mobile

The FCC has green-lighted the Samsung SCH-R900, what appears to be the U.S.’s first CDMA/LTE handset. The R900 was announced back in March at CTIA by pre-paid carrier MetroPCS, and the cost-conscious carrier stated it would have the device out before the end of the year. The Samsung device will contain a 1700/1900 MHz LTE radio (MetroPCS is licensed to operate LTE on this spectrum) Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There has been no indication of what operating system the device will run, although Android is a pretty solid bet.

Currently, LTE trials are underway in Boston and Seattle by larger CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless; Big Red is promising to have their 4G network up and running in 25 to 30 markets by the end of 2010.

Who’s excited for this portly looking LTE phone?

[Via PhoneScoop]

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Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has released its most recent Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report. It found that 317.5 million units were shipped during the second quarter of 2010, and that RIM and Samsung gained a large amount of market share since the same quarter in 2009. Read the full story here.

A new Strategy Analytics report showed continued growth of mobile phone sales worldwide during the second quarter of 2010, and found that a total of 308 million units were shipped during the quarter. Read the full story here.

Read the full story here.

The FCC has recently approved the Samsung SCH-R900, and it's the first U.S. 4G long term evolution (LTE) phone. The device supports 1700MHz/1900MHz bands for both LTE and EV-DO connectivity. Other specs are currently unknown. In March, MetroPCS and Samsung announced the SCH-r900 and said that it would launch on MetroPCS' network during the second half of 2010. Read the full story here.

Video preview of the iPhone 4 launch in Sweden / Stockholm / Kungsgatan this morning (Time: 00.01 am). The line to the right is to the Telia store and the one to the left is to the 3 store… Read more

It is officially official. Sprint has announced that it will be “the first wireless carrier to bring Android 2.2 to customers [...] beginning Tuesday, Aug. 3.” Yesterday, leaked slides indicated that August 3rd was Sprint’s targeted go-live date, but a post on the company’s blog has made the date official. Go ahead EVO 4G owners, feel free to gloat in the comments. We’ve got the full post linked up for you.

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Wow! A recent VentureBeat article put the blogosphere and smartphone industry on its heels when a reported score of wallpaper Android apps were accused of being malicious by mobile security software maker Lookout at a Blackhat 2010 hackers conference. The wallpaper apps created by “jackeey,wallpaper” and “IceskYsl@1sters!” are indeed the same developer under separate accounts,  and accused of sending private sensitive user data to servers in China to a website www.imnet.us. The worse part about all of this is no one, I mean no one fact checked anything. VentureBeat, The Wall Street Journal, CNET, Yahoo! News, Fast Company, Fortune, PC World, Computerworld, AppleInsider, etc. the list goes on and on and everybody jumped the gun in reporting the issue. No one asked the developer about it nor really looked into the lets just say not so solid methods Lookout used in building it’s malware report called the App Genome Project.

Initial Statement Lookout gave to VentureBeat

VentureBeat stated Lookout said the app does the revised statement:

Update: Lookout notes it does not capture browsing history and text messages. It collects your browsing history, text messages, your phone number, subscriber identification, and even your voicemail password, as long as it is programmed automatically into your phone. It sends the data to a web site, www.imnet.us. That site is evidently owned by someone in Shenzhen, China. The app has been downloaded anywhere from 1.1 million to 4.6 million times. The exact number isn’t known because the Android Market doesn’t offer precise data. The search through the data showed that Jackeey Wallpaper and another developer known as iceskysl@1sters! (which could possibly be the same developer, as they use similar code) were collecting personal data. The wallpaper app asks for permission to access your “phone calls,” but that isn’t necessarily a clear warning. While suspicious, Lookout says there isn’t evidence of malicious behavior.

