Android Already Facing Security Concerns

The week-old Android operating system that powers T-Mobile’s G1 smartphone is off to a rough start as a team of experts from ISE have identified and successfully exploited a security vulnerability on the device. The vulnerability is located in one of the 80 open source packages assembled by Google for Android. Further, the vulnerability is related to a buffer overflow in an older version of the package and has already been fixed. However Google didn’t use the latest version of this package for Android.

ISE has not released full details about this issue and are working with Google to resolve the issue. It looks like the impact of this vulnerability is limited to running any code with the privileges of the web browser application and information that it has access to. So a web site would have to trick the user into entering confidential information or cookies and cache from the browser sessions. 

What concerns me is the speed at which this has been found. It makes me wonder if  there are many more just waiting to be found. There will always be bugs and issues when it comes to software development, but this exploit doesn’t seem to be overly complicated and should have been caught before the release.

Ultimately, this will be a good test of the over-the-air update feature of Android.

You can read more information regarding this exploit on the ISE web site.

Customize the New Sliding Panel Home Screen on Windows Mobile 6.1

I’m sure that everyone with a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard (non-touch screen) device has been busy playing with the new sliding panel home screen. The question routinely comes up on how to modify the panels and their order as well as add new panels. The answer was easy – simply edit the corresponding xml and registry settings. Unfortunately, the answer may have been easy, but actually doing it can be difficult for some.

Enter CHome Configurator from mind of tlogix over at Smartphone: Nuts & Bolts. This utility will ease the pain of customizing the new sliding panel home screen to your liking. CHome Configurator allows you to add new panels, and modify or delete existing panels without having to mess around with xml files and registry settings. Best of all, this utility is FREE! So you can easily and affordably customize your 6.1 home screen. Now, I would love to see a home screen theme that takes advantage of the sliding panel design. Who’s up to that challenge?

Once you’ve download the 2 CAB files (one for the application and another for the Icon Pack), copy them to your device and install them. Both of these CAB files are pretty small and I would recommend installing them to the device and not the storage card.  I’m sure it might be possible to place them on the storage card, but you wouldn’t want to risk any problems using the home screen if the storage card becomes corrupt or is removed.

So, download CHome, customize your home screen and share with us the changes you made. I’ll be playing around with it over the course of the next couple days and I’ll post back with the additions and changes that I’ve made. 

One thing to note; If you are running a Windows Mobile Professional device, this application will not work for you. The sliding panel home screen is available on Standard (non-touch screen) devices only. This is due to the fact that Pro devices do not use the same XML based configuration for the today screen.

The New HP iPAQ Voice Messenger Smartphone - Take 2

Jack Cook posted about a new voice messenger device from HP earlier today. What’s interesting to me, is that HP might have learned from their past mistakes on this device.  The original Voice Messenger device from HP was a horrible unit with poor screen, low memory, and no real appeal or wow factor to speak of.  To be fair, the voice software that came on the device was pretty cool, but aside from that, there was nothing that made anyone want to own one of these.

I rode HP hard about this device from day one, and I’m excited to see that they listened to what the community had to say and came back with what appears to be a pretty sweet device.

The new Voice Messenger comes with a sure-type like 20-keypad device, integrated GPS, WiFi, 3G, Quad-Band, Bluetooth 2.0, 128MB SDRAM / 256MB Flash ROM, a 1260 mAh battery, and a 3.1 megapixel camera. Best of all, it runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard edition.  It’s great to see that some companies still see the value in having a non-touch screen device.

Visit HP’s web site to learn more about the new Voice Messenger Smartphone. I haven’t seen any information on price or availability yet, but I would expect this to be shipping in the next month or so. I think I’m going to need to get my hands on one of these for review.

Change the Maximum Size for Ringtones

I’ve never had a problem loading my ringtones onto my Windows Mobile devices. Typically I use files that a small and sharp so they can easily grab your attention. Recently I was point to some free ringtones being offered by Cisco (Thanks Clinton!) and I thought I would give them a try. Only problem was that they don’t show up in the list of ringtones available on the device.  I know that they have been put in the right folder as all the other sounds I have loaded the device with are displayed just fine.

The problem is that there is a limit on the maximum file size for ringtones.  I would imagine that this is done to prevent the phone from having to load a 10MB MP3 every time there was an incoming phone call. I can understand that, but at the same time the 307200 bytes just doesn’t seem like enough. Especially since these Cisco ringtones started at 450+KB.

