Two Top Indian Mobile Companies Under Investigation

India's top investigation agency has registered a case against two major Indian mobile operators and former government officials in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of additional 2G spectrum in January 2002, widening the scope of its investigations into alleged scams in India's telecom sector.

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The offices of the two mobile operators, Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile operator, and Vodafone India, were also raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday, according to sources.
Vodafone confirmed in a statement that CBI officials had visited the company's offices in Mumbai and Delhi "seeking information related to the spectrum allocation to operators during 2001-02." Airtel was not immediately available for comment.

Mobile Malware Epidemic Looms

I know it’s a tad early for new year predictions but I’m going to beat the rush and make mine now: 2012 will be the year of mobile malware.

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That’s an easy prediction to make, because if you look at the numbers 2011 was really the year of mobile

Pakistan Plans to Filter SMS for Objectionable Words

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has instructed telecommunications operators in the country to filter SMS (Short Message Service) messages that include words that it considers objectionable, drawing criticism from civil rights groups in the country.

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"The filters infringe several basic human and fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution, and we think will end up curbing political discourse in the country," Shahzad Ahmad, country coordinator for Bytes for All, Pakistan, a human rights organization focused on Internet freedom, said on Monday.

Report: 2011 Is the 'Year of Mobile Malware'

Smartphones and tablets continue to rise in popularity--among both consumers and malware developers. Traditional malware is still a large and growing threat as well, but mobile platforms represent fertile ground with less awareness and limited defenses. A new report from McAfee illustrates that malware developers are anxious to exploit mobile devices.

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Actually, while the star of the McAfee Threats Report: Third Quarter 2011 is mobile malware, it is worth pointing out that 2011 is on track to finish as a record-breaking year for malware in general--exceeding very generous predictions. At the end of 2010, McAfee predicted there would be 70 million new malware samples in 2011, but it has since revised that prediction to 75 million based on the rapid proliferation of attacks.
“This has been a very steady quarter in terms of threats, as both general and mobile malware are more prevalent than ever,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs.

Mobile Malware Crisis? Not So Fast

There's been a flurry of coverage of mobile malware over the past few days, including two separate reports declaring both 2011 and 2012 “the year of mobile malware.”

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Much of that worry flared up following a Juniper Networks report last week asserting that Android malware has increased 472 percent since July--on top of a 400 percent jump between 2009 and the summer of 2010.

AT&T Reports Attempted Customer Data Hack

AT&T today notified customers that there had been an "organized and systematic" attempt to hack into their personal account information.

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The company sent out an email to customers informing them of an "attempt to obtain information on a number of AT&T customer accounts" but also emphasized that it did "not believe that

HTC Dealt a Setback in Apple Patent War

The ITC has dismissed a patent infringement claim from S3 Graphics against Apple. The ruling is bad news for HTC, which is engaged in its own patent battles with Apple, and is in the midst of acquiring S3 Graphics--ostensibly to shore up its patent arsenal.

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A blog post from Florian Mueller, a patent and intellectual property analyst, explains that the official notice does not provide any details specifying why the ITC overruled the preliminary decision of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The official notice from the ITC simply states that no violation has been shown, and officially terminates the investigation.
The scales of the legal system seem to be tipping in Apple's favor. Android is engaged in a variety of proxy legal battles between companies like Apple and Microsoft, and the various

HD Voice Makes Steady Progress in Mobile Networks

This year the number of operators that have implemented HD Voice has almost tripled, and more phones are also compatible with the technology, according to a report by industry organization GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association).

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This year the number of mobile networks that are compatible with HD Voice has grown to 36. That is still a relatively low number, compared to, for example the 152 HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access) networks that are in commercial use, according to GSA's data. But the interest for HD Voice is picking up, GSA president Alan Hadden said.

Mobile Flash for Android 4.0 Available by Year’s End

While Steve Jobs may have sounded the death knell of Flash as a dominating standard in Web development last year, it wasn’t until earlier this month that Adobe finally admitted defeat and announced it would halt future development of Flash, after releasing one more iteration of mobile Flash for Android.

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From all appearances, Adobe will make its fond farewell to mobile Flash available to Android 4.0 users before the end of the year, starting with owners of Samsung Galaxy Smartphones--a handset already shipping in the United Kingdom and due to hit North American carriers on December 7. Along with its announcement of the availability of Flash 4.0, Adobe also announced that individuals currently using Flash-capable devices could expect to see a security update from the company within the same timeframe as well.

FCC Finds AT&T's Purchase of T-Mobile not in the Public Interest

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's staff has found AT&T's proposed $39 billion acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA to be contrary to the public interest, with officials there saying the deal would result in the largest single concentration in the U.S. mobile market in history.

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