| Moto G may be heading to Verizon in early January for a price that's right Dec 31st 2013, 22:39, by Chris Smith 
Motorola's hit mid-range handset, the Moto G, could be arriving on the Verizon network as soon as January 9, according to leaked photos and documents. The hit device is currently available off contract for $179 (8GB) or $199 (16GB), but leaked Verizon packaging posted by a Google+ user on Tuesday, suggests it'll be even cheaper. The user, Josue Joseph, says it "looks like" the device will be sold for just $100 off contract, with incentives to sign up for talk and data plans with the Big Red network. A leaked screenshot, reportedly from Best Buy's inventory, shows the "Street Date" of January 9, which, for those keeping score at home, is a little over a week away. It's a quad-core stealThe Moto G arrived last month packing a 4.5-inch, 1280 x 720 display and boasts a 329ppi, (which is a higher resolution than the iPhone 5S) and a 5-megapixel camera. Under the bonnet there's a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM. It weight in at 143g and is 11.6mm thick. The device earned an impressive 4.5 starts in a recent TechRadar review to earn its place as one of our highest rated smartphones of 2013. That's worth $100 of anyone's money...        |  | Report: NSA has a 100 per cent success rate hacking into iPhones Dec 31st 2013, 20:37, by Chris Smith 
The NSA has a perfect record when hacking into Apple iPhones and planting spyware to intercept communications, according to a troubling new report on Tuesday. Leaked internal documents, published by German magazine Der Spiegel, have revealed a program called DROPOUTJEEP, which intercepts voicemails, track messages and remotely pull files from the device. The spyware also provides details from the device's contact list, can remotely activate the microphone and camera and can track the smartphone's location using cell tower data. According to the report, first reported in the US by The Daily Dot, the bug must be physically implanted, but a remotely-installed version is apparently on the way. That means the NSA could be rerouting iPhone shipments to install the spyware manually (something it is believed to have done with other electronic devices) before sending them on to the unsuspecting user. Apple: We know nothingPresenting the findings at the Chaos Communication Conference in Hamburg, security researcher Jacob Appelbaum questioned the NSA's methods and raised suspicions that Apple, may have been in on it. He said: "Either [the NSA] have a huge collection of exploits that work against Apple products, meaning they are hoarding information about critical systems that American companies produce, and sabotaging them, or Apple sabotaged it themselves." "Do you think Apple helped them with that? I hope Apple will clarify that," he added. For its part Apple released a statement denying all knowledge of the program and said it is taking steps to ensure customers from unsolicited personal intrusion. The company wrote: "Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers' privacy and security. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements. Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple's industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who's behind them." Meanwhile, you can view Appelbaum's presentation in the video clip below. YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=b0w36GAyZIAAs 2013 comes to a close it appears the revelations, which dominated the headlines for much of the year, aren't going anywhere. It seems this story could get a lot worse before it gets any better.        | | Sony Windows Phone could land in the middle of 2014 Dec 31st 2013, 20:08, by Michael Rougeau 
Sony has been making exclusively Android phones for about four years, but soon it could branch out into Windows Phone as well. A report from tech news site The Information says that Sony is prepping a Windows Phone handset to launch in the middle of 2014. The report says Microsoft is courting Sony to help boost Windows Phone business as the OS continues to struggle against Android and iOS. Microsoft has allegedly also approached ZTE and others, going as far as cutting the software licensing fees it normally chargers device makers. Marking timeZTE has dabbled in Windows Phone in the past, but Microsoft is hoping they and other will do more than dabble, according to The Information. The site apparently got their information from "a person who was involved in the talks and a person briefed about the device." Sony was alleged to be sizing up a Windows Phone launch as far back at least as 2012, though as yet nothing concrete has come of it. In mid 2013 Windows Phone had achieved over 5 percent of the total smartphone market, and was reportedly growing at a faster rate than Android.        | | Nokia ends 2013 with 92% of Windows Phone market Dec 31st 2013, 18:00, by Alex Hamilton 
