Cricket / Leap Launches First Contract Free iPhone 4S and iPhone 4.

Cricket / Leap Launches First Contract Free iPhone http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Pre-paid smartphones market (and other phones) is a fast-growing field dominated by Google's (GOOG) Android based phones. I just ordered a contract less Google Galaxy Nexus to be my one of the three phones.
But looks like Apple too will be entering the contract less pre paid market through Cricket network owned by Leap Wireless (LEAP). Leap / Cricket is the sixth US carrier to get iPhone. Cricket customers or would be customers in US will be able to get the country's first pre-paid iPhone beginning on June 22. Pre-sales will begin online June 15. But be prepared to pay nearly full price for the device, starting with $500 for the 16 gigabyte iPhone 4S or $400 for the two-year-old iPhone 4.
Verizon, Sprint and AT&T charges up front fee of $200 for the 16 GB iPhone 4S and $100 for the iPhone 4. I paid $399 for the Google Galaxy Nexus. I will be using it with an existing contract.
Cricket / Leap was very happy get iPhone on their shelves;

 "Our customers want the best products available and we are excited to bring iPhone to our pre-paid consumers with an industry leading $55 per-month service plan, Launching iPhone is a major milestone for us and we are proud to offer iPhone customers attractive nationwide coverage, a robust 3G data network and a value-packed, no-contract plan." said Doug Hutcheson, president and chief executive officer, Leap Wireless International, Inc..

The Cricket's iPhone will be contract-free and will cost $55 a month, for unlimited talk and text. There is also a sort of "unlimited data," which will start slowing down after monthly usage reaches 2.3 GB.

Cricket is estimating ($70 - $80 month) average iPhone customer under contract to pay pay $2,775 over the course of two years, which includes the cost of the device, $200 or $100. Cricket might attract users with it's estimated cost of $1719 over the same period, which is actually more than $1000 less.
But the problem will be the coverage. If the coverage that iPhone supports increases, customers will certainly follow.
Press Release

Absinthe 2.0, iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak For iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch Released

Absinthe 2.0 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

If you have been waiting for the iOS 5.1.X jailbreaks, wait no longer. The Chronic Dev Team have released Absinthe 2.0, a jailbreaking tool most iDevices running the latest iOS 5.1.1 update, including the new iPad. Another important feature of this jailbreak is, it is untethered, so users can reboot their devices and still find the jailbreak present.
The new jailbreaking tool, Absinthe 2.0 can jailbreak all iPhones from the iPhone 3GS onward, as well as third- and fourth-generation iPod touch devices and all iPads with the exception of the latest 16GB iPad 2. Support for this device is planned and should be available soon.



Even the process of jailbreaking has become simpler. If you want to jailbreak a device, connect it to your PC/MAC, and backup the device using iTunes ( right clicking on your device name under the Devices menu and select "Back Up").
With the backup is safely accomplished, you need to wipe your iDevice; (Settings >General > Reset >Erase all Content and Settings).
 Now bring up the Absinthe 2.0 for your platform and activate "Jailbreak" and wait.
Once the app and your device go through the process and jailbreak is completed, you need to return to iTunes and restore from the backup you made earlier. (Right click on your device under the Devices menu in the left panel of iTunes and select "Restore from Back Up", make sure to select the current backup.

Absinthe 2.0 could be found from the links below:

    Windows
    OS X
    Linux

Verizon Wireless Unlimited Data Plans, An Official Statement.

Verizon Wireless Unlimited Data Plans, http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Verizon has released an official statement regarding the CFO statement regarding the end of Unlimited Data plans for smartphones and tablets

As we have stated publicly, Verizon Wireless has been evaluating its pricing structure for some time.  Customers have told us that they want to share data, similar to how they share minutes today.  We are working on plans to provide customers with that option and will introduce new plans later this year. When the new options are introduced, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to our customers purchasing handsets and signing a new contract. Customers who choose to purchase phones at full retail price and are currently on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan. The same pricing and policies will apply to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones. We will share specific details of the plans well in advance of their introduction so customers will have time to evaluate the plans and make the best decisions for their wireless service.  It is our goal and commitment to continue to provide customers with the same high value service they have come to expect from Verizon Wireless.

