iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Monday, August 11, 2008
News Category: Mix

SoftBank Mobile, currently the only carrier offering the iPhone in Japan, added more subscribers in July than any other Japanese telecom, in part due to the launch of the iPhone. Tech-On reports that competing carrier KDDI had more cancellations with mobile number portability (MNP) than subscriptions with MNP for the first time in July, with cancellations temporarily increasing following the iPhone’s launch. “SoftBank’s other handsets might have drawn interest in the wake of the iPhone’s release as well,” a KDDI spokesperson said. “We are, however, not sure if the impact will continue from now.” By comparison, SoftBank posted a net growth of 52,000 subscriptions, with the company stating that “[w]e believe our large net growth was an iPhone effect.”

The iPhone continues to be the most used cameraphone, according to monthly statistics from photo sharing site Flickr. After gaining the lead, and then briefly losing it to the rival Nokia N95, the iPhone has once again taken the lead in cameraphone use, possibly propelled by sales of the iPhone 3G. The site’s Apple camera page (the company previously made a line of QuickTake digital cameras) shows that in a little more than a year, over 3.3 million photos have been uploaded from iPhones, with 1,298 average daily users. [via TUAW]

Apple products, in particular the iPhone, are drawing increased attention from hackers as they gain in popularity worldwide, according to an AFP report. “There are more eyes looking over Apple products for vulnerabilities,” security vulnerability analyst Cameron Hotchkies said in an interview at the annual DefCon hacker conference. Hotchkies pointed to the soon-after-release “jailbreaking” of the iPhone 3G as an example, saying “it shows people are getting proficient at analyzing Apple software.” “There are people looking at the iPhone. We pass vulnerabilities on to vendors, and when I communicate with Apple the first thing they ask is if we’ve tested it on the iPhone. They don’t want to be surprised,” Hotchkies added.