Well it has been nearly five weeks since I moved home and tried to get an internet connection sorted.

Why such a large delay? Well I blame it on BT who go and blame the late arrival of Mr engineer on the feral underclass that blighted our UK city centres a few weeks ago….I still struggle to see how a South Yorkshire BT engineer is affected by London’s, Birmingham’s and Manchester’s social problems but what do I know.

So how did I survive and still manage to bring you such amazing articles without the internet at hand?

Simple. Initially one amazing feature of my new Samsung Galaxy S2 and secondly my Partners second hand iPhone I gave her…and what did I do with these clever little devices?…Tethering baby!

Using my Samsung S2:

For the Samsung I downloaded a great application called PdaNet which while in trial mode (14 days) allowed me full access to the internet using my o2 data allowance.

Using an Apple iMac I simply set up the device to run via USB tether and once installed on both my mac and Samsung I simply connect and enjoy amazingly fast speeds (actually faster than my new copper wire that arrived today.

What did happen however was that on the 14th day I was unable to login to my bank as usual. Perplexed as to why as I knew my data allowance was still ok’ish, it took me a while to realise that using the USB method stopped the PdaNet application gaining access to https:// sites, so I could not login to other secure sites to do important work…drat!…Solution?

I was able to take advantage of another great feature of the Samsung S2 and simply go to “settings” – “wireless and network” – “tethering and portable hotspots” – “portable Wi-Fi-hotspot settings” – “portable Wi-Fi hotspot”. This allowed my device to become a internet breathing connection that offered the same speeds as my tethered up application….great

Using my partners iPhone:

Using the iPhone you simply go to settings and set the phone to tether, and then being on an iMac its as easy as picking the new portable internet device…no messing at all.

Downside:

You never realise how much data you use until it costs a premium, I was running at around 500mb minimum a day, and this was me being a lot more careful. So one issue I had was that I simply had to keep buying more data up until the point where I had maxxed out my extra data options in the “bolt on” area of o2 and was left option-less for the last six days.

How did the articles keep a coming then?

iPhone and T-mobile to the rescue, thanks to my partners much better value SIM only deal from T-mobile, I was able to wait until she got home from her work to use her phone which offered “unlimited” data (until it said she had used 80% of her fair use policy)

How can carriers still get away with saying “unlimited” when it is nowhere near such a thing, perhaps a 1-2 GB allowance at most?

So anyway this is how I have managed to stay in touch, keep writing articles and almost carry on as usual without a traditional landline/modem connection.

Though one interesting area came to my attention while I was tethering away, especially in the early days of being without a connection, and that was wow! This mobile data is fantastic; fast, simple to connect, and no wonder o2 did not want to offer me much more data as it would seriously make me wonder about their internet service they wanted to sell and obviously anyone else’s.

They must be all in this together as I keep going on about how things will change once a company offers excellent data packages for mobile devices. Then it is Skype, Fring, Gmail chat, social networks and browsing the Internet all the way and sod off to the old carriers who have robbed us blind for so long!

But for now I have to say a bit of a thank you to o2, I feel you should offer me more data when I offer to pay for it and not when it suits you, but you saved my ass for a while and in all honesty the service was just as fast as my new copper connection.

I did waste £3 on a 1 hour BT openzone connection when all else had failed in the last few days and I desperately needed to send some emails from home during the day, but please be warned, do not go for this unless you are getting huge bars, mine looked OK but my connection was actually slower than my “limited” o2 service that had been restricted after all the data was used….essentially it was utterly useless.

BT you suck big time and have for many many years.

iPhone 8 price

So how much will the iPhone 8 cost in your country? It seems that the figures currently going around suggest that the prices will be as so for the US, UK and Australia:

iPhone 8 64GB: £699, $699 and AU$1,079

iPhone 8 256GB: £849, $849 and AU$1,329

iPhone 8 design

• All‑new glass design, aluminum frame, water and dust resistant
• Similar look to the iPhone 7, with bezels and home button

As often is usual with iPhone updates there are welcome upgrades in materials and design/features as well as general enhancements in areas like audio quality.

Sound is improved with stereo speakers offering 25% increase in volume and a deeper overall bass quality. Again no headphone jack like on the Phone 7 offered.

Optional colours include:

Silver, gold and space grey.

Size: A little taller in size at 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mmhich could mean that older cases for the iPhone 7 may not fit even though only a fractional size increase.

Weight: 10g heavier than the iPhone 7.

iPhone 8 power

• Brand new A11 Bionic chipset
• GPU provides 70% faster graphics over iPhone 7

A brand new processor going by the name f the A11 Bionic Processor will mean that you get between 20-70% faster processing that the iPhone 7 A10 processor..

iPhone 8 display

• 4.7-inch Retina HD display

Perfect to not stray into the dodgy Phablet territory, the 4.7 inch display as seen on the iPhone 7 means that it’s a manageable size for many people and a nice balance of screen real estate v’s usability and portability.

Improved display:

The Retina HD display has been upgraded and has better colour accuracy and a wider gamut.

And with 3D touch offering pressure sensitive methods of using the phone, the True Tone Technology in the iPhone 8 will also adjust yoru screen colours for the lighting conditions you are in when you use the device.

In term of screen size, you will still get the same 1334 x 750 resolution, so no true HD action still on Apple’s 4.7-inch handset, which will give you a 326ppi pixel density.

iPhone 8 battery

• Wireless charging support
  
• An additional cost for the charging pad technology

With a fast charge options giving you 50% charge after only 30 minutes coming in hand on days wen you need to travel and use the phone a lot and can access a power point.

Wireless charging:

With the glass back offering the wireless charging option, this is technology that will be welcomed and we see growing in popularity as time goes by so no need for clumsy cables and dodgy ports.

You will need the Qi wireless charging pad however to use that feature

iPhone 8 camera features and updates

• 12MP rear facing camera
• 4K video at 60fps
• 1080p slo-mo video at 240fps

With increased light this allows for a better dynamic range and low light quality as well as reduced noise in general.

With the camera upgrade Apple has also allowed the video feature to capture at 4K with 60FPS footage and the ever cool slow-mo footage at 240FPS which is twice as slow as the iPhone 7. SO watch out for some cool videos to emerge of stuff going BOOM!

The front facing camera is pretty cool also at the same 7MP from the iPhone7 which as we know is perfect for FaceTime and selfies.

Summary:

All in all we see a capable increase in features and a worthy investment over the Phone 7 but only just!

With the news that yet another malware infected application has hit the Android marketplace, we ask what the hell does a malware infected app look like and what are developers hoping to achieve by letting unwitting smartphone owners install such applications?

So how do you get a nasty app on your phone in the first place?

Most of the time users will be downloading a “repackaged” application. One that looks like another legitimate app but simply masquerades convincingly as this while actually being a nasty bit of stuff. This graphic shows the most recent repackaged apps that have plagued and infected the android marketplace and mobile devices of late:

The prize most malware developers are aiming for:

As with most blood sweat and tears, the reasons for the effort in the first place is usually monetary gain, but how can you monetize an infected app?

Simple, with the help of graphics from a mobile security firm called Lookout who specialise in stopping malware, viruses and loss and theft related to smartphones and mobile devices.

Here are the top methods explained:

Malvertising

Simply put this is where an application offers seemingly legitimate in app advertising to cover its free cost, but in reality clicking that link will cause the application to infect your device….they are not necessarily free apps though.

This graphic shows how this would work on a mobile device.

Spyware

Spyware is designed to use or collect data without a user’s knowledge or approval. This may include targeting a users call history, location, their browsing history, text messages etc and will be other targeted at an organization or individual(s) or non-targeted in a scatter gun approach where the developer of the spyware hopes for as much information as possible from a large set of people.

Not all spyware is bad, some parents use it to track their children to make sure they are safe based on location spyware.

In the event of nasty spyware, the developer may be selling the data obtained or be doing it for an unscrupulous business or person, or like in many hacker cases, simply making a point and exposing security flaws (often in search of a job!)

Malware

This is essentially software designed to engage in nasty behaviour on an infected mobile device.

Ways in which malware can manifest itself include: Remote control of a device, sending unsolicited texts and racking up huge bulls unknown to the owner are some of the ways that malware can be an issue if it finds itself on your mobile device.

Malware can also be used to steal sensitive information such as personal details that could lead to identify fraud or financial loss.

Privacy Threats

These could be within applications that you agree to legal contracts with but do put your privacy under threat when location based services are taken into account. These may not be illegal at all.