Via Verizon

Microsoft Wins Ruling Against Motorola's Android Phones

Microsoft Wins Ruling Against Motorola's Android Phones http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

A U.S. ITC judge found that Motorola Mobility has infringed on a patent covering a program called ActiveSync by Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft. According to sources, ActiveSync lets users share meeting requests among a group. The same Judge ruled Six other patents involved in the same case were not violated.

Of course Motorola Mobility was dissapointed by the ruling and have said “Motorola Mobility will not experience any impact in the near term,” in an email conversation. The ruling will force Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) to make changes to their phone based on Google's (GOOG) Android-based mobile phones in order to have them on US shelves.
The phone affected are Droid 2, Droid X, i1, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip, Charm and Clip models. That is basically major phones sold by Motorola. Motorola also have said that they are exploring all avenues, including an appeal.
Microsoft (MSFT), of course wants Motorola to buy a license.

Via Bloomberg

SIP Express Router SER History, So far!

SIP Express Router SER History, So far! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

SER was our earliest Open Source SIP experience. It is hard to believe that SER is 10+ years. SER and Free SIP account  Free SIP Account Providers List 2013 were our first iptel.org experience. Since then SER has gone on a long trip and there are two main forks, Kamailio (IPTEL.org and SIP-ROUTER.org project) and OpenSIPS.
We are grateful to all those who are involved and extra 'like' goes to IPTEL for Free SIP account service.
Follow the link after the jump to read more about 10 years of SER.

 10 Years of SER

How HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE, Avoid Infringement On Apple Patents

How HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE, Avoid Infringement On Apple Patents http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

The U.S. versions of HTC’s phones, The HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE, and any newer Android phones no longer will provide users with “data tapping” functionality, which provides a list of possible actions when tapped on a link, such as a phone number or an emails address. Now when a user tap on those links, HTC phones will immediately takes you to a predetermined action. Tap on a phone number, the dialer will be activated. Tap on an email address, email app will be activated. An options menu will allow users choose the default action to take when they tap on afore mentiond data.
I think I will like that more than having to go through a menu everytime I tap on a phone number, Usually, it is to call or save the number to my contacts. Like wise when I tap on an email address I most likely want to send an email.

So it looks like the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE, are held at U.S. Customs, if these corrections by pass the infringement on Apple patents. I hope they do, as we believe, patents suck, when they are used to control Markets.
Read more at Washington Post

SIP Fundamentals (Video)

SIP Fundamentals http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
We have a lot of users coming here for Free SIP Accounts Free SIP Account Providers 2013 and SIP providers.  We plan to streamline those posts to better serve our users in the future. In the meantime we decided to bring about a video about Fundamentals of SIP, Session initiation Protocol

VoIP Hopper, A VoIP Security Testing Tool

VoIP Hopper http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

VoIP Hopper is intended for network engineers, VoIP administrators, and professional security testers to assess the security of networks they have permission to test / assess. Even though VoIP Hopper is a VoIP infrastructure security testing tool, it could effectively be used to test the security status of VLANs as well.

The tool is GPLv3 licensed  and is written in C. One needs a Linux based system, a C compiler and good old libpcap to make and run. The tool is designed to run a VLAN Hop into the Voice VLAN on targeted Ethernet switches. VoIP Hopper mimics an IP Phone, in Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, and Alcatel-Lucent environments.  IP Phone emulation requires discovery of the correct 12 bit Voice VLAN ID (VVID) used by the IP Phones and is accomplished via multiple protocol discovery methods (CDP, DHCP, LLDP-MED, 802.1q ARP). Once the initial stem is accomplished, VoIP Hopper creates a virtual VoIP Ethernet interface on the OS.  It then inserts a spoofed 4-byte 802.1q vlan header containing the 12 bit VVID into a spoofed DHCP request.  Once it receives an IP address in the VoIP VLAN subnet, all subsequent Ethernet frames are "tagged" with the spoofed 802.1q header.

There are many uses of the tool for a VoIP engineer or professional and needs to invest some time learning the tool. VoIP Hopper site provides a swath of information, including code download, instructions and video tutorials (Of on which is embedded below). Happy ethical hacking.


