http://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2013-01-02T08:59:00ZArmed robbers took advantage of New Years celebrations to attack a Paris Apple store, stealing up to $1.3 million (&euro;1 million) in goods.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/le-great-apple-robbery/240145414?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-theft-20130101,0,6556936.story">A well-planned armed robbery of a Paris Apple store resulted in the loss of goods valued at approximately 1 million euros</a>.</p> <P> <p>According to police, four masked men forced their way into the store on New Years Eve around 9PM Paris Time. The store had closed 3 hours earlier and the men threatened a guard at the back entrance. Police were concentrated elsewhere to focus on New Years celebrations.</p> <P> <p>In New York City, one of the most significant crimes in the last year was street theft of mobile devices, and of Apple devices in particular. </p> <P> <p><b><hr /><blockquote><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/apps-to-save-your-lost-or-stolen-iphone/232901440">The four major US cell phone carriers have agreed to help prevent stolen smartphones from being resold. Click here to read more.</a></b></blockquote><hr /></p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/briefs/2013-Jan/apple-french.png" />2012-12-28T18:42:00ZThe FCC will establish a regular process and rules for approval of Internet services (basically Wi-Fi) aboard aircraft. The agency says that current approval system is ad-hoc and requires too much time.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/fcc-streamlines-aircraft-wi-fi-rules/240145377?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-adopts-rules-promote-internet-onboard-aircraft">The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) today announced</a>, unofficially, that they will adopt rules to speed the establishment of Internet services, principally Wi-Fi, on aircraft.</p> <P> <p>The current approval system is ad-hoc, which makes it more expensive and lengthy. Only 2 companies, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gogoair.com/">Gogo</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.row44.com/">Row 44</a>, operate services in the US. A third entrant, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.viasat.com/">ViaSat</a>, will begin to offer service in 2013. </p> <P> <p><b><hr /><blockquote>BYTE recently compared the available options for airline on-board Wi-Fi services. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/wireless/byte-guide-to-in-flight-wi-fi/240144399">Click here to read the comparison.</a>.</b></blockquote><hr /></p> <P> <p>The FCC order will establish regular rules and processes for the approval of on-board services, which the agency expects will speed the process by 50%.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/briefs/fcc-logo.jpg" />2012-12-28T09:00:00ZThe Nokia Lumia 810 is an excellent, if not top-of-the-line Windows Phone available on T-Mobile. It's reasonably priced, has a top-notch camera and intriguing software, including two music apps that stream free tunes, "augmented reality" to show you what points of interest are right in front of you, and Nokia's highly-regarded maps. It also has a screen that's clearly a class or two below the best ones on the market, such as the iPhone 5. If you want a better screen on a Windows Phone, choose the Nokia 920 instead.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/nokia-lumia-810-a-win-for-t-mobile/240145333?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Windows Phone fans who want a phone on T-Mobile (or vice-versa) will do well with the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/phone/lumia810/">Nokia Lumia 810</a>. This model is one of a family of Lumia phones, one each on AT&T (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/phone/lumia820/">the Lumia 820</a>), Verizon (<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/nokia-apps-make-windows-phone-more-fun/240142662">the Lumia 822, which we reviewed recently</a>) and this, the T-Mobile Lumia 810.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/reviews/2012-Dec/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-810/t-mobile-nokia-lumia-810-620.jpg" /> <P> <p>T-Mobile charges $99.99 for the Lumia 810 with a two-year plan. It is also available <a target="_blank" href="http://wireless.amazon.com/Nokia-810-Windows-Phone-T-Mobile/dp/B00A6YYF38">for $499 with no commitment at Amazon Wireless</a>. An impressive collection of Nokia software available either bundled or as free downloads from the Windows Store greatly enhances the already good experience of Windows Phone 8, but the overall app selection in the Windows Store is still disappointing at times.</p> <P> <p>Whether any of the Lumia 8xx phones are a good deal compared to the beefier Lumia 920 is a difficult question. The Lumia 920 is AT&T-only, so that alone may make it unacceptable to many users, but it also lists for $99; AT&T charges $49 for its Lumia 820, a phone roughly similar to the 810 reviewed here. All of the 8xx phones have the same camera; they and the 920 have all the same Nokia apps. But the Lumia 920 has a better camera and a slightly-larger but much better display. Because of that display, the 920's larger battery is still rated at slightly less life than the 810's.</p> <P> <p>The 920, like the AT&T 820 and Verizon 822, are LTE phones, while T-Mobile offers only HSPA+ for the 810. The Lumia 920 is currently available <a target="_blank" href="http://wireless.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-920-Windows-Phone/dp/B00A2V7BA4">on Amazon Wireless for $39.99 with a new AT&T account</a>.</p> <P> <p>There are too many variables to make one recommendation, but I would think that if AT&T is an acceptable choice for you, the Lumia 920 will be hard to pass up.</p> <P> <p>Consider also that the Nokia phones are larger and heavier than the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 weighs 112 grams, the 810 is 145 grams and the 920 weighs in at a 185. This sounds like a big negative, but the 920 has been very well-received and is often listed as out of stock in some channels, so perhaps this issue is not so weighty after all.</p> <P> <p>The 810 looks only slightly different from the 820 and 822 at first, but there are some differences. On the good side, the 810 is slightly thinner. The 810 and 820 have 8GB flash built-in, while the 822 has 16GB and the 920 has 32GB. The 8xx phones all have a MicroSD slot, but the 920 lacks one and is therefore limited to its internal 32GB of storage. This is probably the biggest limitation of the 920. All four phones have the same 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and Qi wireless charging as an added-cost option in the form of a replacement back cover.</p> <P> <p>Both in theory and in practice I think the HSPA+ in the 810 is not a really big deal. The download speed rating on the 810 is 42.2 Mbit/s. LTE speeds vary among phones; the 820 and 920 have rated download speeds of 100Mbit/s and the 822 has 50Mbit/s. The T-Mobile phone never felt slow to me, but your mileage will inevitably vary with local network conditions and demand.</p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/reviews/2012-Dec/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-810/Nokia-Lumia-810-panorama.jpg"><img style="border:1px solid black;" src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/reviews/2012-Dec/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-810/Nokia-Lumia-810-panorama-620.jpg" /></a><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#000000; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;">Among the many Nokia apps available is a panorama photo app. Behold my disorganized office. (Click for larger image)</div></p> <P> <p>T-Mobile includes 3 bonus apps with their data plan: a subscription to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.slacker.com/">Slacker Radio</a>, a Pandora-like service with 2.5 million songs; T-Mobile's 411 & More, a hands-free service with directory and other info; and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/addons/services/information.aspx?PAsset=MusicAndSounds&tp=Svc_Tab_CallerTunes">its CallerTunes service</a>, which lets you record your own status greeting and to replace the ring a caller hears when he or she rings you with music. I didn't test these extensively, but they worked for me. </p> <P> <p>The apps from Nokia are much more impressive and useful. Nokia's maps are very good. Unlike <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/ios/maps/">some other companies in the mobile phone business</a>, Nokia has been doing maps for a long time and has a good reputation for it, albeit mostly based on use abroad and in limited areas of the US. One cool Nokia Maps feature is that you can download maps for offline use so that you can do GPS navigation without a data connection. Nokia Maps and the turn-by-turn GPS program Nokia Drive (currently a beta) are separate programs.</p> <P> <p>Finally, there is a separate Nokia Transit app which gives public transit directions between points. In my case I must say the directions were awful, none of them employing the commuter rail which goes right through my town. Google Maps &#151; which Google deliberately prevents from running on Windows Phone &#151; presented much better transit directions. </p> <P> <p>Nokia also includes several photography enhancement apps, such as the one for making panorama shots like the one above; Smart Shoot, which lets you take several photos of a group of people and then pick the best faces from them for the one to keep; Nokia City Lens, which overlays the camera view of the scene in front of you with location information. See the image below for an example.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/reviews/2012-Nov/Nokia822/Nokia-CityLens-620y.png" /><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#000000; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;">Nokia CityLens showing food options looking uptown from 35th and 7th in Manhattan. I especially recommend <a target="_blank" href="http://www.haleandhearty.com/">Hale & Hearty Soups</a>.</div> <P> <p>Finally, there is Nokia Music, a radio service similar to Slacker Radio, but with many more music channels and songs available. I didn't listen to all 17 million songs, so I can't give a complete account.</p> <P> <p>There's no particular reason to prefer the Nokia Lumia 810 to the 820 or 822; that decision is one to make by comparing the carriers. If you want to go with T-Mobile, the 810 is a good choice.