AdDuplex has recently supplied an early look at their final Windows Phone market data for 2013, giving the public a good look at the key statistics of Microsoft's smartphone platform's OEM and device makeup. The figures show, as they have all year, that Nokia continues to control the lion's share of Windows Phone hardware. The company has ended the month up a few points at 92.1 per cent (as a calculation of usage share, performed by AdDuplex). As well as this, the Lumia 520 handset continues to dominate others in its family, with a new high of 39.3 per cent market share. Moreover, Windows Phone 8 grew against the now-fading Windows 7 system, recording a share of 78.3 per cent. Technology eliteIn layman's terms, Nokia won Windows Phone's 2013, using the Lumia 520 as its weapon of choice. Paul Thurrott, co-host of Windows Weekly, said: "Worldwide, only the Lumia 920 makes the top 10 list for usage among all Windows Phone handsets, and if you look just at Windows Phone 8 handsets, only two high-end devices make the list: The Lumia 920 and the 925. In the US, there are three: The Lumia 920, 928, and 1020. All the rest are new low-end devices or old devices. The Lumia 1520 doesn't appear anywhere in this report." This means that the sales momentum boasted by Windows Phone comes at the cost of per-unit revenue. Margin pressure increases at lower price points. Indeed, the list of sacrifices that had to be made to produce the Lumia 520 were not small. As we enter 2014, and a year which could see more entrants into the Windows Phone marker, it's important to note that rising unit volume has come at a cost to Nokia. The Lumia 1020 is a hit among a selection of the technology elite, but not many others. It begs the question of whether a company can build a mobile empire on low-end phones alone.        | | Sprint making big consolidation moves for 2014 Dec 31st 2013, 17:00, by Alex Hamilton 
Six months ago Sprint decommissioned and shut down its Nextel push-to-talk network. While the service is dead, Sprint appears to have other plans for the brand. According to a source from Techcrunch, Sprint wants to reintroduce Nextel again as a brand for business services. This is apparently part of a larger branding overhaul coming in the first quarter of 2014 in which Sprint plans to launch a new prepaid service: Sprint Freedom. If the source information is accurate it points towards Sprint raising its game to target businesses. It also fits with the idea of the company (now owned by Japan's SoftBank) continuing its march into consolidation, shoring up to present a more competitive challenge to AT&T and Verizon. ContentiousThe Nextel service will be part of a bigger push to court businesses, being a "premium" offering consisting of the 4G fixed and mobile broadband services. Another part of the plan, says the source, concerns Sprint's prepaid businesses Virgin Mobile and Boost. They will be merged into a single service named "Sprint Freedom". It's not entirely clear at this time but it seems that this could mean the scrapping of the two existing brands. While these plans may sound like logical consolidation moves, the question will be whether Sprint will manage to juggle all the change without dropping anything or anyone in the process. In the meantime, it is also not clear how a service called Sprint Freedom would sit alongside other services also called "Freedom" — such as Sprint's international calling plans, not to mention the Freedom Pop "free" wireless service that is a wholesale customer on Sprint's network. "It's been a contentious issue for many," the source said of the internal response to the changes.        | | Department for Transport invests in pothole smartphone app Dec 31st 2013, 16:00, by Alex Hamilton 
The British government has thrown its weight behind a smartphone app that lets users report potholes to their local councils. The Department for Transport (DfT) has now pledged £30,000 ($50,000, $AU55,000) to enable CTC, the UK's national cycling charity, to develop an Android version of the app and revamp its website to make the system more consumer friendly for road users. The money comes as part of a £5.8 billion ($9.5 billion, $AU10.75 billion) additional spend on highways announced in the summer. Fill that Hole has been available to iPhone users since 2010. It was originally developed for cyclists, who can receive serious injuries from accidents caused by potholes in the road. The new Android app will boost the number of potential users to over 26 million according to the DfT. It is expected to be ready in February, at the start of 'pothole season' when the winter damage to roads is at its greatest. Easy reporting"The government is serious about tackling potholes. At best they are an irritation but at worst they can damage vehicles and pose a serious danger to cyclists. That is why we want people to tell councils where to find them so they can fill them in. This app means more people are going to be able to report potholes more easily," said Roads Minister Robert Goodwill. Support for the app comes as more local authorities adopt new government guidelines which urge councils to plan extensive maintenance well in advance. This is rather than years of costly 'patching' as potholes appear. In the past year around £23.8 million ($39 million, AU$44 million) was paid in compensation by local authorities across England due to the poor condition of their roads according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance. CTC chief executive Gordon Seabright said that the partnership with the Department for Transport will enable the charity to provide its free service to many more cyclists and road users.        | |
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