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Apple announces social networking service which will display the music interests of friends via iTunes, iPhones and iPod TouchHaving cornered the MP3 player, mobile phone and computer tablet markets with the iPod, iPhone and iPad devices respectively, last night Apple announced its latest expansion – into social media – with Ping.Ping will be integrated into Apple’s latest iTunes software update and will enable users, or “Pingers”, to follow musicians, friends and others to see details including what music they’re buying and what concerts they’re attending.Steve Jobs, Apple’s chairman and chief executive, said the information will arrive in a long stream of updates, similar to the way Facebook and Twitter work.”Be as private or as public as you want. The privacy is super-easy to set up,” he said adding that users can choose to automatically accept followers or decide on a follower-by-follower basis – similar sounding controls to those on Twitter.The service is available immediately to more than 160 million iTunes users, Jobs said, and will also be available across the iPhone and iPod Touch ranges.The feature is believed to have been based on the technology Apple acquired with the purchase of the former online music store Lala.com last year.The iTunes logo will no longer feature a CD – mirroring the change in the program’s focus.Jobs unveiled a range of other upgrades to its products and services, including a new version of Apple TV – which will allow users to stream television programmes and films.The company is also releasing a revamped range of iPods, including an iPod touch with front- and rear-facing camera, Jobs told an assembled crowd of journalists, bloggers and analysts in California.Until now the Apple TV device was “never a huge hit”, admitted Jobs.The box originally allowed users to buy films and television programmes, but the latest version, which is smaller and, at $99, much cheaper than its $229 predecessor, will only allow the renting, rather than purchasing, of content.Users will pay $4.99 for high-definition films on the day they come out on DVD, while the rent of high-definition TV shows will be $0.99, Apple announced.”We’ve sold a lot of them, but it’s never been a huge hit,” Jobs said of Apple TV. The new version will be available within a month.Jobs also introduced a new design across the range of iPods, including the latest Nano, featuring a rotatable screen and a new Shuffle which sees the return of buttons – its predecessor was voice activated.The new iPod Touch will have front- and rear-facing cameras, the latter of which will be able to record HD video content, Jobs added.AppleComputingSteve JobsitunesSoftwareiPodiPhoneMobile phonesTelecomsUnited StatesAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Ban still looms despite temporary truce after BlackBerry maker RIM grants authorities access to ‘secure’ data passed between devicesAfter weeks of standoff between south Asia and North America, the Indian authorities yesterday won limited access to data from BlackBerry smartphones. The 800,000 users of the devices in the country had been threatened with a blackout because of the Delhi government’s growing fear that militants could use the BlackBerry’s secure network to plot terror attacks without fear of being monitored.The authorities can now get access to some data. The arrangement will be evaluated for 60 days, but the prospect of a ban still looms large for Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company behind the smartphones.India has also opened up a front against Google and Skype. The home secretary, GK Pillai, said the internet companies were being asked to set up servers in India so that the authorities there could monitor data.India’s moves underline the anxieties of emerging governments about the reach of western communications groups, and particularly the BlackBerry.The United Arab Emirates is threatening to block BlackBerry services by 11 October if it does not get access to encrypted messages. Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are also reviewing the future of BlackBerry services in their countries; all cite security fears over the level of encryption afforded to communication sent between devices.However, this strategy risks alienating the very global businesses such countries are trying to attract, because the employees of multinationals increasingly rely upon BlackBerrys to conduct their day-to-day work.RIM’s problems – its shares have fallen to a 17-month low – lie in the way BlackBerry devices get access to the internet and email through secure centres around the world using specialist encryption.BlackBerry’s Messenger instant-messaging service and its email service have different levels of security, and email security depends on the server being used. Since the BlackBerry was launched 11 years ago, it has been the mobile phone of choice for business users and governments across the world. But RIM’s reputation for producing apparently impenetrable security for high-profile customers is at risk of being irreparably damaged by these new demands.Last Thursday, RIM said it would lead an industry forum on how to allow law-enforcement agencies to get access to communication networks while not encroaching on the security needs of private enterprises. That was all well and good, Indian government sources told Reuters, but the country wanted a technical solution – and quickly. “The government’s position does not change,” the source said. “We are hopeful [RIM] will come up with some solution.”Risk that RIM will lose users’ trustThe problem for RIM is that if it gains governments’ trust by giving them the means to see messages, it will probably lose the trust – and perhaps the business – of users who have previously relied on its security as a way of avoiding the government’s gaze.A university professor in UAE, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Guardian: “The issue has received a lot of coverage in the UAE, but nothing compared to the conversation ‘on the ground’. Since virtually every Emirati aged 17 to 40 owns a BlackBerry and uses the messenger feature constantly, this has been of great concern to them.”I’d guess that around 30% accept this is for security reasons, while the rest believe it to be, at the least, intrusive. The latter believe it to be a response to a number of fairly high-profile Emiratis being attacked, derided, vilified via the messenger broadcast service. Emiratis send many broadcasts daily, and gossip runs through the community like wildfire.”One of the biggest issues for the countries concerned is this messenger broadcast function. Allowing users to send one-to-many messages to everyone in their contacts book has proved an effective and galvanising way of spreading comment, and is often used as a vehicle for anti-establishment opinion – something UAE authorities are sensitive about. “The government walks a very thin line between appearing liberal and modern to the west, and traditional and Islamic at home,” the professor said. “This issue cuts to the heart of the impossibility of doing both at once.The professor, who has owned a BlackBerry for more than a year, said he would have no qualms in switching to another device if RIM’s concessions infringed his right to communicate without fear of government interception. “I can only presume RIM is aware of this and is treading carefully,” he said. “I have faith in the company, as it clearly does little for them to give up what makes the device so valuable – its security.”He added: “This has been called another public relations disaster for the UAE, and I fail to see how someone will not point this out to the rulers – and they are exceptionally concerned with remaining attractive in the eyes of western governments,” he added. “This has done them no favours with the business community internationally nor with the majority of locals and expats domestically.”Falling foul of authorityBeing on the wrong side of officialdom is