Verizon Wireless Debuts iPhone Challenger, 3 Other Phones

NEW YORK — Verizon Wireless unveiled three new cell phones on Wednesday for the holiday season, including a high-end handset named Voyager that will compete with Apple Inc's (AAPL) iPhone.

The Voyager, made by LG Electronics, trumps the iPhone by offering faster wireless Web access. But in a nod to the Apple device, which is only available to AT&T Inc (T) subscribers, it has a large touch screen and full Web browser.

Verizon Wireless hopes the new phone will attract customers put off by the iPhone's lack of a traditional keypad — the Voyager hinges open to reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen.

"We think it'll be the best phone ... this year. It will kill the iPhone," Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman said in an interview.

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Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said the Voyager may attract existing Verizon subscribers who do not want to switch service providers, but he doubted it would hurt iPhone sales.

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"People who want a high-end media phone and want to stay with Verizon will certainly give that one a hard look. I don't know that it would pull anybody away from an iPhone," he said.

The battle for cell phone buyers' hearts this holiday shopping season is shaping up to be even fiercer than usual, as rivals to Apple and AT&T launch new challengers.

Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), has not been first with the hippest phones, but said this line-up is its best yet.

"Typically a carrier brings one, maybe two exciting products to the market in a year. We're bringing four," Lanman said, referring to the three new models and its existing LG Chocolate phone.

Verizon also introduced Juke, an ultra-narrow phone that comes in three colors and is shaped like a chocolate bar. The phone, made by Samsung Electronics, is less than 1 inch wide.

It also unveiled another LG phone, the Venus, which comes in black and pink and has a phone keypad that slides out from under a touch screen. As with Voyager, it vibrates when a user taps a menu option on the screen.

Verizon Wireless would not give exact pricing beyond saying each phone would target a different segment and range from under $100 to about $400. The iPhone costs $399.

Greengart at Current Analysis said the new Verizon range is a step forward for a company that has been trumped before by AT&T, which sold Motorola Inc's (MOT) Razr long before Verizon did.

"This is something Verizon had to do," Greengart said. "It's been a long time coming for them to get hotter devices."

Venus and Voyager both have 2-megapixel cameras, and high-speed wireless connections for fast music and video downloads, and a slot for 8 gigabytes of extra memory. The iPhone has 8 gigabytes of built-in storage.

Venus and Voyager will launch before the end of November

The cheapest phone in the range is the Juke, which is narrower than any U.S. phone so far and will go on sale on October 19, Lanman said.

The Juke slides open to reveal a tiny keypad and comes in dark blue, red and teal. It has dedicated keys for playing music but does not have a high-speed wireless link.

Verizon Wireless said it expects to attract more fashion-conscious young users to Juke than those who want to constantly e-mail or Web-surf on cell phones.

Hewlett-Packard Models Strut Stuff at New York Fashion Week

Last month's New York Fashion Week featured lots of skinny models wearing outrageously expensive clothes, but there was one event called "Your Life Is the Show" that was more everyone's style.

The designer was Hewlett-Packard, and the hot models walking the runway were its hot gadgets. They were sexy and chic — and wouldn't make anyone feel fat.

About 1,000 people were at the gala: lots of technical folk, HP customers, celebrities and journalists.

• Click here to watch Courtney Friel's video report.

HP was debuting more than 55 products, including mobile devices, software programs, services and almost 3 dozen handheld accessories. The company was also showcasing its new colorful home/business desktops and notebook PCs.

Fashion designer Naeem Khan used his clothing as an inspiration to design creative laptop skins. The profits go to charity.

There were also the 42 x 47-inch MediaSmart TV, which merges the TV and PC and streams digital photos, music and videos stored on a PC onto a hi-definition LCD display, as well as an 8-inch digital picture frame that has internal stereo speakers.

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  Video

  • Geek Chic

The showpiece, however, was HP's personalized gaming powerhouse, the Blackbird 002.

Jonathan Roubini, editor-in-chief of LabReviews.com, explained that HP is finally moving into the gaming-PC arena. With the Blackbird, the company can successfully compete with the popular Dell XPS line.

Roubini loved the slick case design, the sealed liquid system to cool the processor and the easy-to-use hard-drive trays. Unfortunately, the price tag is $5,000.

To help present the new collection, HP brought in its "Achievers," including tennis champ Serena Williams, supermodel Petra Nemcova, Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White and the Paul Teutul, Sr. and his son Paul Teutul, Jr., from Orange County Choppers, as featured on the Discovery Channel show "American Chopper."

Williams, who is starring in an HP commercial, said she was very tech-savvy.

