Mac News: Consumer

Apple Settles iPod Class Action for $45 a Head

Monday - May 12, 2008

Apple has agreed to settle a pair of class action lawsuits in Canada alleging it misled customers about the staying power of their iPods, the latest courtroom truce over the dwindling battery life of early generations of the device. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is offering credits for its online store of about $44.75 to people who live in Canada and bought certain iPods there on or before June 24, 2004, according to a court document. [More...]

Juice Pack iPhone Battery Extender: Almost Perfect

Monday - May 12, 2008

The Juice Pack iPhone battery extender provides an additional 250 hours of standby time, eight hours of talk time, six hours of Internet use, seven hours of video playback, and/or 24 hours of audio playback, according to Mophie. After using this puppy for close to a month, I can't confirm that those numbers are 100 percent accurate, but my gut feeling is that they're not far off the mark. [More...]

AT&T's WiFi Fake-Outs Leave iPhone Users Nonplussed

Friday - May 9, 2008

Late last month and early this month, Starbucks customers who were packing iPhones reportedly discovered free AT&T WiFi Internet access at some of the coffee shops. All iPhone users had to do was enter in their valid AT&T iPhone phone number, and boom, free WiFi access to the world. Then AT&T mysteriously cut off the access. [More...]

Climate Researchers Dream Up iPod-Based Supercomputer

Friday - May 9, 2008

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have suggested building a supercomputer based on low-power embedded microprocessors to improve global climate change predictions. Using the embedded microprocessor technology used in mobile phones, iPods and other consumer electronic devices, the boffins propose a cost-effective machine for running complex computational models. [More...]

Mac Bloggers Size Up Support, Elbow Into Enterprise, Muse on AT&T Memo

Friday - May 9, 2008

Three interesting topics were kicked around in Apple-minded blogs this week. Entirely unsurprisingly, survey results show that Apple tech support kicks butt in the PC industry at large. Also, AT&T is forbidding vacation time to hapless iPhone salespeople, and it appears Macs have gotten a foot in the door at work. [More...]

Samsung Glydes Into iPhone Territory

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Verizon announced the latest addition to its line of touch-screen mobile phones Thursday. The Glyde from Samsung, available Friday, offers many features that have gained popularity following the introduction of Apple's iPhone. The Glyde joins the LG Voyager and Venus and the Samsung Instinct in a growing list of handsets with more user-friendly touch-screen interfaces. [More...]

Will Zunes Zap Unauthorized Content?

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Microsoft's Zune and NBC's downloadable television shows stand at the center of the latest digital rights management dustup. On Wednesday, New York Times blogger Saul Hansell reported that Microsoft might build a copyright manager into every Zune player, ostensibly in response to an NBC demand for copyright protections of its downloadable content. [More...]

America Movil to Hawk iPhone in Latin America

Thursday - May 8, 2008

In another step in the worldwide march of Apple's iPhone, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America said Wednesday that it has inked a deal to bring the multimedia gadget to more than a dozen countries starting later this year. America Movil said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations but didn't offer more details about the arrangement. [More...]

Apple's Board: Still Room for Schmidt?

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Until now, having Google chief executive Eric Schmidt sit on Apple's board of directors has made a lot of sense. Google, the world's largest Web-search engine, is one of the most influential companies in technology. Google has been incredibly supportive of Apple's flagship computer, the Mac, and has developed a lot of software for Apple's music-playing iPhone. [More...]

iPhone's Uncertain Future Sends Synchronoss Into Tailspin

Wednesday - May 7, 2008

Shares of Synchronoss Technologies plummeted Wednesday morning after the company offered worrying guidance on its revenue related to Apple's iPhone. The stock fell $9.84, or 43 percent, to $13.06 in morning trading. The stock earlier hit a 52-week low of $12.72, far below a previous bottom of $15.15 set in early March. [More...]

Slacker Portable No Slouch at Music Delivery

Wednesday - May 7, 2008

One drawback to our portable-music revolution is space. At some point, even with a 160 gigabyte iPod, you run out. So, if you listen to a lot of music through headphones, as I do, there are times when you want fresh tunes. Now there's a new approach -- one I find appealing because it is customized to your musical tastes, and songs can be constantly refreshed. [More...]

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