(Credit:
eMarketer.com)
New data shows that the iPhone may finally have a true competitor in the Android operating system with user profiles appearing very much alike.
According to eMarketer.com, marketing intelligence firm comScore found that 37 percent of U.S. mobile users had heard of Android in November 2009, up from 22 percent in August, "likely due to the Verizon Droid ad campaign." More interestingly, "17 percent of mobile users in the market for a new smartphone in the next three months planned to buy an Android phone, compared with 20 percent who would pick up an iPhone."
The data also showed that usage patterns for Android and iPhone owners were very similar in terms of media consumption, browser and application usage, but e-mail oddly tracked behind on Android devices. This is likely due to the immaturity of the mail application that ships with Android and not a change in use patterns.
This news obviously keeps the iPhone in the dominant position but shows that other smartphones finally present a real challenge. It's notable because BlackBerry and iPhone users have always seemed worlds apart, whereas Android users seem to be using their devices at parity with the iPhone crowd.
The fact that the Droid runs on Verizon instead of AT&T no doubt helps, though only time will tell if Verizon can handle the traffic, or if T-mobile could handle the pressure of a huge influx of new Google Nexus One phones running Android.
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AT&T has resumed selling iPhones through its Web site to New York City customers, with no indication as to what prompted the halt.
Over the holiday weekend, New Yorkers who tried to order an iPhone through AT&T's Web site were left out in the cold. Making matters worse, explanations ranged from network congestion problems to online fraud to this fine example of corporate-speak: "We periodically modify our promotions and distribution channels."
But at some point on Monday, sales could once again be processed for New York City ZIP codes through AT&T's site. An AT&T representative did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on what knocked out online iPhone sales for Gothamites.
Karsten Nohl talks about his project at the Hacking at Random conference in August.
(Credit: Hacking at Random)A German computer engineer said Monday that he had cracked the secret code used to encrypt most of the world's mobile phone calls.
In an attempt to expose holes in the security of global wireless systems, 28-year-old Karsten Nohl cracked the 21-year-old GSM algorithm, which is used to encrypt 80 percent of the world's mobile calls, reports The New York Times.
Nohl revealed his success at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, Germany. He said that 24 people worked independently to reproduce the code book, or binary code log, for the algorithm, which contains the equivalent of about two terabytes of data.
He announced his intentions to crack the GSM algorithm at a conference in August.
Read more of "Code that encrypts world's GSM mobile phone calls is cracked" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
Update at 1:50 p.m. PST December 28: AT&T has resumed sales.
AT&T has stopped selling the Apple iPhone in the New York metropolitan area through its Web site, perhaps due to data congestion, credit card fraud, or routine sales strategy changes, depending on whom you believe.
Online sales of the phone were apparently suspended Sunday. Prospective customers attempting to buy an iPhone through the Web site and using a New York area ZIP code get a message saying, "We're sorry, there are no Packages & Deals available at this time. Please check back later." However, changing ZIP codes to other U.S. metro areas yields a bevy of iPhone choices.
An AT&T representative's statement to CNET suggested that the move to not offer any iPhones online to buyers in the Big Apple was a routine strategic decision.
"We periodically modify our promotions and distribution channels," said Fletcher Cook, an AT&T spokesman.
However, customer service representatives, who are likely not authorized to comment officially for the company, painted divergent pictures.
One customer service representative hinted that data congestion may be the reason for the suspension, telling The Consumerist that "New York is not ready for the iPhone. You don't have enough towers to handle the phone."
In light of AT&T's tarnished reputation for its 3G service, this is certainly a plausible explanation. For more than a year, iPhone users have complained about dropped calls and poor service on the 3G network. The problems appear to be particularly acute in densely populated urban areas, such as New York and San Francisco.
However, another representative suggested that credit card fraud is responsible. Sales were suspended due to "increased fraudulent activity in that area when ordering the iPhone," the other representative told the Gearlog blog. However, the iPhone is apparently still for sale at Apple stores in the New York area.
No word on what the nature of the alleged fraud may be, but as others have certainly pondered, isn't online fraud as likely to happen in Dallas, Seattle, or San Francisco?
An FCC commissioner has sent an open letter to Verizon Wireless, scolding the carrier for its new early termination fees.
Mignon Clyburn,
FCC commissioner
Mignon Clyburn, one of five members of the Federal Communications Commission, was responding to the defense that Verizon sent the FCC last week about early termination fees, or EFTs.