 

Vidyo Video Conferencing Achieves Federal Government JITC Certification

Vidyo Video Conferencing http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/


Hackensack, NJ – May 7, 2012 – Vidyo, Inc., the first company to deliver personal telepresence, today announced that products from its Vidyo™ Conferencing suite have met the DoD Joint Interoperability Test Command’s (JITC) requirements, including related Defense Switch Network (DSN) and IPV6 interoperability requirements, to now appear on the DoD Unified Capabilities Approved Products List (UC APL). Vidyo is the first software-based, telepresence-quality (720p30) desktop video conferencing solution to be JITC certified.

As an approved provider of products to the Department of Defense, Vidyo offers government customers a highly differentiated, superb-quality video conferencing solution based on an entirely unique communication and collaboration platform.  This software-based, extremely flexible and easily customizable solution is designed around the company’s patented VidyoRouter™ architecture. Using Adaptive Video Layering™ and the H.264 SVC video compression standard to dynamically optimize the video for each endpoint, the VidyoRouter is the first video multipoint solution to deliver rate matching and continuous presence capabilities without requiring expensive conference bridges.

Vidyo’s groundbreaking technology delivers high quality conferencing in many form factors giving customers the choice of how to use the technology. Since Vidyo utilizes non-QoS enhanced networks, access to telepresence-quality conferences is possible to anyone with terrestrial, wireless, broadband, or Satcom network connectivity. Vidyo acknowledges the current investments of traditional VTC and Telepresence systems, and invested heavily to ensure compatibility with H.323/SIP based end points and infrastructure.

“Vidyo’s award-winning solution is perfectly suited to the needs of government customers, with special consideration for agencies that require high information assurance and interoperability, but need to be budget-conscious at the same time,” said Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo’s co-founder and CEO. “Vidyo’s products are currently used by the Federal government, and this JITC Certification enables us to further extend our reach to other departments and agencies looking to expand their collaboration beyond the conference room to the desktop, mobile, and tactical.  Vidyo provides a higher level of quality on everyday devices with massive scalability at a fraction of the cost of competitive solutions.”

Joel Brunson, President, Blackbox, Video Division said, “Vidyo has a very unique, high-quality solution that allows Federal agencies to provide high definition video conferencing to the desktop and mobile worker at unprecedented scale, interoperability with existing investments, all at a very attractive price. Achieving JITC certification, and everything that comes with it, should bolster Vidyo’s efforts in penetrating the Federal video space, allowing them to take market share from incumbent providers.”

Vidyo will be demonstrating several of its JITC-certified products this week at the AFCEA Technology Showcase (part of the DISA Mission Partner Conference), May 7-10, 2012 at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida.

The Vidyo Difference

The Vidyo communication and collaboration platform is software-based, highly flexible and can be easily customized for individual enterprise and vertical market video conferencing needs. Vidyo’s Adaptive Video Layering eliminates the MCU and offers unprecedented error resiliency, low latency rate matching thus enabling natural, affordable, high-quality video to work over the Internet, LTE and 4G networks. The platform allows users to quickly leverage the latest hardware innovations and new consumer devices, making it uniquely attractive to partners. Vidyo has been active driving H.264 SVC and SIP videoconferencing interoperability in various standards bodies since 2005.
About Vidyo, Inc.
Vidyo, Inc. pioneered Personal Telepresence enabling natural, HD multi-point video conferencing on tablets and smart phones, PCs and Macs, room systems, gateways that interoperate with H.323 and SIP endpoints, telepresence solutions and affordable cloud-based broadcast solutions.  Request a free trial of Vidyo and learn more at www.vidyo.com, on the Blog or follow @vidyo on Twitter.

Facebook Co-Founder Unfriends United States of America

Facebook Co-Founder Unfriends United States http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Eduardo Saverin, one of the four Facebook's co-founders, has unfriended America, renounced his U.S. citizenship, according to the IRS' list of people whow chose to expatriate.

