TechNewsWorld: Samsung Shores Up Security to Pluck BlackBerry Biz Users

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Samsung Shores Up Security to Pluck BlackBerry Biz Users Feb 28th 2013, 18:52 Today in international tech news: Samsung tries to build its security credentials to usurp BlackBerry in the business world; another week, another report about rampant international cyberattacks; and the first mobile-delivered social media content comes out of North Korea. Having established its credentials as a key player in the consumer smartphone world -- perhaps the key player -- Samsung is bolstering security to take a stab at business users, a demographic traditionally dominated by BlackBerry. For the past year, South Korea-based Samsung has been beefing up the Android software that powers its smartphones to protect it against malware, according to the New York Times. The goal is to become more attractive to corporate information technology departments that have, for security reasons, continued to trust BlackBerry even as it falls out of favor with consumers. To tap into BlackBerry's market, Samsung has added features to Android, such as allowing users to create "personas" for business and personal use -- something that also available in BlackBerry 10. Thus a device's "business persona" might only use apps approved by an IT department. If malware wormed its way into a device's "personal persona," it couldn't get to the business persona. Samsung reportedly teamed up with General Dynamics, a military contractor whose collaboration with the company is expected to show up on the Galaxy S IV, due to be unveiled in March. Samsung's push is also evident in its advertising, which is increasingly focused on business usage. Galaxy phones and tablets are already used by workers at American Airlines, Dish Network and Boston Scientific, a healthcare firm. "We will become number one in enterprise," said Tim Wagner, Samsung's VP for enterprise sales who used to work at BlackBerry. Report Reveals Cyberattacks -- But Not the Culprit Maybe this is just going to be a weekly occurrence. Fresh on the heels of a Mandiant report implicating China's military in a years-long cyberespionage operation against the U.S., cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs has identified another enormous cyber assault. A string of attacks dubbed MiniDuke, first discovered by Kaspersky, have targeted government officials in more than 20 countries, according the Guardian. The attacks reportedly infected government computers as recently as this week and are designed to steal "geopolitical intelligence." The attackers used servers based in Turkey and Panama, Kaspersky said, but that the actual perpetrators are unknown. Targets included the governments of Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and the Czech Republic, as well as a research foundation in Hungary and a healthcare provider in the US. The malware that facilitated the attacks was disguised within an Adobe PDF email attachment. First Mobile Tweets From North Korea Hit Web North Korea's recently-opened 3G network has paved the way for the country's first-ever social media posts sent from mobile devices. The first wave of mobile content is starting to hit the Web from North Korea, according to the Associated Press. That content includes a series of photos to Instagram that features a shot of a roadside banner touting North Korea's recent nuclear launch. The nation recently enabled its 3G network for data transfers. While that 3G is only available to foreigners -- like, say, AP correspondents -- it nonetheless marks a watershed development in North Korea, where information going into and coming from the country has long been restricted. If the 3G network wasn't already forbidden to locals, the prices might make it so. Calls to the U.S. cost up to US$8 per minute, the AP reported, while the SMS to activate the service is nearly $100. The nation's GDP per capita is less than $2,000.

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TechNewsWorld: MiniDuke Hackers Use Adobe Flaw to Zero In on Euro Governments

