PIRATED: Fake iPhones on display at a mobile phone stall in Shanghai. The newest version of Apple Inc’s popular iPhone has already hit the Chinese market – the fake market that is. The ‘hiPhone 5′ is selling for as little as 200 yuan. – Reuters

SHANGHAI: Chinese police here have arrested five people for making and selling fake versions of Apple’s iPhone, a local newspaper reported on Sept 29.

Police said those arrested were part of an organised gang that bought components for the phones from Guangdong in southern China and assembled them in rented apartments in Shanghai, the Shanghai Daily said.

About 200 fake iPhones were found during the crackdown.

The cost to make one fake iPhone, which used some genuine parts, was around 2,000 yuan (RM994). It was sold on unauthorised markets and on the Internet for around 4,000 yuan (RM1,988), only a few hundred yuan cheaper than the real iPhone, the newspaper said.

The fake iPhones had the same functions as the genuine ones but had a shorter battery life, it quoted the police as saying.

“It’s really hard for customers to distinguish the fake ones from the genuine ones,” an officer was quoted as saying.

Officials from Apple could not be reached for comment.

China has been repeatedly criticised for widespread violation of intellectual property rights, but pirated goods from expensive brands of watches, bags and computer software can be easily found in shops.

Various pirated versions of iPhones can also be easily found. ‘hiPhone 5′ phones, which are based on leaked images of the yet-to-be-launched iPhone 5, are being sold in markets and on the Internet.

An American blogger set off a media storm in July after she posted pictures of an elaborate fake Apple Store in Kunming, selling genuine if unauthorised iPhones, Macbooks and other widely popular Apple products.

Apple, which is expected to roll out the latest version of the iPhone 5 smartphone within a few months, sold a record 20.34 million iPhones worldwide during the last quarter, even though its newest model is over a year old. – Reuters

As a result of a partnership with Samsung Malaysia Electronics, Tune Group’s new digital media arm, Tune Box is to use Samsung Galaxy tablets to deliver inflight entertainment and electronic flight bag applications for AirAsia X flights.

Under the partnership, Tune Box will employ Samsung technology, including the Google Android-powered GALAXY tablets, for Inflight Entertainment (IFE) and Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) applications, leveraging on Samsung’s market leading mobile technology, said Tune Group chairman and AirAsia X director, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

Fernandes said the plan would see the Samsung GALAXY tablets in passenger cabins as portable IFE devices. “The tablets will be connected to the on-board cabin wi-fi to deliver videos, music and interactive games to passengers. For EFB solutions, the Samsung GALAXY tablet technology will be used to bring innovation into the cockpit to help flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently.”

“We are continuously working on providing the best service and inflight experience for our guests and this partnership with Samsung will enable our passengers to experience a modern and innovative inflight entertainment experience,” said Fernandes. “From this, we hope to boost customer satisfaction, remain at the forefront of technology, and grow our ancillary business.”

Class 3 EFB is an installed avionics system, a scalable system that features current and future capability and functionality needs, which also meets the safety requirement standards for hardware and software approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for use during flight. (Class 1 and 2 EFB devices are restricted and cannot be used during flight.)

AirAsia X is the long-haul, low fare affiliate of Malaysian-based AirAsia Group. A recently-announced joint venture between Tune Box and avionics solutions provider Flight Focus, which specialises in Class 3 EFB technology, will also benefit from the collaboration with Samsung.

Tough testing ground

“Samsung is delighted to work with Tune Box,” said Samsung Malaysia Electronics managing director, Kown Jae Hoon. “This enables us to achieve our goal to spearhead new innovations to revolutionise the aviation industry. The aviation industry is a tough proving ground for any technology but we are confident that by partnering Tune, we will be able to demonstrate the robustness of our products and solutions.”

“While also expanding our customer base, creating greater exposure for our products and enhancing customers’ inflight experiences, our partnership with Tune Group is well aligned with our corporate vision to expand our technologies into B2B solutions,” said Kwon.

“We always look forward to working with the best in the market, so naturally, we’re very excited about the collaboration with a market leader like Samsung,” said Tune Box co-founder and chief technical officer, Sami El Hadery. “Technology evolves at a rapid pace and together with Samsung, we aim to stay ahead of the race and revolutionise inflight entertainment and EFB solutions.”

