Posted 11/06/09 at 10:45:10 AM by Paul Lilly

It's all fun and games, until that game you downloaded from the iTunes App Store turns out to be harvesting your cell phone number. That's what gaming developer Storm8 has been accused of doing.

"The wireless telephone numbers of users' phones are not used or necessary to play any of Storm8's games, yet Storm8 has written the software for all its games in such a way that it automatically accesses, collects, and transmits the wireless telephone number of each iPhone user who downloads any Storm8 game," states a lawsuit filed on behalf of Lynwood, Washington resident Michael Turner.

Storm8 first came under fire in late August when news reports pointed out that Storm8's apps appeared to be phoning home. Addressing the reports, the company said the system had a "bug" and that it has since been fixed. But Storm8's explanation isn't enough for Turner's lawyer, who says his goal is to ensure the company is no longer allowed to collect private data in the future.

"A public admission is not the same as a legal representation or legal injunction," Turner's lawyer said.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 08:26:38 AM by Paul Lilly

Not digging Droid's price tag but are still intrigued by the device? Maybe Droid's little sibling -- the Droid Eris -- is more of what you're looking for.

For starters. Verizon is selling the Droid Eris for a single C-note (after $100 mail-in-rebate) when you sign up for a two-year commitment on a voice plan with an email feature or email plan. Throwing down a Benjamin on the Droid Eris nets you a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and trackball interface, a 5MP auto focus camera, 8GB of memory (via an included microSD card) expandable to 16GB, Bluetooth, WiFi, integrated GPS, full HTML browser with Flash Lite capabilities, and of course Google's Android OS along with a 7-panel home screen.

But the real question is, how does Eris stack up to its bigger brother? It comes clocked at 528MHz, compared to Droid's 550MHz processor, and it ships with Android 1.5 (Donut) instead of 2.0 (Eclair). You'll also sacrifice a physical QWERTY keyboard by stepping down to the Eris.

So what do you think, are the trade offs worth the lower price tag, or is it Droid or bust? Hit the jump and sound off!

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Posted 11/05/09 at 08:41:23 AM by Paul Lilly

While most segments in the tech industry have had a hard time coping with a global recession, the smartphone market seems to have weathered the economic storm just fine, suggests a new report from research firm Canayls.

According to Canayls, smartphone sales saw growth of 4 percent against the same quater last year, and shot up 14 percent from last quarter.

"While growth has undoubtedly slowed, it is still outperforming the overall mobile phone market by some margin, as well as driving data revenue for operators, and smartphones are ushering in a range of changes in user behavior when it comes to what people actually do on their phones," said Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham.

The smartphone market has been particularly kind to Apple, whose iPhone 3G S helped the iPhone grow its market share by 4 percent to settle in at 18 percent of the market. That puts it in third place behind RIM, which holds a 21 percent share.

"Demand for the iPhone 3G S far outstripped supply, and we expect to see continued growth for Apple, especially with new operators coming onboard, for example in the UK with teh end of O2's exclusivity on the device," Cunningham added.

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Posted 11/05/09 at 07:59:31 AM by Paul Lilly

While the mobile world drools over Droid, there's another smartphone that has a shot of stealing a few headlines. We're talking about Acer's upcoming Liquid A1, which is expected to ship in Europe within the next few weeks.

The Liquid A1 is the first Android-based smartphone to be built around Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset. And even though the CPU has been downclocked to 768MHz, that's a lot more pep than most Android phones are boasting.

Oddly, Acer has decided not to step up to Android 2.0 (Eclair), and the Liquid A1 will instead run on Android 1.6 (Donut). That puts it a generation behind the Droid and other upcoming Android 2.0 smartphones, although this could change by the time the A1 ships. We also wouldn't rule out a software update after the fact, although Acer has spent some time tweaking "a new user interface with easy access to entertainment and web bookmarks."

No word yet on price or when this one's expected to land in the U.S.

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Posted 11/04/09 at 09:02:40 AM by Paul Lilly

There's a lot you can do with a jailbroken iPhone, and apparently, there's a lot others can do with your hacked smartphone as well. A hacker from the Netherlands made it his mission to alert modified iPhone owners via SMS that their security wasn't up to snuff.

The SMS contained a link to http://doiop.com/Hacked, which has since been eradicated from the Web. But before it was taken down, the site asked victims to send 5 euros (about $7.56 USD) to a Paypal account and then sit tight for email instructions on how to secure the hacked phone.

"If you don't pay, it's fine by me," the hacker's page said. "But remember, the way I got access to your iPhone can be used by thousands of others -- they can send text messages from your number (like I did), use it to call or record your calls, and actually whatever they want, even use it for their hacking activities! I can assure you, I have no intentions of harming you or whatever, but some hackers do! It's just my advice to secure your phone."

According to ArsTechnica, the hacker used port scanning to identify jailbroken iPhones on the T-Mobile network in the Netherlands with SSH running. The hack also relied on unchanged root passwords to gain access, which is where the real security risk came from.

So what can you do to secure your phone? The same hacker who tried to make a quick buck has apologized for his actions, promised to return what money he's made, and posted steps to secure your jailbroken iPhone, which you can find here.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 05:51:01 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Sony Ericsson today published the specs and a video of the Xperia X10, its debut Android smartphone, which was hitherto known by its code name “Rachel”. It can be expected to be a guaranteed fixture on the list of the most powerful Android phones by the virtue of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

As for the software, the X10 will run Android 1.6 Donut. In addition to apps found on the Android Marketplace, apps for this phone will also be available through Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena service. The X10 will feature a 4-inch TFT touchscreen, an 8MP camera with LED flash, WiFi, A-GPS and 3G. The company is expected to release the X10 in the first quarter of 2010.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 08:30:54 AM by Paul Lilly

Following up its first WiMax deployment in Baltimore in September of last year, Sprint on Monday launched WiMax service in Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. This in addition to the three markets being served in North Carolina.

And Sprint isn't even close to be finished. By the time 2009 comes to an end, the wireless provider says it will roll out WiMax in Honolulu, Seattle, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas.

"Sprint continues to lead the charge in rolling out wireless 4G in cities across America and the momentum continues to build," Todd Rowley, vice president of Sprint 4G, said in a statement. "Our aggressive expansion of Sprint 4G will include many new devices and capabilities that create increased performance and productivity while enhancing personal lifestyles on the go."

Looking ahead to next year, Sprint expects to launch service in several more markets, including Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

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Posted 11/02/09 at 09:37:04 AM by Paul Lilly

According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, an overwhelming majority of Americans feel text messaging while driving should be made illegal. Not only that, but over half surveyed said those caught sending a text while behind the wheel should be punished just as harshly as drunk drivers.

"If you're going to drive, drive; if you want to talk or text, pull over to the side of the road," Constance Drake, 71, of Toms River, J.J., said in a follow-up interview with the New York Times.

Americans don't seem split on the issue, at least according to the poll. Only 3 percent of respondents saw nothing wrong with texting and driving at the same time, while the other 97 percent disagreed. And around 80 percent said it should be made illegal to talk on a cellphone while driving, unless it's a hands-free phone. That's up from 69 percent in a 2001 ABCNews poll.

What's your stance on texting or talking on a cellphone while driving? Hit the jump and sound off!

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