Nicole Martinelli - page 48

Here’s an update on the iPhone meltdown we wrote about awhile back. Tim Colbourne in Rome plugged in his iPhone 3G to his computer’s USB port and left it to charge. Three hours later, it caught fire. The above is an aftermath pic.

About two and a half weeks after his post, a replacement iPhone arrived. Holburne returned the flambe phone so that Apple’s engineers could pick it apart to figure out what happened.

On his blog, Colbourne notes:

“I won’t say it was the easiest process. Apple’s European headquarters in Ireland explained that ordinarily this would be classed as ‘accidental damage,’ and would not be under warranty. Apparently, iPhone fires are so rare that the company assumes that faulty parts are not to blame and that it must be in some way connected to user error…In my case I was lucky that the Apple engineers had seen the story, checked out the photo, and wanted to get their hands on the phone in return for a new one.

The takeaway here seems to be, yes, iPhone fires are perhaps a fluke but if anything happens to your iPhone or Apple product, blogging about it helps get some satisfaction —  though Colbourne says his first post was just to see whether anyone else had encountered the same problem.

Via A Roman Thought

Nothing like police blotters for playing it straight. Take this item from the Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana, Missuola student paper:

April 10, 8:52 p.m.
During rush hour on Friday morning, a bike patrol officer spotted a package in the middle of the road that cars were driving around.  After retrieving the parcel, the officer found a MacBook and a bag of marijuana inside.  Public Safety is currently trying to return the computer to its rightful owner, but not the pot.  “We’ll probably have to destroy the marijuana,” Lemcke said.

Image used with a CC license, thanks to Max Braun

Via Montana Kaimin

In Arthur Phillips’ latest novel, the iPod “plays a role as pivotal as Puck’s in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

In “The Song is You,” Julian Donahue,  a director of TV commercials in his mid-40s, former philanderer separated from his wife and man adrift in a state he thinks of as “divorcistan, a coolly celibate land.” Music is the center of his sole surviving desire. This appetite is, yes, partly nostalgic because Julian has been curating a “soundtrack to his days” since the debut of the Walkman when he was 15.

A quick check of the Amazon “search inside the book feature” revealed some 41 name drops for the iPod, which wouldn’t particularly inspire me to read it but I loved Phillips’ “Prague,” about a bunch of self-absorbed 20-something expats set in Budapest haunted by the feeling they should really be somewhere more happening, namely, Prague.  iPods in this novel sound like more just product placement…

Via Salon

Image used with a CC license, thanks to myuibe

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NeSzIRpTY

Most of us only need computers that work on desks, cafe tables or on trains but a production crew filming a Mount Everest climbing expedition has a few other considerations.

In this mountaintop dispatch, the producer talks about how they’re putting together video segments from on high. Although they have a number of computers, the “main workhorses” are Mac Book Pros, with solid state drives that allow them to be used at extreme altitudes.

Eddie Bauer is footing the bill for the perilous hike to promote an extreme-outdoor clothing brand called First Ascent, which you can follow online.

Thanks to CoM reader Michael Brandt

Well, not us specifically, but people like us (and people like you) were the target of online sitcom “Life From the Inside.”

LFTI, about an agoraphobic jingle writer Mason and his pals, has a certain homemade charm most non-irony impaired Mac fans will probably find entertaining.

“We wanted to do an episode about cults,” says Robb Padgett, a producer, writer and actor on the show. “I have an original Mac and ImageWriter and I thought it’d be fun if the cult we were creating wouldn’t allow their members to use any technology created after 1984. That’s perfect for showing off the original Mac, and for having characters dress up in ridiculous ’80s garb.”

So Cult of Mac it was.  In episode eight, Mason’s best friend and sidekick Guy “awesomizes” Mason’s Mac Pro by replacing it with the Mac 128K. Mason tries to lure Guy away from the cult with an iPhone 3G and rescue a friend from “Neo-Amish” cult where members use vintage cell phones, as in the above screen shot. In the all-goes-awry escalation, both Mason and Guy end up getting sucked into an even larger cult, involving black mock turtle necks and New Balance sneakers.

The program, made on a Mac Pro by a three-person team, two of whom describe themselves as “huge Apple geeks,” has also been Zune featured podcast.

Best check it out on iTunes, though.

A hold-up victim in Iowa helped police ID the perp by giving them a copy of his playlist.

Police checked it against an iPod found on robbery suspect Donald Cook, 18. Cook was charged with second-degree robbery shortly thereafter and is being held on $10,000 bond.

Police said the 18-year old victim and two other men pulled into a Des Moines video store parking lot about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday. Two men approached them, took them out of their car and put them on the ground.

