O2 opens up O2 Joggler software for developers and launches application store

A specially adapted subset of PURE’s Internet radio service goes live on O2 Joggler

O2 has today announced the addition of Internet Radio to the O2 Joggler, bringing over 100 radio stations to the device for free. The service, delivered by the UK’s leading radio maker PURE, has now been switched on over-the-air. O2 has also reduced the price of the O2 Joggler to £99.99.

PURE, working in associated with OpenPeak, has adapted its radio and media portal, The Lounge, for the O2 Joggler delivering a selection of the most popular UK BBC and commercial radio stations. Situated at the heart of the home, the O2 Joggler is an ideal device to listen to the radio over and the addition of this feature represents a significant enhancement to the O2 Joggler.

“Being able to add new features like Internet Radio is one of the great benefits of the O2 Joggler ensuring it remains up-to-date with the latest functions long after purchase,” said Sally Cowdry, O2 Marketing Director. “We have focused on what customers have told us they want. With calendar, music & video player, photo viewer, news, sports and weather, and now Internet Radio, the O2 Joggler represents fantastic value for money and is the perfect gift this Christmas.”

The Lounge (www.thelounge.com) made its debut in 2008 as the bespoke radio and media portal for PURE’s Flow range of internet-connected products, the UK’s best selling range of DAB/ internet radios. PURE originally designed the portal as the online destination to provide easy and effective access to radio content and more for its connected radios and online users. The Lounge now provides over 12,000 streamed internet radio stations, thousands of podcasts, all BBC listen again content and a growing number of atmospheric ‘PURE Sounds’.

Colin Crawford, PURE’s director of marketing says: “We are extremely pleased to be offering a part of the Lounge experience to a wider audience through the O2 Joggler. The specially adapted version of the Lounge has a simple and accessible format for all the family.”

Opening up the O2 Joggler

Adding features such as Internet Radio is part of O2’s strategy to develop the O2 Joggler as a hub for the home with a wide range of features for everyone to enjoy. In a significant next step in the development of the O2 Joggler platform, O2 also today announces that it will upgrade the device’s software from Flash 8 to Flash 10, making it possible for developers to create applications for the device. A SDK will be made available to developers shortly via O2 Litmus, O2’s web and mobile application development community.

O2 will also be launching an application store for the O2 Joggler which is due to go live on the device by the end of the year. Initially featuring free applications, the store will be developed in due course to allow people to purchase a wide range of apps for their Joggler. These could include anything from internet shopping through to video recipes and takeaway food applications.

Sally Cowdry continued, “Driven from customer insight and understanding, the O2 Joggler was a pioneering device when it launched earlier this year. With these announcements today, we keep the device fresh and innovative and signal our intention to continue to grow this platform. The O2 Joggler represents a key part of our strategy of delivering products and services to help make lives easier.”

The O2 Joggler Application Store will also link into O2 Litmus where developers are able to test and get feedback on their applications from O2 customers. The O2 Joggler will become one of the platforms available to developers through O2 Litmus and the application development community will open up new opportunities for them in selling their applications.

T-Mobile staff sold personal data to other mobile competitors

T-Mobile staff sold personal data

Staff at mobile phone company T-Mobile passed on millions of records from thousands of customers to third party brokers, the firm has confirmed.

Details emerged after the firm alerted the information commissioner, who said his office was preparing a prosecution.

Christopher Graham said brokers had sold the data to other phone firms, who then cold-called the customers as their contracts were due to expire.

A T-Mobile spokesman said the data had been sold "without our knowledge".

Mr Graham, who was appointed earlier this year as the watchdog responsible for safeguarding personal information, said the data breach was the biggest of its kind.

He added that the case illustrated why there needed to be a prison sentence to prevent people from selling private data to third parties.

Mr Graham confirmed his office was preparing a prosecution against those responsible for selling on T-Mobile data.

Justice Minister Michael Wills told the BBC that there was a "strong case" for introducing custodial sentences to prevent the trade in illegal data.

Search warrants

Initially Mr Graham had said he would not name the operator involved as it could prejudice a prosecution.

But after phone firms 02, Vodafone, Orange, 3 and Virgin said they were not the subject of his investigation, T-Mobile confirmed it had been.
ANALYSIS
Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent

The increasing use of computers and memory sticks to store and transfer data has fuelled what the information commissioner described in 2006 as a pernicious and widespread trade.

