SIM card manufacturers (and the secure IC manufacturers) employ a variety of security and encryption methods to protect data and prevent physical and logical attacks on the cards.  DES has been known to be used although it is difficult to say on what proportion of cards this is still employed as a standalone method of encryption (I am trying to verify this with MNO and vendor contacts).  It is safe to say that high-end cards typically employ 3DES and AES, and in some instances PKI as used in our e-passports.  As well as meeting the requirements of groups representing the major payment card brands and high value multimedia content; some are also being tested to house government ID cards and all these applications require the highest levels of security for SIM cards and devices.

At first thought, child online protection appears to be a relatively straightforward problem to crack.  Initially because it is universally agreed that children deserve extraordinary protection from the ills and vices of life. But on closer examination, protecting children is a painstakingly difficult task to achieve – a look at the monstrous efforts employed by UNICEF and the other innumerable child protection agencies on the planet only begins to scratch at the surface of the issue.

Today, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 1020 smartphone featuring a 41 megapixel imaging sensor, ZEISS optics and an optional camera grip.

A few weeks ago, Honeywell unveiled a set of new solutions for plant control rooms at the 2013 Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas Symposium. Two new technologies were introduced: the Cyber Security Dashboard and the Premium platform for Experion Virtualization Solutions. The other two technologies on show were updated versions of the Experion Collaboration Station and Honeywell’s OneWireless Network.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has once more revealed its intention to re-enter the smartphone market. A senior executive within the company’s consumer PC and media tablet division revealed the goal to an Indian newspaper, The Indian Express. No clear timetable, target segment or device form-factor were mentioned, however, she admitted it would be “silly” to deny any rumours of a new smartphone product. The PC computing company launched its first Android media tablet, HP Slate 7, in late April of this year, and sales have so far been less than ideal. How the company expects to pave a successful way into the smartphone market remains an interesting dilemma.

Vectoring technology is gaining interest among DSL broadband operators in many countries. Recently, German operator Deutsche Telekom and Italian operator, Telecom Italia have decided to deploy vectored technology to upgrade its copper network. More operators are testing vectoring in their copper networks to make decisions for deployment. U.K. operator British Telecom is one of those testing vectored VDSL2.

It is rumored that Rossiya Bank might buy 30% of Tele2 from VTB Group, which had bought the whole Tele2 business on March 27, 2013, but the transaction has not yet been finalized. The rumor that Rossiya Bank would be the intermediary buyer to sell its stake to Rostelecom, the fifth largest Russian Carrier in terms of subscription, had also been widespread.

At Mobile Asia Expo, in Shanghai, China Mobile provided additional insight into its Small Cells strategy. While China Mobile has a diverse strata of mobile subscribers, the operator very much sees Small Cells – both cellular and WiFi – playing a pivotal role in building out its capacity. At present, the operator has 6 million public WiFi hotspots. In addition the operator has been taking a lead on developing a hybrid cellular-WiFi capable Small Cell solution that very specifically meets its needs.