Thankfully the solution isn’t a hard one.  Simply modify a registry setting and away you go. Best of all, you don’t have to restart your phone after making this change.  Grab your favourite registry editor and you’ll be off and running in no time. For people that like to work from their desktop, I would suggest a tool like SOTI’s Pocket Controller. Otherwise, grab PHM registry editor and you can modify this setting directly from the device.

1. Browse to HKEY_Current_User / ControlPanel / Sounds
2. Under the Sounds key, you should see a value by the name of FileSizeLimit
3. Highlight the FileSizeLimit value and edit it
4. The default Value Data for this value is 307200 - at least that’s what I see on my BlackJack. Change this to a value that better suits your needs.  I would recommend a reasonable amount as you don’t want to use all system resources to load up your ringtone. I would think that 807200 would be a reasonable size for most people.
5. Save your changes and you should now be able to select those larger files as your ringtones.

Google Says "No App For You!" with Remote Kill Switch

Just yesterday I posted about Matt Miller’s G1 Android phone review (you really should read it if you haven’t already) and was pretty surprised to see Bryan’s comment about the inclusion of an application kill switch by Google.

An application kill switch isn’t a bad thing, in and of itself. I spend a lot of time helping people manage their fleet of mobile devices, and one of the features that people are looking for is the ability to remotely kill and block applications on the device. Why? Simple, if the company pays for the device, they ma y not want you spending all day in some Facebook application, or installing Google Maps. As a company device, it’s their choice.  As a consumer device, is it really Google’s place to prevent you from running an application on the device?

The article over at ComputerWorld indicates that Google “may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement” and based on that, they “retain the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion”. This worries me. It’s one thing for a company to control the devices they provide to their employees.  It’s something entirely different for a software company to tell me what programs I can and cannot install on my phone. I realize that this could be used for good, for example - a virus, trojan, or what have you.  But it can also be used for not so nice things, like forcing third party developers to only distribute their applications using your application store, or preventing applications from developers that don’t meet your guidelines. There’s so many questionable circumstances where this could be used. 

I guess it’s a matter of time before we know exactly how it will be used by Google.  But I’m pretty concerned and cautious about this move by Google.

Matt Miller Looks at the T-Mobile G1 Google Android Smartphone

I’m certain that you’ve read and heard a thing or two about Google’s new Mobile operating system - Android, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last while. Google and T-Mobile recently made things official with a kick-off party in New York and some devices have started to ship to customers. Matt Miller has spent some quality time with the new device and managed to whip together a 7 page review along with 5 videos and over 260 pictures. If you’re looking to learn a little about Android, his review is the place to start.

I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on one of these as of yet. I am hoping that will change in the not too distant future.  I’m concerned about the “chin” when the device is open with the keyboard exposed.  I’m not sure how comfortable this may be to type on. The size, as  you can see from the attached image (courtesy of Matt’s extensive image gallery), is a little longer than the iPhone.  But nothing that’s too drastic. It should fit nicely into most pockets.

Does Google have a hit on their hands? Take a read of Matt’s review and let us know your thoughts.

Windows Mobile on an iPhone - Why?

A number of web sites recently posted about a new video that appeared to show an Apple iPhone dual booting Windows Mobile with Apple’s OS-X for the iPhone. A lot of people seemed to get excited at the thought of running both operating systems on the iPhone hardware. As it turns out, the video is a fake, but that doesn’t change the reaction of the community.  Why do so many people want to see Windows Mobile on the iPhone hardware?

First off, the licensing for this would be nothing short of a mess. Does anyone here recall the PocketPalm emulator from way back in 2002? Great idea, but licensing issues kept it from really taking off.  This won’t be much different and I can’t see Apple or Microsoft letting this happen.

Next up - do some people still think that the iPhone is somehow more stable and secure?  There’s been lots of talk about how both are not the case now that 3rd parties are available to develop for the platform. Let us not forget that the Windows Mobile has been extremely stable for those participating in the No Reboot Challenge.

User Interface? A lot of people comment about the user interface on the iPhone being significantly better than Windows Mobile. It’s no secret that Apple has always been better at the user experience. But I don’t see how that is a factor in an application that allows you to dual boot your phone.  What good is the interface if you’re going to dual boot it all the time? Besides, it’s twice the configuration as you would have to configure email and everything else on both operating systems. I would think that an emulator would be a much better choice. However, that doesn’t change the first 3 points I’ve talked about.

