Apple removes rivals' signal attenuation videos from U.S. site

You'll recall that after Apple's iPhone 4 press conference, in which they showed that other phones exhibit the same signal attenuation issues as the iPhone 4 (except that instead of a finger touch, it took a hard grip), Apple posted videos of the other phones on its site. Those videos have disappeared, now, at least from the U.S. site.

As first noted by TechCrunch, if you go to Apple's U.S. website and look at the page set up for "Antennagate," you'll see the signal attenuation videos of rivals' phones are gone. The same is true of Apple's Asian site. However, if you go to the Canadian site, at least at the time of this writing, the videos are still there.

If the videos were gone from all the sites, one might assume it was because of some pressure exerted by other manufacturers. Perhaps that legal pressure only works in the U.S. and Asia. Or perhaps the Canadian webmaster is just a little slow.

At any rate, the videos can still be found on Apple's YouTube channel. Even there, however, they are no longer featured. You have to dig for them.

Mysterious, encrypted, 'insurance' file posted at Wikileaks site

Wikileaks has posted a mysterious new file on their Afghan War Diary page. The file is titled "Insurance," and is 1.4GB in size, larger than any of the other files on that page. It is also encrypted.

The new file was posted days after the massive leak of information on the war in Afghanistan, which first surfaced last Sunday.

CrytoMe, a separate document leaking site, theorizes that the new file is just what the name implies: insurance in case of "an attack expected to come from DoD and Justice or parties unknown."

U.S. authorities have done much saber-rattling in the last few days, implying, or in some cases overtly threatening legal action against Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange. On Thursday, both U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen strongly condemned WikiLeaks and its posting of the Afghan War documents at a Pentagon press briefing.

Mullen's words were particularly direct and strong, as he said:

"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family."

Workaround for iPhone 3G iOS 4 sluggishness found

It was reported earlier this week that Apple's begun actively investigating the performance issues that some many are seeing on the iPhone 3G with iOS 4. Sluggishness, battery drain, and more issues have been reported. Still, it appears at least a band-aid for the sluggishness issues may have been found.

Neowin.net is reporting that disabling Spotlight Search on the iPhone 3G remedies the sluggishness issues. It should be noted that the iPhone 3G's CPU is significantly slower than that on the iPhone 3GS, much less the iPhone 4. It appears that despite the fact that the iPhone 3G version of iOS 4 does not contain certain features of the new OS (like multitasking) it may still be pushing the two-year-old device to its limits.

To disable Spotlight Search, the suggestion is to go to "Settings -> General -> Home Button -> Spotlight Search" and to deselect every option. This will halt background indexing on the iPhone 3G.

However, reports are already emerging that the "fix" only seems to work for a day or so. Hopefully Apple will come up with a proper solution, soon.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab to be Android-powered, arrive Q3

Samsung confirmed on Friday what has been suspected: the Galaxy Tab tablet PC that it earlier said would ship during Q3 2010 will be Android-powered.

A Samsung executive announced in June that the company would begin selling a tablet named the Galaxy Tab in Q3. However, the executive did not announce that OS would be on the tablet. Based on the names of Samsung's current Galaxy S smartphones, it was an obvious guess that the device would run Android, but it was still a guess.

On Friday, however, Samsung confirmed to Reuters that the Galaxy Tab would run Android, althogh it is unclear if that would be Android 2.1 or 2.2. The device, shown above via a leaked image, will have a 7" screen, forward and rear-facing cameras, GPS, wi-fi, AMOLED screen, and TouchWiz UI. The all-important price is still not known.

Confirmed: original Droid to get Android 2.2 next week

It's begun. First came the Nexus One, which Google promised would be the first Android phone to get Froyo. Earlier this week, Sprint announced it would release Froyo on the Evo 4G, with client-initiated updates starting today. Now, we have confirmation from Motorola that the original Droid will get Froyo next week.

To be exact, the forum post by Motorola confirms a rumor that came earlier in the day. The post notes that OTA updates to the venerable device will begin the week of August 2nd. That would be the same week that the Evo 4G will start getting OTA update notifications (as opposed to client-initiated updates).