</p> <P> <p>Name: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Phones/cell-phone-detail.aspx?cell-phone=Nokia-Lumia-810">Nokia Lumia 810 (on T-Mobile)</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/phone/lumia810/">(on Nokia.com)</a><blockquote><i>The Nokia Lumia 810 is an excellent, if not top-of-the-line Windows Phone available on T-Mobile. It's reasonably priced, has a top-notch camera and intriguing software, including two music apps that stream free tunes, "augmented reality" to show you what points of interest are right in front of you, and Nokia's highly-regarded maps. It also has a screen that's clearly a class or two below the best ones on the market, such as the iPhone 5. If you want a better screen on a Windows Phone, choose the Nokia 920 instead.</i></blockquote> Price: $99.99 (with 2 year plan)<br> Pros:<ul><li>Windows Phone 8 and its dynamic UI<li>Excellent camera and photography software</li><li>Nokia apps for great maps, location services and camera enhancements</li><li>Wireless charging (added cost option).</li><li>NFC, SD card slot, removable battery</li></ul> Cons:<ul><li>Few Windows Phone 8 apps.</li><li>Low-resolution screen.</li><li>Suspect Nokia Transit directions</li><li>Possibly a bad deal compared to other Lumia Windows Phones on other carriers.</li><li>No LTE</li></ul></p>2012-12-27T12:13:00ZPhone prices are being aggressively lowered by Apple's competition and Apple appears to be responding with price cuts, something we haven't seen before. Never mind that excellent Android and Windows Phones can be had for a lot less than the iPhone's $199 with a 2 year plan; more and more users are opting for older and cheaper iPhone models. The bottom line of all this is that Apple's average selling price for an iPhone is going down.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/iphone-prices-under-competitive-pressure/240145325?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Obviously the iPhone, and the iPhone 5 in particular, are big hits. iPhones have always been big sellers in spite of Apple's premium positioning in the market. But this may be changing, with the biggest competition coming from Apple itself. </p> <P> <p>Earlier this month, for the first time, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/iphone-5-sales-up-price-down/240145246">retailers started discounting iPhones below Apple's dictated retail prices</a> &#151; well-below, in fact. Fry's sells it for $126, $73 off the $199 price you'll find at most other outlets. Best Buy has the baseline iPhone 5 with the two year plan for $149.99</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-Dec/iphone5-frys.jpg" /><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#999900; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.frys.com/template/showcase/phones/">iPhone 5 on sale at Fry's.</a></div> <P> <p>Even more interesting is the effect in iPhone 5 sales of iPhone 4S sales. At the same time that Apple released the iPhone 5 they discounted the iPhone 4 and 4S. The 4S from Apple costs $99 with a 2 year plan and the iPhone 4 is free. But you can get a 4S from retailers for $49 or less. I doubt anyone discounts the iPhone 4 below free.</p> <P> <p>Probably as a result of these prices, research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that <a target="_blank" href="http://allthingsd.com/20121203/legacy-iphones-biting-apple-in-the-asp/">the iPhone 5 is a much smaller percentage of iPhone sales this season than earlier iPhones were after their launch</a>. The iPhone 5 seems to me to be a clearly better phone than the 4S, so that $100 or so makes a big difference to many consumers. (Of course, those consumers probably aren't thinking about how the data plan they have to buy will rip them off for far more than what they're saving on a specific phone, but that's another column.)</p> <P> <p>The CIRP data, as reported by AllThingsD, shows that the iPhone 5 accounted for 68 percent of iPhone sales in its first month on the market. The iPhone 4S accounted for 90 percent of iPhone sales in the analogous period.</p> <P> <p>The bottom line of all this is that Apple's average selling price for an iPhone is going down. </p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/iPhone5-Phone4S-Phone4.jpg" />2012-12-26T08:32:00ZThe Great Firewall of China is increasingly effective in stopping anonymous VPN-based access in and out of the country after a recent upgrade, and now the government is considering another attempt to strengthen authentication of users before obtaining Internet connections. The proposed law is being cynically framed as a privacy protection measure. As offended as I am at the ideas behind these proposals, I'm confident that they can't be implemented practically.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/china-tries-again-to-control-internet/240145266?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>The rubber-stamp legislature of China, a.k.a. <a target="_blank" href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-12/24/c_132059941.htm">the National People's Congress, is considering a bill that would require users to provide their real names to Internet service providers</a>, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.</p> <P> <p>The law is cast, ironically, as a measure to protect the privacy of users. Xinhua cites Li Fei, deputy director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, as telling legislators that the user identification to telecommunications operators "could be conducted backstage, allowing users to use different names when publicizing information." The story also quotes Li Yuxiao, an expert on Internet management and law studies at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunication, supporting identification as necessary for privacy protection.</p> <P> <p>Only the government and government utilities would know the names.</p> <P> <p>Legislation in China doesn't always become law exactly as proposed, but it's a good indicator that some legislation along these lines is on the way. Other signals include the recent elevation to the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee of China's former propaganda chief, Liu Yunshan. <a target="_blank" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324660404578198872669335126.html">The Wall Street Journal says</a> Liu "...is widely believed to have played a key role in China's Internet management in recent years."</p> <P> <p>At the same time, the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald reports that recent changes to the Great Firewall, a system designed to block unauthorized communications in and out of China, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/great-firewall-upgrade-hits-china-internet-users-20121224-2bu8g.html">has been upgraded and strengthened</a> and is causing greater difficulty, not only for users attempting anonymous communications for privacy purposes, but for businesses that use VPN protocols to protect commercial transactions.</p> <P> <p>A real name requirement could never be enforceable at the level of individual communications on the Internet, but it could be used to hold one person or entity responsible for use of the connection. Of course, there are many ways to subvert and co-opt user control of their connection so that use of the connection can happen without the responsible user's intent. </p> <P> <p>An earlier attempt to impose a real name requirement on China's popular microblogs was not fully-implemented after technical problems developed. The microblogs &#151; the most popular are Sina, Sohu, NetEase and Tencent &#151; have been used often to criticize the government and expose corruption of officials. As the WSJ says, a number of lower-level officials have been brought down after being caught in compromising positions and exposed by China's online community.</p> <P> <img style="border:1px solid black;" src="https://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/China-microblogs.png" /> <P> <p>It's difficult to imagine a true identification scheme for the Internet that could work with any reasonable degree of accuracy, and still work with the most important Internet protocols, such as TCP/IP, SMTP and HTTP. Many of these protocols and the software which uses them were designed not to require authentication. At the same time, China's Internet usage is so vast already that forcing changes that might break everyone's computers and phones would be a tall order even for the Communist Party.</p> <P> <p>As offended as I am at the ideas behind these proposals, I'm confident that they can't be implemented practically.</p>2012-12-24T09:25:00ZThinner, lighter iPad coming on accelerated schedule. A new iPad mini is also on the way with a Retina display and A6X processor.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/tablets/ipad-5th-generation-coming-in-march-says/240145294?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>A Japanese blog, Macotakara, is claiming that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macotakara.jp/blog/rumor/entry-18729.html">a new generation of iPad is to be released in March 2013</a>. The report provides no technical specifications on the new iPad, but says it will be thinner and lighter.</p> <P> <p>The same report says that a 2nd generation of the iPad mini will enter testing soon. The new mini will have a 2048 &#215; 1536 pixel (326ppi) Retina display and the same A6X processor as in the current iPad 4th generation.</p> <P> <p>If true, this report would indicate that Apple has moved to a 6 month product cycle as a normal matter, perhaps to better compete against Android and Windows products.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/ipads.png" />2012-12-24T09:02:00ZGoogle and Motorola are trying to make the hottest phone on the market and running into the problems that kept everyone else from making such a phone, such as poor battery life. The way they're going about it suggests that Google does not have the clearest vision of what they want to do or how to do it.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/googlemotorola-x-phone-tries-to-push-tec/240145250?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>The reported Google/Motorola 'X phone' sounds like it's Google's attempt to build the ultimate phone. But the people at Google aren't the only ones who dream of blue-sky phones of the future. There's a reason, for instance, why Apple didn't crowd the iPhone 5 up with the hottest technology in every way. Apple needs to be able to sell their phones in high quantity and high quality. The X phone story has indications of Google trying to change the way the phone game is played, and stumbling over themselves in the process.</p> <P> <p>Engineering and product design are always games of trade-offs. The biggest factor in most trade-offs is cost. If you're willing, for instance, to have a very expensive product, you might be able to deal with parts that have a high failure rate. But how expensive do you really want to be when <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/iphone-5-sales-up-price-down/240145246">Apple's letting iPhone 5's out to customers for $126</a>?