Some days ago our phone calls started to be more unsecure due to the hack of the main code of the GSM encyption algorithm. Karsten Nohl, a german computer engineer, and his crew got this code by brute force technique, that means they tryed enough random keys until they got the password. This information was published in the ‘Chaos Communication Congress’ that took place in Berlin.

The cracked algorithm is called A5/1 and is the one it is used in over 80% phone call connections so this represents a big problem for our voice communications according to our privacy violation. Besides, the discovered code/password has been published via torrent, so anyone can access it and with the proper software could spy our phone calls. Some phone operators have said that changing that code in the operators networks would solve the problem, but it would keep being as vulnerable as the previous one that has been discovered.

The code of A5/1 algorithm, devised in 1988, consists on a 64bit string. Actually there is a newer algorithm based on a 128bit code that is called A5/3, available since 2007, but operators have not introduced this algorithm in their networks yet. This code has not been hacked, at least so far …

The company Cellcrypt, has said that what Karsten Nohl has published will help criminal organizations to listen private conversations. Nowadays this technology was only available for governments and intelligence agencies.

Maybe its time to change our minds, maybe it is time to stop using an old voice technology, maybe it is time to establish our voice communications in other way… Technology has improved in all ways and two facts could help us solve this problem. Nowadays we can use VoIP (Voice over IP) to call a friend wherever he is at really cheap rates using internet connection. In addition personal certificates identify and secure us in the internet when we make important operations such as banking, or administrative tasks. What about joining both? That could solve our impending problem.

At the moment make sure your private conversations are not through a mobile phone call…

Via Engadget | Cellcrypt

The European Union will approve the price limitation on the rates of roaming services and SMS messages among countries. Viviane Reding, telecomunications responsible of the EU, was who proposed this legislation, as the Internation Herald Tribune says.

EU industry ministers will approve this plan, which will limit SMS prices to 11 cents and also roaming service rates. These changes will be activated on 1st July 2009.

Obviously, this means that in some countries international SMS messages would be cheaper than local ones! This may provoke that companies reduce local SMS messages, but we’ll have to see. Anyhow, these rates reduction could also make the companies increase local prices. We hope not.

Via NY Times

Thanks to Gizmovil, we have get noticed of the release of Momail in Spain. Now we can enjoy the push mobile email solution offered by MomailSystems, a Sweden based company.

The Momail service is now available in 14 countries in Europe. A beta release is available in 20+ more countries.

Momail offers free and easy-to-use push mobile email that integrates with all your current accounts. Some features of the system are:

• No client installation. The service rely on built-in email client.
• 1100 handsets suppported.
• Email message optimization.
• Attachments ( and optimization of the attachments)
• Push email (by means of IMAP IDLE)

It looks really fine. I will give it a try!

We bet mobile email will become a mainstream application in the next months, as the flat rates for data become affordable. And we, of course, are talking about PUSH email.

And, going beyond email, it will allow the boom of push-based mobile applications, in a broader sense.

Via Gizmovil
Link Momail.es

Last 29th August, Nokia introduced Ovi, the company’s new Internet services brand name. Ovi, which means “door” in Finish, is the new gateway to all Nokia services and represents an easy way for consumers to access content, communities and existing social networks from Nokia compatible devices or from PCs.  With these services, Nokia is poised to take on Apple’s iTunes market.

As part of Ovi, Nokia announced:

• Nokia Music Store: Allow to try and buy music from artists around the world. The dynamic recommendation engine and genre-based instant playlists provide access to show what others are enjoying. The store opens across European markets this fall and tracks will cost 1€, albums 10€, and a monthly subscription for PC streaming for 10€.
• N-Gage: Selecting the N-Gage application on a compatible Nokia device, its possible to preview available games, connect with other users, read reviews, download a free demo or buy the game. It will be ready in November 2007.
• Nokia Maps: A navegation service that offers maps, city guides and more directly to compatible devices.
• Share on Ovi: A media sharing online that allows the upload and storage of photos, videos etc. Users can upload media direct from their nokia mobile phone through the share online 3.0 application or can alternately use their PC.
• Files on Ovi: The service allows users to access files on their computers from any remote PC (via Web browser) and many mobile devices, and also facilitates sharing files.

