Thought Garage

McAfee Avert Labs Blog posted last friday (25th August, 2006) about a Phishing attack, that is started by an SMS on your mobile phone. This may not be a direct security threat for your Mobile phone, but a severe threat for your desktop/laptop computers and network that you are connected to.

This phenomena, which we at McAfee Avert Labs are dubbing “SMiShing” (phishing via SMS), is yet another indicator that cell phones and mobile devices are becoming increasingly used by perpetrators of malware, viruses and scams

The attack starts with an SMS on your mobile phone indicating that you have signed up for a dating service and you will be charged $2 per day unless you visit a URL and cancel your subscription. And for many this looks like a real SMS. So when you visit the URL, the website will prompt you to download an application which is a Trojan horse that makes your computer a zombie, and exposing it to hackers.

So, beware of such SMS messages. The SMS Message might look like  a message from a real Dating service or Your Ring tone service provider or any body for that matter, which you would never suspect. But when you receive such an SMS,

• Check that URL whether that is a Phishing website or real service provider. A search in Google or security websites like McAfee with the URL might help.  
• If you don’t find any thing on Google but you are still suspicious, better not to visit the website.
• If you are aware that your Dating service used to send SMS messages to remind you of your subscriptions, You can call up the Dating service or relevant service provider, and confirm your subscriptions just to make sure every thing is fine.
• If your dating service never sent you SMS reminders about your subscriptions, you can fully ignore the SMS.
• If you are in doubt, do not access the URL. 

And particularly, DO NOT ACCESS such URLs from your office network. If the hackers succeed to have you install the application on your office computer or your personal laptop accessing office internet, the consequences will be severe.

If you haven’t noticed, the mobile we knew of is gone. Today, we CAN take  pictures, record video, access email, browse internet, download music, watch TV, use cell phone as a smart card, pay at a shop, listen to podcasts, write your blog and the list goes on almost endless. 

But, here is glimpse of what today’s Mobile can do or have. You can carry all those gadgets seperately if you love to. Or you can carry Just Your Mobile that does all of them. We love to call having a mobile that does all these and a lot more, ‘The Cellular Life Style’, a mobile centric world.

Luckily many mobiles available today have most of the features. For some like Video, not all current networks support the speed for an effective use and an enjoyable experience. But the networks are pretty close to getting an upgrade. So, that will not be a factor any more. Get a cool mobile and enjoy the life style.

What do you think? What do you want from Your Mobile ? A plain old glorified cordless phone or a magical widget that does all you need (and a lot more awaiting)?  What kind of features or facilities are you looking for in a mobile. Do you see any benefits in a  mobile centric lifestyle? 

Leave us a comment about what you think. We will have more on what specific feature set is currently available in each market with each service provider. Stay tuned. You can subscribe to our RSS Feed or subscribe by Email (provided by Feedburner) by entering your email address at the bottom of this page. You can also send an email to inspions@gmail.com with any suggestions and topics that you want to cover. Thanks for visiting ‘The Cellular Life Style’. We hope you will enjoy reading it and get relevant information that you can use to your advantage, to have more fun and to enjoy your mobile life style.

A life style apart. On 8th of August, 2006 Alltel Wireless, one of the top US Wireless operators in association with Melodeo launched Axcess Mobilcast service that enables Alltel customers to listen to podcasts on their mobile for a monthly subscription price of $3.99.

Users can not only get main stream podcasts from the likes of NPR and CNN but also podcasts from independent podcasters around the world. At the time of release, there are around 2500 podcasts were available with the Axcess Mobilcast repository at users disposal.

More details at Alltel Wireless web site on Axcess MobilCast here.

If you are using one of the following phones from Alltel, then you can start listening to podcasts on your Mobile: Kyocera KX5 (Slider Remix), LG AX355, LG AX390, LG AX4750, LG AX5000, LG UX4270, LG VX3200, Motorola V3c (RAZR), Motorola V710, Motorola e815, Motorola razr (V3C)

Note that Alltel is still following a walled garden approach, meaning that Alltel users can not listen to whatever they like, but what ever is available. The number 2500 podcasts looks good, but if its not in that list, then you can not listen to.

Many still ask the same question, why would one pay $3.99 to listen to podcasts on mobile? and quite skeptical about the service. They think we have an iPod to do so. Ofcourse, you can carry an iPod for music, PDA for organizer, portable TV for watching clips ……….., didn’t we warn you that still many don’t understand ‘The Cellular Life Style‘?

There were news reports all across the Main stream media about a proposed hike of 25% of visas ‘for Indians‘.  But, clearly the report looks to be a fake one. No press releases from US Embassy in New Delhi or any mention on the USCIS or any of the US media. Just few India news houses and ItWire Australia that started all of this.