This move by Saverin, comes just before the Facebook is expected to launch an IPO of its stock. It is widely speculated that Saverin is looking to avoid paying some taxes, mind you, in millions, on 4% stake he owns. Saverins stake is also an estimate as no one seems to know the his actual facebook shares. According to "The Facebook Effect," he owned as much as 5% but must have sold some of those shares since then. Facebook's pre-IPO regulatory filings did not include Saverin among those who owned more than 5% of stock.
But Saverin states that the renounce of US citizenship is to do with his business and need to be in Asia, Singapore, namely where he now lives. Yeah, Right. 4% X some Billion X 0.45 (the tax average Facebook employee will pay) comes to about $some Million and unlike USA, Singapore has no capital gains tax. Again, it is much smaller than what Mark Zuckerberg will have to pay. His tax is assumed to be more than a Billion.

Saverin, who is originally from Brazil in 1992, moved to USA in 1998, founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 while the two were students at Harvard University. Saverin left the company after his conflict with Zuckerberg.

Android Fragmentation Per A Developer, OpenSignalMaps

Android Fragmentation http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

I am sure you have seen many a infographic about Android fragmentation followed by lengthy discussions. Android fragmentation matters to the entire Android ecosystem and some see it as a blessing and some see it as a curse. And there are people who are on the fence seeing it as both.

It is good to look at the issue from the view point of an App developer, OpenSignalMaps, in this case. They have analyzed the Android device data of Android devices (681,900) that downloaded OpenSignalMaps. They have categorized the devices by Brand, Model, screen size and most importantly, the Android version.

I relly like the presentation and only two things that jumped at me was;

Samsung is the Brand with 40% and that 2012 is the year of the Gingerbread. 

The study OpenSIgnalMaps.

Android Security Enhanced With Complete End-to-End Protection of Apps By Arxan.

Android Security http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Arxan today announced that it has enhanced it's mobile app protection suite to protect java and native apps based on Android SDK and Android NDK. With the surge of the app economy, also brought in surge of malware and other security threats. With it's open nature, Android remains the most targeted platform.

"Our customers span diverse industries and all need strong application protection to protect their growing number of Android apps. We are committed to consistently deliver best-of-breed security that addresses their concerns about the Android platform such as decompilation, code analysis, reverse-engineering, tampering, intellectual property theft, malware invasion, unauthorized access or piracy, that threaten marketplace innovation, As the industry standard for multi-platform hardened applications, Arxan-protected apps are operating today on more than 100 million devices and expected to reach 200 million globally by the end of 2012." said Mike Dager, chief executive officer, Arxan.

Press Release

Arxan Introduces a New Era in Android Security With Complete End-to-End Protection of Java and Native Apps
Company Leverages the Open Architecture of Android to Achieve Superior App Security by Launching the Most Innovative Protection Technique for Protecting Android Economies