How to stay malware safe on your mobile device:

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• Only download apps that are trusted and have some history of trust associated with them, (its easy to set a site up with fake reviews) but less likely if their are multiple reviews form trusted sites.
• Set passwords for your devices.
• Check links go to where you expect and report or abort ones that do not.
• Keep firmware updated.
• Do not trust the Android marketplace as most of the recent nasty apps that have been found have been downloadable from here.
• Be wary of Jailbreaking your iPhone which can leave your generally safe Apple device open to malware and infected applications, or in Android world allowing “sideloading” on your Android device, where you can download apps from other markets, though why we are telling you this in the Android case is unclear when their own marketplace is riddled continually with malware!

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Estimated mobile malware infection rates globally in 2011:

As you can see from the graphic above the rise of malware is starting to really present issues in such a new marketplace, I wonder if things need to be done quick in the Android case in order to stop fear and doubt spreading quickly?

For the first time ever US mobile users spend more time using Apps than accessing the Internet from traditional means such as browsers.

Convenience and user experience are reasons that apps are blazing ahead of traditional Internet use…but why?

Delivery

Similar to the way e-books have now surpassed traditional printed book sales. The key differentiators and drivers have been a new method of delivery and experience; in this case the trusted e-reader allows convenience and a more functional method of use when reading books on the go.

In the case of apps:

Quite simply it is easier and again functional to click a button (rather than type in a URL) and the benefits in the case of social networks and news ad games is a quicker load time, an optimised experience and quicker access to the desired application.

This shift relates to usability and is a natural progression when users are given easier options of access.

Games and Social Networks:

Games

Looking at the chart we can clearly see that Games take sup close to 50% of all consumers time, with one third using Social Networks, when combined the total reaches approximately 80% of total app time, with users of these categories using them more frequently and for longer.

This result is predictable when both categories currently offer the most engaging experience on mobile phones.

Social networking:

With Facebook being used by such large quantities of people are such long periods of time, we wonder just what will happen with the HTML5 based “Project Spartan” which aims to allow Facebook users access to apps from within the browser, this sounds like a very clear tactics to dominate use even further.

This space is likely to see three major players dominate, Google, Apple and we predict Facebook in time.

What are your thoughts on apps?

Do you prefer them over the Internet for browsing news and playing games….or is a traditional web page a preference for news or indeed your gaming desires?

But the question I have is how come we are all not simply getting a mobile internet connection, and a device that can ACTUALLY do multitasking properly and sticking our fingers up to our mobile/wireless phone networks and all getting accounts with Skype and leaving this application running full time when we want to be contacted or call out?

Skype has a rival.

Having been a big lover of Skype of many years I can safely say something has happened in the VOIP arena that has change my relationship over the last 12 months.

Namely Google talk:

And as a user of Gmail along with many of my contacts, this has become the de-facto way to communicate ad hoc….why?

I am usually available as I like to check mail through the day and it is simply open in a tabbed interface on my browser….

Similar to multitasking, if I hear that familiar call tone I simply flip to my Gmail tab and see who it is.

Interestingly both products are totally free for end to end users on the same application and in the case of Google is offered as a loss leader to compliment their other cloud based applications that now come in subscription form.

Gmail more of a beast in the US than Europe:

I understand that Gmail has aggressively marketed the talk/chat service more in the US.

And also provides a free phone number to users as well as offering free calls to landlines as well as mobiles via its application so long as they are numbers in the US and you are also in the US making the connection.

In the case of Skype (newly acquired by Microsoft) revenue is generated by selling ancillary services/products and enhancements such as a Skype to go number or cheap minutes, that can be used to call numbers globally at reduced rates.

List of alternative free VOIP services and chat clients that allow phone or video calls:

Fring – VOIP (Chat Client)

With 1 Million new users a month reported in 2010 and over 91,000 apps downloads in its first 24 hours on Apples App store; Fring is a great VOIP chat client, giving you the option of bringing in many various chat accounts into one convenient application while your mobile.

Fring also allows you to connect using various accounts with the more basic Instant messaging (IM) applications for Windows live, Yahoo messenger, Twitter, AIM and ICQ.

Voice chat test:

Tested on a Samsung S2 over Wi-Fi, using Google chat/talk, was a relatively decent experience.

Fring: Watch this space:

There is a good chance that Fring could be on to something with the way they have brought in a decent client that integrates so many communication options into the mobile arena….watch this space!

iCall – VOIP

Visit: iCall

When trialled, this was not the best experience at all, but worth trying on a Windows machine as I suspect it was a conflict with Apple and the software it provides.

Summary:

iCall for the web lets you make free 3-minute phone calls to anywhere in the US or Canada.

iCall web phone gives you free calls by VoIP and is the most popular free call calling service on the planet. Free phone calls are finally here and brought to you by iCall.

Devices that iCall currently works on:

[arrowlist]

• Windows desktop
• iPhone
• Browser (tested and not very usable, though was on a Mac)

[/arrowlist]

Tuitalk – VOIP

Visit: Tuitalk

An interesting option for Global calls with limits based on the location you are seeking to connect with:

Tuitalk works similar to EvaPhone. But they require you to download their application in order to make calls:

Summary:

Tuitalk lets allows you to make free phone calls to around 40 countries. Each country in which you make your free phone call is limited to a certain number of minutes per call and per day. For most countries, your free Internet phone call can be six minutes in length.

Before your free call with Tuitalk is connected, you have to watch several seconds of a high-quality video advertisement.

Devices that currently work:

[arrowlist]

• Windows PC
• Windows phone
• iPhone

[/arrowlist]

So will mobile network providers have to change what they offer as more and more people value Internet data over minutes?

While I am sure none of the lesser known VOIP companies is going to be a threat to the likes of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or 02 etc.

Current experience leaves a lot to be desired:

The problem with most of the current VOIP offerings is they do not work as well as you would like on Smartphones.

Using my Samsung S2 I have to go through the Fring client currently in order to bring in my Gmail account as the Gmail talk facility for Android is not yet available on the S2 but on devices that support Google talk the application is seemingly superior to Apples “facetime” due to the ability to run on 3G, 4G and wi-fi.

This looks like it will change soon though.

How does it work?

Not bad, but far from good, though the Skype version did work quite well while out and about.

A question does pose itself…

If you can create a business model that works so the consumer has to pay nothing but their connection fee to a wireless network how do you justify the hefty prices that many networks charge for a mediocre connection and a handset.

Surely the handset is the only real value in the deal…..and the problem that huge networks may face is that Smart Phones will become common place in a couple of years!

What are your experiences of using VOIP technology, have you seen a shift to this type of communication over mobile phones in the last few year as much as I have?

A Russian anti virus vendor has alerted the mac community that Apple Mac’s are far from immune to security issues as the site Dr.Web claims that over 550,000+ computers are now infected with a Trojan horse that apple have finally patched up last week.

*note the advice is to update your O/S now.

The Trojan which goes by the name of: “BackDoor.Flashback.39 trojan,” is easily installed onto unsuspecting macs.

The article on Dr.Web goes on to state:

“Systems get infected after a user is redirected to a bogus site from a compromised resource or via a traffic distribution system, JavaScript code is used to load a Java-applet containing an exploit. Dr. Web’s virus analysts discovered a large number of Web sites containing the code.”

Mainly North American Mac PC’s affected:

It would appear that close to 80% of computers that are affected are from North America with the U.S at (56%) and Canada at (20%) and the UK coming in at around 13%. Most other countries such as Japan and Australia as well as the rest of Europe are suspected to have infection rates below 1%.

How this Trojan works:

With most affected websites coming under the .nu domain (that famous island of “Niue” of course) and with URL’s spanning many niches and interests but often related to movies and TV streaming services, there is a chance that you could be among the victims.

The Trojan works by saving an executable file (an application I assume, rather than a notorious .exe file which would not work on a mac)….onto the hard drive of the affected mac, this is used to download a nasty payload from a remote server which then launches the application.

But, I hear you say, Macs are much safer than Windows PC’s as they have a barrier of protection via a password layer that needs to be input prior to any new software being installed.

Well passwords are great, but if you are unsuspecting then you are likely to simply input this especially now that so many believe that Apple devices are somehow impenetrable to Trojans and such like.

Here is an explanation as to how the password issue is addressed with this Trojan:

“Whether or not the user inputs the administrator password, the malware will attempt to infect the system, though entering the password will affect how the infection is done.”

I am slightly unclear as to what the different outcomes are but that is all I could find on the password issue.

How do we know the figures of infection?

Using sinkhole technology Dr.Web managed to redirect the botnet traffic to their own servers to count affected macs, and this is what they discovered:

Work out if you’re infected:

Using “terminal”, F-Secure have released a set of instructions that should help mac owners find out of they have been compromised by this Trojan and hopefully remove it.

Infection rate put in doubt:

IT security consultant Adrian Sanabria has stated that he is not convinced by the data that Dr.Web have put forward on his blog stating:

“So far, I haven’t seen any other reports numbering the victims of Flashback, but if accurate, such a large infection rate on Macs may change common perception of OS X as ‘virus-proof’ and could result in a spike in Mac antivirus software sales.”

