Hackers Use Cloud Computing to Boost Firepower

Credit: Wikipedia/Ziemor

How better to break into a computer network than to use the power of a virtual supercomputer to crack codes? In a disturbing trend, cloud computing services are being used by hackers to rain down attacks upon other computer systems.

However, cloud computing services have become so inexpensive and easy to use that they are also available on demand to individual customers by the hour.Cloud computing services string together online servers and storage systems in order to offer massive processing power and terabytes of storage space to businesses such as FourSquare and Netflix. The services allow companies to handle extra traffic and data processing on an as-needed basis without investing in the extra equipment themselves.

This allows unscrupulous users to use cloud computers to conduct digital assaults, such as so-called brute-force attacks that simply fire an endless stream of passwords at another computer system until they find the right code to break in.

"That's the real key now," said Scott Chasin, chief technology officer of McAfee's Security-as-a-Service, itself a cloud-based system. "There's a lot of available computing out there with instant-on and instant provisioning."

In other words, a hacker can have a cloud-based attack up and running within minutes, and then just as quickly get off the cloud once the attack has been successful.

Such hacks may become increasingly attractive to criminals. They require little investment and the criminals don't need to build so-called botnets – thousands of infected individual computers operating as one – which can take months to create.

The issue of cloud-based attacks was brought to the fore recently by the stunning shutdown of Sony's online consumer networks in April, which affected roughly 100 million users worldwide.

Even as Sony continued to plug security breaches after it brought its systems back online, Bloomberg News reported that the hackers responsible for the attacks employed Amazon's cloud-computing Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2) service as a base of operations.

Earlier this year, a German researcher demonstrated how Amazon's EC2 could be used to break into other systems. In a brute-force attack, he used EC2 to run 400,000 possible passwords per second to break into a secured Wi-Fi network in about 20 minutes.

While Amazon's pricing is complicated, such on-demand cloud computing time can cost as little as a few pennies per hour.

From Chasin's perspective, such "lily pad" attacks, in which hackers use one compromised server to attack another, are nothing new. But the ease of accessibility that cloud computing offers is.

While some customers may worry that such attacks could also affect their own cloud-computing accounts, experts point out that service providers are better equipped than most companies to deal with hackers.

"It's natural for any customer to be concerned," said Siamak Farah, the founder and CEO of Tarzana, Calif.-based InfoStreet, a 17-year-old provider of cloud services. "But most people want their money in the bank and not under their mattress."

Farah pointed out that most companies can't afford the technology and security expertise to maintain such systems. Furthermore, third parties can offer insurance, disaster recovery and backup as protection.

"You cannot stop crime, but you can reduce it from happening," Farah said.

So companies have to ask themselves: Who's better equipped to prevent attacks, they or the service provider?

McAfee's Chasin said that a well-rounded approach to security is needed to address the problem. Firms need to not only protect themselves from the traditional intrusions into their systems, but also from the abuse of their systems to launch outward-bound attacks.

"We're still dealing with the same security fundamentals," Chasin said. "It's just that the accessibility [of cloud computing] makes it a lot easier."

• Amazon's Cloud Servers Possibly Used in Sony Attack
• Your Home Wi-Fi Network Can Be Hacked in Minutes
• Cracks in the Cloud: Security Issues Loom Over Online Backup Services

http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/hackers-cloud-computing-boost-firepower-0825/

Space shuttle's demise worries 'Boro's former astronaut

MURFREESBORO — Rutherford County native Rhea Seddon, a former astronaut and veteran of three shuttle missions, is not happy about the future of the U.S. space program.

"What is going to happen is that the space shuttles are going to all go into museums, never to be flown again," the 63-year-old Murfreesboro resident said. "I think that is very unfortunate, because this shuttle had a lot of capabilities that will be difficult to match."

The shuttle can take about 60,000 pounds of payload into space, she explained.

"It carried a space lab which was a powered laboratory that could be flown," she said. "Very sophisticated science could be done in that laboratory."

The Hubbell Telescope was taken to space aboard the shuttle and was repaired and refurbished when shuttle crews recaptured it.

"We won't have that capability anymore," she said.

Space Shuttle Endeavor departed Kennedy Space Center May 16, marking the next-to-last shuttle launch. Endeavor is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center during the early morning hours Wednesday.

Only one more shuttle launch is scheduled, on July 8, before the program is mothballed.