• India likely to get 25% more H1B visas : iTWire, Australia 
• H1-B visa for Indians to be hiked: Rediff, India 
• US may hike H1-B visa for Indians by 25% :Business Standard, India 
• US proposes raising H1-B visas for Indians Times of India
• US to cut waiting time for visa applications Times of India

All seems to have started with the iTWire, Australia reporting the issue first with an enticing title, ‘India likely to get 25% more H1B visas‘.

There’s some news to cheer up Indian IT firms. Newly appointed minister of consular affairs at the US Embassy in New Delhi, Peter Kaestner, announced that the US is considering a proposal to raise the H1B work permit quota for India by 25 percent from the current 80,000 to 100,000.

The news item looks to be a completely FAKE report. And all the main stream media just pushed it out, obviously without any confirmation or thought about the news item. Few reasons why the report will be just a fake and totally inaccurate news item:

• If there is a statement from Minister of consular affairs at the US Embassy in New Delhi, Peter Kaestner, I bet, Peter will have his figures right. Anybody who knows a little about H1B visas will have these numbers right.
• Current quota is 85000 (65000 + 20000 for people with Advanced Degrees), not 80,000.
• And this quota is for the whole world. Not just for Indians.
• If US Embassy has plans to increase visas by 25% just for Indias, they should have given the base number of Indians of which 25% will be hiked.
• 25% of hike for Indians, does not mean 20000 more visas.  As per last known Statistical report from USCIS about such stats is about year 2003. India was the clear leader with a whopping 36% then. So, if we assume a similar trend, India had around 30000 visas in the current quote. Then, India can get 25% means around 7500 visa hike. Not 20,000 just for India. [USCIS Reports Page]
• No recent statistics officially from USCIS about how many Indian applicants in the total 85000 quota. So it would be most unlikely that US embassy says 25% hike just for Indians without quoting any baselines
• And biggest question would be Why would US increases the H1B visas just for Indians ???? Such an announcement would be clearly detrimental to their foreign image. I don’t assume they would demonstrate their bias, even if they have some thing of this sort.
• No news report from USCIS or Embassy of US in New Delhi
• No mentions in the US Media houses or web sites.

In year 2001, the Japanese Wireless Operator NTT DoCoMo started offering world’s first 3G service. Most of the world was very skeptical about the success of 3G networks. Analysts declared it as the most riskiest endeavour ever taken by any wireless operator in the world. Most questioned why would anybody buy an expensive handset and play with a new interface with an unknown technology and an equally unwanted application. Not many had an internet connection to their computers, and why would some one need an internet connection on the cell phone.

Most probably you are not an exception. You might be just one of them asking similar if not same questions. Why would any body want to use Mobile to access internet? What the heck is about ringtones?

And the rest is history.  We believe, it is by far the most memorable and defining parts in the history of Mobile. Today, We assume that most of you have some sort of answers to most of those questions. NTT DoCoMo and its spectacular “i-Mode” have successfully created a new world of Mobile users, who love to do every thing on their Mobiles.  Right from accessing email to paying bills at a shop. Along the way, they have completely changed, what people call the traditionl way. For example, most people in Japan even stop wearing watches, almost an 100 years tradition. They started using Mobile as their watch, timer, calendar and organizer. That is just a simple example of how Japanese redefined their lifestyle around the Mobile.

We call it The Cellular Life Style, a life style apart. Some love to call it Mobile2.0. We don’t argue.

The rest of the world,  took their own sweet time to really grasp what happened and as you can see they have recently started moving in the direction. Technically, 3G is becoming a reality in the rest of the world too. Either already deployed or in trials now and will be deployed pretty soon.  

So, the question to be asked at this moment is, “Are you ready“ to be part of the revolution,  and create a new life style? Or just stay comfortable reading a similar story again in 2010?

If you are ready or willing to be one, then Welcome to ‘The Cellular Life Style’, a blog that will connect you to the Blazing new life styles of the Cellular world with reports, analysis, commentary and reviews about the Key Trends, Technologies, People, Companies, and Cool little gadgets that are redefining the Cellular Life Style. Just not what is available but how it can help you redefine your own life style around it.

If you haven’t noticed, Mobile/cell phone is no longer just a phone that we knew. Today, we CAN take  pictures, record video, access email, browse internet, download music, watch TV, use cell phone as a smart card, pay at a shop, listen to podcasts, write your blog and the list goes on almost endless. 

So, here we are, attempting to be your preferred source for latest and relevant information in the Mobile World. On the way,  aspiring to help you redefine Your Cellular Life Style. We will cover the latest features, offers from carriers, gadgets, applications and give you a fair and informative look at the buzz in the Mobile Data World.

Hope you will enjoy the journey and be part of the revolution. If you have some cool stuff to share with us, please email inspions@gmail.com or submit as comments on this blog on a relevant post. You can subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe by email (scroll down to the bottom of the screen).

There are three kinds of people; one who watches things happen, one who makes things happen and one who says ‘what happened ?’ – Anon

You absolutely have the right to choose !  We respect your choice. Its your style, by all means.