And another one bites the dust. After refusing to join in an earlier settlement with three other publishers accused of colluding with Apple to fix prices on e-books, the folks at publishing biggie MacMillan have decided to settle with the U.S. Dept. of Justice for $20 million. [More]
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California Court: Online Merchants Can Demand Personal Info To Verify Credit Card Purchases
By 2.4.13
While a California consumer protection law dating back 22 years is all good when it comes to brick-and-mortar stores, the state’s Supreme Court ruled today that online merchants can collect personal information from buyers using credit cards. Companies like Apple and Ticketmaster had argued that they need data like home addresses and phone numbers to verify credit card purchases and prevent fraud, and the court agreed in a 4-3 decision. [More]
Reporting A Stolen iPhone To Cops Is Smart If You Didn’t Just Steal It From Someone Else
By 1.28.13
The sad reality is that many times a stolen phone is just not going to come back to you. There are a lot of iPhones out there and not enough police to recover them all, especially in New York City where so-called “Apple picking” is rampant. But one girl caught a break when none other than the person who stole her phone was the one who ultimately ended up reuniting her with it. [More]
Apple Pulls Photo Apps From App Store Because It Doesn’t Want You Seeing Any Nudie Pics
By 1.23.13
While what you do with your smartphone in the privacy of your own home is totally your business, Apple has a strict policy against pornographic images, or really, any nude photos being searchable on applications made for iOS. As such it has issued a smackdown against two of Canadian company 500px’s popular photo-sharing apps, pulling them from its app store citing nudie shenanigans. [More]
Amazon Launches iPhone MP3 Store While Managing To Cut Apple Out Of The Deal
By 1.18.13
Well, would you look at that? Amazon has found a way to simultaneously appeal to iPhone users and sell them stuff all the while neatly cutting Apple out of the conversation, which means, it’s not giving Apple any money while it takes it from its customers. To wit: Amazon has launched a mobile version of its MP3 store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but since it’s accessible from Safari and isn’t a regular App, it doesn’t have to give Apple a dime. [More]
Elderly Person Drives Into Chicago Apple Store, Unclear Whether He Was Using Apple Maps
By 1.14.13
We’re but two weeks into 2013 and already it’s proving itself to be the year of people driving into retail stores. As in, through the front windows. Just last week a guy crashed into a pizza place and ordered a pizza, and now driver described only as an “elderly person” has taken a trip through a Chicago Apple store with a car.
Apple Exec Swears The iPhone Will Never Commit The Crime Of Cheapness
By 1.11.13
A cheap iPhone? Shut your mouth, says Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, according to a new report. Despite rumors that were swirling earlier this week that the company would move toward the popular model of a cheaper smartphone, Schiller says that just ain’t gonna happen. [More]
Hurry Up And Get These Best Buy Year-End Deals If You Want To Buy Stuff At The Full Retail Price!
By 1.4.13
If you’re tired of looking for bargains and want to spend the full retail price on electronics, we have found a great sale for you! [More]
If You Used iOS6’s “Do Not Disturb” Scheduling Function, It Won’t Turn Off Until Jan. 7
By 1.3.13
Ah, the sweet sound of silence. No phone calls coming in, no texts buzzbuzzing your phone — wait, why hasn’t he called? Is he EVER going to text? Perhaps you’ve been feeling a bit unnerved about your quiet iPhones, iOS6 users, and if you scheduled its “Do Not Disturb” function to begin and end at a certain time, it’s probably still on and won’t turn off until you make it turn off. [More]
Judge Tells Apple It Isn’t False Advertising If Amazon Also Calls Its Online Shop An “App Store”
By 1.2.13
So like, you know when you need to buy something? Where do you usually go? A store. And those electronic thingies, those applications, what are those commonly called? Yup, apps! Combine the two and you get — you guessed it! — an app store. Apple thought it had the corner on that name, but a judge just ruled that Amazon is allowed to use the term as well without it constituting false advertising. And likely anyone else selling apps. [More]
New Year, New Speculation On iPhone 5S — Or Is It iPhone 6?
By 1.2.13
Because everyone is already bored with the smartphones they received as recently as last week, there is already a bunch of buzz about the next iteration of Apple’s iPhone, though there seems to be debate about the name. [More]
Robbers Make Off With $1.3 Million Worth Of Products In New Year’s Eve Apple Store Heist
By 1.2.13
While the rest of Paris was focused on ringing in the New Year, armed gunmen were all about bringing in some new gear during a robbery at an Apple store in Paris. Police had their eyes on the partying people on the Champs-Elysees while the masked thieves broke into the Apple flagship store nearby on Monday night. [More]
NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg Blames Uptick In Crime On Thieves Coveting All Those iPhones
By 12.28.12
At any given moment, the streets of New York City are like a veritable sea, teeming with fish (people) tempting thieves with their pockets full of shiny, new electronic gadgets. And that preponderance of highly-coveted technology, including Apple’s popular iPhones and iPads, is why the city’s major crime rate has risen this year, says NYC’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg. [More]
Patent Office Rejects Apple’s “Pinch To Zoom” Patent, Samsung Licks Its Chops
By 12.20.12
That sound you hear? That’s Samsung rubbings its metaphorical hands together in gleeful anticipation after the United States Patent and Trademark Office smacked Apple’s patent for “pinch to zoom” technology down. That same patent helped Apple win its case against Samsung and win it $1.05 billion as a result. So if that patent should never have been granted, Samsung thinks there should be a whole new trial. [More]
Penguin Group Reaches Settlement With Justice Department Over E-Book Pricing
By 12.19.12
The Justice Department is close to wrapping up one more piece of the e-book pricing dispute that’s been going on for months, announcing today it had reached a settlement with Pearson Penguin Group. The government had alleged that Penguin, four other publishers and Apple had been in cahoots to unfairly fix e-book prixes. [More]
Judge Shuts Down Apple’s Request To Ban A Bunch Of Samsung Devices
By 12.18.12
Apple is likely feeling a wee bit disappointed today, as a U.S. federal judge rejected the company’s request to ban a bunch of Samsung devices from being sold in the U.S. — devices that a judge already ruled infringed on Apple’s patented designs. Meanwhile the judge also denied Samsung a retrial, which it had been seeking by claiming jury misconduct on the part of the foreman in last summer’s proceedings. [More]
Apple: The Midwestern United States Is Too Humid For The iMac
By 12.18.12
Apple’s 27″ iMac is not a cheap computer. That model currently starts at $1,800. So customers who found a smoky gray residue inside their screens were disappointed when Apple turned around and told non-smoking customers that the issues are obviously their own fault. Reader Jason, for example, was told that his screen smudged itself because it’s too humid where he lives. Does he live in the tropics? Florida, maybe? No, he lived in Ohio when his iMac troubles started. And the problem recurred after he moved to Chicago, just down the street from the city’s flagship Apple Store. [More]
Police Tase Woman At New Hampshire Mall For Refusing To Leave Apple Store
By 12.13.12 — Updated: 12.14.12
While there is still plenty of room for confusion involving a recent police-on-civilian incident in New Hampshire, one thing is clear: A woman tried to buy more iPhones than an Apple store wanted to sell her, and she ended up on the ground outside getting tased by cops. A language barrier may have exacerbated the situation, as the woman is from China and says she didn’t understand police orders. [More]
