The UK Mobile Report

Emoze wins BlackBerry shootout

Emoze, the software-based pretender to the BlackBerry throne, used 3GSM to have a shoot-out with the eponymous phone. The idea was to test which device sent an email quicker - a BlackBerry or an Emoze-enabled phone.

I didn't make it for the shoot-out but apparently Emoze won it every time.

Could the reason for its advantage be the fact that it synchronizes only on incoming and outgoing events, rather than via periodical connections to the email server? Emoze claims this also saves the user connectivity-related costs and increased efficiency in power consumption and memory use.

Yahoo Finance has the full story.

Gmail goes mobile

This sounds good. Google has announced that it will make Gmail email available on mobiles. Sounds like RIM's plan to build a consumer beachhead is fading fast. Yes, I'm biased, because I'm a big user of Gmail. Sadly it will only be available in the US initially and only on phones from three operators. Full story here.

Elsewhere YouTube (now owned by Google) has announced that it plans to deliver its videos to mobile users sometime in 2007. Expect to see YouTube mobile users laughing uncontrollably on buses, trains and planes sometime soon.

Analyst warning on Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile 5 can leave data unprotected due to lack of encryption, according to a report by wireless analysts J Gold Associates.

Specifically Gold Associates says the problem is down to AirSync, the derivative of ActiveSync, which transfers data with specific types of formatting, but not encrypted data. This is know as an 'architectural' flaw because data is only unsafe if a hacker manages to get through the password system.

Other mobile email vendors, notably market leader RIM, have always stressed their ability to handle encrypted data.

Fraser Howard, principal virus researcher at SophosLabs said: "This problem seems to be due to the lack of on-device encryption. SSL is used in transit, but once sync'ed the data physically stored on the device is not encrypted.  Therefore, only simple cracking of standard user authentication is required on lost or stolen phones.

"Given the nature of device usage, theft and loss is more common than with laptops (which are themselves a problem).  Enterprises need the option of encrypting all areas of data storage (offline email, sync'ed docs, xls's etc).

"The problem becomes even worse when you consider removable storage - 1GB cards are much more easily lost or stolen than the device itself.  If non-encrypted, someone can simply leaf through the files."

Push email for £5

Perhaps not surprisingly it is possible to get a really cheap push email deal. Vodafone is now offering it for £5 per month in a bid to attract small to medium sized businesses (SMEs).

The downside? You have to sign an 18 month contract. It seems that the operators and resellers are increasingly looking at ways of locking down new subscribers - the Carphone Warehouse broadband deal been the most high profile recent example. Carphone may have locked them in but it now has to deal with the bad PR as thousands who signed up wait months for their free broadband.

Curious fact: Vodafone clearly sees the SME sector as an area of great potential but its research figures are nothing short of amazing. In its release it quotes the Department of Trade and Industry as saying there are currently 4.3 million 'business enterprises' at the start of 2005, and that this figure is expected to rise to 10 million in the next five years. TEN MILLION? That's one business for every six and a half people in the country. The government must be rubbing its hands with glee at the thought of a 250 per cent increase in corporation tax revenues.