One of the robbers said, “What you got on you? I know you got something on you.”
After taking about $390 in cash, the iPod and some cell phones the robbers got back in their car and drove away, according to a police report.

Officers said the playlist given to them by the victim matched the playlist on the iPod in Cook’s possession. Officers did not mention recovering the cash or the cell phones. The other suspect remains at large.

Image used with a CC license, thanks FHKE
Via Des Moines Register

Half way into Steve Jobs’ six month medical leave, the Wall Street Journal looked into whether Jobs still has a hand in the running of the company.

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the paper maintains he is “keeping a grip” on Apple:

“People familiar with Apple’s operations say they still expect to see Mr. Jobs return in June. Some of these people also say members of Apple’s board of directors are monitoring the situation directly, communicating regularly with Mr. Jobs’s physicians.

People inside the company, business partners and others who are familiar with the situation say life at the Cupertino, Calif., company remains much the same as it did before.

Those at other corporations who deal with the company also say their interactions with Apple haven’t changed. Mr. Cook, who had already been handling most of Apple’s day-to-day operations, has kept tight control over the company, say business partners and those inside Apple.”
The article also speculates about the future of Apple management, stock prices and employee turnover.

An  app called “Wish You Were Here” lets you use pics taken with your iPhone, personalize a greeting and caption and then send them via snail mail.

Currently available to send to US addresses, WYWH creates 4.25″ x 6″ color postcards from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

As a postcard fanatic, I love this idea. The download plus first two postcards are free, after that it costs $1.30 per card, not bad considering you don’t have to find stamps on the road or settle for dull postcards — the  pic on the other side of the stilted sample message could change its meaning entirely…

Inspired by Magritte’s “The Son of Man” painting, this decal comes in  black, gray  and white for 13″, 15″ and 17″ laptops. If you’re going to add on to the already sleek design, it’s a nice take.

$9 on Etsy.

Taiwanese company Elan Microelectronics has sued Apple for the unauthorized use of two of Elan’s patents in Apple’s MacBook, iPhone and iPod Touch products.

“We couldn’t find a common viewpoint with Apple, so we decided we had to take action,” Elan spokesman Dennis Liu told the New York Times, adding that the companies had been in licensing talks for about two years.

A statement published on Elan’s website says the patents cover innovations in touch-sensitive input devices incorporated into smartphones and computer touchpads.

“The first patent at issue, U.S. Patent 5,825,352 (“the ‘352 patent”), relates to touch-sensitive input devices with the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers. Multi-finger applications are becoming popular in smartphone and computer applications. The ‘352 patent is a fundamental patent to the detection of multi-fingers that allows for any subsequent multi-finger applications to be implemented. The second patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,274,353 (“the ‘353 patent”), is directed to touchpads capable of switching between keyboard and handwriting input modes.”

Elan said it won a preliminary court injunction against a U.S.-based rival, Synaptics, in a dispute over one of the patents mentioned in the Apple lawsuit, after a suit was filed in 2006 by a unit that was a subsidiary at the time. Synaptics countersued.

Both actions were dismissed last year after the two companies reached a cross-licensing agreement. That result likely emboldened the company to take legal action against Apple, an analyst who follows Elan told the NYT.

Image used with a CC license, courtesy dnorman

Getting physical with your iPhone may cause a short circuit from sweat. At least that’s what a couple of iPhone users in Houston complained about to “Ask Amy,” a consumer advocate segment of local news station KPRC Channel 2. (Story here.)

“I never would’ve bought a phone if I knew it would ruin the first time I got it out at the gym,” Stacie Keneker complained.

“They sell all these accessories that you are supposed to be able to use at the gym to make it convenient,” Lee Pittman, described as “peeved at Apple” said.

The news story goes on to say that  Keneker and Pittman use their iPhones at the gym to listen to music or use the calorie-counting fitness applications that come with the phone. They said Apple employees told them their sweaty palms are the likely culprit here. So far none of these consumers has gotten any relief from Apple — moisture is considered an accident, so not covered by warranty.

CNET looked further into the perspiration problem:

“On most cell phones, the sensors are located underneath a removable battery and enclosed by the cover that usually locked the battery into place. In comparison, Apple’s sensor (at the bottom of the iPhone) could easily be set off by sweat from your hands. You can see the sensor locations for a iPhone 3G in the photo above and a Nokia cell phone below for comparison.”

The easiest way to avoid the problem may be using a case that covers both the headphone jack and the docking/sync connector.

Anyone provoked a sweat-related short circuit?

Via Cnet

An idea whose time has come: a massage table with an iPod dock built in.

The Sonora Sound Spa Table with integrated Bose Speakers and an iPod Nano has a $6,195 price tag, so it’s not the kind of thing most people could have at home.

