Several security experts think that because of the increasing number of smartphone users as well as the comparative ease of spreading viruses across these platforms, that smartphone security will be tested this year.

Attacks on smartphones haven’t reached the critical mass needed but it will happen sooner rather than later,” antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky, tells Red Herring.

"Mobile phone attacks scale very well for fraud," Internet Security Systems chief technology officer Chris Rouland also tells the publication.

"Phone viruses are propagating quickly and they have only been gated by the fact that there are not enough smartphone users today," he told the magazine. 

Rouland added that because phone carriers would likely have to bear the $100-per-incident cost of cleaning infected handhelds, only a few hundred infected phones are enough to cause a problem. 

Yet network security executive Simon Klalaf disagrees. The Vernier Networks CEO tells Red Herring that the financial incentives that spur malware writers to develop viruses are not there for smartphones.

“Putting a worm on laptops where the objective is to steal financial or personal data is a bigger problem for everyone,” he tells Red Herring.

 

BlackBerry-enthusiast site BlackBerry Cool had these first, but I ain't above spreadin' the link love about GUI eye candy.

Like these pretty BlackBerry 7100 themes from Keith.

Keith didn't design these themes, but he is making them available for free. These theme screens aren't downloadable individually, but they can be downloaded as a grouped Zip file.

I like them is what I think.

What do you think?

Boris Boege of Skylab Mobile Systems writes to tell me that their GPS mapping tool "Spot for Blackberry" now supports all Bluetooth enabled Blackberry devices in combination with a Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Former versions were only compatible with BlackBerry 7520 and BlackBerry 7100i. Both of those models have an integrated GPS receiver.

Now, Spot for BlackBerry has been rev'd to support the BlackBerry 7100 Series, the BlackBerry 8700 Series as well as the BlackBerry 7250 and BlackBerry 7290.

"Spot for Blackberry" costs $49. A time limited demo version is available free for download.

Further information is available at: http://www.skylabmobilesystems.com/en/products/spot_bb.html

If you have a BlackBerry 7100, and want to create your own ringtones, you may wish to consider downloading and installing Millennium Studios' BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder Package.

The Package includes:

• A digital video with ringtone creation instructions:
• A link to software that helps you convert sound files from the .wav or ,mp3 format to the BlackBerry format;
• 5 MB of hosting space on the Millennium Studio's ringtones web server, with uploading privileges for six months;
• 10 free ringtones, pre-configured for your BlackBerry and available on Millennium Studios' web server for you to download and install on your BlackBerry if you wish.

Total cost is $24.95, but Club Handango Members pay just $22.46.

Click the Read link below this post and you'll ring up Handango.com's BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder Package page.

With MiniRingtone for BlackBerry, you can create your personalized ringones from your (legally, of course) downloaded music files on your PC or from CD tracks.

You choose your favorite .mp3, .wav and.aiff audio, import it into the MiniRingtone utility on your PC, edit your selection and then synch up your BlackBerry to your PC to import your new ringtone.

MiniRingtone for BlackBerry works on all 7xxx series BlackBerrys. The utilty costs $24.75, but Club Handango Members pay $22.28.

Click the Read link below this post and your browser will take you to the MiniRingtone for BlackBerry page on Handango.com.

With more than 145 million landline and mobile customers in Europe, Latin America and Africa, Madrid, Spain-based Telefónica S.A. is one of the world's largest mobile, Internet and landline access providers.

Today, Telefónica is announcing it is acquiring  U.K.-based O2 - the wireless business that was spun off by BT (formerly Birtish Telecom) in 2001. O3 has 24.6 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland, and Germany. Purchase price is about $31 billion U.S.

O2 currently carries four BlackBerry models- the BlackBerry 7730, BlackBerry 7290, BlackBerry 7230, and BlackBerry 7100x. That roster, plus O2's service plans, should not change as a result of the acquisition.

Both companies say that O2's current management will continue to operate the business, which will retain its brand and its headquarters in the UK.

Maybe your  BlackBerry 7100 has no distinctive ring tone. If so, I'd bet that many times, you have reached for it in a crowd of users whose handsets also lack distinctive ring tones.

A minor embarrassment, but one that would be avoidable if you downloaded at least one of two new BlackBerry-compatible Polyphonic Ringtones sets from Studio Cuts.

Both of these sets are compatible with BlackBerry 7xxx series models, and cost $5.99 ($5.39 for Club Handango members).

Click the Read link below this post, and you'll land on the Studio Cuts Vol 1 Polyphonic Ring  Tones page on Handango.com

Cellular carrier O2 Germany, the brand name of  GmbH & Co. OHG , says it is adding the BlackBerry 7100x phone and the BlackBerry Connect-equipped Nokia 9300 smartphone to its portfolio.

The carrier, which is owned by British-based mmO2 plc, already offers the BlackBerry 7290.

"Employees in smaller enterprises, those who are self-employed, and freelancers without their own email server who often travel on business and need to remain in touch with the office now have an important advantage in their everyday business life by using BlackBerry," said Karoola Bode, Vice-President Business at O2 Germany.

Through a roaming agreement with T-Mobile, O2 Germany subscribers in most of that nation can access their network without roaming fees.

If you are an active stock market investor, you know that information is not only "power," but hopefully a path to equity.

StockTracker can help you manage both the information and equity parts of trading. It offers customizable, full-featured charts and market data, customizable portfolio tracking, and watch lists that send alerts to your BlackBerry when individual stocks you specify attain a specific per-share pricing level.

A 60-day subscription purchase of Stock Tracker costs $9.99, or $8.99 on Club Handango. You'll  need a BlackBerry 71xx, running at least BlackBerry OS 3.8. But OS 4.0 wouldn't hurt.

Click the Read link below this post, and you'll be on track to the Stock Tracker page on Handango.com.

Ned Johnson and Martin Trautschold are consultants with more than eight years of combined experience working with BlackBerry using corporate and individual clients. Trautschold, in fact, has  presented at the Annual RIM BlackBerry Wireless Enterprise Symposium.

Now, Trautschold and Johnson have combined to write two BlackBerry Made Simple 150-plus page PDF formatted e-books for BlackBerry users.

BlackBerry Made Simple covers 6500, 6700, 7200, 7500, 7700 and 7100 series BlackBerrys.

BlackBerry Made Simple- The Definitive Guide for 7100 Series covers all BlackBerry 71xx models.

Both books are $19.95 apiece.

Ned Johnson and Martin Trautschold are consultants with more than eight years of combined experience working with BlackBerry using corporate and individual clients. Trautschold, in fact, has  presented at the Annual RIM BlackBerry Wireless Enterprise Symposium.

Now, Trautschold and Johnson have combined to write two BlackBerry Made Simple 150-plus page PDF formatted e-books for BlackBerry users.

BlackBerry Made Simple covers 6500, 6700, 7200, 7500, 7700 and 7100 series BlackBerrys.

BlackBerry Made Simple- The Definitive Guide for 7100 Series covers all BlackBerry 71xx models.

Both books are $19.95 apiece.