is Adobe moving ahead or giving into the technology advancements of mobile devices? With these changes coming quickly, does this mean that Apple will sell even more iPads and iPhones, now that Flash will no longer be a factor? Is there any reason that Adobe shouldn't do this? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

© 2011, rainfreak. All rights reserved.

Motorola's new DROID RAZR for Verizon Wireless will be available starting 11:11 a.m. on 11/11/11. The DROID RAZR comes with a price tag of $299.99 with a qualifying two year service agreement. The new RAZR is supported on Verizon's 4G LTE data network and offers a 1.2GHz, dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, and an 8MP cmaera with 1080p video recording, 1800mAh battery advertising 12.5 hours of 3G talk time. The Droid RAZR will be running on Android 2.3.5 and Motorola is putting emphasis on their “Smart Actions” for extended battery life which will allow a user to turn off bluetooth when you get home, underclock the CPU when battery is low, and promises 30% better battery life than devices without it. The razor-thin steel body of the DROID RAZR measures in at just 7.1mm thick.

*****UPDATE*****

Thanks to our folks over at Verizon Wireless they have provided us with an updated link for the "Motorola DROID RAZR" http://www.verizonwireless.com/droid-razr.shtml This URL will take visitors directly to the product, without asking them for zip codes or attempting to set cookies, etc.

VERIZON WIRELESS AND MOTOROLA ANNOUNCE DROID RAZR™ BY MOTOROLA: DROID STRONG. RAZR SHARP.

Impossibly Thin with Unstoppable Power on America’s Fastest and Most Reliable 4G Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Today, Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) and Verizon Wireless announced DROID RAZR™ by Motorola, the world’s thinnest 4G LTE smartphone. A true marvel of design, this smartphone packs strength and smarts into a stylish package offered exclusively from Verizon Wireless.

Measuring 7.1 mm thin, made with KEVLAR® fiber for strength and Corning® Gorilla® Glass for scratch resistance, the DROID RAZR is ready to face the elements. Speed limits are just an illusion with a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and Verizon Wireless 4G LTE. DROID RAZR customers can expect to rip through the Web with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G.

“DROID RAZR by Motorola combines style, performance and the power of Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network into one innovative device,” said Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “These are two iconic brands that separately symbolize the best technology available today. The combination will provide an unsurpassed wireless experience for customers.”

“DROID RAZR by Motorola is a testament to the innovation and design possibilities that stem from a strong partnership between Motorola Mobility and Verizon Wireless,” said Sanjay Jha, Chairman and CEO, Motorola Mobility. “We set out to design the best smartphone on the planet and delivered DROID RAZR which is thinner, smarter, stronger than any device on the market.”

Not only does DROID RAZR by Motorola deliver heart-pounding speed, but it has a mind-bending 4.3-inch hyper-vibrant display with more colors than most LCD HDTVs. The Super AMOLED™ Advanced display with qHD resolution dishes out beautiful images and smooth action so on-the-go movies and TV shows aren’t a blur, whether customers stream from Netflix™ or rent from Android Market™. It’s the first smartphone capable of streaming movies and TV shows through Netflix with up to HD resolution.

DROID RAZR customers can take advantage of the Super AMOLED Advanced display and 4G LTE speeds to stream videos with NFL Mobile, only from Verizon. Fans can stay up to date on news, schedules and scores from their favorite teams on the go. NFL Mobile is included at no additional charge for 4G LTE customers for the remainder of the 2011 season.

If cutting-edge visuals are its beauty, apps on DROID RAZR are its brains. Enter MotoCast™, the free Motorola app that lets you stream or download your music, pictures and more from your PC to your phone. The Smart Actions app helps automate everyday tasks and optimizes battery efficiency by letting customers create rules, such as automatically setting the phone to vibrate during work hours or dimming the display at a specific battery level. The revolutionary webtop application allows customers to combine the device with separately sold accessories, like the Lapdock™ 100 or HD Station, unleashing the power to edit documents and browse the Web with a full Firefox® browser on a larger screen – all while charging the device.