"The company's answers...are unsatisfying and, in some cases, troubling. In particular, I am concerned about what appears to be a shifting and tenuous rationale for ETFs," she said in a statement (PDF) released Wednesday by the FCC. "No longer is the claim that ETFs are tied solely to the true cost of the wireless device; rather, they are now also used to foot the bill for 'advertising costs, commissions for sales personnel, and store costs.'"
Verizon's early termination fees recently climbed from $175 to $350 for smartphones and other "advanced devices." In early December, the FCC asked Verizon to explain itself.
Among its defenses, Verizon asserted that the fees enable the company to sell phones at lower upfront prices and to reduce losses if customers break their contracts early. The carrier also noted that it prorates the fees and that the additional revenue helps keep its broadband network strong.
Clyburn asserted that consumers already pay hefty amounts to carriers. "So when they are assessed excessive penalties, especially when they are near the end of their contract term, it is hard for me to believe that the public interest is being well served," she said.
"I am also alarmed by the fact that many consumers have been charged phantom fees for inadvertently pressing a key on their phones thereby launching Verizon Wireless's mobile Internet service. The company asserted in its response...that it 'does not charge users when the browser is launched,' but recent press reports and consumer complaints strongly suggest otherwise."
A Verizon representative told Bloomberg that the company will "take a good hard look at her concerns and address them in an appropriate fashion."
John Hering, co-founder and chief executive of Lookout
(Credit: James Martin/CNET )SAN FRANCISCO--In July, John Hering and Kevin Mahaffey demonstrated an SMS attack targeting a variety of smartphones at a security show. This week they are launching a company, with backing from some heavyweight investors, that will offer a fix for that problem, as well as protect smartphones from many other security issues.
Lookout has received $5.5 million in Series A funding from Khosla Ventures, Trilogy Partnership, and angel investors including Phil Paul, founder of Paul Capital Partners; Chris Sacca, former head of special initiatives at Google; and Joseph Ansanelli, former chief executive of Vontu.
Lookout is a cross-platform, Internet-connected application that offers advanced security and backup services, as well as the ability to locate devices that go missing or get stolen, and over-the-air management capabilities. The service is currently in private beta in more than 170 countries across 400 mobile networks, Hering, Lookout's chief executive, said in an interview.
It will be offered publicly on a subscription basis in early 2010 and an enterprise version will come later in 2010 or early 2011, he said. Pricing will be announced later.
Hering, Mahaffey, and the third co-founder, James Burgess, all met while attending the University of Southern California, and have honed their skills in the mobile space over the past five years, initially calling the company Flexilis.
They conducted research, helped handset makers with diagnostic tools, and discovered vulnerabilities in mobile devices and software--including uncovering a serious hole in the iPhone's implementation of Bluetooth in 2007 and hitting a world record by hacking a mobile phone from more than a mile away via Bluetooth in 2004.
With the funding and name change comes a move to San Francisco from Orange County in Southern California. The twentysomething executives were busy interviewing prospective employees in their sparse, new offices in the South of Market area in San Francisco. They have taken over part of the offices formerly occupied by Twitter.
"Hopefully, the Twitter luck will rub off on us," Hering said, as he gave a tour of the digs.
Lookout works on all the major smartphone platforms.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET )The Lookout software is downloaded to the device and gets updates and backs up data in real-time via Lookout servers in the cloud. Antivirus and firewall software protects against electronic threats such as hackers, malware, and spyware. A dashboard allows for easy management of multiple devices.
Security veterans like Symantec and McAfee, as well as a host of smaller companies, are quickly moving into the mobile security space. But Hering isn't worried.
"Other companies offer a more PC-based approach," he said. "We're protecting the device and data, and we're multi-platform."
Lookout silently blocks malware in the background, but particularly serious threats prompt a notification to the user. The software also will protect against bad or unauthorized apps that might be downloaded, and attacks attempted via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
The missing device locator function will most definitely attract attention. If the device is lost, the owner can use the Web app to make it "scream," and a truly obnoxiously loud siren will sound that will annoy everyone within earshot. If the device is set to silent or mute mode, the scream feature overrides that.