Seddon, 63, and her husband, Robert "Hoot" Gibson, met when they entered the space program in 1978.

"He flew before I did," Seddon said. "His first flight was in 1984, mine was in 1985."

Seddon's interest in space was in the life sciences, which included studying how humans adapt to weightlessness.

"Just to see the difference in how living things changed when they went away from gravity ...," Seddon said. "Two of my three flights were on life sciences space labs."

The space shuttles have been flying since 1981. According to the Associated Press, President George W. Bush made the decision in 2004 to stop flying shuttles. He wanted to go back to the moon and eventually to Mars. For NASA to afford to reach those goals, it had to stop spending about $4 billion a year on the shuttle program.

But President Barack Obama dropped the moon mission. His plan has NASA building a giant rocket to send astronauts to an asteroid and, eventually, to Mars while turning over to private companies the job of carrying cargo and astronauts to the space station.

RHEA SEDDON

ZOOM

NASA space shuttle Endeavour lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center on May 16 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. After 20 years, 25 missions and more than 115 million miles in space, Endeavour is on its final flight to the International Space Station before being retired and donated to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. / Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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Dr. Rhea Seddon, front left, and the crew of the shuttle Discovery leave the Operations and Checkout Building Oct. 14, 1993, on the way to the launch pad. With her are Pilot Richard Searfross and Commander John Blaha, second row, Martin Fettman and Shannon Lucid, and, back row, William McArthur and David Wolf. / TONY RANZE/AFP/Getty Images

RHEA SEDDON BIO

Resident of: Murfreesboro

Age: 63

Hometown: Murfreesboro 

Education:Graduated from Central High School in Murfreesboro (1965); received a bachelor of arts degree in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970, and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1973.

Career:Currently partner in LifeWings Partners, which teaches teamwork and health care. Teaches classes about leadership and how to standardize processes in health care. Previously, Assistant Chief Medical Officer of Vanderbilt Medical Group (left in 2007). Selected to NASA space program in January, 1978 and went to work in July 1978. Her work at NASA has been in a variety of areas, including Orbiter and payload software, Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, Flight Data File, Shuttle medical kit and checklist, launch and landing rescue helicopter physician, support crew member for STS-6, crew equipment, membership on NASA's Aerospace Medical Advisory Committee, Technical Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations, and crew communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center. She was Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations for Shuttle/Mir Payloads. A three-flight veteran with more than 722 hours in space, Seddon was a mission specialist on shuttles, designated Space Transportation System ( STS) STS-51D (1985) and STS-40 (1991), and was the payload commander on STS-58 (1993). She spent 30 days in space on the three shuttle missions. An American flag and mission patch from the April 1985 mission are on display in an exhibit on the first floor of Middle Tennessee Medical Center, near the cafeteria. As an in-space photograph shows, she was the only female in a seven-member flight crew. In September 1996, Seddon was detailed by NASA to Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. She assisted in the preparation of cardiovascular experiments which flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the Neurolab Spacelab flight in April 1998. Seddon retired from NASA in November 1997, according to the NASA biography. Seddon has also performed clinical research into the effects of radiation therapy on nutrition in cancer patients. Between the period of her internship and residency, she served as an Emergency Department physician at a number of hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee, and served in this capacity in the Houston area in her spare time. After medical school, Seddon completed a surgical internship and three years of a general surgery residency in Memphis with a particular interest in nutrition in surgery patients.

Career:Currently partner in LifeWings Partners, which teaches teamwork and health care. Teaches classes about leadership and how to standardize processes in health care. Previously, Assistant Chief Medical Officer of Vanderbilt Medical Group (left in 2007). Selected to NASA space program in January, 1978 and went to work in July 1978. Her work at NASA has been in a variety of areas, including Orbiter and payload software, Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, Flight Data File, Shuttle medical kit and checklist, launch and landing rescue helicopter physician, support crew member for STS-6, crew equipment, membership on NASA's Aerospace Medical Advisory Committee, Technical Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations, and crew communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center. She was Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations for Shuttle/Mir Payloads. A three-flight veteran with more than 722 hours in space, Seddon was a mission specialist on shuttles, designated Space Transportation System ( STS) STS-51D (1985) and STS-40 (1991), and was the payload commander on STS-58 (1993). She spent 30 days in space on the three shuttle missions. An American flag and mission patch from the April 1985 mission are on display in an exhibit on the first floor of Middle Tennessee Medical Center, near the cafeteria. As an in-space photograph shows, she was the only female in a seven-member flight crew. In September 1996, Seddon was detailed by NASA to Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. She assisted in the preparation of cardiovascular experiments which flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the Neurolab Spacelab flight in April 1998. Seddon retired from NASA in November 1997, according to the NASA biography. Seddon has also performed clinical research into the effects of radiation therapy on nutrition in cancer patients. Between the period of her internship and residency, she served as an Emergency Department physician at a number of hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee, and served in this capacity in the Houston area in her spare time. After medical school, Seddon completed a surgical internship and three years of a general surgery residency in Memphis with a particular interest in nutrition in surgery patients.

