SMS

Serious new denial-of-service attack against certain Nokia phones surfaces

Paul Mah — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:05:38 -0500

A new exploit involving text messages was demonstrated this week against several models of Nokia mobile phones. According to researcher Tobias Engel, of the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, a specially formatted text message, or SMS could be sent to silently crash the SMS inboxes of phones running versions 8 through 9.2 of the Symbian operating systems. This problem also affects the Nokia Series 60 phone versions 2.6 through 3.1, as well as Sony Ericsson's UiQ.

Even powering off and on the victimized phone won't stop or reset the effects of the attack, which ranges from being unable to receive new SMSs to general phone instability. Indeed, the malicious messages do not trigger any warning, and are in effect invisible. This also means that once received, users will not be able to locate and delete these messages.

On the bright side, Engel noted, "At least it is not possible to steal user data from the phones or make calls at other people's expense. But it shows again that mobile phones are just computers which are connected to the network all the time."

Finally, Engel pointed out that phone manufacturers and network operators should create ways to quickly deploy new firmware that fixes bugs to phones that is free of charge to the end-user. "Symbian Update" anyone? No firmware update or workaround is available at this point.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article from DarkReading
- check out this video from YouTube

Carriers respond to uproar over price of text messages

Paul Mah — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:31:06 -0500

Remember the report we had a few months back about the increasing cost of text messaging? Well, it appears that Senator Herb Kohl sent a letter last month to the heads of the four largest wireless carriers in the United States on precisely this matter. In his letter, Kohl noted that at 160 characters per message, text messages are very small and costs little to transmit. Referring to the increasing prices for text messages, he wrote "What is particularly alarming about this industry-wide rate increase is that it does not appear to be justified by rising costs in delivering text messages."

T-Mobile didn't agree with the senator's assessment on pricing though, with president and CEO Robert Dotson contesting that the prices for text messages have actually fallen. This is because the majority of text messages are purchased as part of texting packages, which have fallen by half. Well, the validity of his claims will probably be revealed in a court of law, eventually--given the multiple lawsuits filed over the last few months over this.

For more information about the story:
- check out the article at InformationWeek

Text messaging used to avoid taking mobile calls

Paul Mah — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:28:47 -0400

CNET News.com ran a story on teens are pushing parents to adopt text messaging to avoid having to converse on a mobile phone. The idea is to just let a parents' call go unanswered before shooting a text message over to inquire about the purpose of the missed call. The reason this happens? "Teens are pushing their parents to go on mobile because they don't really want to communicate with them directly," says Stephen Saiz, manager of consumer insight and strategy of the Walt Disney Internet Group's North American mobile division.

When reading the source article, I can't help but wonder just how many adults pull this on work-related matters as well. Meetings or conference calls for example, could be feigned when selectively missing calls from certain parties. Have you done something like this before? What were the circumstances leading to it?

For more on teens using text messaging to avoid calls:
- check out this article from CNET News.com

Citi lets customers in the Philippines make text message credit card purchases

Paul Mah — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:04:25 -0400

Citi Mobile is allowing users to authorize credit card transactions by texting or calling merchants rather than the traditional approach of swiping their credit cards. Already, the bank has deals with retailers, as well as restaurants such as McDonald's, to allow users to remotely pay for their goods and have them delivered. Other services, such as the purchase of Internet access time and paying of utility bills via their handsets, are also possible.

The heavy use of SMS in the Philippines makes them an ideal candidate for a text messaging-based service. Unlike the United States, text messaging costs just under $0.02 per message, and is much cheaper than prepaid voice minutes. In fact, the average usage of text messages is now 12-15 SMS per day, according to Citi. Mobile commerce might actually be upon us at long last.

For more on Citi's plan for text messaging-based payments:
- check out the Finextra article

Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.1

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:59:58 -0400

While Windows Mobile 6.1's existence hasn't exactly been kept secret, it's still nice to see it out in the open: During his CTIA keynote yesterday, Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices Robert Bach (pictured above, more photos here), officially announced the coming update to the company's mobile operating system. Among the improvements that you can expect are a more streamlined home screen, threaded SMS and easier device setup. And no, you won't have to buy a new device or resort to hackery to get Windows Mobile 6.1 in your pocket: Carriers like Alltel, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile and device manufacturers including HTC, Samsung, Motorola and Pantech have announced that there will be an officially-supported upgrade path for many of their most popular devices. This is good news for owners of handsets such as the AT&T Tilt, the Sprint Mogul and the Pantech Duo, all of which will see upgrades starting this quarter.

For more on the upgrade:
- see this Engadget article

SMS for all

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

It's like the old, old joke: "Two years ago I couldn't spell SMS -- now I can't live without it." Short Message Service (SMS) has progressed rapidly from option to must-have for many cell phone users. ABI Research says that 500 million handsets with touchscreens will ship by 2010, and on those half-billion handsets will ride much of the continuing SMS boom. The conclusion seems clear: customers want easy-to-use text-based applications like SMS and mobile group software. The applications that give users new ways to keep in touch will win new customers to new services. It's a win-win future.

For more on the continuing rise of SMS:
- read the whole story at WirelessWeek

GPhone strategy to trump iPhone?

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

There are product strategies, and then there are product strategies. Apple, for instance, has always gone the high-tech, high-price route. While still wrapped in secrecy, there is an indication that the long-rumored Google phone will take another tack. Google recently bought Jaiku, a Scandinavian holder of important SMS patents and the industry rumor mill now has Google focusing on a low-cost, low-tech strategy for maximum market penetration. How will the Google Phone and Google's 700 MHz plans mesh? We don't know, but it will pay to keep an eye on the search behemoth and its wireless plans.

For more on a possible Google phone strategy:
- read the informed prognostication at NewsFactor

SMS emergency warning at St. John's

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

The echoes were eerie and dangerous: a gunman entered a college campus. This time, though, students, faculty, and staff were warned by a text-message emergency warning system that many subscribed to. With full notification and quick action, the gunman was soon apprehended with no shots having been fired and no injuries. More and more institutions are now using text messaging for emergency notification, and it's being employed by a growing number of emergency first responders as well. How is your emergency notification system designed? Perhaps it's time to look at text messaging…

For more on the St.John's University emergency notification:
- read the complete incident account at eWeek

Phones finding phones

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

A new service for GPS-enabled phones will allow registered phones to find one another via SMS-based functionality and a free application. Vito FindMe, the no-cost application for Windows Mobile devices with GPS built in, allows registered users to alert one another with location information when queried. Vito FindMe doesn't have all of the features of the Sprint/loopt service, but it's free and doesn't require service from any particular provider.

For more on FindMe:
- see this press release
- read the whole story at eWeek

CallWave quiets untimely ringing

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

It never fails--a cell call comes in at the worst possible time. You don't want the phone to disturb others in the theater, movie theater, meeting, church service, or other quiet place, but you don't want to miss critical calls, either. Enter CallWave, which converts voice messages to text messages and sends them to your phone. Just make sure the announcement for SMS is set to "vibrate," and you're good to go.

For more on CallWave:
Read the product article at Wired.com