You’ve got three options when confronted with a liner: catch it, protect your seatmates, or dive for cover as it ricochets off the woman you love. Astros fan Bo chose that last one.

As soon as we got here and I saw where we were sitting, I said ‘Baby, we’re going to get hit,’” said the woman, identified only as Sara. “He said, ‘No, I’ll catch it if you do.’ We just had this conversation and sure enough, the ball comes at me. He just bailed.”

I mean, sure, you and I might call it cowering. But how often do you see anyone actually make a play on those line drive foul balls? Bo probably just figured he could use his girl to stop the ball’s flight, and he could swoop in to retrieve it. Sure enough, he got the ball.

Looking to power up your iPhone with the best free and cheap apps out there? Our first edition of the Lifehacker Pack for iPhone rounds up our favorite must-have iPhone applications.

Whether you just bought a new iPhone or you’re simply looking for some of the best basic apps for your device, the list below should be plenty to get you started. The majority of the apps are free unless otherwise noted, and where they’re not free, we aimed for cheap. And when a default application is incredibly useful and blows all its competition out of the water‚Äîwe included it, too. It’s a big list, so here’s an index if you want to quickly jump to a section:

• Productivity
• Internet/Communication
• Location-Aware
• Utilities
• Media
• Food and Entertainment
• Art and Photography

Productivity

Evernote:
Where most mobile companion apps tend to offer a lot less than their desktop counterparts, ubiquitous capture tool Evernote takes full advantage of the iPhone to make the mobile app worthy of standing on its own. In addition to capturing regular text, you can grab voice notes and photos as well. Since Evernote performs OCR (optical character recognition) on all your images, any text in the pictures you add to Evernote will be searchable. For example, you could take a snapshot of a menu in a restaurant and later search it just like it was a text document.
[Download]
Simplenote:
Simplenote is a key component in the holy grail of ubiquitous text capture, and rightfully so. Simplenote allows for speedy note entry on your iPhone, plus it syncs with the likewise free Simplenote service so your notes are always available wherever you want them.
[Download]

TripIt:
If you haven’t used TripIt to manage your travel itineraries, you’ve been missing out. We’ve already discussed its merits, but the free iPhone app makes it even easier to manage your trip. It’s a natural extensions of the service, since if you’re traveling it’s more than likely that you’re not at your computer.
[Download]

Instapaper / ReadItLater:
Instapaper and ReadItLater both serve the purpose of saving web content for later reading, and both offer free and paid versions, but they’re still notably different. Instapaper offers you a straightforward and simple way of reading saved content. ReadItLater is a little more feature-rich. Both are great options and you can try them for free to see which you prefer.
[Download Instapaper Free / Instapaper (Paid) or ReadItLater Free / ReadItLater Pro]

Dragon Dictation:
Apple’s voice recognition handles a few tasks but misses some key features that Dragon Dictation helps to fill in. If typing is not an option, or you’re just feeling lazy, Dragon Dictation will type it up for you. You can send a text message or an email directly from the app, and it also integrates with Facebook and Twitter. Although not perfect, Dragon Dictation is surprisingly accurate and will let you correct any mistakes it makes.
[Download]

Mint: If you’re not using Mint to keep track of you finances, you should be. It’ll keep track of all your accounts and provide you with useful statistics and budgeting information to help you manage your money better. If you’re looking for something a little more hands-on, however, Jumsoft Money is a great free app as well‚Äîyou just input everything yourself.
[Download]

Internet/Communication

Atomic Browser:
If you’ve found Mobile Safari to be a bit lacking, you’re not alone. Atomic Browser can help, providing true tabbed browsing, private browsing mode, user-agent spoofing (handy for watching Netflix on your iPhone), and a ton of features you’ve come to expect as part of your web-browsing experience.
[Download Full Version or Lite]
Skype:
Imagine being able to use your iPhone to make phone calls! (Har har.) Now that Skype works over 3G and can take advantage of iOS 4′s multitasking capabilities, it’s actually a viable alternative to using your mobile minutes. Even if you don’t want to go so far as to replace your regular phone, it’s still a great tool for making international calls on the cheap and chatting with your Skype contacts on the go.
[Download]

Textfree Unlimited:
If you don’t like paying a ridiculous amount of money for small amounts of data, Textfree Unlimited lets you send and receive text messages at no costs. You can even set up a phone number specifically for the app. While Textfree used to only provide free text messages, now the app is free as well. The trade-off is that you get ads, but you have the option to pay to remove them.
[Download]

LucyPhone:
Another great minute-saver is LucyPhone (check out our quick review), the app that waits on hold so you don’t have to. If you’re calling a popular business, LucyPhone’s directory may even save you the step of going through the phone tree to get to the right department. While you might confuse the customer service representative on the other end, LucyPhone takes all the pain of waiting on hold‚Äîincluding the loss of your mobile minutes.
[Download]

Meebo:
With a couple of $10 multi-service IM clients available, Meebo stands out especially because it’s free. Being free doesn’t make it bad, however. It’s an attractive app with the ability to integrate tons of IM services, making it our IM app of choice.
[Download]

Twitter:
You could drown in Twitter apps on the iPhone, but the official option is free and one of the best. In addition to tweeting and direct-messaging, you can also share photos and videos. Thanks to the iPhone’s GPS, Twitter is location-aware and can provide you with nearby tweets so you can figure out what people are talking about in your area in real time.
[Download]

Facebook:
The official Facebook app on the iPhone is great for general updates and messages, but it becomes especially useful when all your contacts flood in. If your address book is missing a number, just find your friend in the Facebook app and click the call button. You can also keep track of events, check your news feed, and edit your profile.
[Download]

Location-Aware

Maps (Default App):
While Android’s version of Google Maps blows it out of the water, the built-in Maps application on the iPhone is still pretty great. Drivers can check real-time traffic and get simple directions to just about anywhere. Even if you don’t drive, walking and public transportation directions are available. With street view integration and a few other neat features, Maps is easily one of the most useful apps on the iPhone.

