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INTEREST: Apple Data Centres Now Use 100% Renewable Energy
by billing 23 Mar '13

23 Mar '13

...from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-21/apple-says-data-centers-now-use-10… Apple Says Data Centers Now Use 100% Renewable Energy By Peter Burrows - Mar 21, 2013 3:41 PM CT Print Apple Inc. via Bloomberg In its environmental update, Apple said a 100-acre solar farm next to its largest data center, in Maiden, North Carolina, became fully operational in December. Apple Inc. (AAPL) now uses only renewable energy sources to power its data centers, the iPhone maker said in an updated report on its environmental policies. 5:16 March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Kirk Yang, head of Asia ex-Japan technology research at Barclays Plc, talks about the outlook for the region's mobile-technology industry. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat in Hong Kong on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg) The company’s data centers now run on energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, instead of coal or other fossil fuels, Apple said on its website. The centers house server computers that store and distribute songs, applications and other content from services such as iTunes, iMessage and iCloud. A year ago, Apple was targeted by Greenpeace International, which ranked Apple 12th out of 14 large technology companies in a report called “How Clean Is Your Cloud?” The environmental group, which held protests at Apple’s offices in Cupertino, California, charged Apple with relying on electricity from coal plants and gave Apple a grade of no better than D in the four categories it tracked. “Increasing our use of renewable energy is our primary objective,” Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. “We think these efforts will result in learnings that other companies and communities can benefit from as well.” Apple’s announcement shows “real progress,” Greenpeace said, urging the company disclose more detail on how it’s working with utilities and state governments to achieve its energy goals. “Apple’s increased level of disclosure about its energy sources helps customers know that their iCloud will be powered by clean energy sources, not coal,” Gary Cook, an analyst at Greenpeace, wrote in an e-mailed statement. Solar Farm Oppenheimer said a 100-acre (40-hectare) solar farm next to its largest data center, in Maiden, North Carolina, became fully operational in December. With the solar array and a large installation of fuel cells made by Bloom Energy Corp, which convert biogases into energy, Apple said it met a goal of generating 60 percent of the energy for the data center on-site. “The power we are using in North Carolina is 100 percent renewable and zero percent coal,” Oppenheimer said. Oppenheimer said Apple would double its solar capacity in Maiden after the construction of another nearby 100-acre solar farm by the of this year. Apple also said a data center that is under construction in Prineville, Oregon, will also run on local renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar and geothermal power. Apple now gets 75 percent of its total power from renewable sources, up from 35 percent a year ago. The company’s four largest office campuses, in Ireland, Germany and two in California, now use 100 percent renewable energy sources, according to Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer declined to disclose how much Apple spent on the equipment to generate its own power. He said Apple will keep investing in green technologies and isn’t focused on earning a financial return on the investments. To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Burrows in San Francisco atpburrows(a)bloomberg.net

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INTEREST: Who's Abebe Bikila? Text Wikipedia……
by Wayne Billing 23 Feb '13