</p> <P> <p>According to <a target="_blank" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324731304578191711598368942.html">the Wall Street Journal report that broke the story</a>, Google and Motorola were looking at a bendable screen and many other less-wacky ideas. The screen sounds like the perfect example of the feature that just isn't worth it for the cost. When you hear about supply chain issues, that they can't get enough parts, it means that they can't get enough of them that work right.</p> <P> <p>And while it sounds like the bendable screen is not going to happen, the screen is probably the main part of the holdup. If they're talking now about manufacturing constraints then it means they're pretty far along and thinking of Spring 2013 for a rollout. A high-quality OLED display with cutting-edge features is tough to get from the small number of companies that make them. Everyone wants them. </p> <P> <p>People experienced in the device hardware business know these things, but does Google? Both the WSJ story and our own sources inside Motorola say that Google interlopers, inexperienced in the actual building of phone hardware, are in charge of this process. </p> <P> <p>The choice of Motorola for the phone caps a series of perplexing moves by Google, starting with their decision to buy Motorola Mobility. Even before the acquisition Motorola was retrenching, cutting off products and product teams, to the point now where they have next to no current products and about the same number of teams. And earlier this week it emerged that the Arris Group was buying the home/set top box part of the Motorola business. Perhaps Motorola's not up to the job because there's so little of it left?</p> <P> <p>Perhaps even odder is the implication in the WSJ story that the X phone will be sold direct to consumer, as opposed to the usual channel through the mobile carriers. Maybe Apple can get away with that stuff since they have their own retail channel, although I suspect the large majority of iPhones are sold through the carriers. But they can't be expecting any help from what's left of Motorola in this &#151; that company has no successful experience selling directly to consumers.</p> <P> <p>There are other advantages to taking the carriers out of the picture, such as control over pushing out updates (although Apple seems to be able to get their way over the carriers in this regard). It's also just better for a manufacturer to have multiple sales channels.</p> <P> <p>After the Arris deal it looked more likely than ever that the whole point of the Motorola purchase was to get patents, even if they overpaid for them. Now they want Motorola to build them the greatest phone in the world? </p>2012-12-21T13:22:00ZA new research report shows Apple with a majority of the smartphone market in the United States, but lagging behind Samsung and other Android vendors abroad. In spite of U.S. dominance, Apple is allowing discounts to its newest iPhone. The same research shows Nokia's fortunes turning in Great Britain, although less so among younger buyers.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/iphone-5-sales-up-price-down/240145246?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Consumer research company Kantar Worldpanel is reporting that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Apple-achieves-its-highest-ever-Smartphone-share-in-US">the iPhone had a majority smartphone market share in the United States in the 12 week period ending November 25</a>. The sales were, no doubt, boosted by the new iPhone 5, which became available to the public 18 days into that period.</p> <P> <p>Kantar Worldpanel notes that Android is still dominant in Europe and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/android-clear-leader-in-smartphone-race/240143823?queryText=android+market+share">IDC reports that Android has a 68.3% smartphone market share worldwide</a>. If all the numbers are correct, they would indicate that Apple's dominance in the US is atypical.</p> <P> <p>Then again, we have also seen contradictory reports, including <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/samsung-leaps-past-apple-nokia/240144613">iSuppli's report of Samsung having a 28% smartphone market share to Apple's 20%</a>. iSuppli must have different criteria for measuring the smartphone market, as their list of the top 5 companies &#151; Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC and RIM &#151; total up only 63%. Who are the other 37%?</p> <P> <p>In recent days, Apple has also moved to allow deep discounting of iPhones through retailers. As reported by dealnews.com, <a target="_blank" href="http://dealnews.com/features/Recent-Price-Cuts-Make-the-iPhone-5-the-Most-Discounted-Apple-Phone-Yet/649543.html">Fry's Electronics is selling the 16GB iPhone 5 for $126</a> (with a 2 year contract), one-upping Walmart's $127. The list price is $199. Discounting a hot seller is an odd move for anyone, let alone Apple.</p> <P> <p><img style="border:1px solid black;" src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-Dec/iphone5-frys.jpg" /><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#999900; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.frys.com/template/showcase/phones/">iPhone 5 on sale at Fry's</a></div></p> <P> <p>The Kantar report also shows Nokia's sales in Great Britain on the upswing, especially with aggressively-priced prepaid contract phones.</p>2012-12-21T09:03:00ZThere are many more malware-infected Android devices out there than you might think. It's all because the Android ecosystem and Google Play store are more friendly to malware and exploits than iOS and the Apple App Store or Windows 8, Windows Phone and the Windows Store. There's some, but not much reason, to think things will improve for Android in the near future.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/android-fails-in-mobile-malware-research/240145092?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Android malware appears to be more widespread than I had thought. I was alerted to that fact recently with a reference to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2012/12/mobile-malware-doing-math">a story in Biztech</a> referring to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.trailofbits.com/research/#mobile-eip">research done by Dan Guido, Co-Founder and CEO of Trail of Bits</a>. The firm is an independent information security company. (Guido's co-founders are Alex Sotirov and Dino Dai Zovi, both well-known and respected mobile security researchers.)</p> <P> <p>The stand-out number in the research has to do with the extent of malware-tainted Android devices: "Our research has determined that out of the 300 million Android devices out there, the presence of malware has been discovered on about a million of them. That's a significant number." A million? I'd call that significant. </p> <P> <p>Trail of Bits conducted the research from December, 2011 to March, 2012. The base number of devices has undoubtedly grown quite a bit since. Has the number of malware-infected systems grown proportionately? Guido says that of course it has, and there's little reason to think otherwise.</p> <P> <p>First, about the attacks themselves. On Android attacks are almost all privilege escalation attacks using malicious apps that the user has installed deliberately, lured by a web site or an app in an app store. Trail of Bits followed 100 attack campaigns, 30 of which were on the Google Play store. </p> <P> <p>Privilege Escalation, in the context of mobile technology, is better-known as a "jailbreak." The program exploits a vulnerability in the operating system to change its own privilege level, allowing it to evade restrictions on lesser-privileged programs. Exploits are generally easier to write on Android than on Apple's iOS for a variety of reasons described by Trail of Bits.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Feb/red-droid450.jpg" /> <P> <p>Very few specific vulnerabilities were used in the malware found by Trail of Bits, and all of them had available patches. This raises one of the major problems with vulnerability mitigation in Android as opposed to iOS or Windows: Google relies on carriers and OEMs to distribute operating system version upgrades. Google can't force these companies to distribute new versions even if those new versions carry significant security improvements. </p> <P> <p>In fact, the carriers and OEMs have a strong incentive not to upgrade phones they have already sold: It gives buyers an incentive to buy a new phone because the new phones have all the improvements in the new operating systems, even if their older devices are capable of running the newer versions.</p> <P> <p><b><hr /><blockquote>Samsung has acknowledged a serious vulnerability in the Android kernel for their Exynos processors in many of their phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S3. <a href="https://www.informationweek.com/byte/samsung-acknowledges-severe-android-vuln/240145086">Click here to read more.</a></b></blockquote><hr /></p> <P> <p>Users who want to upgrade their own phones can do so by rooting (the Android term for jailbreaking) them and installing a custom ROM from many sources, such as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cyanogenmod.org/">CyanogenMOD</a>. But not many users have the patience or skills to do this.</p> <P> <p>Google introduced several important security advances in Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) but, according to Google, as of December 3, 2012, <a target="_blank" href="http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html">only 34.2 percent of Android devices are running version 4.0 or later</a>. Version 4 <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_4.0#Android_4.0.x_Ice_Cream_Sandwich">was released to the public (and handset makers) October 19, 2011</a>, so it's been around for a while.</p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/android-version-share.jpg" /></a><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#999900; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;">Distribution of Android versions in installed devices based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Google Play within a 14-day period ending on December 3, 2012.</div></p> <P> <p>Another important tool for mitigating vulnerabilities is Google Chrome, the alternative browser available now on Android. The standard Android browser is not as advanced or secure as Chrome and, as of Version 4.1 (Jelly Bean), it is the default browser on Android.