News Blog

(Credit: Apple)

Apple's iPhone is expected to cross the Canadian border later this year, the country's largest wireless provider said Tuesday.

Rogers Communications, which is also Canada's only GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) provider, will serve as the region's iPhone carrier.

"We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned," Chief executive Ted Rogers said in a statement.

The announcement comes 10 months after the Canadian company let it slip out of the bag that it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in Canada. Rogers Communications then had retract its press release, noting it had no definitive arrangement to carry the iPhone.

Microsoft has wrapped up its acquisition of smartphone maker Danger, setting the stage for a boost to its consumer mobile business.

T-Mobile Sidekick Slide

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET News.com)

Danger will be housed within Microsoft's newly created Premium Mobile Experiences team, which is part of the software giant's Entertainment and Devices Division's Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft said Tuesday.

"Combining Danger and Microsoft talents together in the Premium Mobile Experiences team is how we're going to deliver cool, new, fun mobile experiences to consumers," Roz Ho, corporate vice president of the Premium Mobile Experiences team, said in a statement.

Microsoft says it plans to use Danger's mobile Internet platform to connect users to their social networks and dish up other forms of rich content.

While that's the game plan Microsoft has in store for its mobile phone acquisition, the company faces several challenges with integrating the maker of the Sidekick device. Danger uses its own operating system, and its business model relied on generating revenue by grabbing a slice of monthly service fees from phone carriers, rather than selling software licenses.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Continuing its spending spree, Acer announced Monday it plans to acquire E-Ten for $290 million.

Based in Taiwan, E-Ten has been around for more than two decades, and part of its business includes manufacturing Pocket PC phones and PDAs for other companies. But it's probably known best to consumers by its Glofiish consumer brand name, established less than two years ago.

Acer buys Glofiish maker E-Ten

(Credit: Glofiish)

With this purchase, Acer, also based in Taiwan, appears laser-focused on becoming a major mobile player. Thanks to its acquisitions of both Gateway and Packard Bell, it's already taken out Dell as the second-largest manufacturer of notebooks. Now it appears ready to jump into the handheld computing fray.

"The acquisition of E-Ten increases Acer's global footprint by giving us a strong and highly credible presence in the mobility segment," J.T. Wang, CEO of Acer, said in a statement.

It's interesting that Acer has apparently been in the market for a mobile phone company and bypassed Motorola, which was, even if only temporarily, up for grabs. Instead, it went for a relative unknown (outside of China), that is likely far cheaper but, more importantly, one that specifically makes smartphones, rather than flip phones and their ilk.

Acer apparently sees value in the smartphone trend. Regarding the announcement, Acer President Gianfranco Lanci added, "The worldwide smartphone market is estimated to grow by more than 30 percent by 2011. Acer will enhance the competitiveness in the ultramobile segment, by combining PC and communication technologies."

Smartphones are increasingly becoming tinier versions of laptops. And they're only going to keep getting smarter, more connected, and more powerful. So for a company that is doing well shipping a lot of notebooks, finding a way to sell even smaller versions of those computers makes a lot of sense.

The New York Times recently reported a heartwarming story about a lost digital camera being returned after a kindhearted stranger analyzed the photos on the camera to find the owner.

The camera was left in the backseat of a New York taxi, and contained sightseeing photos of Manhattan, as well as Florida snapshots including people wearing name tags. Leads took the hunt to Ireland, back to New York, and finally to Syndey, Australia, where the rightful owner lives. He was "over the moon" with gratitude to get his camera back.

This story has a happy ending, and perhaps most of us would be glad to get our camera back in that situation, but it also made me uneasy to realize how much personally identifiable information was stored on one camera card. I would rather have a locked camera than could not be accessed if it was found, than have a stranger be able to peer into my photos.

The situation is even more crucial when it involves smartphones. ... Read more

Some AT&T wireless customers in the Midwest and Southeast are having trouble accessing 3G and EDGE data services on certain handsets, the company confirmed Thursday.

Problems were reported as early as 6:30 a.m. EST, according to Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. Siegel was not able to say how many subscribers have been affected or what exactly is causing the problem.

He also couldn't specify which specific handsets were having trouble accessing the data network. He would only say they were smartphone handsets. Some users on blogs and message boards have reported that the iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm Treo have all been affected. Siegel also said that some laptop users who have AT&T's PC wireless cards have also had trouble accessing the 3G and EDGE data networks.