not new to the Canadian manufacturer. Ironically, given the more recent bout of security concerns, three years ago the French government banned its officials from using BlackBerry devices, citing fears that communication could be intercepted by countries hosting the enterprise servers – namely Canada, the US and the UK. When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the BlackBerry he had used on the campaign trail was replaced with one with extra security, approved by the US National Security Agency, which was concerned about people trying to tap it.Further east, security demands meant negotiations to take the BlackBerry to China and Russia took two years to resolve in both countries.Unlike Indian officials, who have slipped anonymous tidbits and soundbites to the news agencies, RIM has remained tight-lipped about its negotiations. In a rare public statement addressed to customers earlier this month, the Canadian manufacturer said it co-operated with all governments to a consistent level: “Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded.”The complexity and range of security solutions offered by RIM may be the source of the company’s friction with governments, said Leif-Olof Wallin, vice-president of the IT research company Gartner. “What seems to be the big challenge is that lots of BlackBerry service and infrastructure is not very well understood by the regulatory authorities or by its users,” Wallin said. “Although physically it is the same device, it can be used in lots of different scenarios.”Financially, Wallin said, a ban in India would have negligible impact on RIM’s global business, although the country was the second-largest mobile phone market in the world behind China. And RIM would emerge less tarnished than the countries involved.Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts that there will be more than 600,000 BlackBerry sales in India this year and that India’s smartphone market will have reached approximately 12m – a figure forecast to grow to 40m by the end of 2015.”At the very last minute there will be an agreement in place,” Wallin predicted. “Banning BlackBerry devices in the country has significant implications affecting foreign diplomats, foreign enterprise executives. It would be a major inconvenience to lots of important allies.”Monitoring messages on a case-by case basisThat is not to say that the Indian or UAE governments will be given free rein to tap emails or messenger messages. “Our interpretation of RIM’s public statements is that the company is willing to facilitate mobile operators to lawfully intercept some messages,” said Wallin.”And BlackBerry will – on a case-by-case basis – be assisting network operators to decrypt BlackBerry Messenger, we think. With email between the BlackBerry and BlackBerry Enterprise Server, RIM simply does not have the capabilities to decrypt it, and the encryption key is unique to each user.”Though some of our clients are worried about what to do in case a ban is put in place, it looks like BlackBerry [manufacturer RIM] is benefiting from this as they’re not caving in – they’re being perceived as an honest secure company.”Gail Thompson, owner of a landscaping company based in Dubai and a BlackBerry owner, said the ill thought-out warnings were not atypical of Emirates officials. “I’m expecting them to backpedal on it,” Thompson said. “I’m anticipating that [the authorities will] issue a blanket mandate, then realise that it’s unworkable – that’s what I’m I’m hoping. I think they’ve had a kneejerk reaction to things.”They need to take into account that business people are coming into the country and [the UAE doesn't] need another hurdle in the economy,” Thompson said. “People are thinking that it’s ludicrous – we all understand that our emails and calls are monitored, it’s just part of our lives. I just think it’s a cultural thing out there.”But that thinking is not shared by all of UAE’s half a million BlackBerry users.A teacher who has lived in the region for 10 years and wished to remain anonymous said she would blame RIM “for caving into demands that compromise people’s privacy” if the manufacturer facilitated greater access to their emails.”There is no alternative but switching to another device,” she said. “If [RIM] allowed the government to intercept messages, I wouldn’t be sending you this email.”BlackBerryData and computer securityMobile phonesIndiaJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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One of the world’s largest casual gaming companies today unveiled HTML5 versions of 47 of its games websites, proclaiming that it will be the new standard for gaming devices within three years.SPIL Games has thrown its considerable weight behind HTML5 and the upward trend in casual gaming, with users now able to play its games on mobile browsers supporting HTML5 (ruling out devices running Android pre-2.0). Previously, mobile visitors would have been taken to the full browser window displayed in Flash – but that would be slow to render with most phone browsers, and incompatible with Apple devices.But close to a million mobile users try accessing a SPIL gaming website every month, a company spokesman tells us. More than half (52%) of these visits are from Apple devices, 15% from Android, 15% from Symbian (ie Nokia and/or Sony Ericcson) and 6% from BlackBerry devices.The company, which currently has more than 4,000 games in its portfolio, is offering developers prizes totalling up to $50,000 (£41,000) for the best HTML5 game, encouraging the potential it says is “hampered by different protocols, operating systems, and platform-approval processes within the mobile world”.An aside: Nick Jones, Gartner analyst, has an interesting take on that very subject:”Native platforms will certainly become less important relative to the web platform because HTML5 supports a wider range of applications than the last-generation web. “But native platforms can stay ahead by evolving faster than HTML5, and in different directions to HTML5, it’s not hard to outrun a snail driven by a committee. So although HTML5 will be important the native platform will retain a big edge if you want to develop clever apps. And the native platform owners want it to stay that way.”"Openness is at the core of everything we do,” says Peter Driesson, chief executive of the Netherlands-based company. “We are aware that HTML5 is still at an early stage, but already developers can use it to make great games, and we are confident that the industry will quickly embrace it. Within three years we expect HTML5 to be the standard in gaming devices.”Analysts at Forrester predict the Western European mobile gaming market to grow from €746m (£616m) at the end of 2010 to €1.46bn (£1.2bn) by the end of 2015, due to the growth in paying mobile gamers (31 million to 45 million over the same time frame, Forrester predicts) and a growth in smarphone adoption.• Another noteworthy HTML5 development: Ephemeral rockers Arcade Fire have teamed up with Google Chrome to put together a personalised music video. Nice.HTML5Casual gamingGamesMobileMobile phonesJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Pick a winning team of industry ‘personalities’ in Mobile News’ annual industry Fantasy League competition to win a Gold Table at the 2011 Mobile News Awards