</p> <P> <p>These advances will make many classes of exploits much harder to execute, but not privilege escalation attacks. For now, the main way to stop them is by vetting them at the store or through reputation systems. Unfortunately, as Trail of Bits explains in depressing detail, the controls on app submissions to the Google Play store are as weak as Apple's are strong:</p> <P> <p style="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; text-align: center;">Next Page: <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/android-fails-in-mobile-malware-research/240145092&pgno=2">Apple rules are strict, Google's lax; what about Microsoft?</a></p> <P><p>What about Windows? Microsoft's Windows Store sells apps for Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone. All of this is a bit young and market share is small enough that it's possible nobody has even tried to submit malicious code, but Microsoft has gone to some trouble to prevent it. The software giant has credibility in this, as over the last 10 years it has transformed desktop and server versions of Windows from security jokes to industry leaders.</p> <P> <p>Microsoft provided me with these links for app security provisions:<ul> <li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/15/protecting-you-from-malware.aspx" target="_blank">Microsoft President Steve Sinofsky explains measures taken in Windows 8 to protect against malware</a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsstore/archive/2012/03/12/licensing-apps.aspx" target="_blank">The principles and design of the Windows Store app licensing model</a></li> <li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/hh694083" target="_blank">Windows 8 app certification requirements; rules for what apps may and may not do</a></li> <li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/xaml/hh974578.aspx" target="_blank">How to get a developer license for writing and submitting apps; measures Microsoft takes to detect fraudulent use of the license</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsappdev/archive/2012/12/18/security-best-practices-for-building-windows-store-apps.aspx">Security best practices for building Windows Store apps</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh184841(v=vs.105).aspx">App policies for Windows Phone</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj863494.aspx#verifying_accounts">How Microsoft verifies the identity of developers for the Windows Store</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/17/delivering-reliable-and-trustworthy-metro-style-apps.aspx?Redirected=true">Delivering reliable and trustworthy <SPAN STYLE="text-decoration: line-through;">Metro</SPAN> Windows 8 style apps</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsappdev/archive/2012/12/18/security-best-practices-for-building-windows-store-apps.aspx">Security best practices for building Windows Store apps</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/ff402533(v=vs.105).aspx">Security for Windows Phone</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh184840(v=vs.105).aspx">Technical certification requirements for Windows Phone apps</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh694083.aspx#acr_4_3">Windows 8 app certification requirements </a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/business/security?wa=wsignin1.0">Windows Phone 8 security and encryption</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh694081.aspx">Testing your app with the Windows App Certification Kit</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh184840(v=vs.105).aspx">Technical certification requirements for Windows Phone</a></li></ul></p> <P> <p>Windows 8 implements all of the techniques in Windows 7 to protect against malware and some new ones, most importantly (as I see it) a new generation of SmartScreen. SmartScreen is a reputation system. For some time it has been used by Internet Explorer to determine whether a web site is known to be safe, unsafe, or if it has never been seen before. Windows 8 extends this reputation system to files generally. See the screen capture below:</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Windows-Protected-Your-PC.jpg" /> <P> <p>Because of the enormous installed base of Windows and Internet Explorer, the reputation system has great credibility. Windows 8 also comes with a version of Windows Defender to act as an anti-malware solution if you don't have a third-party product installed.</p> <P> <p>Apple's rules and procedures for <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.apple.com/support/ios/identity-verification.html">developer identity verification</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.apple.com/appstore/guidelines.html">vetting of programs</a> ("We review all apps to ensure they are reliable, perform as expected, and are free of offensive material") are famously thorough and strict. <a target="_blank" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj863494.aspx#verifying_accounts">Microsoft's developer ID requirements and procedures</a> are also fairly thorough. </p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="https://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/publish/register.html">Google asks few questions</a> and I see no evidence that they verify anything meaningful. In fact, by keeping fees the lowest in the business, minimizing identification requirements and <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html">making a joke out of code signing</a> they have created the perfect low-cost/low-consequence environment for writing malicious code.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/apple-enforces-accountability.jpg" /><div style="margin:4px 0 0 0; padding:0; color:#999900; font-size:small; ;font-style: italic; text-align:right;">Strong controls keep malware out of Apple's App Store and weak controls in Google Play invite it in. Trail of Bits found 30 malicious app campaigns on Google Play and none in the App Store. Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.trailofbits.com/research/#mobile-eip">Trail of Bits</a></div> <P> <p>It's simply too early to tell whether malware and other malicious app behaviors will be a problem for Windows Phone, Windows RT or Windows 8 apps. But it's certainly not too early to reach a verdict on Android: Google has failed to implement sufficient controls and malactors have rushed in to take advantage. The overall numbers may be low as they represent only a small percentage of installed base, but they're big in absolute terms. Be careful out there.</p>2012-12-20T10:10:00ZApple Needs To Cut The Patent Nonsense. If Apple really thinks they need to sue the competition out of the market then they must think they're in worse shape than anyone else thinks. Recent legal setbacks, including the reexamination by the US Patent and Trademark Office of the 'pinch and zoom' and other patents, have the potential to embarrass Apple severely and embolden the competition. Now's the time to scale back in their settlement negotiations.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/apple-must-settle-with-samsung/240145106?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Apple received embarrassing news late yesterday when the US Patent and Trademark Office notified them that one of the key patents which a jury found to be "willfully infringed" by Samsung in a trial earlier this year, would be reexamined for validity. The USPTO reexamination was publicized as a notice to the court from the USPTO, owing to the relevance of the decision to the case. See the full text of the notice and order embedded at the bottom of this article.</p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/7844915">Apple's U.S. patent 7,844,915 ("Application programming interfaces for scrolling operations")</a>, called the 915 patent in the trial and known colloquially as the "pinch and zoom" patent, describes the touch-and-drag operations for expanding and contracting the view on the display. </p> <P> <p>Yes, it's only one patent of many Samsung was found to violate, but it was one of the clearest of claims against Samsung (as proxy for Google, who really implemented the behavior). Pinch and zoom is something ordinary people can relate to. And the invalidation of the patent would serve to dim further the mystique of Apple's reputation for innovation.</p> <P> <p>Most people hadn't ever heard of smartphones before the iPhone, except maybe for BlackBerry, but in fact other products had been doing many of the things the iPhone did for years. Windows Mobile &#151; not Windows Phone, but a much earlier attempt at a SmartPhone OS by Microsoft &#151; may have been an overall-terrible product, but it had touch-screen and gestures before the iPhone was released. </p> <P> <p>Now it seems that pinch and zoom may not be all that new either. The specific Apple patent claim used in the trial will be reexamined by the USPTO on two grounds: first, that it was already anticipated in <a target="_blank" href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/7724242">an earlier patent, 7,724,242 ("Touch driven method and apparatus to integrate and display multiple image layers forming alternate depictions of same subject matter")</a>, and as unpatentable in light of other works, including <a target="_blank" href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=145726">a doctoral dissertation from 1991</a>.</p> <P> <p>It's hard to come up with something really new in computing. Often what you think you invented was probably done by IBM in the 1970's when a lot of real genius work was done, and not much of that was patented.</p> <P> <p>And this isn't isolated bad news. A couple weeks ago that <a target="_blank" href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57557880-37/another-apple-touch-screen-patent-in-trouble/">other patent claims by Apple, also used in the trial, were invalid</a>. And then a few days ago <a target="_blank" href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/apple-motion-to-ban-samsung-products-den/240144583">the trial judge ruled against Apple's motion to block sale of the infringing Samsung products, and did so on grounds that mitigate the claimed damages. As the patents on which the judgement is based fall, Apple's position is weakening.</a></p> <P> <p>Their only reasonable avenue at this point is settlement on undisclosed terms. Samsung would surely be willing to do so in a way that puts legal matters behind it. And then the companies can compete for customers based on the merits of their respective products. Maybe that's not the bright future Apple envisioned, but it's a fair one.</p> <P> <p><a title="View Pinch to Zoom Patent Invalidated on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/117432798/Pinch-to-Zoom-Patent-Invalidated" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Pinch to Zoom Patent Invalidated</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/117432798/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2d93ui96f5oxzlym2d50" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" scrolling="no" id="doc_64117" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>2012-12-20T09:05:00ZA serious vulnerability in the Android kernel for their Exynos processors in many of their phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S3, has been found by the Android hacking community. It may be used by any application to root (jailbreak) or unroot the device, brick it or even silently modify arbitrary memory or other applications.