Motivation of commercialism could be telling?

Mr Sanabria went on to say:

“However, given that the company reporting these numbers is in the business of selling antivirus software, I think we need to see their claims corroborated before we get too excited,”

As far as I am concerned, whatever the true figures are I can see that Mac’s will come under more scrutiny from hackers and malware creators for the simple fact that Mac’s are growing in popularity and owners are a bit slack on security due to a perceived invincibility to this kind of attack.

As this case highlights, all it takes is someone to offer you a crappy TV streaming service that requires an application to be installed, or such like, and many Mac owners will simply go ahead and forget that they could be installing something more nasty, as in this case it seems.

What do you think of the Mac Trojan issue, do you still feel that Mac’s are more secure or is this a time bomb ticking away with more nasty surprises on the horizon?

Tablets must be at least 7 inches to be considered a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 measures 8 inches which puts it on the smaller end of its class. However, many gamers are thrilled with its dimensions as it makes it much easier to carry with them. The display is much larger than a smartphone for enjoying online casino games. The display’s resolution is an impressive 1280 x 800 display. An Android product, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 runs on the Android operating system. It comes with the 4.2 version, also known as Jelly Bean. Many gamers prefer Android for the number of gaming apps. Also, most online casinos have special Android versions of their site to work optimally with these devices.

The best tablets for gaming have a speedy processor. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 doesn’t disappoint here either. Equipped with the 1.5 GHz Exynos 4212 dual core processor, the Galaxy Tab 3 doesn’t have to worry about sluggish performance which can really be a problem when playing on sites such as http://www.gamingclub.com/au/online-roulette Battery life is also important to permit gamers to play on the go. The battery life of this device is approximately 11 hours.

Now what do we have hear? Apple’s Siri, espousing the virtues of their Nordic rival Nokia, in the shape of the Lumia 900 series, yes it appears that Siri has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that the sleek but rather boring (app wise) Nokia Lumia is king of the smartphones.

According to a report on Ubergizmo and using the data and statistics based search engine Wolfram Alpha to help determine the answers the shock reply appears to be that Siri loves Nokia Lumias, so what next for Siri?

I prefer it when it appears to have no idea what the average Scotsman has to say, and would rather hear it blurt out profanities at some smug apple loving schmuck in all honesty, but if it wants to seemingly poo on itself also, who am I not to have a good laugh.

*caveat, I genuinely and rather ironically have never seen Siri used in real!

What do you Apple iPhone 4s owners think of this, can you prove that this does in fact happen, and do you, more importantly, agree if it does in fact hold true?

One such feature is RIM’s BlackBerry financial wallet, which is now available to the public on any BlackBerry device that is compatible with the latest BlackBerry OS 7. The wallet app is designed to speed up the checkout process for mobile purchases by keeping track of financial and banking information.

For example, the app can remember card numbers, billing information and delivery addresses, in addition to login information and reward schemes for retail websites. Since the invention of Internet commerce, companies have worked to develop and improve the process of electronic payment to be as seamless as possible: no cash, no coins, no filling out checks, no typing, and no storing credit card numbers.

“Mobile commerce is beyond the mobile wallet and there is a tremendous opportunity for brands to go beyond the buyer/supplier relationship,” O’Neill said. “Brands can now have a holistic view of the customer and serve them in an entirely new way, offering rich context based experiences.”

And RIM is not the first company to pick up on mobile commerce. Google also has a wallet app similar to the BlackBerry Wallet and other big name companies such as eBay, Apple, Visa and MasterCard are advancing their digital wallets in hopes of nabbing a share of the soon-to-be lucrative market. With these advancements, smartphone users—no matter what service provider—will be better able to handle spontaneous purchases and frequent online shopping.

O2 has branched out further into the provision of free advertising funded wi-fi by signing a five year deal with McDonalds to provide the free internet access in tehir 1,200 UK restaurants, users will have to sign up initially via a straight forward procedure and will then be able to access the service from the participating restaurants UK wide and any other O2 Wi-Fi hotspot.

The fact that users will primarily be signing up with their mobile devices means that their will be some advertising funded occasional promotional messages and texts to fund this offer.

“O2 announced its Wi-Fi rollout in January of 2011, along with an advertising-supported model that requires users to sign up with their mobile phone numbers to receive “relevant, timely content”.

Wi-Fi on the go:

McDonald’s had introduced free Wi-Fi back in 2007 working with The Cloud and BT Openzone, but teh fast fodo chain wants to promote a nationwide network of free and high speed wi-fi access poinst at their restairants.

Gavin Franks, managing director of O2 Wi-Fi.

“This announcement builds on the significant partnerships already secured by O2 Wi-fi in the past 12 months, enabling millions of people the length and breadth of the UK to access the internet for free whilst on the move,”

This new partnership builds on existing relationships that O2 have fostered with large UK businesses and councils such as House of Fraser, Mitchells and Butler (pub chain) and The Borough of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

McDonald’s hopes that the O2 deal will raise network quality above what they currently expect, and with some 750,000 patrons regularly logging on, there does need to be some consideration to the future capacity as these figures are growing.

McDonald’s UK IT director Mark Fabes states:

“Recent figures showed that a staggering 750,000 McDonald’s customers are logging on in our restaurants each month and we are always looking for ways to improve our customer experience,”.

Source: TechWeekEurope

In an interview with Mike Grebennikov from Migrate2Mobile.com we learn more about the company that he runs and how they are looking to work with partners globally on areas that mobile technology can help businesses and marketers perform better in.

Adopting a thoroughly modern approach to business Mike has been involved in global technology outsourcing for many years, he now sees the real benefit of having links to this sector but is focused on results based actions rather than following the herd and outsourcing to more and more people who know little about your company with negligible returns.

Migrate2Mobile.com adopt the best of both worlds.

If you are interested in talking with Mike about potential consultancy work or collaborations on projects please contact him on:

sales@migrate2mobile.com

1-866-535-3757 (US)

01305 773996 (UK)

It has been a touch few years for Blackberry who have failed to commercialize their devices and operating system beyond the business community and a few thousand anarchic UK rioters.

So with the terrible two seemingly gone from the top, how are Blackberry going to emerge now that they have had a little time to reflect on the future?

The answer to that seems to be that they will focus on their core corporate clients and turn their back for now on trying to muscle in on consumer orientated Apple and Android markets.

Reality has set in at RIM:

In the statement yesterday, the spokesperson also stated that the would be looking to partner with other technology providers in software and other areas that will allow RIM to move quicker and more cost effectively into areas that the are less experienced in.

CEO at RIM Thorsten Heins said:

“We can’t do everything ourselves, but we can do what we’re good at,”.

Build on strengths:

Heins said a turnaround required “substantial change.”

“We believe that BlackBerry cannot succeed if we tried to be everybody’s darling and all things to all people…therefore, we plan to build on our strength.”

With a huge strategic review underway at research in motion, the new RIM will see a fair few stalwarts of the company who were there at the beginning leave in various ways.

Co-CEOs Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were replaced by Heins after they had recently lost the company tens of billions of dollars on their share value.

Along with the demise of the CEO’s David Yach the chief technology officer for software and Jim Rowan, chief operating officer for global operation are also leaving.

But business world demand iPhones and Android:

There is a major issue that RIM face right now and that is if there new version of the blackberry operating system, Blackberry 10 does not offer the option of running third part apps, then their new software could once again prove problematic as the shift is already underway and I would imagine that the longer this sea change occurs the harder it will be for corporations to justify yet another change back to a new device and O/S when so much is at stake during such a migration.

Apple alone sold some 37 million iPhones in the last three months of 2011, which is 3x more than what RIM shipped in the last three quarters combined.

And with the Playbook flopping despite being hailed as a good quality device, you can see that the path out for RIM is going to be uphill and more than likely take a few wrong turns on the way.

So how long can RIM take to bring about the change that is needed?

Well RIM shares have seen a decline last year of quite a significant margin, but the ship does seem to have stabilized some what since then.

With Net loss at around $125 million for the fourth fiscal quarter, this is an obvious loss, but not as much as the nearly $1 billion hit ($934 million) they took a year ago.

And revenue has fallen short of expectations at some $4.2 billion from $5.6 billion. This has been reflected in the share price with RIM shares falling by 33 cents to $13.40 which see a 2.4% drop.

Do you want to learn more about how mobile marketing?

We interview Bil Kakis of Elephant Mobile who offers a deeply insightful look into the mobile marketing landscape where we touch on QR codes for small and large businesses, NFC, Rich media mobile, and SMS marketing, plus many other areas of great inters to modern marketeers.

Watch and learn if your are into mobile marketing!

And please do share the knowledge, you know its right!

*Sorry about the crap lip sync….I am blaming call recorder for mac….crap!