BETHESDA, MD, May 16, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Arxan(R) Technologies, the industry leader of application protection solutions that secure the App Economy, today announced it has enhanced its Mobile Application Protection Suite to include multi-layered, end-to-end protection for Android applications, providing companies the confidence to embrace innovation and new revenue streams to meet the needs of the growing App Economy.
The company is showcasing its end-to-end security for Android applications today through May 17 at The Android Developer Conference (AnDevCon III), booth #203, at the Hyatt Regency Burlingame in Burlingame, CA.
Mobile computing has accelerated the global App Economy, with cross-industry deployment on the Android platform, such as mobile banking, gaming, healthcare and entertainment apps. According to a February 2012 mobile malware report from Kaspersky Lab, "When it came to platforms, a steady rise in the number of threats targeting Android was observed during the last six months of 2011. At present, Android is the undisputed leader among targeted platforms."
Given the open-source nature of Android, Google recommends, at minimum, the usage of code obfuscation. However, approaches that use a renaming technique as its obfuscation mechanism, or even full code obfuscation solutions are trivially hacked. For instance, hackers can easily leverage widely available decompilation and code analysis tools to defeat obfuscation-only solutions and therefore lack adequate protection for the application layer that contains highly valued assets or includes sensitive data. Application protection for the Android platform requires a more sophisticated approach with multiple types of protection techniques and multiple layers of defense to secure the overall application.
With today's announcement, Arxan provides end-to-end security for Android apps (Java and Native), enabling protection of the code, Web apps, data and cryptographic keys resident within and leveraged as part of an Android application, and the Android operating system where algorithms and sensitive data is stored.
As Android developers continue to use the Software Development Kit (SDK) for Java-based apps, the Native Development Kit (NDK) for feature rich native apps, or a combination of both for hybrid apps, Arxan's software security solutions, provide automated defend, detect and react capabilities by deploying various security techniques (called Guards) such as obfuscation, checksum or anti-debug directly into the software code of each android app to protect binaries against discovery and compromise. This is all done within a "defense-in-depth" manner, where guards protect other guards. For example, damage Guards protect applications against dynamic analysis by overwriting a specified range at runtime with random bytes or a user-specified range. Automated passive hacking techniques like anti-decompile are leveraged as part of the arsenal of techniques used with the product suites.
The sum of Arxan's layered security technology provides end-to-end Android protection that prevents passive and active analysis and delivers resilient app integrity in a proven manner which does not impact source code, application functioning or the development process.
"Our customers span diverse industries and all need strong application protection to protect their growing number of Android apps. We are committed to consistently deliver best-of-breed security that addresses their concerns about the Android platform such as decompilation, code analysis, reverse-engineering, tampering, intellectual property theft, malware invasion, unauthorized access or piracy, that threaten marketplace innovation," said Mike Dager, chief executive officer, Arxan. "As the industry standard for multi-platform hardened applications, Arxan-protected apps are operating today on more than 100 million devices and expected to reach 200 million globally by the end of 2012."

Android Leads Smartphone Market Share with 50.1%

Smartphone Market Share http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Android continues to be the number one in World smartphone market share. Androids current position with 50.1% share, is up from 44.6%  what it enjoyed a year ago. Within the Android arena, HTC and Samsung are competing and leading Android handset market sales, holding 86% total sales between them.
Helped by the strong demand for the iPhone 4S, Apple continued to narrow the gap with Android in the United States and Britain. The rest of the continental Europe were not so hyped up by the iPhone 4S, Apples share dropped in continental Europe.
Windows phone shares, fueled by the Microsoft Nokia alliance, rose in Germany more than doubled to 6% over the past year, and climbed to 3-4% in the United States, Britain, France, and Italy.
All these gains, by Android, Apple and WP7 came at the expense of  BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, the biggest market share loser. RIM’s share in the U.S. market dropped to just 3% from 9% a year ago.
Smartphone playing field seem to be growing and growing, according to Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, explains:

“With less than one week of sales, the HTC One X is already one of Britain’s 10 best-selling smartphones over this period. The release of the Sony Xperia S and the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S3 have also added to a surge of interest from consumers looking for their next upgrade. We are likely to see some big changes in manufacturer shares over the coming months. Particularly as we expect to see almost 22 million consumers aged 13+ changing their mobile device in the next year, with almost 80% of these consumers buying a smartphone.”

Via Kantar Worldpanel

Google Is Not Ignoring Android, Android 5 (Jelly Been) Will Change The Course :)

Google Is Not Ignoring Android http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

After wondering is Google ignoring Android, we have to report, it is not. It seems Google (Goog) and next version of Android OS, Android 5 code named Jelly Bean will change the course with giving users more access to the systems and stifling the control impost on Android OS by various manufacturers and carriers.
I am switching to Google's Galaxy Nexus for the same reason, to have a phone with pure Android, without bloatware and undue restrictions from manufacturers and carriers. I am getting the GSM version of Google Nexus, directly from Google for $399 as it seems Fry's Electronics is playing games with me.

