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OTA2U Wireless News

Verizon Pushing Android 2.2 to Motorola Droid Next Week Owners of the Motorola Droid, the original Verizon Wireless Android smartphone, will start to see the Android 2.2 update on devices next week. Verizon Wireless has confirmed that FroYo will start rolling out to the Droid after the weekend. ... (follow link to read) Nokia Siemens Seeking Capital According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Nokia Siemens Networks is talking to buy-out firms in hopes of securing a minimum of $1 billion in cash. The company has been in talks with a handful of firms, ... (follow link to read) Bluetooth SIG Reveals Samsung i917 Windows Phone 7 Device Documents recently published on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group web site confirm some details about an unannounced handset from Samsung. The SGH-i917 Cetus will run Windows Phone 7, and is among the first handsets confirmed to have the unreleased ... (follow link to read) RadioShack Expanding to Target Stores with Kiosks RadioShack has announced plans to expand its mobile phone retail footprint by installing kiosks inside Target stores. The kiosks will be branded "Bullseye Mobile" and won't be identified with RadioShack. The kiosks will be installed in most of Target's ... (follow link to read) ZTE Licenses Nuance's T9 Portfolio for Future Handsets ZTE today announced that it has licensed Nuance Communication's T9 predictive text entry software for use in its handset portfolio. ZTE said it will make use of T9, XT9, T9 Write and T9 Trace, all of which help speed ... (follow link to read) First LTE Phone Approved By FCC The FCC has approved a phone identified as the Samsung R900, which has LTE capabilities using the 1700 / 1900 radio bands. As PhoneScoop reported this past March from the CTIA show, MetroPCS has already announced plans to launch ... (follow link to read) HTC Evo 4G Getting Android 2.2 FroYo on August 3 Sprint has announced that its first WiMAX handset, the HTC Evo 4G, will also be the first carrier offering to push Android 2.2, or FroYo, to owners. Starting next Tuesday, August 3, Evo 4G owners will begin to receive ... (follow link to read) BlackBerry App World Being Rolled Out to Beta Testers Research In Motion today began distributing BlackBerry App World 2.0 to registered testers in its BlackBerry Beta Zone program. Beta Zone members can expect to receive an email from RIM with a link to the application. BlackBerry App World ... (follow link to read) Samsung Intensity II Lands at Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless and Samsung today announced the availability of the Intensity II, a sideways slider messaging device with full QWERTY keyboard. The Intensity II features a 2.2-inch display, 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture and infrared night vision, stereo ... (follow link to read) Access Joins Open Handset Alliance Access today announced that it has joined the Open Handset Alliance and plans to further its support for the Android platform with new products and services. The company is the latest to join the dozens of companies supporting Google's ... (follow link to read) Motorola to Build LTE Network for San Francisco Motorola today announced that the City of San Francisco has selected it to build a Long Term Evolution network in the 700MHz band that will be used for the municipality's public safety agencies. The LTE network will cover portions ... (follow link to read) Malicious Android Wallpaper App Raided Personal Data Mobile security firm Lookout has exposed a wallpaper application available in the Android Market that collects personal information and sends it to a web site in China. The application, developed by Jackeey Wallpaper, snags data from users such as ... (follow link to read) Best Buy and Clearwire Ink WiMax Distro Deal Best Buy and Clearwire today announced a new partnership whereby Best Buy can offering Clearwire's WiMax services as its own Best Buy Connect wireless broadband product. Starting in 2011, Best Buy will add a 4G option available to customers ... (follow link to read) FCC Reveals ZTE Peel On Sprint, For Apples Perhaps FCC documents have revealed a curious new EV-DO device from ZTE headed for Sprint. The Peel, as FCC photos suggest it will be called, seems to be a carriage sled for a tablet style device like the iPod touch. ... (follow link to read) Boost Lands Motorola Rambler and Bali Handsets Boost Mobile today announced two new Motorola handsets, the Rambler and the Bali. Shared features include clamshell designs, 1.3 megapixel cameras with video capture, stereo Bluetooth, and support for microSD cards.Rambler: This flip phone has a full QWERTY keyboard ... (follow link to read) Review: Sharp FX Sharp fields its first phone for AT&T. The FX is a quick messaging device that carries forward Sharp's messaging phone lineage, though it's not the sharpest knife in the messaging phone drawer. (follow link to read) Cincinnati Bell First to Snag BlackBerry Pearl 