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December 19, 2011

Google said earlier today that it is now offering its Ice Cream Sandwich with a new base version that promises several improvements and bug fixes for its popular Android mobile operating system. Detailed in Friday's Android Developers blog, ICS 4.0.3 is expected to roll out to production mobile phones and tablets very soon into the new year, according to Google. As such, the company is advising mobile app developers to test their apps with the new flavor. Though it didn't get into specifics, Google is still promising incremental improvements in graphics, database, spell-checking, and Bluetooth, among other items.

Developers can also tap into other features with the new 4.0.3 APIs (application program interfaces). One API lets app developers of calendars add color and attendee details to events so that people can more easily track them.

Another API allows apps that work with the camera to manage video stabilization and use QVGA (quarter video graphics array) profiles if necessary.

Apps that use status updates and check-ins will be able to sync that information with a person's contacts to show what those contacts are doing or saying. Finally, ICS 4.0.3 will improve access for screen readers and provide new status and error messages for text-to-speech engines.

But one app developer who installed 4.0.3 has faced some issues however. The update apparently wreaked havoc with his Motorola Xoom tablet's GPS, camera, video playback, and a couple of other features.

So other enterprising upgraders may want to proceed with caution for now. We will keep you posted, nevertheless, on these and on other new developments in the wireless industry.

In other mobile news

Original plans to divest itself of some of AT&T's assets to make room for its merger with T-Mobile USA have been most likely cancelled by AT&T, since it looks like the deal won't go through anymore.

People familiar with the matter say that one of the options to get regulatory approval for the merger-- offloading assets to make the end company look less of a giant, has gone very doubtful at this point.

But there are still many uncertainties left at this point, and some are saying that a deal might still come through. Both the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice have raised competition concerns over the alliance, leading AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, parent of T-Mobile USA, to go back to the drawing board.

The two entities have withdrawn their application for approval to the FCC and asked the DoJ for an extra month to work on their proposed merger. But some are still maintaining that the chances of a full blown merger going ahead are slim.

Another option open to the telcos, if they want to push ahead with some sort of a deal, is to start a joint venture. Alternatively, AT&T could abandon its designs on T-Mobile USA and take a stake in a smaller wireless carrier. That would be a second option, probably not the best for AT&T, but nevertheless an alternative that would still enable it to put its hands on that desperately needed additional wireless spectrum, which some critics claim it was and still is AT&T's prime consideration for any merger or acquisition.

But the two businesses need the green light from both the FCC and the DoJ to go ahead, which is not looking likely after the DoJ took the two to court and the FCC issued a negative report on the proposed merger.

The two companies have to come up with something to placate the regulators by January 18, at which point they'll be facing the DoJ in court to fight or withdraw the merger deal.

But coming back to wireless spectrum, a new bill has recently passed through a subcommittee in the House of Representatives that authorizes FCC incentive auctions and also allocates mobile spectrum to public safety.

On Dec. 1st, the communications and technology subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum Act (JOBS Act).

The House's new legislation authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to create an auction for selling wireless spectrum that will be voluntarily released by TV broadcasters in the U.S.

The legislation also includes provisions for allocating wireless spectrum and funding a nationwide public safety mobile broadband network. Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who sponsored the bill, said it would help create about 100,000 new jobs and also net the U.S. treasury about $15 billion in revenue from the wireless spectrum auction.

In other mobile news

In an ongoing controversy that has lasted several weeks, Sprint, which has defended its use of Carrier IQ software on its mobile phones, said that it is now disabling the software, a Sprint spokeswoman confirmed late yesterday. Wireless Industry News has been following the story closely.

Just Friday, Sprint said that it still used Carrier IQ's so-called 'network monitoring software' on about 26 million of its devices, and AT&T uses the same technology on over 900,000 of its phones. Carrier IQ's application has caused a lot of controversy lately and it seems to be getting even more buzz today.

And on Dec. 2nd, the U.S. Senate asked some very pointed questions to Carrier IQ and threaten to launch a full-scale investigation into the matter, since it raises a lot of privacy and security issues.