23 Feb '13

...from: http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2013/2/22/getting-wikipedi… Getting Wikipedia to the people who need it most<http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2013/2/22/getting-wikipedi…> Feb. 22, 2013, 8:11 a.m., Posted by Kul Takanao Wadhwa – 1 Comment<http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2013/2/22/getting-wikipedi…> [cid:48E33BCB-6FFA-4B0B-A134-99A76E67C7E5] The Wikimedia Foundation recently received Knight News Challenge funding to create ways to deliver Wikipedia for free<http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants/20123673/> to users in the developing world. Below, its head of mobile, Kul Takanao Wadhwa<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/User:Kwadhwa>, writes about the project. We’re in the middle of an information revolution that’s changing the way billions of people in developing countries obtain news and knowledge. With a $10 cell phone, a high school student in New Delhi or a cab driver in Dakar can access the Internet and -- through Wikipedia and other websites - learn volumes about virtually any subject. If knowledge is power, then the developing world, with almost five billion cell-phone subscriptions<http://blogs.worldbank.org/growth/mobilizing-development-mobile-phones>, is poised to make amazing changes. There’s just one catch: An overwhelming percentage of new mobile users in India, Senegal and other developing countries can’t afford data charges, so they’re effectively excluded from sites like Wikipedia. It’s a de facto blackout, a kind of information segregation that shunts potential Internet users to the side of a very important road. That’s why the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, hasestablished Wikipedia Zero<http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero>, a program where we partner with mobile operators to give their mobile users free-of-charge access to Wikipedia and its growing trove of 24 million articles. In 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation signed Wikipedia Zero partnerships with three mobile operators, which is bringing free Wikipedia access to 230 million mobile users in 31 countries<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships>. In January of 2013, we signed a fourth partnership that extends Wikipedia Zero to at least 100 million more mobile users in five more countries<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/VimpelCom_partners_with…>. And with the recent support of the Knight News Challenge grant, designed to accelerate media innovation by funding breakthrough ideas in news and information, a series of exciting new developments is on the horizon. We are: speeding up the development of Wikipedia Zero; hastening the development of the software that lets a simple feature phone (the dominant phone in developing countries) connect easily to Wikipedia’s mobile site; augmenting the development of the engineering that, on Wikipedia, makes hundreds of native languages readable from mobile devices; and pioneering a program to give mobile users USSD<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unstructured_Supplementary_Service_Data> & SMS access to Wikipedia. We’re very excited about delivering Wikipedia via text, which we expect to roll out within the next few months. With the program, users will send a text request to Wikipedia and, within seconds, they will get the article to their phone. To deliver this innovative technology, we’re partnering with the Praekelt Foundation<http://www.praekeltfoundation.org/>, a nonprofit based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s another example of the tremendous collaborative spirit that has always driven Wikipedia and always will. The number of mobile users who can get free access to Wikipedia is increasing rapidly, and so is its usage. In the countries where Wikipedia Zero has already been deployed, Wikipedia readership of local, non-English languages grew upwards of 400 percent in six months#. On our partner’s network in Niger, Wikipedia’s mobile traffic increased by 77 percent in the first four months of Wikipedia Zero, compared to 7 percent growth onNiger’s mobile networks that don’t have Wikipedia Zero<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/10/29/wikipedia-zero-grows-readership-in-afr…>. In Kenya, the growth fromWikipedia Zero was even higher - 88 percent<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/10/29/wikipedia-zero-grows-readership-in-afr…>. The demand is there for much more growth, and word-of-mouth is spreading. And the movement for access to knowledge is coming from all sides. Last December, a group of 11th-graders at Sinenjongo High School in Cape Town, South Africa, wrote a heartfelt letter to four mobile operators, imploring them to give their South African customers free-of-charge mobile access to Wikipedia<http://www.gadget.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=5613>. They had learned about Wikipedia Zero, even though the service is not yet available in South Africa. The Cape Town students have the technology in their hands, but they lack the money to pay for data charges. In their letter, which was published in Gadget, an online South Africa magazine that covers consumer technology, the 24 students wrote: “We recently heard that in some other African countries like Kenya and Uganda certain cell phone providers are offering their customers free access to Wikipedia. We think this is a wonderful idea and would really like to encourage you also to make the same offer here in South Africa. It would be totally amazing to be able to access information on our cell phones which would be affordable to us. Our school does not have a library at all so when we need to do research we have to walk a long way to the local library. When we get there we have to wait in a queue to use the one or two computers which have the internet. At school we do have 25 computers but we struggle to get to use them because they are mainly for the learners who do CAT (Computer Application Technology) as a subject. Going to an internet cafe is also not an easy option because you have to pay per half hour. 90% of us have cellphones but it is expensive for us to buy airtime so if we could get free access to Wikipedia it would make a huge difference to us...Our education system needs help and having access to Wikipedia would make a very positive difference. Just think of the boost that it will give us as students and to the whole education system of South Africa.” Their letter is a reminder that the human spirit craves access to free information. Indeed, I firmly believe that access to free knowledge should be a universal human right. News and knowledge change lives for the better. They always have. >From the beginning of the Wikimedia movement, and more broadly across the free knowledge movement, the goal has been to break down the digital divide, and render barriers to knowledge obsolete. There’s no better time than now to make gigantic inroads in that quest. Eighty percent of all new mobile phone subscribers are in developing countries, according to the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union<http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/material/pdf/2011%20Statistical%20h…>. For now, of the 25 countries that have the highest rate of mobile traffic onWikipedia, 22 are developing countries<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/the-countries-in-which-mobile-matters…>. The top eight countries are all in Africa<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/the-countries-in-which-mobile-matters…>. We will do what it takes to get free knowledge into the hands of students like those in South Africa who are clamoring for it. We will continue partnering with mobile operators who donate their resources to the service of Wikipedia Zero. In the next two years, we will write more blog posts that detail the progress we make in the developing world. The Knight News Challenge mobile grant<http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants/20123673/> is an important milestone in our movement to make free knowledge available to everyone, including every person in the developing world. We see 2013 as a year of significant transition as we make our vision a long-term reality. As I said, access to knowledge should be a human right. And the Wikimedia Foundation is thrilled to be part of the Information Revolution that is bringing free knowledge around the world. We want others to join us, and as the 11th-graders in South Africa have shown us, to also be leaders in this movement. With hard work and true partnership, this dream will become a reality for the students in South Africa, and indeed, everyone, everywhere. By Kul Takanao Wadhwa<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/User:Kwadhwa>, head of mobile for Wikimedia Foundation Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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INTEREST: Reuters: Apple employee computers hacked, no evidence of stolen data
by Wayne Billing 19 Feb '13

