INQ Mobile intros new phones; adds Twitter

Cellphone maker INQ Mobile is launching two new low-cost cellphones optimized for social networking applications to give mobile subscribers alternatives to more expensive smartphones.
INQ, which is owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, launched its first low-cost, "smartphone-lite" device earlier this year. And now the company is expanding its portfolio with two new devices, one of which has a full QWERTY keypad.
The phones do not run full browsers and the operating system used on the device is Java-based and not nearly as sophisticated as smartphone operating systems used on devices such as the Apple iPhone or Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
But INQ has integrated many of the most popular Web services, such as Facebook and Twitter, onto their handsets to give consumers a smartphone-like experience at a much lower price point. And because the device is not considered a smartphone, subscribers can typically sign up for less expensive data plans using the INQ phones.
In addition to tight integration for one-click access to Facebook, Twitter, and other Web services like Skype, the new INQ devices can also sync with unprotected music stored in iTunes and Windows Media Player.
Just how cheap are the INQ phones? Well, if AT&T can sell the Apple iPhone for $99 with a two-year contract, INQ CEO Frank Meehan believes that U.S. operators could afford to offer the INQ mobile devices for anywhere between $25 and $50 with a two year wireless service contract. And in many cases operators could even offer the phones for free in exchange for a two-year service commitment.
The two new phones announced this week are the INQ Chat 3G phone, which has a full-QWERTY keypad and looks like a colorful BlackBerry, and the INQ Mini, which is shaped like a candy-bar and comes with a standard cell phone keypad. The devices are expected to go on sale in six countries on Hutchison's operator 3 later this year. These countries include the U.K., Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Australia, and Hong Kong.
The Mini, which will cost less than $150 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in September. And the INQ Chat 3G, which will retail for less than $200 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in October.
Meehan said the company is still working on a deal with a U.S. operator. But the phones could end up on this side of the Atlantic next year.

by Marguerite Reardon

Clearwire to bring WiMax to 10 more markets

Clearwire, which is using Sprint Nextel's 2.5GHz spectrum to build a nationwide 4G wireless network, announced Monday 10 more markets that will get the company's Clear WiMax wireless broadband services starting September 1.
Eight of the newly announced cities are in Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Killeen/Temple, Waco, and Wichita Falls. The other two markets are Boise, Idaho, and Bellingham, Wash.
These 10 markets will join four other officially launched WiMax markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Portland, Ore.
Some of the additional markets planned to launch in 2009 include Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
Clearwire says it's on track to launch 80 markets by the end of 2010. In 2010, it plans to roll out service in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, and the San Francisco Bay Area among others.
It's important for Clearwire to launch more markets, especially in major cities where its joint venture partners can also resell the service. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks have each invested in Clearwire, along with Google and Intel. Altogether the companies pitched in $3.2 billion. Comcast and Time Warner Cable have already announced plans to start reselling the WiMax service in areas where they offer cable service. These cable companies plan to bundle the 4G wireless broadband service with their existing high-speed broadband services.
Sprint Nextel, another major Clearwire partner, is also reselling the service combined with its 3G wireless service in some markets, such as Baltimore.
Clearwire uses a technology called WiMax, which offers faster speeds than current 3G wireless technologies, but offers wider coverage than other high-speed wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi. Clearwire claims that it can provide up to 4 megabits per second for downloads and 500 kilobits per second for uploading, which is more than double what consumers can expect using a 3G wireless connection.
The Clear WiMax service from Clearwire starts at $20 per month for in-home wireless broadband. And its mobile Internet plans start at $40 per month. Customers can also get a day pass for $10. The company also allows customers to add voice service to their in-home package for $25 per month.

by Marguerite Reardon

VoiceCentral iPhone developer frustrated with Apple

The mystery surrounding Apple's approval process on the App Store is legendary. What gets approved or rejected on any given day can be a source of bewilderment for developers and consumers alike. But the company still surprised everyone when it rejected Google's Voice app for the iPhone on Tuesday.
the story doesn't end there. Apple then proceeded to remove third-party apps from the App Store that it said duplicate features of the iPhone. One of those apps is called VoiceCentral, and the developer is understandably upset.
Riverturn's VoiceCentral has been available in the App Store for the past four months. The app integrates Google's GrandCentral and Google Voice with the iPhone.
Until this week, everything was going fine for the developer. He submitted the app and was approved by Apple. He released updates and they were approved by Apple. Then, all of a sudden and without warning, his app was pulled from the store.
What seems to be the most upsetting part of the whole situation is that the developer can't get any answers from Apple. In a telephone conversation with the Apple representative who was tasked to inform him the app was being removed, the most common answer from Apple seemed to be "I can't say."
In a blog post on Riverturn's Web site Tuesday, the developer paraphrased the call. At one point the developer asks the Apple rep if there's something he can change in the app so it can be resubmitted to the App Store. The response: "I can't say."
The developer then asks, "if we can't figure out the issue then how will we know whether to resubmit the app. And how will we know whether to invest in any other development efforts? Future apps could be impacted."
The response: "I can't help you with that."
As if that wasn't enough, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is reporting that the developer is now being flooded with refund requests from customers. The problem is Apple keeps its 30 percent commission, but the developer has to refund the entire amount to the customer.