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MiniDuke Hackers Use Adobe Flaw to Zero In on Euro Governments Feb 28th 2013, 17:30 The PDF files looked legitimate, but they were loaded with a sophisticated type of malware that used the popular Adobe software to hack into governments across Europe, as well as a few U.S. organizations. Although it's not known yet what the hackers were after, the incident once again highlights the need for individuals and agencies to download the latest security patches. Hackers used a highly customized piece of malware that takes advantage of a recently revealed Adobe flaw to spy on governments and institutions worldwide, security firm Kaspersky Lab announced Wednesday. The 59 victims in 23 countries include government entities in Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Ukraine and the Czech republic, and a research foundation in Hungary. A think tank, a research institute and a healthcare provider in the U.S. were also targeted. The attacks focus on an Adobe flaw discovered earlier this month by the security firm FireEye. The malicious malware, dubbed MiniDuke, connects to servers in Panama and Turkey. The attacks are still going on, though Adobe released two sets of security updates, on Feb. 20 and on Tuesday, to patch the flaw. How MiniDuke Works The attackers sent well-crafted content in PDF files that fabricated human rights seminar information, NATO's membership plans and information on Ukraine's foreign policy to their victims, Kaspersky said. These files were rigged with exploits that attacked Adobe Reader versions 9, 10 and 11, bypassing the application's sandbox. When a victim clicks on an infected PDF, it drops a 20 KB downloader onto the victim's PC. This downloader contains a customized backdoor written in the Assembler language. When the PC is booted up, the downloader uses a set of mathematical calculations to determine the computer's unique fingerprint, which it will use for communications later. If the target system meets certain predefined requirements, the malware will log on to Twitter without the knowledge of the PC's owner, and will look for specific tweets from accounts set up by the operators of the malware's command and control center. The tweets maintain specific tags labeling encrypted URLs for the backdoors. These URLs provide access to the command and control centers, which then provide potential commands and transfer additional backdoors as encrypted GIF files. These files appear as pictures on the victim's PC. MiniDuke's creators may have provided a dynamic backup system that flies under the radar -- if Twitter isn't working or the accounts are down, the malware can use Google Search to find the encrypted strings to the command and control centers, Kaspersky Lab noted. The operators can constantly change how their backdoors retrieve further commands or malware code as needed. When these additional backdoors are downloaded to a victim's PC, they can fetch a larger backdoor which can copy, move and remove files, make directories, and download and execute new malware and other tools. The Need to Patch Systems "The Reader and Acrobat patches we put out last week will ensure users are safe from the MiniDuke campaign, so it's important that users update to the latest version if they haven't done so already," Brad Arkin, senior director of product security at Adobe, told TechNewsWorld. It's possible that the malware authors can continue to exploit the Adobe vulnerability because users haven't yet applied the patches Adobe has issued.

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TechNewsWorld: Seamlessly Sync Photos Between Android and PC

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Seamlessly Sync Photos Between Android and PC Feb 28th 2013, 13:00 How come the Last Mile in photography has turned what should be a pleasant and wondrous exploration of one's artistic pursuits into a nightmarish experience? It doesn't have to be that way. Mobile apps like Dropbox and SugarSync take advantage of cloud storage to let you access, edit and share your collections among different devices -- and people -- without having to jump through a lot of hoops. The Last Mile has been the challenge of industries immemorial. What, you say? Well, humor me, and I'll tell you. "Last Mile" -- usually -- refers to the last part of a network, the bit that delivers communications directly into a home. It's often the hardest and most