To take down Apple’s iTunes will be a difficult task for Nokia. Both are prolific hardware designers and both have entered the multimedia download market. Apple is doing very well with their iPhone, but Nokia is the number one mobile device company in the world.

Vía cotizalia

¿Cuando llega mi bus? is a new website developed by our friend Abel Mendivil, which  allows you to consult how many time you should wait until the bus arrives (only for Zaragoza).
You enter the number of pole and returns a list of buses passing through this stop.

Currently working on iPhone version, in order to add features such us create link associated with the poles you use most often, improve the design, and more and more.
It is a simple website but very useful if you live in Zaragoza and have a 3G mobile phone.

Link ¿Cuando llega mi bus?

Peek is a one-function email device, that lets you take your email with you and stay connected. It comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and provides an easy way to write emails and keep on top of your emails any time. No phone calls, no SMS, no MP3 player, just email, including Google’s GMail, Yahoo mail, AOL, etc.

It will be available this fall in stores nationwide for $99.95, and there will be a T-Mobile service in order to get unlimited email for a flat monthly rate, about $19.95 per month.

For a lot of people, it is not clear whether there is a market for this device  because, currently, there are already lots of mobile phones in the market that let you send an fetch emails. On the other hand Peek says that “nobody carries just one device”, and everybody has space in his bag to carry a Peek.

Vía Engadget Mobile
Link Peek

NTT Docomo has announced that it will stop accepting applications for its 2G Mova mobile phone service nationwide on November 30. Docomo has two main mobile phone services: Mova (2G service) and Foma (3G service). Given that Mova subscribers keep constantly migrating to Foma service, the company has decided to stop Mova and concentrate in the popular 3G service.

Docomo’s effort towards new generation mobile services and the fact that 1 million Mova subscribers per month migrate to Foma, will help their aim of becoming the first mobile market to have “only” 3G – or even higher speed – networks. In addition Docomo will help subscribers migrate to Foma not charging the usual 2,100 yen for subscriptions beginning August 8.

Docomo is the world’s leading mobile communications company. It serves over 53 million customers, including 45 million people subscribing to their Foma 3G service.

Via Wireless Watch Japan

Ipoki is a Spanish social network based on localization. Its main service is sharing your position with your friends in real time and tracking your buddies location in Google Maps and Google Earth.

Plugins for Windows Mobile, Symbian S60 and Blackberry are available. But, if your device does not include GPS, you can update your position on your web browser.

Your location information can be used for automatically geoloc your photographs in Flickr and other web services.

Now, Ipoki has developed a new service they call Life Streaming, that generates a KML file that includes all the positions you have recorded and adds the related items to each position – Flickr photos, videos, etc …

It’s one more example in the field of location based services, that for sure will be commonplace and very appreciated by mainstream users.

Via Loogic
Link Ipoki

The earthquake caused by Nokia on Symbian’s world a couple of days ago, has hidden another interesting movement of the Finnish company: the acquisition of Plazes.

Plazes is a Berlin-based company that offers a social network based on location. As they state in their blog, Plazes team will join the LBS team of Nokia based in Berlin, created from the acquisition of gate5 in 2006.

With this new deal, Nokia pushes its strategy on location based services and social networks. This is one of the hot topics today!

Via error500
Link blog.plazes.com

When some months ago Google released ‘My Location’ feature for Google Maps for Mobile a lot of buzz hit the blogosphere. Every tech-blogger wondered about how had Google managed to know the location of cellphones.

But now – just a couple of weeks ago – Google itself has put some light on the business with a post on the Official Google Mobile Blog. And not many people has talked about it. But it’s really good news.

Not only Google has unveiled how they really get to know location, but has announced they are going to give third party developers access to this information.

This will enable development of location-aware applications to every developer.

Now, ‘My Location’ is available in more than 200 countries and across many different platforms, including BlackBerry, Nokia Series 60, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch, Windows Mobile, and many Java phones. Gears for Windows Mobile and Android already contain location APIs.

The major drawback is accuracy, that is clearly insufficient for serious applications. And this issue won’t be solved – if possible – until Google has collected a huge amount of data from cellphones all over the world, which will be possible just when GPS chips were commonplace in every mid-range cellphone.

So, I’m not sure if this new service will have a real impact in deployment of production applications. But, definitely, it will help LBS applications to be mainstream and to boost innovation related to this technology.

Via OfficalGoogleMobileBlog