MapQuest4Mobile (GPS):
While the iPhone has a few free turn-by-turn navigation apps (and none of them are even encroaching on the territory of perfect), MapQuest4Mobile feels more like the real deal than any of the others. In my personal experience I found it gave directions too late in quite a few cases, but it’s hard to argue with free. If you want a commanding, computerized female voice barking directions at you (occasionally after you’ve missed your exit), and you don’t want to pay a lot for the privilege, you’ve found your match.
[Download]

GasBuddy:
Although not free (weighing in on the more expensive side at $2.99), GasBuddy is the sort of app that can pay for itself after one use. If you’re always on the lookout for cheap gas, GasBuddy will give you options by proximity and price. You can filter by fuel grade, and it can even help you find a diesel gas station.
[Download]

Movies Now:
If you’ve ever wanted to see a movie on a whim, Movies Now scratches that itch. While it handles regular movie showtimes, too, it’s main function uses your location and the current time to find upcoming showtimes near you. If you find a movie you like, you can buy tickets through movietickets.com directly from the app. The catch: It’s $2. While there are certainly free options in the movie showtimes arena (like the IMDb app below), Movies Now has a great location-based twist.
[Download]

RunKeeper Free:
You have quite a few fitness apps to choose from on the iPhone. One of those happens to be RunKeeper, and lucky us, it has a great free version. RunKeeper uses your iPhone’s GPS to track your run and provide you with statistics, giving you the statistical benefits of a treadmill when you’re outside the gym. It integrates with your music library and lets you share your activities. While the built-in Nike+ app is also pretty nice, RunKeeper doesn’t require the purchase of any additional hardware and lets you choose your brand of shoes.
[Download Free or Pro]

Find My iPhone:
Even if you’re not a MobileMe subscriber, you’ve probably heard a bit about Find My iPhone in the news. It’s already tracked down a few iPhone thieves, but is probably more commonly used when you’ve just misplaced your phone. While you have to shell out $99 a year for a MobileMe account to get any use out of the app, it’s a must if you’re already a MobileMe subscriber.
[Download]

Utilities

Dropbox:
Would it truly be a Lifehacker Pack without file-syncing app extraordinaire Dropbox? While the iPhone version of Dropbox isn’t quite as useful as Dropbox on your computer, it makes for a nice companion. If you’re using Dropbox for all sorts of clever things, it’s always nice having access to your sync’d files from your phone. While the Dropbox app can download anything the iPhone (or a third-party app) can display, you can also save key files on your phone as well.
[Download]
Boxcar:
If you like frequent push notifications, you’ll probably like Boxcar. Boxcar integrates with Twitter, Facebook, email, RSS, and Growl to grab updates of nearly anything you want and push them to your phone. If you want to be alerted the moment something changes, Boxcar will get the job done.
[Download]

PasteFire / MyPhoneDesktop:
PasteFire and MyPhoneDesktop do the same thing‚Äîthey aim to make getting text from your desktop to your iPhone a bit easier. Both use push and both integrate with your machine to send content. The biggest difference is price: PasteFire is free and MyPhoneDesktop costs a whopping $5. So why mention MyPhoneDesktop? I think it works better. Still, no penalty for trying PasteFire. MyPhoneDesktop is really only worth a look if the free option doesn’t cut it for you.
[Download PasteFire or MyPhoneDesktop]

Logitech TouchMouse:
If you want to use your iPhone as a wireless trackpad for your Mac or Windows PC, that’s precisely what Touch Mouse can help you accomplish. It also includes keyboard functionality so you can make use of your iPhone’s keyboard to input text. While this is not terribly practical or speedy for use with just any machine, if you have a computer hooked up to your television it’s a convenient way to navigate without the clutter of a keyboard and mouse on your couch.
[Download]

Media

Pandora:
Pandora’s always been a favorite on the iPhone, but with multitasking support in iOS 4 it becomes so much more useful. Now that you can listen to your personalized Pandora radio stations in the background, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better, free way to discover new music.
[Download]
Remote:
Although it’s nearing a year without an update, Apple’s Remote app is still pretty incredible. If you want to control your iTunes library remotely, or turn your iPhone into a multi-room wireless remote (in the event your have an Airport Express or AppleTV), there’s really no better option‚Äîespecially for free.
[Download]

Air Video / StreamToMe:
Air Video and StreamToMe are both apps that help you stream video from your computer to your iPhone, no matter where you are. They’re especially compelling when you want to watch something at, say, the gym and you didn’t have time to transcode and sync it to your device first. Whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or 3G, you can stream video directly to your phone from anywhere you are (the quality of your connection permitting, of course). Both apps have some subtle differences, such as StreamToMe’s ability to stream more than just video and Air Video’s option to pre-encode content for easier streaming, and either are worth the price of admission: $2.99.
[Download Air Video or StreamToMe]

iBooks / Kindle / Stanza:
It’s hard to consider any of the iPhone ebook readers the best choice because they’re pretty similar. They all let you read on your phone, they all let you purchase books, and they’re all free to download. While I’m partial to the Kindle app, it’s mainly because I started with ebooks via the Kindle. Pick the ebook app that works the best for you‚Äîor don’t, since they’re all free downloads.
[Download iBooks, Kindle, or Stanza]

Food and Entertainment

Yelp:
Yelp has yet to fail me when I’m on a search for some good, nearby eats. It also comes with some semi-secret, fully-nifty augmented reality. If you’re looking for nearby food (or anything, really), Yelp is a great (free) way to find your best options.
[Download]
MenuPages:
The one thing Yelp won’t do is hand you a menu for the restaurants it suggests, and that’s where MenuPages comes in. While it can feel a little clunky at times, it’s indispensable when you’re in need of a menu on the go.
[Download]

IMDb:
IMDb is a great resources for movie information, and the app does a good job of focusing a lot of information onto your iPhone’s small screen. What’s also great about the IMDb app is that it also serves as an excellent free option for finding movie showtimes.
[Download]

TV Forecast:
TV Forecast performs the simple function of keeping track of when the next episode of any show is going to air. Enter in just about any show that’s currently running and TV Forecast will provide you with an attractive schedule tailored just for you. While you can grab the free version of TV Listings instead and save yourself $1.99, TV Forecast is a better option.
[Download]

PhoneFlicks:
While you can always watch Netflix on your jailbroken iPhone with a little work, if you’re looking for a way to manage your old-fashioned Netflix queue you can do that nicely with PhoneFlicks. The functionality here is pretty basic, letting you edit your queue and find new titles through search or browsing, but it gets the job done and doesn’t cost you a penny.
[Download]

Art and Photography

Gorillacam:
If you’re looking for a free, full-featured iPhone camera upgrade you should check out Joby’s Gorillacam. It provides a huge set of features, including a self-timer, time-lapse photography, anti-shake, three-shot burst, and more. Update: We’re hearing that Gorillacam may have a potential spyware issue. While we can’t tell for certain, you may want to proceed with caution.
[Download]
Snapture:
If you really want to make the most of your iPhone’s camera, check out Snapture. It might set you back $1.99, but it’s a popular alternative to the iPhone’s built-in camera app. In addition to helping you take better photos, you’ll also find some basic image editing tools. Snapture’s main draw, however, is how easy it makes it to quickly pull out your iPhone and take a picture. Simply open the app, tap the screen, and you’ve got a photo.
[Download]