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• Indian government threatens to block Research in Motion’s communication services for BlackBerrys• Canadian technology firm allows India greater access to communicationsThe Indian government has lifted a threat to block certain BlackBerry communication services following moves by the technology firm Research in Motion that could allow the country’s security authorities greater access to snoop on messages.Stepping back from the brink of a crackdown, India’s ministry of home affairs said RIM had made “certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalised immediately”. It did not offer any detail on these concessions and RIM, which is based in Toronto, declined to comment.RIM has been sucked into a series of showdowns with governments in Asia and the Middle East over the level of privacy provided by its ubiquitous handheld devices.India had previously set a deadline of the end of August for the Canadian technology company to make corporate emails and instant messaging more accessible to its security forces.Following RIM’s apparent concessions, the Indian government said today the situation would be reviewed in 60 days’ time. It added that the country’s telecoms ministry was examining whether all the subcontinent’s BlackBerry communications could be routed through a server physically located in India.The Indian government’s disquiet over BlackBerrys is thought to date back to a series of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Mumbai in November 2008 that killed more than 150 people. Officials suspect that terrorists involved in the attacks communicated using encrypted messages on the devices.Striking the right balance between privacy and national security has become a significant headache for RIM, which has faced similar threats of a ban on Blackberry services in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.BlackBerryMobile phonesIndiaCanadaAndrew Clarkguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Free iPhone app monitors heartbeat – and helps doctors save lives in remote areasThe stethoscope – medical icon, lifesaver and doctor’s best friend – is disappearing from hospitals across the world as physicians increasingly use their smartphones to monitor patients’ heartbeats.More than 3 million doctors have downloaded a 59p application – invented by Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London – which turns an Apple iPhone into a stethoscope.Last week, Bentley introduced a free version of the app, which is being downloaded by more than 500 users a day. Experts say the software, a major advance in medical technology, has saved lives and enabled doctors in remote areas to access specialist expertise.”Everybody is very excited about the potential of the adoption of mobile phone technology into the medical workplace, and rightly so,” said Bentley, who initially developed the app “as a fun toy”.”Smartphones are incredibly powerful devices packed full of sensors, cameras, high-quality microphones with amazing displays,” he said. “They are capable of saving lives, saving money and improving healthcare in a dramatic fashion – and we carry these massively powerful computers in our pockets.”Bentley’s iStethoscope application is not the only mobile phone programme lightening doctors’ bags and transforming their practices: there are nearly 6,000 applications related to health in the Apple App Store. The uptake has been rapid. In late 2009, two-thirds of doctors and 42% of the public were using smartphones – in effect inexpensive handheld computers – for personal and professional reasons. More than 80% of doctors said they expected to own a smartphone by 2012.The trend looks likely to gain pace as younger doctors enter the workplace. Some medical schools issue students with smartphones. In America, Georgetown University, the University of Louisville and Ohio State University are among those requiring undergraduates to use one.However, experts say they are being prevented from exploiting the technology’s opportunities. Bentley says that he is unable to launch a new range of applications because of out-of-date regulations.”It’s much easier to develop technology than it is to get permission to use it,” he said. “I could create a mobile ultrasound scanner and an application to measure the oxygen content in blood, but the regulations stop me. We’re not allowed to turn the phone itself into a medical device, and what that precisely means is currently a grey area in terms of regulation. That’s the only reason we’re not seeing a flood of these devices yet.”Professor Ian Wells, head of the scientific computing section in the department of medical physics at the Royal Surrey County hospital in Guildford, agrees that innovation is being hindered by regulations that are “still in their infancy”.He said: “The approach of the regulators is not well worked out yet. There’s a wonderful new world out there but we need to find a way for regulators to protect patients and doctors, while not impeding innovation, research and development.”The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – the government body with responsibility for standards of safety, quality and performance in healthcare – recently set up the Medical Device Technology Forum, a group of industry representatives, regulators, users and scientists, to help establish how to regulate novel technologies.”This is such a complex area that we are currently looking at every application on a case-by-case basis,” said an MHRA spokesman. “We want to ensure that these new technologies are effectively regulated – thereby protecting health and avoiding unnecessary deterrents – while at the same time removing any unnecessary obstacles to manufacturers who wish to exploit new technologies for the benefit of patients.”European regulators are also striving to bring their guidelines up to date. A group of regulators from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Sweden and the UK was set up last December to develop guidance for software under the European Medical Device Regulations. They are expected to report at the end of the year.AppsiPhoneDoctorsAppleMobile phonesHealthAmelia Hillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Tags: 10, 12, 3, all, App Store, apple, apple iphone, best, free, government, iphone, lg, line, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, new, phone, phones, sam, uk, world

Apple App Store, 59p eachThe iPhone’s back catalogue may be swollen with lazily designed games and sloppy clones of yesterday’s hits, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for titles that feel fresh and exciting. One of the new releases showcasing this spirit (and that ensures it remains a showcase for the best of gaming’s fringe) is Gravity Runner (App Store, 59p, We Are Colin). Its 2-D platform- jumping form may be familiar but, with the introduction of an exceedingly simple gravity manipulation mechanism that lets the player toy with Newton’s law through a tap of the screen, this tidy little title becomes an engrossing action puzzle game that can prove hard to put to one side.Energetic and polished, Gravity Runner neatly combines a lo-fi attitude with a knack for considered design that will keep delivering thrills long after you think you’ve learned all its tricks.In a similar vein, Splode (App Store, 59p, Escalation Studios) delivers a deft mix of edgy, indie styling and in-depth gameplay. Boiling the concept of minimal interaction down to purest form, each level requires nothing more than a single screen tap, and yet Splode still demonstrates considerable cunning. The player’s task is to clear screens of clusters of drifting and highly unstable explosive life forms by triggering meandering chain reactions with a well-placed detonation. Esoteric, hypnotic, and featuring some incredibly well-implemented dynamic audio, Splode makes for an eerie spin on reaction-based puzzle gaming that should not be missed.iPhoneMobile phonesAppleWill Freemanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Many children get their first mobile phone on starting secondary school in September. We hunt down the best first deals for an 11-year-oldWhen to let your child have their first mobile phone is a contentious issue. But the chances are you’ll join the majority of parents and get them one when they start secondary school at 11.At this age many children start travelling to and from school alone and parents like the reassurance of knowing they can call home.So with a bewildering plethora of handset and tariff options, where do you start to find the best deal?Anthony Ball, director of mobile comparison website Onecompare.com says: “You can get a mobile contract