Mobile viruses are on the prowl

High-end devices become target of virus and malware writers.

Since malware authors are always out to make money and want the biggest bang for their buck, the number of attacks designed to exploit a certain device or platform is often directly related to the market share it commands.

With more than 600 million mobile subscribers, and mobile device sales in India forecast to reach 138.6 million in 2010 (according to Gartner), Indian mobile users have become the ideal target base for spammers, and virus and malware writers. According to Quick HealTechnologies, provider of mobile anti-virus solutions, the most targeted operating system (OS) of mobile malwares is Symbian (found in most of the Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung handsets), with over 95 per cent malwares being reported on Symbian OS.

“Smartphones are going to pose a greater security risk to corporations as these phones have access to corporate networks in real time just in the same manner as laptops. This presents hackers and cyber criminals with a wider opportunity to use smartphones to compromise corporate network and access sensitive data,” says Kailash Katkar, MD and CEO, Quick Heal Technologies.

MALWARES’ NEW LABORATORY
* Over 95% malware attacks happen on mobile phones with Symbian OS
* Mobiles are vulnerable to virus attacks, just PCs
* These viruses slow down phones, start sending unsolicited SMSes/MMSes
* These steal valuable contact information from phone’s memory

The data loss a mobile virus can cause is as critical as a PC virus.

According to an internal study by Google, of about 600 million mobile phone users in India, around 25 million have paid for their data accounts while 55-65 million currently use the free data services provided by the wireless operator. The number of users with data services is estimated to reach around 100 million by the end of this year.

There have been more than 300 Apple iPhone vulnerabilities to date and around a dozen on the Google’s Android platform. Symantec maintains that while there hasn’t been a massive surge in mobile security threats, the situation can change in near future. As mobile apps (small programmes for devices), some of which are created by novice programmers using tools such as Google’s new App Inventor for Android, flood the market, security experts claim the security integrity of mobile devices could be affected.

In April, F-Secure Labs had reported about a malicious code inside a Windows mobile game that led to significant phone bills for users of Windows smartphones. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, notes: “A Russian malware author manipulated a game called 3D Anti-terrorist action, developed by a Beijing-based software company. The malware author trojanised the game and uploaded it to several Windows Mobile freeware download sites.” The malicious code, in turn, initiates phone calls to international premium-rate numbers, without any action or intention by the user. The case is similar to Cabir, a Symbian worm, which came in focus six years back, when it started spreading on handsets over Bluetooth, causing mobile phones to place long-distance calls.

SMSes, too, have been under attack. “SMS attacks or ‘Smishing’ is an attack that comes through an SMS onto a smartphone and is a mobile phone variant of a phishing attack. Much like a phishing attack, where an email is used to trick the user, in a smishing attack, it is a fraud SMS that is used as bait. The SMS comes with a link, clicking on which causes the Trojan to be installed on the mobile phone,” explains Shantanu Ghosh, VP, India product operations, Symantec.

Quick Heal, which claims to have over 30 per cent market share in the Indian anti-virus market, recently launched a new anti-virus solution called PC2MobileScan that could scan and clean mobile phones and smartphones.

At present, Quick Heal’s PC2MobileScan supports more than 550 mobile phone models, including Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Motorola, H-P, HTC and Siemens. Besides, security software makers like McAfee, F-Secure, Symantec, Trend Micro and Websense offer mobile security solutions that can quarantine viruses in real-time, besides on-demand scanning and auto-updating capabilities.

Venu Palakirti, country manager (India and Saarc), F-Secure underlines: “Even as virus writers increasingly target smartphones, too many people have smartphones with no security at all. People must understand that mobile security is just as critical as it is for desktops or laptops.”

Spice to bring mobile phone with push-mail service

B K Modi promoted telecom company Spice Mobiles is planning to launch an Android powered mobile phone with push-mail service in the Indian market.
"We will be bringing a mobile phone with push-mail service very soon, probably within couple of months," Spice Mobiles CEO Kunal Ahooja told Telenewz.
He further said that the company's aim is not to compete with anyone, rather to offer its customers mobile phones with all possible features at a very affordable price.
The company has recently launched three mobile devices running on Android 2.1 operating system. Among these three devices, Mi-300 and Mi-410 are pure mobile phones and Mi-700 is a 3G ready tablet which also offers voice calls.
Spice Mobiles has recently forged a partnership with US-based chip maker Qualcomm for its Android mobile phones.
The company has set a target of selling 8-10 million Android devices by the end of this fiscal, Ahooja said. Spice Mobiles had sold around 5.5 million mobile devices in the last fiscal, he added.