Malaysian 3G operator U Mobile aims to deliver the ‘fastest mobile broadband service’ to the Klang Valley, following the recent launch of a 42Mbps [megabits per second] server in Johor Bahru.

U Mobile chief executive officer Dr. Kaizad Heerjee on 23 September 2011 said the service was now available in the Klang Valley, Seremban and Port Dickson. “U Mobile now has more than 1300 42Mbps sites within the central region including Klang Valley from Shah Alam to Bangi, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Seremban, Port Dickson, and Johor Bahru in the southern region. The expansion of the network will continue to grow and Penang will be a new member of the ’42Mbps City’ family in the northern region within the next six months.”

“Residents in these areas will now have access to the fastest mobile broadband that is three to five times faster than any of the other current market offerings,” said Dr Kaizad. “Subscribers can now enjoy ease of files transfer and streaming of high quality video to mobile devices and laptop either at a fixed location or on the go.”

He said the new service was competitive and customers could ‘rent’ the 42Mbps modem for as low as RM20 [US$6.31] per month when they sign up at any U Mobile service centres or U Mobile authorised dealers.

“This announcement has brought new levels of connectivity and mobility to Internet users like never before,” said Dr. Kaizad. “It is also a realisation of the commitment we have made to our customers in October last year. We thank our strategic partner, ZTE, for their support in helping us realise our vision.”

source :: http://computerworld.com.my/tech/mobile-and-wireless/fastest-mobile-broadband-in-klang-valley-u-mobile/

By JO TIMBUONG

bytz@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Cybercrime is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide with more than a ­million people becoming victims every single day, according to the Norton Cybercrime Report 2011. The victims of cybercrime also paid dearly with a total loss of US$388bil (RM1.21bil) to ­cybercriminals in 2010. Effendy Ibrahim, director of ­consumer business at Symantec Asia Pacific, said that cybercrimes don’t only cost victims financially but emotionally too. “On average, it takes 10 days for a victim to recover from a ­cybercrime and it can be emotional too ­considering the amount of data they lose,” he said at the launch of Norton 2012, Symantec’s latest cybersecurity solution. However, victims could have saved themselves money and regret as the type of cybercrimes they fell victim to were preventable. The report found that the most common type of cybercrimes are malware, scams and threats ­targeted at mobile devices. However many people tend to underestimate the dangers of online crime thinking that it will happen to everyone else but themselves. The survey found that seven out of 10 adults thought they would more likely be a victim of physical crime rather than an online crime. “This is a lingering attitude users have when they are offline and it gets replicated when they are online,” Effendy said. The report also found that men, particularly those in the generation Y demographic, are most likely to become victims of cybercrimes. “Men spend more time online and do more ‘dangerous’ activities,” Effendy said. The report stated that more men watch adult content, gamble and participate in online dating sites compared to women. “All these are social engineering techniques and it’s quite easy to fall victims to such tactics,” Effendy said.

Local threat landscape

Although Malaysia wasn’t in the list of countries studied in the ­report, national cyberspace police Cybersecurity Malaysia said the findings are representative of the Malaysian threat landscape. “It is the same environment, so whatever that is happening in the world will definitely affect us the same way,” said Cybersecurity Malaysia chief executive officer, Lt Col (Rtd) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri. He said the Malaysian ­cyberthreat landscape is no less alarming with over 10,000 cases reported every month up till August this year. Last year, Cybersecurity Malaysia received over 8,000 reports about cybercrime via its cyber999 hotline. Its Cyber Early Warning System has also detected over 5,000,000 ­security threats up until August. Given the increasing amount of cyberthreats, Husin said there is a need for more proactive ­measures to prevent more Internet users from becoming cybercrime victims and it will take more than reviewing or improving current cybersecurity laws. “Amending laws take time and it is slower than the prevailing problem. We need to intensify education and awareness efforts to educate users on Internet risks,” he said. Husin said Cybersecurity Malaysia is open to the idea of working with security solution providers like Symantec to come up with ­cybersecurity awareness ­programmes. Cybersecurity Malaysia already has a list of home-made ­security tools such as DontPhishMe, DNSwatch and MyPHPiPs that protects users from cybercriminals which can be downloaded for free. It is also working on ­establishing a Cyber Clinic which will offer an extensive list of cybersecurity ­services to computer users. The clinic is expected to be ready before the end of the year.