Personal communications

We've heard a lot about security issues with the iPhone, but the BlackBerry isn't immune to threats from malicious apps.

Tyler Shields, a senior researcher at the Veracode Research Lab, has written a piece of spyware that allowed me to shoot an SMS command to his phone and have his contact list forwarded to my e-mail address in a demonstration. With another short text command, I was able to get his BlackBerry to e-mail me any SMS messages he sends.

And if I had wanted--and he had allowed me--I could have seen a log of all his calls, … Read more

Although Apple's iPad has yet to hit the market, the Federal Communications Commission has expressed concern over its potential impact on AT&T's 3G network.

Without naming AT&T, which has secured a carrier deal for the tablet device, Phil Bellaria, director of scenario planning, and John Leibovitz, deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, outlined their concerns in an FCC blog post Monday:

With the iPad pointing to even greater demand for mobile broadband on the horizon, we must ensure that network congestion doesn't choke off a service that consumers clearly find so appealing, … Read more

Working in customer service is never easy. People can be difficult, nay, impossible at times. But if there is one small rule, especially in this day of rampant networks with nothing better to do than be social, it's the one that says "don't insult the customer."

This rule seems not to have been followed by one customer service representative who works, at least for now, for U.K. wireless carrier Vodafone.

According to the Guardian, this individual posted a Friday tweet on Vodafone's official Twitter page that read: "VodafoneUK is fed up of dirty … Read more

Google isn't marching into consumer electronics; it's tentatively dipping its toes.

When word of the Nexus One smartphone broke, the consensus was that Google was about to challenge Apple for the high end of the mobile phone market. One month after its launch, it's clear that an awful lot will have to change before Google can truly be considered a viable competitor.

It's not that there's anything lacking from the Nexus One. It's easily the best Android phone produced to date, and CNET editors recently decided it outranked the iPhone 3GS, Apple's best … Read more

Lax security screening at Apple's App Store and a design flaw are putting iPhone users at risk of downloading malicious applications that could steal data and spy on them, a Swiss researcher warns.

Apple's iPhone app review process is inadequate to stop malicious apps from getting distributed to millions of users, according to Nicolas Seriot, a software engineer and scientific collaborator at the Swiss University of Applied Sciences (HEIG-VD). Once they are downloaded, iPhone apps have unfettered access to a wide range of privacy-invasive information about the user's device, location, activities, interests, and friends, he said in … Read more

Google is looking for customer support professionals to handle its Nexus One phone, a clear sign it has recognized that its self-service support model has limits.

Digital Inspiration noticed a posting on Google's job boards looking for a "Phone Support Program Manager, Android/Nexus One," to be based at Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. "As Phone Support Program Manager for Android and the Nexus One, you are responsible for ramping up and managing operations of Google's telephone support for our direct-to-consumer Android/Nexus One customers," Google wrote in the ad.

Google has gotten … Read more

Updated 11:10 a.m. PST with Google comment on a fix.

Nexus One owners are complaining of a widespread data outage Friday morning on T-Mobile's network.

As with most reports of outages, it's always difficult to get a sense of just how many people are being affected. But Google's customer support forums are full of Nexus One owners reporting that they are unable to access the data network, and other news outlets are getting tips from their readers that something is amiss.

A Google employee confirmed there was some sort of problem with T-Mobile's data … Read more

After struggling throughout 2009, mobile phone maker HTC is eyeing an upturn in sales this year, though profit margins are still likely to be down.

Earlier this month, HTC announced a 31 percent drop in fourth quarter 2009 earnings to 5.6 billion Taiwan dollars ($175 million) from 8 billion ($250 million) in 2008's final quarter. Sales fell 13.2 percent to 41 billion Taiwan dollars ($1.28 billion) from 47.3 billion ($1.48 billion) the same quarter in 2008. Results were reportedly hurt by heavy spending on marketing as HTC aggressively tried to promote itself and its … Read more

Google is working on a software fix that should improve some 3G network problems Nexus One owners have reported, the company said Monday.

"Our engineers have uncovered specific cases for which a software fix should improve connectivity to 3G for some users," said a Google employee named Ivan in a Google Nexus One help forum. "We are testing this fix now, initial results are positive, and if everything progresses as planned, we will provide an over-the-air software update to your phone in the next week or so."

However, he cautioned, the fix won't address all … Read more