3G Cincinnati Bell is the first U.S. carrier to offer the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100. The 9100 adds 3G to the GSM Pearl line for the first time, and also includes Wi-Fi and GPS. It has a 3 megapixel camera, ... (follow link to read) CTIA Updates 'Consumer Code for Wireless Service' The CTIA wireless trade association today announced an update to its Consumer Code for Wireless Service document. The Code specifies that all supporting companies meet ten criteria. Those criteria include: full disclosure of rates, additional taxes, fees, surcharges and ... (follow link to read) Nokia Lists C6, E5, and C3 on U.S. Site Nokia has added the C6, E5, and C3 devices to its U.S. web site, stating that the phones will be available soon. The C6 and E5 run S60, and the C3 runs S40. All three will be sold unlocked. ... (follow link to read) LG Licenses Sorenson Spark Video Codec Sorenson Media today announced that LG has licensed its Sorenson Spark video codec for use in its entire lineup of mobile phones. By using the Sorenson Spark video codec, LG phones will be able to playback nearly all online ... (follow link to read) FCC Approves First LTE Phone for MetroPCS The Federal Communications Commission has approved what could be the first phone in the U.S. market compatible with a Long Term Evolution network for high-speed, 4G data. But there are more questions than answers about the handset and when it will reach consumers. About all that is known so far is that the Samsung SCH-r900 will be offered by MetroPCS, use the standard CDMA voice network as a backup when 4G is unavailable, be Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capable, and be able to browse the Internet and download music. It will operate at the spectrum of 1700/1900 megahertz. When South Korea-based Samsung announced the phone at the CTIA Wireless show in March, it said "Samsung Mobile's commercial LTE network products leverage years of 4G orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) commercial network experience and have flexible bandwidth support of 1.4 to 20 MHz standards." Details Are Secret Neither Samsung nor MetroPCS has revealed which operating system will power the SCH-r900, how much memory it will have, or what kind of processor, keyboard and camera it will use. "It's all being shrouded in secrecy," said IDC Research wireless analyst Ramon Llamas, who has tried in vain to get more details about the phone. "They've been tight-lipped about this. I've tried numerous ways to get some read on it, but we still don't know if it's a feature phone or a smartphone, or where the coverage will be. Since it's not coming out until December, why tip your hand now?" One of the biggest questions, Llamas said, is how MetroPCS -- known for flat-rate voice-calling plans -- will handle data-hungry 4G users. "This is a totally different ball of wax," said Llamas. "How do you price a phone that is all data?" Richardson, Tex.,-based MetroPCS, formerly General Wireless, is the fifth largest cellular carrier in the United States... RIM BlackPad Expected To Compete with Apple's iPad Research In Motion will introduce its own tablet computer, called BlackPad, in November, according to news sources. The BlackBerry maker is moving to compete with rival Apple, which currently dominates the tablet market with its iPad. RIM is also expected to introduce the BlackBerry Bold 9800 smartphone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard next month to recover market share lost to Apple's iPhone. According to IDC, RIM's share of the global smartphone market was 19.4 percent in the first quarter, down from 20.9 percent a year earlier, while Apple rose to 16.1 percent from 10.9 percent. News sources said RIM's BlackPad will be about the same size as the iPad and include both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so users can connect to the Internet through smartphones. The price is expected to be close to the iPad, which currently starts at $499. The operating system for the BlackPad is not known, but could be the upcoming BlackBerry 6. RIM and AT&T could discuss that operating system at a press conference next week expected to focus on the Bold 9800. Canada-based RIM recently acquired the domain blackpad.com. Even with a tablet, RIM will have to scramble to compete with the more than 225,000 apps available for the iPad and iPhone on Apple's App Store. RIM's BlackBerry App World had a bit more than 9,000 apps as of Friday. The BlackPad will reportedly have front and back cameras for videoconferencing. News sources said it will also be tied to the BlackBerry e-mail system used by many enterprises. With more than three million iPads sold, Apple has a tremendous market lead and RIM will be playing catch-up along with tablets expected from Hewlett-Packard, LG Electronics, and Samsung. Dell has already introduced its Android-powered Dell Streak tablet and smartphone in the United Kingdom and has a large volume of pre-orders for its U.S. debut. Windows 7 Is Being Retooled for Tablet