The post went further and says that some small set of users might see updates as early as Friday night, as a test run. However, it was noted that "test roll-out" was not confirmed.

The Evo 4G and Droid are the first in what will probably become a flood of Froyo updates for devices. Our only question now is: where's the Droid X's update?

Is the Church of Scientology searching the leaked Facebook file for new recruits?

You may (or may not) have heard that Ron Bowes, a security researcher, snagged the information of 100 million Facebook users, and not by hacking either, but simply by accessing their publicly available data using a Web crawler. It's been reported that, much as you might expect, some companies and corporations are downloading the file, via BitTorrent.

The file contains user account names and a URL for each user's profile page. To be clear, if you haven't locked down your Facebook profile, all of this is publicly available, so nothing Bowes did was illegal. It just goes to show why everything in your profile should be kept private, however.

On the other hand, what's more interesting, and perhaps frightening, is the number of organizations that are reportedly downloading the report. The list, gleaned by using the BitTorrent downloader's tool Peer Block (not that we've ever used it) lists a few interesting parties.

The one that stands out the most to us would be The Church of Scientology, perhaps looking for recruits. Others include Apple, Motorola, McAfee, IBM, Intuit, The Hague, Sprint, and more.

It should be noted that using PeerBlock in this way provides IP addresses, which can then be matched up with the organizations listed. It does not mean that the companies associated with the IP address actually has any sort of oganized campaign. In reality, it could just be some grunt downloading using company resources on his or her lunch hour. Still, we wouldn't put it past the Church of Scientology to troll for new recruits this way.

Malicious wallpaper apps just overzealous? - security firm

It appears the Android wallpaper apps what were accused of being malware after a session at the Black Hat 2010 security conference this week may not have been malware, but simply overzealous in their data gathering, according to the security firm that first highlighted them. Security firm Lookout clarified its findings in a blog post on Friday.

The set of apps by wallpaper apps by developers “jackeey,wallpaper” and “IceskYsl@1sters!” (which are really one and the same) indeed exhibited suspicious behavior, according to Lookout. However, no malicious behavior has been identified, Lookout said.

Instead, it appears that news sites may have jumped the gun on the apps. They were sending the data to the site www.imnet.us. That site is apparently owned by someone in Shenzhen, China, and given the connection between China and hacking obviously raised red flags.

Still, it's interesting to note exactly what is being sent to that site.

The data included the device’s phone number, subscriber identifier (e.g. IMSI), and the currently entered voicemail number on the phone (see below for technical details). While this sort of data collection from a wallpaper application is certainly suspicious, there’s no evidence of malicious behavior. There have been cases in the past on other mobile platforms where well-intentioned developers are simply over-zealous in their data gathering, without having malicious intent.

Indeed, one has to wonder why that sort of information would need to be sent to a server. Lookout says that it is working with Google to investigate the apps further; in the meantime they have been pulled from the Android Market.

The results presented by Lookout came as a result of what the company called the "App Genome Project," an analysis of 300,000 apps in the Android Market and the App Store. Although, as noted, the data sent by the app appears strange, Lookout said the following prior to the conference, a sort of "benefit of the doubt":

"There's no indication that anything malicious has happened. The wallpaper apps immediately stood out, though, because they were sending the IMSI and phone number. But sometimes developers aren't aware of what's going on with third-party code that they've added to their apps from advertising or analytics SDKs."

Ballmer: "They've sold certainly more (iPads) than I'd like them to have sold"

That somewhat pithy statement above is one of the tidbits gleaned at a daylong Microsoft meeting with analysts on Thursday. After all, in the battle of the Steves and tablet PCs, Steve Ballmer knows he is way behind, and he's not happy. Deapite this, speaking at a daylong Microsoft meeting with analysts on Thursday, Ballmer assured them that Microsoft is hard at work on an iPad rival.