Additional features:
· Powered by Android™ 2.3.5, Gingerbread
· 1 GB RAM for a fast user interface and multi-tasking
· 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p HD video capture and image stabilization technology for crisp and clear videos
· Front-facing HD camera for video chat over 4G LTE, 3G or Wi-Fi
· 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot capable so customers can share 4G LTE speed with up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices
· Water repellent nanocoating protects the phone, and even the inside components, against everyday spills
· Remote wipe, pin lock and government-grade encryption for email, calendar and contacts as well as voice and video chat conferencing
· Use Quickoffice® to view, create and edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on your mobile device from anywhere at anytime
· Bluetooth 4.0 low energy
· 32 GB memory: 16 GB on board and 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed (actual formatted capacity is less)
· Powerful 1780 mAh battery

The DROID RAZR will be available in early November for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement at all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at: www.verizonwireless.com; as well as at authorized retailers. Customers can visit www.droiddoes.com/droidrazr to pre-order DROID RAZR beginning on October 27. For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to http://www.verizonwireless.com/droid-razr.shtml

.

 

 

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

HTC announced today via its Facebook Fan Page that it plans to update a number of its smartphones to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012.

"HTC knows how excited our fans are to get their hands on Google's latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, so we're thrilled today to announce the first wave of HTC phones that will receive upgrades.

Ice Cream Sandwich is coming in early 2012 to a variety of devices including the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, as well as the HTC Rezound*, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G* and HTC Amaze 4G* through close integration with our carrier partners.

We're continuing to assess our product portfolio, so stay tuned for more updates on device upgrades, timing and other details about HTC and Ice Cream Sandwich.

*US handsets"

Source: HTC Facebook Page

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

Yup, you heard that right. LightSquared took to the stage this wendsay during the Open Mobile Summit to outline their goals going forward as a national provider of 4G LTE service.

“We want to be the dumbest wireless broadband pipe. No intelligence in our network. None. Zero.” said  LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja in his keynote address.

Effectively Lightsquared is distancing themselves from every player in the mobile industry that tries to monetize their income by charging you ridiculous prices for exactly the same thing. Instead they seek to become a utility company that provides unrestricted data via LTE.

Now of course there is a possibility this claim is done to garner more popular support for them in their never ending debacle with claims of GPS interference. But any cell phone enthusiast can't disagree that if this come to be, it will be like a dream come true.

What do you think?

[Source]

© 2011, gTen. All rights reserved.

As an IT Security Professional and a Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH) one thing I have noticed is malware is on the rise. The complexity and the growth of malware have more than just tripled in the last six months. What we have witnessed and will be witnessing is a change in the threat landscape. Clever new ways have cropped up to compromise new devices of which, fake antivirus are on the rise and password stealing malware are showing a sudden surge in the level of activity. Their ability to adapt to avoid detection is one aspect that needs to be taken into consideration.

Smartphone malware is hardly a new concept, but the tools being used by hackers to crack smartphones are new and more clever than ever. As apps developed for phones become more platform neutral (able to operate on android, windows 7 etc and able to run HTML, XML, Flash etc), there is increased likelihood that web-based worms will rise up and start to be more of an issue as the hosts which they can spread to become more numerous.

The SpyEye hacker application is but one example. SpyEye seeks to intercept bank issued SMS codes (for the purposes of online banking) and redirect them to the hacker without the knowledge of the phone’s owner. SpyEye which is often installed unknowingly by a user when they download other apps. Quite often it sits dormant, waiting for the right flags to be triggered before engaging. Infosecland.com recently reported that:

“SpyEye is known to be one of the more powerful data-sniffing Trojans ever developed, and the release of the source code means the likelihood that there will be a dramatic increase in its application is a very real scenario”

McAfee Q2 2011 Threats Report Shows Significant Growth for Malware on Mobile Platforms

Report Shows Record Growth for Malware and Rootkits; Major Hacktivist Activity

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–McAfee today released the McAfee Threats Report: Second Quarter 2011, showing that the amount of malware targeted at Android devices jumped 76 percent since last quarter, to become the most attacked mobile operating system. 2011 has also resulted in the busiest ever first half-year in malware history, including a first-ever appearance of Mac fake AV and a significant uptick in rootkits, suggesting that McAfee’s comprehensive malware “zoo” collection will reach a record 75 million samples by the year’s end.

