The UK became a happier country today..

.. because all its n900 owners just got access to PR1.1.1. The full code is : 3.2010.02-8.201.1
Of course users from elsewhere in the world had already got the update from the repository back on February 16th. Then there were those users who flashed to the global image so that they could have a taste of PR 1.1.1 themselves.

This is also said to be sort of a forerunner to get the firmware ready for a major update to PR1.2, though no one's sure when that might show up - if it ever does! 

Vodafone and HTC Magic pull out a new trick

Vodafone the " world's leading mobile telecommunications company" has pulled out a new trick from its HTC Magic - in the form of a Butterfly!

But what caught the attention of Panda Security researchers was that this was no ordinary butterfly. It was a Mariposa Butterfly. And No, they weren't stunned because they had come across a new specimen of butterflies either. This one was encountered in a security scan and turned out to be W32.Pilleuz, a botkit.

"Once infected you can see the malware 'phoning home' to receive further instructions, probably to steal all of the user's credentials and send them to the malware writer," said Bustamante from Panda Security.

Since most software comes bundled these days, these guys decided to pack in a Confiker and a Lineage password stealing malware as well. Given on the right is the infection stats of the Mariposa bot kit from Symantec, and as you can see India leads with a 42% infected rate.

Panda Security is planning to acquire more HTC Magic handsets to verify whether this is an isolated case or part of a greater evil plan.

Courtesy ComputerWeekly and Symantec Corp.

Nokia N900: Handmade Leather protection

Note: click on the image to view hi-res

The latest case to arrive in time for being reviewed with the n900 is the PDair hand made leather case. Coming in back with pretty white stitching it sure seems to be the preppiest looking case in town. The leather is extra soft and oh soo soft to the touch. From the pic at the right you can see how the light bounces of the contours of the case.

Compared with the Noreve Rouge Red case that i checked out and posted here earlier, the PDair case has a more cosy and softer feel for the leather. But the plastic sheet covering the keyboard really did turn me off. But a lot of people have said that they don't really mind the plastic. You can view the leather quality from the 2 pics above by opening them in hi-res.

All in all, a really good case. Only if i didn't have to deal with that tacky plastic covered keyboard..

How to solve the N900 USB problem

Aim:

To get rid of the problem where removing the usb charger also tears out the usb port from the nokia n900.


Theory:
If you see the microUSB patent page you'll notice that the latches have been designed to induce high extraction forces. This is what causes the usb port on the n900 to tear of it's hinges.

Equipment Required:

Fine File.

Your micro USB cable - both the charger and the data cable versions should be taken care of.

Procedure:

The method is simple. 

1. Just take the file and place it on the latches over the micro USB cable.
2. Make sure that the file is horizontally placed.
3.  Then you can start filing slowly and surely.
4. After filing away those latches you should be able to pull out the microUSB from it's slot on the n900 with relative ease.
   

Have fun !!!!

Nokia n900: Leather Protection

Read the Nokia N900 Leather case review