The problem doesn't seem to be affecting subscribers in the Northeast or the far West, Siegel said. And the outage has not affected any voice services, so customers are still able to make and receive phone calls.

"We are working to identify the cause of the problem as quickly as we can," he said. "And we apologize for any inconvenience to customers."

Hello, hello. It's me, the Beselo worm calling, and, man, do I have a new trick for your Symbian-based phone.

But security researchers are advising users of the Symbian S60 second-edition phones to just hang up.

(Credit: F-Secure)

The Beselo.A and Beselo.B worms are in the wild, looking to lure Symbian S60 users into clicking on their incoming malicious files, according to a warning issued Tuesday by F-Secure.

The Beselo worms are tricky, in that they use common media file extensions, rather than a standard SIS extension, in sending their malicious payload.

Like the Commwarrior worms, the Beselo worms rely on MMS and Bluetooth to get around, with some social engineering thrown in to trick users into installing the SIS application installation file. But because this file has a common media file extension, such as beauty.jpg, sex.mp3, or love.rm, users are more likely to click "yes" to an installation prompt when opening the file, notes F-Secure.

F-Secure offers this word of advice: just say "no" to such a request.

"There is no reason for any image file to ask installation questions on the Symbian platform, so any image or sound file that does something else than play immediately is without question something else than it claims to be," warns F-Secure.

That's the latest twist on smart-phone worms, which debuted in 2004 with the arrival of the Cabir worm. The Beselo worms, meanwhile, were initially clumped in with the pervasive Commwarrior worms, until a discovery was made about their use of common media file extensions.

Garmin has a really small idea for making smart phones a whole lot smarter.

The GPS device maker announced Wednesday GPS software called Garmin Mobile XT. Embedded on a microSD card, the software gives the handset access to a slew of location-based services, such as maps, driving directions, real-time traffic and weather information, local gas prices and friend-finding tools.

The card is $99, a steal compared with the average Garmin device, which will run you anywhere from $200 to $1,000. And, of course, you don't need to ferry around a separate navigation device.

Mobile XT comes loaded with maps of the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico or Europe. It takes advantage of phones connected to the Web by routing to the location of a contact in the phone's address book or to a calendar appointment and can broadcast your location to any other phone or pinpoint the whereabouts of other Garmin Mobile XT users.

All of this map data is provided by Navteq, which was enticed into joining Nokia's ranks Monday in exchange for $8.1 billion. The acquisition by Nokia demonstrates the appeal and strategic importance of offering location-based services. What Garmin is trying to do by offering the Mobile XT hardware/software combination is along the lines of what Nokia is aspiring to do--namely, incorporate the convenience of navigation services into a single device that most everyone carries.

Though both are hardware makers that depend on software to make this happen, they are coming from opposite sides: Nokia is the world's No. 1 producer of cell phones, and Garmin is a stalwart of the personal-navigation industry. Though GPS devices won't fade away completely, Nokia's position in the handset business and control of Navteq give it an obvious advantage in this competition for consumers.

Well, it wasn't a complete secret, but today, Palm and Sprint officially took the wraps off the Palm Centro at the Digital Life event in New York. It's the first non-Treo, as well as the smallest and lightest, smart phone from Palm, and the company hopes it will attract a new customer base of those ready to make the jump from cell phone to smart phone. Measuring 4.2 inches long by 2.1 inches wide and 0.7 inch deep and 4.2 ounces, the Centro has more of a cell-phone-like form factor but still has a full QWERTY keyboard and 65,000-color, 320x320-pixel touch screen. It also manages to pack in all the features of a Treo and then some.

Messaging options are aplenty with VersaMail, Microsoft Direct Push Technology compatibility, support for Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo accounts, and threaded text messaging. Like the Treo 755p, Sprint also throws in Yahoo, AIM, and Windows Live instant messaging clients, which we always love to see. Web browsing should be swift with EV-DO support, and you can also access Sprint TV, YouTube, Yelp, and MySpace from the device. There's integrated Bluetooth 1.2 for hands-free kits, wireless headsets, and dial-up networking but no Wi-Fi. For multimedia, the Centro is equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom and video recording capabilities and for the first time, the smart phone ships with Pocket Tunes Deluxe (instead of the Standard edition) so you can listen to DRM-protected music. For now, the Centro won't work with the Sprint Music Store, though this is something that may be added in the future. Other highlights include 64MB user-accessible storage, a microSD expansion slot (can accept up to 4GB cards), Documents to Go Professional 10, Google Mobile Maps, and Palm OS 5.4.9.