HipstaMatic:
HipstaMatic aims to emulate old cameras and film stocks, providing some pretty compelling results. But be warned: it’s one of those apps that can get pretty addictive, and you can shell out $1 each time you want to try out a new lens or flash.
[Download]

Pano:
Pano’s one of the more expensive apps in the list, at $3, but it can create some enormous, impressive panoramas right on your iPhone. It works by taking multiple shots and stitching them together. While the results aren’t always perfect, they’re often stunning.
[Download]

SketchBook:
While SketchBook is the sort of app that excels on a big screen, like the iPad’s, it’s nonetheless a great drawing app on the iPhone. With several brushes and pencils, you’ll be surprised what you can actually draw with this app. When you’re done, you can even export a PSD (Photoshop Document) or the flattened image. $3, but if you’re really into sketching, you’ll likely consider it worth the price..
[Download]

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Whether you finally decided to shed sassyhacker957@gmail.com for a more professional handle or you want to swap Google accounts for less embarrassing reasons, Google doesn’t have a built-in system for migrating your data to a new account. So we figured it out.

A lot of us have a ton of data stored in Google’s services, but if you want to migrate to a new Google account, you’ll need to do some digging. Here’s how to migrate your data from Google’s most popular services (Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Reader, Voice, Blogger, and YouTube) from your current account (hereafter referred to as “Account 1″) to your new account (hereafter, “Account 2″) while incurring the least amount of data loss.

A few of the services (such as Google Reader) adhere to some fairly universal import/export standards that make it easy, whereas other services (such as newer YouTube accounts) may require you to start from scratch to keep full functionality. In these few cases, we’ll note what you can do and what you’ll lose by using that method instead of starting over.

Note: Unfortunately, Google Apps has still not caught up to regular Google Accounts in terms of available services. While some of these (such as Calendar and Documents) will work for migrating to a Google Apps account, other services (such as Reader or Voice) are still not available to Google Apps at this time. I’ll note where the service is not available to Apps users, as well as when they need to go through a different process of migrating that particular service.

Migrating Gmail

Migrating all your email from one Gmail account to another is a fairly involved process—and one which we detailed in our guide to changing your Gmail account without losing your email. So hit up that original guide for your Gmail migration, then come back for the rest.

Migrating Google Calendar

(Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/v/aFysJ30U7cA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22

There are two ways to migrate your Google Calendar. One of them takes a bit longer, but we’ll only use that method for your main calendar (the one that, by default, is named after your Gmail address). All of the sub-calendars, or “delegates”, of the account are easier to migrate, so we’ll do that second.

To migrate your main calendar, go into your Google Calendar settings and click on the Calendars tab. You’ll see an option to export all your calendars, at once, to your hard drive in iCalendar format. Export them to your drive and unzip them if necessary.

Next, go to your new account (it’s easiest to have each account logged into Google in a separate browser), go to Settings > Calendar Settings > Calendars and create a new one. Name it whatever you like, click Create Calendar, and then hit the import button at the bottom of the page. Choose the .ical file corresponding to your main calendar and upload it, choosing the empty Google Calendar you just created as its destination. You’ll see that it shows up in calendar view.

If you have more calendars you want to import beyond the default, we’re just going to share them with the other account. Go back to the Calendars tab of Account 1′s settings and hit the “Share This Calendar” button next to a calendar. Type in the Account 2′s address and hit Enter. Change the permissions in the drop-down window to “Make Changes AND Manage Sharing” and hit Save. Account 2 will receive an email saying that you’ve shared a calendar, and provide a confirmation link. The first time you receive an invitation, you’ll need to click on this link, but afterward the calendar will just show up automatically. You can then go back to the Calendars tab of your new account’s settings, hit the “Shared: Edit Settings” link and remove Account 1 at the bottom, by clicking the trash can icon. (This removes Account 1 from sharing the calendar, so Account 2 is left with full ownership of the calendar.) Repeat this for each of your calendars and you’ll have migrated everything you need. This method works for both regular Google accounts as well as Google Apps.

Migrating Google Docs

(Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/v/5pky1ItWnzY&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22

If you’re migrating to a regular Google account, transferring your Google Docs is easy. Just select all the documents you want to migrate, go to the More Actions drop down menu, and choose Change Owner. Type in Account 2′s address in the box that comes up. You’ll see all your documents in Account 2.

Unfortunately, Google Docs does not allow you to change the owner to someone of a different domain, meaning migrating your documents to a Google Apps account takes a bit longer. Luckily, it’s still pretty easy. Select all the documents you want to transfer, go to the More Actions drop down, and click on Export. This will compress all the documents into a zip file and download it to your hard drive. Afterward, you can go to Account 2 and hit the Upload button in the top left corner, and choose all the documents you just downloaded. It’ll take a bit longer, but you still won’t lose any functionality or data, which is nice.

Note that any documents for which you are a collaborator but not the owner will not transfer correctly with either of these methods; you’ll need to contact the owner of those documents and tell them to re-share them with your new account.

Migrating Google Reader

(Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/v/Ja0R_Bxhriw&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22

Migrating your RSS feeds is probably the easiest part of this process, but it unfortunately only works with regular Google accounts (since Apps accounts do not have access to Reader). Just go into Google Reader’s settings and click on the Import/Export tab. At the bottom, you’ll see a link that says “Export Your Subscriptions as an OPML File” which will download a single file to your computer containing all of your feeds. Click on this link, and then go to the same Import/Export tab in Account 2′s Settings. This time, click the Choose File button and navigate to the file you just downloaded. After uploading this file, all your feeds should show up in Reader. Note that this won’t sync your read and unread counts, nor will it sync your starred or shared articles, so you’ll have to re-star anything you still want to reference (and re-friend anyone you follow on Reader).

Migrating Blogger

(Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/v/tCjk4OC39Ks&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22

Migrating your Blogger account will be similar to Calendar and Docs, but with a few caveats. Sign into your current Blogger account, go to Settings, and hit the Permissions tab. Click the Add Authors button and type in Account 2′s address. You’ll get an email notification in that account’s inbox, so head over to your other browser and accept the invitation to become an author of that blog. Once you have, you can give that account administrative rights with Account 1 by going to Settings > Permissions and clicking on “grant admin privileges”. Once you’ve done so, you can remove Account 1 from the blog by clicking the remove link next to its address.