Jailbreaking software already works for 3.0.1 iPhone update

So Apple on Friday released an update to the iPhone OS (3.0.1) that takes care of an SMS vulnerability. It's a fairly important patch, and usually when Apple updates the iPhone OS, jailbreakers have to wait until the Dev Team comes out with a new version of jailbreaking software before they can update.
But according to the iPhone Dev Team's Twitter, this is not the case with the 3.0.1 firmware. In fact, the current versions of redsn0w and ultrasn0w work the same with the 3.0.1 firmware as they do with the 3.0 firmware that came out a few weeks ago. In short, the jailbreaking software already works. I checked with the Dev Team community and had this confirmed. "Restore to 3.0.1, run redsn0w, select the 3.0 file... Bang zoom."
So go ahead, iPhone hackers, and secure your devices soon. You don't have to worry about losing Cydia and other rogue apps.

by Matt Hickey

Facebook erroneously sucking in Twitter updates

Reports are surfacing that Twitter users' updates are showing up on their Facebook walls, quite against their wishes.
Twitter previously developed a Facebook app for users of both services that takes in a user's Twitter content and posts it on Facebook. Apparently a lot of people installed it but left it turned off, and now Facebook is, in error, ignoring the setting and letting the app do what it was designed to do even if users don't want it.
There are also reports that the same thing is happening with the Friendfeed app, which quite complicates things since many people give Friendfeed itself access to their Twitter feeds.
Consensus seems to be that a Facebook bug is causing the platform to ignore users' "off" settings on their Twitter and Friendfeed apps. A solution is to block the offending applications (Twitter, Friendfeed) from accessing your profile.

by Rafe Needleman

Researchers attack my iPhone via SMS

LAS VEGAS--Researchers have discovered a way to take complete control over an iPhone merely by sending special SMS messages and demonstrated it on my iPhone at the Black Hat security conference on Wednesday.
Although an attacker could exploit the hole to make calls, steal data, send text messages, and do basically anything that I can do with my iPhone, the researchers were kind and merely rendered it temporarily inoperable.
Here's what happened: While I was talking on the phone to Charlie Miller, his partner, Collin Mulliner, sent me a text message from his phone. One minute I'm talking to Miller and the next minute my phone is dead, and this time it's not AT&T's fault. After a few seconds it came back to life, but I was not able to make or receive calls until I rebooted.
The attack is enabled by a serious memory corruption bug in the way the iPhone handles SMS messages, said Miller, a senior security researcher at Independent Security Evaluators. There is no patch, despite the fact that Apple was notified of the problem about six weeks ago, he said.
The attack is similar to an SMS attack demonstration CNET News wrote about in April in which mobile security firm Trust Digital was able to send an SMS to a phone that opened up a Web browser and directed the phone to a malicious Web site where malware could be downloaded.
In the more recent research, Android-based phones were found to be similarly susceptible to an SMS attack, only an attacker could temporarily knock the phone off the cell network but not take control, according to Mulliner, who's getting his PhD at the Technical University of Berlin. Google patched the hole last week within a day or two of being notified of the problem, he said.
Meanwhile, a bug in the code written by HTC that controls the user interface on Windows Mobile devices could also be exploited via the SMS messages to make it so there are no buttons to push so the phone can't be used, said Miller.
For the attack to work, an attacker must send hundreds of SMS control messages, which are different from regular SMS messages, according to Miller. Only the initial SMS may be seen, he said.
The researchers will demonstrate the attack on an Android phone and an iPhone during their presentation on Thursday.
Previous iPhone attacks required an attacker to lure the iPhone user to visit a malicious Web site or open a malicious file, but this attack requires no effort on the part of the user and requires only that an attacker have the victim's phone number, Miller said.
Once inside a victim's phone, the attacker could then send an SMS to anyone in the victim's address book and spread the attack from phone to phone, he said.
Previously, Miller discovered a hole in the mobile version of Safari shortly after the iPhone was launched in 2007 and earlier this year he won a contest at CanSecWest by exploiting a hole in Safari

by Elinor Mills

Flying surveillance robots coming soon from Aeryon

Your local police may soon be packing flying surveillance bots. At the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit, Aeryon Labs President Dave Kroetsch gave a compelling pitch on his company, which makes a two-pound robot helicopter that has enough on-board intelligence and stability control to allow it to be flown by people who just point to locations on a Google Map-based interface.