“This year we’ve seen record-breaking numbers of malware, especially on mobile devices, where the uptick is in direct correlation to popularity”

“This year we’ve seen record-breaking numbers of malware, especially on mobile devices, where the uptick is in direct correlation to popularity,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “Overall attacks are becoming more stealth and more sophisticated, suggesting that we could see attacks that remain unnoticed for longer periods of time. High-profile hacktivist groups have also changed the landscape by drawing a line between attacks for personal gain and attacks meant to send a message.”

The report also details specific activity shaping the way cybercriminals operate, such as cybercrime “pricebooks” that determine the going rate for large email address lists, and acts of hacktivism and cyberwar.

2011 On Track to Reach Record “Malware Zoo”

With an approximate 12 million unique samples for the first half of 2011, a 22 percent increase over 2010, this has been the busiest first half-year in malware history. With the addition of Q2’s numbers, the grand total of total malware samples in McAfee’s database has reached approximately 65 million, and McAfee researchers estimate that this “Malware Zoo” will reach at least 75 million samples by the year’s end.

Android Nabs Top Spot for Most Mobile Malware

With the vast amount of personal and business data now found on user’s mobile phones, mobile malware is steadily increasing, often mimicking the same code as PC-based threats. In the second quarter of 2011, Android OS-based malware surpassed Symbian OS for the most popular target for mobile malware developers. While Symbian OS and Java ME remain the most targeted to date, the rapid rise in Android malware in Q2 indicates that the platform could become an increasing target for cybercriminals – affecting everything from calendar apps, to comedy apps to SMS messages to a fake Angry Birds updates.

Fake Anti-Virus for Apple, Rootkits and Stealth Malware Reach New Terrain

There are more Mac users than ever before, and as organizations increasingly adopt Macs for business use, Apple now has become more a target for malware authors. Though historically the Apple platform has been unaffected by fake anti-virus (fake AV) software, activity in Q2 indicates that it is now being affected. Although this type of fake AV is the first of its kind, McAfee Labs does expect fake AV in general will drop off over time.

Another malware category that is demonstrating recent steady growth is stealth malware. The tactic of hiding malware in a rootkit is used by cybercriminals to make malware stealthier and more persistent, and has seen this type of attack gain in prominence over the past year, with high-profile attacks such as Stuxnet. Stealth malware has increased more rapidly in the last six months than in any previous period, up almost 38 percent over 2010.

Acts of Hacktivism and Cyberwar Make Their Mark

Acts of hacktivism, primarily from the groups Anonymous and LulzSec, were among some of the most prominent cyber news generators for Q2. The report details hacktivist activity from Q2, with at least 20 global attacks reported in Q2 alone, and with the majority allegedly at the hands of LulzSec. The report also outlines acts of cyberwar that occurred in Q2, including attacks on United States’ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and an attack on South Korea’s National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.

Email “Black Market” for Spammers

Though spam is still at historic low levels, due in part to the Rustock takedown, McAfee Labs still expects to see a sharp rise in activity over the coming months. A common method for cybercriminals to increase their volume of spam activity is to purchase a bulk list of emails in order to flood as much spam as possible to a widespread group of people. Whether it’s a botnet or a rental service, prices vary for such enterprises, often by location. For instance, in the United States, the going rate for 1 million emails is $25, whereas in England 1.5 million emails are worth $100.

For more information on trends related to hacktivism, cyberwar, web threats and malware, please download a full copy of the McAfee Threats Report: Second Quarter 2011 at http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-quarterly-threat-q2-2011.pdf

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.

At this point, if you’re like me you probably have lost track of who is suing who over what. Everyone wants to be king and claim, “I thought of it first. It’s mine I tell ya, ALL MINE!” Can’t we all just be cool like a bunch of Fonzie’s?

Currently Samsung is suing Apple Inc., claiming that the iPhone 4S is infringing on three patents. Samsung’s Legal team has formally requested to see the iPhone 4S source code (are they for real?), and its agreement with carriers to determine whether Apple is in violation of Samsung patents.

Apple is accusing Samsung of “slavishly copying” its iPad and iPhone designs, stating the Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II has the “look and feel” of Apple’s product. This argument has resulted in the temporary banning the same of the Galaxy Tablet.

Your guess is as good as mine as to how this story will play out. Unless Samsung has some hefty proof of copyright infringement I doubt a judge is going to order Apple to hand over its source code for the iPhone 4S.

© 2011, tsowen. All rights reserved.