Note that when you do this, Account 1′s posts will stay up as they were before. However, if you delete your original Google account, all the pictures will turn into broken images. You could re-upload and re-post all the pictures, but honestly, there’s no reason to delete the account outright, even if you never plan on using the Gmail address again. In fact, I’ve found that having an old Google Account makes a handy address to direct all your spam.

Migrating YouTube

(Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/v/g-AlMGM0mWA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22

Unfortunately, you can only migrate your YouTube account if you created it before May 2009. If you are one of these lucky folks, though, it’s quite easy. Just go to your Account settings and hit Manage Account. At the bottom of the list you’ll see an option to unlink your YouTube and Google accounts. Click the link and follow the steps. The next time you log into YouTube, it will prompt you to link it to another Google Account. If you created your YouTube account after May 2009, though, you will not have this option. Your only choice is to re-upload all of your videos to a new YouTube account.

Migrating Google Voice

When GrandCentral became Google Voice, Google provided a path for users to switch accounts since many people associated their GrandCentral account with the wrong Google Account. Later on, they expanded this to all Google Voice users, at least until they provide a sanctioned method to migrate your data. Thus, just fill out this form and your account should eventually transfer over. Note that at the moment, this does not work for Google Apps accounts.

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The $69 Apple Magic Trackpad is nothing new. The Wacom Bamboo Touch has offered the same multi-touch functionality for almost a year. Its true relevance is in what it heralds: The end of Mac OS X as we know it.

Madness, some will scream. But it’s just the next logical step of the evolution. But before explaining why this is the beginning of the end of Apple’s desktop operating system as we know it, here’s the review:

The Apple Magic Trackpad review

The Apple Magic Trackpad is nice. It’s not magical, and it won’t convince laptop users looking for a desktop trackpad. But it will work as a mouse replacement for desktop users who are looking for a more comfortable alternative with multitouch support.

Installation is easy. After running the software‚Äîwhich you will have to download from Apple’s support servers‚Äîand turning it on, the aluminum slab comes alive, a green light blinking through its metal surface as it connects to your computer via Bluetooth. All in a few seconds.

It’s also easy to use and learn. In fact, if you have used a MacBook Pro or any laptop with a trackpad before this, there are not many secrets to discover. It’s just a larger trackpad‚Äî5.11 x 4.33 inches vs the 4 x 3 inches of the latest MacBook Pro 15‚Äîthat supports multitouch, with two, three and four finger gestures. That means that you can, for example, move two fingers to pan around a large picture or web page. Or drag four fingers down to bring up Expos?©, my favorite gesture.

Also like the MacBook, it “clicks” when you click‚Äîan effect achieved thanks to its little bottom feet‚Äîand the gesture behaviors can be customized using the trackpad preference panel:

The Magic Trackpad is comfortable, but not if you are looking for the laptop experience. Comfort is perhaps its most important advantage in relation to the mouse. It felt better and more natural after a day of intense use. This is caused by two factors: One, you can put it in any position you want next to the keyboard; two, the surface is at a small angle in relation to the table.

However, that’s its Achilles’ Heel for people who wanted to place it below the keyboard, like in a notebook computer. There’s a big advantage on this position: In a laptop, the trackpad is extremely easy and fast to access, requiring to sightly move the thumb or the hand. But this is not possible with the Magic Trackpad: If you try to put it below the keyboard, its height makes typing impossibly uncomfortable. Perhaps this may be possible with taller keyboards, but not with the low profile Apple keyboard.

But if you use on the side of the keyboard, the Apple Magic Trackpad feels natural and precise. It has quickly replaced my mouse with almost zero learning curve. For $69, however, its price may be too high to replace your current mouse. If you were looking to buy an expensive mouse—and you are not a gamer—it is certainly a possibility. Or perhaps you want to get the $49 Wacom Bamboo Touch instead, which is a little bit smaller (4.92 x 3.35 inches) and connects via USB, but supports the same multitouch gestures and includes some programmable side buttons (and for $30 more, Wacom has a pressure pen and multitouch Bamboo).

Verdict

If you don’t mind the Apple’s styling price premium over Wacom’s plastic black slate, and don’t care about where your trackpad is located, you will be happy with this one. But if you are looking for the laptop experience on your desktop computer, pass.

Precise and comfortable for use on the side

Good aesthetic design

Not useful for fast laptop-style use

Expensive

The beginning of the metamorphosis

So if Apple’s Magic Trackpad is not really that good, why would does it mean the beginning of the end of Mac OS X as we know it? Because this is Steve and Co. way of telling us that the future is multitouch, and the mouse is death.

After the success of the iPhone, the iPod touch, and the iPad, Apple has realized that the consumer market is ready for a new user interface paradigm, centered around multitouch and the idea of fully database-driven modal operating system. The death of the desktop metaphor‚Äîthat overcomplicated and stinking mass of hurt made out of a zillion folders and files‚Äîas we know it. It was good when the world ran on floppies and small hard drives, but it’s time to move on.

Apple wants to move everything to multitouch, iMacs, MacBooks, and Mac Pros. The problem is that they can’t do it like they did with the iPad. Perhaps the MacBook will see a hybrid touchscreen/keyboard design, but on the desktop this would be impossible.

The problem is the hardware. It’s too tiring to move your hands across a 24-inch or 27-inch display. The idea of a good swiveling stand that will allow the user to easily move the display down to a very low angle, so she can use it similarly to a Microsoft Surface, sounds good in a sci-fi kind of way. But at the end of a work day, your neck and arms will hurt. The angle will also limit readability and, in any case, you will obscure part of the screen with your arms.

One solution to this problem was proposed by the inventors of the 10/GUI operating system concept: A new desktop operating system that, while being fully multitouch based, doesn’t require you to touch the screen. In 10/GUI, a large, flat, multitouch trackpad replaces the cursor/mouse. This video explains the cons and the pros of each system:

It certainly won’t be like this, but I can see Apple implementing a similar input solution. It makes sense, and lines up with their current iOS strategy. There will be keyboards in the near future, and Apple’s Magic Trackpad will merge with it, perhaps like this:

How will it happen?

But not only the keyboard and the trackpad will merge. Mac OS X and iOS‚Äîwhich is a customized subset of Apple’s desktop operating system‚Äîwill merge.

That doesn’t mean that your iMac will run like today’s iPad, but its interface will change completely. It will be a lot simpler, and multitouch based. Gone will be the Finder, gone will be the windows. The traditional computer desktop will be replaced into something streamlined, but not less powerful. Perhaps for some pro users, there will be a mosaic view to watch several apps at the same time, but eventually Apple will move everyone to a modal-based interface.