The whole kit, including a table-based control module, fits in a suitcase-sized crate and can be quickly assembled in the field. After the user snaps the flying bot together, he or she just tells it where to go by pointing to a spot on a map. The device has a motion-compensated camera that can take 5-megapixel stills and stream video back to the operator's tablet.

The Aeryon Scout and its tablet-based control computer.(Credit: Aeryon)
More specs: Kroetsch says the Aeryon Scout can fly in up to 30 mph winds for up to 20 minutes. It is limited to 500 feet in altitude (to fly under FAA restrictions). One kit costs $50,000.
Aeryon plans to sell to private security forces, and eventually police departments. Kroetsch is doing things in this order because it's easier to get a contract from a private firm than from a cash-strapped police department or grant-funded program at one.
Obvious other markets include construction (for site surveys), other public safety applications, and of course military.
The company is headquartered in Canada and hopes to have United States FAA approval for its flying robot within six months. Sadly, until that approval comes, the Scout is grounded Stateside. And that means no demos for reporters or buyers unless they head up to Canada.

New GPS platform aims to save batteries

CSR has unveiled a new GPS architecture that it says will let portable devices be constantly location-aware without draining their batteries.
The architecture, SiRFstarIV, was announced on Tuesday along with the first product to use it, CSR's GSD4t receiver for mobile phones and other portable devices.
Mobile phones increasingly have GPS (Global Positioning System) as a feature, for navigation and other location-based services. However, current GPS architecture is a major contributor to battery drain--a situation CSR is hoping to fix.
The U.K.-based company, which has generally concentrated more on Bluetooth chip design, bought GPS architecture firm SiRF in February. As part of the deal, SiRF's founder, Kanwar Chadha, joined CSR as chief marketing officer. CSR was formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio.
Chadha told ZDNet UK on Tuesday that smartphones using current GPS platforms deliver a worse experience than dedicated personal navigation devices with the same technology. He attributed this lag in smartphones to three factors: battery consumption, the time it takes to get a fix on GPS satellites (as the GPS has to turn on and off to save power), and interference from other electronics inside the devices.
"GPS was not designed to be navigation-centric," Chadha said. "If you try to make location available all the time, you drain the battery very quickly. Other radios, the LCD display and the processor also interfere with the GPS signal."
This situation was a driver for the creation of SiRFstarIV, which is "not on all the time, and not off all the time," Chadha said.
The platform instead uses an "aware" state, which "keeps the necessary information to do a very fast calculation from the satellite [and is] alive all the time but in a very low micropower mode," he explained. This approach means the device's GPS does not need to be continually turned on and off to conserve power--hence the speed with which it can get a satellite fix.
Chadha said the SiRFstarIV platform uses between 50-500 microamps. That power consumption level is substantially lower than that found in existing GPS platforms, which burn up power in the milliamps.
The company also looked at the other drags on GPS performance in smartphones for the new architecture.
"The second thing we did is [to] put in a new technology which scans for all the noisy signals that interfere with GPS, and eliminates interferers before they can hit the GPS signal," Chadha said.
The GSD4t receiver is now available in sample quantities to manufacturers of mobile phones and other portable devices, with full-scale production scheduled for October. According to Chadha, the first handsets using SiRFstarIV should become available in early 2010.

by David Meyer

iPhone 3GS crypto is easily crackable

The encryption functionality of the iPhone 3GS is so easy to crack that it is essentially "broken" as far as protecting sensitive personal data like credit card and social security numbers, according to a forensics expert and iPhone developer.
"I don't think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it's hard to describe why it's such a big threat to security," Jonathan Zdziarski told Wired.
With physical access to a 3GS iPhone and some free software data can be extracted within two minutes and an image of the entire raw disk in about 45 minutes, he said. The iPhone decrypts the data on its own once the extraction has begun, he explains in a video demonstration.
Apple has been touting the encryption and other features to entice corporate users to the device. And it seems to be working. Nearly 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased 10,000 or more iPhones per company, the company said on its financial results conference call on Tuesday

by Elinor Mills

iPhone manufacturer to pay family of dead worker

Foxconn, the company that manufactures Apple's iPhone and iPods, has agreed to compensate the family of a Chinese worker who apparently committed suicide over a missing prototype.
A Foxconn official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday the company will give Sun Danyong's parents a one-time payment of 360,000 yuan ($52,600), according to an Associated Press report. The company also agreed to pay an additional 30,000 yuan ($4,385) for each year either of the parents is alive, the AP said.
That figure is higher than that reported Monday by The New York Times, which stated that the family was receiving 300,000 Chinese renminbi, or about $44,000, and that his girlfriend was getting an Apple laptop.
Sun, who was 25, apparently jumped to his death on July 16 after allegedly losing a fourth-generation iPhone prototype that he was responsible for.
Apple expressed regret over Sun's death and said last week that it was "awaiting results of the investigations into his death."
Foxconn apparently suspended a security official after Sun's death, and the case was turned over to Chinese authorities to investigate. The security officer denied beating Sun but did acknowledge that he became "a little angry," according to The New York Times.
Foxconn General Manager James Lee said this wasn't the first time products given to Sun had gone missing, the New York Times reported. "Several times he had some products missing, then he got them back," Lee said. "We don't know who took the product, but it was at his stop."
Foxconn reportedly has not been able to locate the missing prototype.