"I'm always traveling overseas and always use my computer to stay in touch with my friends and family and things like that," the tennis champ explained, "so I'm really making the computer personal."

Nemcova said she also stays current on gadgets.

"I always want to have the best items, the newest items, the ones which are more practical and can help me in my life to do things in an easy way," said the supermodel.

The Teutuls were there with a chopper they had designed. Paul Sr. joked that his only use for computers was to shop on eBay, but in fact Orange County Choppers uses HP technology in the bike shop.

Paul Jr. explained that it was much easier now to convey his designs to the technical people, instead of through his old way — drawing on napkins.

HP teamed up with MTV for an ongoing global competition called "Take Action, Make Art." Contest entrants are encouraged to submit their own art on subjects they were passionate about.

The deadline is Oct. 17 — click here to enter.

Since Shaun White designs his own boards and helmets, etc, they've asked him to be one of the judges. He said he's not sure what he'll be looking for in the best cover, because he has a very unique style of his own.

The winner's design will be imprinted on a special-edition batch of notebook computers, an item just as original and in style as a Marc Jacobs sequined tunic — yet more practical!

Mobile Phones Help Secure Online Banking

Bank of America's optional SafePass service works with customers' mobile phones to improve security for online banking.

Bank of America Corp. customers can now use their mobile phones to make online banking more secure.

This option comes as part of a new service called SafePass, which was unveiled Monday by BofA. Customers will be able to sign up for SafePass to add an extra level of security for some banking transactions.

The SafePass system, which uses authentication technology developed by VeriSign Inc., sends a six-digit code to the customer's mobile phone. The code can be used only once, and it expires 10 minutes after being issued, making it harder for criminals to steal money from BofA accounts.

BofA customers can require this SafePass code for certain types of online banking activity such as transferring large amounts of money or logging on from a new computer.

SafePass works in conjunction with the SiteKey anti-phishing technology that BofA rolled out two years ago, said Mike Pennella, an e-commerce enterprise services executive with BofA. "This is really just another layer in our security strategy," he said.

Unlike SiteKey, however, SafePass is not a mandatory feature, Pennella added.

SafePass will be available to BofA customers in most U.S. states this week, with California users coming online later this month and some northwestern U.S. customers getting service even later than that, Pennella said. Next year, the company will also begin offering a credit-card-sized card, built by Innovative Card Technologies Inc., that can be used to generate similar access codes without requiring a mobile phone.

Bank of America believes that SafePass will help crack down on so-called Trojan software attacks. This type of malicious software is unwittingly downloaded by victims and often includes keylogging software designed to track username and password information and send it back to criminals.

Other financial institutions, including ETrade Financial Corp., Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. and eBay Inc.'s PayPal subsidiary, have deployed similar "two-factor" authentication systems over the past few years.

In fact, Federal guidelines have called for banks to use stronger authentication technologies for online banking since the end of 2006, but they have given the banks some freedom in determining how they achieve this goal.

By requiring a code number in addition to the password, these systems make fraud harder, but not impossible.

In fact, one noted security expert has long predicted that two-factor authentication systems will do very little to cut down on fraud and identity theft over the long term.

That's because there are still other ways to access a customer's online banking session if an attacker has installed Trojan software on his computer, according to Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer with BT Counterpane. "It protects against "steal the password" attacks, but not against Trojans that make transactions in the background after you authenticate," he said via e-mail.

"What I would want to know from the bank is: Who is liable for fraud when it occurs?," he added. "If it's me, I don't want the account or the token. If it's them, I don't care what sort of authentication they use."

New York On Tap (iPhone app)

This application for iPhone was designed to help you find the best bars in New York City while on the go. Even as a tourist, you'll always know where the nearest bar is with this application. Search for bars by name, cross-street, or even by what's close to the bar you're at currently. When your night is over, New York On Tap will also help you find the nearest subway to get home.

iPhone link:
http://newyorkontap.com/mobile.aspx

Web site link:
http://newyorkontap.com/

Truphone routes iPhone calls over WiFi

From Demo: Truphone

works on mobile phones that have WiFi and can route your calls over the data network instead of your cellular connection. Pretty useful for saving money, especially for international roaming, when calls cost a fortune.

The big news is that the company has managed to port Truphone to the iPhone. So now you can make really good use of that WiFi radio in it. In the demo, the presenter showed a call from a phone with no SIM card in it.

iTypepad (iPhone app)

Typepad, Six Apart's premier blogging service, has recently launched its very own iPhone application called, not surprisingly, iTypepad. Just head on over to http://i.typepad.com from your iPhone and you'll be forwarded to the login screen. From there, you can post to your TypePad blog without having to be near a computer.

iPhone link:
http://i.typepad.com/

Web site link:
http://www.typepad.com

iPhone on ice...