expensive part, subject to neighborhood meddlers' concerns over requisite miscellaneous boxes dotting front yards, messy street digs instead of beaming microwaves, and fume-belching, eco-unfriendly equipment delivery trucks. Telephone and cable providers, which often drop packages into the postal stream for home delivery, as well as shippers like UPS, have all had to deal with the Last Mile. It's the scourge of many industries. Well, I'd like to draw an analogy with digital photography. Here's my point: Why is it usually such a cumbersome, laborious process to get images out of a device and onto a computer, where they can be admired and edited? It typically involves swapping different-sized SD cards, adapters and USB cables -- and I don't even want to mention drivers, let alone cross-platform drivers. There is a nifty solution: using cloud storage apps for the Android OS. Here's how to go about it. Step 1: Get Your App Install a free cloud-storage app with photo-upload functions onto your smartphone by performing a search for either Dropbox or SugarSync in the Google Play store. Both of these cloud providers have seamless photo upload functions. There may be others too, but I've thoroughly tested these providers' apps for this purpose, and I can recommend them. Tip: Ensure that you have some form of wireless connectivity on the smartphone -- either WiFi or cellular network. Step 2: Create an Account Allow the app to download onto the device and then open the app. Complete the sign-up process, which involves entering an email address and creating a password. Both apps provide some free storage, which will be enough for some experimentation. Tip: Check your in-box for an account verification email on signup. Step 3: Set to Sync Navigate to the settings menu within the app on the smartphone. SugarSync uses a cogwheel-like icon and Dropbox uses a textual drop-down menu item. Choose Turn on Camera Upload in Dropbox or Autosync Photos in SugarSync. Tip: Ignore the Photo Optimization option in SugarSync. It has reported issues on some devices. Step 4: Log In Browse to the Dropbox or SugarSync websites on the computer where you'd like to view your images seamlessly. Enter any login information if prompted to do so. Use the same login as you did creating the account. Tip: Ignore any prompts to download the respective PC applications for now. Ensure that you have some form of wireless connectivity active on the PC -- either WiFi or cellular network. Step 5: Snap a Pic Capture a test image on the smartphone by taking a photograph as you'd usually do. Wait a moment for a seamless upload to take place, and go back to your PC. Browse to the Photos tab within the SugarSync home page on the PC, or the Camera Uploads tab within Dropbox's home page on the PC. You'll see the image within the folder on the PC. Leave these settings as they are, and and in the future, every time you take a picture on your smartphone, it will upload when connected to a network. Then browse to the respective cloud provider's home page, log in, and the images will be available on the PC. Tip: The uploading of images from a smartphone uses data allowances set by your Internet Service Provider. This is usually not an issue using WiFi at home. However, it can be costly when roaming internationally. Step 6: See What You Can Do Play with the camera upload sharing settings from within the PC-based Web page. For example, right-click on Camera Uploads in Dropbox to invite others to the folder. Setting up Dropbox on a family member's computer allows you to instantaneously and seamlessly share vacation pictures -- before you get back. And that's the Last Mile. Want to Ask a Tech Question? Is there a piece of tech you'd like to know how to operate properly? Is there a gadget that's got you confounded? Please send your tech questions to me, and I'll try to answer as many as possible in this column. And use the Talkback feature below to add your comments! Patrick Nelson has been a professional writer since 1992. He was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson studied design at Hornsey Art School and wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism. His introduction to technology was as a nomadic talent scout in the eighties, where regular scrabbling around under hotel room beds was necessary to connect modems with alligator clips to hotel telephone wiring to get a fax out. He tasted down and dirty technology, and never looked back.