by Jim Dalrymple

Apple blocks Google Voice app for iPhone

The long-awaited Google Voice application for the iPhone has been officially shot down by Apple.
There were a scattering of reports on Monday, and then a Google spokesperson confirmed it: "Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users--for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers."
In addition, all third-party applications that use Google Voice have been pulled by Apple, according to a report in TechCrunch. The developer of one of those apps, GV Mobile, says he was told the decision came from Apple because his app "duplicates features that come with the iPhone."
It's unclear why Apple is refusing the app to be sold in its store, though there are hints that it may have come at the behest of AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S. Google Voice is a free application that lets users assign a single number to ring their home, work, and cell phones, and also get voice mail as text transcriptions. Google Voice has been described by some as an "end run" around wireless carriers because it allows for free texts, but users do still use minutes on their AT&T phone plan.
John Gruber of DaringFireball.net reports that it was in fact AT&T's request that Apple block the application, but points out that Apple too has good reason to reject it: "Google Voice is a mobile phone service provided by the maker of one of the biggest competitors to the iPhone OS (Android). What if Google Voice were instead Microsoft Voice?"
It's also by now well established that the application approval process for Apple's App Store can be confusing and frustrating for individual developers, and now even for giants of the technology industry. Just last week, another dust-up occurred with Google and the iPhone, when Apple refused to approve Google's Latitude for the iPhone unless it was designed as Web-based app

by Erica Ogg

RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Verizon Wireless)

The good: The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 offers world-roaming capabilities as well as Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The smartphone offers a great design that combines a sharp display and an easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard in a fairly compact size.
The bad: The smartphone lacks Wi-Fi. The Web browser falls short of the competition, and there's a bit of shutter lag on the camera. You can't save applications to a media card.
The bottom line: With a winning design and fast performance, the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 is one of Verizon Wireless' top smartphones for both business users and messaging fanatics.
Specifications: Band/mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / UMTS 2100 / CDMA2000 1X 800/1900 ; OS provided: BlackBerry Handheld Software ; Talk time: 300 min

by:
Bonnie Cha

cnet.com

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G - black (T-Mobile)

The good: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G has a sleek, attractive design with a gorgeous display, tactile controls, and an easy-to-use, customizable interface. Stereo Bluetooth and Outlook e-mail syncing are standard features, and call and data performance are excellent.
The bad: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G lacks important features like a standard 3.5-millimeter headset jack, a file manager, and camera-editing options. Video quality is uneven, and the HTML browser interface and virtual keyboard have their flaws. Also, it doesn't support Outlook calendar and contacts syncing.
The bottom line: With the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, the Google Android OS gets a much-needed boost. A few complaints remain, and some users may bemoan the lack of a physical keyboard, but we approve of its eye-catching design and interface, improved features, and satisfying performance.
Specifications: Band/mode: W-CDMA 900/2100 / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 ; OS provided: Android ; Talk time: Up to 450 min.

FROM:Internet

Verizon to offer Palm Pre in early 2010

There is still no official word about when or if Verizon Wireless will ever get Apple's iPhone, but the wireless operator has confirmed it will be getting the Palm Pre early next year.
The company's chief operating officer, Denny Strigl, spilled the beans on the impending smartphone availability during a conference call with analysts and investors discussing the company's second-quarter earnings on Monday. The Palm Pre, which was highly anticipated for several months, is currently only available on Sprint Nextel's network.