On the desktop, apps won’t lose its power: A professional user will be able to run Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro. Like today, they will run at full screen, and users will switch using Expos?©‚Äîwhich has been a success for power users and many consumers alike (and, I have no doubt, will come to the iPad version of iOS 4). Side by side, the desktop computers will also run the lightweight apps available for the iPhone and iPad (of course, no Photoshop on the iPad, but perhaps Photoshop Lite in iPad 3).

This won’t happen in a day. It’s a multistep process and the magic trackpad is the first step. Here’s my prediction from now on:

• In a few months they will announce the Magic Trackpad as standard in the next iMac generation (optionally, people would be able to get the mouse).

• With multitouch everywhere, Apple will make possible to run iOS applications in Mac OS X 10.7. Developers will recompile for the x86, either creating fat binary apps that can be deployed in the iPhone, iPad and iMacs, or just have three versions like some do now for iPad and iPhone. This is easy for developers to do, since iOS is really a subset of Mac OS X and apps are completely isolated from hardware. The apps that depend on special features—like accelerator—will be adapted. And those Apple users with Magic Trackpads will run to buy them.

• In a couple of years, after iPad 3 and iPhone 6 start to take over MacBook sales in the consumer space, Apple will make the jump, making Mac OS X 10.8 fully multitouch driven, and selling this

with every computer.

I can’t wait for this future, which is already happening with the iPad at the low end. The desktop metaphor has had its run.

It’s time for change, and that’s why I welcome the Apple Magic Trackpad despite its failures.

Copied from: http://gizmodo.com/5598828/apple-magic-trackpad-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-mac-os-x?utm_source=Gizmodo+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b3dccc2150-UA-142218-3&utm_medium=email

There are tons of great reasons to root your Android phone, but once you do, you’ll likely be overwhelmed with all the custom ROM options out there. Here’s how to go about finding‚Äîand installing‚Äîthe one that fits your needs.

What’s a ROM?

One of the best things about the openness of the Android platform is that if you’re unhappy with the stock OS, you can install one of many modified versions of Android (called ROMs) on your device. The downside is that there are so many developers and different Android devices out there that the custom ROM scene can be very difficult to navigate. We’re here to help the whole process seem a bit more manageable.

We briefly discussed using an app called ROM Manager in our Droid rooting tutorial, but today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into the kind of ROMs that are available, how to pick the right one for you, and how to install new ROMs on your rooted Android device.

This guide assumes you’ve already rooted your device. Thus, if you haven’t, be sure to do that first‚Äîmost newer devices, like the Evo and the Droid Incredible (among others) have easy, one-click rooting solutions available. If you’re not so lucky, you may have to figure out how to do it the long way.

The Three Most Popular Types of ROMs

If you’re familiar with Linux, choosing the right ROM is similar to finding the right Linux distribution. Each version of the OS has a specific goal in mind, and as such differs quite a bit from the others. Which one you choose is dependent on your priorities and how you use the device.

The most popular types of ROM’s come in three different flavors: ROMs that port future versions of Android to your device (when they aren’t yet officially available), ROMs that add new features beyond the stock OS, and ROMs that focus on speed and stability. These aren’t the only three categories of custom ROMs, nor are they hard and fast rules, but they offer good guidelines as to what’s out there. Generally, you can pick a ROM fairly easily if you know which of these three categories contains the features most important to you.

1) Future Versions of Android

Unless you’re on the Nexus One, it usually takes a while for your phone’s manufacturer to prepare the latest and greatest version of Android for your device. At the time of this writing, for example, Android 2.2 “Froyo” (the most up-to-date, stable Android OS) is available and has been open sourced, but most manufacturers haven’t released updates for their devices yet. Luckily, since the Froyo source code became available, pretty much all ROMs out there are Froyo-based now (you’ll know because they’ll say they’re based on the latest version of the Android Open Source Project, or AOSP). But before the source code of a big update is released, it’s up to kindly developers to create ROMs based on the early releases in this category alone. Once the source is available, nearly every category of ROM will use the future version. Photo by nh824.

For the purpose of explanation, however, let’s take a trip back to the time before the Froyo source code was available. When Froyo first came to the Nexus One, many developers took that version or other Froyo leaks and and created ROMs for other phones, for those that wanted the newest version as soon as possible. They were the only ROMs based on Froyo at the time‚Äîthe ROMs in the categories below may have contained a few Froyo features, but most developers don’t base their ROMs on Froyo until the source code is available. Thus, if you want the newest stock version of Android as soon as it comes out, these are the ROMs to go with. They’re usually the least stable ROMs of the bunch, however, so once the code’s been open sourced, you’re better off going with something from the “speed and stability” category (since it’ll still be based on the newest version). Once the next release of Android comes out (codenamed “Gingerbread”), this category of ROM will be most people’s first shot at the new release.

2) ROMs That Add New Features

Many ROMs seek to add more features to your phone that aren’t available in the stock OS. Usually these are things like extra settings (seen in the screenshot above), or little conveniences like making the “sound off” lock screen slide put your phone on vibrate instead, or letting you skip music tracks with the volume buttons. Sometimes these ROMs will also contain things outright missing from the stock version, like FLAC support. While feature-adding ROMs are still built for speed and stability, they may not be quite as fast or as stable as those in the third category (though they’re often still be better than the stock ROM). In most cases, the most popular ROM in this category is CyanogenMod, although devices without CyanogenMod ports have similar ROMs that achieve the same goals (such as the Fresh ROM, available for the Evo).

Note that when I say ROMs add extra features, I do not mean features like tethering, overclocking, and other larger, more publicized features. Most of these features make it to Android devices through separate apps instead of being built-in. Many ROMs (both in this category and in others) may pre-install them, but you can, naturally, add a lot of feature-adding applications to a rooted phone (through the Android Market) without installing a custom ROM.

3) ROMs That Focus Only on Speed and Stability

Some ROMs, such as OpenDesire on the Desire, Baked Snack on the Evo, or Bugless Beast on the Droid, are less focused on tweaking the OS for features and more focused on bringing as much speed, stability, and battery life to your phone as possible. Thus, if you have rooted mainly for this reason (or because you wanted to add larger, app-based features such as wireless tethering), then this type of ROM is the one for you. They may sometimes lag a bit behind in terms of adding the newest features, but they’re usually the fastest and most stable around. Often they also remove the bloat many manufacturers put on their phones, such as extra apps or user interfaces (such as HTC’s Sense and Motorola’s MotoBlur).

Note that all ROMs will probably say that they focus on speed and stability, but this particular group focuses only on these things, and will usually say that they contain no extra tweaks as a result, so look for that as opposed to the words “built for speed and stability” when you search in the next step.

