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Following the lead of Consultancy Accenture, AT&T has terminated its relationship with Tiger Woods.

"We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future," said AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook, in an e-mailed statement to CNN.

While ending sponsorships has been the trend since Woods' marital infidelity was brought to light, several organizations are retaining ties, including Gillette (though advertisements have been temporarily removed from airwaves), Nike, and Gatorade.

Via Gizmodo, CNN Money

2009 was a terrific year for the mobile phone industry. Sure, it wasn’t really great for some companies in terms of sales and numbers and all of that. But it was an amazing year in terms of new handsets, leaps in technology, creativity in the world of mobile phone art and other such areas of the industry. We did our best to make sure that we shared all of that stuff here with you on the blog.Here’s a look back at the year with the five best posts from each month in 2009:

JANUARY

The Ultimate Google G1 Review. I wrote a lot of different mobile phone reviews in January 2009 but the one that was most fun and interesting to write about was the G1. There are going to be tons of Android phones coming out in 2010 but the first ones are the ones that we’ll remember from 2009.

INQ1: The Ultimate Review. Andrew also did a really great review in January last year of a phone that is totally dedicated to Facebook fans. Mobile social networking has grown a lot in the past year alone so this really set the tone for the year.

Idiot’s Guide to Mobile Phone Excuses. Luke did a fun post last year on the dumb things that people say when using their mobile phone as an excuse for their own moronic behavior.

The Most Expensive Mobile Phone Ever. Patrick brought us a short-and-sweet post about a phone that came out last year and cost £1.6 million!!

British Airways to Offer Latest in In-Flight Mobile. Mobile phone use on airplanes was a popular topic at the beginning of 2009.

FEBRUARY

 Cellphone Streelights. Luke reported last February about a lighting system in Germany where people can use their mobile phones to turn on street lamps. How cool is that?

The Wrong Robots. Luke also did a fun story on 3 wacky robots.

Blow it to Get it Excited. Perhaps even cooler is the mobile phone technology Andrew reported on about a phone that you blow on to use it. Did you hear about this news last year when it came out?

Are Mobile Phones Making Us Crazy? I did a post on all of the different mental health problems that may (or may not) be caused by mobile phones. If you’ve ever felt phantom vibrations then you might be a victim.

Mobile Banking: Everything You Need to Know. This was my first post of the year on mobile banking which has grown increasingly popular and is expected to really blow up in 2010. (more…)

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

Yesterday Luke blogged about Karsten Nohl, the German engineer who claims to have hacked the 64-bit A5/1 encryption algorithm used by GSM technology. Here’s what it all means…

Before the GSM network was introduced in the late 80s, mobile phones used an ‘analogue’ network to communicate with each other and it was anything but secure.  Phones could be cloned and conversations could be intercepted with surprising ease, however when the digital GSM age arrived, these security issues were addressed and gossiping on your phone was a far more private experience.

But things change and what was considered secure 20 years ago probably isn’t today, a fact proven by a team of intrepid cryptographers who claim to have broken GSM’s encryption algorithm, potentially opening up every mobile phone conversation or SMS placed over a GSM network to eavesdroppers.

This algorithm is known as the A5/1, and it works by scrambling call data over a series of 80 rapidly changing radio frequencies as it’s sent between your phone and the base station. To break this code, the hackers used many computers to come up with every possible combination of frequencies, creating a code book which when used with specific equipment would provide the key to unlock your phone conversation.

The hacking team published their results and have said they broke the GSM A5/1 algorithm to highlight the inadequacy of its security, although the GSMA - who are behind the GSM standard - say their research does not constitute a ‘practical attack on GSM’ and that similar claims are often made, but with no harmful effects.  They also say the even more secure A5/3 algorithm is being rolled out, making the breach even less of a concern.

But should we as mobile users be concerned?  Not really, no.  It has always been possible to listen in on a mobile phone conversation, but it was very difficult, very expensive and usually reserved for those enforcing the law.  While this new research is said to show is that it can now theoretically be done with open-source software and a few thousand pounds worth of specialist equipment, plus the necessary technical know-how, doesn’t mean it will be, plus the news may push forward the A5/3 algorithm’s adoption.  Besides, speaking on any phone - mobile or fixed - and relaying private, vital or secret information is never the wisest thing to do, as eavesdroppers don’t always need computers to hear your conversation!

For those interested in the more technical side of this story, take a look at the hackers presentation made at a German conference recently.

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

MiFi be darned - the Sprint Overdrive is coming to town. 

As a result of the 4G WiMAX rollouts taking place across the country, internal training has begun for what is said to be a dual WiMAX/EVDO portable hotspot.  The Sierra-made unit is said to offer a microSD card slot, support for location services, and a 100 foot range.  Pricing and availability is unknown, but with CES coming next week, I'm sure we'll hear more about it. 

4G WiMAX internet with 3G as a backup.  Sounds good to me!

Via Engadget Mobile