Need further help or advice on mobile marketing?

So what are your thoughts on mobile marketing? Have you done any trials or are you just dipping your foot in to the mobile arena.

If you want any advice or help please contact Bill at Elephant Mobile on: 888-766-8882

There would appear to be a magic figure that Apple want all iPads to be able to deliver and that is 10 hours use of their tablets on a single charge.

So how do you ensure that this desirable 10 hour figure stays the same when the new version of the iPad will offer 4G LTE (a notorious battery drainer) and a densely packed 3 million pixel high definition screen consuming power via quad core graphics processing?

One answer would obviously be to put in a bigger battery, but when you have got a product that is selling like hotcakes and has no reason to reinvent itself, why on earth would you redesign a winning formula to accommodate a bigger battery. Even though the new iPad is heavier and slightly larger it is hardly a full redesign.

The other would be to reduce the overall power consumption by redesigning the chip architecture.

New battery technology ensures great performance:

But the answer for Apple has come from working on the battery itself and this has resulted in an iPad 3 battery that has nearly double the capacity of the iPad 2 battery meaning you get a whipping 42Wh in teh iPad 3 compared to to only 25Wh in the iPad 2 which from my tests on wi-fi and general use is hardly a poor battery anyway.

This when measured in milliamps means that the new iPad 3 will offer 11,666 mAh compared to the iPad 2’s 6944 mAh, so almost double.

But, like we have mentioned prior, the iPad 2 is considerably less power hungry on the screen side and also with the 4G LTE option that the new iPad 3 will offer, so Apple had to do something.

So what is going on in this battery to make it so powerful without the associated weight and size growth that it would seem to need?

Apple battery labs are hard at work:

Until we see the final product and get some wise ass to do a “teardown” we can not fully say, but, it appears that Apple’s battery laboratories have been hard at work testing new technology and improving the power of their Li-ion cells, and with the battery world in serious need of a catch up to keep up with new mobile technology that is so power hungry, could Apple have found more technology with which to sue every other company who tries to take a bite.

Are you happy with your iPad battery life currently and how do you think they will manage to pull this off when the new device will be so power hungry?

Well good people the day has arrived when you can get yourself the brand new Ice Cream Sandwich Update for the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Or has it?

As Samsung seem to have gone back on their word and dismissed told Korean twitter followers that the 10th of March release date is not valid.

Other news related to the release of the highly anticipated ice cream sandwich update for the s2 have also been dismissed as a mistake from the Israeli Samsung Facebook page.

Android a bit of a mess:

Android is hardly a new operating system but at the same time it is far from a relic. But what Android is managing to do with aplomb is alienate various device owners who feel cheated when their own perfectly capable devices are not quickly furnished with new variants of the Android operating system based on.

Fragmentation is forcing people to go back to Apple or consider Windows for that more unified and safe feeling you get from a steady roll out schedule for new operating systems, and I can understand that mentality totally.

I am torn between the Apple and Android on my next update, which has to be a bad thing when the whole Android eco-system could have swallowed me up over 2 years and made me a happy droid user. But, it has not. And for that reason I may switch.

Apple lost me on an under performing 3GS handset, Android may lose me on a decidedly average operating system (IMHO) that appears to be constantly reinventing itself with issues present in many cases.

This is not an Apple is better rant, it is a Samsung/Android is a bit crap rant.

So what can we expect when they finally work out how to release the Ice Cream Sandwich update on the Galaxy S2 that does not melt your handset or force you to only use it while wearing brightly colored pink underpants in the setting sun.

Well there are some nice features we can expect to see I must say:

[arrowlist]

• Face Unlock
• Glowing-blue interface
• Multi-tasking system

[/arrowlist]

Yes I look forward to seeing the update and will be taking Samsung up on the offer but I will not be rushing into it for fear of issues that have plagued other owners of Android devices suffering at the hands of an early release.

I will keep you posted on the hopefully smooth final release.

Rumors are that Google have been snapping up domains linked to the term Google Play but in all honesty we have no idea what the name of their new tablet will be….and woudl Google really leave thing that late to ensue they had A) the right domain and B) potential affiliate marketing variations that could muddy their brand….unsure myself though when seize and desist letter are pretty cheap.

Anyway the likelihood of their new tablet being called “Google Play” does make sense, as Google have been releasing various multimedia options for Android devices in the music, video and applications sector, and have now re-branded their marketplace Google Play….a direct competitor to iTunes.

Google Play – Kindle Fire Rival?

Google are likley to be mixing it in tablet land pretty soon with either the Google “Play” or some other name such as keeping the “Nexus” device name.

Their new 7 inch “Google Experience Device” will be packing an Nvidia Tegra quadcore SoC, with ASUS being the manufacturer and incorporating Android Ice Cream Sandwich as the O/S of choice. There are also talks of a 10 inch larger brother to this new entreat to tablet land.

The expected price point for the smaller tablet is a Kindle Fire competing $199.

News sources:

Started at the Mobile World Congress last week, the talk of the new tablet device is no revelation in the tech industry, Google have been worried about the rise of various devices and were bound to forge some plan to capitalize on their traffic, reach and operating system before too long just as they have done with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

With Android being “open” to developers Google have seen two things happen:

1 – Devices are developed with a pure Android O/S (Ice Cream Sandwich etc) and access Google owned markets and service such as the Android Application Market and Gmail.

2 – Companies such as Amazon developing tweaked versions of the Android O/S (non-certified devices) and taking owners of these devices to a totally separate marketplace controlled by their company.

The latter version is where the issues for Google stem and the fact that the Amazon Kindle Fire is the runaway tablet success on Android means that Google are now tipped to bring out their own competing tablet.

Talking at the MWC last week, Android chief Andy Rubin talked up the potential of Google stepping up to Amazon on the tablet front:

“2012 is going to be the year that we double down and make sure we’re winning in that space,….we’re going to do a better job at making people understand what ecosystem they’re buying into.”

Loss leader to gain market control:

Google will likely take a hit financially per device, just as Amazon did in order to lock people into their own marketplace, such is the lucrative benefits of gaining a client who buys apps and downloads films for the duration of tablet ownership that this initial hit is deemed worthwhile long term.

Release Date?

Expect to see the tablet getting into production next month and perhaps being retailed properly in June/July, we will keep you posted on any further news we hear.

At a key event held in San Francisco, Apple will give further news on the anticipated release date of the new iPad 3 and offer a glimpse of the device teasing us all with some carefully chosen words to describe what to expect.

“Something you really have to see. And touch”

So sort of like the iPad 2 and pretty much any other device that uses touchscreen technology.

Aside from the fact that we know bugger all really about the expected release date, it is clear for many that the date is imminent and advice to ditch your iPad 2 now to ensure the largest sale price prior to an official release date is common.

So let us have a look at some likelihoods of the new iPad version:

[arrowlist]

• Quad Core Processing
• 2048×1536 Retina display
• Identical looking

[/arrowlist]

No big Kahuna:

So as you can see it looks like not much will really have altered on the device cosmetically apart from the insides being beefed up. And when you think that neither the Samsung nor the Amazon Kindle Fire has really affected the growth in sales of the iPad, the old adage of “why mend what’s not broken” springs to mind as the new device looks set to offer a seriously hi-res retina display and a very powerful quad core processor, meaning that the iPad moves ahead (for a while) of its nearest rivals in terms of tech inside until the next update.

Yes I am looking forward to the next iteration of the successful Apple tablet and can fully understand why they may keep with simply updating the innards rather than providing us with a whole new tablet, after all it is what it does rather than what it looks like that is the most appealing aspect of Apple products even though they also look far better than their rivals anyway.

There is a reason why they are so successful, they tick the boxes of the modern tech consumer on every level.

Great infographic showing some of the areas that us humans are putting ourselves under in terms of strains and stresses as a result of our new found love of all things mobile and squintladen!

Source: Bit Rebels

Samsung has now added another size to their new Galaxy Tab 2 range with a showing of their 10.1 inch version at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Yesterday.

March release date for UK:

Coming days after the release of the smaller 7 inch model it is thought that this new version will be on sale in the UK from March, the new model will offer both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and will be very lightweight and ultra portable which is what we come to expect form tabs in all honesty.

That said we are seeing an increase in weight due to larger batteries being placed into smartphone so all is not so obvious I guess.

This new tablet from Samsung will see Ice Cream Sandwich preloaded and as the default operating system, which is nice for those who like their new Android 4.0 operating system to be native and not a dodgy upgrade!

The processor will be a dual core 1Ghz and the display will be a 1024×800 PLS TFT with a 3 megapixel camera on the rear and VGA for front communication calls.

Other options worth noting will be the size of the on board storage, with 8, 16 and 32 GB options, with an upgradable MicroSD card up to 32 GB.

