Mobile Phone News

Look, App Store, we just wanted to take this opportunity to say we’re sorry about all the fart app jokes. We know it’s not easy being a new App Store, making your way in the world, and when juxtaposed against the struggles your competition has had with putting together a compelling app gathering, we know at this time that our words in those early days were hurtful and lacking in understanding. With 100,000 apps in your store and over two billion downloads, we hope you can be the bigger man in this place and forgive us. Also, if you have any tips for improving our Canabalt score that would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Filed under: Software, Apple

Jailbreaking an iPhone certainly brings many benefits, but it’s also frought with some peril, as amply demonstrated by a Dutch hacker who decided to go snooping around for vulnerable jailbroken iPhones in the Netherlands. While he apparently didn’t actually swipe personal information or cause any damage, he was able to find some jailbroken iPhones with SSH running, which allowed him to display a message saying “Your iPhone’s been hacked because it’s really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right at this time!” A noble gesture of a white hat hacker? Not precisely, ’cause that site demands €5 for the “fix” to let folks go back to using their phone securely — or it did until the hacker apparently had a change of heart and posted the instructions for free, along with an apology for his misguided moneymaking scheme.

Nearly six months after large-scale trials kicked off, China Unicom — the only carrier among China’s nationals to be deploying HSPA — has broken the magical million-subscriber mark that have made the leap to its “Wo” 3G network. If you’re wondering whether the recent launch of the iPhone on Wo has contributed to that count, the answer is a definitive “no” — amazingly, a mere 5,000 units have apparently been sold so far, likely due to the phone’s prohibitive cost and the availability of unlocked devices and engaging attention alternatives. Be that as it may, the carrier seems convinced that the iPhone will contribute to Unicom’s bottom line in the fourth quarter, countered by continued marketing and build-out costs for Wo. Networks aren’t cheap — particularly when you’re dealing with a country the size (and population density) of China.

Filed under: China Unicom, Apple