Since Sprint and Verizon use the same underlying cell phone technology, it shouldn't come as a huge shock that Verizon would be getting its own version of the Pre. But it's somewhat surprising that the carrier will be getting the device so soon.
Earlier reports indicated there might be a longer wait for a Verizon Palm Pre. Just before the Pre was launched in early June, Sprint Nextel's CEO Dan Hesse threw cold water on a statement made by Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam that Verizon would offer the Pre on its network within six months. Hesse wouldn't provide details, but he indicated the exclusivity deal between Sprint and Palm lasted longer than six months.
"They need to check their facts," Hesse said in an interview at a press event the day before the Pre was launched. "That just is not the case. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal. But I can tell you it's not six months."
Now it appears that Hesse may have been simply parsing words. If Verizon does in fact offer the phone in early 2010, that makes the deal technically longer than six months, but not by much.
A Sprint representative declined to comment on the news that Verizon plans to offer the Pre early next year.
So why is this so important? There are a couple of reasons.
For one, Verizon is in desperate need of some hot new phones on its network. Even though Verizon Wireless has always gotten high marks for its reliable wireless network, it has often been seen as a laggard in terms of getting the hottest new cell phones. AT&T has the exclusive deal with the iPhone. The first and second Android devices are being sold by T-Mobile USA. And Sprint Nextel was the first out of the gate with the Palm Pre. Verizon Wireless has an exclusive deal to carry the BlackBerry Storm, but many loyal BlackBerry users have complained about the touch screen. Research In Motion is readying a new version of the phone for later this year.
For several months, rumors have been flying that Apple might be readying an iPhone for Verizon. And many loyal Verizon subscribers, who don't want to leave the carrier, but really want the iPhone, have been waiting for news of a Verizon iPhone. But such an announcement is not likely coming anytime soon.
Strigl's announcement could give these wireless customers and others looking for an alternative to the iPhone, a reason to stay with Verizon Wireless. Strigl admitted during the conference call that the iPhone 3GS, which went on sale in mid-June, hurt Verizon Wireless' sales the last two weeks of June.
"The iPhone has clearly been a successful device," Strigl said. "And it has expanded the overall phone market. We have been competing successfully and will continue to do so. But we did see an uptick in the last couple of weeks in June. (Still,) we think we are extremely well-positioned going forward. The lineup and pipeline of new products we have coming is strong."
The importance of exclusive deals But the calculated terminology used to describe these deals also indicates just how important exclusive handset deals have become in the competitive wireless market. Carriers see exclusivity on hot new handsets as a way to lure new customers and keep old ones. Recently, these deals have come under scrutiny as members of Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice have all started looking into these deals to determine whether they are really good for consumers and the market in general.
Even Verizon, which has voluntarily offered to limit its exclusive handset contracts to six months, defends exclusive deals. Strigl said during the call that these deals are necessary to spur innovation and competition in the wireless market. He pointed to the Apple iPhone as an example.
Clearly, the iPhone deal has proven to be a major advantage for AT&T. The company announced that it had signed up 1.4 million new subscribers in the second quarter of 2009, about 300,000 more than Verizon signed up during the same quarter. AT&T also said it activated 2.4 million iPhones in the second quarter. And Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, said that more than 1 million units of the new iPhone 3G were sold the first weekend the device was available.
Even though AT&T is taking a financial hit in the short term due to the heavy subsidy it pays on each iPhone sold, the company believes its deal with Apple for the iPhone is an investment in the company's future. Already, the company has increased its average revenue per user due in large part to the $30 a month data fee that is required for each iPhone sold. And because these subscribers are locked into a two-year service contract, AT&T sees the iPhone becoming a profit center in a couple of years.
What's more AT&T says that analysis of its iPhone customers indicate that they not only spend more than other wireless subscribers, but they also are more loyal.
And the only reason that AT&T has been able to reap all these rewards is because it is the only carrier offering the iPhone. If it had to share the iPhone with another carrier, like Verizon, it would drastically reduce the effect the phone has on its future profitability.
But can other devices follow in the footsteps of the iPhone and create so much value for a carrier? It seems unlikely. While some people may argue that the iPhone is by no means the best smartphone on the market, most people would agree that it has raised the bar in terms of features, functionality and usability of smartphones.
So far no other single device has created the same buzz or sales traction that the iPhone has created. For example, the Pre, which was highly anticipated since it was announced in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, only sold about 50,000 phones its first weekend.
For most carriers, exclusive deals with smartphone manufacturers have been used to retain existing customers rather than an attempt to grow its base. T-Mobile USA actually rewarded its loyal T-Mobile customers by offering its new Android phone, the MyTouch, to them weeks before it offered it to non-T-Mobile customers. And Sprint Nextel actually held special parties the night before the Palm Pre launch to allow loyal Sprint customers to buy their pre-ordered devices.
Even AT&T admits that the iPhone will one day be sold by other carriers.
"There will be a day when we are not exclusive with the iPhone," AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson said, speaking last week at Fortune's Brainstorm: Tech conference. However, he declined to get into details on the company's negotiations with Apple.
Apple's CFO Richard Lindner said during the second-quarter conference call that high iPhone sales volume has laid the groundwork and will continue to pay off years from now, even when the iPhone is eventually offered by other carriers in the U.S.
While Verizon defends the need for exclusive deals, the company has always competed on the merits of its network. The Palm Pre will simply give its customers another compelling smartphone choice. And it will give Palm a greater opportunity to sell handsets, given that Verizon is now the largest wireless operator in the U.S.
Verizon Wireless has long contended that it takes more than a single iconic handset to win in the wireless market long term. And this is why the company plans to build its new 4G wireless network. Strigl also announced during the call that Seattle and Boston would be the first two cities where the new 4G wireless network will be tested later this year. The network is expected to be commercially available in 2010. And it will be completed sometime in 2013.
Verizon executives have also said the company plans to offer its own application store for smartphones. Details of the new store will be released on Tuesday at the company's developer conference in San Jose, Calif.