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/samsung-acknowledges-severe-android-vuln/240145086?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p><a target="_blank" href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2048511">A vulnerability in the Samsung Exynos Android kernel</a> was recently found by a developer xda-developers group. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-fix-exynos-vulnerability-software-update-soon-possible">Samsung has acknowledged the vulnerability and promised a software update to fix it as soon as possible.</a></p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/Exynos/index.html">Exynos is an ARM SoC (System on Chip)</a> used in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/Exynos/showcase.html">many of their devices</a>, including the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note 2, and a few non-Samsung products such as <a target="_blank" href="http://phandroid.com/lenovo-lephone/">the Lenovo LePhone</a>.</p> <P> <p>The vulnerability gives the program complete access to device RAM and is being used for rooting devices, but can also be used by a malicious app to take control of the device, disable (brick) it or even silently modify arbitrary memory or other applications.</p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-fix-exynos-vulnerability-software-update-soon-possible">Samsung issued a statement about the flaw to Android Central</a>:<blockquote><i>Samsung is aware of the potential security issue related to the Exynos processor and plans to provide a software update to address it as quickly as possible.<br /><br />The issue may arise only when a malicious application is operated on the affected devices; however, this does not affect most devices operating credible and authenticated applications.<br /><br />Samsung will continue to closely monitor the situation until the software fix has been made available to all affected mobile devices.</i></blockquote></p> <P> <p>As Samsung says, users who stick to legitimate apps from legitimate sources are unlikely to encounter this problem, but there have been many cases of malicious software being successfully submitted to the Google Play store.</p> <P> <p>Hat tip to the many Android-focused sites I linked to above and, originally, to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mikko/status/281721980334505984">Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure on Twitter</a>.</p> <P>2012-12-20T08:04:00ZAn update to Windows Phone 8 should be out soon sporting messaging improvements, the ability to text replies to incoming callers, bandwidth-saving IE changes and favorite Wi-Fi connections, among other improvements not yet specified.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/windows-phone-8-update-details-revealed/240145080?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>A How-To on the Windows Phone 8 site includes <a target="_blank" href="http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/how-to/wp8/basics/windows-phone-8-update-history">details of the next update (version 8.0.10211.204) for the operating system</a>. </p> <P> <p>The release of the update will be staggered at different times by region, mobile operator and phone model.</p> <P> <p>Among the changes in the release are:<ul><li>Messaging users will be able to add multiple recipients at the same time when sending a text message, save unsent messages as drafts, and edit received messages before forwarding them</li> <li>Sent a predefined text message (e.g. "Busy now, will call back soon") to an incoming caller from the call answer screen</li> <li>Configure Internet Explorer not to download images automatically, in order to save on data usage, and to delete selected sites from the browsing history</li> <li>Windows Phone 8 will prioritize Wi-Fi connections based on your connection history</li></ul></p> <P> <p>There will be other changes in the update, but they were not described.</p> <P> <p>Hat tip to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/maryjofoley/status/281473286695686145">Mary Jo Foley on Twitter</a>.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/briefs/windows-phone-8-santa.jpg" />2012-12-18T13:17:00ZA Microsoft tip explains how to regain space on the Surface by removing the install files. This is an advanced procedure.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/storage-memory/how-to-regain-35gb-on-surface/240144614?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>A tip on Microsoft's Technet site explains <a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.technet.com/b/drey/archive/2012/12/18/windows-rt-tip-regain-an-extra-3-5-gb-of-space.aspx">how to regain an extra 3.5 GB of space on Windows RT</a>. Microsoft's current Surface systems run Windows RT, which is based on the ARM processor architecture, and there are many other RT systems from OEMs.</p> <P> <p>The tip explains how to remove the WIM partition, which contains the installation files for Windows RT and other software that comes pre-installed on the Surface.</p> <P> <p>This is an advanced procedure and you can mess your system up if you don't do it carefully.</p> <P> <p>The minimum Surface comes with 32GB of storage, but about half of that is used by the operating system, applications and data. Surface does have a MicroSD slot for expanded storage.</p> <P> <p>Hat tip to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/maryjofoley/status/281086044160540672">Mary Jo Foley on Twitter</a>.</p>2012-12-18T08:15:00ZU.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the jury finding against Samsung for violating Apple patents did not merit enjoining sale of the products, only 3 of which remain on sale in the United States.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/apple-motion-to-ban-samsung-products-den/240144583?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Federal Judge Lucy Koh in San Francisco <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-denies-apples-request-to-ban-us-sales-of-samsung-smartphone-models-in-patent-dispute/2012/12/17/6d84fad2-48cd-11e2-8af9-9b50cb4605a7_story.html">denied an Apple motion to permanently block the sale of 26 Samsung products</a> late Monday night. The products were those which a jury had earlier found "willfully" infringed Apple patents.</p> <P> <p>Only 3 of the products are still sold by Samsung in the U.S. </p> <P> <p>The judge noted that Samsung claimed to have attempted to work around the patents, that they were a small number of the numerous features in the devices and that it didn't follow that the devices should be banned as a result of the jury finding. Judge Koh concluded that the public would be harmed by a ban.</p> <P> <p>The judge also denied a Samsung motion to dismiss the verdict because of alleged juror misconduct.</p> <P> <p>There are many remaining motions for Judge Koh in the case. The fate of the jury's $1.05 billion award &#151; which an Apple attorney termed a "slap in the wrist" &#151; is still not set.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-Dec/apple-samsung.jpg" /> <P>2012-12-17T08:30:00ZRIM (Research In Motion) has announced that a BlackBerry 10 beta test program called the Technical Preview Program is beginning today for a select group of 120 enterprise and government customers.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/blackberry-10-beta-begins/240144492?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the beginning of a formal beta test program, called the Technical Preview Program, for BlackBerry 10 products.</p> <P> <p>The Canadian company says that starting today it will visit 120 customers, 64 of which are Fortune 500 companies, to begin its tests of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and other products and services, including BlackBerry Balance &#151; which assists users in separating personal and business use of the device, the BlackBerry Hub &#151; a unified inbox consolidating email, Tweets, BBMs, SMS and other messages, and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-March/rim-blackberry-logo-1.jpg" />2012-12-17T08:05:00ZGoogle is ending several services, including Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) for free users and Google Calendar Sync for all users. If you use an iPhone or iPad for free Google services like GMail you have some headaches ahead. Google is pushing you hard to abandon the Mail app and switch to the GMail app. If you use a Microsoft Surface for them then you have a big problem. This Google calls "Winter cleaning."http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/consumer-services/google-makes-byod-harder/240144497?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Through the growth of the mobility era, Google has projected an image of platform neutrality. Now, self-interest is setting in for the Web giant, and you can expect second-rate support &#151; if any &#151; from Google for your non-Android device.</p> <P> <p>Last Friday Google announced that it will be ending support &#151; on free Google accounts only &#151; for new connections to use Google Sync to synchronize Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts through Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (EAS). For example, if you use the iOS Mail and Calendar apps to read your free GMail, Contacts and Google Calendar, then, as of January 30, 2013 you will be able to continue doing so. But if you set up a new iPhone after January 30, 2013, you won't be able to set it up to sync in this way. </p> <P> <p>EAS is a protocol developed by Microsoft for Exchange Server, but it doesn't strictly require Exchange Server. It allows synchronization of email messages, calendar items, contacts, and other data between servers and client devices, including mobile devices. EAS is there in Google Apps because Google had no chance at selling the service to any enterprises without it. But by now, the overwhelming load of EAS use from Google must be from iPhone and iPad users. Google is cutting all of these users loose unless they are paying Google for the not-free enterprise version of their services.