Addresses, phone bills, bank statements and health records - they can all be obtained for a price.

The Information Commissioner's report estimated that you could trace the name and address of a telephone caller from their phone number for £75 and check someone's criminal record for £500.

Suppliers obtain information through two routes - by paying insiders to pass it on or by pretending to be someone who has a lawful need for it - known as blagging.

In August a civilian worker at Essex Police was fined for accessing police intelligence databases 800 times and passing on mobile phone records.

Mr Graham said investigators had been working with the company after it reported suspicions of an unlawful trade in customers' data.

The team from the Information Commissioner's office obtained search warrants to enter premises and have also interviewed employees.

Mr Graham said: "Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire.

"We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data.

"But, we will only be able to do this if blaggers and others who trade in personal data face the threat of a prison sentence.

"The existing paltry fines… are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity. The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent."

'Exploiting data'

The Ministry of Justice has been consulting on tougher penalties for illegal trade in personal information.

The Data Protection Act bans the selling on of data without prior permission from the customer and a fine of £5,000 can be imposed following a successful prosecution.
T-MOBILE FACTS
# The UK's fourth largest mobile phone company
# Has an estimated 16.6 million UK customers - a 15% share of the market
# UK workforce of 6,500
# Subsidiary of German firm Deutsche Telekom
# Plans to merge its UK business with that of Orange
# This would create a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers

But Mr Graham said that the mobile phone case suggested that people were "driving a coach and horses" through the legislation.

He added: "This is not just about mobile phone companies. It's about private investigators, it's about blagging information from databases for use to put the frighteners on witnesses, attempt to knobble juries, pursue 'nasty neighbour' disputes, interfere in the family courts, difficult divorce settlements.

"Personal data has value and there are people out there exploiting it."

Justice Minister Michael Wills said the government was looking at bringing in tougher penalties to deter the illegal trade in personal information.

He added: "Given the scale of public concern about privacy of their data, I think we have to look at going further and custodial sentences clearly have to be a part of that."

But Conservative justice spokeswoman Eleanor Laing said: "The government's refusal to establish a strong privacy watchdog is nothing short of scandalous.

"We need a beefed-up information commissioner with a full set of punitive strings to his bow, including the power to fine organisations."

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the "shameful incident" proved that stiffer penalties "cannot be introduced soon enough".

He added: "This sorry episode questions the government's wisdom in getting communications providers to hoard increasing amounts of information about us."

'Proactively supported'

A spokesman for T-Mobile said the sale of the data had been "deeply regrettable" and that it had been asked to keep it secret to avoid any criminal prosecutions being prejudiced.

He said: "T-Mobile takes the protection of customer information seriously.

"When it became apparent that contract renewal information was being passed on to third parties without our knowledge, we alerted the Information Commissioner's Office.

The spokesman added that the company and the ICO "working together" had identified the source of the breach and that T-Mobile had "proactively supported the ICO to help stamp out what is a problem for the whole industry".

He added: "We were therefore surprised at the way in which these statements were made to the BBC today."

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/8364421.stm

Published: 2009/11/17 21:11:05 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Johnson ‘legally powerless’ over McKinnon extradition.

The Home Secretary is able to stop the clock on Gary McKinnon's case, but he can't rule against the extradition treaty Britain has with the US.

By Asavin Wattanajantra, 11 Nov 2009 at 10:52

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has defended his role in the case of Gary McKinnon, stating that his hands are tied by the UK/US Extradition Treaty, which gives the US the right to demand the extradition of the hacker.

Speaking at a Home Affairs Committee meeting, Johnson revealed that he had no “discretion” when it came to opposing the extradition, which some claim is unfair.

This was because the Act doesn’t require the US to have admissible evidence of the offence committed for McKinnon to be forcefully removed from the UK. This isn’t true the other way round.

He said: “If anyone was being extradited from the UK, with their crime committed in the US, that’s legal – that’s set out in the Act. I have to judge the conditions that apply.”

However, Johnson said he “stopped the clock” on the appeal due to fresh medical evidence being given to him which the ‘final’ High Court judgement in July didn’t hear.

“It says that the situation has deteriorated and Gary McKinnon’s psychological state is much worse. It says that his propensity for suicide has become that much greater," the Home Secretary said.

“I felt given that this wasn’t brought before the High Court, and it would be wrong not to see whether this breached Gary McKinnon’s article three human rights.”

