Egyptian Government Shuts Down Most Internet and Cell Services

The Egyptian government has disabled most Internet and cell phone services in an apparent effort to disrupt the anti-government protests gripping the country. Egypt's four primary Internet providers all stopped moving data early Friday, effectively cutting off Egyptians from the outside world and each other. more»

Cybercriminals Shifting Focus From Windows PCs to Other Systems and Mobile

In a major cybercrime turning point, scammers have begun shifting their focus away from Windows-based PCs to other operating systems and platforms, including smart phones, tablet computers, and mobile platforms in general, according to the Cisco® 2010 Annual Security Report, released today. The report also finds that 2010 was the first year in the history of the Internet that spam volume decreased, that cybercriminals are investing heavily in "money muling," and that users continue to fall prey to myriad forms of trust exploitation. more»

Too Many Mobile Phones in the Caribbean?

Bevil Wooding writes: "There are roughly 175 mobile telephones per 100 persons in the Caribbean island-state Trinidad and Tobago, according to the CIA World Factbook website. But some experts are now asking whether the high number of cellphones per citizen is actually a reflection of deficiencies in the telecommunications marketplace that deny users the true benefits of competition." more»

Asia and Africa Top Mobile Web Usage

Highest share of mobile web usage isn't in the most developed nations, but rather in the developing nations of the world, based on StatCounter's October 2010 data. "The reason these countries have such high mobile web usage compared to desktop web usage (for lack of a better name) is very much a result of economics," says RoyalPingdom. "A relatively cheap mobile phone (most often from Nokia, as we have seen) will then be a much more realistic option, and it therefore becomes the way to reach the Web for many. " more»

FCC Considering Text Message, Photo, Video to 911

The Federal Communications Commission is considering updating the 911 system to allow cellphone users to send a text message, photo or video to the emergency service. '911 is an indispensable, lifesaving tool,' FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. 'But today's 911 system doesn't support the communication tools of tomorrow. Even though mobile phones are the device of choice for most 911 callers, and we primarily use our phones to text, right now, you can't text 911. It's time to bring 911 into the digital age.' more»

4% of Americans Online Use Location-Based Services, According to Pew Survey

In its first report on the use of "geosocial" or location-based services, the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life project finds that 4% of online adults use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location with friends and to find others who are nearby. On any given day, 1% of internet users are using these services. more»

Poland Launches Eastern Europe's First Commercial LTE Network

Paul Budde writes: "Two relatively new mobile market entrants, Mobyland and Centernet, have launched Poland and Eastern Europe's first commercial LTE network. Vendor Huawei provided the equipment for the network, which operates in the 1800MHz frequency band. Both Mobyland and Centernet previously offered GSM services in the frequency band before refarming the spectrum to offer LTE. The operators aim to expand coverage to 20% of the population by 2011 by deploying 700 base stations." more»

ITU Targeting Broadband for Over Half of World Population by 2015

ITU Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, has challenged global leaders to ensure that more than half of all the world's people have access to broadband networks by 2015, and make access to high-speed networks a basic civil right. "Broadband will be a game-changer in addressing rising healthcare costs, delivering digital education, empowering marginalized communities, and mitigating climate change." more»

Verizon: Advent of 4G LTE, WiMAX-Based Devices Will Only Increase the Need for IPv6

Verizon Business has a message to companies still reluctant to migrate their networks to IPv6: You're better off doing it now than later. William Schmidlapp, Verizon Business's product manager for Internet dedicated access services, says that the advent of 4G LTE and WiMAX-based devices will only increase the need to switch over to IPv6, since each of those devices will require its own IP address... more»

Google Responds to Criticisms Over Proposed Net Neutrality

Responding to recent controversies over Google-Verizon deal, Richard Whitt, Google's Washington Telecom and Media Counsel writes: "Over the past few days there's been a lot of discussion surrounding our announcement of a policy proposal on network neutrality we put together with Verizon. On balance, we believe this proposal represents real progress on what has become a very contentious issue, and we think it could help move the network neutrality debate forward constructively. We don't expect everyone to agree with every aspect of our proposal, but there has been a number of inaccuracies about it, and we do want to separate fact from fiction." more»

BBC Creates Smartphone Malware to Expose Vulnerabilities

BBC News has shown how straightforward it is to create a malicious application for a smartphone. Over a few weeks, the BBC put together a crude game for a smartphone that also spied on the owner of the handset. The application was built using standard parts from the software toolkits that developers use to create programs for handsets. more»

BlackBerry Service to be Suspended in UAE from October 11

Imran Ahmed Shah writes: Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced on Sunday to ban Blackberry Services, this ban will take effect on October 11. This ban will affect hundreds of thousands of BlackBerry users who access Internet, e-mail and messaging services on their mobile handsets. more»

Obama Administration to Boost Airwaves Available for Mobile Broadband

Cecilia Kang reporting in the Washington Post: "The Obama administration announced Monday that it will double the amount of airwaves available for mobile broadband to meet the demands of smartphones and other wireless gadgets expected to explode in popularity. Over the next decade, President Obama pledged to make available 500 megahertz of radiowaves for high-speed wireless carriers..." more»

Ericsson Predicts 50 Billion Connections by 2020

At a recent shareholders' meeting in Stockholm, Ericsson's CEO has reaffirmed company's vision of having 50 billion internet-connected devices by 2020: "Today we already see laptops and advanced handsets connected, but in the future everything that will benefit from being connected will be connected." As an example of connected devices, a research engineer showed real life mobile health applications and how heart monitoring can be done remotely over mobile networks. more»

Egypt Begins Enforcing Ban on International Calls Through Mobile Internet Connections

Egypt has banned international calls via mobile internet connections in an apparent reaction to a drop in international call volumes made through country's landline monopoly Telecom Egypt. "The ban is on Skype on mobile internet, not on fixed, and this is due to the fact it is against the law since it bypasses the legal gateway," said Amr Badawy, the executive president of the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA). more»