It's not as though Microsoft didn't have their chance at a tablet PC before. The were foreseen long ago, and delivered, but fell short of expectations and were never successful. One challenge for Microsoft that Apple does not have is that (in general) Microsoft must rely on hardware manufacturers to deliver a product using the software Microsoft provides, as opposed to developing and manufacturing the whole device themselves.

Another challenge is squeezing and modifying a desktop OS onto a tablet PC. One can only say, in highsight, that once iOS was developed and deliivered on a touchscreen smartphone, it was obvious it would come to a tablet someday.

In terms of Windows 7-based tablets, Ballmer said, somewhat echoing Apple's stance on delivering good products when they are ready, "They'll be shipping as soon as they are ready. It is job one urgency. No one is sleeping at the switch." The goal is "not just to deliver products, but to deliver products that people want to buy."

He also added the following pithy comments, that Apple had "done an interesting job" with the iPad, and that "they've sold certainly more than I'd like them to have sold."

Ballmer also noted something interesting to his session. He added that Microsoft has to be involved somewhere in the hardware design process. He reiterated that in the Q&A session, sayin that Microsoft will design hardware when it needs to as necessary to compete.

That follows closely an earlier article at Ars in which it was posited that Microsoft should cut out the middleman and design and build its own smartphone hardware as well as software.

It's been said that this is why the iPhone is so successfuly: direct control by Apple over the hardware and software design of the product. Microsoft's most successful hardware product to date, the XBox 360, is a prime example of what can happen when Microsoft designs and builds both (although some would point to the "red ring of death" as a counterpoint).

The full transcript of Ballmer's session can be downloaded here.

'Antennagate' restricted to the U.S.: Norwegian paper

When Apple said the whole problem with the iPhone 4's antenna was the signal bars being incorrect, many mocked them. On the other hand, it sure sounded like throwing AT&T under the bus again.

Apple's theory was that inaccurate signal bars led users to believe they were in an area of greater signal strength than they were, and when holding the iPhone 4 in one's hand caused the signal attenuation caused by bridging the external antenna system, the signal dropped to a point where a call might be disconnected. Of course, as Apple said at the iPhone 4 "Antennagate" event, a strong signal would prevent the "death grip" issue.

Hmmm. It's that darned poor AT&T network again.

In fact, a test of the iPhone 4 vs. the HTC Wildfire, Nokia E71, and Apple's previous iPhone 3GS by Norway's Verdens Gang, the country's largest online and printed newspaper, seemingly confirmed that diagnosis.

VG reported that the iPhone 4 was just as good (or bad) the other phones. What's also interesting is that, as reported by AppleInsider, who had help with the translation by a Norwegian reader:

The paper suggested poor mobile networks may be the cause of the US reports of iPhone 4 antenna problems. It cited Amobil, a Norwegian mobile phone news site, as having 'tested the iPhone 4 thoroughly, without finding any evidence that it is improperly constructed. All modern mobile phones have integrated antennas, and it is normal that they are affected by how the phone is held,' VG said.

Amobil writer Finn Jarle Kvalheim added, 'Consumer Reports goes far in asserting that the problems do not have anything to with the mobile network. But it is a fact that mobile networks in Norway are much more robust than AT&T's network in the US.'

Critics of AT&T's network would agree that it is certainly not a great network. That, of course, would be discounted by those 73 percent of AT&T iPhone users are satisfied with the network.

So, is this the truth of the matter? Rather than "Antennagate," are we really looking at "AT&T-gate?" Based on history, and trouble many experience on AT&T's network, it cam't be ruled out.

The VG test wasn't coincidental. Apple will launch the new iPhone 4 in 17 more countries on Friday, including Norway, as well as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Apple's more than a cult, it's a religion: researchers

Apple's fans are so devoted that they have been called a "cult." A pair of researchers at Texas A&M have gone still further. The professors, Heidi A. Campbell and Antonio C. La Pastina have written a paper that says the sheer adoration and lack of fault-finding by Apple fans isn't a cult, but a religion.

The iPhone, after all, has been nicknamed the "Jesus Phone," and long before the researchers used that term in their own paper. According to the researchers, it's this devotion to the church of Apple that keeps users defending its products, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of a real flaw. Apple, it seems, can do no wrong.