Apple Announces the New iPhone 3GS—The Fastest, Most Powerful iPhone Yet

SAN FRANCISCO—June 8, 2009—Apple® today introduced the new iPhone™ 3GS, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps. iPhone 3GS offers twice the capacity for the same price with a 16GB model for just $199 and a new 32GB model for just $299.** And beginning today, iPhone 3G is available at the breakthrough price of just $99 for the 8GB model—a huge milestone for the high end smartphone market.
“iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of WorldWide Product Marketing. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”
iPhone 3GS offers incredible speed and performance, on average up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G, so you can render web pages quicker and launch applications faster. iPhone 3GS takes advantage of the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for stunning high-quality 3D graphics, making mobile gaming and other graphic intense applications better than ever. iPhone 3GS is not only faster, but with longer battery life you can watch more videos, listen to more music, browse the Internet or keep using your favorite apps even longer. The new iPhone 3GS also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for faster networking speeds.***
iPhone 3GS features a new 3 megapixel autofocus camera that takes amazing pictures and video, making it easier than ever to capture, edit and share those moments instantly with family and friends. The new autofocus camera adjusts focus, exposure, color and contrast for the best possible image and includes an automatic macro focus for extra close up shots. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. You can record incredible high-quality video clips and edit them right on your iPhone 3GS by simply trimming the start and stop points. With iPhone 3GS you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe™ or YouTube with just one tap.
The voice control feature in iPhone 3GS offers hands free operation for both iPhone and iPod® functions. Simply speak the appropriate commands into the built-in microphone or headset microphone to dial by name or number. With voice control you can play your favorite music by artist, album or playlist and activate the Genius feature by saying “play more songs like this.” You can also tell iPhone to pause the music, play the next track, turn on shuffle or ask, “What’s playing right now?”
iPhone 3GS features a new built-in digital compass for instant navigation.**** The Compass app shows you which way you are headed and rotates as you change direction. You can orient yourself to true north or magnetic north, and iPhone’s built-in GPS automatically displays the coordinates of your current location. The new built-in digital compass is also integrated within Maps, so it automatically orients any map to the direction you are facing.
iPhone 3GS provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3GS display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. The new universal Zoom function magnifies the entire screen, and the White on Black feature reverses the colors on screen to provide higher contrast for people with low vision. iPhone 3GS also supports Mono Audio which combines left and right audio channels so that they can be heard in both earbuds for those with hearing loss in one ear.
iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0 software with more than 100 new features including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari®; expanded parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. iPhone 3.0 software also includes a new Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so you can locate your lost iPhone on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help you find it even if your phone is set to silent. If you cannot find your iPhone, you can erase all data and content on your iPhone with the new Remote Wipe feature. New iTunes® features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.
iPhone 3GS gives users access to the revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world with more than 50,000 applications. The App Store allows developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. To date, customers have downloaded more than one billion apps from the App Store. And with more than 1,000 new APIs available with the iPhone SDK, developers can create even more innovative applications using In-App Purchases, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.
iPhone 3GS also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with iPhone 3GS to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.
Pricing & Availability iPhone 3GS will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and just $299 (US) for the new 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 3GS requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US). Beginning June 8, iPhone 3G will be available for just $99 (US) for the 8GB model. New MobileMe features for iPhone require iPhone OS 3.0. MobileMe is available for an annual subscription price of $99 (US).
iPhone 3GS will also be available in more than 80 countries in the coming weeks. For further information about US and international pricing and availability visit www.apple.com/iphone.
*MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS; fees may apply. MMS may not be available in all areas. MMS support from AT&T will be available in late summer.
**Qualified customers only. Requires a new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.
***Where available from AT&T later this year.
****Compass reliability may be affected by usage conditions such as nearby magnetic fields. BULLET LIST HEADER (as needed)
BULLET 1
BULLET 2
BULLET 3
BULLET 4 etc...
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Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Tom Neumayr
Apple