Swissvoice launches 5 mobile phones in India

Swiss mobile phone firm Swissvoice launched five mobile phones in the price range of Rs 2,999 to Rs 5,999 thus making its grand entry to the Indian market.

“Initially, we will target the youth segment in the tier II and III cities in northern India. From next month, we will launch the handsets in southern states,” Swissvoice India Director Dollar Gulati said.

The European company launched the handset through its Indian subsidiary Swissvoice India. The Swiss company aims to sell around 30,000 handsets every month in the hugely crowded Indian handset market. Besides the internationla giants like Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG, in the recent past Indian market has seen local competitors in Spice, Micromax, Lemon, Lava, Karbonn and Zen mobile phones.
and manufactures its products in China with R&D being conducted in Hong Kong, the company said.

Sony Ericsson has launched 6 new phones in India

Sony Ericsson has launched 6 new phones in India as a part of their product lineup of 2010. Some of these phones are already available in the retail market and the rest will be available soon.

We were the first to bring you exclusive coverage of these phones from CommunicAsia recently

The phones launched are the Cedar, Yendo , Xperia X8, Aspen , Spiro and Zylo.

Sony Ericsson Cedar – Feature phone

The Cedar is an entry level 3G phone and would be priced at Rs.6000-7000

Yendo Walkman phone

The Yendo is an entry level Touchscreen Walkman phone priced at Rs.8000-9000

XPERIA X8 – Android

The XPERIA X8 is a slightly modified version of the X10 Mini and is priced at Rs.16000-17000 approx.

Aspen – Windows Mobile

This is a Windows Mobile Phone with both a Touchscreen and a QWERTY and part of a Green heart family of products. Aspen already available in the market for Rs.14000-16000 approx.

Spiro Walkman phone

This is an entry level walkman phone priced at around Rs.5000.

Zylo Walkman phone

The Zylo is available in the market for Rs.8000 approx.

Elaborating on the launch of the new phones, Anurag Kontu, Marketing Head – India, Sony Ericsson said, “Greater access to applications and customizable user experience on handheld devices has shaped the mobile success story in India today. As the communication entertainment brand, Sony Ericsson phones have always enjoyed a phenomenal response from consumers in the region. With the launch of the new portfolio, we continue to offer an amalgamation of communication and entertainment by fusing together best quality touchscreen experience, premium imaging and music features, and great connectivity options across price segments.”

Google Adds Calls to Gmail, Challenges Skype

Google Inc. unveiled a way for Web users in the U.S. to make calls through its Gmail email service, further pushing into the Internet-calling business and ratcheting up competition with similar services such as Skype.

At an event in San Francisco, Google said the new service, which will roll out this week, is free for calls to the U.S. and Canada at least until the end of the year, though there are costs to make international calls to landlines and mobile phones.

Google said it hoped to later offer the service to international Gmail users and possibly to businesses.

For Google, the move helps drive users to Gmail as well as the potentially to add a feature to its software for businesses, called Google Apps. More than 200 million people currently use Gmail actively, said Todd Jackson, a Google product manager.

The move is Google's latest foray into the telecommunications industry. Two years ago, Google launched a feature that allows Gmail users to do free video chats with other Gmail users. The company has also launched its Android operating system, which powers dozens of mobile phones made by Motorola Inc., HTC Corp. and others. It also backed a Google-branded phone made by HTC Corp., which has been discontinued.

Google's new Web-based calls feature increases its competition with Internet phone providers like Skype SA.

Skype, which is planning an initial public offering, also has a paid service offering low-cost calls to landlines or mobile phones, similar to Google's new plan. Skype, which generated revenue of more than $400 million for the first half of 2010, said only about eight million of its 560 million registered users paid for their service as of June 30.

Skype didn't respond to requests for comment on Google's new offering.

The new feature "complements Google's enterprise applications, especially for small businesses," and it also will keep current Gmail users happy, said Jim Friedland, a Cowen & Co. technology analyst. "This makes sure they stay in the Google sphere of products."

At its event, Google said its PC-to-phone call rates will be cheaper than those of providers of similar services. Gmail calls to landlines in China, France, Spain, Mexico, the U.K. and more than two dozen other countries will cost two cents a minute.

Calls through Gmail to mobile phones internationally will be more expensive, with users paying 18 cents a minute for calls to the U.K. and six cents a minute to India, for example. Google said it hopes to generate enough revenue from the foreign calls to keep domestic and Canada calls free.

Skype charges users about 2.1 cents a minute to make calls to landline and mobile phones in the U.S. and dozens of other countries, according to its website. Skype also sells monthly subscriptions.