Fox News spoke to one of the researchers:

"The religious-like behavior and language surrounding Apple devotion/fandom is an example of 'implicit religion,'" Prof. Heidi Campbell, one of the authors of the study, told FoxNews.com. Implicit religion can happen when the use of, say, technology becomes a substitute for belief and behaviors once attached to religion and religious practice, she said.

That, according to the authors, explains why fans still believe when the leader of the Church of Apple, Steve Jobs, blames consumers for the poor reception of the company's cell phone (clearly, users are holding their phones incorrectly). In fact, they flock to buy the device despite its serious design flaws.

That's all true, but most would prefer to label such behavior as "fanboyism." Android users have been shown to be pretty vehement in defense of their own products. The possibility of a Church of Apple has been lampooned before by both the Simpsons and Futurama, however.

Other somewhat questionable links between religion and Apple, according to the story:

• Apple's creation story epitomizes the humble garage origin of its technology -- not unlike the humble manger of Jesus' birth (of course, plenty of other companies were started the same way)

• Apple CEO Steve Jobs is perceived as a messianic leader who was fired but rose again to save the company.

• Apple has traditionally had an evil archenemy, the Devil, as represented first by Microsoft and now by Google.

We'd have to say that a lot of the above is a big stretch. Still, the almost blind adoration is undeniable. It's not an issue when something is done well. It's when something is obviously flawed (like the iPhone 4 and Antennagate) and yet many will blindly ignore it, that is seems somewhat crazy.

YouTube raises video upload limits to match your 15 minutes of fame

Is 10 minutes not enough time to get just the right amount of cuteness for your baby's latest set of antics? By popular demand, YouTube announced on Thursday that the limit on uploaded videos has been increased, to 15 minutes.

That's for everyone, of course. YouTube Partners don't have a time limit, but rather a size limit of 20GB.

For those who want to earn, via video, their 15 minutes of fame, YouTube has a contest. if you tag your video with “yt15minutes” nadupload it by Wednesday, August 4, you may be among the select few that YouTube will feature on their homepage in the future spotlight.

One caveat: if you have a video that was too long before, but fits under the 15 minute limit now, YouTube has the following warning:

One final note: if you’re uploading a video that was previously rejected for being too long, you’ll have to go into “My Videos” and delete it before attempting to upload it again.

Android phones easily outpace iPhone data use: report

AT&T has been assailed over the performance of its 3G network, but much of that has been attributed to the iPhone's data sucking capabilities. That said, Verizon users should be happy that they don't have as many Android devices on their network, based on this report.

The report, by Validas, a firm which uses phone bills to try to "right-size" consumers' service plans, analyzed data from users of BlackBerrys, Verizon smartphone 9but non-BlackBerry) users, and iPhones. According to their data, Verizon smartphone users use about 450MB of data a month, while iPhone users average 350MB of data, and BlackBerry users across all carriers averaged less than 50MB per month.

BlackBerry users, we would surmise, rely on their devices mostly for email, while users of current generation smartphone platforms (such as iOS, webOS, or Android) use them for a wide variety of purposes.

Why, however, would Verizon smartphone users be so far ahead of iPhone users, more than 25 percent, in fact? It seems that Android users are geekier than iPhone users. iPhone users are more casual, said Ed Finegold, chief analytics officer at Validas.

He said that, Verizon is "attracting a lot of hardcore geeks that really want to push the limits of these devices. The iPhone's been around longer, and there are a lot more casual users." Additionally, he said that power users want to use Android, while iPhone users want the phone simply because its an iPhone. "There's such a bling factor with the iPhone> People want it for the social statement that it makes more than for the techno power in their pocket."

Those theories are confirmed by empirical evidence. Those we know that have begun using the iPhone include grandmothers and the like. Most of the Android users we are aware of are technophiles, who love the fact that the devices are more open than iPhones. Most iPhone users don't know, or care, about that they are missing out with Apple's closed iOS.

