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Mobile phone security: what you need to know

Late last year, alarming reports surfaced that Ralf-Philipp Weinmann, a researcher at the Luxembourg University Laboratory of Cryptology and Security, had discovered a way to completely compromise unprotected smartphones.

Demonstrating his hack at the Vienna DeepSec conference, he showed how he could listen to conversations, intercept data, and run up huge bills calling and texting premium rate services – all without the alerting the phone’s owner.

With the ability to download and run apps, smartphones are now the main focus for a growing number of malicious hackers, and yet most devices are completely unprotected. For online criminals, the situation resembles that of PCs in the mid-1990s, except they now know how much money there is to be made from online crime.

Thanks to the deepest recession in living memory, straightforward theft and street muggings for smartphones are also at an all time high, so how do you protect your freedom to compute on the move?

Passwords first

Most people would never dream of using something as obvious as 1234 as the password to their important online accounts, but some will protect their smartphones with such a sequence and leave the online accounts it protects logged in for convenience.

Your first line of mobile defence should always be to select a password that’s both memorable for you and difficult for a thief to crack. For a few years now, the best advice on creating memorable and secure passwords has been to take the initial letters of a line in a song, poem, play or book, and to make a password from those letters.

You can test the strength of passwords you generate in this way using free online web security site services like How Big is Your Haystack at grc.com/haystack.htm.

As of version 2.2, Android OS supports not only gesture passwords, but also the more traditional text-based variety. To enable a password, click ‘Menu > Settings > Location and security > Screen unlock’. Also set the screen’s timeout to a short period by clicking ‘Menu > Settings > Display’.

You can combine a password with gesture recognition, but always ensure that you use a gesture that overlaps itself, otherwise the grease marks on the screen may give it away to anyone who steals your phone. It’s also a good idea to clean the screen every so often to prevent grit from scratching the gesture faintly into the screen’s surface.

To enable passwords, iPhone users should open the Settings app and select ‘General > Passcode lock’. Windows Phone 7 users should tap ‘Settings > Lock and wallpaper’, and BlackBerry users need to select ‘Options > Security options > General settings’.

Install antivirus

You’d never buy a laptop and go online without installing at least a free antivirus product. The abilities of a smartphone or tablet computer are now approaching those of a laptop, but it seems that the vast majority of users have no form of protection, even though mobile computing devices are facing all the usual threats.

Spam containing malware attachments or links to attack sites, infected apps and code that exploit OS weaknesses are all starting to appear. Botnets made up of mobile devices are also becoming more common.

We’ve reached the point in the evolution of mobile computing where it has become just as necessary to install antivirus software on your phone as it is on every other online computing device. Most antivirus vendors now offer free versions of their commercial mobile offerings, and many offer handy package deals on their commercial versions, including protection for multiple PCs and a phone, for a yearly subscription.

It’s worth investigating these deals because they could save you money in the long run, but what’s the difference between free and commercial versions? Mostly, the difference is down to the facilities provided beyond basic protection. The ability to remotely wipe a lost or stolen phone, for example, is something that will give you real peace of mind, but it’s usually missing from the free versions of antivirus products.

Never be tempted to simply click a link that looks okay and install what purports to be a free version of an antivirus package. Check the URL; if it isn’t part of a vendor’s official website, don’t visit the page. Fake antivirus software, written to infect your device or make you think it’s protected when it’s not, has now made its way to smartphones. If you’ve found a package on an app store, click through to the software vendor’s website and download it from there.

Remote wipe

So you have a secure password guarding immediate access to your phone, the screen lock activates after just a few minutes of inactivity and an antivirus package is watching out for malware in the background. However, if the worst happens and someone takes your smartphone either by stealth or by force, you may also want to protect your data by wiping files and contacts quickly and remotely.

Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone users have a range of third-party, dedicated remote wipe applications to choose from, which enable you to contact the phone and have it wipe itself. These tend to be subscription services, but prices are usually less than £5 a month, which is good value for extra peace of mind.

Alternatively, you can examine the facilities offered by different antivirus packages. Free versions, like AVG’s Mobilation Free, offer local wipe facilities. However, it’s not always clear if remote wipe is included or just a local wipe facility, so check with the software vendor before you part with your cash.

iPhone users can install Apple’s free Find My iPhone app. This gives you the ability to sign into another iOS device with your Apple ID, locate the missing or stolen device, display a rather satisfying message to the robber, play a sound, lock the device and then erase it. The only proviso is that your iPhone must have been enabled in the iCloud settings in order to locate it.