The 3G version will also offer HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100, offering A-GPS, Glonass, connectivity as well as the usual.

With access to Samsung new Video Hub, this new device looks likely to be welcomed by many new entrants to tablet computing who want something decent and affordable with the new Android OS on board.

With Apple’s iOS and OSX operating systems converging ever more and Windows is doing the very same thing with Windows 8 and their metro style interface that will allow users to share a unified operating system experience on tablet and PC and *eventually ITG’s much rumoured brick of a phone the xpPhone 2.

*this seems a little unclear but has been talked about very recently, and appears that a windows phone by the name of xpPhone 2, could be arriving soon, and will run on windows phone 7/8.

If they pull this off it could be the first universal PC that can morph into a PC, notebook, GPS Sat Nav, via the addition of various attachments.

So are Ubuntu about to enter the market in the same way or is this a different value proposition they are offering their.

So what are Ubuntu doing in this space?

Ubuntu’s proposition is to allow smartphone owners running Android the option to dock your phone with the Ubuntu for Android operating system on and all your devices functionality would then be available in a fully functioning desktop operating system.

The pitch to Android device manufacturers is to have this operating system embedded into the new device so it is available by default.

So once docked your phone will work as usual and your monitor attached will be used for texts or answering calls, plus all your applications that were contained on your device.

As was pointed out by Drew Olanoff writing for The Next Web this approach could become very attractive to IT professionals who want to ensure that their staff are able to use both a desktop and mobile with out the associated costs of owning both, now you would pretty much just need a monitor to be able to plug in your phone and work as normal from a unified device wherever this was an option.

This should also decrease the risk of security issues with less devices to worry about.

Now all we need is a thin Graphene based screen that we can roll up and use with a simple wire framework at the back of it that we can pop in a case and use as a screen holder when needed at the office, truly mobile computing with ease…..screen manufacturers take note!

Just to lower the tone a little more this Wednesday, I have found this article on T3 to be hugely entertaining, and goes some way to show just how far we have pro..re..gressed, well some kind of “gression” anyway since our ever so prudish early years….

Yes it was obvious that our inner porn star would eventually come limbering out onto a grainy small screen once device manufacturers started to incorporate video and still camera options into our smartphones.

The statistics from Goodmobilephones.co.uk show that 26% of the nearly 2000 Brits polled have admitted to taking a video or photo of themselves and a partner while engaging in a bit of the old hows your father.

And what is perhaps a little more intriguing is that 36% of those who participated in a bit of home grown porn admitted sharing this with people outside the relationship, spreading the love far and wide.

What is more 12% of these people still keep their pictures and video after a relationship has ended.

Mark Owen, Managing Director of GoodMobilePhones.co.uk said:

“I think it’s quite surprising to see how many people have taken photos or videos of them and their partners in the bedroom on their phone, particularly those still keep these images and videos of their ex-partners,”

Now remember that sharing is caring.

Thank god this new device is waterproof as you are bound to have to protect it from hurls of vomit when someone asks what it is called…..its an Eluga fair lady, I own an Eluga….cue…..puke….and run.

I love Irony and can not help but laugh at such a terrible name for a phone, the Eluga will be a phone designed for the European market and obviously the UK market seen as it is weatherproof and of course it would be waterproof when it sounds like a species of whale.

It is likely to arrive in Spring 2012 and will also feature a dustproof design with a 4.3 inch high resolution 960 x 540 display.

There is talk that Panasonic will be adorning this new device with an OLED screen display but there seems to be no concrete news of that just yet.

Lightweight phone:

Running on Android the new smartphone will also be a comparatively light device at only 103g, the device will nicely marry up to your Panasonic TV (assuming you have one) and will allow you to transfer information quickly and offer the ability to swipe photos etc using the Smart Viera application.

There is very little extra news on this new phone other than what we have here but it will be an interesting entrance to the space dominated by the likes of Samsung, Apple and HTC.

There are reports that the smartphone will get an Ice Cream Sandwich update in the summer.

We interview John Wood who is a UK representative of Mobiles Republic who provide fantastic news applications for mobile devices in the form of various apps.

Mobiles Republic are a global news aggregation organisation working with premium publishers to deliver news that you control, they have various applications out on the Android and Apple app markets as well as other device platforms these include:

New Republic: (general)

Appy Geek: (tech and gadgets)

Glam Life: (celeb and fashion)

Biz Report: (business)

Download and trial for free:

Why not go and check the out and see what you think…

Well the first Kindle fire is only a few months old, but reports are emerging that the next incarnation of the popular iPad alternative (though not on specs) is due a facelift, so when will it arrive and what will make it a version 2 tablet?

Well many believe that Amazon rushed the release of the Kindle Fire 1, using a Quanta off the shelf Playbook design. They did this to get their tablet out prior to the Xmas break and cash in on all those visitors to Amazon just as they have done with the Kindle.

This worked out well for Amazon as they sold 6 million of the first gen tablets in little over 2 months.

Amazon took a loss of $50 per tablet:

Quanta charge Amazon $250 per unit and Amazon then sell the Kindle Fire for $200, but they have made up this loss as expected with sales of digital assets like movies, apps, and music.

The real Kindle Fire to arrive in June:

Many see this first run of fire’s as just that, a test drive of a decent enough tablet that could satisfy a general population, not the best on the market, but functional, minus a few things such as bluetooth, a dedicated volume control, and a Micro SD slot.

So who will manufacture anew Kindle Fore?

Bye bye Quanta hello Foxconn:

It appears the Amazon will start to use Apples trusted manufacturer in Taiwanese based Foxconn who produce a lot of Apple devices in China, with component deliveries expected in March it appears that those in the know are tipping a May/June release date though I expect things to be a little later than this.

So will this mean that the UK will never really see the first iteration but will simply get the Amazon Kindle Fire 2 as a proper release?

What would you like to see introduced to a new version of the Amazon Kindle Fire?

An intern who found a place working at Apple has shown how the Cupertino based corporation are potentially seeking to make a shift with OSX based devices to an ARM chipset, kicking the relatively recent move to Intel in 2005/6 into touch.

The interns name is Tristan Schaap who was seemingly involved in a 12 week internship with Apple at their “platforms technology group” in 2010, and while doing this internship at Apple, managed to put down enough information based in the work to create a thesis, this was loosely based on making the “lower half” of Mac OSX work on an ARM processor.

Submitted in 2010 but only just release due to its content, the report seems to suggest that Apple could be looking to shift their desktop/laptop processors to the power saving ARM option, however Tim Cook would lead us to believe otherwise by saying that if you want an ARM based macbook go get an iPad.

But who knows where Apple will go with their processors, in some ways a unified processor option makes sense and in other areas it looks less significant.

Apps drive convergence:

All this talk of unifying Apple processors does have some reasoning behind it though when you see just how similar Mountain Lion is to iOS compared to earlier versions of the desktop operating system.

In a very recent interview in the WSJ Tim Cook talks about how OSX and iOS are morphing in ways that seem natural:

“We see that people are in love with a lot of the apps and functionality here,…so, anywhere where it makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac.”

And with the release of Mountain Lion, OSX makes no bones about wanting to be more iOS like in its functionality and overall look and feel, and will extend the iPad like functionality that saw gesture control features and integrated apps ported into OSX Lion more than in previous incarnations of the wonderfully slick operating system.

I look forward to giving it a try!

What would you do without the Internet?

We will be a bit buggered here that is for sure…:)

So, with Anonymous making plans to turn off the internet by hitting the 13 root DNS servers that supply us with access, what would this mean to you and would it make you sympathize with their cause or is this kind of showboating going a little too far to make a point.

Here is what Anonymous have to say about the proposed March 31st internet shutdown:

“SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun….anonymous will shut the Internet down”

Now in essence I sympathize fully with their crusade, I detest on many levels the actions of the few that “run” this world (into the ground), and for that reason I stand by protests that are against control of communication and people, in ways that only go to serve the vested interests of the few.

But we are in a funny balance here, as perhaps some times, it is “better the devil you know”, because my suspicions are that the “establishment” would be pretty difficult to replace with anything that does not turn into much of a muchness after a while…power does this to the best of us….”new labour”…”old conservatives”.

So while I do feel that their plight is based on essentially good morals, I just fear that some of this may be slightly misguided and perhaps lacking in any real value and desires, essentially anarchy.

And while I am not keen on the “establishment” at all, and the idea of anarchy is great when you are a spotty 16 year old, the truth is in society we all have a role to play to help us all get on and live decent lives, and I just wonder if anonymous maybe shooting themselves in the foot if they are looking to gain supporters, as I really do not see what good “turning the internet off” will do them as it will be so detrimental to so many innocent people who may have sided with their corner in the past but will now most likely despise them.

How will they kill the internet then?