Until Friday morning, Sadun had a contract with the publishing firm Addison-Wesley to write a book about creating applications for the iPhone. After the news of Apple’s crackdown spread, she received a note from her editor that suggested that they think of a different topic.

It was not unexpected that Apple would try to stop people from unlocking the phones, as this threatened to cause problems for AT&T, Apple’s exclusive United States partner for the iPhone.

"I don’t blame them for fighting the unlocks," said Brian Lam, editor of Gizmodo, a blog devoted to gadgets. "They are trying to make money, as a business. I get that."

Still, he said, that disabling someone’s phone, "instead of just relocking it and to wipe out the apps, it seems like Apple is going way too far; I’d call it uncharacteristically evil."

In some cases, the apparent punishment for installing unapproved software was harsh. Ross Good, a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, had added several programs, including one for instant messaging. After the upgrade, the phone went into a semifrozen state.

When Good called Apple, the reception was cool. "They said I put third-party software on my phone, and so it was my fault no matter what."

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Joel Robison, a systems network engineer near Seattle, said his phone stopped working immediately after he installed the upgrade. He said that when he took it to an Apple store, he was accused of having unlocked the phone. But he said that with the exception of one aborted attempt to install a piece of outside software, he had made no modifications to the phone.

"Their accusation was very damaging to my opinion of Apple’s service," Robison said.

J. Noah Funderburg, an assistant dean at the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa and a longtime Mac user, had little sympathy for iPhone hot-rodders.

"Anyone who hacks must know that they are taking certain risks," Funderburg said. "If they aren’t willing to assume the risks upfront--like a brick iPhone--then maybe they should not hack the device.

"We have a free marketplace," he said. "Buy a product, including using it on the terms accompanying the purchase, or don’t buy it. And learn to live with not always getting everything you want."

Altered iPhones freeze up

Since the iPhone hit the market in June, tech-savvy owners of the phone have been busy messing with its insides, figuring out how to add unauthorized software and even "unlock" it for use on networks other than AT&T’s.

But the Web was filled Friday with complaints from people who had installed the latest iPhone software update, only to see all the fun little programs they had been adding to their iPhones disappear--or, still worse, see their phones freeze up entirely.

Should they have known better?

Since Monday, Apple officials have been warning iPhone owners that using unlocking software could cause the phone to become "permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed." But in many cases those warnings went unheeded.

People who had unlocked their phones to use them with another carrier ran the greatest risk of, in techie terms, having them "bricked"--rendered about as useful as a brick. Most of those who committed the lesser transgression of installing programs not authorized by Apple simply had those programs wiped out.

People have created dozens of programs for the iPhone, ranging from the useless but entertaining (a virtual popcorn popper) to the decidedly practical (a screen-shot capture program).

But for anyone who upgrades the iPhone’s system software, a routine process that adds Apple’s latest fixes and improvements, those programs can no longer be used. The update has made the iPhone "almost impervious to any third-party hacks," said Erica Sadun, a technical writer in Denver who has created more than a dozen programs for the iPhone, including the screen-shot program and a popular voice recorder.

Jennifer Bowcock, an Apple spokeswoman, said that when people went to update their software with their computer through iTunes, a warning appeared on the computer screen, making it clear that any unauthorized modifications to the iPhone software violated the agreement that people entered into when they bought the phone. "The inability to use your phone after making unauthorized modifications isn’t covered under the iPhone warranty" Bowcock said.

There were reports online that employees at Apple stores were reviving or replacing some dead iPhones. But Bowcock did not offer much hope to iPhone owners with problems: "If the damage was due to use of an unauthorized software application, voiding their warranty, they should purchase a new iPhone."

Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, has said the company wanted to maintain control over the iPhone’s functions to protect carrier networks and to make sure the phone was not damaged.

Sadun said the community of people who write unsanctioned software for the phone knew the update was coming.

"We had about two weeks’ notice," she said. Yet Sadun and others said they were surprised by the extremes to which Apple went to shut them down. "We tried to think well of Apple," she said. "Denial is a very strong part of the human spirit."

O2 UK digs deep for iPhone ad splash

Spanish-owned O2 UK and U.S. consumer electronics group Apple plan to launch a multimillion-dollar joint advertising campaign later this month as they get ready to bring the iPhone to Britain.