Gmail users who have a Google Voice account can also receive inbound calls in Gmail, the company said. Google Voice is a free service that gives callers a new phone number that can be used to ring different real-world phones they own and can send them an email transcript of voicemails they received, among other features.

Time for mobile users to ring in recycling

Do you plan to discard your mobile phone or exchange it for a new one? Then consider this: Old mobile phones constitute 1,700 tonnes of the 50,000 tonnes of e-waste generated in India each year and, according to a UN report released early this year, e-waste from mobile phones is set to rise 18 times by 2020.

E-waste, or electronic waste, implies discarded computers, mobiles, refrigerators or any other electronic appliance at the end of its life. With growing consumerism, discarding e-waste has become a big challenge in the country.

This has spawned a relatively new sector: Organised recycling. As of now, 16 players have sprung into action by re-cycling mobile phones, which also contain precious metals like gold, silver and platinum as well as other metals like copper. Mobile phone and PC makers gobble up three per cent of the world’s entire gold and silver supply each year, not to mention 13 per cent of palladium, 15 per cent of cobalt, and plenty of copper, steel, nickel and aluminum.

Faisal Faraz, marketing manager for e-waste recycling company Greenscape, says, “Almost 90 per cent of e-waste is being recycled by the unorganized sector, which includes small scale garbage collectors. The process they use for extracting precious metals is not only harmful, but also results in the loss of almost 75 per cent of the precious metals.” He reasons that a licensed re-cycler can extract metal waste in an eco-friendly way.

While all parts of a gadget are re-cycled locally, printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones are exported abroad to smelting companies for metal extraction. Last year alone, Greenscape exported 100 tonnes of PCBs from e-waste (1.3 tonnes from mobile phones) to smelting companies, like Umicore, in Belgium.

Besides precious metals, an average mobile phone contains poisonous substances like lead and mercury, which can pose serious environmental and health hazards if not disposed properly.

The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents the mobile industry, is said to be working on e-waste guidelines. Pankaj Mahendroo, president, ICA, says, “Except for a few vendors there is no massive recycling initiative yet.”

This is the situation in a country where annual mobile sales are forecasted to reach 138.6 million in 2010 — an increase of 18.5 per cent over last year’s sales of 117 million units, according to Gartner data. “Cellular phone penetration in India stood at 45 per cent in 2009 and, now, the market is entering a second growth phase, with replacement sales increasing from 45 per cent in 2009 to 50 per cent of total sales in 2010,” informs Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Major handset makers may have announced a take-back policy that collect old handsets and give them to authorised re-cyclers, but the exercise is clearly lacking momentum as most users are still unaware of such schemes.

According to a Nokia study, awareness in India about recycling was the lowest among all countries surveyed at 17 per cent and 84 per cent of Indians didn’t think about recycling their unwanted phones.

A small beginning was made by Nokia with ‘Planet Ke Rakhwaale’ — a take-back and recycling campaign launched early this year. Under the programme, Nokia encourages consumers to drop their unused mobiles and chargers, irrespective of the brand, into 1,350 recycling bins placed at Nokia Care Centres. As of April, Nokia says it has collected more than 16 tonnes — or more than 500,000 phones and accessories.

Samsung, too, informs that it has an on-going recycling initiative across 216 centres. “We have tied up with a government-authorised recycling agency for recycling old mobiles. The response to this initiative has been encouraging and we plan to shortly extend this take-back programme to our consumer electronics products as well,” says Ranjit Yadav, director, Mobile & IT, Samsung India, without detailing how many mobile phones the company has recycled so far.

Sony Ericsson, while claiming it has a take-back policy for old handsets, remained uncommunicative on details.

Karbonn K30: Karbonn Kameleon Price, Features, Specifications

New Karbonn K30 called Karbonn Kameleon comes with features like Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) mobile phone, Changeable color panels hence the name Karbonn Kameleon.

Karbonn K30: Karbonn Kameleon Price in India - Rs. 4100/-



Karbonn K30: Karbonn Kameleon Features & Specifications:
- 2 mega pixel camera with video recording
- 2.4 inch QVGA display with 262k colors & a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels
- Multi format audio & video player
- FM radio support
- Dual SIM ( GSM + GSM )
- Internal memory of 81MB & expandable up to 8GB
- Phonebook can store up to 2000 entries
- Internet browsing using GPRS/WAP. Supports MMS
- Social networking features like facebook, Skype & opera mini browser
- A 1000 mAh Li-ion battery
- Bluetooth & USB connectivity for PC sync up
- Comes in three colors Red, Black & Yellow
- Supports Java & games
- Also has a LED torch

Onida Mobile Phones in India

Onida mobile phones are new in the market but are greatly gaining popularity. The new Onida V105 is a GSM network compatible mobile phone. This Onida mobile phone is optimally priced for the low budget mobile market an comes packed with almost all the essential features that have made it a popular device. And it is now available in all mobile stores.