According to WSJ, Google is shifting tracks how it traditionally produced the "Lead Device". In order to bring a united and cleaner front to the Android, Google will introduce the new Android OS, to multiple smartphone manufacturers and in turn introducing the these devices to the public directly, like it is doing now with Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and previous Google Phones.
Previously Google only partnered with one device manufacturer at a time to produce the lead device.
Google will be able to put manufacturers who are worried by Google's acquisition of  Motorola Mobility at ease with the new plan and users will have a choice of as many as 5 Google Nexus phones instead of one. This step by Google will also provide ways to bring new devices and Android OS to the market faster.
Read more at WSJ

Bigger Better iPhone 5 Coming Soon

iPhone 5 Coming Soon http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to various news sources, Apple (AAPL) has placed order with screen manufacturers for the next iPhone, iPhone 5. The screens are supposedly 4",  0.5 inches larger than the iPhone 4S, and earlier iPhone, which were traditionally 3.5 inches. Production will begin next month in time to present the iPhone 5, later this year, in October.
Samsung Electronics is breathing down on Apple's neck and became the largest mobile phone maker this year. Samsung offers multiple mobile handsets with most in the 4 inch range, with some are even larger. The Samsung Galaxy S III will come out with an impressive 4.8 inch display. Other smart phone manufacturers like Nokia, LG are following the suit.
Perhaps Apple is trying to be more appealing to the masses and at the same time fight the competition with the larger screen. Samsung, Apple's rival from Korea, shipped 44.5 million units (30.6% of entire smartphone market) and Apple followed 24,1% share of the market which amounted to 35.1 million units. Either way, Korean manufacturing stand to win as Korean firm LG Electronics is a part of the Apple iPhone screen suppliers.

Telephony.co.nr Is VoIP IP Telephony

Telephony.co.nr http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Thanks to http://www.freedomain.co.nr/ (you too can have a free domain, follow the permanent link at the bottom of the page) the URL www.telephony.co.nr now points to this blog.

"Wait... there are other phones?" Apple Changes Siri's Original Computed Answer to "what is the best smartphone ever?", Nokia's Lumia 900.

"Wait... there are other phones?" http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Apple seems to changed the computed answer Siri gives when asked "what is the best smartphone ever?".
Originally after consulting computational search engine Wolfram Alpha, Siri answer was Nokia's Lumia 900. This got changed over the weekend with "Wait... there are other phones?", a canned answer.
Via BBC

How to upgrade your Samsung Galaxy device to Ice Cream Sandwich

Cream Sandwich OS Upgrade For Samsung Gallaxy S II http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Samsung is telling us that now we can update our Samsung Galaxy S II devices with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS (ICS).
Cream Sandwich OS, brings in a range of improvements and great new Smartphone functionality such as Face Unlock.
Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) will be available for other Galaxy devices shortly. For select models where ICS will not be available a feature update alternative will be offered giving similar functionality to ICS. 
For more support, please visit our official page here: Ice Cream Sandwich

Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker Hacks iCloud Backups.

Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker Hacks iCloud Backups. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

ElcomSoft has discovered yet another way to access information stored in Apple iOS devices through Apple iCloud storage. Elcomdoft has updated it's software which retrieves user content from password-protected backups created by Apple iOS devices and BlackBerry smartphones, Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker. The tool now has the ability to retrieve iPhones’ user data from iCloud. No lengthy attacks and no physical access to an iPhone device are required: the data is downloaded directly onto investigators’ computers from Apple remote storage facilities in plain, unencrypted form. Backups to multiple devices registered with the same Apple ID can be effortlessly retrieved. Investigators need to know user’s original Apple ID and password in order to gain access to online backups.


Press Release;

ElcomSoft Discovers an Alternative Way of Accessing iPhone User Data, Provides Forensic Access to iCloud Backups