19 Feb '13

[BTW: if you use Java, you should go to www.java.com<http://www.java.com> and update your current installation. A new version was released again today.] ...from: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/apple-cyber-security-breach/ Reuters: Apple employee computers hacked, no evidence of stolen data By Michael Gorman<http://www.engadget.com/about/editors/michael-gorman/> posted Feb 19th, 2013 at 1:33 PM341 <http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/apple-cyber-security-breach/#comments> ________________________________ [cid:A0520655-0709-451C-AA57-92A2E1077743]<http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/apple-cyber-security-breach/> Last week, Facebook was the target of of a sophisticated hacking attack and now reports have surfaced that Apple's been victimized by a similar scheme. Reuters is reporting that a number of Apple's employees' Macs were infiltrated by a hacking scheme, but "there was no evidence that any data left Apple." To address the cyber security flaw found by the digital ne're-do-wells, Apple has promised a software patch will be released later today [Psst... it's available<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/19/apple-pushes-out-java-update-to-p…> now.]. So, it appears the folks in Cupertino have things under control, and we've reached out to the company to confirm that's the case. We'll update things here when we hear back. Update: Apple has provided us with the following statement regarding the matter. "Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers. The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network. There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware. Since OS X Lion, Macs have shipped without Java installed and as a added security measure OS X automatically disables Java if it has been unused for 35 days. To protect Mac users that have installed Java, today we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found." Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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INTEREST: Google asks reporter to amend story of Google Play flaw
by Wayne Billing 17 Feb '13