AT&T said to block 4chan; pranksters fight back

Reports began to surface Sunday charging that AT&T had blocked broadband access to parts of the notorious (and powerful) Internet forum site 4chan, which the telecom company confirmed on Monday. Late in the evening, a fake story surfaced on CNN's iReport citizen journalism site alleging that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson had been "found dead in his multimillion dollar beachfront mansion" after a cocaine overdose.
Suffice it to say that the two events are likely connected. Access to 4chan has since been restored for AT&T broadband customers.
For those who stepped in late: 4chan is sort of like the Internet's equivalent of a league of pirates, den of thieves, or whatever other sort of anarchic analogy you prefer. Decentralized and relying on anonymity, the participants issue large-scale pranks both online and offline, from teaming up with video site eBaumsWorld to launch the "Porn Day" campaign on YouTube to spamming Twitter's trending topics.
The fake iReport disappeared from CNN quickly, perhaps because it read that Stephenson was found "delirious" when "a friend called 911 after a night of what he called, 'male dancers everywhere and the best blow west of the Mississippi.'"
Last October, iReport was the victim of a prank in which a more believable user-submitted story reported that Apple CEO Steve Jobs--who has a well-publicized history of health problems--had suffered a heart attack. It wasn't true, but it was online long enough that Apple's stock took a dip.
AT&T spokesman Michael Coe told CNET News in an e-mailed statement that a denial-of-service attack was what stemmed the temporary block of 4chan traffic and that it has since been restored. "Beginning Friday, an AT&T customer was impacted by a denial-of-service attack stemming from IP addresses connected to img.4chan.org," Coe wrote. "To prevent this attack from disrupting service for the impacted AT&T customer, and to prevent the attack from spreading to impact our other customers, AT&T temporarily blocked access to the IP addresses in question for our customers. This action was in no way related to the content at img.4chan.org; our focus was on protecting our customers from malicious traffic."
"Overnight Sunday, after we determined the denial-of-service threat no longer existed, AT&T removed the block on the IP addresses in question," the AT&T statement continued. "We will continue to monitor for denial-of-service activity and any malicious traffic to protect our customers."

by Caroline McCarthy

iPhone maker in China under fire after suicide

SHENZHEN, China--When a closely guarded prototype of a new Apple iPhone went missing at a huge factory here two weeks ago, an internal investigation focused on a shy, 25-year-old employee named Sun Danyong.
Sun, a college graduate working in the logistics department, denied stealing the iPhone. He later complained to friends that he had been beaten and humiliated by the factory's security team. On the night he was questioned, he sent an anguished text message to his girlfriend.
"Dear, I'm sorry. Go back home tomorrow," he wrote, according to a message she later posted online. "I ran into some problems. Don't tell my family. Don't contact me. I'm begging you for the first time. Please do it! I'm sorry."

