The Apple rumor mill is a-churning yet again, and this time it’s not another breathless bit of speculation about the newest version of the iPhone: A report out of China claims that the smartphone giant sent anywhere between five and eight million shoddy iPhones back to its manufacturer, Foxconn, out of concerns that the phones weren’t up to snuff. [More]
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Watch What You Whisper: Your Secrets Might Not Be So Safe With Siri
By 4.19.13
When you ask Siri late on a Friday night how to craft the perfect booty text, it’s not like the iPhone’s digital assistant is going to run off and tell your friends. But oh, she remembers what you tell her. As for how long she holds onto that info, well, it’s unclear. And that uncertainty over Apple’s data retention police is giving privacy advocates a severe case of the frownfaces. [More]
Penguin Offers To Break Up With Apple To End European E-Book Anti-Trust Case
By 4.19.13
After more than a year of squabbling with the European Commission in an anti-trust case involving Apple’s deals with five publishers that regulators called a conspiracy to fix the price of e-books, the last holdout might be close to settling up. Penguin has offered to ditch its e-book deal with Apple to end the antitrust probe. [More]
$53M Apple iPhone Warranty Settlement Centers On Those Pesky Water Damage Strips
By 4.12.13
Anyone who’s ever had to pay for a replacement cell phone, smart or otherwise, has tried the “But I swear, I didn’t get it wet!” argument when that little strip is pink, instead of white. But a new settlement has Apple paying out $53 million to customers who claimed the company didn’t honor warranties on iPhones and iPod Touches, all becuse of those pesky damage indicators. [More]
Court Ruling Highlights Huge Roadblock To Reselling Digital Content
By 4.2.13
Even though huge online players like Amazon and Apple are working on ways to provide users a marketplace to resell “used” digital downloads like mp3s and e-books, neither plan really deals with the most salient problem with reselling digital products — getting rid of the original copy. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 2: Apple Vs. AT&T
March 29, 2013
Let’s get ready for the weekend by pitting a wildly popular electronics company against the wireless provider that had once been its partner-in-crime. [More]
Meet Your Worst Company In America Not-So-Sweet 16!
March 27, 2013
Last week, 32 terrible titans of industry stepped on to the blood-stained mat of WCIA Death-and-Dismemberment Arena, but only 16 remain in this bestial battle royale to take home the treasured Golden Poo. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: Apple Vs. Microsoft
March 22, 2013
Let’s end the first week of WCIA play by throwing these two longtime rivals into a locked shipping container until only one of them comes out alive. [More]
European Union Looking Into iPhone Contracts After Carriers Complain They Stifle Competition
By 3.22.13
Regulators over in Europe are checking into Apple’s deals with cellphone carriers after complaints that the iPhone contracts the company uses stifle competition. There are no formal complaints yet, but a group of wireless carriers banded together to submit info about their various contracts to the European Commission, in a move reportedly started by French carriers. [More]
My Lemon Of An iMac Broke Down After Only Six Days
By 3.20.13
Trevor just acquired a beautiful new 27″ iMac. We’d be totally jealous if the computer were still working, but it’s not. It suddenly died after he had been using it for only six days, and he can’t revive it. iMac, nooo! Come back! He’s never getting his iMac back, and has to wait a few weeks for a replacement. [More]
How To Avoid Handing Your Tot A Blank Check Made Out To Apple
By 3.19.13
Maybe you sneer at posts such at this one about a five-year-old who bought $2,500 worth of digital cars in mere minutes, or this one about a child who spent $1,400 on Smurfberries on her parents’ iPad. You’d never be so stupid as to hand a child a device with the password already entered and ready to go. Jamie might have said the same thing…until she did. [More]
Hacker Gets 41 Months In Prison For iPad Data Breach
By 3.18.13 — Updated: 3.19.13
Remember back in 2010, when some hackers discovered an exploit with AT&T’s system that allowed them to access and publish account information for around 114,000 iPad users? One of the fellas behind that breach was sentenced earlier today to 41 months behind bars. [More]
Apple, Amazon Looking To Sell Used Digital Content
By 3.8.13
When you purchase a digital download, do you actually own it? Some say yes, others say you’re just licensing its use from the copyright holder. This argument is only going to get more heated with news that both Apple and Amazon are looking into how to go about re-selling “used” digital content. [More]
“TelePod,” “Mobi,” And Other Bad Names Apple Could Have Given To iPhone
By 3.5.13
We all know that most brand names are not the result of the first thing that pops into an inventor’s head. But it’s a little hard to imagine a world where everyone is going gaga for each new iteration of the Apple Telepod. [More]
Apple Sympathizes With My Need To Listen To One Song On Repeat For Hours On End
By 3.4.13 — Updated: 3.5.13
Elaine was suffering. In the midst of an overwhelming obsession with the song “Our Love” by Al Jarreau, she lost access to the song on her iPhone and was thrown into severe withdrawal. How could she make it through her 45-minute train ride without it? She needed Apple’s help, and she needed it bad. [More]
Verizon Charges Customer $299 For Refurbished iPhone That Never Worked
By 3.4.13
It hasn’t even been two years since a New Jersey teen first received his iPhone 4. He’s since been through four of the devices, following a string of faulty refurbished replacements. To rub salt in that wound, Verizon Wireless charged him $299 for the most recent refurb, claiming the damage was his fault. [More]
“Free” Apps Not So Free When A Five-Year-Old Can Spend $2.5K In 10 Minutes On An iPad
By 3.1.13
In a perfect example of why parents need to monitor their kids’ online activities, a five-year-old in Britain was able to ring up about $2,500 in charges in just 10 minutes. So did he figure out their PayPal password and go on a toy car shopping spree? Nope. All he had to do was play a “free” app on his parents’ iPad. [More]
Apple Products Could Be Arriving In Staples Stores Soon
By 2.15.13
Be still, beating hearts that are devoted to both Staples and Apple products. A series of tweets from various higher-ups at Staples seem to indicate that the retail chain will finally start carrying Apple items in the near future, after having being kept out of the cool kids club of Target, Best Buy, Walmart and RadioShack for years. [More]