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TechNewsWorld: Linux Admin Tips, Tricks and Tools of the Trade

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Linux Admin Tips, Tricks and Tools of the Trade Feb 28th 2013, 13:00 "The key message I would give those who are looking at Linux or BSD instead of Windows is that although there is a bit of a learning curve with these operating systems, it is possible to start relatively small ...," said blogger Chris Travers. "Chances are that the small command line tools you start with will be used in ways you never thought possible. On these systems you can build your dreams." Here in the Linux community, most of us enjoy high-level debates about strategies and trends just as much as the next technology enthusiast does. At the end of the day, however, it seems safe to say that what we tend to relish most of all is a good ol' nuts-and-bolts discussion of the tools and tricks of the trade. So it was with great enthusiasm that Linux fans came upon a recent article in The Register entitled, "Which Linux admin tools and tricks would YOU stake your career on?" 'Let's Make a Grand List' "Over the years I've talked about some of the tools that make Linux easier for me," wrote author Trevor Pott. "Today I am making an appeal to El Reg's esteemed commentards: in the forums, please list your favourite resources for Linux noobs. "What forums, IRC channels, wikis, manpage repositories, configuration tools and so forth have made your lives easier?" Pott asked. "Let's put our heads together and make a grand list. Maybe together we can help the signal overcome the noise." Now, residents of the Linux blogosphere will surely be forgiven if they were among those who mistakenly filed earthquake reports, so loud were the thundering hooves of those who galloped forth to share their own suggestions. 'Read the Man Pages' "Become familiar with regex and save yourself some time and frustration," wrote Chris N. in The Register's forums, for example,even including a link to "an excellent gentle intro to this seemingly hard subject." Alternatively, "Rule #1: Read the man pages. Rule #2: Read the man pages," offered Steve Button. "This is SO key, but many newbies miss this. You should have man pages installed by default, and this is your best resource." Then again, "for troubleshooting networking issues there's nothing like a good tcpdump on a server imported into wireshark on a desktop for ease of viewing," suggested kbb. In no time at all the topic spread like the proverbial wildfire to Linux Girl's hangout-du-jour, the blogosphere's seedy Punchy Penguin Saloon. She whipped out her Quick Quotes Quill and took down as much as she could. The Beauty of Bash "Bash scripting and SSH will do just about anything we need done to any number of computers," began blogger Robert Pogson. "The example given in TFA is trivial," Pogson added, referring to Pott's description of problems that arise when junior admins try to clone CentOS virtual machines. "Just delete the persistent rules and be done with it before shutting down the model system. The MAC address can be specified on the command to start the copied machines. Create a directory of files named after the MAC addresses and you are good to go. "You can make human-readable link-names to those for all the user-friendliness you need," Pogson went on. "You can put in that directory any other details you need for a particular machine, like its name or what you want the machine to do. Another script in the machine takes the list of details via scp and does its thing. Simple. ... or you can just use LDAP and DHCP to tell the client all it needs to know." Bottom line: "Want a fancy GUI-tool? Be prepared to spend a lot of time scrolling or searching to do what a simple loop in a Bash script will do," he concluded. 'You Can Build Your Dreams' "One of the more unusual sets of tools I am working with right now is basically a conglomeration of PostgreSQL, SSH, and shell scripting," offered Chris Travers, a blogger who works on the LedgerSMB project. "One of the unusual things you can do with PostgreSQL is you can pass notifications on to listening processes," Travers explained. "In this way you can enter information into the database, and on commit it can trigger changes elsewhere on a near-real-time basis. "Those changes are likely to include, in our case, anything from cloning virtual machines to modifying firewalls on some or all machines, to reconfiguring various pieces of software," he noted. "All the rest of this is done with some lightweight Perl and Bash scripting, and it actually sounds far more complex than it is." By way of advice for those just starting out, "the key message I would give those who are looking at Linux or BSD instead of Windows is that although there is a bit of a learning curve with these operating systems, it is possible to start relatively small, and it is far easier to do anything reasonably advanced on Linux or BSD than it is on Windows," Travers concluded. Not only that, but "as you get better, chances are that the small command line tools you start with will be used in ways you never thought possible," he added. "On these systems you can build your dreams." 'Too Much of a Chaotic Mess' Last but not least, Slashdot blogger hairyfeet had a very different view. "The situation with the DEs and sound subsystem have turned me right off using Linux with home and SMB customers, and that is where my bread and butter lies," hairyfeet said. "I used to use Linux liveCDs for repair, but I was handed a FreeDOS-based disc filled with low-level diagnostic testing software a couple years back and haven't needed the LiveCDs -- which is just as well, as the last one I tried booting only had VESA for graphics and didn't like Realtek sound," he explained. "As far as Linux as an OS goes, it's just too much of a chaotic mess right now, too many things getting thrown out or broken," hairyfeet concluded. "Maybe in another decade things will settle down, but if the market keeps heading in its current direction, all we will have is glorified game consoles that will only run corporate-approved software, so it's not like we'll have to worry about it." Katherine Noyes has been writing from behind Linux Girl's cape since late 2007, but she knows how to be a reporter in real life, too. She's particularly interested in space, science, open source software and geeky things in general. You can also find her on Twitter and Google+.

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TechNewsWorld: Apple's Obsession With Simplicity Can Really Complicate Things