For people who think their device may have been stolen and want to track it down, there is a nifty way to trace it via an online map. Device owners can pull up the Find My Device Web app to see the approximate location of the device on a map, and either lock the device so no one can use it or access the data, or wipe the data entirely. If the device is recovered, the data is easily restored. A combination of Global Positioning System, cell tower, and Wi-Fi technology is used to track the devices.
For backup and recovery purposes, the data and settings on the device can be set to what they were at any point of time in the past, and data can be transferred to other devices.
As phones become increasingly powerful computers and storage devices that accompany users everywhere, they become even more attractive targets for attackers and thieves.
"Smartphones are the next computing platform," Hering said. "Ultimately, I think this will be the primary platform. It's in my pocket, and goes everywhere with me. There are not many computing devices that have that power and personal connection."
Chief Technology Officer Kevin Mahaffey and Chief Executive John Hering, co-founders of mobile security firm Lookout, which now occupies the former offices of Twitter in San Francisco.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET )
Tired of Guitar Hero? Try jamming with your iPhone or iPod Touch and Shimon, an autonomous, marimba-playing, octopus-armed hipster robot.
Gil Weinberg, director of music technology at Georgia Tech, is developing Shimon as a socially dynamic band mate. He says the robot "listens like a human and improvises like a machine" thanks to complex algorithms that allow it to perceive and improvise a groove.
(Credit:
Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)
Weinberg is also behind ZOOZBeat, an app that turns your iPhone into an instrument and sequencer, letting you remix and loop your own music by shaking, tilting, and otherwise getting down with it. Beats come bundled with the app, but you can also download packs with vocals, hooks, and instruments.
If there aren't iPhone-only bands out there already, ZOOZBeat will probably start a trend. But as I mentioned in an earlier post about the exciting new Eigenharp, electronic music concerts can benefit from a more dynamic physical performance, and that's where Shimon, with its bobbing cyclops head, comes in.
As the vid after the jump shows, Shimon can take your ZOOZ loop with a Wi-Fi flick and run with it. Here, it repeats and improvises on a jazzy loop, playing in a variety of styles resembling jazz greats like John Coltrane or Thelonius Monk.
... Read moreThanks to a clandestine meeting with a source, I got a chance to play with and try out the Nexus One. It's basically, from my time with it, Google's Droid killer. It's thin, it's fast, it's better in every way.
My source was very firm about no photography, and I didn't want to jeopardize anything on my source's end, so there are no photos, hence these photos are ones we've already shown you. But, based on all the leaked shots this week, plus the very pretty and very clear one last week from Boy Genius, everyone knows what the phone looks like already. Hell, there's even a complete UI walkthrough today that's on YouTube. So I'm going to focus on the experience, and how it compares to the Droid and the iPhone 3GS.
... Read moreResearch In Motion has pushed out new software to correct a problem that left some BlackBerry users high and dry Tuesday.
Blame BlackBerry Messenger for Tuesday's data service outage.
(Credit: RIM)A new version of BlackBerry Messenger is available that apparently fixes the problems experienced by BlackBerry customers, according to a report by BusinessWeek. For several hours on Tuesday, BlackBerry users were unable to use the data services on their phones, preventing e-mails from being received and applications from working correctly.
In a statement provided to CNET, RIM said the "root cause is currently under review, but based on preliminary analysis, it currently appears that the issue stemmed from a flaw in two recently released versions of BlackBerry Messenger (versions 5.0.0.55 and 5.0.0.56) that caused an unanticipated database issue within the BlackBerry infrastructure. RIM has taken corrective action to restore service."
BlackBerry Messenger version 5.0.0.57 is the one to install, if you're currently running either version described above, and that should be available through the phone's browser or in BlackBerry App World. Tuesday's outage follows another one last week shorter in duration.
BlackBerry Bold
(Credit: Research in Motion)For the second time in less than a week, BlackBerry smartphone users across the country and beyond are reporting problems accessing e-mail.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion confirmed Tuesday night that some users of the smartphone in the Americas are experiencing delays in message delivery.
"Technical teams are actively working to resolve the issue for those impacted. RIM apologizes for any inconvenience experienced by customers," read an e-mailed statement from company spokesperson Jamie Ernst. Ernst declined to elaborate, however, on the cause or extent of the outage, and offered no estimated time of repair.
This, of course, comes on the heels of similar short-lived outage on Thursday, which happened to be the same day the company announced it beat analyst expectations in the fiscal third quarter of 2009 with strong sales of its BlackBerrys.
