Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

Yes, you heard that right; Research in Motion will now add emphasis to media playback.

The phone manufacturer has established the BlackBerry brand as a very no-nonsense smart phone that allowed users to type and chat with ease thanks to the impressive physical keyboards that are used on the smart phones. However, the number of users who are keen on having a QWERTY keyboard is lessening as more and more people are typing less and are generally getting used to onscreen virtual keyboards.

While writing long emails are still best on a BlackBerry, updating a Facebook status or sending a tweet only takes a few characters. This is why RIM has decided to take a new approach with the OS –by showing the world that the BlackBerry can do more than just type.

So what is exactly new with the BlackBerry OS 6? The media playback controls and layout. As one would expect, BlackBerry smart phones are able to play music and video files, they always have been able to. However, there has been little emphasis on this feature as not a lot of people who love media would take smart phone with a smaller screen. The BB has always been the device of choice for heavy typists and professionals.

The upgrades have been divided into three main categories: music, videos and images. Each menu will show BlackBerry’s specialized controls for each media format.

The screen is still small (it is a hardware thing after all) but the controls have been completely revamped. Touch controls are now a major focus of the handset as it uses swipe, pinch and other gestures that make navigation and viewing a whole lot easier for users. The OS also incorporates full data access on media content, which means that users will get to see assigned album art to specific files.

Tracking down criminals can be a tough job, and if there is one thing that the Apple iPhone can do, it is by providing the law with a digital trail of crumbs that will lead the police right to the suspects.

The iPhone is prone to security issues and that is what Police operatives are taking advantage of in order to help track down criminals. A recent report has shown that thanks to all the small issues that Apple failed to figure out with the iPhone, there are plenty of ways that the iPhone has become the perfect tracker for wanted felons.

First off, text messages; apparently the Apple’s QWERTY keyboard typing feature has a major flaw. The problem lies with the automated dictionary that is intended to help people type message faster. While the feature does its job well, it also has an unannounced effect of being able to key-log messages that are being typed in. Keyloggers are the perfect way to get a quick bead on what new activities users are up to.

Of course, all that information is worthless unless the police are able to get their hands on the smart phone in the first place. And this is where geo tagged images become really important. The data on uploaded photos often contain geotagging information that users forget to remove –this one little tidbit of information alone is all that detective need to find their man.

Once they find the criminal, there is more that the Apple iPhone can give aside from just a recent history of text messages -the phone also stores a vast amount of image data of map screenshots. These images are generated each time the map app is turned off. In doing so, the phone automatically makes a quick snap shot of the device’s last known location. This creates a very useful log that can be used for evidence.