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Apple's Obsession With Simplicity Can Really Complicate Things Feb 28th 2013, 13:00 Much has been said about Apple's elegant, award-winning looks and its extremely user-friendly interfaces. Other features and functions, however, that might be high on the list of growing families with equally-growing data storage and streaming needs may be sacrificed at the altar of simplicity. Other tech companies are starting to satisfy those needs, so Apple may have to adapt. Apple makes powerful products that do complicated things very simply and easily, and are mostly intuitive. You don't need an owner's manual to figure out how to use most Apple products. Apple aggressively whittles down its products so they become the essence of the most important things they do. The floppy disk drive? Gone from the Macintosh before some customers were ready for it. The CD/DVD drive? Similarly gone from the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Even the buttons on the trackpad on the MacBooks were simplified by turning the entire trackpad into a button. Nice. Makes sense. Sometimes, though, Apple's design moves in hardware and software don't make sense. And worse, this all-consuming desire to simplify products -- to distill them to their core essence -- sometimes fails to create a product and a user experience that lives up to its potential. Long-time readers might be recoiling here: Whoa, wait, what's with the crazy talk? What's Samsung Up To? It started when I read a single sentence in the third paragraph of Wired's news story on the upcoming Samsung HomeSync Media Hub, which is basically an Android-based set-top box for your HDTV. The sentence? Samsung's streaming supports profiles for up to eight different people, allowing you to store your content privately or share it with the rest of the family. In addition to providing a potentially more usable set-top box than Apple TV -- primarily because it comes with on-board storage -- Samsung seems to recognize that households are made up of widely different people with different needs. Adults are not children, grandparents are dissimilar to their adult kids, teenagers are not children, and friends don't need to see everything. Let's put this another way: Wait, what? It's OK to have a single shared device that can be used with wildly different users? Privately? Reasonably securely? Back Up the Truck This little detail about user accounts on the HomeSync Media Hub sparked me to wonder if Apple truly understands the realities of its customers. And more importantly, why not? Perhaps its principles of simplicity and design get in the way. It can't be resources and ability. Apple has billions in the bank, access to the world, and wicked smart engineers. So Apple is either out of touch or woefully ignorant of household realities. I don't like either lines of thought, but they need to be explored. Here are some examples: Apple Has to Connect Your Credit Card to Your Apple ID to Make Everything "Seamless" First off, Apple creates an astoundingly fun and easy-to-use iPad, but fails to recognize how its own business partner developers will take advantage of its customers through in-app purchase schemes, particularly those targeted at children. Apple eventually made some changes to iOS that let parents turn off in-app purchasing -- and is settling a mediocre lawsuit -- but frankly, Apple's ability to communicate those controls to parents? It sucked then and it sucks now. In fact, my Amazon Kindle Fire is better in this regard. Sad, but true. How does this happen? By focusing so hard on the end goal of collecting hundreds of millions of credit card numbers, and accounts with Apple Ids, and easy ways to buy apps and media, Apple makes it simple -- but forgets that its customers don't live in simple, static situations. The Shareable iPad That's Really Only Good for One Person Apple's promotes the iPad as a great mobile device, but it has no clue as to how much damage a family member or friend could do with such a device. Kids want to play with them, and you want to share them with friends -- maybe even just to play music, a video, or surf the web -- and boom: Reminders is showing off your dirty laundry. Of course, you can turn this stuff off, but there's tons of private or business-related content on your iPad that's hard to protect. The built-in Mail client works great, except you can't lock it down. In a world where a guy can get fired for the wrong tweet, built-in Twitter integration in an iPad is a nightmare waiting to come to life. It virtually guarantees that you have a wonderful device that you can't really share with others. The more you use your iPad, the worse this becomes. All Apple has to do is create a method for locking down sensitive apps but enabling all others. You could even create multiple user accounts. But no, that would not be simple enough. That could get in the way of enjoying the iPad. What about this: Hand my phone to a crying kid on a plane? No way. One deleted email or calendar event could wreak havoc with my job. With