Consumers are unwittingly passing much of their most private personal data to strangers when they discard mobile phones, with intimate photos and credit card numbers and pins frequently left on handsets, according to new research. An analysis of 50 handsets bought from second-hand resellers on eBay found that more than half contained personal messages or photos, according to exclusive research from the mobile and forensics experts Disklabs. More than 60% still contained phone numbers left on a call log. A number were sold with pornographic material still on the phone. "The worst thing a consumer can do is hope or assume that the person buying the phone will remove the data," said Simon Steggles, director of Disklabs. "Any data left on the phone is effectively open to the public domain. That could be as varied as intimate photos, videos and text messages … People hit 'delete' and think that means it is gone for ever, but that's not the case."

The Guardian 

The process of pursuing and penalising illegal filesharers in Ireland has been thrown into uncertainty after a failed attempt by four of the world's largest record companies to legally enforce the "three strikes" rule. Warner Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and EMI on Monday lost an Irish high court bid to establish a controversial legal precedent that would force internet service providers to temporarily cut off illegal filesharers' internet connections. Influential music industry bodies say the judgment is "a setback for the Irish music business". It could also complicate the situation in the UK, where the Digital Economy Act offers similar provisions to discover and warn – and potentially throttle the connections of – people who illicitly access copyrighted content. The high court judgment ruled that laws enabling illegal downloaders to be disconnected from the internet after being warned three times were not enforceable in Ireland – while noting that piracy is "destructive" to the creative industries. The ruling was a victory for UPC, Ireland's third-largest broadband provider, which was appealing against an injuction requiring it to block access to filesharing website The Pirate Bay.

 

O2 will launch two new tariffs on October 26 to “simplify” the “grubby” international calling market, it said. O2 claims to lead the sector, with about 10 per cent, or £140 million, of international calling from the UK. Its customers, including both businesses and consumers, will be able to pay an additional £10 per month on top of their current voice package to make up to 50 hours of international calls to three selected fixed line numbers. For £20 per month, the package will include an additional two numbers and and an additional 200 minutes for international calls to mobiles (3,200 minutes to five selected fixed line numbers). O2 said it had conducted tests and trials of the service with over 10,000 customers to ready the proposition. Both packages will also include a ‘Call Me’ number, which gives international customers a local prefix to enable calls to the O2 customer in the UK to be charged at a local rate.

Mobile News 

Mobile phone prices are set to rise, warns the owner of the Foxconn factories. The Hon Hai Precision Industry Co has suggested customers of Apple, Nokia and others should expect a hike given the amount Foxconn has been spending on improving conditions for workers, and the fact that it has employed a PR agency for the first time. Local Citibank analyst Chang Kaiwei has been telling the Commercial Times newspaper that price rises are imminent, as Reuters reports. Foxconn's new PR efforts are evident, with the company recently getting in touch to tell us about how much it doesn't abuse its employees or visiting students. But all that touchy-feely stuff costs money, which is going to have to come from the pockets of customers. It's easy to say that one would be happy to pay an extra tenner for something made by workers who aren't paid in rice; but the electronics business is very price-sensitive, and Hon Hai will have to take care not to improve workers' conditions to the point where the brands take their business elsewhere.

The Register 

Technology executives see their budgets rising in 2011 and that money will be allocated to new projects, according to a Wedbush survey. Wedbush surveyed 100 IT managers with decision authority on projects. Wedbush’s findings indicate a penchant for cloud, virtualization and collaboration projects. Even big software projects like enterprise resource planning implementations are showing some momentum.

Nintendo has announced an all red limited edition version of its Wii console, as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of its legendary gaming character Mario.  Initially it was thought the celebratory console was to be a Japan only item but it’s been confirmed that the console will be released in the UK on 29 October. The 25th Anniversary Mario Wii bundle also contains a matching red WiiMote with WiiMote Plus built-in – no add-on needed. You’ll also get a copy of Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros. You’ll also find the game Jumpan ready and waiting on the internal memory – the Donkey Kong game that marked the very first appearance of the red caped plumber with incredible athletic abilities.  There’s no confirmation of pricing, but a premium over the standard box is expected.

Trusted Reviews 

Mobile wireless chip specialist CSR has launched a range of products that will allow handsets and other devices to take advantage of high definition (HD) audio voice calls and an emerging class of low energy Bluetooth products. Orange and Three are the first UK operators to roll out a wideband audio service that doubles the usual maximum 4KHz bandwidth used on voice calls to give an appreciable boost in quality. "We expect other networks to follow suit so that the technology will be widely deployed in Europe and America," said Tim Palmer, product manager in CSR's mobile handset division,

The current generation of handset chips supports only 4KHz bandwidth over Bluetooth for voice calls, though more bandwidth is available for streaming music, which does not need to be bi-directional and is not as sensitive to latency in the link. The CSR8000 range supports 8KHz for voice, enabling it to carry the HD service.

Oxfam and Nokia have teamed up to create an app that allows users to donate to charity appeals directly from their phones and see fundraising updates in real-time. The app is free to download from the Nokia Ovi Store and was developed in conjunction with PayPal, with users able to choose from three pre-set donation amounts (£5, £10 or £20) and donate via PayPal or SMS. It's part of the Oxfam Donate scheme, which gives users a choice of five Oxfam programmes from around the world. App users can learn about the work Oxfam is doing in the area, view progress reports and fundraising levels and donate directly to the project themselves.

Nokia has been blogging about Fahma Waluya Rosmansyah, 12 year-old Indonesian boy who creates games and apps that help other kids learn English and maths. His output is quite prodigious - the lad was encoding Flash in the fifth grade, before graduating that same year to create an app called BAHAMA for the Nokia E71, which taught the alphabet, counting and colours. In the sixth grade Rosmansyah built five more apps with one, ENRICH (Indonesian to English translator), currently available as a free download from the Ovi Store. His next app, MANTAP (for maths), will be made available on Nokia's app store 'in the coming weeks'. Rosmansyah reckons he can build an app in less than 12 hours. he does have a bit of help though - his younger sister provides audio content and acts as a tester.

 

Mayer, who joined Google in 1999, as the company’s 20th employee and its first female engineer, is also joining the search giant’s operating committee – which is the most senior management group. Google was unavailable to expand on what Mayer’s shift in focus will mean. A spokesman said: "Marissa is moving over to an important new role covering geo/local, which is also crucial to our users and Google. She has made an amazing contribution on search over the last decade, and we're looking forward to what she will achieve in the decade ahead."