Response from the Accused Developer

We had a chance to talk with the developer of the wallpaper apps in an exclusive interview, his name is Jackeey Wu. Since the massive coverage Google has pulled all the wallpaper apps from both accounts pending further investigation. We would like to share our interview verbatim with the developer of the apps:

Hi, I noticed in venturebeat.com that the CEO of Lookout said that I have collected user’s data in my wallpaper apps.The data includes browsing history, text messages, phone’s SIM card number, subscriber identification, and even your voicemail password. (http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/07/28/android-wallpaper-app-that-steals-your-data-was-downloaded-by-millions/) I do not collect user data likes what the CEO of Lookout Said in venturebeat.com He said that I have collected the text message, it is bullshit. We know that if a developer wants to collect text message, he must declare some android permissions (android.permission.READ_SMS, android.permission.RECEIVE_SMS, or android.permission.RECEIVE_MMS) firstly. And these permissions will be shown on the Android market security page and Application settings. We can see the following screen shortcut from android market, that I do not declare the permission in my applications (The right one). So my applications can’t collect user message absolutely.

In the news, it said I collected the browsing history in my applications, it makes no sense. You can see the screen shortcut below. The “Browser” applications declare the permissions to read/write browsing history and bookmark. But in all my applications, I do not declare that permissions to collect these user‘s data.

Other wallpaper application collected more data. Please look out the most popular wallpaper apps i.e. “Background”. That application required 8 permissions. My applications just required 5 permissions to make the app run well, and all of these permissions have been contained by “Background”. In my applications I collected some device data, not user data. I collected the screen size to return more suitable wallpaper for the phone. More and More users emailed me telling that they love my wallpaper apps so much, because that even “Background” can’t well suited the phone’s screen. I also collected device id,phone number and subscriber id, it has no relationship with user data. There are few apps in Android market has the favorites feature. Many users suggest that I should provide the feature so I use the these to identify the device, so they can favorite the wallpapers more conveniently, and resume his favorites after system resetting or changing the phone.

I am just an Android developer, I love wallpapers and I use different wallpaper every day. All I want is to make the greatest Android apps.

I am wondering why the the ceo of Lookout or the Author of venturebeat.com attacks me and make irresponsible points.

Retroactive Summary Statement from Lookout About the Malicious Apps

For obvious reasons Lookout could not respond to my questions at the time of researching this issue but have issued a explanation and scaled back it’s accusation on their blog stating:

While the data this app is accessing is certainly suspicious coming from a wallpaper app, we want to be clear that there is no evidence of malicious behavior. There have been cases in the past where applications are simply a little overzealous in their data gathering practices, but not because of any ill intent.

My Preliminary Conclusion

True all users should indeed be aware of what they are installing from the Android Market. True the openness of the Android Market are its strengths and weakness as something like this could be exploited. In this particular instance… it may not be the case, especially for what seems like a developer trying to improve his app by grabbing device data to make a “favorites” feature in-app. Maybe his approach was suspicious and overzealous as Lookout corrected, but was the mass negative press without covering the complete story warranted???

I believe Lookout’s reassessment should have been issued in the beginning versus retroactively; it makes me question their app security scanning and protection features of Lookout Mobile Security. Hopefully Google’s investigation will put a final ruling to this.

I’ve leave you with these 3 words… Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt!

This content was originally posted at AndroidTapp.com

The Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset features a nice physical design, triple microphones for noise reduction, and an iPhone application that allows the user to tune the headset as well as use it to amplify ambient sound when not used during a call. Watch the video here.

Yay open source! Samsung has released the source code for the SGH-I897, better known as the Captivate (the AT&T variant of the Galaxy S). In a letter to developers Samsung writes:

You can download the source code of SGH-I897 on this site in Mobile Category, SGH-I897 model.

Thank you.

The source is about 160 megabytes in size and available to all who want it, no signups necessary. Hit up opensource.samsung.com to download the goods!

[Via BriefMobile]

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Today Samsung reported its second quarter 2010 earnings. The company saw increased revenues year over year, as well as a 22 percent growth in handset sales. Read the full story here.

Mozilla has updated its Firefox Home app for the iPhone to version 1.0.1, as well as Firefox Sync. Firefox Home now supports usernames with uppercase letters, and Mozilla also added a help button on the login page. Error messages are also said to be more helpful. Firefox Sync now supports multi-byte characters in passwords, can finish the initial sync even if your browser is set to private browsing mode, and has a new UI indicator to show the status of your current sync. Read the full story here.

