As reported here on Cell Phones Etc. and across the Web, here’s your daily brief on what happened in the world of mobile phones this Monday, July 4th 2011.
Cellphones Are Dangerous / Not Dangerous: Cancer Experts Say ‘What, Me Worry?’
If you haven’t already gotten whiplash from the ongoing cellphone-cancer debate, a freshly released scientific review might just do the trick. In the paper, published Friday, a panel of experts from Britain, Sweden and the US conducted a thorough survey of previous studies, before concluding that existing literature is “increasingly against” the theory that cellphone use causes brain tumors in adults. The researchers also questioned the biological mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis, while acknowledging some lingering uncertainties, since data on childhood tumors and longer-term research are still lacking.
Engadget
Apple Becomes Latest ‘Anonymous’ Hacker Target
Notorious hacker collective “Anonymous Operations” on Sunday published data it claims to have obtained by breaching a server belonging to Apple. The data, which consisted of 27 usernames and passwords, was allegedly taken during from surveys stored on an Apple server. Though the group said on one of its Twitter accounts that it is “busy elsewhere,” and therefore will seemingly not be targeting Apple again in the near future, it claims to have exploited a security flaw common to several companies when it gained access to Apple’s server. Anonymous said the breach was part of its AntiSec movement, short for anti-security, which is aimed at “exposing corporate and government data and humiliating security firms.”
BGR
18% Of BlackBerry Subscribers Use OS 6, 50% Use OS 5
RIM has released some stats of their BlackBerry devices. While the world patiently waits for OS 7 to be released their BlackBerry 6 OS continues to increase, now making up 18% of in-market devices (up 8% in March). Still making up the lions share by 50% is OS 5, which is very telling. In addition, although there’s no recent stats of the number of apps the BlackBerry World has (last count was 20,000 apps and 3 million downloads per day), BlackBerry 6 makes up 31% of free app downloads and 54% of all paid app downloads. However, OS 5 is still incredibly popular with 40% of paid app downloads and a high 57% of all the free app downloads.
MobileSyrup
Google+ For iOS Awaiting App Store Approval
Google+ is already available on Android and on the mobile web, but the search giant’s social network will soon make its debut on iPhone and iPad. Google+ is still in private beta and requires invites to access. Despite that restriction, Google+ has quickly become the hot topic of the social media universe. The reaction to Google’s social initiative has been mostly positive, but the company will have to prove that it can differentiate itself from Facebook while retaining users. Neither will be easy tasks.
Mashable
Best Buy Starts Selling Unlocked Phones
There are many ways to get your device unlocked, the carriers are doing this now but it’ll cost you between $50 and $75. Then you can find one of the thousands of websites that charge anywhere from $5- $25 for an unlock code. Now, you can walk into Best Buy and get an unlocked device as they have started to sell a few of them. On hand now are 3, but more are coming. The BlackBerry Curve 9300 can be your for $439.99 unlocked; Nokia 2730 is available for $229.99 unlocked and probably the best of all, the Nexus S starts at $424.99 (has been there since it launched in Canada).
MobileSyrup