What’s next - Style? I guess some people would want to switch phones just to have a more stylish device.  But do these people really care what OS is running on the device? Typically, they are the kind of user who buys the latest device just to say they use whatever the current fad is. Something like this might save them a fair amount of money because they wouldn’t have to re-purchase applications every time they switched devices.

I don’t know. Perhaps I just don’t get it.  I’m all for mobility and choice in mobile operating systems. However, for me there’s no value in an applications like this.

In case you are interested, check out the video over at the Engadet Mobile web site .

Palm’s Treo Pro Reviewed

A couple weeks ago, Palm began shipping their latest Windows Mobile Smartphone - the Treo Pro. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to play with this device prior to it’s release.  I’m not going to review the device here - plenty of sites have already done that. I will, however, share a couple quick thoughts I have about the device.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Treo Pro is it’s size. You don’t get much smaller for a touch screen Windows Mobile device with a full QWERTY keyboard.It fits very nicely into your pocket without any of the bulk that we see on many of the touch screen devices.

What trade-offs did Palm make to achieve the form factor? Well, they didn’t skip on the connectivity options. The Treo Pro sports quad band GSM with 3G data speeds as well as WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. What more could you ask for! I know, you’re saying a fast processor with lots of memory. Done, and done. The Treo Pro has a 400MHz CPU with 256MB of memory and will work with MicroSD cards up to 32GB.

Ok, so if it’s not connectivity options or processor and memory limitations, then what did Palm trim? Well, the biggest thing you’ll notice right away (or should I say small) is the screen.  Palm has kept with their trademark square screen and due to the physical size of the device, this screen is small.

The other thing that I didn’t really care for, is the keyboard layout.  As someone who does a lot of email and instant messaging from my phone, there are certain characters that I expect to see and enter easily.  After a couple days of use I found it very frustrating every time I needed to use a comma or a question mark. Both of those letters require the press of the function key before you can use them.

Neither of these things are really a big deal. Would I buy one? You know, I think I would.  If I wasn’t enjoying my BlackJack II as much as I am.

In case you’re looking for a more in-depth review, may I suggest one of the following reviews: GearDiary, Palm Info Center, Engadget Mobile, and  Tracy & Matt’s Blog,

Bad News on the No Reboot Challenge

Back on August 19th I kicked off the “No Reboot Challenge” by inviting others to join me in not rebooting or forcefully stopping any applications on their Windows Mobile devices. There’s been a number of sites that joined in and took the challenge to their readers. Sadly, after 51 days my BlackJack II decided it wasn’t going to respond to any key presses on the keyboard any longer. I’m not sure what went wrong - I was using the phone one minute, and then tossed it into my pocket and headed out to the car. Once in the car, I went to switch profiles and noticed that the device wasn’t responding.  At first, I thought that somehow I had accidentally shutdown the phone.  However, a quick tap on the power button saw the screen light up. I still couldn’t use any of the keys, but at least I knew the phone was still working.

I did a number of different things over the next couple hours in hopes that it would break out of this state, but I had no luck.  The device responded to the power button, but nothing else. I even called the phone in hopes that it would kick the device out of this state. The phone did update the screen to show the incoming call, but it didn’t respond to me pressing the answer or hang up buttons. After 51 days, I had to pull the battery out if I hoped to continue to use my phone.

I’m happy that I managed to last 51 days, but at the same time, I know that it could have been better. I have no idea what went wrong to cause this. I haven’t changed or added any software to the device.  I haven’t been browsing any new sites - It’s the same standard sites that I read on a regular basis.

I want to try this again, but before I do, I want to update my phone to the official Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM from AT&T and Samsung. I’ll try and do that over the next day or so. I’ll post again and let you know when I’m  ready to start again.

Free Halloween Ringtones From Microsoft

It’s getting close to Halloween and why decorate just your house when you can outfit your smartphone as well. Microsoft has released a collection of Halloween themed ringtones and wallpapers. I didn’t care to much for the wallpapers, but the ringtones are actually pretty good. Check them out for yourself - they’re all free to download (with registration). There’s also a large number of non-Halloween related sounds and images.  So if you’re simply bored with what you have, it’s a worth while place to visit.

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