iPhone News Updated

Cellcrypt releases encrypted voice call app for the iPhone

Cellcrypt released a version of its voice encryption software for Apple’s iPhone on Tuesday, adding to its portfolio of software to prevent eavesdropping on calls.

The product, called Cellcrypt Mobile for iPhone, works with iOS 4 on Apple’s iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. It is one of two voice encryption applications listed in the App Store, although there are other voice encryption applications for the iPhone platform from vendors such as Goldlock and SecurStar.

The iPhone application works in the same way as Cellcrypt’s products for other platforms. It’s a VOIP (voice over IP) application that uses either Wi-Fi or an operator’s data channel on either GPRS, EDGE, 3G or satellite networks to transmit voice.

Both the caller and the recipient must have Cellcrypt installed in order to encrypt the call. The iPhone version is interoperable with other Cellcrypt software for platforms including Symbian, Android and Blackberry, said Ian Meakin, Cellcrypt’s vice president of marketing.

Cellcrypt uses public key cryptography, and each phone running its software has its own private key stored only on the device. When a call is initiated, the two devices exchange a secret session key, which is then erased when the call ends.

Voice data is then double encrypted first using a 256-bit RC4 algorithm and then again with a 256-bit AES algorithm, Meakin said. The heavy encryption can cause up to a 1.5 second delay using the slower GPRS networks, varying somewhat depending on available bandwidth and network traffic.

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Developers Abandoning BlackBerry for Apple’s iPhone, iPad

In addition to losing smartphone marketshare, BlackBerry maker RIM is loosing app developers, too. Developers are seeing RIM’s platform as too complex and not worth the financial investment based on market size, according to BusinessWeek.

“As soon as RIM brought in a touchscreen and mixed it with a thumbwheel, a keyboard and shortcut keys, it made it really difficult and expensive to develop across devices,” commented Brian Hurley, Purple Forge, one of the companies that’s backing away from RIM. “What Apple scored big on is having a touch screen and a button and that’s it.”

Developers are leaving BlackBerry for iPhone

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