Family: Married for 30 years to former astronaut Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson (64). Children: Paul, 28, Dann, 22, and Emilee, 15.

Rs 10,000-crore push for India’s super-computer plan

India this week committed Rs 10,000 crore to indigenously develop the world’s fastest supercomputer by 2017. The Planning Commission agreed in principle to provide the funds to the Indian Space Research Organsiation (ISRO) and Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore to develop a supercomputer with a performance of 132.8 exaflops (132 quintillion floating operations per second). A quintillion has 18 zeros (a million has six).

In computing, flops is an acronym to measure computing performance. An average personal computer can go up to 7.5 gigaflops.

The world’s fastest supercomputer right now is a Chinese one, which can do 2.7 pentaflops, or two quadrillion flops. A quadrillion has 15 zeros.

India in 2007 had the world’s fourth fastest indigenously-developed supercomputer with a performance of 172.5 teraflops (172 trillion flops), which has been enhanced this month to 220 teraflops. That’s still a level lower than China’s supercomputer.

The Indian supercomputer will not be used only for enhancing the country’s space abilities, it will also be used to predict monsoon and precise weather inputs to boost agriculture N Balakrishnan, associate professor at IIS-Bangalore, said the target being set is “ambitious” while referring to achieving the exaflop – or next level of computing performance  -- by 2017. “We have planned everything minutely.”

“We have agreed to provide R10,000 crore for having ‘exa’ level of supercomputing facility,” minister of state for planning Ashwini Kumar told HT.

Balakrishnan, in a presentation to the plan panel, said ISRO has already booked key equipment to develop the supercomputer by 2017. “Most of the other gadgets will be indigenously developed,” he said. “Supercomputing is key to competing in the international space market,” Balakrishnan said.

HTC Heats Up Android Market With The Launch Of Wildfire S

The smartphone market in India is really getting crowded and competitive. Now, HTC will add to the choice of Android phones that you can buy, with the launch of the HTC Wildfire S.

In terms of specifications, this baby’s no slouch. Powered by Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread and running HTC’s celebrated Sense UI, it also features a 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, a 3.2-inch capacitive HVGA display and measures just 10.13cm long, 5.94cm wide and 12.4 mm thick. In terms of power, it has a 600 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM. It also has a slot for an expandable MicroSD card memory.

But we ‘re saving the best for the last. Given this impressive feature list, HTC has priced this device only at around Rs. 14,000, making it an absolutely “paisa vasool” deal! We think this has got to be the best entry level Android phone on the market right now, given HTC’s recent revival and subsequent excellence in hardware, and should do very well in the market.

iPhone 4 Encryption Remains Uncracked, but Password Keys Easy to Obtain

Russian company ElcomSoft hasn’t cracked AES-256 encryption, but figured out a way to obtain the cryptographic keys necessary to decrypt all the data on Apple iOS devices.

Russian security firm ElcomSoft claims to have cracked the AES-256 encryption Apple used to encrypt data on user iPhones. Despite the claim of the company's CEO, that’s not quite the case.

The publicly available ElcomSoft Phone Password Breaker application provides users with the ability to view encrypted data extracted from mobile devices running Apple iOS and decode encrypted data, ElcomSoft’s CEO Vladimir Katalov wrote in a blog post May 23. The complete ElcomSoft toolkit with the decryption program will be marketed to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Apple introduced a hardware encryption chip on iOS 4 devices, which meant that anyone doing a hardware dump will get encrypted data. This includes geo-location data, browsing history, call history, test messages, emails, usernames and passwords. The files were encrypted with its own unique encryption key tied to the individual device, and some files were further protected with keys tied to both the device and the user’s passcode.