17 Feb '13

[Google Play - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=googleplay&source=web&cd=13&ved=0CH0Q…> - Google Play, formerly known as the Android Market, is a digital application distribution platform for Android developed and maintained by Google] ...from: http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/16/google-asks-journalists-to-tone-d… Saturday, February 16, 2013, 09:37 pm Google asks journalists to tone down story of "massive" Google Play security flaw By Daniel Eran Dilger<mailto:prince@appleinsider.com> After reporting that Google Play now distributes Android app buyers' location and contact information to developers, a journalist was contacted by the search giant with a request to tone down the story, its headline and its SEO information. [News toned down by Google] Google Play's "massive oversight" in undisclosed sharing of customer data The original story<http://www.news.com.au/technology/massive-google-security-flaw-puts-users-d…>, run by Australia's News.com.au<http://News.com.au>, was headlined "Massive Google security flaw puts users' details on display for all to find." It outlined a recent policy shift at the Google Play online software and media store run for Android users, which now forwards developers the personal information of buyers, including their neighborhood and email address. The sharing of customers' data is not outlined in either Google Play's Terms of Service or in the company's privacy statement. The undisclosed sharing was discovered by Australian developer Dan Nolan, who noted in a blog entry<http://phetdreams.tumblr.com/post/42959902001/massive-google-play-privacy-i…>, "every App purchase you make on Google Play gives the developer your name, suburb and email address with no indication that this information is actually being transferred." One risk to the undisclosed sharing noted by Nolan was that, "with the information I have available to me through the checkout portal I could track down and harass users who left negative reviews or refunded the app purchase." A greater risk its that, with millions of names being distributed to every vendor of paid apps on Google Play, the likelihood of a security breach through malware becomes very high. Customers who entrusted their details to Google are now having their information spread across a variety of developers who may not even have a security policy. Nolan told the site that nobody has been talking about Google Play's undisclosed sharing because "the people who would have paid attention to it were likely exploiting it and selling users' personal information, using it as an extra source of revenue on top of what they were making off their Google Play / Android app." He added, "This is a massive oversight by Google." Google seeks to bury story, tone down articles and SEO on the subject After publishing the story, News.com.au<http://News.com.au> reported that "this story was amended at the request of Google. News.com.au<http://News.com.au> took out the words 'massive' and 'huge' - referencing the size of the security 'flaw'. The word 'flaw' was also put into inverted commas." Google wouldn't comment on the record, but apparently views the issue of sharing customers' data as non-newsworthy policy that shouldn't be reported as a security flaw, especially not as a serious one that users should take notice of. The author, Claire Porter, added a comment on the story after its headline had been neutered to the nicer "Google 'flaw' puts users' details on display" that stated, "For the people asking how the story was amended: Despite the fact that Google refused to comment on the record, I was asked to change the headline (both the homepage headline and SEO headline inside the story), as well as the standfirst and lead (first paragraph). Google's issue was with the use of the word 'flaw.' "Apparently a system that is designed to share users information with developers without their knowledge or permission and without explicitly saying so in any terms of service is not considered to be a flaw," Porter wrote. "I have no problem amending stories if they are factually incorrect but the fact is neither developers nor customers were aware of this information sharing and Mr Nolan is not the only developer to express concern over having this information at his disposal. There's little reason app developers should have this information. If Google was going to share this information they should have been clear about this from the start. Hope this clears things up." Developer bonus or customer privacy flaw? Many of the user comments on the issue were found no problem with Google sending users' personal data to developers, with one complaining that the issue was just a matter of unfairly comparing Google with Apple's higher standard for security in the App Store. Developer David Brown wrote, "Apple hide[s] all of these details because they're control freaks! I have details of every customers I have, whether they paid through PayPal or credit card...does that mean I'll go and harrass [sic] them if they dislike my service?" Customers have overwhelmingly chosen to buy more apps from Apple's iOS App Store than from Google Play, but this may have more to do with the selection and quality of apps available for iOS rather than an informed customer base that's done the research to know whether an online vendor is likely to share their personal data without notice or permission. By leaning on reporters to remove unflattering portrayals of its security policy from their headlines and SEO (used to enable the discovery of articles via search engines), Google can help ensure that the issue isn't a factor in reducing sales in Google Play without needing to tighten up its security policy or enforce any constraints on its developers to product Android users' privacy rights.

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INTEREST: former Blackberry/RIM CEO divests himself
by Wayne Billing 15 Feb '13

15 Feb '13

...from: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/jim-balsillie/ Jim Balsillie sells his 5.1 percent stake in BlackBerry<http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/jim-balsillie/> Mobile<http://www.engadget.com/topics/mobile> By Brad Molen<http://www.engadget.com/about/editors/brad-molen> posted Feb 14th 2013 10:22AM [BlackBerry's Jim Balsillie]<http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/jim-balsillie/> Jim Balsillie<http://www.engadget.com/tag/Jim+Balsillie/>, the former co-CEO of Research in Motion (now known as BlackBerry), has been until recently the third-largest shareholder in the company with 5.1 percent ownership. According to Financial Post, however, he's cut his stake in BlackBerry altogether, now reporting a grand total of zero shares. Balsillie stepped down<http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/rim-ceo-quits/> as co-CEO in January andresigned<http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/29/rim-announces-q4-2012-earnings-jim-balsi…> from the board in March; this next big move away from the company will likely lead to speculation that his interest<http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/13/jim-balsillie-rim-plans/> or faith in BlackBerry's future is waning, though his successor<http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/19/RIM-CEO-thorsten-heins-interview/> certainly would beg to differ.

