GSM

Apple is one step closer to potentially taking a bite out of Nokia's U.S. market share. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday said it will review the iPhone maker's complaint against the Finland-based mobile-phone giant. The ITC is also reviewing a similar complaint from Nokia against Apple.

AT&T has tapped Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson to deliver network equipment and related engineering services for the U.S. wireless carrier's upcoming deployment of a high-speed 4G network based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology. The financial terms of the supplier contracts were not disclosed.

As with many new Apple products, once the initial hubbub dies down there remains a single question: Is it ready for the business market? It didn't take long for analysts to start trying to answer that question as it relates to the yet-to-be-released iPad.

Of course, Apple is positioning the iPad as a business-appropriate device, complete with its Microsoft Office-compatible iWork productivity suite and the iPad's VGA output that sets the stage for business presentations. There's also support for Microsoft Exchange and the device was designed with security in mind.

Sony Ericsson has taken the wraps off a new smartphone called Aspen that is based on the latest release of Windows Mobile from Microsoft. Together with Sony Ericsson's recently announced Android-based XPERIA X10 device, the new Aspen handset forms part of the company's new strategy for addressing the lack of a significant smartphone in its product portfolio.

Sony Ericsson has taken the wraps off a new smart-book device called Aspen that is based on the latest release of Windows Mobile from Microsoft. Together with Sony Ericsson's recently announced Android-based XPERIA X10 device, the new Aspen handset forms part of the company's new strategy for addressing the lack of a significant smart-book device in its product portfolio.

The patent duel between Apple and Nokia is getting decidedly more aggressive in the new year. Both handset makers took swings over the past few days in a legal battle that shows no signs of simmering down before it gets hotter.

On Friday, Apple filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent federal agency that, among other things, directs actions against unfair trade practices involving patent, trademark and copyright infringement. The commission has the authority to order U.S. customs officials to block goods from entering the U.S.

Here's the thing to know about the Nexus One right off the bat: The much ballyhooed "Google phone" that the search behemoth unveiled this week isn't as cool as the iPhone. Still, it is a very fine smartphone. In some respects it compares favorably to Apple's wunderkind, but it comes up short in other key measures, such as storage for downloadable apps.

It advances the ball compared with previous handsets that run Google's Android mobile operating software, if not dramatically so.

The cracking of GSM encryption by 28-year-old German security expert Karsten Nohl has sent shock waves through the wireless industry. But the crack should come as no surprise to an industry that has long given short shrift to security, an analyst says.

Nohl -- working with others around the Internet -- has created a guidebook for cracking the Global System for Mobile communication's 64-bit A5/1 algorithm, which was adopted in 1988. 3G networks use 128-bit encryption to protect caller privacy and the new A5/3 algorithm is being "phased in," GSM Association spokesperson Claire Cranton said.

The most widely used mobile-phone technology -- Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) -- has been cracked. The more than 20-year-old encryption, which protects mobile-phone calls and texts from being intercepted, was cracked by a computer hacking group called the Chaos Computer Club.

The encryption based on the A5/1 and A5/2 algorithm offers over-the-air privacy by scrambling the communications link between a handset and a radio base station. Serious weaknesses were discovered in both algorithms.

In a patent drama just getting under way, Nokia has added a new twist in its case against Apple. On Tuesday, Nokia said it filed a new complaint against the iPhone maker for infringing on its patents in virtually all of Apple's mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.