ElcomSoft researchers were able to decrypt the iPhone’s encrypted file system images, Katalov boasted in a blog post titled “ElcomSoft Breaks iPhone Encryption.” With the file decrypted, the contents could be viewed using any number of forensic tools, Katalov said.

ElcomSoft is a well-known corporate security and IT audit company that works with law enforcement, military and intelligence agencies to recover data and perform forensics. Apple’s data protection was considered “adequate against even the best equipped adversaries, including forensic analysts and law enforcement agencies,” Katalov said. By “breaking” the protection, ElcomSoft made it possible to conduct “extremely comprehensive forensic analysis of affected iOS devices,” he said.

Misleading blog post title aside, the fact is, ElcomSoft researchers did not crack AES-256, Luther Martin, a senior security architect at Voltage Security, wrote on the Superconductor blog on May 26. Digging deeper into Katalov’s post reveals that ElcomSoft researchers didn’t actually figure out a way to brute-force its way through the encryption, but circumvented the security measures altogether by obtaining the encryption keys stored on the device to unlock the data.

Simply put, ElcomSoft researchers didn’t break the complicated lock on the door; they figured out how to get the key hidden under the flowerpot.

“What ElcomSoft has cracked is the iPhone’s weak key management, not the encryption itself,” Martin said. The Password Breaker application attacked the four-digit PIN that users assign to their phones. The passcode protects the encryption keys that were generated when encrypting the data on the device. Once the password has been broken, the person can extract the numbers used to generate encryption keys and decrypt content, according to Martin.

Cracking the “AES-256 key is still so hard that it’s essentially impossible,” Martin said.

“The extraction of file system encryption keys is nearly instant as opposed to lengthy dictionary or brute-force attacks which are required to obtain a password,” Katalov acknowledged in his post.

The lesson learned from this particular technique is that using a four-digit code to protect a 256-bit key doesn’t mean the data is being protected with “256 bits of cryptographic strength,” Martin said. Anyone with access to a low-cost desktop can come up with the four-digit combination, so the passcode is not “providing a meaningful level of protection” to the encryption keys. For the iPhone 4, it takes about 40 minutes to crack the four-digit code.

Security expert Charlie Miller uncovered a similar method in February. Miller recommended that users use long complicated passwords instead of easily cracked four-digit codes.

HTC launches Wildfire S @ Rs 14,700

NEW DELHI: HTC has launched Wildfire Ssmartphone in India. The Android-powered smartphone is priced at Rs 14,700. 

The smartphone runs on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread and features a 3.2-inch HVGA display and 5-megapixel autofocus camera. It is powered by a 600 Mhz processor and it is 12.4 mm thick. HTC Wildfire S is one of HTC's smallest phones ever – measuring just 10.13cm long and 5.94cm wide. 




The smartphone has a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus, expandable microSD memory and support for a variety of audio and video formats. 

It also features the new HTC Sense user interface. With HTC Locations, a new differentiated online mapping experience, users have instant, on-demand mapping without download delays or incurring mobile roaming charges. 




HTC Sense also includes a new integrated online e-reading experience utilizing a new e-book store powered by Kobo and a new, mobile-optimized e-reader that offers the ability to highlight, annotate and quickly search for definitions or translate unfamiliar terms.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/HTC-launches-Wildfire-S-Rs-14700/articleshow/8619670.cms

International news of the week

Islamabad: India and Pakistan exchange "non-papers" during talks on the Sir Creek issue that ended today, in a bid to find an amicable settlement to the decades-old boundary dispute and agreed to meet again.

Islamabad: Pakistan skirts the issue of errors in a list of 50 wanted fugitives sought by India and said it would consider New Delhi's requests for tracing suspects believed to be on Pakistani soil with "great seriousness".

Karachi: Over 10 terrorists storm a military airbase in this southern port city, killing at least four naval personnel as they lob grenades and fire indiscriminately.

Baghdad: More than a dozen bomb attacks in and around Baghdad leave at least 19 people dead, including 12 people killed in a suicide attack, and more than 80 wounded.

Chicago: Pakistan's Intelligence agency ISI had links with Mumbai attack co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Headley, the prosecution submitted during the trial of Rana that opened in the US.