Market Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told industry analysts Thursday that the software giant is working in cooperation with device manufacturers to develop a customized version of Windows 7 for tablets. Although Apple has created an entirely new tablet market without Microsoft's participation, Ballmer noted that much the same thing happened with netbooks. Microsoft went from having no Windows penetration on netbooks in the early days to seeing Windows become "the guiding piece of software" in a market subsegment that now accounts for 15 percent or so of all PCs shipped worldwide, Ballmer observed. "Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we've got to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates" in cooperation with Microsoft's hardware partners, Ballmer said. "We are in the process of doing that as we speak." Developing Unique Apps It's clear that Microsoft understands both the threat and opportunity presented by Apple's iPad, but the company's consideration of all the outstanding issues still appears to be in the early stages, said Al Hilwa, director of applications development software at IDC. "The idea of devices based on Windows is a good one, as we see a world of many form factors competing," Hilwa said. "But if the machine looks and smells too much like Windows, it will mostly cannibalize Windows PC sales and not necessarily affect the growth of phone-derived tablets." From a competitive perspective, Microsoft has a lot of good software relevant to the emerging tablet market, and has already done a considerable amount of work on relevant technologies like touch, Ballmer said. "We've got the application base, we've got the user familiarity, we've got everything on our side if we do things really right," he added. To hit the iPad market squarely, however, Microsoft will need a content-consumption strategy that is iTunes-like, an application development... iPhone iOS 4 Complaints Could Be Apple's 'Vistagate' Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your iPhone ... Antennagate may be over, but complaints are now rolling in from iPhone 3G users who downloaded the latest Apple mobile operating system. There are reports that upgrading the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to iOS 4 causes the phone to drag and the battery to run out more quickly. Apple has said it is investigating the issue, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. "My I-phone 3G was running perfectly fine, till I updated to OS 4, it's been slower than the slowest, and even turns itself off at anytime, during browsing and even during calls. I updated to 4.0.1 only to improve things a little bit. Still the problems persist," wrote a user from India who calls himself I-Phone 4.0.1 bugs. "Am cursing myself why I updated it." Worldwide Complaints The problem isn't confined to Asia. Users in the United States are reporting the same issues. Some say the iPhone 3GS now "stutters." Others say the iPod capabilities on the phone are "completely busted." Still others report the updated iPhones won't go to the home screen and take 30 seconds to respond to various commands. One forum complainer named "Savvytraveller" said his apps are crashing or just freezing after the upgrade to iOS 4.0.1. This same users reports the handset is getting hot. The complaints go on and on, giving Apple another headache after the iPhone 4 case giveaway just eased the last one. Indeed, this isn't what Apple expected when it touted iOS 4, the newest version of the iPhone mobile operating system with the much-anticipated multitasking. Many iPhone 3GS users upgraded to tap into the multitasking capabilities, which promise to let users switch between apps while preserving battery life. iOS 4 also offers a new Folders capability that... Mobile Apps Leak Personal Info on Android, Apple Phones Mobile apps on Android-powered smartphones and Apple's iPhone can disclose more personal data than most users realize, security vendor Lookout revealed Wednesday at the Black Hat USA 2010 conference in Las Vegas. Rather than being malicious, users often give the apps permission to access data when they are installed. Lookout CEO John Hering and CTO Kevin Mahaffey told a session titled App Attack: Surviving the Mobile Application Explosion that a popular Android wallpaper app from Jackeey Wallpaper sent users' data, including phone numbers and SIM card numbers, to a server in Shenzhen, China. The wallpapers included My Little Pony and Star Wars. Free apps can be risky, they said, with about 29 percent of free Android apps and 33 percent of those for the iPhone able to determine a user's location. Apple's iOS does, however, require apps to alert users when location information is accessed. iPhone users can also use the settings to block apps from accessing personal data. In addition, Hering and Mahaffey said, about eight percent of Android apps and 14 percent of iPhone apps can access user contacts. And 47 percent of Android apps and 23 percent of iPhone apps have third-party code, usually for mobile ads and