network

Are you looking at new Windows Phone 8 devices for 2013? The Samsung ATIV S is available from O2 on contract from free when taken out with a plan worth £57 a month, or for £179 with an accompanied £16.50 plan. The high-end flagship Windows Phone is packed full of features that make the price point well worth the investment. We've taken the ATIV S for a spin for just over a week and have been impressed with what Samsung has produced.

Last week we reported WhatsApp had disappeared from view on the Windows Phone Marketplace (it was actually set to private), and were awaiting official clarification on the matter. Turns out, according to a report over at MonWindowsPhone, the app has a serious security flaw, which requires the team to pull the app and look into the problem. An update is well on its way.

The app enables Windows Phone owners to send messages to other devices and is available for multiple platforms. German website ComputerBild reported that an Android app, called WhatsAppSniffer, allowed users to access messages sent using WhatsApp on a WiFi network. The developers of the popular messaging service are patching the app due to it sending  messages via XMP protocol and in plain text.

We'll keep you posted and will announce when the app is available on the Marketplace with the patch bundled in an update for existing users. In the meantime, you can checkout some early images of the Windows Phone 8 version of WhatsApp.

Update: We've received word from a WhatsApp employee stating the following in an email,

"This has nothing to do with security. Please don't spread mis-information."

Take it as you will. We'll look forward to more information and possible clarification. Until then, WhatsApp is not available until the promised update is released to the Marketplace.

via: MonWindowsPhone

Nokia's network configuration app has been missing for months

Finally some news for all of you who have been itching for Nokia's Network Setup app, according to Nokia Support it's the final stages of submission to the Marketplace and should be available late next week. From a post on their support site:

"I can now let you know that a new version of the Network Setup app will be reviewed this week to go live and it should be published worldwide later this week (wk24). Please be aware that propagation through Marketplace may take an additional 3-5 days after the app is published."

The Network Setup app is crucial for pulling down SMS, MMS and carrier gateways for unlocked Lumia phones. In short, if you've unlocked your Nokia handset and threw in a new SIM you most likely were able to make phone calls but things like data and sending MMS were hit or miss. With this app, you can detect network settings to auto configure your phone.

The app went missing a few months ago without much word from Nokia. Presumably there were some issues with the app and it had to undergo some changes. That process looks now to be complete.

Incidentally, our Lumia 610 did ship with Network Setup pre-installed so Nokia is not losing those on the unlocked phone front just yet. But at least for all others your trouble should be over soon. We'll keep you posted when it goes live in the Nokia Collection.

Source: Nokia Support; Thanks, Shelby M., for the tip

It's the last major feature that differentiates Sprint from its competitors, but according to DSLReports, Sprint may be slowly moving towards killing off their unlimited data service. As more and more of their users have picked up smart devices on the US network, Sprint has made big changes every few months to their policies regarding unlimited data, and it looks like only time stands in the way of the company making that final decision to axe this unique offering (something the other major carriers did long ago).

Sprint hasn't said anything officially about this yet, but their actions are clear. First they added a $10 monthly fee to all 4G data users, then they capped their mobile hotspot subscribers to 5GB a month. Two days ago Sprint made another announcement via their website, saying that this data cap is expanding to include everything from tablets to netbooks to USB cards and beyond starting in November. The only thing left untouched is your average smartphone.

While Sprint has been gaining new subscribers over the last year from its one-of-a-kind unlimited data plan, the company continues to struggle to gain much of a financial profit. It may not be happening just yet, but here in the next year we may well see Sprint make a final decision and join the other carriers in capping their service, since they obviously aren't beating them yet. It's all speculation at this point, but from looking at the series of events up until now, that assumption just can't be helped.

As of right now, there are only a few Sprint WP7 device owners out there, but if you're one of them, this likely isn't the best news to hear. What do you take from all of this? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Sprint; Via: DSLReports

We've had IPv6 support in Windows for years, but Windows Phone 7 seems to be lacking the successor of IPv4 (one of the Mango features?). v6 has been in talks for a while and Google and other big websites adopting the protocol with network administrators and testers preparing their infrastructure accordingly. 

While it's not actually needed at the moment (since networks and ISPs still support IPv4), there will be a point where hardware such as routers will need to be updated (or replaced to increase profit for vendors). With your device, we should see Microsoft adding support for the protocol when networks and carriers start to look at making the change.

Could Nokia be bringing an IPv6 push to WP7 when their devices hit the shelves? Could well be, but for now consumers shouldn't really be thinking about IPv6 since we have a long way to go until the change over from v4 is full steam ahead.

Update: See this post for follow up information

Via: Smartphone France