Article three of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits torture as well as ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.

McKinnon admits hacking into NASA and Pentagon computers, but claims he was not out to do any harm and was simply looking for evidence of aliens.

He has been now fighting for several years to avoid extradition, with his Asperger's being one of the factors in his defence.

Johnson was unsure about what would happen if the evidence did point to a breach in McKinnon’s human rights.

“It’s a very good question. I’m not looking at what happens next. I think it’s then a matter for the prosecuting authorities to decide what happens,” he said.

Taken from web site :-

http://www.itpro.co.uk/617434/johnson-legally-powerless-over-mckinnon-extradition

Sony Erricsson X10 is Announced ! wow

Sony Ericsson X10 with rachel UI

http://bit.ly/1mJTat

Size	119.0 x 63.0 x 13.0 mm 4.7 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches
Weight	135.0 g 4.8 oz
Screen	16,536 color TFT touchscreen
Available colours	Sensuous Black Luster White
Memory	Phone memory 1GB SanDisk microSD™ up to 16GB, 8GB included

* Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration

Battery performance

Battery performance may vary depending on network and phone usage

Networks	Talk time (up to)	Standby time (up to)	Video call (up to)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS/HSPA 900/1700/2100

= To be announced = Not applicable

Camera

Auto focus

Automatic focus for optimal clarity.

Camera - 8.1 megapixel

Capture and share special moments.

Digital Zoom - up to 16x

Get close to your subject.

Face recognition

Your phone automatically recognises up to five faces in your picture.

Flash / light type - Photo light

Geo-tagging

Have your photo tagged with information on where it was taken.

Image stabiliser

Avoid blurriness caused by slight hand movements.

Send to web

Catch moments with your camera and send straight to your personal web site or blog.

Smile detection

Let the camera automatically snap the shot when your subject flashes a smile.

Video light

More light when shooting video.

Video recording

Record video clip

Music

Album art

Choose music by browsing CD album art or other images

Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)

Music from phone to headset over a wireless connection.

Media Player

An in-phone media player for music and video

Music tones - MP3, AAC

Use original artist recordings as ringtones.

PlayNow™

Download music and games to your phone.

Internet

Web browser - WebKit

Full Internet browser with support for standard protocols, images and video.

Web feeds

Get the news in your phone as it happens.

Entertainment

3D games

Enjoy quality games with full color and depth.

Media

Media content in one place for fast and easy access.

Video Clip

Video clip viewing and transfer to another phone or PC

Video streaming

Realtime video streaming, e.g. live cam

YouTube™

View your favourite YouTube™ videos, or upload your own - access is easy via the YouTube™ application.

Connectivity

aGPS

Use GPS-powered location-based services.

Bluetooth™ technology

Secure wireless connectivity for transferring items to other Bluetooth™ products up to a range of 10 meters.

Google Maps™

Find your way to your destination.

Synchronisation PC

Synchronise and share phone content with PC

USB support

PC to phone USB cable support

WiFi™

Utilise high-speed Internet at Wi-Fi™ hotspots at airports and other facilities.

Messaging

Email

Check your email inbox wherever you are.

Exchange ActiveSync®

Stay seamlessly synchronized with your Microsoft® Exchange email server.

Picture messaging (MMS)

Colourful multimedia messaging.

Predictive text input

Fast and easy text messaging.

Text messaging (SMS)

Send text greetings anywhere in the world.

Communication

Sony Ericsson Timescape™

All your communication with one person in one place.

Speakerphone

Loudspeaker suitable for using the phone as an office handsfree

Vibrating Alert

The phone vibrates and you can feel when a call comes in

Design

Auto rotate

Switch from vertical to horizontal mode by rotating the phone. Whatever you're viewing will rotate to suit.

Gesture Control

Silence the call or alarm simply by moving your hand across the camera lens

Picture wallpaper

Background picture on-screen when the phone is in standby mode

Organiser

Alarm clock

Set a time, and your phone will ring at that time

Calculator

Built-in fully functional calculator

Calendar

Fully functional calendar with day, week and month views and reminders

Flight mode

Disable the radio receivers and transmitters in your phone so you can safely use other functions.

Infinite button

Just one press to all about your friends or all the artist info you need.

Phone book

Store names and phone numbers

Touchscreen

Euro UK details
http://bit.ly/1mJTat