How to Find and Install Custom ROMs

We briefly discussed how to install a custom ROM in our Droid rooting tutorial, but below I’m going to delve a bit deeper into the ins and outs of the process of picking, backing up, and flashing your ROM. Reminder: Your phone should already be rooted before you proceed.

Your Recovery Image

Your phone’s recovery image is is the system from which you can flash new ROMs and themes, make and restore backups (called “nandroid” backups), wipe caches, and perform other tasks. It’s essentially an Android rooter’s best friend. To access it, you usually need to boot up your phone while holding down one or two external buttons (such as the volume button, or a button on the phone’s physical keyboard, if applicable). You’ll have to look up the button combination for your specific phone on Google, by searching something like htc evo recovery mode (replacing htc evo with your specific phone, of course).

There are a few different custom recovery images out there that make hacking easier than the stock recovery image does. We’re going to use one called ClockworkMod, since it comes with ROM Manager and is easy to use. To start, install ROM Manager from the Market (the free version is usually suitable, although you may find later that you want to upgrade to the pay version, which has more ROMs, themes, and overclocking kernels). Start the app, hit the “Flash ClockworkMod Recovery” button at the top of the main menu, and confirm your phone’s model. You’ll see a progress bar at the top of the screen while it flashes. When it’s finished, you’re ready to download and install a new ROM.

Finding the Right ROM

The problem with the ROM scene is that most ROMs don’t have any kind of official web site; they’re usually just posted on forums (which makes them a bit more difficult to search for). There aren’t many comprehensive ROM databases on the net, but I did find this list at TheUnlockr, which is pretty good. Just click on your phone’s model and you’ll be presented with a fairly well-maintained list of the popular ROMs available for your phone (some phones, like the Droid, don’t have a very populated list yet, but most do).

If you like, you can open up ROM Manager at this point and hit “Download ROM” to see which ROMs are available through the app. These are usually the most popular, and are good guidelines as to which ones you should read up on. Click on a few of the links at TheUnlockr’s database and see if you can figure out which category it belongs to. Unfortunately most ROMs aren’t going to come out and clearly identify as fitting into one of the categories we laid out above, but often they will say at the beginning whether they have added extra features to the ROM or whether they were built only for stability. You can also take a look at the changelog to see if extra features have been added or whether it’s a bunch of under-the-hood tweaks and extra apps like Wireless Tether.

Once you’ve found one or more ROMs that sound good, it’s mostly trial and error from here. You might have to test drive more than one to get a feel for which ones you like best, but that’s the fun part of it all. Note also, that even if a ROM isn’t listed in ROM Manager but it sounds really good, you can still download it to your phone’s SD card and install it using ROM Manager’s “install from SD card” option, so don’t let ROM Manager’s list limit you if you don’t like anything it has, even though it is a good guideline of what’s popular.

Note: In some cases, CyanogenMod is the only popular ROM available for your device. In these cases, even if you’re looking only for speed and stability, I recommend you try it out‚Äîwhile Cyanogen definitely falls into the “features” category of ROMs, it is by far one of the most popular and widely worked-on cross-device ROMs out there, and there’s a reason for it. Also, the newest version is incredibly fast and stable from my experience, far more than older versions‚Äîso even if that’s your goal, you may find yourself happy with it.

Install Your New ROM

Installing a new ROM (more commonly known as “flashing”) is very easy with ROM Manager. Just go back to the “Download ROM” section (or, if you’re installing a ROM from your SD card, go to “Install ROM from SD card” and pick your ROM). It will download, if applicable, and then give you this prompt:

Always, always, always back up your existing ROM before flashing something new. Then, if something goes wrong, you can always restore to your latest backup, either through ROM Manager (by going to “Manage and Restore backups” on the main menu) or by booting into recovery mode and choosing “nandroid”.

Generally, you’ll want to “Wipe Data and Cache” if you’re moving from a ROM based on one Android version to the next (i.e. a 2.1-based ROM to a 2.2-based ROM). You’ll also want to check the main download page of the ROM you’re installing (which you can find through TheUnlockr) to see if they recommend wiping for that particular version. “Wipe Data and Cache” basically means that all your settings will be returned to stock‚ÄîIf you weren’t running a Froyo build beforehand, you’ll have to re-download all your apps, as well as rearrange your home screens and reconfigure all your custom settings every time you wipe. In the end, you can always try not wiping and see what happens‚Äîif you flash a ROM and have problems, it’s pretty easy to restore from your backup and try again.

Enjoy Your New ROM

At this point, your phone will reboot into recovery mode, flash the ROM, and you can explore all the new features available to you (or just bask in the glory of speed and stability). You can do a bit more with ROM Manager, like install extra themes and kernels, which we discussed in our Droid rooting tutorial. Remember that a good part of picking the right ROM is trial and error, so don’t be afraid to flash something else, even if you like the first one you picked‚Äîyou might be surprised how much more you like others. Besides, even if you don’t, you can always restore from your backup and be none the more inconvenienced.

Copied from: http://lifehacker.com/5596108/how-to-choose-the-right-android-rom-for-you

Further testing reveals that even after 30 days, detection rates averaged only 61.7%

ARLINGTON, Va., August 4, 2010 – Cyveillance, a world leader in cyber intelligence, today announced the availability of their most recent Internet security report, ‚ÄúMalware Detection Rates for Leading AV Solutions:¬† A Cyveillance Analysis.‚Äù The report reveals that traditional antivirus (AV) vendors continue to lag behind online criminals when it comes to detecting and protecting against new and quickly evolving threats on the Internet. Cyveillance testing¹ shows that even the most popular AV signature-based solutions detect on average less than 19% of malware threats. That detection rate increases only to 61.7% after 30 days.

“Even after 30 days, many AV vendors cannot detect known attacks, making it critical for enterprises to take a more proactive approach to online security in order to minimize the potential for infection,” said Panos Anastassiadis, COO of Cyveillance. “To increase protection, users can’t forget the basics – avoid unknown or disreputable websites, increase security settings on their web browser and leverage supplemental malware block lists to increase security on their devices. Only through both proactive and reactive tools can a solid security platform be achieved.”

Cyveillance identifies malware as any type of malicious software application—generally implemented without a users’ knowledge—designed to infiltrate computers. Users rely on security tools including signature-based AV solutions to protect against malware attacks. Cyber criminals circumvent these defenses by installing newly created malware programs that go unrecognized by AV solutions. A security solution must “catch up” with the latest threats to provide adequate protection.