Sprint will have a 90-day exclusive on the Palm Centro, which comes in onyx black or ruby red, and it's expected to be available in mid-October for $99.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates. Sprint Power Vision packs start at $15 per month.

Palm Centro in red

(Credit: Palm)

First impressions
Palm actually stopped by our offices a couple of weeks ago to give us a sneak peek at the Centro, and I've got mixed feelings about the device, mostly about the design. The size of the Centro is certainly smaller than the bulky Treo, and I think it's a nice compromise between a regular cell phone and business-centric smart phone like the Sprint Mogul. However, the design doesn't do much for me. It lacks the flash and "wow" factor of a device from HTC or Nokia, and in the hand, it feels, well, a bit cheap. The navigation controls below the display feel plasticky, and I think the QWERTY keyboard may give some users problems since they had to cramp it into a smaller space. If anything, I could see the Centro attracting more female customers than men, which is part of Palm's goal.

As for features, it's pretty well-stocked. Of course, the Palm OS is a bit outdated but it still offers ease of use and out-of-box Mac synchronization. You pretty much get all the essentials for work and play, the extra apps are a bonus, and hey, you can't beat the price. Anyway, those are just some initial thoughts. We expect to get a review unit within the next week or two; in the meantime, you can check out CNET TV Rich DeMuro's First Look video above and CNET UK's review of the similar Palm Treo 500v. Also, talk back to me! What do you think of the Centro?

OK, kids--hope you've been nice this year, because here's something you might want to add to your holiday wish lists. Today, T-Mobile announced not one, but two new Sidekicks to be added to its lineup: the T-Mobile Sidekick LX and the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide.

T-Mobile Sidekick LX

(Credit: T-Mobile)

Let's start with the latter since it brings something new to the mobile messaging device: a slide-up screen (all together now: oooohhh, ahhhh). Unlike previous models, which have been manufactured by Sharp/Danger, the Sidekick Slide is made by Motorola and features a smaller design. It measures 4.6 inches wide by 2.6 inches high by 0.6 inch deep and weighs 5.3 ounces, while the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 comes in at 5.1 inches wide by 2.3 inches high by 0.8 inch deep and 6.7 ounces and the Sidekick iD is 5.1 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.8 inch and 6.2 ounces. And hallelujah--it has a higher resolution screen at 320x240 pixels and 65,000 colors. The Slide still has all the messaging options that made the Sidekick popular in the first place, including a personal T-mail account, support for POP3 and IMAP e-mail, integrated AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo instant messaging clients, and text and multimedia messaging. The quad-band phone also supports the new MySpace Mobile application (a separate download), which you can peep on the phone's Web browser that is said to have better JavaScript support. Other goodies include Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera with no (!!) video-recording capabilities, and a music player that requires the use of a microSD memory card but supports MP3 and AAC files. The Sidekick Slide will be in stores starting November 7 for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

T-Mobile Sidekick Slide

(Credit: T-Mobile)

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX goes the more traditional route in terms of design with its swivel screen. The LX is made by Sharp, and fortunately the company also decided to improve the device's mug with a larger 3-inch, 65,000-color TFT display and 400x240 pixel resolution. It's trimmed down a bit in weight at 5.7 ounces but otherwise retains the same dimensions as the Sidekick 3 mentioned above. You'll have your choice of two colors--midnight blue or espresso brown--and you can program it to light up like a Christmas tree to alert you to text messages, e-mail, and so forth. The Sidekick LX has all the same messaging features of the Slide and also works with MySpace Mobile. Final highlights of the quad-band phone include integrated Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera (again, no video recording), an MP3 and AAC music player, rated talk-time battery life of 6.8 hours, and a microSD expansion slot. T-Mobile customers get first dibs on the LX starting October 17, while the rest of the world can buy it in stores and online on October 24. Pricing is set at $299.99 with a two-year contract.

Now, we haven't had a chance to play around with these two new Sidekicks yet--we're hearing promises of the next week or two--so it's hard to comment about the new designs, which seem to be the biggest difference between the two devices and the Sidekick 3. Frankly, I wish there was a little more in the multimedia department considering the youth appeal of the Sidekick. Anyway, I'm curious: Among the current Sidekick owners and potential Sidekick owners, which one of these devices are you more interested in and why? Is there enough there to make you want to buy it?