Some of the basic features of the Onida V105 are, its one touch led Flash light, a multi format Music player, and a wireless FM radio which can be played on the loud speaker with voice recording capabilities. This Onida mobile phone features a colored screen an expandable memory of upto 2 gb using a micro sd card. For those looking to buy a camera phone, this may turn out to be a disappointment as it does not come with a camera. Keeping that in mind, the features in this phone still make it a device to be kept in mind.

The Onida V105 is comes with an audio player although it cannot record audio. The Audio formats that its compatible with are MP3 and MIDI. A wireless FM radio along with voice recording is however present. Even then the V105 lacks fm radio recording capabilities.

Onida V105 comes with an internal memory of 9MB which can be expanded to upto 2 gb using a micro sd card. Some of the basic features of this phone include a silent/vibrator mode, integrated loudspeaker for hands free, provision to download ring tone, SMS, EMS and preinstalled games.

Onida also recently launched another new phone in the market, the Onida V110. It’s the latest addition to the V series of Mobile Phones by onida, the V110 is a stylish and compact phone which comes in a candy bar shape. One can Enjoy wireless FM on the go thanks to an inbuilt antenna. Apart from that, this Mobile Phone offers a host of other features like a long battery life, an MP3 player, memory expansion using a Micro SD card and GPRS/WAP for web browsing.

Fly MC170 Price @ 4094 Rs. with 3MP Camera Features

Fly Mobile, the Mobile handset brand of UK based Meridian group, announced the launch of its latest sinewy mobile handset Fly MC170. MC 170 is a sleek and stylish Pandora box. The phone is bundled with a powerful 3 MP camera which will let you forget your camera on your next holiday trip. Fly MC170 is replete with social networking and instant messaging features. This small wonder holds a price to surprise for its consumers costing at Rs. 4094.

Commenting on the launch Prem Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, said "Design and development is the essence of Fly brand. We always strive to build every mobile handset based on extensive consumer research which is in line with the target consumer's need and aspiration, based on extensive consumer research. MC 170 is an unbeatable combination of feature rich connectivity and 'flaunt it' style. Today consumers are using social networking on mobile phone more than desktop, this phone is an effort to keep them connected on the go"

Fly MC170 Price in India: 4094



Fly MC170 Features:

- It clicks!!! - Powerful 3 mega pixel camera
- Display - 6.1 cm TFT screen with 262K display, 240 x 320 pixel screen resolution, screen switch effect, 3 themes
- Social networking and instant messaging through Fly Buzz!
- Audio player with equalizer
- Video recording and play
- FM with schedule recording
- Internal memory of 87 MB, expandable memory up to 8 GB
- 1000 mAh battery offering 10 hours of talk time and 250 hours of standby time
- A2DP Bluetooth, WAP 2.0 & GPRS support etc
- Fly Raashi – a new astrology application
- Accelerometer and motion sensor for better gaming experience
- Special self-help feature- long press the "0" key in the ideal mode to send an SOS message
- Storage capacity- 2000 contact phonebook with video and photo ID of the caller, storage for 1000 SMS
- E-book reader (for .txt files)

Fly MC170 will be available at all fly Authorized Distributors and Retailers.

Expansion of Olive mobile phones in Andhra Pradesh

Market and production of Olive mobile phones

Olive Telecom has announced that in the coming future, it is going to launch many new mobile handsets. Olive telecom sells their products in various countries and recently entered the Indian market. This Indian company has launched its various mobile handsets in the Andhra Pradesh market on 10th August.2010. It has launched India’s first 3.5G olive pad and 3G enabled Olive Zip Book along with 14 new model mobile phones in Andhra Pradesh market. They have also introduced for the first time in the national market, GSM and CDM dependent triple SIM mobile phone.

The prices of these phone ranges from Rs.999 to Rs.25,000. Olive Zip Book is offered along with Tata Tele services. According to the company representatives, 2 or 3 models will be launched every month. These phones are sold to various Telecom Service providers worldwide. 2 Crore mobile sets were sold till now. These mobile hand sets are designed at two centers in China and R and D center at Gurgaon.

Olive mobile phones are manufactured at leading companies of China Foxconn and Haier. Android operating based Olive pad provided various telecom services including 3G. This year’s target is to sell one crore mobile sets. 20 distributors are appointed in Andhra Pradesh. Olive mobile phone sets will be sold through 750 sales points in Andhra Pradesh.