Daniel Ionescu

Apple released the iPhone 3.0.1 software update, patching the SMS vulnerability revealed Thursday at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The release notes of the 3.0.1 update were short and to the point: “Fixes SMS vulnerability” for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

The SMS vulnerability allowed malicious parties to send seemingly harmless text messages to an iPhone and gain access to various function of the device – such as the camera or contacts. The user would reportedly be unaware of the intrusion. [Read article]

Motorola Scholes looks like a sleek device with a spacious slide-out keyboard for those who like to email a lot from their phone. Image from MotoFan Website.

Motorola’s second phone based on the Android mobile operating system is called Sholes and will sport some beefy specs and sleek design that will appeal to serious smartphone users, according to photos and specs leaked online. Last week details regarding Motorola’s first Android phone, Morrison, were leaked online, but the phone’s specifications and design failed to wow.

The Motorola Sholes sports a full slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, and a sleek design — suited for adult customers. That’s a far cry from Motorola’s Morrison phone that, according to leaked images on the Web, features blue keyboard trims and a glowing home button, which appears targeted a younger demographic. [Read article]

Steve Ballmer signs the Microsoft-Yahoo! agreement. Photo: Yahoo!

Yahoo’s announcement of a 10-year deal with Microsoft did not mention Google, but we all know what Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was talking about in her blog post aimed at users.

Yahoo and Microsoft are pooling their weapons to compete with the dominant Google in the search arena, which Bartz called “pretty lopsided.” She says she wants the new partnership to keep the “one player” who has been dominating the market on its toes — through healthy competition, of course. [Read article]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking about Windows Mobile 6.5 at the 2009 Mobile World Congress in February. Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft plans to change the name of its Windows Mobile operating system, the company let slip at a recent event. Instead of Windows Mobile, the OS will be known as Windows Phone, the Inquirer reports.

Microsoft revealed the branding change at a recent event, the Inquirer says, noting that the Windows Phone branding will be applied to Windows Mobile 6.1, the upcoming 6.5 version, and to Windows Mobile 7, which is expected sometime in 2010. It is yet unclear when the new Windows Phone naming system will be implemented, though. [Read article]

Photo: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Google is in a difficult situation. As Microsoft and Yahoo are partnering to create a more credible search competitor, many are left wondering what will be the search giant’s response.

After courting Yahoo for several years now, Microsoft is hoping to expand its share on the online search market. The Redmond company is pushing its Bing search engine to the next big search market leader, Yahoo, in exchange for billions of dollars worth of advertising revenue. [Read article]

Photo: The New York Times

Apple rejected the Google mobile software program Google Voice from the iTunes App Store. News of the banned iPhone app comes from the Website TechCrunch which published an article Monday quoting a Google spokesperson that said the Google Voice mobile application was submitted to Apple six weeks ago and was rejected.

“Apple did not approve the Google Voice application,” the Google spokesperson told TechCrunch. According to the report Apple went one step further and pulled a non-Google iPhone app from iTunes called GV Mobile on the basis of duplicate functionality of the Google Mobile app.

The move stirs the ongoing debate about the openness of the App Store. It also brings into question AT&T’s influence on Apple. AT&T has the most to lose if the Google Voice mobile application was available to AT&T customers with iPhones.

The Google Voice mobile app would have allowed you to send and receive text messages via your Google Voice phone number via your iPhone – circumventing AT&T text messaging charges. [Read article]

When goliath AT&T went mano-a-mano with a tiny site called 4chan.org, perhaps AT&T didn’t realize what it’s like to start a fight online.

Things have gone from bad to worse to downright despicable ever since AT&T, in a move it said was meant to protect one of its customers from a Web-based attack, blocked access to the 4chan site. Here is what happened.

CNN iReport screen capture from Business Insider

On Sunday AT&T blocked access to portions of 4chan.org, an image-board Web site that allows users to post uncensored images and content anonymously.

Soon after the blockade was detected by 4chan.org its founder Christopher “Moot” Poole posted a statement to the 4chan site complaining about AT&T’s actions and urged 4chan users to “call or write (AT&T) customer support and corporate immediately” to complain about the blocking. [Continue reading]

An Apple tablet concept, as envisioned by Chris Messina (CC)

Apple is racing to launch a tablet-sized device in time for the Christmas shopping season, according to a report from the Financial Times (FT). Featuring a 10-inch touch screen display, Apple’s tablet is also said to launch alongside “Cocktail,” a project designed to increase sales of CD-length music.

