RIM loses 1m BlackBerry users in US while Android and Apple boom
BlackBerry-maker RIM lost more than 1 million users in the US in the three months to May, as Google's Android platform cemented its lead as the most-used smartphone platform there and Apple gained more than 3 million users, according to new statistics from market research company comScore. The figures confirm trends that are now becoming endemic in the US market for Android and RIM, which has struggled with falling profitability and handset prices as it tries to retain customers.
Guardian.co.uk

PayPal UK Twitter account hacked, apparently by angry customer
A disgruntled customer appears to have taken control of PayPal UK's Twitter account and has used it to complain about the service in a series of angry tweets on the service. The person, who has not given any clue to their identity, has put out a series of tweets complaining that PayPal froze their account and seeking to embarrass the company by linking to paypalsucks.com, which says it is "an anti paypal site exposing the nightmare of doing business 'the paypal way'." It is not known whether the customer has any link to paypalsucks.com, which was first registered in 2000 and has remained under the same owner since.
Guardian.co.uk

Mills back with three acquisitions to form new Group
Alastair Mills, the former chief executive of service provider SpiriTel, has bought three companies for almost £30 million in total. He has received £60 million worth of backing from private equity group Penta Capital to form a new Group focussed on managed data services. Penta, which backed SpiriTel when Mills headed up the service provider, has again supported him in acquiring data centre UKSolutions, MPLS provider NetworkFlow and voice services company Protel. The new Group has 60 staff across four offices with 900 customers.
Mobile News

Government IT strategy lacks detail, report says
According to the committee, the IT Strategy, which was published by the Cabinet Office in March, has little detail about cybersecurity. Given the drive to move government services online, the report expresses "serious concerns" about security issues. It calls on the government's Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) to clarify how cybersecurity will be integrated into the strategy. Although the strategy is ambitious, with 30 actions to be delivered in 24 months, the document says that without quantitative targets, or a baseline to current performance, success will be difficult to measure.
ZDNet.co.uk

Intel predicts Smart TV is the device of the future
Chipmaker Intel believes that the Smart TV is the electronic device of the future, in the living room anyway. Better known for making processors for PCs and laptops, Intel also has its tiny chips inside set top boxes. The INQUIRER attended today's Intellect Consumer Electronics Conference to see what Intel had to say. Erik Huggers, VP and MD of Intel's digital home group said, "Smart TV is the opportunity" after announcing that "making predictions is a dangerous game".
The Inquirer

Virgin Media's Spotify deal includes bundled mobile access
Spotify has secured its biggest partnership yet with an ISP, in the form of Virgin Media in the UK. The latter will be offering Spotify's streaming music service to its customers on broadband and TV, but also on mobile. Virgin Media will be working on a connected TV app with Spotify for its TiVO-powered set-top boxes, while also promoting the Spotify Unlimited and Spotify Premium services to its broadband customers.
Mobile Entertainment

Facebook's awesome product announcement 'could be video chat'
Several technology websites have been making the prediction that a Skype-style service will finally launch on Facebook later today. Pundits are divided at to whether Facebook has indeed partnered with Skype, which has recently been acquire by Microsoft, or built its own product in-house. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief teased journalists on a tour of the company’s Seattle office, that the site’s engineers were going to launch “something awesome" this week. He declined to give more details of the coming release but speculation has been mounting in technology circles for the last few days. The other suggestions doing the rounds are that Facebook's long-awaited app for Apple's iPad could be finally ready to launch or that the social network will unveil a dedicated photo-sharing app for smartphones.
Telegraph.co.uk

Apple business website hacked by Anonymous
An Apple website has been the subject of a hack by Anonymous, with a small number of users' details leaked on to the web. The hack is thought to have happened 4 July, with data found on the Apple Business Intelligence website posted on Paste Bin. While it is only the details of 27 people (including usernames and passwords) the attack was claimed by Anonymous and is all part of the group's antisec campaign, which is targeting business sites. And hacking Apple, regardless of the size of the bounty at the end of it, is a major feat for the collective – given the amount of data the company holds on the public through its iTunes service.
TechRadar.com

Deutsche Telekom appoints new European head
Deutsche Telekom has appointed a new head of its European operation as the fixed and mobile operator seeks to address challenges in this market. Claudia Nemat joins the company from management consultancy McKinsey and will be responsible from October for managing the Group’s subsidiaries in Europe (including mobile operations in the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic, the stake in the Everything Everywhere joint venture in Great Britain and the international sales, service and marketing functions). The company’s German unit is reportedly not included in Nemat’s remit.
Mobile Business Briefing

Samsung sees tough second half for components
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Samsung Electronics executive who will lead its newly merged component-manufacturing businesses said that the second half of the year is going to be more difficult than the first. The two businesses—producing semiconductors and flat-panel displays—last year provided 70 percent of Samsung's operating profit, but both are experiencing difficulties, said Kwon Oh-hyun. The chief of Samsung's chip business, he was tapped to lead the combined unit, to be called its Device Solutions business. "In the past, the semiconductor market tended to be weaker in the first half and stronger in the second half, but for this year, it is likely to remain flat throughout the latter half," Mr. Kwon said.
Mobile  Business Briefing