</p> <P> <p>What will you do if you're a free GMail user? You have some options. For email, you can switch to using IMAP for mail synchronization with the Mail app or you can switch to the GMail app. For contacts you can use CardDAV, a new protocol for contacts synchronization. For the calendar there is a similar protocol named CalDAV. If you're a paying Google Apps customer then you can continue to use EAS for synchronization. </p> <P> <p>Google is also <a target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2716936">immediately terminating support for new installations of Google Calendar Sync</a>, which paying Google Apps customers use to synchronize their Google Calendars with the desktop version of Outlook. Google notes, without naming them, that there are third-party tools that do the same Calendar sync, but warns that it won't support them. In other words, while paying Google Apps customers will continue to be able to use their existing installations, if they get a new computer or replace a crashed hard drive, they won't be able to synchronize their Outlook calendars with their Google calendar.</p> <P> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/winter-cleaning.html">This Google calls "Winter cleaning."</a> In less-important moves, the company also announced the shuttering of Appointment Slots and some other more obscure Calendar features, of the <a target="_blank" href="http://code.google.com/p/support/wiki/IssueTrackerAPI">Issue Tracker Data API</a>, and of the Punchd loyalty card app. It's also ending all support for Google Sync for Nokia S60, and SyncML for all users, starting January 30, 2013.</p> <P> <p>This development struck me pretty hard because my personal domain is a paying Google Apps domain. Even though I will be able to continue using it for calendar sync, I decided to test the CalDAV and CardDAV support on my iPhone. You wouldn't likely figure out how to set it up just by messing with your phone, but once I found instructions on Google's site, I got both working.</p> <P> <p>I haven't used them much, but I've already found one problem: When you're using CalDAV and you create an event on iOS, there is no way to invite others to the event. It's not clear to me if this is a weakness in the protocol or in Apple's or Google's implementations. But I call that a pretty serious deficiency.</p> <P> <p>The people who have a real problem are Windows 8 and Windows RT users. The standard Mail app on those platforms is already notoriously weak, but the only way it can do calendar and contact synching with Google accounts is through EAS. And since <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/quickview/google-nixes-apps-for-windows-8-windows/2170?wc=4">Google has already said it won't make apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone</a>, those users are screwed until either Microsoft adds CalDAV and CardDAV support to the app or a better app comes along. </p> <P> <p>Incidentally, Google's EAS implementation was never more than adequate. Like much in the world of Google, it's still designated "Beta" three years after it was first released and has <a target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/a/users/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139635">some serious known bugs</a>. </p> <P> <p>One clear motivation for Google here is to push users into using the GMail app rather than the standard Mail app in iOS. It also discourages use of Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone. But there's another reason <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zdnet.com/google-drops-exchange-activesync-support-for-free-email-accounts-7000008836/">mentioned by Ed Bott at the end of one of his articles on the matter</a>: Google had to license EAS from Microsoft, and the license involves Microsoft patents. Patent licenses strike again.</p> <P> <p>All this makes BYOD harder by making you have to think more about what devices support what services you might want to use. It's all bad news for the industry.</p>2012-12-15T17:16:00Z$127 gets you a 16GB iPhone 5 at certain Wal-Mart stores, but not online, for the next 30 days. The cut-rate strategy, arranged with Apple's cooperation, is in contrast to Apple's premium image. iPads are also on deep-discount.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/iphone-5-on-discount-at-wal-mart/240144488?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Wal-Mart is offering Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S at substantial discounts, with the knowledge and permission of Apple. The phones will be available for 30 days in 3,000 unspecified Wal-Mart stores. They will not be available online.</p> <P> <p>The 16GB iPhone 5, which lists for $199 and was selling at Wal-Mart for $189.97, costs $127 under the discount, and requires a two-year contract with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. Wal-Mart is selling the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $47 with such a contract.</p> <P> <p>The news was broken <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100317764">by Reuters Friday</a>. According to Reuters, a Wal-Mart spokesperson said "We worked together with them on this." </p> <P> <p>Reuters also reports that "Wal-Mart is pricing the iPad starting at $399, down from $499. Beginning December 17 the retailer said it will throw in a $30 iTunes card."</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-Dec/wal-mart.jpg" />2012-12-14T12:46:00ZA survey by IDC and tool company Appcelerator finds that most mobile developers are not 'very interested' in writing apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone. Developer interest in Android, iOS and HTML5 remains strong.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/microsoft-surface-doesnt-impress-mobile/240144474?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p><a target="_blank" href="https://pages.appcelerator.com/12.12.12Q42012DeveloperSurvey.html">A survey of by IDC and mobile development tool company Appcelerator</a> shows continued strong interest in iOS and Android development, but skepticism of Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone. The survey questioned 2,837 Appcelerator mobile developers from Nov 15-26, 2012</p> <P> <p><b><hr /><blockquote>Google has also said that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/quickview/google-nixes-apps-for-windows-8-windows/2170?wc=4">they are uninterested in writing apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone</a> at this time.</b></blockquote><hr /></p> <P> <p>The survey report includes these among the key findings:<ul> <li>The proliferation of iOS devices is making life difficult for developers.</li> <li>56% of developers like Microsoft's Surface hardware, but most are skeptical of its prospects in the market. (See the graph from the report below.)</li> <li>Amazon's Kindle is struggling for developer interest.</li> <li>"...more than 53.8% of developers are 'very interested' in building apps for Google Nexus tablets.</li> <li>Developers are unimpressed with Facebook's revamped strategy and expect it to lose social market share.</li></ul></p> <P> <img style="border:1px solid black;" src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/briefs/Developer-Attitudes-to-Surface.png" /> <P> <p>Among the predictions by the survey's authors, based on the results:<ul> <li>92.9% of mobile developers predict it is 'likely to very likely' that in 2013, most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce.</li> <li>Developers believe in augmented reality and expect it to be a hit with users.</li> <li>The hot consumer-facing categories for app development in 2013 are: business, finance, education, medical, productivity and mobile money.</li></ul></p>2012-12-13T09:52:00ZRIM has announced that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will test BlackBerry 10 phones and management software in 2013.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/blackberry-10-tests-announced-for-us-imm/240144366?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>RIM (Research In Motion) has announced that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-to-launch-blackberry-10-pilot-program-nasdaq-rimm-1737239.htm">the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will begin a pilot test of BlackBerry 10</a>, the next generation of phones and operating system software from RIM, early next year.</p> <P> <p>Because of a long history of secure infrastructure, the U.S. government has been a major customer of BlackBerry devices and software for many years. In addition to new BlackBerry 10 phones, ICE will operate the new BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 management software as part of the pilot program.</p> <P> <p>BlackBerry 10 will launch officially worldwide on January 30, 2013.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-March/rim-blackberry-logo-1.jpg" />2012-12-12T09:03:00ZIt's been another big year for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and the consumerization of IT. Apple moved boldly forward and yet lost a step in both market share and esteem. Microsoft staked a claim in the tablet and phone markets. Android came to dominate the smartphone market and make tablet inroads. 4G and the cloud have become more common and big companies stepped in to take control of mobile security.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/top-ten-byod-developments-of-2012/240144258?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>It's been another big year for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and the consumerization of IT. Apple moved boldly forward and yet lost a step in both market share and esteem. Microsoft staked a claim in the tablet and phone markets. Android came to dominate the smartphone market and make tablet inroads. 4G and the cloud have become more common and big companies stepped in to take control of mobile security. Here are what we think to be the 10 most important developments for the BYOD phenomenon in 2012.</p> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">1. Apple Revs Products, Including Three New iPads</p> <P> <p>Apple will exit the year a bit less dominant than it was months ago, but it's still the market-leading brand in many respects. It's become the ubiquitous and safe bet for corporate and ISV support and iPads still dominate the tablet market, although sales figures from the end of 2012 may diminish that dominance.</p> <P> <p>Apple introduced the iPhone 5 and 3 new iPads this year: The iPad 3 (sorry, make that "iPad 3rd Generation"), the iPad 4 (which Apple is calling "iPad with Retina display"), and the iPad mini. Many competitors are trying to sustain Apple's premium pricing on tablets, although the iPhone is selling at a clear premium over competitive phones.</p> <P> <p>AAPL stock may have lost a great deal in the last few months, but it's still up a healthy amount from the 2011 year-end close of 405.00.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/ipads.