Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Apple

The NPD Group offered a bit of insight into the carrier-jumping habits of original iPhone buyers way back when and, as you might expect, it’s at this time back at it and taking a stab at determining precisely where the iPhone 3G’s users are coming from. According to the group, between July and August of this year, 30 percent of iPhone 3G buyers ditched their existing carrier to buy the phone, which is a somewhat significant uptick from the 23 percent of consumers overall that switched carriers during the same time period. Of that 30 percent, 34 percent of ‘em switched from Verizon, 24 percent came from T-Mobile, and 19 percent came from Sprint. That same report also pegs the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, and the Palm Centro as the next bes. selling smartphones. In related news, the 2.2 firmware beta floating about has apparently turned up a few more hidden surprises — namely, support for Japanese emoji icons, an off setting for the auto-correction feature and, purportedly, support for Google Street View in the Google Maps application, although there’s unfortunately no screenshot evidence of the latter feature just yet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - CNET News, “30 percent of iPhone 3G buyers dump existing carriers”
Read - Mac unverified information, “iPhone 2.2 Hidden Features: Google Street View, Emoji, Auto-Correction Off”

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Filed under: Handsets, Software, Apple, OS X

According to iPhone Atlas and iPhone hacker-extraordinaire Jonathan Zdziarski, Apple has readied a blacklisting system which allows the company to remotely disable applications on your device. Apparently, the new 2.x firmware contains a URL which points to a page containing a list of “unauthorized” apps — a move which suggests that the device makes occasional contact with Apple’s servers to see if anything is amiss on your phone. In Jonathan’s words:

“This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off. At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances, this has been added to disable applications that the user has already downloaded and paid for, if Apple so chooses to shut them down.

I discovered this Makea forensic examination of an iPhone 3G. It appears to be tucked away in a configuration file deep inside CoreLocation.”

at this time honestly, we don’t expect the folks in Cupertino to suddenly start turning off apps that you’ve paid for and downloaded, but if Apple is indeed monitoring iPhones or touches (even passively) for applications it doesn’t want or like, it signals a problem deeper than a company clearly wanting to sign-off on software for the device. Even on platforms like Symbian — which calls for apps to be signed and traceable — the suggestion that a process of the OS would actively monitor, report on, and possibly deactivate your device’s software is unreasonable, and clearly presents an issue that the company will have to deal with sooner or later. Oh, and Apple — we’re not plan to buy the “for your security” angle, so don’t even bother.

[Via Mac unverified information]

Read - iPhone can phone home and kill apps?
Read - Apple’s URL with “unathorized applications” string

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Filed under: Rogers Wireless, Apple

To call customer reaction to Rogers’ iPhone 3G pricing plans “lukewarm” would be Makethem an enormous favor. The plans — which start out at $60 for just 150 voice minutes and can’t be had with unlimited Dat. at any price — have spawned a pretty big grassroots effort in the form of an online petition that’s managed to collect five figures’ worth of signatures so far, and while an online petition won’t likely net any results, drawing Apple’s ire just might. Rumor has it that Cupertino has diverted a portion of Rogers’ allotted launch handsets to Europe, leaving some retail stores in Canada with just 10-20 units for the 11th. It’s all hearsay at this point, but honestly, a phone that thrives on Dat. perhaps more than any other getting launched without a single unlimited Dat. plan? Come on at this time, really.

[Via Mac unverified information]

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