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FYI: iOS 6.1: EXCHANGE calendar events
by billing 13 Feb '13

13 Feb '13

...from: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4532 iOS 6.1: Excess Exchange activity after accepting an exception to recurring calendar event Products Affected iPad, iPhone Symptoms When you respond to an exception* to a recurring calendar event with a Microsoft Exchange account on a device running iOS 6.1, the device may begin to generate excessive communication with Microsoft Exchange Server. You may notice increased network activity or reduced battery life on the iOS device. This extra network activity will be shown in the logs on Exchange Server and it may lead to the server blocking the iOS device. This can occur with iOS 6.1 and Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1 or later, or Microsoft Exchange Online (Office365). * An exception is a change to a single instance of a repeating calendar event. Resolution Apple has identified a fix and will make it available in an upcoming software update. In the meantime, you can avoid this bug by not responding to an exception to a recurring event on your iOS device. If you do experience the symptoms described above, disable then reenable the Exchange calendar on your iOS device using the steps below. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars Select the Exchange account from your Accounts list. Turn the switch for Calendars to OFF. Wait ten seconds. Turn the switch for Calendars back to ON. This document will be updated as more information becomes available. Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca

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INTEREST: Apple’s iPad Dominated PC Market During Holiday Season
by billing 12 Feb '13

12 Feb '13

...from: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/apples-ipad-dominated-pc-market-du… FEBRUARY 6, 2013, 3:43 PM12 Comments Apple’s iPad Dominated PC Market During Holiday Season By BRIAN X. CHEN Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Customers at an Apple store in San Francisco in November. The iPad is defined as a tablet, but you might as well call it a personal computer. Over the holiday season, about one in six people buying computers around the world bought Apple’s tablet, according to research from Canalys. The report, released Wednesday, said that when tablets were included, worldwide PC shipments over the fourth quarter increased 12 percent compared with the previous year. Apple led the computer market with 22.9 million iPads and 4.1 million Macs sold. Hewlett-Packard was in a distant second place with 15 million PCs shipped, and Lenovo shipped about 14.8 million computers. Amazon and Samsung are quickly gaining traction in the computer market with their tablets. Amazon shipped 4.6 million tablets, including its Kindle Fire, over the quarter, and Samsung shipped 7.6 million. Over all, tablet shipments accounted for about one-third of the PC market over the quarter. IDC, the research firm, reported similar numbers on PC shipments over the fourth quarter, but did not include tablets in its analysis. Typically research firms don’t count tablets as a PC, because they are quite different from traditional laptops and desktops. But when sales of these two categories are stacked side by side, the numbers give perspective for how quickly the tablet is dissolving the old-school PC. The Canalys report certainly makes the late Steve Jobs sound prescient. When he introduced the iPad 2 in 2011, he said tablet devices were ushering people into a “post-PC” era: A lot of folks in this tablet market are rushing in and they’re looking at this as the next PC. The hardware and the software are done by different companies. And they’re talking about speeds and feeds just like they did with PCs. And our experience and every bone in our body says that that is not the right approach to this. That these are post-PC devices that need to be even easier to use than a PC. That need to be even more intuitive than a PC. And where the software and the hardware and the applications need to intertwine in an even more seamless way than they do on a PC.