Sprint's Evo 4G to become second device to get Froyo

The Sprint HTC Evo 4G will be the first carrier-branded device to get an Android 2.2 (Froyo) update. The first device (period) to get Froyo was the HTC Nexus One (AKA the "Google Phone"), but while that was subsidized to T-Mobile, it wasn't carrier-branded as most phones are.

Sprint's press release says that end users will get OTA notifications starting on August 3rd, with everyone covered by mid-August. However, for those who don't want to wait, they can attempt to initiate the download by going to the Settings Menu / System Updates / HTC Software Update.

The Sprint press release didn't say when users could start trying to do the update manually, but an earlier leaked Sprint memo seemed to indicate that the build will be ready by 12PM CDT on Friday, with "client-initiated" updates available by Friday afternoon.

The leaked memo states that the MR (maintenance release) is a "high priority for competitive reasons." Those reasons could be the Droid X, the iPhone 4, or the Vibrant / Captivate that are definitely rivals of the Evo 4G.

The Froyo update will bring what folks are expecting from the earlier Nexus One release, that is, performance improvements, the ability to move apps to the SD card, and more, but in terms of the Evo 4G, it will also bring a bunch of new widgets, a flashlight mode for the LED flash, light-assisted 720p video, and "improvement" to the quality of video.

What say you, readers? Will you be among the "client-initiated" updaters?

Popular Android wallpaper app stealing data: security firm

It's not porn, but it is still something Apple is probably going to try to make hay out of. At the always interested Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Kevin MaHaffey, chief technology officer at mobile security Lookout noted a group of Android wallpaper apps by the same developer which are stealing data from users that install them.

The innocent looking wallpaper apps can collect several pieces of a user's data, including a device’s phone number, subscriber identifier, and currently programmed voicemail number. If an end user were to program his voicemail password into the voicemail app, it could steal that, too.

It sends the data to a web site, www.imnet.us. That site is apparently owned by someone in Shenzhen, China (ironically, where a lot of Apple products are assembled).

The wallpaper apps are by developer jackeey,wallpaper and can be found here. We assume they will be expunged from the Android Market, soon.

Unlike Apple and the App Store, Google doesn't vet apps in its Android Market. Instead, when you install an app, a list of "permissions" the app needs are displayed. Of course, much like a EULA, users frequently don't read that information.

According to Lookout, the apps have been downloaded at least 1.1 million times. The developer chose a number of popular themes, such as Dragonball Z, Bleach, and Naruto for his apps. If you have anything from this developer on your Android phone, you should uninstall it immediately.

Lookout security has a line of smartphone anti-malware apps, for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile. We can guess why there is no iOS version; the app probably requires deeper integration with the OS than Apple will allow.

Best Buy offering free invisibleSHIELD iphone 4 'Antennagate' fix

Best Buy is offering the aptly named invisibleSHIELD 4fix, free, to certain iPhone 4 customers. Based on the image above, this invisibleSHIELD, unlike others, only covers the sides of the device, which would make it perfect as a cover-up to "Antennagate."

invisibleSHIELD has marketed its products for various devices in the past, and they are supposedly scratch-proof and cover the front and / or back of the device. The offer applies to those who purchased their iPhone 4 from Best Buy or for Best Buy Reward Zone members.

Indeed, Best Buy Reward Zone is free, so it would seem to be free to anyone who takes the time to fill out an online application for the program. Those who don't will be charged $9.99, and that includes installation. The actual product name is the Zagg SideShield, though the 4fix name seems more appropriate.

Additionally, Best Buy is giving customers 20 percent off any iPhone case through August 7th, for those who aren't happy with the selection, or the weeks-long wait for a case via Apple's free case program.

Here's the full press release:

Best Buy® Mobile Launches Side Shield for Apple® iPhone™4

Solution, Which is Free to Best Buy Customers, Begins July 28 Exclusively in Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile Stores

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but now customers who shop at Best Buy are eligible for a free Side Shield for the iPhone 4. The offer launches exclusively on July 28, and comes in the form of a clear, unobtrusive shield applied to the outer edges of the iPhone 4. The Side Shield from invisibleSHIELD was designed to address issues with antenna attenuation and has been tested and manufactured by ZAGG™.