Essentially what will happen if they decide to attack these 13 root DNS servers is that the HTTP look up request will not be functioning properly and you will see nothing but an error page, and while this does not technically mean the whole internet is down, pretty much amounts to the same thing.

Anonymous go on to explain the system in more detail:

“A flaw that uses forged UDP packets is to be used to trigger a rush of DNS queries all redirected and reflected to those 13 IPs. The flaw is as follow; since the UDP protocol allows it, we can change the source IP of the sender to our target, thus spoofing the source of the DNS query.”

They also state that they will not be telling us how long this attack will last just that it will be global and it will affect the whole internet for hours or days.

Now with this amount of power and press coverage (assuming all goes to plan) I just hope they have a pretty convincing and detailed after dinner speech recorded so we can all finally “get” the message and hear their suggestions to providing real solutions to the issues they want to be addressed….not just p***ing people off because you can.

But is it really that easy to pull off?

Robert David Graham from Errata Security states on his blog:

“The Anonymous hackers can cause local pockets of disruption, but these disruptions are going to be localized to networks where their attack machines are located, they might affect a few of the root DNS servers, but it’s unlikely they could take all of them down, at least for any period of time. On the day of their planned Global Blackout, it’s doubtful many people would notice.”

So it seems likely that Anonymous will not get the attention that a fully blown outage would eventually deliver, but they could cause a nuisance in theory.

The trouble with anonymous is they have no face:

I know this is their face, but what I struggle with is working out exactly what they stand for apart from random attacks on “da establishment”, shows of solidarity to target big corporations via DoS attacks, and putting the spanner into misguided bills such as SOPA which already has some pretty big protest movements going on around it already that seem to be working effectively for now….(I am unsure long term)

But what I really want to know is serious alternatives to all the things that are protested against, so come on guys, let us in on the way forward…I am all ears….genuinely.

Please however note the date of this attack…..31st March…want comes next?

I love a bit of disruption in the marketplace, and where I once thought Skype would do this with aplomb I must say that when I heard that Microsoft were taking over I expected a more conservative pace to be taken up which has actually proven to be a bit mixed in reality….but what happened to the founder of Skype, Niklas Zennstrom?

Well Niklas appears to still enjoy a bit of disruption, so has taken once more to the internet airwaves with another free offering in the form of 4G LTE for the masses.

Yes his new backing seems to be the company known as FreedomPop, which is partnering with Clearwire to offer US consumers free mobile broadband to users for zilch, so how will it work?

This comes after it was expected that FreedomPop would partner with LightSquared prior to news that the FCC was going to kill LightSquared’s terrestrial network waiver on the grounds that their proposed ground-based mobile service would potentially cause GPS issues.

Tony Miller, FreedomPop’s VP of Marketing said:

“FreedomPop’s ultimate goal of providing our customers with a free mobile broadband alternative will soon be realized thanks to Clearwire’s proven 4G network services, this agreement enables FreedomPop to offer a disruptive retail service, providing free, flexible, high-speed internet access to millions of Americans.”

So the plan is to rent new 4G LTE bandwidth from Clearspace and then offer this out for free to 85% of users and charge the rest for premium access i.e those who gobble up the most data.

They will also offer rental options such as USB dongles, a mobile hotspot and a “mystery device” according to Toms Guide.

It is likely that the service will be capped for streaming video and high bandwidth use, with premium access users getting these kind of privileges, so in essence its a trusted and widely successful freemium model, where the small percentage of people pay for the bulk of the revenue generated, though there does seem to be talk of a deposit scheme being in operation so there is some small outlay at the outset it appears.

We have only just discussed Apples Chinese iPad rival ErenEben yesterday, so it is intriguing to see that Apple have stopped selling their iPad on the Chinese Amazon website, but why?

Could this be that the iPad 3 is on its way soon, or that Apple are in legal wrangles with the Chinese government over who owns the rights to the term “iPad”.

Apple in lawsuit with Chinese company Proview:

Apple are currently in legal dealings with a Chinese company going by the name of proview, this matter is related to the use of the term “iPad” which they claim Apple do not own the rights to as they bought it from a subsidiary who was not entitled to sell the name.

If a decision is made against Apple this could mean that they will not be able to sell their popular tablet in the China region, and will kick up quite a storm for the manufacturing relationships that Apple have with China.

Apple requested the pull:

It has been said in TechCruch that it was Apple who instigated the removal of the item from the store, which means that the whole situation is a bit of a mystery as proview have apparently not asked for Apple to stop the sale of the iPad in China.

With the iPad 3 release date imminent, and with proview rumoured to be seeking $1 billion to settle the dispute, there appears to be little trouble in big China right now.

We will be keeping a close ear and eye on this news.

Thanks to TheNextWeb for pointing out this little gem courtesy of a website called Chill.com.

A clever site that hooks into facebook and features an option to create collections, the site now has a page dedicated to Steve Jobs videos it can be found here, and was collated by one of the founders of Chill, Scott Hurff.

So, if you are a bit of an Apple head or worship the Jobster like he was some kind of messiah, get your butt over to Chill and pay homage, there are some rare treats on show.

As someone who seriously values the power of video, it is amazing to see just how much Steve Jobs was involved in promoting using this medium especially as most of the footage was not seen by the majority of people until later on.

I like the interview when he was 31 talking about how the Apple 2 came to be and inspired him to move forward with Apple.

What is yours?

As much as I dislike BT in many ways, I can not help but sense that they are the only ones looking to invest some real time and money into the roll out of 4G across the UK, this includes first of all giving UK customers a decent Wi-Fi experience, and with this in mind it seems that they have now hit a milestone of 3.5 million public Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK and Republic Of Ireland….mainly donated by you of course!

Those hotspots by location:

[arrowlist]

• 380,000 in London
• 25,000 in Leeds
• 25,000 in Birmingham
• 20,000 in Manchester
• 20,000 in Edinburgh
• 20,000 in Sheffield
• 11,000 in Liverpool
• 11,000 in Brighton
• 11,000 in Bristol
• 11,000 in Cardiff
• 320,000 in Scotland
• 170,000 in Wales

[/arrowlist]

BT’s consumer managing director John Petter said:

“Millions of BT broadband customers are enjoying free access to one of the biggest Wi-Fi networks in the world,”

With over 900,000 downloads for the BT hotspot app that finds the nearest connection suitable for your mobile device (to paying BT customers) it woudl seem to be a success in terms of numbers, but is the experience any good?

Well reports are mixed but I have to say fair play to the company, at least they are trying to push technology where others are more cautious in a share and share a like kind of manner….who cares so long as it works.

The hotspots are currently free to BT’s six million home and business broadband subscribers and the new BlackBerry App will provide users with easier hotspot login. BT has released apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices which locate and connect customers to their nearest BT hotspot.

You can now ever get Wi-Fi underground at Charing Cross as a subterranean trial gets under way as well as 100 pubs in the London area after a deal with Heineken.

Are you happy to let your own BT wireless connection be used as part of the growing network in order to get your free access?

A few things have happened of recent to make me think that the release date of the next iPad will actually be early March, with some saying the 4th.

[arrowlist]

• We already predicted it!
• Certain stores are now selling discounted iPad 2’s
• Other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange are stating that they are running out of iPad 2’s
• Reliable sources at iMore say the same…so it has to be true….;)

[/arrowlist]

So with all this in mind what is all this we hear about 4G on the iPad 3?

Will the iPad have 4G capabilities?

With some 38 or so frequencies that 4G will run on internationally, it is not as easy as manufacturers would like to simply offer 4G connectivity globally, yes it can be done but it currently comes at a price, so with this in mind and the alternative being a domestic 4G device that only works within your own territory what is the likelihood of the next iPad having international LTE 4G capabilities?

Well it seems that the iPad will certainly be 4G enabled in the US as the WSJ has confirmed suspicions that AT&T and Verizon will be host to the new 4G enabled iPad 3. Wether this extends to being global 4G connectivity is doubtful but perhaps an option will emerge at a price.

Unfortunately and rather annoyingly for the UK, the delays that have presented themselves in the roll out of 4G will mean that this new technology will not be available on mass for a few years, so we will probably be on the iPad 4 or 5 by the time this becomes truly relevant in the UK.

New apps means new screen?

It is likely that the much touted retina display will finally get a showing and new Apps being developed will make the most out of the 2048 x 1536 display, processor wise things are a little unclear with reports of an A6 quad core and an improved dual core ARM Cortex A9, which, if any, make the grade I am unsure of.

With Apple being attacked about their human rights policies and lack of action at plants they use in China, run primarily by Taiwanese based Foxconn (yes its complicated).

And with the Cupertino based company now open to looking more closely to how they operate in this territory, it is interesting to note that a home grown tablet manufacturer is actually looking to outsell Apple’s iPad in their own backyard.