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INTEREST: Japan & smart phones: iPhone, BlackBerry 10
by Wayne Billing 07 Feb '13

07 Feb '13

....from: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/07/nikkei-blackberry-to-stop-selling-phones… Nikkei: BlackBerry to stop selling phones in Japan, no longer able to justify the cost (updated) By Donald Melanson posted Feb 7th, 2013 at 2:15 PM75 It looks like Japan won't be a part of BlackBerry's BB10 launch plans now or anytime in the foreseeable future. According to a report from Nikkei, BlackBerry has decided to stop selling phones in the country, at least in part because it wasn't able to justify the cost of making the necessary language modifications to its new operating system. As Nikkei also notes, however, BlackBerry has seen a particularly steep drop in market share in Japan, where it now stands at just 0.3 percent. We've reached out to BlackBerry about the news and are awaiting comment. Update: We've received a statement from BlackBerry confirming that it has no plans to launch to launch BB10 devices in Japan at this time, although it adds that it will continue to support its customers in the country. The complete statement is as follows: We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 in countries where it has already launched. Japan is not a major market for BlackBerry and we have no plans to launch BlackBerry 10 devices there at this time. However, we will continue to support BlackBerry customers in Japan. ...from: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/10/12/business/iphone-continues-to-ro… IPhone continues to rock Japanese cellphone market BY KAZUAKI NAGATA STAFF WRITER • OCT 12, 2012 Since arriving in Japan in 2008, Apple Inc.’s iPhone series has won the love of many Japanese cellphone users long accustomed to phones heavily customized for the domestic market. The iPhone shock could have even more repercussions, as the September debut of the iPhone 5 appears to be changing the landscape of Japan’s telecommunications industry. Softbank Corp. made a surprising move last week to acquire eAccess Ltd., the country’s fourth-largest carrier and operator of the Emobile brand, to reinforce its network infrastructure and gain a competitive edge over its rivals, especially KDDI Corp. The competition between Softbank and KDDI — the two iPhone providers in Japan — has been escalating. Meanwhile, NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s biggest carrier, has been trying to differentiate itself from the others but is struggling to keep customers from defecting to the iPhone camp. DoCoMo insists it will stick with its non-iPhone strategy and provide its own original services. “If you ask me whether the iPhone 5′s influence over this business merger (with eAccess) is big, yes,” Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son stressed at a hastily called news conference Oct. 1 where he announced the acquisition of eAccess. Softbank, the third-largest carrier, has valued eAccess shares at ¥52,000, almost three times the premium, and will pay about ¥180 billion. With the move, Softbank will acquire 4.2 million Emobile subscribers. When combining the subscribers of PHS operator Willcom, also part of the Softbank group, the number of Softbank subscribers will total 39 million and surpass KDDI’s roughly 36 million. Getting a boost from iPhone sales, Softbank has posted record operating profits for seven consecutive years. It posted ¥675 billion in operating profit for its latest business year, more than 10 times the fiscal 2005 figure. [...] While the competition between Softbank and KDDI has attracted public attention, DoCoMo has lately been left out of the spotlight, except for media headlines about its struggles. Before it started selling iPhones, KDDI was the carrier lagging behind the others in the smartphone competition. But since it started selling iPhones last October, it has been No. 1 in terms of getting users of other carriers to defect. The statistics indicate DoCoMo is losing customers to the others. In terms of business results, the iPhone impact has not been large. DoCoMo has been turning a bigger profit than Softbank. But DoCoMo officials said if the situation continues, earnings will be affected. Seeing thousands of people lining up for an iPhone, “we are really jealous as we don’t get to see such scenes even though we have provided a variety of devices lately,” said Michio Fujiwara, director of DoCoMo’s corporate strategy and planning department. Still, it is unlikely the iPhone will join DoCoMo’s lineup anytime soon. This is because the iPhone would interfere with DoCoMo’s long-term business strategy, which focuses on strengthening more original Internet-based services within its network, one that can be used by any of DoCoMo’s smartphones. Apple’s strict control over the iPhone wouldn’t fit DoCoMo’s strategy. Plus, some services overlap. For instance, while DoCoMo runs its own voice concierge service, Apple provides a voice assistant service called Siri. Also, if it decided to sell iPhones, Apple would likely require that they account for more than half of DoCoMo’s total smartphones sold, according to former DoCoMo President Ryuji Yamada. Thus, if DoCoMo decides to provide iPhones, “we might become just a network infrastructure provider,” which means the carrier wouldn’t be able to gain significant profits from its software content, DoCoMo strategist Fujiwara said. DoCoMo has focused on providing smartphones that run on Google’s Android operating system, which can be customized freely by handset makers and carriers. When thinking about gaining customers, iPhones may be an option, but “to realize our long-term vision, Android has more potential,” Fujiwara said.

