Hasta La Gadget!

It’s hardly a fresh idea — researchers have claimed that GSM calls could be cracked and listened in on for years. But there’s a difference between being able to do something with a $50,000 machine and a warrant, and being able to do the same thing with a few $15 Motorola phones, a laptop, open source software and 180 seconds of spare time. Security Research Labs researcher Karsten Nohl and OsmocomBB project programmer Sylvain Munaut recently spoke about a new GSM hack at the Chaos Communication Conference in Berlin, and they were able to walk the audience through the eavesdropping process in a matter of minutes. According to them, it’s not terribly difficult to use a $15 handset to “sniff out” location data used to correctly route calls and texts, and once you’ve nailed that down, you could use modified firmware to feed raw data into a laptop for decryption. Using a 2TB table of precomputed encryption keys, a cracking program was able to break in within 20 seconds — after that, you’re just moments away from recording a live GSM call between two phones. Of course, speeches like these are made to encourage security officials to beef up the layers between you and ill-willed individuals, but it’s hard to say what (if anything) will change. For now, we’d recommend just flying to each and every person you’d like to speak with. Unless you live in the Greater New York area — you’re probably better off risking a hacked conversation than heading out to LGA / JFK / EWR.

Researchers eavesdrop on encrypted GSM call: all you need is a $15 phone and 180 seconds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Their names are emblazoned on electronics all over your home and office, but what did companies like Nintendo, Motorola, Sony, IBM, and HP produce before digital cameras, PCs, and cell phones were invented?

We’ve taken a look at some of today’s top tech companies before they started making what we all know them for. The list includes tires, playing cards, radios, and even comic books.

Verizon’s chief operating officer John Stratton mentioned today that “LTE smartphones are on the horizon,” a sentiment the carrier has been echoing since it launched its 4G network earlier this month. That alone isn’t new, but what is new is the mention of Moto in the same breath: “Motorola will be right there.” He wouldn’t go into specifics about models, specs, release dates, or prices, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the offering looked a little like the Tegra 2-powered device codenamed Olympus (pictured) — allegedly for AT&T — that we’ve seen floating around recently. For what it’s worth, we’re also aware of models from HTC and LG in the pipe, so by all accounts, Big Red is planning on coming out with guns blazing when it rolls out 4G handsets next year.

Motorola has an LTE phone for Verizon in the works originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, guess what? We’re going to get another tablet at CES in January. No huge surprise there–we’re anticipating an utter deluge of the devices at the show. Motorola is seemingly attempting to undercut some of those last minute iPad/Samsung Galaxy Christmas purchase with a little teaser of its own announcement.

The company used its @MotoMobile Twitter page to kick off speculation, tweeting, “Might want to hold off on that tablet purchase until 2011.” The page linked to a tongue-in-cheek CGI tour of the “evolution of tablets,” including such detours as the Rosetta Stone (“Good graphics, but weight makes for difficult portability”) and the Ten Commandments (“Excellent durability, but zero flexibility”).

The company also used the occasion to take potshots at the competition, the iPad (“It’s like a giant iPhone, but…it’s like a giant iPhone”) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (“Android OS, but Android OS…for a phone”). The video finishes on a shot of what we’re led to assume is the shrouded unannounced Motorola tablet.

Not a lot of info here, but between the Samsung comment and the fact that Motorola has had some recent success with Android, as of late, we can probably assume that the thing will run Google’s mobile–the tablet version. The goofy little animated bee also hints at the use of the Android “Honeycomb” build. As for a name? The Motorola Evolution, perhaps?

Check out the video, after the jump.

Motorola ‘Stadia’ trademark application hints at device with gaming / fitness features originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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