Karachi: Pakistani commandos regain control of a key military airbase here that was stormed by Taliban fighters after 16 hours of gun battles that kill 10 security personnel and destroyed two US-made surveillance planes.

Addis Ababa: On a mission to reach out to African countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrive here on a six-day visit to Ethiopia and Tanzania to step up bilateral ties and discuss ways of combating terrorism and piracy.

Chicago: In further indictment of ISI, 26/11 accused David Coleman Headley said the Pakistani spy agency and its operatives like Major Iqbal and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed had helped him in laying the groundwork for the Mumbai attacks.

Chicago: Mumbai attacks co-accused David Headley, who scouted Shiv Sena headquarters, testifies there was a plot involving his handlers in Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI and terror outfit LeT to assassinate Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, for the first time explicitly saying that some West Bank settlements would find themselves outside Israel's final borders.

Peshawar: A suicide bomber rams his explosives-laden truck into a police building near the US consulate here, killing 11 People, including six security personnel, and injuring 39 others, as terror fury continue to hit Pakistan since the raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Berlin: A cloud of volcanic ash that has caused headaches for air travellers spreads to Germany, forcing the closure of Berlin's airport and threatening to disrupt European flights for days.

Sanaa: Fighting spils across Yemen's capital and frightened residents fled or cower in basements as a powerful militia alliance warned embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh to either step down or face civil war. At least 28 people were killed as the four-day death toll neared 110.

Peshawar: A suicide bomber detonates his explosives-laden vehicle near a court complex and government offices at Hangu in Pakistan's restive northwest, killing 26 people, including policemen, and injuring dozens.

Kathmandu: Nepal's main political parties fail to end a deadlock over the extension of the term of the interim parliament which ends tomorrow, deepening the constitutional crisis and uncertainty over its peace process.

Dar es Salaam: India announces a new line of credit and assistance of $190 million for Tanzania and signs an agreement on avoidance of double taxation as the two nations vowed to intensify cooperation to combat terrorism and piracy and work closely for comprehensive UN reforms.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/international-newsthe-week/136753/on

HTC pays Microsoft $5 for every Android phone

Phone maker HTC is paying Microsoft $5 for every Android smartphone it makes in a legal settlement, according to a Citigroup analyst report on Microsoft.

The report, released today, said the fee was the result of a settlement reached between the Taiwanese phone maker and Microsoft over patent claims. HTC sells phones and tablets that run on Android, as well as Microsoft's mobile operating system Windows Phone.

Microsoft has sued Motorola and Barnes & Noble over patent claims on Google's mobile operating system Android.

Google gives away Android at no charge, and Microsoft is pursuing lawsuits against manufacturers that install the software on devices they sell.

"Our understanding is Microsoft is looking for a $7.50 to $12.50 per unit license to settled alleged infringement of Microsoft patents," the Citi report said.

Update 3:26 p.m.:

Microsoft declined to comment on the Citi report Friday.

The two companies said they had settled the patent dispute on April 27.

"HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property," said Horacio Gutierrez, a deputy general counsel at Microsoft, in an April statement.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoftpri0/2015167534_htcpaysmicrosoft5foreveryandroidphone.html

Apple iPhone 4 costs more upfront, but subscription promises returns

Apple's exclusive network operators for iPhone 4, Airtel and Aircel, have rolled out attractive tariff schemes in order to woo customers

BANGALORE, INDIA: Apple iPhone 4 has officially reached the India market. However, will this high-end smartphone make a big impact in India, which is still ruled by entry level phones on pre-paid models?

The upfront cost of buying a 32 GB iPhone 4 in the US, on AT&T Network, will be $299 or Rs 13, 519. However, buying the same in India, from Apple resellers, will require subscribers to shell out Rs 42,000!

Apple's exclusive network operators for iPhone 4, Airtel and Aircel, have rolled out attractive tariff schemes in order to woo customers. The operators are offering 50 per cent buy back benefit on the cost of the handset. 

On one hand where Aircel's advertisement says, "You get back your money when you buy from Aircel", on the other, Airtel attempts to attract a potential subscriber by promising a return of Rs 24,000, although with conditions attached.

Airtel's schemes

Mobile services giant Airtel is offering up to 50 per cent savings (per month), in the form of free talk time from Airtel to Airtel. These plans range from Rs 600 to Rs 2,000.