"At the same time, we know that customers are always looking for ways to personalize and protect their smart phones. That's why we are so focused on having multiple options-people want to choose what's right for them."

This program will be available free of charge, including installation, to anyone who purchased or will purchase an iPhone 4 from Best Buy and will be extended to all existing Reward Zone customers. The solution will also be available to the general public for the retail price $9.99, including installation.

In addition, all consumers can take advantage of 20% off of any iPhone 4 case through August 7. Best Buy Mobile offers an unparalleled assortment of cases for the iPhone 4, along with a full range of key accessories that serve to protect and personalize the popular smart phone.

"Consumers are looking for immediate solutions and the Side Shield is a great option," said Scott Moore, vice president of marketing for Best Buy Mobile. "At the same time, we know that customers are always looking for ways to personalize and protect their smart phones. That's why we are so focused on having multiple options-people want to choose what's right for them."

Best Buy Mobile has become a leading destination for smart phones and accessories, in part because of the promises the store offers its customers: better choice of phones and networks; impartial, informed advice; straightforward pricing; and someone to be there for the life of the phone.

New Droid X ad takes a shot at iPhone 4's 'Antennagate'

They won't leave Apple alone. The latest full-page ad to take a swipe at the iPhone 4's death grip problems was posted to Motorola's Facebook account as a public service to those of us who no longer read newspapers.

According to Droid-Life, the ad was set to hit newspapers on Wednesday. It lampoons Apple's issues with bridging the external antenna system with skin, a problem fixed by using a case.

The ad says:

At Motorola, we believe a customer shouldn’t have to dress up their phone for it to work properly. That’s why the DROID X comes with a dual antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like to make crystal clear calls without a bulky phone jacket. For us it’s just one of those things that comes as a given when you’ve been making mobile phones for over 30 years.

Motorola is not the only smartphone maker to kick Apple when its down. Recently, Samsung did the same in a rather understated ad.

Browser plug-ins alert users of Google tracking

We all know Google is tracking pretty much our every move (unless you choose to opt out, that is). If you haven't opted out, a new browser plug-in by F.A.T. might "alarm" you enough to do so.

Google's tracking bugs aren't just on its own sites. They're embedded just about everywhere for Adsense, Google Analytics, and more. While most folks are OK with it (partially because of laziness, to be honest), there are some who opt-out or use other plug-ins like NoScript to block Google's data acquisition.

The Google Alarm extension works in both Firefox and Chrome. It comes in both silent and audible versions, with the audible one (which also has the visual cues, to be clear) being reminscent of a vuvuzela. If you've got your audio turned up, the audible version is definitely NSFW.

Watch a video demo:


Google Alarm from Jamie Dubs on Vimeo.

Foxconn shuts plant after workers sickened by pesticides

Foxconn's latest SNAFU (somewhat) thankfully does not involve workers falling off of buildings, or China either, but it's still an amazing story of another company screw-up. About 250 workers at the company's Chennai, India plant were hospitalized, and the illnesses "may have been caused by the routine spraying of pesticide at the production facility."

The site was shut down as a result of the incident, as that number is approximately half the workforce at that facility. The site was shut on Monday, and work is expected to resume in about a week, Foxconn said in a statement issued late Monday.

Foxconn said the incident took place last Friday. Some workers had "experienced sensations of giddiness and nausea." All but 28 have been released following treatment. The remaining number are still under observation in the hospital.

It's just the latest in a series of setbacks for Foxconn this year. Foxconn's Shenzhen plant has been under intense scrutiny after a number of employees committed suicide by jumping from buildings. The Chinese plant assembles devices and electronics for Apple, Dell, Nokia, and more.

While stating that the suicides were not directly related to work conditions, Foxconn earlier announced wages increases at the Shenzhen plant 70 percent to approximately $295. Workers must pass a three-month assessment for that raise to take effect.

As a result of these wage increases, Foxconn is looking toward more automation, and moving sites into the interior of China, where wages are cheaper.