for your child, but pay-as-you-go is probably the best move because of the level of control it gives parents. If your child uses the phone too much, the credit simply runs out until you decide to top it up, but they can still receive your texts and calls free.”There’s also little point buying an expensive, flashy phone that could serve as a “mugging magnet”.Many parents will have an old phone they can pass on to their child or, if not, they can pick up a basic model for under £20 and put in a free sim card now available from most major networks, which often offer bundles of texts, call time and, if want, internet access typically starting with a £10 top-up per month. But which one?”The difficulty of getting the first deal for an 11-year-old is that you have little idea of how, and how much, they are going to use their phone,” Ball says. “But as these sims are free and don’t tie you in to a long contract, you can try one and, if that doesn’t suit, simply switch to another.”Earlier this month Tesco Mobile targeted young users with its launch of, arguably, the UK’s cheapest sim-only monthly tariff which provides unlimited texts and 100 minutes of call time for £6 a month.But it’s not available instore – it’s only sold online and over the phone, and is based on a one-month sim-only rolling contract paid by direct debit which means that customers can cancel and switch to other providers should they choose after 30 days.It should particularly suit text-addicted youngsters. Tesco’s research shows that 16- to 24-year-olds are the most prolific texters and, on a personal note, I’ve found that a sim, offering unlimited texts, is definitely the best money-saving mobile option for my two aged 12 and 16.If, however, your child is likely to go over the 100-minute call-time allowance excess calls are charged at 20p per minute and the bill is added on to your £6 monthly direct debit, so the cost could quickly add up. As a safety measure, Tesco puts a £30 cap on the monthly amount you can run up on top of the £6 subscription.If that limit is reached, the phone is barred for outgoing calls (not, importantly, from incoming calls) until the paying customer – the parent in our scenario – calls Tesco Mobile to verify the amount of credit they are willing to pay.But this does highlight the difference between a standard pay-as-you-go deal, where your child cannot run up a bill, and a monthly contract, where they can.Below are a selection of the pay-as-you-go free sim deals on offer for a £10 monthly top-up from major networks which may suit an 11-year-old’s usage.O2 SimplicityFor £10 a month you get unlimited texts plus a choice of either 100 minutes call time to any UK network or 500MG of web time, enough to send and receive up to 500,000 emails a month or surf up to 5,000 web pages. Calls made in excess of those included in a package are charged daily at 25p per minute for the first three minutes, then 5p per minute for the rest of the day. Available at freesim.o2.co.ukOrange If you join Orange with a free sim and choose from one of its pay as you go “animal” packages, you receive £5 free credit with your first £10 top-up. Options include Racoon – a basic, no-frills package, giving a 15p flat call rate and 10p texts to any network any time. For a top-up of £10 per month, Dolphin gives you 300 free texts and free access to the internet subject to a monthly 100MB cap with calls charged at a minimum of 20p per minute and Canary gives you 100 free minutes call time to any mobile (not landlines) at evenings and weekends every month with excess calls charged at a minimum of 20p per minute. Available at freesim.orange.co.ukT-Mobile When you top up by £10 a month you get unlimited free texts as a bonus on top of your £10 credit to use on calls, web-surfing and so on. Call charges are 10p per minute to T-Mobile phones and 25p a minute to other UK mobile networks and landlines. Internet access charges are maximum £1 a day. Available at t-mobile.co.ukTesco Tesco offers a triple-your-money deal so that a top-up of £10 becomes £30 of credit. Free credit is given once a month and is valid for one month. If you top up again in the same month this generates free credit for the following month. Available at www.tesco.com/mobilenetwork/Consumer affairsTelecomsMobile phonesChildrenJill Papworthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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The device combines the benefits of a powerful modern smartphone with some of those of an iPadI’ve been a heavy user of Google Calendar and Contacts for a couple of years now, and that is why I first started using an Android phone, the HTC Magic. My boyfriend recently got the HTC Desire which showed me how the Magic was getting dated, so I decided it was time to upgrade.However, as an SMS-addict and avid tweeter I found the small keyboard on my old phone a bit fiddly and didn’t see that improving with the latest incarnations. Added to that, we recently got an iPad and I liked its convenience for reading articles. I didn’t want to be carrying yet another device around in my handbag, though. So, when I heard about the Dell Streak it sounded perfect: one device that combined the benefits of a powerful modern smartphone with some of those of a ‘pad.I ordered it straight from Dell, SIM-free, for £449. Taking it out of the box I was immediately impressed with the look and feel. It is slim and dense, but not too heavy, and sexily sleek all in black. I find it balances surprisingly well in my left hand, naturally lending itself to being held sideways (landscape). It is also not so large that it cannot fit in a man’s suit or shirt pocket.Actually making calls on the phone in public can be a little ‘Dom Joly’ due to its size. However, that is easily addressed with a Bluetooth earpiece and was not unexpected.The 800 x 480, five-inch screen is crisp, clear and bright, and I am now regularly using it to read the Economist or New Scientist on the train. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor is blisteringly fast, as is the HSDPA 3G and WiFi, making the browsing experience similar in speed to that of a netbook. With K9Mail I can even now access my industrial-strength IMAP mailbox (250 folders and more than 200,000 emails), something I have not previously managed on a phone.As for the 16GB storage, I’m barely scratching it despite telling Spotify to download all my playlists. There is plenty of space for downloading films, and the playback quality of those I’ve tried was great. Sadly there is no BBC iPlayer support, yet.Unfortunately there are other issues, though mostly minor. The supposedly near-indestructible Gorilla glass screen has been disappointing. In three weeks my Streak has picked up a number of fine scratches, two of which I now regularly notice when using it.Further, unlike the HTC Desire or Google’s Nexus One my Streak was shipped with the now ageing Android 1.6 operating system, complete with a number of irritating quirks and bugs despite Dell’s customisations. I have even had to remove the battery to force a reset after a particularly bad crash. The keyboard has also been disappointing, mainly because of the software. Unlike my HTC Magic, the auto-correction system seems over-complex and counter-intuitive, and I can no longer blindly touch-type.The default software bundle could also be better. As an experienced Android user I was fine, just downloading my usual set of apps and syncing up with Google. Those used to the intuitive ease of Apple’s products and without previous Android experience may find it a somewhat steep learning curve. However, Android 2.2 for the Streak is coming out soon and I expect that will be a big improvement.In summary, despite some minor niggles, the Dell Streak is an excellent device. I also think my experiment of trying to get the benefits of a ‘pad and a smart phone in one device has worked. It is big enough to be easy to read, watch or interact with for extended periods but small enough to be highly portable, with all the other benefits of a high-end smartphone. It is a little let down by its older operating system, but even Android 1.6 still overall excels. If you like the idea of a hybrid pad-phone then this could be for you, even if not an Android user. The small investment of time to get to grips with Android would certainly be worthwhile in order to get the full benefits of this device.Pros: Big, crisp screen; fast processor and commas; slim, sleek and good-looking.Cons: No Android 2.2 (yet); poor typing auto-correction; weak software bundle.Dell Streak, £449 (SIM-free).Specs: 5″ 800 x 480 multi-touch screen, Android OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8250 processor. 5MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera. Browser: WebKit (Android). Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB2.0. Plays: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, Midi, WAV, H.263 / H.264, .3GP, MPEG4, WMV. Size: 152.9 x 79.1 x 9.98 mm. Weight: 220g.Kate Craig-Wood is CEO of Memset Dedicated Hosting.Mobile phonesAndroidguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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What can’t you do on your phone yet? Remix music? WRONG!Hot off the development bench this week comes Fireplayer – another app trying to offer something new with the music that people will actually pay for. Though this app is free, the idea is that beyond the two free tracks you get with the app (one of which is South Central’s Demons – kudos to them for picking an app to launch their new single) you’ll want to fork out £1.79 for every new song you want to fiddle with. That seems a little steep to me (not that £1.79 is a lot) but there’s something about breaching the £1 barrier for in-app content. Labels seem to like it; Universal and Ministry of Sound are already signed up.Fireplayer was made by the people at Bounce Mobile, who are careful to pitch this as a potential source of complimentary digital revenue for music labels and artists. Once you’ve picked the track and remixed/fiddled with it, you can share your remixed tracks on Facebook, this ticking the viral box.The first time I fired it up the screen was ominously blank for a good five seconds, and more when I fired up the first track. We’ll put that down to teething. Once I reached the mixing desk things got a bit better – it’s not their fault that I’m just not enough of a music geek to appreciate what ‘chop’, ‘low pass’ and ‘keys’ do. Music fiddlers will love it.Where: Apple App StorePrice: FreeDo say: Could you drop the vocals for the middle eight and pump up the bass?Don’t say: Do you have any Joan Baez?See it on YouTube (sorry, no embed.)iPhoneAppsMobile phonesJemima Kissguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Mobile applications to make you sound like a star of The X Factor or GleeTools. It’s all about knowing how to use them.There was outrage on Saturday after X Factor producers admitted using auto-tune technology for the show’s audition stages. But put that same technology on a mobile app and bam – instant brilliance! Entertain your friends! Horrify your neighbours! Deafen your dog!We’ve found some of the best auto-tune apps for mobile…Glee – Singers Wanted (No Talent Required)Glee fans will wonder how they ever lived without the Glee iPad app, which invites users to sing along to tracks, auto corrects them and then broadcasts them to other Glee app users worldwide on a very pretty globe visualisation. Earn points and get feedback from other users and, for the truly brave, switch off auto-tune and broadcast your tunes ‘nude’. The app makers took the typical iPad strategy of making an extra buck at every step, so you’ll have to pay extra to download most of the best songs from the series. This is Rupert Murdoch’s vision for the future of media, by the way.Where: Apple App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod TouchPrice: £0.59pDo say: I’m so good, I don’t need auto-tuneDon’t say: Isn’t the point that Glee clubbers can sing?I Am T-PainI Am T-Pain knows that every self-respecting artists needs their own iPhone app, but trumped the competition by adding auto-tune technology with the app he launched last September with Smule. T-Pain has a bit of a thing about auto-tune and this app kicked off the trend. But this essentially is a clever, branded, niche karaoke machine. For T-Pain fans. It comes with five songs, and you can buy more if you exhaust those. “It’s actually the same software that I use in the studio, so if anybody actually wanted to be T-Pain, then there you go,” he said at launch.Where: Apple App Store – for iPhone and iPod TouchPrice: £1.79Do say: Check me out doin’ Chopped & Screwed!Don’t say: Who’s T-Pain?LaDiDaYou know how in the musicals they always seem to be singing, but there’s no consistent melody? Well now you too can annoy yourself by making a soundtrack from your daily life, with LaDiDa. Anything you thought wasn’t a tune can become a tune – with LaDDa! Most amusing, as these apps tend to be, after a hard night at the pub. Record your voice, choose from a dub, pop synth or tasty breaks backing and pick your tempo. Rather good fun to try singing an actual real song and see how LaDiDa unintentionally remixes it. Lofi, and we like it.Where: Apple App Store – for iPhone and iPod TouchPrice: £1.79Do say: I can make anything into a song? Don’t say: I’m dumping you via the medium of LaDiDa, ooo ooo ooo, la la la.MicDroidAuto-tune came late to Android – nearly a year late, in fact. MicDroid is pretty bare bones, but if you want to turn your phone into a mic and auto-tune the results, you can do it on an Android handset. This video review from PocketNow.com tells you everything you need to know.Where: Android MarketPrice: FreeDo say: At last – an auto-tune app for geeks!Don’t say: Is that it?I’m left wondering why a Cher auto-tune app hasn’t been created, but then there are only so many hours in a day.Digital mediaAppsiPhoneMobile phonesJemima Kissguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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The move will speed up access for people using the site via iPhones or AndroidMobile users in the UK, Europe and Middle East can now access an HTML5 version of Google’s YouTube video site, speeding up access for those accessing it via iPhones, Android or other mobile devices with browsers able to render HTML5 video content.The launch comes as mobile use of the web is growing rapidly: Google says that YouTube’s mobile site, m.youtube.com, gets more than 100m video playbacks a day – roughly the number of daily views youtube.com was getting when being acquired by Google in 2006 – and every minute an hour of video is uploaded to the site from a mobile device. Mobile video playback also grew by 160% in 2009 on the previous year, along with an increase in adoption of devices able to stream video.The US version of the HTML5 site for mobiles was launched last month.Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the UK consumes the most YouTube videos on mobile devices, followed by France, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.The original mobile version of YouTube launched in 2007, but relied on versions of Adobe’s Flash for playback – which was too taxing for most devices. Since then, the development of the HTML5 web standard, and of mobile browsers – notably WebKit, used by Apple in the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and by Google in Android – able to play back embedded video content using the H.264 codec, rather than Flash’s usual Sorensen or VP6 codecs, has meant that HTML5 video use has become feasible.Google says the decision has been driven by the dramatic growth in mobile access to YouTube, which is more than doubling every year.Several short-form video sites are building players in HTML5: Vimeo brought out a hybrid HTML5 version of its player earlier this month, designed for better mobile playback. But when US-only TV and movie streaming site Hulu unveiled a major revamp of its display earlier this year, it did so using Adobe Flash, saying HTML5 “doesn’t meet our customers’ needs”.The use of HTML5 does not mean that Flash is shut out of YouTube’s mobile version: Adobe’s product can encode video in H.264 as well. But the growing use of desktop browsers such as Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari, which can render H.264 video – and with the forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 also offering it – poses a long-term question about Flash’s continued widespread use.Brightcove, the video hosting service for many media organisations, began offering an HTML5 version of its site in March this year. The New York Times and Time Inc were among the first media outlets to integrate it – allowing playback on Apple’s popular mobile devices, which do not use Flash.Closer to home, Erik Huggers, director of BBC future media & technology, recently defended the corporation from accusations that its widespread use of Flash – on the iPlayer, in particular – betrayed a commitment to open standards.”Our use of Flash is not a case of BBC favouritism, rather it currently happens to be the most efficient way to deliver a high quality experience to the broadest possible audience,” Huggers said, adding: “The fact is that there’s still a lot of work to be done on HTML5 before we can integrate it fully into our products. As things stand I have concerns about HTML5′s ability to deliver on the vision of a single open browser standard which goes beyond the whole debate around video playback.”Though the BBC does deliver H.264-encoded video to Apple mobile devices, it does not do that for Android devices, citing concerns about copying of content via the Android platform, and instead serves Flash-based video to them.However YouTube has said that HTML5 is still some way from becoming the new standard for streaming long-form video content, such as BBC iPlayer content. “While HTML5′s video support enables us to bring most of the content and features of YouTube to computers and other devices that don’t support Flash Player, it does not yet meet all of our needs,” said John Hardin, software engineer at YouTube, in a blogpost published in June. “Today, Adobe Flash provides the best platform for YouTube’s video distribution requirements, which is why our primary video player is built with it.”Microsoft has put its eggs in the HTML5 basket with next year’s release of its internet Explorer 9 browser. Ryan Gavin, Microsoft’s senior director of internet Explorer, said in May this year: “We’re all in on HTML5. We’ve been co-chairing the HTML5 working group, and we’re actually leading the HTML5 testing group.”YouTubeHTML5Mobile phonesSoftwareComputingTelecomsInternetJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Application downloads are forecast to overtake revenue generated from voice services by 2013, upping the demand on network trafficFlat-rate mobile data tariffs look like an endangered species in the US and Europe. Mobile operators say that the all-you-can-eat model is damaging their ability to increase their revenues, and that the cost of building next-generation networks and providing the backbone capacity for the data is a “critical challenge”.In a survey for the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the majority of mobile operators in the US and Europe also say they want to charge to prioritise the delivery of network traffic – which would do away with the principle of net neutrality on wireless networks.And, fearful that handset makers and companies such as Apple, Google, Nokia and BlackBerry maker RIM will reap all the benefits from selling downloadable phone apps, nearly 80% of mobile operators told the EIU that they would benefit from opening their platforms to independent software developers, with 45% believing they should open their own “app stores” to compete with those like Apple’s iPhone App Store and Google’s Android Marketplace and Nokia’s Ovi Store.Apps are becoming increasingly important to handset makers as a means of distinguishing themselves, but operators have seen little benefit from them. Instead, apps usually lead to greater data use from smartphones – but on flat-rate data tariffs, that simply means greater costs for the network operator.Ofcom figures from the first quarter of 2010 show that 18% of the UK population user their mobile handset to access the internet. That is expected to increase alongside purchases of smartphones.Executives expect the downloading of applications to outweigh income generated from voice calls by 2013, and 55% of those surveyed said they should be allowed to recoup some of the money invested in enabling this increasing usage of data.In the US, AT&T signalled the end of flat-rate data tariffs for iPhone users in June, shifting to a model where owners could get up to 2 gigabytes of data per month on standard contracts. In the UK, the four main operators this summer also ended flat-rate tariffs for iPhone owners which were introduced in 2007 when the device was launched.As the number of smartphones being used has grown, so have the demands on networks’ data backbones, which have struggled to keep up, while networks have been hampered by flat-rate data tariffs which they introduced to tempt people to use their services – and then found were taken up so eagerly that the systems struggled to fulfil demand.Current regulation stipulates that no preferential treatment is given to data carried over networks, but the increase in usage of applications, video streaming and internet-connected gaming has meant operators have had to invest in ways of delivering data to users.Proposals recently laid out by Google and US telecom Verizon left room for wireless, mobile networks to be able to discriminate in how they deliver content, saying that the future internet will largely be wireless and shouldn’t be bound to rules governing the internet of today.Last week private discussions were held in the US between lobbyists – thought to include Yahoo and Microsoft – to try come to an agreement on how to manage internet traffic, following the breakdown of net neutrality talks held by the country’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC).• One of the UK’s smaller internet service providers, Demon, today unveiled a new broadband package charging customers £3 extra per month for the prioritised delivery of gaming traffic over its network.Net neutralityMobile phonesTelecomsInternetInternet, phones & broadbandJosh HallidayCharles Arthurguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Heard of Silicon Street? It’s Paul Street, in central London – just round the corner from Silicon Roundabout and a cousin of Silicon Fen… and it’s where messaging service HulloMail is based.Founded in 2008 with seed funding from venture capital, the service has 25 staff and claims phenomenal growth in the past six months with more than 150,000 downloads. Next on the to-do list is a co-branded smartphone version for mobile operators that, hopes chief executive Andy Munarriz, will open the service to millions of users. • What’s your pitch?”We answer your phone when you can’t, sending messages left by the caller straight to your phone – you can play it back as if it where a music track on your iPod. It also tells you when someone called you but did not leave a message. You can see all your voicemails in one single list with a photo of the person next to each message – this saves you time as you can play each messages by simply selecting it. You don’t have to make a call and listen to the person telling you who called, when they called and then wait to hear the messages in the order they were left. It’s much less frustrating! “We have another a cool feature that lets you send a voicemail without having to call that person. Press record, leave your message and then send – it’s is quick and free. “HulloMail is a cloud-based service. Users sign-up by downloading the mobile app from the relevant marketplace (currently Android, BlackBerry and iPhones in the UK, USA and soon Ireland). Part