The Apple tablet, rumored for more than a year now, has finally gained some credibility with FT’s report today. The publication also quotes “executives familiar with the plans” saying that Apple could be planning a simultaneous launch of the tablet with a new service that is “all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music.” [Read article]

Another week, and yet another iPhone issue. Only this time, it’s not overheating. Some users are reporting that the battery life on their brand new iPhone 3GS is not as long as they expected. And this time, it doesn’t look like it’s a hardware problem.

When Apple launched the iPhone 3GS last month, the company claimed better battery life next to the speed improvements the new device was bringing. But an increasing number of users are reporting on Apple’s support forums and across the Internet that the iPhone 3GS’s battery is not living up to their expectations.

[Read article]

Sony today took the first step into the netbook market, introducing the Vaio W line of mini laptops. Featuring a high-resolution 10.1-inch screen (1,366 by 768 pixels), Sony’s new netbooks can fit more information on their displays than regular netbooks.

The Sony W measures 10.6 x 7-inch, is just over one inch thick (not including protrusion) and weighs just under 42 ounces. Available in three colors (white, pink and brown for business users), the Vaio W comes with a processor running at 1.66 GHz, runs Windows XP, and has 1GB of RAM.

Sony’s new netbook series will ease your pockets (or credit cards) of $500 when it goes on sale in August. [View slideshow]

Nokia has denied today reports that the Finnish company is working on a mobile phone running on Google’s Android mobile operating system.

A report this morning from the Guardian, a British daily newspaper, quoted “industry insiders” saying that Nokia would unveil in September a mobile phone running on the Google Android operating system (OS).

But Nokia has denied Guardian’s speculation, telling Reuters that there is “Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever.” The denial continued quoting a company spokesman saying: “Everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices.” [Read article]

Photo: Mobil Magazine

We know for some time now that Sony Ericsson (SE) is working on a Google Android based mobile phone, but the company has been keeping mum on details. However, pictures leaked by a Danish site appear to reveal Sony Ericsson’s upcoming Android phone, and it looks like a good one.

Code-named Rachael, Sony Ericsson’s Android phone will be announced later this year, according to information obtained by the Danish Mobil magazine. The phone will be a part of SE’s XPERIA series, which so far includes the Windows Mobile-based X1 model. [Read article]

The first jailbreaking application for the iPhone 3GS is now available. The tool, called purplera1n, will only allow the installation of unofficial third-party applications, but will not unlock the iPhone 3GS.

Before I get into the details, I must remind you that jailbreaking (a software hack) your iPhone is not an Apple-authorized operation and can result in voiding your device warranty. But if you want to dive into the cookie jar of Apple-unsupported apps, carry on reading.

iPhone temperature warning screen

Apple has issued a warning on its support pages regarding iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS overheating, marking the first time the company has officially acknowledged the problem. Reports that the iPhone 3GS is having overheating problems have surfaced last week, merely days after the devices was launched.

Over the last few days, many iPhone 3GS users have been reporting that Apple’s new iPhone 3GS is getting abnormally hot when used in various environments. PC World’s Melissa J. Perenson noted in her report that she was experiencing the same phenomenon with her 16GB iPhone 3GS. [Read article]

Curious how today’s latest touchscreen smartphones compare? With 10 popular models to choose from, it’s hard to keep track. But these charts will help you find the perfect touchscreen phone.

Keeping tabs on the latest cell phone models can be a full-time job, especially given the number of cell phones announced by Apple, Palm, Nokia, and HTC (including, most recently, the BlackBerry-like T-Mobile Dash) over the past few months.

I’ve pitted ten recently announced touchscreen handhelds against each other to see how they would match up. Then I’ve compiled a series of three comparison charts to help you decide whether an HTC Hero with a 5-megapixel camera suits you better than, say, a Nokia N97 with a stereo FM receiver.

The charts provide quick answers to questions such as these: Which smartphones have on-screen keyboards and which have hardware keyboards? Which touchscreens are best at multimedia? How much does each one cost?

[Read the whole article and see the charts]

As a bonus to anyone who runs into my blog, here is a PDF of all three comparison charts into one single file. For your convenience, download it here (1.8MB).

Only two weeks after launching the 3.0 software update for iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple is now working hard on delivering an update to the iPhone OS. The iPhone SDK 3.1 beta has been pushed out to developers last night, which already reported a few new features and refinements.

Apple has not mentioned specifically the improvements in the iPhone 3.1 beta update, but numerous developers have downloaded the software and reported on forums and blogs some of the new things they discovered within the update. [Read article]