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Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

iPhone 3G Ultracompact USB Adapters Recalled

Apple has issued a recall for the ultracompact USB adapter that shipped with iPhone 3Gs sold in North America, Japan and certain countries in Latin America. The rectangular metal prongs that insert into a wall socket have shown enough of a propensity to break off, exposing users to the risk of electric shock, the company was spurred to offer redesigned adapters free of charge.

Web replacement forms went up on the Apple support site Friday; replacement adapters are expected to begin shipping on October 10. You can also exchange adapters at Apple Retail stores beginning October 10, according to the Apple communication.

Replacement adapters will feature the distinctive green dot shown below.

UPDATE: Initial analyst reaction to the recall news indicates this is more of a tempest in a teapot than a black eye for Apple. Shaw Wu of American Technology Research commented that while the threat of electric shock is a “negative” with the potential for “headline risk,” the number of people likely to be affected by the faulty adapters is believed to be minimal. The recall can also be viewed as a customer service coup for the company, which keeps its standards high by “doing the right thing” and offering free replacements.

The humorous side to this development, if there is one, was highlighted by a commenter on the MacRumors forum, who wrote, “I thought the sparks meant it was working.”

About the author

Lonnie Lazar

Lonnie Lazar is a writer, musician, web designer attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie's photos on Flickr.

Email the author | Read more posts by Lonnie Lazar.

4 comments

    [...] Go to the author’s original blog: iPhone 3G Ultracompact USB Adapters Recalled [...]

    [...] Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu says Apple’s Friday recall of iPhone 3G ultra-compact power adapters is a “minor speedbump” and affects [...]

    [...] Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu says Apple’s Friday recall of iPhone 3G ultra-compact power adapters is a “minor speedbump” and affects [...]

    [...] Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu says Apple’s Friday recall of iPhone 3G ultra-compact power adapters is a “minor speedbump” and affects [...]

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