MOSCOW, May 15, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. discovers yet another way to access information stored in Apple iOS devices by retrieving online backups from Apple iCloud storage. The company updates Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker, a tool to retrieve user content from password-protected backups created by Apple iOS devices and BlackBerry smartphones, with the ability to retrieve iPhones' user data from iCloud. No lengthy attacks and no physical access to an iPhone device are required: the data is downloaded directly onto investigators' computers (PC) from Apple remote storage facilities in plain, unencrypted form. Backups to multiple devices registered with the same Apple ID can be effortlessly retrieved. Investigators need to know user's original Apple ID and password in order to gain access to online backups.
The new version of Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker offers forensic access to online backups produced by Apple iPhone devices and stored in Apple iCloud. By enabling forensic access to information stored in iCloud, ElcomSoft helps investigators recover more evidence faster while providing law enforcement and intelligence organizations with live access to users' online backups. Neither physical device nor access to suspect's computer is needed in order to access backup information. Instead, investigators gain full unrestricted access to users' iCloud storage by simply entering their Apple ID and password into Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker.
"In a sense, Phone Password Breaker becomes an alternative way to get access to iOS devices' content", says Vladimir Katalov, ElcomSoft CEO. "Our Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit is only available to forensic customers, while other methods require the presence of the actual iPhone device being analyzed or at least an access to device backups. This is not the case with iCloud. With valid Apple ID and a password, investigators can not only retrieve backups to seized devices, but access that information in real-time while the phone is still in the hands of a suspect".
If a user owns more than one device, and those devices are registered with the same Apple ID, their online backups can be seamlessly recovered from iCloud with no extra effort.
Background
iPhone users have several options to back up the content of their devices. They can backup information stored in their device such as contacts, pictures, call logs and data into a file on their computer with the help of Apple iTunes. Alternatively, they can backup all that information into cloud storage maintained by Apple Inc. Introduced in June, 2011, the iCloud service allows users to store data from their devices on remote computer servers and share their files between multiple iOS devices. In addition, iCloud can be used as a data synchronization center for email, contacts, organizer events, bookmarks, pictures and other information. Various sources quote the service has as many as 125 million users as of April 2012.
iCloud backups are incremental. When set up to use the iCloud service, iPhones automatically connect to iCloud network and backup their content every time a docked device gets within reach of a Wi-Fi access point. Online backups can be retrieved by forensic specialists without having the original iPhone device in hands. All that's needed to access online backups stored in an iCloud are user's Apple ID and password. Data can be accessed without the consent of knowledge of an iPhone user, making Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker an ideal solution for law enforcement and intelligence organizations.
About Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker
Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker provides forensic access to encrypted information stored in popular Apple and BlackBerry devices. By recovering the original password protecting offline backups produced with compatible devices, the tool offers forensic specialists access to SMS and email messages, call history, contacts and organizer data, Web browsing history, voicemail and email accounts and settings stored in those backup files. The new iteration of the product can also retrieve information from online backups stored in Apple iCloud providing that the original Apple ID and password are known.
Pricing and Availability
Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker is available immediately. Home and Professional editions are available. Licenses start from $79. Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker operates without Apple iTunes or BlackBerry Desktop Software being installed.
About ElcomSoft Co. Ltd.
Founded in 1990, ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. develops state-of-the-art computer forensics tools, provides computer forensics training and computer evidence consulting services. Since 1997, ElcomSoft has been providing support to businesses, law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies. ElcomSoft tools are used by most of the Fortune 500 corporations, multiple branches of the military all over the world, foreign governments, and all major accounting firms. ElcomSoft and its officers are members of the Russian Cryptology Association. ElcomSoft is a Microsoft Certified Partner and an Intel Software Partner
SOURCE: http://www.elcomsoft.com/PR/iCloud_120515_en.pdf

Is Google Ignoring Android?

Google's Android http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

I read a fine write up on PC World about Androids future and how worried the Android communiny is and should be.
I have been busy reading about the ridicules Google <> Oracle law suit, mostly on Groklaw. Most of my recent work on Android was trying get Fry's to price match Google Galaxy Nexus, unlocked, with Google Play price. Anyways, I will be picking up one phone tomorrow.
One simple reason for me to pursue Google Nexus is to avoid one good reason, independence from carriers, in my case AT&T.
After reading the article, I feel Google could learn something about smart phones from Apple, at least the way how Apple controls the carriers and developers. Instead of becoming draconian, Google could put to use the best of Apple's practices.
Dear Google: Android Needs Your Help

Samsung Galaxy S III, Official Advertisement

Samsung GALAXY S III http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Even though, the ad does not talk about all the features of the phone, like S Voice, a SIRI like feature, Samsung tries to connect the phone to our lives, "Designed for humans" Yes indeed. (You can actually see a demo of S Voice done by Technobuffalo on YouTube)

Effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, Samsung GALAXY S III reveals a new concept of smartphone.
Designed for humans and inspired by nature, the GALAXY S III is a smartphone that recognizes your voice, understands your intention, and lets you share a moment instantly and easily.