Apple, locking anything down in iOS is mostly an all-or-nothing prospect. Apple TV Loses Its Hard Drive and "Evolves" Into a Puck Meanwhile, there's the Apple TV. It started out with a hard drive, but to push the cost down and make it simpler, Apple got rid of user-manageable storage in favor of a streaming media device. As if everyone lives in California connected to super-fast and super-reliable Internet with perfect WiFi routers. Basically, the Apple TV of today requires a constant WiFi connection to function. Want to store a movie or two on it to watch? Photos? Can't. You have to stream them from a connected Mac, or worse, from iCloud, as if I want to store thousands upon thousands of photos in the cloud in a way that's barely secure if even private. Since many households are becoming MacBook as well as iPad-centric -- mobile oriented -- your streaming Mac-to-Apple TV scheme disappears the moment you walk out of the house with your MacBook in your bag. If you bought some content from Apple, you can stream it from Apple's servers in the sky. That's nice, but it's not a replacement for a small measure of control. Worse, Apple's love affair with simplicity means you can't even add your own onboard storage through a thumb drive or memory card. Samsung, on the other hand, seems to realize that people might like to have a device on which they can store media. Surprise: Support profiles for up to eight different people, letting the consumer decide what to share with other family members. Let's see: Do we really want a young child watching Homeland? With the Apple TV, it's right there and hard to hide. How about South Park? Looks like a kid-friendly cartoon, does it not? Speaking of cartoons, does an adult really want to navigate through a bunch of kid content to find the adult stuff? Dusting Off the First-Generation Apple TV I have an old 40 GB first generation Apple TV. I connected it to a 24-inch Samsung HDTV that I placed on a shelf in my house for the sole purpose of using it as a live photo slideshow, so that friends and family can see thousands of photos of all of us exploring our world and getting out and about in it. It's like a photo album in a frame. It's a reminder of who we are as a family, of how we like to live our life and what's really important. The first-generation Apple TV works great for something like this, but the newer Apple TVs? They're ripe for connection problems with our WiFi router and for losing a connection to iTunes on a MacBook. While on the subject of the MacBook; not only does it have to be powered on, but iTunes has to be launched. Even then, a couple of times a month the wireless signals get crossed and confused, and I have to unplug things, restart, log out and log back in to get them talking to each other. How simple is that? Now that many households are almost entirely mobile -- MacBooks, iPads, iPhones -- using an Apple TV to stream content from an Apple ID connected device becomes vastly less simple than on-board storage. Where's the centralization in a household in this situation? With an iMac or a Mac mini? Is that Apple's answer? iCloud? Oh man, like I want to upload 50 GB -- and growing -- of family movies to iCloud and be locked into specific access over which I truly have little control. Some Humble Suggestions The problem is that the answer to these basic sorts of needs is simplicity in itself. The iPad just needs a PIN-based method for securing apps. Dump them in a protected folder. Lock them up individually. Provide the ability to have a "guest" mode. For a company with Apple's resources, none of this should be hard. The Apple TV? Let smart users add on-board storage. Offer a "pro" model. Worse yet, I'm wondering how Apple is not seeing its consumer base become increasingly mobile . . . and yet doesn't see a need for a central media storage system? The Apple TV could easily be a place where iPhone-packing family members store videos and photos; a place that remains constant no matter where in the world the family's biggest MacBook is working. I would drool over just such an Apple TV, with 1 TB of on-board storage. I would happily pay more than $99 for it, too. It's true that Samsung's product is physically not as simple as an Apple device. But when it comes time to match it up with a household, might it require less family gymnastics to utilize? I am a long way from wanting to deal with the other vagaries of an Android existence, but as these sorts of gaps remain unplugged and seemingly ignored, I start to wonder if Apple even recognizes them. Does the secrecy of Apple's Cupertino campus mean that it can't see what its best and most loyal customers need? MacNewsWorld columnist Chris Maxcer has been writing about the tech industry since the birth of the email newsletter, and he still remembers the clacking Mac keyboards from high school -- Apple's seed-planting strategy at work. While he enjoys elegant gear and sublime tech, there's something to be said for turning it all off -- or most of it -- to go outside. To catch him, take a "firstnamelastname" guess at WickedCoolBite.com.