The wireless carriers provided the information in letters sent Dec. 14 to Senator Al Franken, who had asked the companies to provide more details about their use of Carrier IQ's technology amid growing concerns over violations of subscribers' privacy.

The number of devices actively using the technology at a single time is significantly lower, but the exact number still isn't known yet, and it's very hard to accurately estimate, given the fact that Carrier IQ seems to be refusing to cooperate or provide more information in the matter.

On Dec. 2nd, the U.S. Senate and former late-night funnyman Al Franken has called on Carrier IQ to explain why its diagnostic software, buried in the bowels of 141 million smartphones, isn't a massive violation of U.S. wiretap laws.

An Android mobile application developer has wrote about what he thinks could be a conclusive proof that millions of smartphones all over the globe are secretly monitoring key presses, geographic locations, and received messages of its users. If true, this is a serious security risk, and one that needs to be rapidly addressed and corrected by all phone makers.

Trevor Eckhart demonstrated Monday how software from a Silicon Valley company known as Carrier IQ recorded in real time the keys he pressed into a stock HTC EVO mobile handset, which he had reset to factory settings just prior to the demonstration.

Using a network packet sniffer while his device was in airplane mode, he demonstrated how each numeric tap and every received text message is logged automatically by the software without the user's consent or even him or her knowing about it.

"We have weighed all customer concerns and we have disabled the use of Carrier IQ's software so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected," Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge-Walsh said in a statement.

"We are further evaluating several options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint's diagnostic needs," the statement added. "At Sprint, we work hard to earn the trust of our customers and believe this course of action is in the best interest of our business and our customers."

Asked exactly what "disabling" meant, Vinge-Walsh said "we are not collecting the diagnostic information." The news initially came from Geek.com, which reported Friday that lawsuits had prompted Sprint to ask its manufacturer partners to "get rid" of Carrier IQ. Geek.com cited sources at HTC.

"Starting with the high-volume and high-profile devices on the network, each of the OEMs has been asked to quickly release binaries that do not contain Carrier IQ so that over-the-air updates can be pushed to those devices as quickly as possible," Geek.com reported. "The eventual plan is to remove Carrier IQ from all of the devices on Sprint's network."

Asked to comment on that report, Vinge-Walsh said "Regarding your questions about manufacturers and removing the software, those are rumors and speculation and we don't comment on rumors."

Vinge-Walsh's statement reiterated that Sprint uses Carrier IQ for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes, and does not look at the content of messages, e-mails, photos, videos or keystrokes: "Sprint has not used Carrier IQ diagnostics to profile customers, to serve targeted advertising, or for any purpose not specifically related to certifying that a device is able to operate on our network or to otherwise improve the customer experience or our network operations.

We have used Carrier IQ to certify devices prior to launching them on our network and after launch to review device functionality on our network, i.e., to better understand where dropped calls occur, identifying gaps in cell tower coverage, etc," said the statement.

Sprint subscribers can trust that we look at only enough information through the Carrier IQ tool reporting aggregated, anonymized metrics, to understand the customer experience with devices and how we can improve our performance and enhance the customer experience.

Vinge-Walsh said she could not say whether Sprint plans to remove the software entirely from phones. Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile USA have all said that they use Carrier IQ's software to simply diagnose issues and troubleshoot network failures. But critics, including Android developer Trevor Eckhart, who first exposed the workings of Carrier IQ on the phones last month, complain that consumers aren't aware that data is being collected from their phones and can't opt out.

The critics also have raised several alarms that the content of messages and keystrokes are being logged, which Carrier IQ and the wireless carriers all deny. Outside security experts also say they find no evidence of keylogging by the software.

Carrier IQ's delayed response in releasing details added fuel to a huge firestorm already stoked by Carrier IQ's filing a cease-and-desist notice against Eckhart shortly after he went public with his concerns. The company eventually backed down and apologized, but to many people it seemed like the company had something to hide.

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Source: Google.

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