O2 UK, which is owned by telecommunications group Telefonica, declined to divulge the size of its marketing budget for the television and poster campaign, which kicks off two weeks before iPhones go on sale in Britain on November 9.

O2 UK Chief Executive Matthew Key told a journalist on Tuesday it would be the company's "most significant campaign" in the run-up to the holiday retail season--but that it would cost well short of $40 million.

Key also said he believed 80 percent of O2's high-value customers wanted an iPhone, while 40 percent of the higher-spending customers on rival networks would be prepared to switch operators to get the handset.

Apple, which broke into the mobile phone market when it unveiled its iPhone in January, has flouted European telecommunication conventions by not allowing its handsets to be subsidized and by demanding a share of voice as well as data revenues.

The terms of the deal between the two companies have not been published for commercial reasons.

But analysts speculate O2 was prepared to give away 20 to 30 percent of voice and data revenues in return for clinching an exclusive, "multiyear" contract to sell iPhones, which combine Apple's popular iPod music player, a video player and Web browser in a slick, touch-screen device.

However, Key also noted "it would make sense" for Apple to also give a revenue share to O2 in return for using its network.

He said the phones--which will sell for about $550, including tax, to customers willing to sign up for an 18-month contract--would "absolutely" secure a profitable deal for O2.

O2, which has declined to divulge customer targets, is banking on iPhones helping to fuel customer demand for non-text mobile data services such as music and video, which currently account for only 5 percent of annual group revenues.

iPod cheap in Hong Kong, but a Brazil bank-breaker

In the market for a new video iPod? Head to Hong Kong or, if Europe-bound, stop off in Switzerland. But best avoid Brazil.

One of Australia's biggest banks, the Commonwealth Bank, has used one of the latest versions of Apple's music player--the slimline 4GB Nano--to compare global currencies and purchasing power in 55 countries.

Along the lines of the Big Mac index launched 20 years ago by The Economist magazine, the survey prices the recently launched 4GB Nano in U.S. dollars and found Brazilians pay the most for an iPod, shelling out $369.61.

That was well above second-placed Bulgaria, where locals and visitors pay $318.60 for the player, which Apple recently introduced at the same price as the older, less capable Nano.

"It's not often that you get something for nothing. Even in technology land where there are constant improvements in product quality, it ranked as a big deal," Craig James, chief equities economist at Commonwealth Bank, told Reuters.

Hong Kong was the cheapest place to buy a Nano at $148.12, while the United States was second cheapest at $149, followed by Japan ($154.21), Taiwan ($165.82) and Singapore ($167.31).

Australia, where the local dollar has surged to 18-year highs, jumped 11 spots into eighth place with the Nano costing $175.42, cheaper than Germany ($211.62), France ($225.82), South Korea ($180.60) and even China where the machine is manufactured.

Within the euro zone, the Nano's price also differed, with retailers in Greece offering the cheapest deal.

Purchasing-power-parity surveys compare the prices of goods in different countries and at their simplest level can help show whether one currency is undervalued against another.

James said the results underscored the falling U.S. currency against almost all others around the world.

"It also highlights the effect of tariffs and taxation in countries. The Brazilians, the Argentinians, are going overseas probably to do their shopping," he explained.

"Its clear from the changes in the Apple iPod range that price deflation is alive and well in the technology space. It is a near-nirvana situation for consumers."

This is the CommSec iPod Index from highest to lowest, based on October 2007 prices in U.S. dollars:

Brazil $369.61; Bulgaria $318.60; Argentina $317.45; Israel $300.80; Peru $294.08; Chile $294.06; Malta $293.83; Egypt $269.10; Romania $266.60; Uruguay $260.00; Turkey $256.12; Hungary $254.50; Azerbaijan $252.11; Serbia $249.14; Croatia $245.41; Czech $242.54; Slovakia $234.13; Estonia $226.67; South Africa $226.60; Finland $225.82; France $225.82; Russia $220.32; Norway $220.20; Sweden $215.35; Belgium $211.62; Austria $211.62; Italy $211.62; Portugal $211.62; Ireland $211.62; Germany $211.62; Netherlands $211.62; Denmark $209.26; U.K. $201.92; Mexico $201.87; Cyprus $201.85; Luxembourg $201.12; Poland $200.52; Philippines $198.39; Spain $197.42; Greece $196.51; Switzerland $195.43; India $183.47; Malaysia $181.82; Korea $180.60; New Zealand $180.58; China $179.63; Pakistan $179.48; Australia $175.42; Thailand $174.89; Canada $169.68; Singapore $167.31; Taiwan $165.82; Japan $154.21; U.S. $149.00; Hong Kong $148.12