ErenEben

Have you heard of ErenEben?

Well you probably will have if you live in China as they currently hold the second largest tablet share in China, this is according to Analysys International, this figure is currently set at 6% which is a far cry from being a major threat to Apple but it is interestingly more than Lenovo or Samsung have in terms of market share in this vast country.

China not vast consumers of tablets yet:

Chinese gadget lovers bought around 5 million units last year and are expected to buy some 18 million tablet PC’s in 2012, a huge increase from 2011, and this is where ErenEben hope to tap into the latent potential in this niche.

ErenEben are hoping that unique hand writing technology will allow users to write on screen using a stylus which they are calling the “Mind Mark” feature, plus the installation of a Chinese copy book application that will appeal to an older, less tech savvy generation, and hopefully win hearts and draw in some more of the huge population of China that have not yet embraced tablet technology.

Writing in China different to the West:

Many of us do not think about how the East communicate in terms of writing but it is a totally different relationship than we have in the West, and for this reason ErenEben are proud to now be named the “hand-writing computer of the meeting” by the Chinese People Political Consultation thanks to there Mind Mark feature.

Not cheap:

With the tablet based on Google’s Android operating system, the actual cost for each device comes in at a considerably high 5,000 yuan compared to the base price of an iPad which is 3,688 yuan, but just under the current top priced iPad which costs some 5,288 yuan.

ErenEben’s Chief Operating Officer Fang Liyong told the South China Morning Post.

“Most government officials and business leaders are of the older generation and are used to writing in their own style. And they are the ones with strong purchasing power,”

He went on to say that these people were the ones with buying power so they believe they are pitching to the right audience with the right feature set.

Relying on one technology is dangerous:

The trouble with this new technology is that Apple will most likely just develop a fantastic Chinese application that offers exactly the same option of writing on the tablet in the Chinese style with a stylus, either that or many apps will emerge with a clear leader offering the same functionality.

Your thoughts?

It has often been the case that Europe has received their mobile tech updates and releases quicker than the US region, only for the US to get a slightly beefier version later on in a products life cycle that perhaps irons out some kinks on the way, well if our sources are to be believed it could be that the Kindle Fire gets a bit of a tart up and a 7 and 9 inch option when it finally hits UK shores later this year.

Though please understand that you can still bag yourself a Kindle Fire from many online UK retailers who have imports for sale.

Can costs be kept down at 9 inches?

With sales of the Amazon Kindle For globally expected to be somewhere in the region of 15 million units in 2012, up from an expected 12-13 million units, it is easy to see that Amazon are onto something but is it price dependent or have they found a device that hits the sweet spot in more ways than cost?

An analyst said:

‘We believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new seven and nine-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012.’

Exact dates are hard to come by but if I were to put my money on a date I would say that Amazon would have to think about getting in the mix with the iPad 3 release date which is expected to be somewhere around Mid-Late March.

So at what price point can Amazon keep the kindle fire attractive considering it is no iPad?….Unless they seriously give it some clout and make it more of a two horse tablet as some people expect Apple to consider doing.

A report in tech week Europe shows that a certain botnet has been found that is said to affect hundreds of thousands of Android devices, making the hackers a potential fortune every year, this is according to security research firm Symantec and researchers from the North Carolina State University.

New Botnet has two names:

The finder of the “RootStrap” botnet is called Xuxian Jiang of North Carolina State University. Symantec however call the malware another name: Android.Bmaster.

Chinese origins:

This particular malware is spread via 3rd party application markets in China and is seen bundled with some 30 seemingly legitimate applications.

Symantec researcher Cathal Mullaney said:

“Trojanised applications are a well known infection vector for Android malware, as they allow malware to be distributed while retaining the appearance of a legitimate application,”

The controller of the botnet aka the “botmaster”, (what a title) has huge control of the device once it is compromised, with revenue generation coming from secretly transmitted premium rate SMS messages, and the connection to premium rate numbers and pay per view videos.

With the botmaster able to take control of the device and delete texts, numbers, and infiltrate or stop communication warning the owner of the compromised device, yes, this particular style of botnet is seriously canny.

Mullaney said:

“The botmaster has a fine grained level of control over the infected devices, an infected device can be configured to send messages to a particular premium SMS number at a specific rate (three a day, for instance) for a certain number of days. Devices connecting to premium video or telephony services can also be configured for how long they should connect to a premium phone number or pay-per-view website.”

Elevated privileges:

Once the botnet has found its way onto your device and installed itself, it then downloads the gingerbread jailbreak tool and uses this to elevate its privileges on your device, after this it then downloads the Bmaster remote admin tool and malware including DroidLive.

So this is not a simple piece of malware but actually a rather sophisticated little sneak that uses layering methods to get to its goal of making the owner easy money from your device.

Infected devices will transmit data that is easily traceable by the hackers, so they can locate and identify your own device which includes being able to identify you IMEI and IMSI numbers, plus your location area code and mobile network code.

This actual malware has been reported since September 2011, and is thought to be one of a new wave of highly malicious money making Trojans that are slowly equaling the desktop Trojans that have infected so many Windows base PC’s over the years, could Android’s open operating system and less regulated marketplace for apps now be the new scourge of the average Joe?

We must point out that this particular malware is from third party marketplaces and not the Android one itself.

It is reported that around 10,000-30,000 devices are being affected per day.

How much is in this for the hackers?

Mullaney wrote:

“The motivation behind the botnet is financial, taking our two example dates as the lower and upper bounds of the number of active infected devices, we can see the botmaster is generating anywhere between $1,600 (£1,013) to $9,000 (£5,695) per day and $547,500 (£346,504) to $3,29m (£2.1m) per year the botnet is running.”

Talking of the Android operating system as a whole and mobile applications he stated:

“This is not the first example of an active, revenue-generating Android botnet we have seen, however, considering the huge market for Android apps, the availability of third-party app stores without security checks, and the massive revenue which can be generated from this type of botnet, Android.Bmaster’s million-dollar botnet certainly won’t be the last.”

We have covered a few stories in recent months related to Malware in the Android application market and have heard that Google are starting to crack down on the threat to the overall eco-system, though it seems likely that there will be many many more scams like this occurring as we allow deeper and deeper relationships to be forged between ourselves and our mobile devices in all areas of our lives.

With Google Wallet being pretty new to most people as a method of making payments, there was always going to be talk about how security would have to be top notch to allay any fears people may have about using a mobile device to facilitate payments considering fears over security online in general.

And with this in mind Google have responded to a report that Google Wallet as a service was indeed of serious concern for people who used “rooted” Android devices.

Developers found PIN flaw:

It appears that a team of developers found a flaw that allowed Android smartphones to have their PIN protection overridden, this is the system that is aimed at protecting payments, once this protection was broken, it would allow anyone to access the account within the phone.

Google issued the statement saying they “strongly discouraged” rooted android device owners from using Google Wallet on their devices.

Prepaid credit card issue also:

In a separate issue, it was claimed that prepaid credit via credit cards set up on stolen phones that had the screenlock protection turned off could be easily accessed by simply clearing the data and reinstalling the Google Wallet App, again Google responded by warning people of the issue and temporarily disabling their prepaid cards provision, and is said to be now looking forward to a compete fix to the problem.

So make sure that you get that screenlock on and if you are a bit slap happy with stuff like this and lose your phone a lot, just dont put too much credit on.

In the statement by Google they also remind you that in the event of you losing your phone — you can call them on (855-492-5538) and have the app disabled.

Google statement:

We strongly encourage anyone who loses or wants to sell or give away their phone to call Google Wallet support toll-free at 855-492-5538 to disable the prepaid card. We are currently working on an automated fix as well that will be available soon. We also advise all Wallet users to set up a screen lock as an additional layer of protection for their phone.

The first week of March will see Apple hold an event that will hail the arrival of the iPad 3, this is according to a report on AllThingsD, this is obviously more of the same old rumour mill tripe that we sometimes churn out for you to read and get our figures up..;)…but these sources seem to be saying that the actual iPad 3 tablet will be available in the second or third week of March, with iOS 5.1 getting a showing pretty soon after.

So it looks likely that the new Apple iPad 3 will be making a showing pretty soon, and according to Japanese blog Macotakara it could well be a 9.7-inch retina display panel with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution.

iLab Factory, Chinese repair parts reseller, shows a Sharp made LCD panel which is considered to be for iPad 3.

What do you think to the rumours and date expected?

When your evangelist lead head of developer experiences, Brandon Watson, jumps ship for Amazon, you probably should start to worry, especially as you are far from out of the Jungle yet as can be seen from the amount of heads Amazon are collecting right now.