Beware rogue apps

There’s enough space on the average smartphone to contain all the apps you want and plenty more besides, but you must take care when buying or downloading new ones. With the overwhelming number of apps on offer, it’s unsurprising that malware writers have turned their hands to crafting rogue versions and slip them past the checking processes at legitimate app stores.

The race to get the latest gadget without thinking about security is also letting criminals resurrect old scams, particularly the porn dialler con, which is experiencing a surge in popularity among online criminals targeting mobile devices. In the days of slow dial-up modems, porn diallers would wait until the phone line wasn’t in use, and then call a premium rate line to make you pay for a supposedly legitimate service. Only when the phone bill arrived was the infection discovered.

The smartphone version of the scam sees malware silently sending SMS messages to premium rate numbers instead. All that’s changed is the medium – the result remains the same.

To encourage you to install them, some rogue apps masquerade as free levels or trials of popular commercial games, and may appear to be such when running. Others claim to be security tools. In the background, however, they may be emptying your bank account in payment for premium rate services, listening to your calls, stealing or sending text messages, or sending spam to encourage others to infect their devices.

How do you avoid dodgy apps? First, never install an app just because a friend tells you to do so in an email, text or on Facebook. After all, it may be the app sending you the request to spread its malicious payload.

Similarly, never follow a link in a text or email encouraging you to install anything. Incredibly, Chinese hackers have also begun to set up entire online stores stuffed with fake apps that ape the real thing. When you install an app from what looks like a real app store, examine the URL of the link from which you are being asked to download. If it isn’t an official store for your phone, forget it.

Your friend may believe that he or she has found a store that sells cheaper versions of famous apps, but this alone should be enough to raise your suspicions. It’s cheap or even free for a reason.

Even at legitimate app stores, it’s easy for rogue apps to slip in. The government’s Get Safe Online website advises you to check the developer’s information before downloading, and look for reviews of the software and comments left by other users. If anything looks dodgy, forget it.

Rogue apps sometimes drain your battery quickly due to the extra activity, so check this to ensure that your shiny new app isn’t doing something nasty in the background.

Share and share alike

Another aspect of security is the amount of information apps share about you and your whereabouts. When you install an app, you give it access to information like your location, contact details, personal ID and other data. Some apps even want full internet access.

Always pay close attention to the information an app says it needs, either at the app store itself, in the user agreement, or (depending on your phone’s operating system) during installation. Some legitimate apps, including antivirus software, have a long list of required permissions. Make sure you read the entire list.

In the Android app store, for example, remember to click ‘Show all’ at the bottom of the permissions page to see more. If an app demands too much access to your phone and the information it contains, don’t use it. There’s no reason why downloaded wallpaper needs your location, for example, or why a single-user game needs access to your contacts.

The Get Safe Online site claims that nearly 60 per cent of smartphone users acquired their devices in the past 12 months. A large and relatively naive user population excitedly exploring the new world of mobile computing is fuelling a boom in hacking not seen since the 1990s.

This time, however, we know the risks of going online unprotected, which leads us to an uncomfortable question: will telecom providers and banks be so willing to reimburse frauds this time around?

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

Apple has been forced to pull most of its iPad and iPhone ranges from its website in Germany as the result of an injunction enforced by Motorola.

It’s all down to one of Motorola’s patents covering wireless communications, which Apple is using but has not licensed from the phone company.

The patent in question is over a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".

That old chestnut

This means that the Apple iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 have all been pulled from Apple’s German website, as well as the iPad and iPad 2; the iPhone 4S is unaffected by the ban, however.

And it’s not the end of the world for anyone in Germany who had just saved up enough to treat themselves to a shiny new toy – Apple’s high street shops and other retailers will still be selling the devices.

Apple has already said that it will be appealing the ruling, claiming that "Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

Motorola disagrees though, saying that it has offered reasonable terms since 2007.

In a separate case, Motorola has also won a permanent injunction against the push email feature of iCloud which may mean that users of the service in Germany will have to manually check for email instead of automatically receiving new messages when they are sent.

Apple is planning to appeal the iCloud decision too, claiming that the patent in question is not actually valid.

It’s little wonder that things are hotting up between Apple and Motorola, given that Google is in the process of acquiring the latter. Just another little battle in the great Android versus iOS war.

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

The rumours, leaks and speculation on the Samsung Galaxy S3 are never ending and we’ve laid eyes on extremely suspicious spy shots from a Chinese website.