Cyveillance tested thirteen popular AV solutions² to determine their detection rate over a 30 day period and found that popular solutions only detect an average of 18.9% of new malware attacks. By day eight, AV solutions average a 45.7% detection rate. This rises to 56.6% on day 15, 60.3% by day 22, and 61.7% after 30 days. Top AV solutions take an average of 11.6 days to catch up to new malware. Since this does not include malware signatures undetected even after 30 days, users should not rely on the AV industry as their only line of defense.

All figures and statistics in the Cyveillance report “Malware Detection Rates for Leading AV Solutions:  A Cyveillance Analysis” are actual measurements rather than projections based upon sample datasets, unless otherwise noted. The data used for this study were collected and analyzed between April 20, 2010 and April 22, 2010, resulting in an overall total data set of approximately 1,708 confirmed malware files. The files were then run through the latest release of the top desktop AV solutions upon initial detection and again every six hours for one month to determine their detection and lag rates. For more information about Cyveillance’s research findings, please visit www.cyveillance.com/avlagtimereport.

About Cyveillance
Cyveillance, a world leader in cyber intelligence, provides an intelligence-led approach to security. Through continuous, comprehensive Internet monitoring and sophisticated intelligence analysis, Cyveillance proactively identifies and eliminates threats to information, infrastructure, individuals and their interactions, enabling its customers to preserve their reputation, revenues, and customer trust. Cyveillance serves the Global 2000 and OEM Data Partners – protecting the majority of the Fortune 50, regional financial institutions nationwide, and more than 100 million global consumers through its partnerships with security and service providers that include Blue Coat, AOL and Microsoft. Cyveillance is a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ North America. For more information, please visit www.cyveillance.com or http://www.qinetiq-na.com.

About QinetiQ North America
QinetiQ North America delivers world-class technology, responsive services, and innovative solutions for global markets, focusing on US government and commercial customers.  More than 6000 QinetiQ North America engineers, scientists and other professionals deliver high quality products and services that leverage detailed mission knowledge and proven, reliable tools and methodologies to meet the rapidly changing demands of national defense, homeland security and information assurance customers.  Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, QinetiQ North America had annual revenues of more than $1 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2010.  QinetiQ North America is part of QinetiQ Group PLC (LSE:QQ).  For more information, please visit www.QinetiQ-NA.com.

¹Cyveillance‚Äôs comprehensive monitoring technology continuously sweeps the Internet ‚Äì monitoring and collecting information from over 200 million unique domain name servers, 190 million unique websites, 80 million blogs, 90,000 message boards, thousands of IRC/Chat channels, billions of spam emails and more. This approach yields the discovery of more than 100,000 new sites each day.

²Vendors tested included Trend Micro, Sophos, McAfee, Kaspersky, F-Secure, Dr. Web, AVG, Nod32, F-Prot, Virus Buster, Norman, eTrust-Vet and Symantec. (Trend Micro is a registered trademark of Trend Micro Incorporated, Cupertino, CA; Sophos is a registered trademark of Sophos PLC, Oxfordshire, England; McAfee is a registered trademark of McAfee, Inc., Santa Carla, CA; Kaspersky is a registered trademark of Kaspersky Labs, London, England; F-Secure is a registered trademark of F-Secure Company, Espoo, Finland; Dr. Web is a registered trademark of Dr. Web Co., Moscow, Russia; AVG is a registered trademark of AVG Technologies, BRNO, Czech Republic; Nod32 is a registered trademark of Nod32 Corporation, Bratislava, Slovakia; F-Prot is a registered trademark of Fisk Software Intl Co, Reykjavik, Iceland; Virus Buster is a registered trademark of Virus Buster, Ltd., Budapest, Hungary; Norman is a registered trademark of Norman Company, Lysaker, Norway, and Symantec is a registered trademark of Symantec Corporation, Mountain View, CA; eTrust-Vet is a registered trademark of CA, Inc., Islandia, NY.)

Copied from: http://www.cyveillance.com/web/news/press_rel/2010/2010-08-04.asp

There are days when I look down at my taskbar and see way too many open connections to servers and I can’t remember what’s what. In our small IT shop, my staff and I wear many hats, and we all have varying needs to jump on different servers to accomplish a necessary task.

It can be a challenge to keep track of our 15 physical servers and our 40 to 45 virtual servers, particularly when it comes to connecting to multiple servers that house related servers. For example, is it the server named SQL04 or is it the server named SQL08 that houses the SharePoint database? As you move into larger environments, it gets even worse as the number of servers grows exponentially.

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) makes our administrative task of keeping track of remote desktop connections much easier. RDCMan aggregates Windows server remote desktop connections so administrators can connect to server with a point and a click rather than hunting around for a connection. Here are configuration tips for getting the most out of RDCMan.

Note: My default is Windows 7, but if you intend to use RDCMan with Windows XP, you may need to install version 6 or higher of the Remote Desktop Connection client software. I also included a link to RDCMan 7 for Windows Vista below.

• Update for Windows XP (KB969085) – RDCMan 7 for Windows XP SP3
• Update for Windows Vista (KB969084) – RDCMan 7 for Windows Vista

Installation
Installation is a breeze; you just double-click it and then click Next a couple of times (Figure A).

Figure A

Installation of RDCMan

General RDCMan options
When RDCMan is installed and you start the program, you’re presented with a pretty barren landscape that you need to populate with a top level group, servers, and service groups. Before you begin, you can provide some general parameters that will inform the way the program operates. To set these options, from the Tools menu, choose Options. The Options dialog box contains four tabs: Tree, Client Area, Experience, and Full Screen.

The Tree tab (Figure B) provides you with general options; the most important item on the screen is the Default Group Settings button, which I’ll discuss in more detail later in the article.

Figure B

The Tree tab

In Figure C, you see the Client Area tab; this is the main part of the RDCMan window and is where server desktops will appear. On the Client Area tab, you can choose the default client area size you’d like to use, as well as the thumbnail size you’d like for minimized connections.

Figure C

The Client Area tab

On the Experience tab (Figure D), you can decide how much additional bandwidth you’re willing to sacrifice to get closer to a more desktop-like experience.

Figure D

The Experience tab

In the Full Screen tab (Figure E), you can specify how you want Full Screen mode to operate. For example, do you want to show the full screen connection bar at the top of the screen?

Figure E

Choose Full Screen options

Now, let’s go back to the Tree tab’s Default Group Settings button. When you click this button, it opens a dialog box that allows you to establish a number of default settings for the group, including Logon Credentials, Access To Local Sources such as sound, and whether or not a Terminal Services gateway server needs to be used for the connections. Figure F shows the Logon Credentials tab, and Figures G and H show the Local Resources and Gateway Settings tabs, respectively.