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">2. The Rise of Android Market Share</p> <p>For a variety of reasons, Android will end the year <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/smart-phones/android-clear-leader-in-smartphone-race/240143823">clearly on top of the smartphone market</a>, at least in terms of market share. Tech market research firm IDC actually says Android devices have two-thirds of the market share in unit sales. There's no reason to expect this to change radically any time soon.</p> <P> <p>For this reason, Android is the only mobile platform with an app collection to rival Apple's, and worldwide carriers and handset makers can offer affordable smartphones in markets where customers can't afford Apple's prices. Even people who can afford Apple in the U.S. and other wealthier countries choose high-end Android phones, such the Samsung Galaxy S III, in large numbers.</p> <P> <p>Straightforward Android tablets, like those from Samsung, have small market share compared to the iPad, but the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, which run a customized Android version and are locked to Amazon's app store, have sold millions of units. That kind of customization to the needs of the OEM is what makes Android so appealing to so many manufacturers and consumers.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Aug/Android-skins.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">3. The Rise of Android Threats</p> <p>At the same rate that Android market share is growing, so does the presence of malicious software and other threats on the platform. 2012 brought a steady stream of Android threat stories raising the question of what Android users should do, if anything, about it.</p> <P> <p>The lion's share of the threats are not on the official Google Play store, but rather on third-party stores, largely those abroad and primarily in the far east. But Google Play has not been immune, as Google does not scrutinize app submissions to the same degree as Apple. Incredibly, in the same year that Google bought VirusTotal, the best malware research tool on the planet, the tech giant still does not use it to test app submissions to its store.</p> <P> <p>As a result, a security software industry for Android has emerged and most of the big antivirus players are in it. Such software doesn't exist on Apple's iOS both because the threat is so much smaller on that platform and because Apple doesn't cooperate in the development of such programs</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Feb/red-droid450.jpg" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">4. Microsoft Attempts to Redefine Tablets as PCs</p> <p>Microsoft stepped into the market as the new kid in Tablet Town and it didn't want to come in as just another tablet platform. So Microsoft is attempting to change the terms of comparison by redefining tablets as PCs. It's a credible argument. Will it work? We don't know yet.</p> <P> <p>There are two justifications for Microsoft's redefinition: First, tablets running Windows 8 Pro on Intel-based CPUs run existing Windows software, software designed for PCs, in addition to new Windows 8 style (formerly Metro style) apps. The new apps are all that run on ARM-based Windows RT systems like the heavily-advertised Microsoft Surface. The ability to run all those Windows programs is a major advantage over iOS and Android which, for the most part, require all-new development.</p> <P> <p>The second basis for redefining tablets as PCs is that Microsoft and its OEMs are mostly designing their tablets as hybrid touch/keyboard-mouse systems. Consider the Surface: It's a tablet, but with the optional keyboard you can also use it as a notebook with a full keyboard and touchpad. This is a necessary outgrowth of the ability to support existing Windows software, which doesn't support touch, but even with touch apps it's handy to be able to use a full keyboard some times. OEMs are showing a wave of creativity, trying to find the best "hybrid" tablet/PC designs.</p> <P> <p>So the redefinition works this way: Tablets are PCs. Any tablets that don't let you do PC things, like keyboard and mouse operations on conventional apps, are deficient. If Microsoft can talk buyers, especially business buyers, into looking at things this way, then Apple and Android vendors have a big problem, because they have nothing with which to counter Microsoft's platform.</p> <P> <p>Intel-based Windows 8 hybrids are coming slower to market than the ARM-based ones, partly because of slow delivery by Intel of the top-line chip sets. But by this time next year Windows 8 may have completely disrupted the tablet market than Apple created.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/win8-hybrids.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p style="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.informationweek.com/byte/top-ten-byod-developments-of-2012/240144258?pgno=2">Next Page: Windows Phones, 4G and BlackBerry</a></p><p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">5. The Rebirth of Windows on Phones</p> <p>Microsoft has been making phones running on a mobile version of Windows for a long time, much longer than Apple has been making phones, but Microsoft has never made much of a splash, and once the iPhone came out, Windows-based phones were toast. Microsoft tore up its plans and started all over again with Windows Phone. Version 7 was released about two years ago and 7.5 the next year.</p> <P> <p>The new Windows Phone version 8 attempts to redefine, as does Windows 8 on tablets, the app landscape. Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 share a substantial code base, and therefore the programming differences between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are small, compared (for example) to the differences between a Mac program and an iOS program. The idea is that developers writing Windows 8 software, of which you can expect many, will find it appealing to write a Windows Phone 8 app.</p> <P> <p>In the meantime, the best of the Windows Phone 8 phones, such the Nokia Lumia 920, have gotten glowing reviews from users. Consequently, this has helped Nokia sales to bounce back. The once-dominant company had been ignominiously dying off as the market rejected its smartphone strategy and its feature (not smart) phones stopped selling. Then Nokia took money from Microsoft and hitched its wagon to the Windows Phone 8 engine.</p> <P> <p>The new Nokia phones are relatively new on the market, but all the major carriers have them, so it's possible that within a few months Windows Phone and Nokia will be major players on the phone market.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-August/Samsung-ATIV-S-Windows-8-Phone.jpg" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">6. 4G Phones In, Unlimited Data Plans Out</p> <p>A year ago we were just beginning to see phones arrive claiming to support 4G mobile data connections. Now almost everything does. AT&T even decided to re-brand HSPA+, which is its network standard for the iPhone 4S and other popular phones, as 4G. But most new phones we see now support LTE, a high-speed mobile data standard.</p> <P> <p>Carriers are pushing 4G and data-hogging services in order to get you to use more data. At the same time, they couldn't very well just let you have better service and not pay for it, so AT&T and Verizon have stopped writing new unlimited data contracts. They are pushing customers into shared family plans, in which you pay a flat amount per month for each device you have on the network, and all those devices share a data allotment that you buy separately. </p> <P> <p>For families that are already heavy users this may turn out to be a better deal than buying a series of plans for each device, even if they are unlimited. But many customers will end up paying more and not using up their data allotment. If you still have an unlimited data plan you're grandfathered in, but if you upgrade your device you have to change plans.</p> <P> <p>T-Mobile and Sprint still sell unlimited data plans.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/celltower.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">7. The Downfall and Possible Rebirth of RIM</p> <p>How the mighty have fallen. As 2012 ends, the bleeding of RIM market share has slowed, largely because the Canadian company, known for its once-dominant Blackberry, doesn't have much blood left. Blackberries still a big presence abroad, especially in developing countries, but in the U.S. they are a minor player. </p> <P> <p>The company's hopes for revival rest on BlackBerry 10, a new version of the operating system and new phones to run it. Unconfirmed reports place the release date for these products at the end of January, 2013.</p> <P> <p>Can RIM recover and, once again, be a major player? It's possible that BB10 will make everyone go "wow, I've got to get one of those." All kinds of things are possible. Perhaps the main goal of a successful BB10 launch will be to give the company leverage in an effort to sell itself to a company that can do better with the BlackBerry portfolio.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/BlackBerry10.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p style="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.informationweek.com/byte/top-ten-byod-developments-of-2012/240144258?pgno=3">Next Page: The Cloud, Mobile Security and Google Apps</a></p><p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">8. Everyone Gets in the Cloud Act</p> <p>In 2012, the realm of cloud services expanded greatly, and the market for the highly popular cloud storage got more crowded and competitive.</p> <P> <p>Not only did Google enter the market with Google Drive, it also rolled Google Apps into it.</p> <P> <p>Microsoft revived its Skydrive and made it central to the Windows 8, Surface and Office 2013 experiences.</p> <P> <p>Dropbox is, to many, the classic example of a consumerization phenomenon that causes IT management and compliance problems for a company. Box and other vendors in this space expanded their partnerships with business software services in order to make themselves more acceptable in a business environment.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/cloud.png" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">9. Mobile Security: The Big Boys Step In</p> <p>The security of mobile devices &#151; with the exception of BlackBerry &#151; has, until fairly recently, been the business of smaller companies that started specifically for the purpose. The industry was largely created several years ago when Apple cloned RIM's security APIs for the BlackBerry and published them as an API for mobile device management (MDM) for iOS devices. Companies such as MobileIron sprouted up to implement the APIs in management tools.</p> <P> <p>There were a few companies that had been around, principally Good Technology. Good took a different, complementary approach to mobile security. Its comparatively long history and popularity in certain sectors, such as government, makes Good one of the most influential companies around.