The Apple iPhone 4 is available on T-Mobile U.K. today. The device, available in 16GB and 32GB flavors, is free with a minimum of a £60 monthly plan ($93.75). The website lists both the black and white version, but only the black version is available now. T-Mobile U.K. says that a pay-as-you-go plan will soon be available for the 16GB iPhone 4. Read the full story here.

HTC plans to roll out Android 2.2 Froyo to Desire devices the weekend, according to an email we've just received. HTC has added a few of its own touches to the update, including a revamped caller ID app, an App Sharing widget, and support for 720p video recording. iTunes support will also be included through HTC Sync. The update is expected to be pushed out over the air to unlocked versions, with carrier branded updates expected in the following weeks. Read the full story here.

HTC has released a statement to let all those Europeans owning an unlocked HTC Desire know that they will start getting Android 2.2 this weekend. The update will have the latest version of HTC’s Sense UI, improved 720p video capture mode, iTunes integration, and its enhanced Caller ID. For American owners waiting for their cone of Froyo, this is just further proof that HTC has Android 2.2, complete with Sense, ready to rock… it’s only a matter of time now! We’ve got the full statement after the break.

The Android 2.2 (FroYo) update for HTC Desire will start rolling out across Europe this weekend. As well as including the complete set of Android 2.2 features, the update will contain a few special additions of our own through the latest iteration of HTC Sense. The update will provide 720p video capture, HTC’s App Share widget, as well as our enhanced HTC Caller ID, and improved multi-language keyboard. Also, through the update, HTC Sync will allow HTC Desire users to sync their music with iTunes.

HTC Desire users will be notified that the over-the-air update is available to download when their phone automatically checks for software updates. The update won’t delete any of the phone’s content. However, due to the size of the update, we would advise using a WiFi connection to download it wherever possible to avoid additional data charges.

This update will initially roll out to unlocked HTC Desire handsets. Operator specific versions of the update are undergoing testing and we expect to make them available in several weeks’ time.

What seemed pretty far-fetched at one point in time actually doesn’t seem so out of bounds now that we know what it is, right? If you haven’t been keeping up on all things Apple, you can think of the Magic Trackpad as a much larger MacBook Pro trackpad with the same rough design identity as Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. It has 4.5 inches of multi-touch and gesture-capable glass, and even will click thanks to the fact that the feet underneath… click. Using something like this on a desktop is a little disconcerting at first, as most everyone is used to having the trackpad right under the keyboard, not next to one. After a day of work usage, we’re pretty comfortable with the peripheral. Though, we’re just not sure yet if we’ll be moving the AA batteries in our Magic Mouse elsewhere just yet.

The folks at HDblog.it compares the AMOLED display on the Acer Stream with the Super AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S! Check it out after the break… Acer Stream S110 is an Android flavored GSM phone powered by 1GHz Snapdragon processor and WVGA AMOLED display. Other features include a 5MP camera with 720p video recording, [...]

Who needs Jeeves when you have Facebook! Facebook just launched a new question and answer application that will allow you to pose questions to its sea of over 500 million users. As Facebook explains, “With this new application, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics.” You can pose questions about potential vacation spots, future gadget recommendations, or pretty much anything you want. Facebook does warn: “Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the Internet. If you only want to ask a question to your friends or a specific group of people, you can still pose it as a status update on your profile targeted to those people.” There you have it. Thoughts?Read

Heres a video of Flash 10.1 running on the DROID Incredible after an update to the official Android 2.2. Video after the break! [Via]

Reuters is reporting that retail giant Best Buy has signed a partnership deal with WiMax network operator Clearwire. Beginning in 2011, Best Buy will be offering wireless 4G data plans, on Clearwire’s WiMax network, under their Best Buy Connect service offering. No details on pricing, availability, or hardware have been announced. Currently Clearwire’s 4G network covers 43 major cities around the U.S. More on this as it develops…

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