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INTEREST: Android Malware Hacks Your PC and then Eavesdrops On Your Microphone
by Wayne Billing 07 Feb '13

07 Feb '13

Maybe "Terrifying" is a bit overboard...... ...from: http://gizmodo.com/5981248/terrifying-android-malware-hacks-your-pc-and-the… Terrifying Android Malware Hacks Your PC and then Eavesdrops On You With Its Microphone [cid:8E33A935-18A3-472E-9C23-819323F2306A] Eric Limer It's one thing when malware attacks your phone, but it's another when that same malware hops over to your PC and then uses it to listen in on all your conversations on top of just messing with your phone. A newly discovered Android app—one that's in the Google Play store—can do just that<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/03/android-malware-emerges-on-google-…>. Beware. Full size<http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18diz8q6ybm2vpng/original.png> [cid:A3683608-AA2A-43CA-82F0-C5CF2C317DD4] The sketchy app, which masquerades as a "cleaner" app called DroidCleaner, was discovered by Kaspersky<http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/805/Mobile_attacks>, and if it infects you, its tendrils will wrap themselves around a seriously impressive number of things. Here's a list of abilities it has just on your phone: * Sending SMS messages * Enabling Wi-Fi * Gathering information about the device * Opening arbitrary links in a browser * Uploading the SD card's entire contents * Uploading an arbitrary file (or folder) to the master's server * Uploading all SMS messages * Deleting all SMS messages * Uploading all the contacts/photos/coordinates from the device to the master But that's not where it ends, no no no. When it runs, the app also downloads three files to the root directory of your SD card, and then when your phone gets connected to a computer in USB drive mode, a backdoor runs on your PC. From there it can control your microphone to eavesdrop on you and send the recordings back home to the mothership, but little beyond that. The Windows component of the malware isn't nearly as apt as its Android counterpart. Fortunately, as Kaspersky notes<http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/805/Mobile_attacks>, AutoRun on external drives should be disabled by default if you're running a relatively current version of Windows. And folks who aren't are this malware's bread and butter. Tech-savvy folks like you, dear reader, are probably not too at risk of being hit with this, but there are plenty of people out there who are right in its sights, and if nothing else, it shows that Android malware is evolving into a scary beast. But if you're careful out there and use your head, you should stay relatively safe. [Kaspersky<http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/805/Mobile_attacks> via The Next Web<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/03/android-malware-emerges-on-google-…>]

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INTEREST: Report: Apple: No.1 mobile phone vendor in US
by Wayne Billing 04 Feb '13

04 Feb '13

...from: http://9to5mac.com/2013/02/01/report-apple-has-become-the-1-mobile-phone-ve… Report: Apple has become the No.1 mobile phone vendor in US for the first time ever<http://9to5mac.com/2013/02/01/report-apple-has-become-the-1-mobile-phone-ve…> [cid:01328534-0DDC-43F7-B491-FBA86D85441B]Seth Weintraub<http://9to5mac.com/author/sethweintraub/> * iOS Devices<http://9to5mac.com/category/ios-devices/> FEBRUARY 1, 2013 / 12:48 AM * SHARE<http://9to5mac.com/> * 15 COMMENTS<http://9to5mac.com/2013/02/01/report-apple-has-become-the-1-mobile-phone-ve…> [Screen Shot 2013-02-01 at 12.40.29 AM]. According to research firm Strategy Analytics<http://blogs.strategyanalytics.com/WDS/post/2013/02/01/Apple-Becomes-Larges…>, Apple overtook Samsung to become the No.1 phone vendor in the United States in Q4 2012. The report, released this evening, shows that Apple sold 17.7 million iPhones in the quarter against 16.8 million for Samsung and 4.7 million from No. 3 LG. That’s not smartphones. That’s phones. Samsung has been the No. 1 vendor for phones in the U.S. for 5 years. Apple’s sold more than one out of every three phones in the quarter in the U.S., a feat made even more remarkable when taken with the fact that Samsung and LG sell a great deal of feature phones and very inexpensive low-end smartphones. Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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