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: TSMC likely to gain from new Samsung products

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TSMC likely to gain from new Samsung products Feb 28th 2013, 09:49 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is likely to benefit from orders for new processors to be used in Samsung Electronics Co's next generation of Galaxy smartphones, JPMorgan Securities said on Monday. Similar to its previous Galaxy S3, Samsung is expected to adopt multiple solutions for the application processors and baseband chips in its new Galaxy S4, which will be unveiled in New York on March 14, JPMorgan said in a note to clients. For the US version of the S4, Samsung will probably use Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, which is manufactured using TSMC's 28-nanometer (nm) process technology, the brokerage said. However, the South Korean electronics giant may use its in-house eight-core processor for the S4 models in Europe, JPMorgan said. STRONG OUTLOOKTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is likely to benefit from orders for new processors to be used in Samsung Electronics Co's next generation of Galaxy smartphones, JPMorgan Securities said on Monday. Similar to its previous Galaxy S3, Samsung is expected to adopt multiple solutions for the application processors and baseband chips in its new Galaxy S4, which will be unveiled in New York on March 14, JPMorgan said in a note to clients. For the US version of the S4, Samsung will probably use Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, which is manufactured using TSMC's 28-nanometer (nm) process technology, the brokerage said. However, the South Korean electronics giant may use its in-house eight-core processor for the S4 models in Europe, JPMorgan said. STRONG OUTLOOK "We see Samsung's switch to Qualcomm for its US shipments as positive for the semiconductor sector," Rick Hsu (徐緯成), a Taipei-based analyst at JPMorgan, wrote in the note. "We believe TSMC is enjoying the extra benefits — a reason why its first-quarter revenue is expected to be stronger than seasonally expected," he said. At an investor meeting last month, TSMC forecast its first-quarter sales would be between NT$127 billion (US$4.28 billion) and NT$129 billion, changing little from the previous quarter despite coming during the high-tech sector's slow season. TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said the 28nm process will serve as the driving force behind the company's sales growth for this year, with production of 28nm process chips set to triple from a year earlier. ONLY TWO Hsu said that TSMC, along with Samsung, are two of the few foundries capable of operating the 28nm process commercially, meaning that extra demand from Qualcomm could take away capacity for other customers. As a result, he believes TSMC's revenue growth in the second quarter would likely increase by less than 10 percent, which will be lower than the seasonal level, since the extra 28nm orders from Qualcomm will already be reflected in first quarter sales. ADDED BENEFITS Hsu also said he expected the extra 28nm orders would benefit integrated circuit packaging and testing service providers — including Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE. 日月光半導體) and Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) — beginning in the second quarter. TSMC shares were down 0.48 percent to NT$104.5 as of 12:09pm in Taipei trading yesterday. ASE shares had dropped 0.61 percent to NT$24.5 and SPIL shares were down 0.32 percent to NT$31.35. http://www.taipeitimes.com "We see Samsung's switch to Qualcomm for its US shipments as positive for the semiconductor sector," Rick Hsu (徐緯成), a Taipei-based analyst at JPMorgan, wrote in the note. "We believe TSMC is enjoying the extra benefits — a reason why its first-quarter revenue is expected to be stronger than seasonally expected," he said. At an investor meeting last month, TSMC forecast its first-quarter sales would be between NT$127 billion (US$4.28 billion) and NT$129 billion, changing little from the previous quarter despite coming during the high-tech sector's slow season. TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said the 28nm process will serve as the driving force behind the company's sales growth for this year, with production of 28nm process chips set to triple from a year earlier. ONLY TWO Hsu said that TSMC, along with Samsung, are two of the few foundries capable of operating the 28nm process commercially, meaning that extra demand from Qualcomm could take away capacity for other customers. As a result, he believes TSMC's revenue growth in the second quarter would likely increase by less than 10 percent, which will be lower than the seasonal level, since the extra 28nm orders from Qualcomm will already be reflected in first quarter sales. ADDED BENEFITS Hsu also said he expected the extra 28nm orders would benefit integrated circuit packaging and testing service providers — including Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE. 日月光半導體) and Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) — beginning in the second quarter. TSMC shares were down 0.48 percent to NT$104.5 as of 12:09pm in Taipei trading yesterday. ASE shares had dropped 0.61 percent to NT$24.5 and SPIL shares were down 0.32 percent to NT$31.35. http://www.taipeitimes.com

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: [Update: Confirmed] HTC May Upgrade One X, One X+, One S, And Butterfly To Sense 5 UI

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[Update: Confirmed] HTC May Upgrade One X, One X+, One S, And Butterfly To Sense 5 UI Feb 28th 2013, 09:53 Update: After reaching out to HTC, we've confirmed that the statement on Facebook does in fact mean that the mentioned devices - the HTC One X, X+, S, and Butterfly - will be receiving Sense 5 in a future software update. Some features of Sense 5, though, will not be included, as they depend on specific hardware found in the HTC One. There's good news out of Facebook tonight, at least if you don't intend to upgrade to HTC's latest and greatest hardware. In answer to an Israeli user's question about upgrades to the shiny new Sense 5 Android interface (seen only on the HTC One so far), the official HTC Facebook account stated that it intended to upgrade most of the company's later high-end devices, specifically the One X and X+, One S, and the Butterfly. General merriment quickly followed. But hold your horses, HTC devotees: the full response is below. HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. Also, note that some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates. Suspicious readers will note that the words "Sense 5" don't appear anywhere in that statement. While it would be pretty dodgy of HTC to respond to a question about Sense 5 with a vague affirmation of updates in the general sense, they have been known to reserve their latest UI enhancements for flagship models, even while upgrading older devices to new versions of the Android OS underneath. (See Sense 3.6 for an example.) There's also a distinct lack of high-end phones like the EVO 4G LTE and the DROID DNA, but since they're American exclusives, their absence in the above answer isn't surprising. We've emailed HTC for confirmation of the updates, and will amend this story when we receive a response. http://www.androidpolice.com

