SEARCH CLINIC

Software installed on millions of Android phones is thought to be secretly tracking every key stroke, Google search, and text message by their users, it has been claimed.An Android app developer in America has posted a video showing what he claims is ‘conclusive proof’ that ‘Carrier IQ’ software installed by manufacturers of many US phones records the way those phones are used in real time, as well as their geographic locations.

Carrier IQ has claimed that the software only tracks information for the benefit of users, not for any spying purposes, and that it is “counting and summarising” information rather than recording it.

However, in a YouTube video the developer, Trevor Eckhart, did a “factory reset” on his Android phone, returning it to the condition in which it is shipped to customers, and linked it to a computer screen which allegedly displayed what the Carrier IQ software was tracking.

The demonstration shows that the software reads every keystroke put into the phone, as well as every text message sent to it. It also appeared to log location data, and transmit this to Carrier IQ.

Mr Eckhart, claims it is used by manufacturers of phones that use Google’s Android operating system, as well as some BlackBerry and Nokia handsets. It is not thought to be used in Apple’s iPhones.

It is not known if Carrier IQ is in use in Europe, where it might present a serious breach of the Data Protection laws.

A source at a leading mobile operator said his company didn’t install it but that he had been investigating whether UK manufacturers had done so and “couldn’t give a definitive answer”.

Google’s mobile operating system Android has overtaken Symbian as the biggest selling smart phone operating system.
Canalys, a research firm based in Reading, U.K, released shipment numbers for the fourth quarter of 2010 that show Google shipped the most.

Google shipped 33.3 million copies of Android in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with 4.7 million the year before. Symbian, the operating system made by Nokia, shipped 31 million copies in the fourth quarter, compared with 23.9 million.

Microsoft, which began shipping Windows Phone 7 at the end of October, continued to see its share fall, with 3.1 million copies of its mobile operating system — which include both the new Windows Phone 7 and the older Windows Mobile platform — compared with 3.9 million a year ago.

Android, which is based on open-source software, has attracted big name handset makers- including Acer, Motorola, Samsung, and HTC and has racked up thousands of developers and downloadable apps. Some of Android’s appeal is due to its low cost and openness, but it also offers a rich set of tools and capabilities that permit low-prices devices rivaling the iPhone.

Nokia’s January earnings release, which showed a 4 percent rise in 2010 revenues but declining profits and margins, prompted a sharp sell-off in its shares and raised anew questions about the company’s strategy. A growing chorus of analysts wonder whether Nokia may be forced to swallow its pride and incorporate Android into its product roadmap.

In a client briefing issued Jan. 31, brokerage Nomura noted that 2011 could be a record year for smart phones, especially as the market shifts to mid-tier and low-end models for markets such as China. The tipping point, according to Nomura, will be Android phones priced at $150 or below.

Nokia has scheduled a strategy briefing day for February 11 at which it could announce support for a new software environment. CEO Stephen Elop said during the company’s Jan. 27 earnings call that Nokia needed to “build, catalyze, and/or join a competitive ecosystem,” which some analysts took as a sign of the company’s willingness to consider alternatives to its homegrown software.

Nokia won’t likely abandon Symbian or the advanced MeeGo platform it’s jointly developing with Intel. But if Android keeps gaining market momentum, Elop may decide it’s wiser to join ‘em than fight ‘em.

An uprising by the US regulators and software developers who create apps for the Apple iPhone has forced Steve Jobs, the company’s chief executive, into a rare and humiliating public climbdown. Five months after Apple imposed tough new restrictions on app developers and Mr Jobs posted a 1,600-word justification of the move on its website, the company said it was softening its stance and promised to be more transparent about how it chooses which apps, or programs, to allow on its iPhones, iPods and iPad devices.

The U-turn comes after the company attracted scrutiny by regulators and the US Justice Department, and amid complaints that Apple was covertly creating a monopoly and stifling competition.

It represents a significant victory for Adobe, the software company with which Mr Jobs has been engaged in a vicious public feud, and it means that videos that require Adobe’s Flash technology to run might soon be available on the iPhone. Adobe shares surged 12 per cent yesterday.

While Apple’s iPhone may attract the most publicity of all the smartphones in the market, many developers want to create apps that can run on all kinds of phones, including Blackberries and the increasing numbers of phones that use Google’s Android operating system.

Indeed because of Apple’s restrictions more app developers are concentrating on developing software first for the Android system and only secondly for Apple’s iOS.

Apple’s U-turn means that developers can use third-party tools to ensure their products are compatible across different types of phone. “We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart,” Apple said.

Adobe, whose own tool for developers appeared to have been a target of Apple’s clampdown earlier this year, called on the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate.

Mr Jobs responded with an essay that lashed out at Flash, saying, variously, that the video technology was the number one reason Macs crash, compromised the reliability of smartphones, and was useless for touchscreen devices. And he concluded: “Adobe should focus more on creating great… tools for the future, and less on criticising Apple for leaving the past behind.”

Apple also responded to growing criticism over its processes for approving apps for sale through its App Store, which remains the only official place users can buy programs for its devices. It revealed the list of 113 guidelines it uses to review apps before they are allowed on sale, and also the preamble it sends to developers.

“We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store.” the guidelines say. “If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted. If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, please brace yourself for rejection. We have lots of serious developers who don’t want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour.”

Playboy, the adult magazine run by Hugh Heffner, has agreed to remove all adult content from its iPad app in order to avoid breaching Apple’s strict content rules.
Anyone paying £3.20 for the digital version of the magazine will have to do without the explicit photo spreads that titillated generations.

The Playmate of the Month, one of the magazine’s most popular photo features, will only appear on the iPad as a tasteful headshot.

Playboy agreed to censor its content in order to secure a place in the App Store, from which any software which Apple considers “obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory” is banned.

While Playboy has long trumpeted the strength of its journalism – “I only read it for the articles” is the standard response of men caught with a copy of the magazine by their partners – many iPad users have expressed frustration at the self-censorship.

Apple is almost unique in the technology industry for taking an active stance against pornography. In April Steve Jobs, the chief executive, wrote to a customer who complained about Apple’s self-appointed role as moral arbiter to insist that “we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone.”

Android Market, the Google run App Store rival, does not ban adult content.