The latest shots offer up a handset quite different to what has been talked about thus far. It sports a peculiar S-shaped bend in the 4.6-inch 3D screen which looks to be highly un-ergonomic, but hey maybe it’s the future.

It also suggests the 3D screen will use Super AMOLED Plus technology and have a 1280 x 720 resolution. Our question though, how does 3D work on such a ridiculously curved display?

Pigs will fly

Further inspection shows three large unsightly buttons below the screen with the middle one rocking the icon for "Play Pause" – very odd.

There also seems to be a huge gap between the screen ending and the buttons starting which seems like a strange design and adds unnecessary length to the handset.

So unless Samsung has completely gone off its rocker, this is very unlikely to be the Galaxy S3. However who doesn’t want an S-shaped screen?

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

Germany seems to be a hotbed for patent war activity at the moment with Apple now overturning an online sales ban on many of its 3G gadgets.

Just this morning we reported on an injunction won by Motorola preventing Apple selling the iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 on it’s official online shop due to its alleged infringement on a 3G patent.

However, the wheels of justice move quickly in these matters and Apple has been able to strike down the injunction with haste.

Moto being unreasonable?

The Cupertino-based company says that the legal see-saw was able to occur due to Motorola Mobility’s refusal (no doubt backed by its new friends at Google) to "reasonably" license the patent to Apple.

An Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD: "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly.

"Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

Apple is now in the process of repopulating its store, but Motorola which initially filed for the injunction in December, will continue the fight for a reinstatement of the ban.

Via: AllThingsD

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It’s been a week that’s bordered on something time-travel-esque this past seven days, with the future being printed out for us all to see.

Not literally printed out – we’re not talking the kind of book that Marty McFly spent far too long knobbing about with when he could have just destroyed the sodding thing a thousand times over; no, we’re talking about companies telling us what’s actually going on.

Smearing the Galaxy

We’ve been treated to that rarest of all rare beasts this week: a company confirming that something isn’t going to happen. Usually it’s a smorgasbord of ‘no comment’ and something about rumour and speculation, but this time Samsung has huffed, sprung out of bed, thrown open the window and shouted at those pesky internet-rumour-mongering kids that keep yelling about the Galaxy S3 at all hours of the night:

"Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012," bellowed Samsung in a brief memo to TechRadar.

"The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.

"Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world."

Whether or not this was dictated by a Samsung rep menacingly peeling an apple with an unnecessarily sharp knife while not blinking is unconfirmed.

THIS IS NOT REAL. Or it might be the Galaxy S4. Future, innit?

And don’t worry your tech socks about Samsung announcing nothing at this year’s flagship event: there’s a Galaxy S2 Plus on the cards. With a slightly faster engine and the same Ice Cream Sandwich update that’s coming to the original. Oh…

No, no THIS is the Fullest Full Monty

Now while we’re panicking that nobody will release any mobiles in Barcelona this year (although we have got an alternative event that involves unicorns, a bucket of carrot soup and a job lot of unused Xperia Plays ready to go if GSMA would just FINALLY GIVE US THE NOD) there’s something else that has caught our eye.

It’s T-Mobile. Yes, the ones that do the awesome/excruciatingly lame adverts that are on the TV all the time (your opinion will be directly linked to your ability to tolerate, nay, enjoy Take Me Out) have only gone and invented new things that are completely new and amazing.

We’re talking a new tariff, cheekily called the Full Monty (yes, like the naked people thing. Well, I never…) and offering reams of voice calls, texts and most importantly unlimited data for your mobile.

You mean proper unlimited? Yes.

Like no limits at all? Yes. No fair use policy? Nope.

But surely there’s no tethering? Yep, allowed too. All unlimited.

But what abou…? Unlimited. No limits. We were one step away from branding it with some Dutch Eurodance stars from the ’90s, it’s that unlimited.

And we’ve been told this will revolutionise the future of the world of mobiles and tablets and the internet. Forever. Remember this day, and tell your children of it.

Except – oh, wait, Three already did it with the One Plan. Sigh… revolutionary used to mean so much more in our day.

Other things

Things that we liked this week also include: Android coming to Sky Go. No, wait, the other way around.

Apple has run into the volcano lab with NFC and written its name all over it like it totally made it up itself you know. And it will probably be going to the iPhone 5 if loads of sources are to be believed.

And BAHAHAH the Nokia N8 HOHOHOHO is still alive and kicGUFFAWking after another Symbian updateNO PLEASE STOP, IT HURTS, was released to help it take on the WELL DONE I NEED NEW TROUSERS YOU’RE PAYING FOR THAT iPhone.

