Tams Palm

People who have attended one of my talks on mobile phone security (e.g. Confidence, SIGINT, IT Underground) already know why carriers don’t particularily mind theft – after all, a stolen device means that the former owner will buy another one (often at outrageous OTC prices). AT&T has now taken this bullshit one step further.

According to the Boy Genius Report, AT&T will now offer an insurance plan:

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The insurance plan, which will be run by Asurion, will carry a price tag of $13.99/month and will be available for purchase through Apple’s App Store. The charges will be billed to the credit card on file with Apple. … You must enroll in the plan within 30-days of upgrading/purchasing a new iPhone.

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Let me explain the reason for the outrage further: each and every GSM-based network contains provisions for keeping “unwanted” phones out of the network – the so-called EIR database (an element of every GSM network) always contains the provisions for IMEI blacklisting. A carrier can ban any phone from its network by simply adding it to the database’s blacklist.

Given that Apple and AT&T could easily gang up with law enforcement and eliminate the resale value of stolen devices, I consider it socially outrageous that the two now start to peddle insurance. But it makes sense economically – after all, if your iPhone is stolen, you’ll likely buy another one anyways.

Just think about market share and sell through…

Even though AdMob’s data is not 100% accurate (data collected is only from individuals who visit mobile web sites), it nevertheless is extremely interesting.

Their latest report (PDF!!) contains two extremely interesting charts. The first one shows the smartphone market share in the USA:

The next one is for the UK:

Not much to add here – the webOS-based Palm Pixi was not visible anywhere BTW!

Reports of O2 giving up on the Palm Pre have been around for some time. While correct, they are not due to being unhappy with Palm’s products but rather the availability of the Pre Plus. This device has been around in CDMA flavor for some time – and is now on its way to O2 UK.

As the O2 web store can not be accessed from outside of the UK, this article is based on information from GadgetVenue. They report the following:

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The Palm Pre is free on ALL tariffs with the cheapest 18 month tariff being £30 and the cheapest 24 month tariff being £25.

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Next up is the Palm Pixi Plus that also comes free on all tariffs. The 18 month contract gets you the Pixi Plus for free when paying £30 per month which drops to £25/month if signing a 24 month contract.

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Hit the link above to find out more – if you are based in the UK, let us know how your webOS purchasing worked out!

Palm’s Pre and Pixi have been available in Germany for some time – so far, we haven’t heard too much about the Pixi Plus hitting German roads.

A recent airberlin flight (courtesy of the Confidence team) provided me with the following shot:

Here’s a close-up where the Pixi branding is more clear:

Amusingly, the ad text references a “price” which can not be found anywhere – the disclaimer furthermore contains a typesetting error:

For as long as I can remember, GSM carriers shipped their phones with a SIM lock in place. For these new to the topic: SIM locks prevent you from using the handset with another carrier’s SIM.

AT&T, which is the largest US GSM carrier, has now settled a lawsuit related to this. The settlement text reads as follows:

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AT&T Mobility agrees to give to its eligible AT&T
Wireless, Cingular and AT&T Mobility current and
former customers, upon request and where
available, codes that unlock AT&T Wireless, Cingular
and AT&T Mobility handsets other than (i) the Apple
iPhone; or (ii) any handset that AT&T Mobility
introduces or has introduced for sale pursuant to a
contract with a handset manufacturer that provides
for an exclusivity period of ten (10) months or longer
(“AT&T Handset”). Unlock codes for AT&T
Handsets will be provided to eligible postpaid
customers who have completed a minimum of
ninety (90) days of active service with AT&T
Wireless, Cingular or AT&T Mobility and who are in
good standing and current in their payments at the
time of the request. For AT&T Handsets for which
AT&T Mobility has an exclusive sales arrangement
with a manufacturer of less than 10 months, the
period of exclusivity associated with that sale must
have expired …

In case you own an AT&T handset, hit the PDF below to claim your free unlock code:
http://www.attlockinglawsuits.com/pdf/meolinot.pdf

Sorry folks, but its time for yet another vacation for the TCN. This time, the reason is the Confidence 2010 in Krakow.

As usual: security conference, so no internet.

Regular posting continues on the 28th!

Don’t ask me what is going on at Aceeca’s – the New Zealands-based manufacturer apparently is completely unable to start shipping its new Windows CE and GarnetOS based machines.

We have already been given loads and loads of release dates – the latest one has just hit my inbox as below:

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No news on the MEZ1500 yet. We will be working on the first pre-production run of the PDA32 early June, so we should have more news for you in June

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Sorry folks, but I don’t know anything else.

P.S. The Windows CE-based MEZ1500 exists, at least in prototype form. I handled the box some time ago…

Dear Readers,
don’t get a stroke – we aren’t closing the Tamoggemon Content Network down (just yet). We will continue to provide you with the best news on webOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone and the BlackBerry, But we have to take a two-day break for your own security.

The reason for this is that /me – the guy behind the news postings – will be presenting at the Sigint 2010 conference. Even though most attendants of IT conferences are honorable, the risk of antisocial elements always remains – and these antisocial elements are particularly interested in striking impressive targets such as speakers.

Due to this risk, Tamoggemon Corporate policy prohibits speakers at security events to access the corporate network while on-site. Posting will resume on the 24th.

I know that it is an inconvenience…but it is much less annoying than finding all of us under attack.

With requests for your understanding
Tam Hanna

HP’s acquisition of Palm has left an array of open questions. The most prominent of them is what HP would do with the webOS. Speculations of it being headed to a tablet came up fast – but were not confirmed by HP so far.

In Asia, companies are often more talkative. DigiTimes now reports the following:

HP will adopt the WebOS platform in smartphones and tablets, according to Monty Wong, vice president of personal computing systems group at HP Taiwan, adding that since netbooks are more similar in functions with traditional computers, the company will not offer such WebOS-based devices.

HP will announce more details after the completion of the Palm acquisition at the end of July, Wong said.

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As of now, no further information is available…

The folks at Amazon’s have a long history of rectifying carriers obscene price demands for locked handsets – AT&T asking 149$ for the Plus along with a 2-year contract is nothing short of insane.

Fortunately, Palm webOS heads can get their GSM box cheaper via Amazon – with them, the Pre Plus goes for a cent along with a contract:

Find out more via the URL below:
http://www.amazon.com/Palm-Pre-Plus-Verizon-Wireless/dp/B00359FEF4

HP’s printer drivers are infamous for their enormous file size. The drivers for some current deskjet printers are larger than Windows 95 was. It is thus logical that jokes about HP’s drivers being an operating system rather than a driver pop up here and there.

HP has now confirmed intentions to make its printers even fatter…by adding Palm’s webOS to the equation:

Obviously, I don’t expect users to do much with their webOS installation – but it is a fun perspective nevertheless…

Palm pundits were critical of its decision to go with Sprint from the moment the partnership was announced. So far, Sprint showed itself unimpressed by the bickering – this has now changed. Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer stated that he was unhappy with the Pre.

InformationWeek quotes him as follows:

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Sprint CFO Brust was blunt about the Palm Pre’s impact — or lack thereof — on the company’s bottom line. “The Pre didn’t work out as well as we hoped,” he said. Um, no kidding. Brust noted that Palm’s supply issues were part of the problem. Brust indicated that the company has learned a lot since it launched the Pre.

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There we have it – now the question is why the webOS didn’t get the expected impact…