Figure F

Group Properties–Logon Credentials tab

Figure G

Group Properties–Local Resources tab

Figure H

Group Properties–Gateway Settings tab

You are able to override these settings in the individual server connections, if necessary.

The top level group
RDCMan can manage server access in a number of ways. For smaller organizations like mine, it makes the most sense to create a single top level file/group into which individual servers and service groups will be deployed. I’ll talk about service groups in a bit, but for now, let’s focus on individual servers.

Creating a new top level group is as easy as going to the File menu and choosing New and providing a file name for the top level group. The new file will appear as the top level group in your navigation hierarchy (Figure I).

Figure I

The RDCMan top level group

The newly created top level group contains a number of properties that you can set as the default for all of your remote desktop connections. To open the Properties page, right-click the top level group and, from the shortcut menu, choose Properties.

Creating service groups
One of the beauties of RDCMan is its ability to handle server groupings; so now you can create groups of servers that support similar services. For example, I could create a group that includes all of my SharePoint servers so I don’t need to hunt around for the right SQL server.

In Figure J, you’ll see the Add Group dialog box; I call this a service group since I group like services together. You’ll note that the tabs in Figure I are much like the ones shown when you created the top level group and chose default settings for RDCMan. This is one spot where you can override the settings you created in higher level groups.

Figure J

Add a new sub group

Add servers
Now you can add individual servers wherever you like–either in the new service group or in the parent group. To add a server, right-click a group and choose Add server; this opens up the Add Server dialog box that looks a lot like the windows we’ve seen earlier in this article. It’s time to provide the name of the server you’d like to add. You can override the connection settings at this level if necessary. For example, suppose that this server is not a part of the domain and uses different credentials. Figure K shows you the Add Server window.

Figure K

Add a new server

When a server is added, it will appear minimized and in a Disconnected state in the client area as shown in Figure L.

Figure L

The new server has been added

To establish a connection to the server, just double-click the server’s name (Figure M). The client area will house the server desktop and provide you with a single window in which to handle server work from a client desktop.

Figure M

Connect to and manage any server

Summary
When you use RDCMan, you can ditch all of your taskbar icons and no longer have to remember dozens of server names. RDCMan also allows administrators to create service groups, preload the utility with server connections, and, ultimately, focus on getting the job done rather than knowing the mechanics behind establishing the connection.

Scott Lowe has spent 15 years in the IT world and is currently the Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He is also a regular contributor to TechRepublic and has authored one book, Home Networking: The Missing Manual (O’Reilly), and coauthored the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Administrator’s Companion (MS Press).

Copied from: http://www.zdnetasia.com/configure-microsoft-s-remote-desktop-connection-manager-62202282.htm?scid=nl_z_tgws

At this year’s Defcon and Black Hat conventions, invited presenters spilled the beans about security issues they have uncovered. One of the more controversial presentations explains how to affordably side step GSM encryption. That’s a big deal since billions of people are still using GSM phones.

Some history
GSM encryption can be circumvented due to the trusting nature of the protocol. Fortunately, the following two factors have kept it safe:

• The cost of equipment required to circumvent GSM encryption is astronomical.
• Not just anyone can buy the equipment. You have to work for one of those three-letter organizations or have a badge.

Enter Chris Paget
It had to happen; cost is no longer an issue. Chris Paget is saying it’s possible to intercept GSM phone calls on the cheap. That type of bravado created the drama Defcon is known for. So much so, that Paget wasn’t sure he was going to give his talk.

A credible source indicated to Paget that AT&T (only AT&T and T-Mobile have GSM networks) might be considering a lawsuit. On top of that, the FCC let it be known they were concerned about unlawful interception of phone calls. After conferring with EFF lawyers, Paget went ahead with the presentation and live demonstration. Paget mentions his appreciation for their help in one of his blogs:

“I’d like to say a really big thank you to the EFF; without their assistance the talk would not have gone ahead (the demo certainly wouldn’t have).”

Weak link
Paget uses what many consider a flaw in the GSM protocol. That being there is no mutual-authentication exchange between mobile phones and the network. Only the phone authenticates. It sends a unique International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) stored on the SIM to the cell tower it’s trying to associate with.

It would appear that this weakness opens the door for Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks. Yet, some argue that’s not possible. The traffic is encrypted. Well, maybe not. The GSM protocol gives network controllers (cell towers) the option to force connected mobile phones to turn off encryption.

What that means
Like any MitM attack, the idea is to create a situation where a piece of hardware is able to interact with GSM mobile phones in the same manner as the telco provider’s cell tower. Hardware devices capable of this are fittingly called IMSI-catchers.

Any number of things can happen after the IMSI-catcher is in control. Sensitive information such as IMSI, IMEI, and phone numbers can be captured. It’s also possible to record the audio portion of each call.

Required equipment
Some friends of mine stressed that this is not new technology. Several companies sell IMSI-catchers, NeoSoft being one example. The catch is that the equipment is usually only sold to governmental agencies and law enforcement groups. Besides they are hugely expensive.

Therein lies the real significance of what Paget accomplished. He made an IMSI-catcher for around US$1500. That includes the transceiver, two directional antennas, a notebook, OpenBTS a software-GSM access point, and Asterisk–software that acts as a gateway between GSM networks and VoIP networks.

Indications of an attack
There aren’t strong indicators that a MitM attack is taking place. Paget did mention we need to be alert for the following oddities when making a phone call:

• The phone is on a GSM network in a known 3G coverage area and the phone is 3G capable.
• The receiving party is seeing an unusual phone number on caller-ID.
• Paget’s IMSI-catcher only captures outbound calls. Incoming calls go directly to voice mail.

Paget during his talk admitted the software could easily be upgraded to forward the caller’s real phone number.

Possible workarounds
There is some recourse for people using AT&T and T-Mobile phones. Paget mentioned that BlackBerry phones from RIM may add a second layer of encryption and have a setting to disable GSM. Another possibility is AT&T’s new encryption service. For the rest of us, it seems we need to make sure the 3G is displayed.

Final thoughts
Fortunately, this attack only works if your mobile phone is using a GSM network. CDMA and 3G networks are safe for now. The real concern is that this attack vector is no longer out of reach due to cost. Making it one more thing security-conscious people need to be aware of.

Michael Kassner has been involved with with IT for over 30 years. Currently a systems administrator for an international corporation and security consultant with MKassner Net.

Copied from: http://www.zdnetasia.com/gsm-encryption-no-need-to-crack-it-just-turn-it-off-62202274.htm?scid=nl_z_tgis