of the sign-up process sets your mobile divert to our cloud answer service (voicemail, in layman’s speak). We then have the ability to answer your phone calls when you don’t – essentially, we replace your mobile operator voicemail service. When someone leaves you a message, we then push it directly to the HulloMail mobile app on the phone and also to your email, so you can play it directly from your device or as an MP3 attachment. “Finally, we let you send new and reply-to voice messages to your contacts without having to make a physical call. These messages are called Hullos – short voice messages you can send directly to fellow HulloMail users or anyone with an email address.” • How do you make money?”We make most of our money from technology licenses and services, but this will shift to revenue from co-branded cloud-based services for consumers, in conjunction with mobile operators. We also expect the consumer services to pay for themselves when we launch paid-for advanced features from autumn 2010.” • How are you surviving the downturn?”We are keeping focused and not overextending ourselves. We are lucky that smartphones are still selling like hotcakes and users are hungry for apps.” • What’s your background?”My background is in software and systems design. I consider myself a technologist with a passion of user interface design. “I’ve worked for 20 years in software and telecoms. I also founded VoxSurf in 1999, which pioneered the world’s first web and open standards-based call completion and messaging platform. This is currently deployed to 35 million users globally. I previously worked for companies such as Accenture and Sprint, specialising in the design, development and installation of service delivery platform architectures to a number of industries. This ranged from phone banking to field force management. I’ve also authored several mobile web and messaging technology patents.” • What makes your business unique?”Being the ‘son of VoxSurf’, HulloMail is in a sweet spot of having large-scale services deployed with mobile operators and now a consumer focus of our own in one of their core service areas. I believe this is a unique and fresh combination in the industry today and places us in a very good position to modernise voice messaging services as a consumer brand. Our strategy to scale the business is to offer mobile operators a co-branded HulloMail. We are extremely focussed and good at what we do so our goal is to work with mobile operators in a fresh way to help deliver a service that people want. “We are passionate about providing consumer-led innovation as opposed to simply delivering technology for technology-focused solutions, which is what I believe many traditional vendors currently present to mobile operators.” • What has been your biggest achievement so far?”We licensed our technology to one of the largest telco vendors in our space that continues to use it as the basis of one of their successful platforms today. I cut the code of the prototype for what became our technology platform over a two-week holiday. It still puts a smile on my face when I think of it.” • Who in the tech business inspires you?”In business James Dyson inspires me. I would imagine that telling VCs you have re-invented the Hoover must have been as hard as telling VCs you have re-invented voicemail. He had to go to Japan to prove a point. I’ve been luckier – I only had to nip over to Ireland. “Steve Jobs and his Apple team turned mobile on its head. Despite the negative vibe on their walled garden approach, it is thanks to Apple that companies like HulloMail could prove a mobile concept directly with consumers. Only five years ago it was impossible to deploy an app without getting involved with a device manufacturer and a mobile operator – the process length alone could kill the business.” • What’s your biggest challenge?”Scaling the business, by accelerating consumer growth.” • What’s the most important web tool that you use each day? “Email – I believe that email continues to be the killer app. However I use email too much and I should call people more often.” • Name your closest competitors”You have the traditional telco vendors such as an Ericsson or Comverse, or Acision selling messaging systems to the mobile operator. You also have the web-based guys such as Google and Google Voice. Neither of them offers mobile operators a web-based cloud model coupled with actual consumer demand for the product, like we do.” • Where do you want the company to be in five years?”As a recognised telco brand, which is deployed to millions of mobile users.” • Sell to Google, or be bigger than Google?”If I was a mobile operator focussing on differentiating my services, HulloMail would be a good option to enable a horizontal voice and video messaging strategy across multiple devices. Is there a mobile operator bigger than Google?” hullomail.com Internet startupsDigital mediaMobile phonesAppsJemima Kissguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Torch handset carries a hardware cost of
$171.05 (£110) according to a recent teardown analysis.

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16 to 24-year-olds particularly adept at juggling act, cramming nine and a half hours of media into six and a half hours of actual timeBritons are juggling several types of media at the same time to sate their appetite and leave enough time for everything else in their lives, the Ofcom study reveals.The average media consumer’s digital day is seven hours and five minutes. From breakfast radio to peaktime evening TV, via surfing and texting at home or at our desks, media takes up 45% of our time.The actual amount being consumed is even higher, Ofcom believes, with the boom in mobile computing helping Britons to multitask. “The ability of people to surf the web on their laptop while also watching TV has given people a licence to roam while staying connected,” said Peter Phillips, Ofcom’s strategy and market developments partner. A fifth of our media time is this kind of “simultaneous” consumption.Those aged between 16 and 24 are particularly adept at this juggling act, and are mopping up more media than any other age group. They cram nine and a half hours worth of media into six and a half hours of actual time – data that suggests the cliche of the youngster loafing in the lounge is an unfair one.”Sixteen-to-24-year-olds go out more, and spend less time watching TV,” Phillips commented. He also acknowledged that this multitasking can mean we devote less attention to any one media source, although this was more pronounced when using new technology. It appears we are simply better at combining reading, landline calls or TV watching with another activity without our attention drifting.Discovering that teenagers are happier than their parents to combine web surfing, phone calls, tweeting and TV is not exactly a revelation, and Ofcom’s research does show that some other truisms also still apply. The over 55s are still wedded to their TVs and radios (67% of all the media they consume), while computers, mobile phones and handheld gadgets make up 58% of 16- to 24-year olds’ media diet.But there are also plenty of surprises in this latest snapshot of the UK marketplace. The gap between the way different generations use old and new media is closing fast. For the first time, more than 50% of over-55s have broadband at home, and a third are sending and reading emails each day.There have also been some interesting changes in the importance people give to different media activities. Half of all adults said they would miss TV the most, up from 44% in 2005, followed by 15% who cited the internet (up from 8%) and 11% who would pine for their mobile phone (up from 10%). Hi-fi equipment and CD players have fallen most sharply in our affections with a mere 2% of people saying they would miss them the most, down from 13% four years ago. For the 16 to 24 age group, though, the mobile phone would be missed nearly as much as the telly.But the death of television as