analytics, but sometimes for other purposes. They urged app developers to be aware of security practices, especially when third-party code is added. Mahaffey noted, "The lesson today is that developers don't always know what's inside their apps." Hering added, "Standardized APIs are making it easier and easier to actually create practical attacks. Instead of having to do something complex in a desktop-like environment, I know I can just call the contact API, for example, and have a very simple programmatic way to grab that information." HP Confirms Plans for Both Windows and webOS Tablets Hewlett-Packard has confirmed it plans separate tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows and Palm's webOS. HP says it will use Windows for a business device and webOS for a consumer-oriented machine. No release dates, product specs, or prices have been named, but HP spokesperson Marlene Somsak told us in an e-mail that a Slate-type computer is coming soon. Slated For Fall "We aren't saying anything beyond 'fall' for a Windows-based slate," she wrote. "And we have not set an official name or set pricing. We are aiming that product at the commercial market. webOS from Palm is the platform for our consumer slate -- no timing, name or pricing revealed there." Somsak declined further comment. Speculation abounded last week about the technology giant's tablet plans when the HP Slate made a brief appearance on the company's web site, listed as the Slate 500-1002TU, with no release date or price. First unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, the Slate was assumed to be dead when HP purchased the failing Palm, creator of webOS. The Slate 500-1002TU was described in product specs as a fun device for social media, photos and videos, which means it's not likely the upcoming HP Windows device geared toward enterprises. It had an 8.9-inch screen, video and still cameras, a gigabyte of memory, a 1.6-gigahertz processor, and support for input from an electronic pen "to write or draw as if on a piece of paper," HP said. That device disappeared from the web site after it prompted numerous articles in the technology media. A Two-Pronged Approach Taking advantage of Microsoft's strong desire to be in the burgeoning tablet market -- Ballmer on July 12 said it is "one of the most important things we'll do in the smart-device category" -- while also promoting webOS for tablets... Motorola Smartphone Sales Up Despite Mobile Loss Motorola said it shipped 8.3 million cellular handsets in the second quarter -- including 2.7 million smartphones, or 400,000 more units than the company shipped in the prior quarter. Overall, the company said it earned $162 million -- up from $26 million in the same period last year. However, Motorola said its mobile-device shipments declined from 8.5 million in the first quarter and mobile-device sales were $1.7 billion, down six percent year over year. Additionally, the company reported an operating loss of $109 million for its mobile-device business. As a possible sign of better days to come, Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha noted that demand for the company's Droid X has been "exceeding our expectations" since its launch earlier this month. "I believe we have momentum going into the third and fourth quarter," Jha said. "As we continue to execute on our business strategy, we are in a strong position to continue improving our share in the rapidly growing smartphone market and improving our operating performance." Betting On Android According to Gartner, Motorola ranked sixth in the global smartphone market with a three percent share at the end of this year's first quarter, right behind Sony Ericsson at 3.1 percent. Moving forward, Motorola hopes to benefit from the rising popularity of the Android mobile operating system, which grew a stunning 707 percent year-on-year during the first quarter in the North American market, where Motorola recorded 66 percent of its mobile-device sales. Motorola is also hoping to capitalize on the headline-grabbing antenna flaw sowing doubt about Apple's iPhone 4. A new IDC survey indicates that 66 percent of current iPhone owners have decided to put off their purchase of Apple's new smartphone. Apple is attempting to address the flaw by offering a free case that promises to mitigate connectivity problems even as it contends that rival... Amazon Offers New $189 Kindle, with a $139 Model Coming In a move to compete with Apple's iPad and emerging e-reader alternatives, Amazon.com on Wednesday unveiled the next-generation Kindle. The new-look Kindle comes equipped with a new electronic-ink screen that offers better contrast in a 21 percent smaller body that holds fast to its six-inch reading area. The new Kindle is also 15 percent lighter than its predecessor. The made-over Kindle promises to turn pages 20 percent faster, offers up to one month of battery life, pulls content in Wi-Fi and free 3G, and doubles storage to accommodate 3,500 books. The price is $189. If you don't need the 3G capability, a Wi-Fi-only Kindle