There was some other stuff too about patents that involved Apple but it’s so mundane we’re legally obliged to shoot ourselves if we write about it the same thing again.

Look at this

And tell us what you think on @TR_phones or @TR_tablets. Don’t say we don’t give you choice.

Credit: Instructables

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

The next big update to the Windows Phone operating system has been laid bare, with Apollo set to boast built-in Skype and NFC tech.

PocketNow says it has seen a "Windows Phone 8" video meant for the eyes of Nokia executives, which gives full details of the update expected towards the end of the year, after the minor Tango bump.

The site says a new version of the Microsoft-owned Skype client will be baked into the operating system and will allow "Skype calls behave almost identically to regular, non-VoIP telephony."

Windows 8 in mind

The report says that the new mobile OS has also been built largely with the new Windows 8 software in mind, harnessing Microsoft’s vision of one operating system across the range of Windows-running tech

The software is built using many of the same components, according to Pocket-Now, enabling developers to use most of the same code to port applications to the mobile ecosystem.

There’s also be native code support, which will make it easier for developers of iOS and Android apps to create existing apps for the Windows Phone Marketplace.

NFC tech on board

In terms of hardware requirements, Windows Phone 8, currently codenamed Apollo, will also embrace Near Field Communications tech for the first time.

"The Wallet experience," says PocketNow, "will have to capability to be carrier-branded and controlled, either by a secure element on the SIM card or utilizing hardware in the phone itself. In addition, tap-to-share capabilities will reportedly work across multiple platforms, allowing desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones to all share content."

The Apollo generation of Windows Phones will also allow for multicore processors, while there’ll also be removable MicroSD storage for the first time.

The software will also feature more efficient data management services, according to the site.

Identical to Windows 8

PocketNow, which has snagged a pretty huge scoop with this video that it hasn’t published, says that the new Windows Phone version promises to bring the OS much closer to the Windows 8 OS.

The report closes by saying: "Overall, we’re looking at a lot of changes and additions here, all of which seem designed to either bring Windows Phone in line with other platforms, feature-wise, or make it more closely identical to the desktop version of Windows. It’s probably safe to say that the jump from Mango/Tango to Apollo will be nearly as significant as the transition from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone, and this preview certainly gives us a lot to look forward to."

The report follows TechRadar’s chat with key Windows Phone partner Nokia, which promised Apollo will see the operating system reach its potential and finally come into its own.

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

HTC has developed a fix for a security bug that has seen some HTC Android phones leaving the Wi-Fi passwords of networks they are connected to vulnerable.

Yikes, we hear you cry, for the security glitch allows any Android app on that handset to call up the network’s details and send usernames, passwords and SSID information to a remote server.

Some handsets won’t be affected, but if you have an HTC Desire HD, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Sensation, HTC Desire S or HTC Evo 3D you may want to investigate manually loading the fix.

Kwik fix

The company explains on its support site: "HTC has developed a fix for a small Wi-Fi issue affecting some HTC phones.

"Most phones have received this fix already through regular updates and upgrades.

"However, some phones will need to have the fix manually loaded. Please check back next week for more information about this fix and a manual download if you need to update your phone."

The security slip-up was first uncovered by researcher Chris Hessing as part of his work on network security for Cloudpath Networks.

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In the never-ending patent war between Samsung and Apple, the former has struck a blow with the latter’s failure to have the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Galaxy Nexus banned in Germany.

Apple had been seeking a judgement to ban Samsung’s latest smartphone and its already-tweaked tablet from sale in the country.

In what could prove to be a telling verdict, the German judge ruled that Samsung has proved that the technology existed before Apple was able to patent it, hence invalidating its infringement suit.

Revoked patent

Munich Regional Court Judge Andreas Mueller said: "Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection."

Apple’s challenge in Germany focused on getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N banned from sale, saying it was unsatisfied with Samsung’s court-enforced design tweaks.

The ruling keeps the 10.1N safe from persecution, which will be a welcome verdict for the Koreans following a decision from a Dusseldorf court that the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 remain in violation of Apple’s IP.

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UK mobile network Three is offering ‘broadband in a box’ which does away with line rental charges and offers easy set up.

Currently most people pay a fixed line-rental charge which allows broadband to be delivered down their telephone line. Exceptions such as Virgin Media pumping the web via fibre optics into your crib, bypassing the ugly line-rental issue.