</p> <P> <p>Other big security companies began the inevitable gobbling up of MDM companies. Informatica bought Siperian, IBM bought Initiate, Citrix bought Zenprise, for starters.</p> <P> <p>2012 also brought an explosion of the next generation of mobile security, often called MAM or mobile application management. MAM attempts to secure individual apps at the development stage and/or by wrapping the apps in a code shell which is manageable through administrative policy. Apperian and Citrix are two of the many companies implementing this approach. This year Good Technology bought another one, AppCentral.</p> <P> <p>But Good didn't stop there. The company had many important patents in the field and in November <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/good-claims-sovereignty-over-mobile-secu/240142222">sued MobileIron and AirWatch, two of the biggest MDM companies, for patent infringement</a>.</p> <P> <p>The mobile security market is still young, and it's hard to say what it will all look like in a year or two. The one thing we can assume is that it will look very different. There's too much money at stake for it to stay the same.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/2012-July/mobile-security-vendors.jpg" /> <P> <hr /> <P> <p STYLE="font-size: large; font-weight:bold; ">10. Google Drive, nee Apps, goes pay-only</p> <p>Perhaps all good things come to an end, but I thought it was surprising that Google, of all companies, should start requiring payment for formerly-free apps. That's a significant change in Google's business model.</p> <P> <p>It started with Google Drive late in the year. In mid-2012, Google merged Google Apps, its cloud-based Office suite, into Google Drive, a cloud storage service. Apps had always had a free version with limited storage. Users who have free accounts will be able to keep them, but from now on you can't sign up for a new, free account.</p> <P> <p>Google Docs, the word processor in Apps/Drive, was one of those baseline services on the Web that many people use, even if they hate it, because it's platform-neutral and it's adequate for many tasks. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/digital-content/writing-books-part-deux-improv-with-goog/232602981">Author F. Paul Wilson co-authored a novel with Sarah Pinborough, a British writer, using Google Docs</a>. It was more than good enough for that.</p> <P> <p>Perhaps Google knows something we don't. Will our free Dropbox be next? </p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-Dec/Top-Ten-BYOD-BYTE/google-apps.png" />2012-12-11T18:55:00ZThe evidence is pouring in that there will soon be a Microsoft Office of sorts on the iPad. Just remember, that Microsoft will never give Apple their cut through the app store, so look for Office for iPad to be a free gateway to some for-pay service.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/mobile-applications/office-for-ipad-dont-expect-much/240144256?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>My former colleague, Microsoft-stalker Mary Jo Foley, is forever finding out, as Don Corleone might have put it, what Microsoft's got under their fingernails. Her latest report isn't really a scoop, but it's interesting and cries out for clarification. </p> <P> <p>In <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-no-longer-bothering-to-deny-office-on-ipad-7000008582/">Microsoft no longer bothering to deny Office on iPad</a> she notes that the long-rumored support for Office on the iPad looks more real and imminent every day. </p> <P> <p>It's hard to argue with this. She cites, for example, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mac4ever.com/actu/75930_excel-pour-ipad-deja-sur-le-site-de-microsoft">references on Microsoft support sites to Office for iPad</a>. The rumors of this product go back almost a year.</p> <P> <p>The main thing to keep in mind about this product, should it actually be released, is that it will not do much all on its own. Microsoft has always charged good money for Office and gotten away with it, and <i>there's no way that they will charge any money for Office for iPad, because Apple would get 30% of the cut</i>.</p> <P> <p>I'm therefore inclined to believe other reports she cites that say that in order to use Office for iPad, you'll need an Office 365 subscription. This makes sense from Microsoft's perspective.</p> <P> <p>By the way, Microsoft hasn't been averse to iPad support in the past. Months ago we reported on how <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/mobile-applications/microsoft-office-web-apps-for-ipad-a-gam/240006020">Office Web Apps work well on iPad</a>. These are not the same as a consumer-accessible version of Office, and are more of a development tool.</p>2012-12-11T18:16:00ZMicrosoft will increase production of Surface RT and expand distribution to new retailers. Currently the device is available only in Microsoft stores and their online store. The company will also extend the life of their holiday stores, making some permanent.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/microsoft-expands-production-distributio/240144240?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Despite rumors to the contrary, Microsoft has announced that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Dec12/12-11SurfaceRetailDistroPR.aspx">it will expand production of the Surface RT and its distribution to more retailers as soon as mid-December</a>. The U.S. and Australia are specifically mentioned for near-term distribution. Other countries will be included in the distribution expansion "in the coming months," according to Microsoft.</p> <P> <p>In a press release, Panos Panay, General Manager of Microsoft Surface also said that the company would extend the planned life of its holiday (or "popup") stores into 2013. Some of the stores will become permanent, while others will transition into "either permanent brick-and-mortar retail outlets or specialty store locations."</p> <P> <p>Hat tip to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/stevesi/status/278621487924142081">soon-to-be-ex Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky on Twitter</a>.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/commentary/2012-June/Microsoft-Surface/microsoft-surface-tablet-colors.jpg" />2012-12-11T13:26:00ZToday is Patch Tuesday and the first security vulnerability fix from Microsoft for the Surface running Windows RT is out. The bug is in Internet Explorer 10 and affects all other versions of IE on other platforms. Unlike other patches, the Surface version is available only via Windows Update.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/microsoft-issues-first-surface-security/240144234?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Microsoft has issued its first security update for the Surface tablet. <a target="_blank" href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-077">MS12-077</a> is a "Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer," a bundle of patches for IE that Microsoft issues on a regular basis.</p> <P> <p>There are three vulnerabilities fixed in this cumulative update, but the attack vectors for 2 of them are blocked in the default configuration of Surface. Microsoft still recommends that users apply the update as a defense-in-depth measure. For Surface, the update is available only through Windows Update.</p> <P> <p>The one vulnerability that does affect the Surface as shipped is designated CVE-2012-4787 and titled "Improper Ref Counting Use After Free Vulnerability." This is Microsoft's description: <blockquote><i>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object that has not been correctly initialized or has been deleted. The vulnerability may corrupt memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.</i></blockquote>This is a variation on a type of vulnerability known as "user after free." </p> <P> <p>Microsoft rates the exploitability of vulnerabilities and <a target="_blank" href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-dec">rates this one as "Exploit code likely."</a> But as a practical matter, any real-world exploits of this vulnerability are likely to be written to target Intel-based systems and would fail on Surface running Windows RT, likely crashing the system. </p>2012-12-10T09:25:00ZMotorists in Australia have been mistakenly sent by Apple Maps into a remote and hot desert region with no food, water or cell phone reception.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/apple-maps-potentially-life-threatening/240144088?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>The Victoria (Australia) Police have issued a news release warning motorists to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/more-news/11081-police-concerned-with-apple-ios-6-mapping-system.html">beware of relying on Apple Maps in iOS 6, lest they get stranded in dangerous territory</a>.</p> <P> <p>The release cites the story of a motorist looking for Mildura, a city in southeastern Australia, who was sent into the Murray-Sunset National Park, a remote area. Police tests confirmed that Apple Maps located Mildura approximately 70km away from its actual location.</p> <P> <p>The police report that there is no food or water available in the area, that temperatures can reach 46 degrees (Celsius, or 115 Fahrenheit). "Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception."</p> <P> <p>Until the matter is addressed, the police recommend using other maps.</p> <P> <p>Hat tip to <a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/cloud-computing/21469/apple-maps-can-kill-say-police-australia">Richi Jennings's IT Blogwatch</a>.</p> <P> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/briefs/Aussie-Apple-Maps.png" />2012-12-10T08:33:00ZA YouTube trailer from Samsung entitled "Get Ready" promises a significant announcement at CES in Las Vegas next month. What is it? A phone? A tablet? Not a clue, but "Get Ready."http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/something-new-from-samsung-the-world-a/240144087?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<p>Next month in Las Vegas is CES, the annual, enormous Consumer Electronics Show. Today Samsung has released a YouTube trailer promising "something new" on the dates of the show (January 8 - 11), and so presumably at the show.</p> <P> <p>The video is basically a series of phrases flashing in and out: "The world awaits", "Innovation", "Ideas", "Design", "Technology", "Dreams", "Wonder", and "Future". They all sound like good things.</p> <P> <p>What is it? A new tablet? A Phone? The Samsung Galaxy S4? Tune in January 8, or thereabouts, for more.</p> <P> <iframe width="452" height="254" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EWoAxkMmOLk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>