is expected Aug. 27 for $139. At a $139 price point, some analysts are seeing commoditization of the Kindle. But Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, disagrees: "I'm not calling it a commoditization because it's not a commodity. This is tied very closely to Amazon's bookstore, so it defies commoditization. This is getting into impulse-buy territory." Just Buy the E-Books Along with the new Kindle, Amazon is making sure the e-book-buying world knows that Kindle e-books can be read on other devices, including the iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC and Android-based devices. The bookseller also pointed to its Whispersync technology that keeps track of where a reader left off reading an e-book on one device so it picks up in the same place when the reader resumes reading on another device. "The Kindle is a delivery mechanism for Amazon. Amazon is perfectly happy if you buy Kindle books and read them on the iPad or the PC," Greengart said. "But if you want a dedicated e-book reader, they are going to provide you with several different models at extremely aggressive prices so that you join the Amazon family rather than the Barnes & Noble family, the Sony family, or the... Internet Crooks Craft Creative Check-Fraud Scam Think of it as one more reason not to write checks. Hackers believed to be operating out of Russia have figured out a high-tech way to carry out the decidedly low-tech crime of check fraud, a computer security company says -- writing at least $9 million in fakes against more than 1,200 legitimate accounts. But these hackers got the account information in an unusual way: They broke into three Web sites that specialize in a little-known type of business -- archiving check images online. Check counterfeiting is a crime that savvy Internet criminals usually pass up. After all, it's far easier for them to make money by stealing credit cards and online banking passwords. The scam was discovered by SecureWorks Inc., an Atlanta computer security company. The organization says it is working with the FBI and says the hackers have not been caught. Retailers and other businesses use the sites to store records of all the checks they write. Check-cashing operations use them to sock away images of checks they receive. And some banks pay them to store images of customers' checks, so the customers can see them when they log in to their online banking accounts. The criminals downloaded all the images they could find, grabbing bank routing numbers, names and addresses and even signatures of legitimate account holders. They used the information to create their own checks using easy-to-acquire software and printers. Because all the account information is real and the victims don't know their accounts have been compromised, the odds of the checks going through are high. SecureWorks notified the three sites and said they have closed their security holes, but warned that the scam is ongoing and targeting other, similar sites. "It's not the standard kind of criminal operation," Joe Stewart, director of malware research for SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit, told The Associated Press... Panasonic Unveils 3-D Camcorder for Consumers The problem of what to watch on a 3-D TV will be yours to solve with Panasonic's camcorder for families to film birthdays, baby's first walk and weddings, all in 3-D. Numerous global electronics companies are racing 3-D televisions into the shops, hoping a revival of interest in the technology sparked by blockbuster movies such as the sci-fi epic "Avatar" will translate into the public wanting the 3-D experience at home. But the relative scarcity of three dimensional content is a stumbling block for the products catching on. The whole camcorder and lens setup, shown Wednesday, starts at about 170,000 yen ($2,000), far more affordable than professional 3-D camcorders, which have been the only types available up to now for 3-D filming. The camera looks much like a regular digital camcorder but needs a slightly bigger 3-D "conversion" lens that's sold separately. The 3-D camcorders go on sale in Japan Aug. 20, and will be available in overseas markets later this year, according to the Osaka-based maker of Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras. Executive Officer Shiro Nishiguchi said Panasonic sees this year as the opening year for "the 3-D era." Panasonic has led in introducing 3-D products this year, now offering eight 3-D TV models, three 3-D recorders and four designs in 3-D glasses. "Content you create yourself is going to be what you want to watch, and so it's going to be a killer content," Nishiguchi told reporters at a Tokyo hall. The 3-D camcorder is expected to help 3-D products for homes spread quickly, he said, adding that Panasonic will start selling a 3-D lens for digital cameras for still photos later this year. Panasonic demonstrated how the camcorder can film a girl playing on swings, and had reporters check out the film through 3-D glasses. The image was colorful, clear and 3-D but, as...