25 August 2008

Gone phishing? Again??

The iPhone is a phenomenon - many people have one, many people want to have one, some want to get rid of theirs again, and some are now warning that the iPhone can even be used to go phishing.
The Safari and Mail applications on the prestigious object reportedly puts users at a risk. By the relatively old-fashioned trick of spoofing an URL, phishers are able to redirect users to websites that are not what they pretend to be.
Interesting, as Mac OSX is very immune against most attacks. But luckily there is good (and general) advice available: iPhone users should enter the addresses of sites they wish to visit manually instead of clicking on links contained in email. Until there is an official patch from Apple to fix this problem. And maybe also after the patch is available.

5 August 2008

VoIP - threat or opportunity

According to a couple of websites, iPhone users shortly will be able to circumvent their operators' networks by using VoIP. Belgian developer Namado/Namando Telecom claims that by using their application, callers can save up to 80 per cent connecting to the internet via the terminal's wifi connection.
This is undoubtedly an extremely imteresting topic, so I wanted to learn more about the small and innovative company behind the application. Now, Namado Telecom does not exist (as this is equivalent to not being found with a homepage by google). Namando Telecom does not exist as well, nor does Namado or Namando Telekom.
The company's correct name is Nomado Telecom, and it really does exist. And I think that they have a right to being spelled correctly, as they might pose a threat to mobile operators - or a massive opportunity, depending on the point of view. And that's definitely worth being noticed.

1 August 2008

3G in India

The Indian government is considering to hold a global auction for 3G licenses. This now seems to be the final decision after an ongoing discussion in India whether or not foreign bidders should be allowed to participate in the auction. This sounds like good news for mobile phone users, as the second-largest market worldwide is still on WAP. When it comes to surfing the mobile Internet, that's sufficent for watching YouTube clips online. But when it comes to more serious stuff, such as downloading videos, WAP's limitations become obvious.
Apparently, the more bidders and the more bidding competition, the more money will be spent on the licences. And after all, India is a huge and utterly attractive market for the global players. However, the more money they will spend, the higher the data fees they will be charging later. And this might be not so good news for mobile phone users.