A person opting for the Rs 2,000 pack, will save Rs. 1,000 a month, thus saving Rs 24,000 over a period of two years. In this plan Airtel is offering 1,900 minutes of Airtel to Airtel calls, 1,350 MB of data at 3G speed and 2,000 local SMS free. For the Rs 600 plan subscribers will get 550 minutes of Airtel to Airtel local calls free, 500 local SMS and 300 MB of 3G data free. There are seven such plans that Airtel is offering.

Aircel not behind

Aircel has also introduced a new pricing model allowing customers to recover the upfront cost of the smartphone, on select plans over 24 months, the company said in a press release.

“Aircel's Western mobile subscription plans has seen a limited success in the past. However, with iPhone 4, the operators are hoping a reversal, feels Naveen Mishra, senior manager, Telecoms Practice, Cyber Media Research. “Operators are aware that data usage is increasing and average billing of high-end smartphones users range between Rs 1,000 - Rs 1,500. The two-year subscription scheme will ensure a steady revenue for operators.”

Sales numbers may not be great considering the up-front investment one needs to do. Nevertheless, Apple iPhone's appeal is sure to bring some traction among the post-paid subscribers, feels Shiv Putcha, principal analyst, Emerging Markets, Ovum Telecoms.

He feels that Apple is in a different league when compared to its rivals and the brand following will drive Apple's sales in India too.

There are 800 million mobile subscribers in India and the market is second biggest and fastest growing in the world.

However, most handsets sold in the country are low-end feature phones. A majority of mobile handset shipments in India are to first-time buyers, who fall in the price band of 'less than Rs. 5,000'.

http://www.ciol.com/Technology/Mobility/News-Reports/Apple-iPhone-4-costs-more-upfront-but-subscription-promises-returns/150522/0/

Airtel, Aircel to launch iPhone 4 today

Airtel and Aircel are in a race it seems, both announced that they will launch iPhone 4 almost simultaneously, both have the same launch date, and now they have announced a very similar plan.

Airtel and Aircel will launch the famed Apple iPhone 4 today in India, which has been priced at Rs 34,500 and Rs 40,900 for the 16GB and 32GB versions respectively.

Aircel, which made the announcement of the launch a little earlier than Airtel, will be offering 100 per cent value back to its iPhone users though two plans. Aircel postpaid customers can avail up to 100 per cent of the value of the iPhone 4 as talktime and data spread over a time period of 24 months.

Under the Advantage Money Back Plan, Aircel is offering up to 50 per cent of the value of the handset to its postpaid customers. While, Premium Money Back plan offers up to 100 per cent money back over a two year period. Both these plans are available for 16 and 32 GB iPhone versions.

Aircel users will also get up to 1GB free 3G data (depending on the plan) usage and after that users will automatically be switched to 2G data plan for which they will be charged at 10 paisa per KB. Aircel has kept the tariffs simple with both local and national call charges at 1 paisa /second.

Airtel Plan

Airtel is offering 50 per cent savings (per month) with plans ranging from Rs 600 to Rs 2,000. The person, using the Rs 2,000 pack, will save Rs 24,000 over a period of two years.

In Rs 2,000, Airtel is giving 1900 minutes of Airtel to Airtel calls and 1,350 MB of data at 3G speed. You will also get 2,000 local SMS free. If you subscribe for the Rs 600 plan, you will get 550 minutes of Airtel to Airtel local calls, 500 local SMS and 300 MB of 3G data.

The iPhone 4 comes with a sleek, sharp and thinner design than its predecessor. The fourth-generation model of Apple iPhone comes with a 3.5 inch screen with 640 X 960 pixel resolution known as the Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, and FaceTime for video calling.

The phone has iOS 4 as its operating system, which offers features like multitasking, spell check, folders, iBooks and a host of cool new features.

The phone has a 5 megapixel camera as compared to the 3 megapixel in the earlier version. The camera has an LED flash also for illumination and it has a front VGA camera to support video calling.

For connectivity, it has WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI and GPS. The device promises seven hours of 3G talk time, six hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video and 40 hours of music playback.

The iPhone 4 comes with a price tag of Rs 34,500 for the 16 GB model, and Rs 40,900 for 32GB model along with tariff plan options available in both prepaid and postpaid versions.

http://www.themobileindian.com/news/1309_Airtel-Aircel-to-launch-iPhone-4-today