Three has chosen Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds to pilot their alternative broadband option the "Web Cube" – which uses a HSPA+ enabled mobile broadband SIM card to bring the internet into homes, thus bypassing any fixed lines and related charges.

The Internet³

The "Web Cube" is targeted at renters who frequently move house, students and people with a second home – although it will appeal to anyone who doesn’t want the hassle or commitment of a fixed-line contract.

The cube acts as a standard wireless router with a 30 meter range and allows users to connect up to 5 devices at a time. Three claim it will be able to deliver typical download speeds of 2-5Mbps and has the potential to offer speeds of up to 10Mbps. Not amazing speeds but enough to get by.

What will attract consumers are the simple ‘plug and play’ interface and the offer of a rolling one-month contract at £15 per month. This includes 10GB of data a month and is ideal for users unwilling to commit to a long term contract, especially if they will be moving shortly. Bear in mind though you’ll have to fork out £59.99 for the cube too.

There is a 24-month contract on offer which includes a free ‘Web Cube’ and 15GB of data for those who need a bit more each month and are staying put in the short term at least.

If the trial period goes well and Three rolls it out nationwide it could be a great option for people in rural locations unable to get traditional broadband, but with adequate mobile phone signal.

View more at TechRadar: All latest Mobile phones news feeds

BBX: 10 things you need to know

The future of BlackBerry is HTML5 plus the same QNX operating system that’s in the PlayBook – and also in many cars, set-top boxes and even nuclear power stations.

The next version of the BlackBerry OS will be called BlackBerry 10 or BB10 (not BBX after a lawsuit was filed), it will run on phones as well as tablets and it’s a big change from the current BlackBerry OS (based on a mobile version of Java).

It also means rewriting all the BlackBerry apps out there, including RIM’s own apps like email and calendar, which we still haven’t seen on the PlayBook.

We don’t know the BB10 release date, although we’re expecting to see it next year – but here’s what we do know.

1. BlackBerry 10 isn’t the next version of the PlayBook OS

There’s an update coming for the PlayBook, called PlayBook OS 2.0, which adds key missing apps like email and BBM, but that’s not BB 10 and it won’t have all the BlackBerry features that BlackBerry 10 will include like voice search and push notification for apps.

RIM VP Chris Smith told TechRadar: "The vision is that all the native services in BlackBerry – whether that’s enterprise integration or push or payments, the vision is those services will still be available for developers to plug in to. They will come across onto BBX in the future but it’s incorrect to say they’ll be there on PlayBook 2 out of the gate."

NOT BBX: The beta of the PlayBook OS 2.0 update looks just like the PlayBook

2. The beta isn’t BB 10 and you don’t want it

If you want to upgrade your PlayBook you can get a beta version today, but this is strictly a developer preview (and the instructions for signing up for the preview are suitably arcane.)

It doesn’t include any of the applications that will be in the PlayBook 2.0 operating system like email, calendar, contacts and BBM, although all the apps that came with the original PlayBook still work just as well.

What it does have is Air 3 and Flash Player 11, the latest version of the Bolt HTML5 browser and the runtime for using Android apps that have been repackaged by developers for BlackBerry – but unless you have your own Android source code to work with, you won’t see Android running.

3. BlackBerry 10 won’t run BlackBerry apps

When the PlayBook first came out, RIM talked about building a BlackBerry emulator so you could keep your existing apps. That’s not going to happen.

"I don’t want to tell you it was an easy decision," the new head of developer evangelism at RIM Alec Saunders told TechRadar; "we spent a lot of energy on getting the BlackBerry Java platform to run in BBX."

But when they looked at how the apps would compare to what you could build on BB10 with QNX, HTML5 and AIR, "it would look like a diminished experience".

4. But BBX will run Android apps

BBX and PlayBook OS 2.0 will run Android apps, but you can’t just download them from Android Marketplace – they have to be repackaged for BlackBerry 10. That doesn’t mean changing the code but the developer has to take the .APK source code and use the RIM tools to turn it into an app.

And not every Android app can be repackaged, Saunders explained to us. "As an Android OEM you get to licence Google Maps. We’re not an Android OEM, so we don’t. If you have an app that relies on Google Maps it won’t run but there are about 70% of apps that will come across unchanged."

SOME ANDROID: Not all Android apps can be packaged for BB10 but the Pulse social media client looks good on the PlayBook

5. HTML5 and Flash are the future

The Bolt browser for the BlackBerry is based on WebKit and ex-co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said RIM will be "investing in making sure we have the best HTML5 implementation in the world".