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: Ready 4 the Show? The Next GALAXY Coming Up!

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Ready 4 the Show? The Next GALAXY Coming Up! Feb 28th 2013, 09:50 Winter is finishing, spring is in the air, and with it comes the event that people have been waiting for; the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2013! What's in store? Well, Samsung Tomorrow lets you take a sneak peek with this year's invitation card. So open the box and get ready to meet the next GALAXY! - See more at: http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/?p=22550#sthash.lJfbbvPX.dpuf

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months

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HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months Feb 28th 2013, 09:51 HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. Also, note that some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates.

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: "Kyivstar" produces its own version of the browser Opera Mini

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"Kyivstar" produces its own version of the browser Opera Mini Feb 28th 2013, 09:53 Ukrainian mobile operator "Kyivstar" announced the launch of its customers with a special version of the mobile Internet browser Opera Mini. According to the company, has the potential browser Opera Mini has become the most popular among Ukrainian users of mobile devices. Releasing Opera Mini under its own brand, "Kyivstar" provides its customers with a more comfortable web surfing, and free access to popular sites.

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: Tele2, MTS signed an agreement for national roaming

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Tele2, MTS signed an agreement for national roaming Feb 28th 2013, 09:52 The mobile operator Tele2 announced the continued expansion of the boundaries of national roaming by signing an agreement with MTS to open roaming services to subscribers throughout the Tele2 Russia's MTS. Now mobile services available to subscribers Tele2 at MTS, Beeline, Megafon, SMARTS and Utel. Thus, Tele2 became the first company in Russia, providing national roaming services in the largest mobile network of the country at the same price - 9.45 rubles per minute. National roaming allows subscribers Tele2 use voice communication, service multimedia and text messaging, high-speed mobile Internet and other popular services in the networks of roaming partners of the operator on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Logging on to the network partner automatically. If desired, the subscriber can select a network operator, whose services are going to use it in manual mode. The cost per call minute is 9.45 rubles, outgoing SMS - 4,5 rubles for one message. Price data services is 25 rubles per megabyte.

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: Galaxy S IV to have a dotted back?

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Galaxy S IV to have a dotted back? Feb 28th 2013, 09:34 Samsung start to tease the new Galaxy S IV over their social media channels. The next Galaxy S is one of the biggest android happenings of the year. This year Samsung will announce the Galaxy S IV in New York! The last tweet by SamsungMobile hinted on some dotted background and some huge campaign on Times Square in New York city. http://www.sammobile.com

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: SamMobile [MWC 2013] Samsung Galaxy Grand

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: Hands-on – Samsung Galaxy Grand DUOS

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Hands-on – Samsung Galaxy Grand DUOS Feb 28th 2013, 09:39 Samsung announced the Galaxy Grand a couple of months ago. Today we go hands-on with the Galaxy Grand DUOS. We must say the Galaxy Grand feels really nice in the hand and we can say if you own a Galaxy S III or Note 2 the Galaxy S IV is the perfect size. The Galaxy Grand uses a 5″ display and 8 megapixel camera with a 1.2 dual core processor. Below a video of the Galaxy Grand DUOS. Remember the Galaxy S IV is rumoured to have a 5″ screen. When we compared the leaked dimensions information of the Galaxy S IV with the Galaxy Grand DUOS  the Galaxy S IV is smaller than the Galaxy Grand which is better. http://www.sammobile.com/2013/02/28/hands-on-samsung-galaxy-grand-duos/

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: SamMobile [MWC 2013] Samsung KNOX

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