the dominant media platform appears to be far away as ever. TV continues to take centre stage in the evenings, partly due to the success of talent shows. However the box in the corner of the room is increasingly likely to be a high-definition flatscreen. More than five million households now have a HD set, up from 1.9 million in March 2009.”Television still has a central role in our lives. We are watching more TV than at any time in the last five years,” said James Thickett, Ofcom’s research director.While Simon Cowell can take some credit for maintaining the nation’s TV fix (measured at three hours and 45 minutes per day), another factor is the growing demand for time-shifted viewing, thanks to digital video recorders as well as catch-up TV services such as the BBC iPlayer or ITV Player.”The ability to watch what we want when we want it is bringing people back into the living room, said Phillips. Commercial broadcasters should not rejoice too much, though, as DVR owners have the option to skip through the adverts.While TV appears to have maintained its ability to hold our attention, 17% of viewing is still taking place alongside another media format – typically a computer or mobile phone.Smartphone sales have risen rapidly in the UK in recent years, up 81% in the 12 months to May. The research shows this led to much more media consumption “on the go”, although in many cases people appear to be heading straight for Facebook and staying there.The social networking site makes up 45% of the total time spent online on mobile phones during December 2009, Ofcom said. This may have been skewed by a surge of family photos or amusing Christmas party pictures, although the regulator also cited more recent data that illustrates Facebook’s remarkable “stickiness”.”The average user spent around six hours and 30 minutes on Facebook in May 2010, compared with nearly one hour 30 minutes for users of Google, and nearly two hours for users of MSN [Microsoft] services,” said the regulator. Twitter holds second place on the social networking ladder ahead of MySpace and LinkedIn, with traffic to its website up 56% in the past year.Increased adoption of high-powered mobile phones also means that more young people are abandoning their fixed broadband line.Ofcom’s research also shows the impact of the recession. Revenues in the telecoms industry were badly hit in 2009, falling for the first time since the regulator started tracking this data in the early 1990s. Ofcom said this was also due to increased price pressure as operators try to lure customers to take a bundle of services, and a tailing-off in the boom in mobile phone and broadband connections.With TV revenues contracting, it was little surprise that the amount consumers spend on communications fell again to £91.24 per month. Five years ago we spent an average of £100.71 per month. “Consumers are using communications services more – including phone calls, texting and the internet. Yet they are paying less despite getting more, partly through buying in bundles,” said Ofcom.Digital mediaSocial mediaSocial trendsOfcomInternetMobile phonesGadgetsGraeme Weardenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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The Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry Torch handsets carry a hardware cost
of $171.05 (£110) according to a recent analyst teardown.

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Police move to shut down criminal network suspected of global fraud using premium-rate phone lines and stolen iPhonesPolice have moved to shut down a criminal network suspected of running a complex global scam which made millions of pounds from UK mobile phone networks using stolen iPhones and premium-rate phone lines.Eight men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud in a series of early morning raids across England today.Officers had been investigating a complex conspiracy where mobile phones were purchased using false identities, and then the SIM cards used to call premium-rate phone lines owned by people involved in the scam.City of London police detectives seized dozens of mobile phones, hundreds of SIM cards, thousands of pounds in cash and fake documentation from homes in Southend, Walsall, central Birmingham, Middlesbrough, and Forest Gate and Southall in London this morning.The raids followed a month-long investigation into a rapidly growing criminal conspiracy profiting from the theft and illegal use of almost 1,000 mobile phones – the vast majority of which were iPhones.SIM cards were removed from illegally obtained phones then shipped abroad and plugged into automatic dialling machines, which repeatedly called lines that charged up to £10 a minute and were owned by members of the conspiracy.The cards accrued enormous bills in a matter of weeks, which were paid by mobile phone networks, but when the companies contacted the registered owners they invariably found people who had fallen victim to identity fraud.O2 was one of the networks hit by the scam, and had £1.2m stolen through premium phone lines in July alone. They contacted police with the results of their own investigation and worked in partnership with detectives from the City of London police – the national lead force for fraud – to uncover an elaborate and expensive fraud.Police now believe a gang of West Africans bought mobile phones on contracts from high street stores using false identities and stolen or fraudulent credit cards.The gang predominantly targeted iPhones for their high resale value. Once the phones were purchased they were sold to a middleman, believed to be based in Birmingham, who would split the SIM cards and handsets before selling the phones to criminal contacts abroad.The SIM cards were then sold to a gang based in London and Essex who were involved in running the premium phoneline scam.Police arrested several members of the gang, all of whom are of Pakistani origin, at homes in Forest Gate, Southall and Southend this morning.They are suspected of setting up a complex network of shell companies to launder the profits from the premium phone lines and hide their identities.At one home in Forest Gate, police found hundreds of SIM cards, £15,000-worth of iPhones still in their boxes, 20 bank cards and several fake passports. At another property they uncovered hundreds of letters that had been prepared to try to con people out of their savings with a promise of a lottery win, a scam known as a 419 con.Investigators have traced the stolen handsets and SIM cards all over the world, including several countries in the Middle East, continental Europe and Vietnam.Police are now hunting to find out where the profits went, as many of those involved lived “under the radar” in council houses with few obvious assets, apart from relatively expensive cars.Detective superintendent Bob Wishart said officers had struck at “a highly sophisticated criminal network” that had been targeting the telecommunications industry and stealing millions of pounds.”Our investigation found a crime gathering momentum,” he said.”Each month more SIM cards were being used to make more phone calls to premium-rate lines at more expense to the network provider.”The criminal exploitation of the latest consumer technology is a recurring theme of our work.”Our collaboration with O2 on this investigation highlights the benefits of how the private sector can work with the police to proactively target common threats to our communities.”Adrian Goreham, responsible for tackling fraud at O2, said: “This was a sophisticated and organised attempt to defraud mobile phone operators.”We are committed to reducing mobile phone crime and have a dedicated team that monitors and investigates such attempted criminal activity.”CrimeMobile phonesiPhoneAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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A round-up of deals available from mobile retailers online and on the high street

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