It’s not just about web pages. RIM VP Alan Brenner told us he expects "the vast majority" of apps to be HTML5 within a few years. Developers can start work now; HTML5 and Air apps that work with BlackBerry 7 will also run on BB10.

The PlayBook is getting Flash Player 11 and Air 3 (the runtime that Photoshop Touch for Android is built in) in the next update. That puts RIM in head-to-head competition with Android tablets and it might come down to who can do the best job of connecting phone features like push notification to Web apps; RIM is promising to let Web apps integrate deeply with BlackBerry 10 features like the inbox and BBM.

SPECIAL EFFECTS: The RIM browser team is working on HTML5 standards and tools, like the AliceJS library to make it easier to do animations in CSS

6. It looks like only one phone will launch with BB 10

Despite the song and dance that RIM has made about its next-gen BlackBerry 10 handsets, sources say the company now only has one so-called ‘superphone’ under development.

The two handsets codenamed BlackBerry Colt and BlackBerry Milan have reportedly been kicked to the curb by the Canadian company, with only the BlackBerry London still in the running.

According to BGR’s sources, despite some minor design changes, the London still looks very much like the leaked prototype we reported on back in October 2011.

7. Native is the future too

Thanks to QNX, BB10 – and the PlayBook today – can run the same kind of C++ code as a PC, Mac or console and most of the major gaming engines like Unity, Marmalade and ShiVa3D are now available for building PlayBook games, so you’ll see games using the same animation engine as on the PlayStation 3.

RIM is building a lot of open source projects right into the platform for developers to work with – including the Qt framework that was at the heart of Intel and Nokia’s ill-fated Meego operating system. That gives developers who are used to other platforms a lot of tools to build apps with that other mobile devices don’t have.

8. There’s lots of 3D: meet Cascades

Forget the boring black and blue BlackBerry interface; BB 10 apps will have 3D effects and animations so pages flip on and off screen, lists fold up like a concertina when you filter them and photographs curl slightly at the side like a real print.

That’s courtesy of user interface company The Amazing Tribe that RIM bought last year; they’ve written a user interface framework on top of Qt called Cascades that makes it easy to create those kinds of special effects.

The PlayBook picture viewer actually uses an early version of this but BlackBerry 10 will have far more effects and any app can use them.

3D LOOK: Cascades makes on-screen pictures look real and BB10 apps look more elegant

9. Think PlayBook in the car

The current PlayBook OS is based on the version of QNX built for car makers and "the next generation of QNX for cars is going to be built from BBX," Alec Saunders told us; car makers are keen to use HTML5 for in-car information and entertainment.

That makes it easier to treat your car as another device, he suggested, and to share information. "Ultimately you will be able to transition from your smartphone to your tablet to your TV to your car. Sync will be important. I think you’ll start to see devices do things like Bridge today, where it mirrors [on the PlayBook] what’s on the BlackBerry handset.

"You’ll use one device to access what’s on another. QNX is made for these kind of scenarios, projecting information from one device to another. You won’t have five devices and have all your content on everything; it’s going to have to grow seamlessly across them."

10. BlackBerry 7 isn’t dead yet

There will be BlackBerry 10 phones; "future unnamed devices" as Alec Saunders mysteriously puts it. But BlackBerry 7 phones will be on sale for quite a while, with new models launched recently and there will be new services coming out for BlackBerry 6 and 7 like the BBM Music social media sharing system.

RIM’s going to have to compete with Honeycomb tablets (and probably Ice Cream Sandwich ones too) with the PlayBook 2.0 update; BB 10 will probably come out in time to compete with Windows 8.

11. BlackBerry 10 is / isn’t delayed

RIM was forced to hit back at reports that it lied about the reason for the delay in bringing the next generation of BlackBerry phones to the market.

Boy Genius Report posted a story claiming that phones running the new BB10 operation system had been pushed back because RIM did "not have a working product."

This contradicted the Canadians’ assertion that BB10 handsets would not arrive until later in 2012 because it was waiting for new LTE chipsets to be manufactured.

RIM’s full statement reads: "RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual-core chipset architecture. As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices.

"The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chipset architecture is required to deliver the world-class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false.

"We appreciate the interest in our future platform and we will continue to work hard to deliver that platform as soon as possible. At the same time, we also remain very excited with the success of our recently launched BlackBerry 7 smartphones and we believe these products offer a very compelling choice for both new customers and the almost 75 million BlackBerry users around the world."

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