By David Barboza
The New York Times

Buy.com, Orbitz linked to controversial marketers

Thousands of Web shoppers have complained that "mystery charges" are showing up on their credit card statements and have accused those who operate so-called Web loyalty programs of duping them into signing up.
As a result, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is investigating Vertrue, WebLoyalty, and Affinion--companies who make "cash-back" and coupon offers to consumers and charge those who enroll in their loyalty programs.
"We reserve the right to use or disclose your personally identifiable information for business reasons in whatever manner desired."
--Buy.com's privacy agreement
If you think that anyone who unwittingly signs up to one of these programs must be an e-commerce rookie and that it couldn't happen to someone as savvy as you, take care that your overconfidence doesn't cost you. Josh Lowensohn, a 26-year-old CNET reporter and longtime Web shopper, this week found that a credit card he rarely uses was billed $12 in each of the past eight months by WebLoyalty.
Last November, after almost completing a purchase at Buy.com, Lowensohn was presented with an advertisement that asked him for his e-mail address. (See top half of ad above and bottom half at the end of this story.) He couldn't quickly find a way to get past the page and said he remembers thinking he would type in one of his rarely used e-mail addresses just so he could complete his transaction. Lowensohn was confident he couldn't lose anything because the advertiser didn't have his credit card information.
But WebLoyalty didn't need Lowensohn's help to charge his card. WebLoyalty CEO Rick Fernandes said Buy.com--for a fee--enabled his company to charge Lowensohn.
Web loyalty to whom? A 10-minute Google search turns up thousands of stories similar to Lowensohn's.
Apparently, many consumers are unaware that for years now, e-tailers such as Buy.com, Orbitz, Fandango, and hundreds of others have given Web loyalty programs, also known as post-transaction marketers, access to their customers' credit cards. Some online shoppers don't realize that when they enter their e-mail addresses into these ads, they are opting into the programs and authorizing the charges.
The retailers maintain they've done nothing wrong and say it's all disclosed in their terms of service agreements. But to those who say they were duped into joining these programs, their Web store has violated a trust.
"We have a longstanding relationship with WebLoyalty because we think they provide value to our customers."
-- Jeff Wisot, Buy.com exec
Representatives from Buy.com, Orbtiz and Fandango say they are doing their customers a favor.
"Consumers find this of value otherwise we wouldn't have it on the site," said Brian Hoyt, an Orbitz spokesman. "We're not in the business of misleading consumers."
Hoyt said that in the past month Orbitz received maybe 30 complaints about WebLoyalty and the percentage of complaints is less than one percent. Buy.com also said the number of complaints is small.
"We have a longstanding relationship with WebLoyalty because we think they provide value to our customers," said Jeff Wisot, vice president of marketing at Buy.com. "They are a company that has millions of customers who are happy with them and they provide valuable discounts and other services to their customers."
What he didn't say is that WebLoyalty pays Buy.com and other retailers for the right to market to their customers. Adam Sarner, a marketing analyst for research firm Gartner, said he is skeptical that these kinds of relationships between marketers and retailers are good for consumers.
"If you demonstrate value and a benefit for both sides," Sarner said, "customers shouldn't be complaining about being tricked into accepting your offer. Obviously, companies that bury terms in fine print or get (credit card information from someone other than the customer) already know consumers don't want their products."
Complaints, lawsuits, investigations A spokeswoman for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee told CNET on Wednesday that what started as a preliminary inquiry into WebLoyalty, Vertrue, and Affinion is now a "full-blown" investigation. She said: "It's becoming clearer and clearer that consumers can be at risk for these mystery charges when they shop online."
Fernandes and a spokesman for Vertrue say their practices are legal and even surpass the law's expectations. "There has never been a determination anywhere that (Vertrue's) marketing has failed to comply with the law," said George Thomas, a company spokesman. "I think after a full and fair review by the committee it will find...the practices employed by the company are specifically permitted by (Federal Trade Commission) rules."
Be that as it may, any retailer that knows how to do a Google search could have a tough time explaining to customers why it chose to associate with firms dogged by so much controversy.
"Companies that bury terms in fine print or get (credit card information from someone other than the customer) already know consumers don't want their products."
--Adam Sarner, Gartner analyst
Class action lawsuits have been filed against both Vertrue and WebLoyalty. In Vertrue's case, a complaint filed last year in Massachusetts alleges "consumers almost never legitimately join any of Vertrue (or its brand) Adaptive Marketing's various membership programs." In 2006, a complaint was filed that accused WebLoyalty of perpetrating a "coupon click-fraud scheme" that involved the "deceptive sale" of discount products and the "unauthorized transfer of private credit and debit card information." Fandango was also named in the suit.
That case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount and some people who claim they were misled by WebLoyalty may be entitled to some money, according to a Web site that appears to be created to handle claims.
In February, about a half dozen British retailers, including HMV, the country's biggest chain, either "severed or suspended ties" with WebLoyalty, after receiving "a wave of complaints," according to a report in The Independent, a British publication.
Back here in the States, the Better Business Bureau has received thousands of complaints about WebLoyalty and Vertrue. WebLoyalty has a "C+" rating from the bureau and Vertrue has an "F."
WebLoyalty and Vertrue assert the complaints come from a tiny fraction of their overall customers.
Happy customers In Lowensohn's case, he was presented with a coupon worth $10 off his next purchase. Fernandes said Lowensohn was informed three times on the page that he would be billed after 30 days and was shown a graphic that underscored the terms. Following that, Lowensohn was sent a dozen e-mails that notified him he would be getting billed.
This is how Lowensohn saw it: the page with the offer appeared during the buying process when all he wanted to do was to confirm his transaction, he said. The page was stuffed with fine print and it wasn't apparent to him how to move past the page without keying in his e-mail address.
As for the e-mails WebLoyalty sent him, Lowensohn, like millions of other Internet users, tries to avoid spam by providing advertisers with an e-mail address he rarely uses or checks. He never saw WebLoyalty's e-mails. He also never knew that Buy.com had cut a deal to turn over his credit card information to marketers.
"In the terms and conditions," wrote Buy.com's Wisot, "it's very clear that (customer) credit card information is going to be transferred over to WebLoyalty."
A check of Buy.com's terms of use and privacy policies didn't turn up WebLoyalty by name. But there is this: "Except as limited below, we reserve the right to use or disclose your personally identifiable information for business reasons in whatever manner desired."
That appears to leave Buy.com plenty of room to do as it pleases with customers' personal information.
In the end, WebLoyalty says it gives unhappy customers their money back when they ask. The company has agreed to refund most of Lowensohn's $96. Before he gets it all he must submit an affidavit and the company must OK it after a review. Fernandes said his company's refund policy is "easy."
It's safe to say that many people don't check their statements carefully. What happens to people who go for years without catching charges? They would presumably be paying the balance on their credit card charges as well as interest.
Sarner, from Gartner, said that even if the Web loyalty programs affect only a small percentage of an online store's customers, it's bad for consumers as well as the retailer:
"What good is it going to do for your brand if these people hate you."