3 Windows phone developer heads gone in quick succession:

This comes on the back of similar moves by Matt Bencke who was general manager for the developer marketplace in the Windows division as well as Mike Nash, the vice president of the Windows platform and Andre Vrignaud who was the director of their games platform strategy, all leaving in the last couple of years, it seems that the good ship Windows may well be sinking yet again.

In many ways the departures of the last two years could be put down to insecurity or lack of fulfillment in their roles at Windows, when so many other entrants to mobile technology are kicking their ass currently.

But seeing someone with such clout as Brandon Watson leave just as Windows are seemingly turning a corner with the imminent release of Windows 8 as a do all O/S and cross purpose platform, is potentially something that could pose a little more concern at Microsoft?

Watson will be leaving to join the team who will both promote and work out the road map for the cross-platform Kindle team, a role he undoubtedly will suit after his work for the Windows phone team.

Source: TheReg

Windows phone 8 will be an operating system that brings a whole host of technologies the mobile sector has been looking forward to seeing, one step closer.

According to Paul Thurrotts’s excellent blog over at WinSuperSite the news of the leak has meant that he can now talk more openly about what we can expect from the Windows 8 and the Windows Phone 8 operating system.

In term so of applications it has been noted that at the expected time of launch the Windows phone 7.5 operating system will have some 100,000 apps available and these will all be backward compatible for the new Windows Phone 8 operating system meaning that new devices will be able to tap into this existing application market with no problems (in theory of course)

Talking of Windows Phone 8, he also states that this new O/S will be based on the new Windows 8 kernel and not on the previous version called Windows CE, all this falls into the realms of “Windows Reimagined” and by god did it need some reimagining after various attempts to create a solid, sleek and useful operating system has essentially failed on so many occasions.

So onto the key new features of Windows Phone 8:

[arrowlist]

• Wallet: Apollo will support removable microSD card storage and NFC radios, with Microsoft pushing contactless payments also referred to as the “Wallet experience.”
• App-to-App communication. Because Windows Phone 8 apps, like Windows 8 apps, are sandboxed from each other, this new system will provide a Windows 8 contracts-like app-to-app communications capabilities.
• Data Smart. Will switch you to cheaper Wi-Fi networks that you may have joined automatically thus in theory saving you MB’s and also money if your data provider charges a lot and you run out of your quota monthly.
• Internet Explorer 10 Mobile. Windows Phone 8 will use to use a version of IE which utilizes the latest web technologies.
• Shared components with Windows 8. The kernel, multi-core processor support, sensor fusion, security model, network, and video and graphics technologies are all coming to Phone from Windows 8.
• Companion experiences with Windows 8. Microsoft is offering a very similar user experience across phone (Windows Phone 8), PC (Windows 8), and TV (Xbox vNext). Pocketnow says there will be a new sync client, and not Zune PC software, though I can’t confirm that part, and a set of common cloud services that will work across all three. This includes the ability to sync content (photos, music, movies) between the three screens, phone management from PC or web, shared content between each device, and Xbox LIVE games, entertainment, and more.
• Skype app. Still a separate but better app and not integrated into OS. Still optional.
• Camera improvements. New “lens apps” and a far more powerful camera experience.
• SkyDrive integration. SkyDrive will allow access to all content on your Microsoft platforms.
• NFC and Wallet. Windows Phone 8 will allow users to securely pay and share via NFC and manage an integrated Wallet experience.
• Business features. A new angle that Windows wish to push more and more, Windows Phone 8 will include full-device, hardware-accelerated encryption with BitLocker and always-on Secure Boot capabilities, just like Windows 8. Also, it will support additional Exchange ActiveSync policies and System Center configuration settings and inventory capabilities. Businesses will be able to distribute phone apps privately as they can with Windows 8 apps.
• Local Scout. Now with personal recommendations.

[/arrowlist]

What do you think of this feature list?

Some of it appears pretty much as you would expect from a modern cross platform operating system that will compete with iOS/Android, though perhaps some areas are starting to look quite juicy such as the NFC capability which I will return to at a later date.

Your thoughts? What appeals most with Windows Phone 8 so far?

Having recently been picked up for using the term PC to not mean tablets in reference to tablets replacing the humble desktop, news in from Toms Hardware indicates that a research firm going by the name of Canalys, has used the shipment of tablet PC’s (pads) in the same data collated as your old school desktop PC and variants such as laptops, using this controversial technique of data collection leads to Apple being the worlds largest PC company according to their statistics.

Now obviously this terminology is a grey area, with tablet PC’s already being a term in many peoples vocabulary, but perhaps not quite getting into the parlance of the statisticians, it is however fair to say that this figure marries up to Apple’s current valuation which rivals Exxon with one beating the other in terms of capital value every quarter currently.

The statistics:

Q4 of 2011 saw 120 million “client” PC’s shipped, these include:

[arrowlist]

• Desktops
• Tablets
• Netboks
• Notebooks

[/arrowlist]

This represents a 16% annual growth, but if you take tablets out of this equation you can see that the “traditional” PC shipments actually contracted by 0.4% showing just how disruptive the likes of Apples iPad and the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Nook have become for companies such as HP.

On this note, both Acer, Dell and HP lost market share while Apple saw significant gains, with 5 millions Mac’s and 15 million iPads shipped in Q4 contributing to a 6% year on year extra market share, now up to 17% for Apple.

Canalys analyst Tim Coulling has stated that HP will see difficult times ahead as they focus on a business model that may not work for the company:

“Currently, HP is pursuing a Windows strategy for its pad portfolio, producing enterprise-focused products, such as the recently launched Slate 2, until the launch of Windows 8, however, questions remain over Microsoft’s entry into the consumer pad space. While early demonstrations of the Window 8 operating system seem promising, Microsoft must focus its efforts on creating an intuitive user experience that is far less resource intensive.”

Lenovo are seemingly also doing well with gains of 2 market points largely based on their decision to join the consumer and enterprise tablet market using Android as their O/S.

With tablets equating to a 22% share of the overall PC shipments in Q4 of 2011 it can be seen that if you are not doing well in this niche you may well see your core sales drop and see difficulty with bottom lines in the short/medium term.

Canalys’ Tim Coulling noted:

“The consumerization of IT continues to be a significant disruptive force in the PC industry, but many of the leading vendors have failed to capitalize on the trend to date, this year will be a pivotal year for those vendors that were slow to launch pads. It is not just the product that they need to get right, business models are equally important – driving revenues from content delivery can help vendors reach lower price points in a market that is incredibly price sensitive.”

Now maybe a good time to show an old video produced showing this trend in video form…enjoy:

According to a report in techweekeurope IBM now targeting the mobile enterprise market with more fervor, perhaps awakened by the BYOD (bring your own device) trend, we take a look at what the technology giant will be doing in this niche in years to come.

Security issues and more:

With more and more people accessing data via their mobile devices for the companies they work for, IBM have seen that there is a gap in the market for a service that will ensure that all mobile devices accessing company data will have a management system wrapped around them that will ensure that sensitive data remains safe when needed.

All but Research In Motions Blackberry O/S is supported in terms of mobile operating systems, perhaps leading some to think that this is a cunning move from IBM who are looking to team up with HTC to enter the mobile enterprise device market as direct competitors to RIM who have already captured this market more than most in terms of devices sold and presence of mind.

Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Mobile Platform said:

“The new offering from IBM will help organisations manage personal and enterprise-owned mobile phones and tablets across IT networks in order to minimise risk, increase productivity and enhance innovation,”

The endpoints in question are as expected: tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktop PCs and servers.

Talking of the Big fix software acquisition back in 2010 IBM stated:

“BigFix will really help us fulfill what is really a critical need for many of our clients, and that is dealing with the endpoints that make up the core point of access for many of their IT systems and services,”

Adding mobile onto their acquisition of the Big Fix software in 2010, which was designed to remotely manage desktops, secure servers, laptops and POS devices, the addition of a mobile centric endpoint manager brings the circle of demand to a close for most organisations who need to consider these kind of issues internally with the growth of mobile device use.

So what can you do with this mobile endpoint manager:

[arrowlist]

• Identifying potential data compromises
• Selectively wipe data from compromised devices
• Enforce passcode policies and encryption on devices
• Configured to require employees to use a VPN when accessing the enterprise network
• IT staff will be able to identify devices that are not complying with corporate policies and take appropriate action
• This could be in the form of denying email access or by issuing notifications to the user device as a reminder on what remedial steps need to be performed

[/arrowlist]

With young professionals and college students preferring to lose their wallet than their mobile devices, according to a Cisco funded poll, it is clear to see that the world of business needs to wake up to the importance we bestow our mobile devices, and the sheer amount of private data they contain.

IBM are also reported to have purchased an Israeli mobile technology firm called Worklight who specialise in smartphone and tablet software, which is hoped will help speed up the entrance IBM are making into a solution that will provide their clients with a platform that will allow control over multiple devices mobile and fixed.