But if these became standard equipment at spas, it would be a vast improvement. You could have your kinks worked out while listening to an audio book from home or some non-annoying relaxation music. (No more pan flutes!)

Via Device

A 23-year-old iPod repairman pleaded guilty in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan to fraud and money laundering after acquiring more than 9,000 replacement iPod Shuffles by entering serial numbers into Apple’s Web site.

Nicholas Woodhams, who has to pay back Apple for the shuffle-and-switched iPods he re-sold for $49 each, also faces up to 30 years in prison.

As part of the plea deal, Woodhams also has to hand over a home in Portage, an Audi S4 sedan, a race car, a motorcycle, six computers and over $570,000.

Via Ap

Image used with a CC license, thanks to re-ality

It looks like an iPhone and is about the same size as one, but it won’t harbor any of the nasty germs of your smart device.

This artisanal iPhone soap, which sells for $7.99,  smells like “mojito” or “tropical mango,”  more than you can say for the real thing. The maker Meilin, whose day jobs have also included troubleshooting cryptic error messages from SQL server databases, has also put together soap to give programmers a smile and a bar resembling an iPod.

Via Geeky Gadgets

Over at Core 77, this earbud holder was an in-house entry in this month’s one-hour design challenge to make something useful out of business cards.

Eric says he’s been using it for a week and its still holding up..In any case, it’s a nice way to use those out-of-date cards (dot-com bust, anyone?) instead of just recycling them…

Other Apple-related entries in the business card challenge include an iPhone stand and speakers. Feeling creative? There’s still time to enter the contest — the top five entries win 1,000 business cards.

Via Core77

Stanford’s School of Engineering recently launched a 10-week course on iPhone programming, available gratis on iTunes.

The video podcasts of about an hour each that teach programming for the iPhone and iPod Touch are the same ones offered on the Palo Alto campus, minus the tuition, with a few days lag time.

“There’s a lot of interest in the iPhone,” said Brent Izutsu, Stanford’s project manager for Stanford on iTunes U. “This course provides an excellent opportunity for us to show the breadth and depth of our curriculum and the innovation of our students.”

Not surprising, now that the media are calling the race to make money-making apps the new “gold rush.”
Via Apple Insider

The doll version of Steve Jobs wears a black turtleneck, jeans and the kind of intense gaze bound to make you feel guilty while downloading useless apps instead of masterminding something great.

Brought to you by podbrix, the same folks who created a limited-edition Young Woz and Jobs Playset in Lego (unfortunately sold out), this plush version of Jobs will cost you about the same as a pair of Apple earbuds ($32.00, shipping included).

Only 500 available, so if you want a pocket guru, now’s the time to act.

Via Macenstein

A 20-year-old Brooklyn man charged with raping a woman in New York got busted because he was so intent on stealing the victim’s iPod that he left his own cell phone behind.

According to the indictment, the NYT reports,  Jonathan Salva grabbed a woman from behind around 4 a.m. on Feb. 21 as she walked along West 28th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, while listening to her iPod (or iPhone, reports vary.)

Salva made off with the device, but left his own cellphone at the scene,  authorities said.

Salva pleaded not guilty to predatory sexual assault, a top charge that could put him behind bars for life. He was held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

One note of levity from the controversial G20 summit in London is the exchange of gifts between US President Barack Obama to Queen Elizabeth II.

The AP reports: Obama’s gift of an iPod to Queen Elizabeth II came loaded with 40 songs from popular Broadway productions, including “The King and I,” “West Side Story” and “Dreamgirls.”

The iPod (exact model unspecified) was given to accompany a rare coffee table book of songs by composers Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, which Obama also gave the queen. It also came loaded with video of her time in Washington and Virginia in 2007 during a private meeting overnight.

The Queen is reported to have owned an iPod since 2005, so maybe he was thinking it was time for an upgrade.

Among the standards,  few selections stand out — “Seasons of Love” from “Rent” and “The Best of Times,” from “La Cage Aux Folles.”

Wonder if they the tracks were selected by Reggie Love, Obama’s 26-year-old-jack-of-all trades and designated iPod stocker, who is following the President on his overseas trip.

The Queen reciprocated with a portrait of herself and her husband.

Hailed by event promoter IDG as the “Start of A New Era,” Macworld 2010 will be held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center but about a month later than usual,  from February 9-13.

After Apple made 2009 its last MacWorld, rumors abounded about changes, either site or dates. The new date puts it in less competition with the sprawling International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas around the same time.

In a statement, organizers said they thought the dates would make it easier for fans to attend.

“We firmly believe that these new dates will better meet the needs of everyone participating in Macworld, and are pleased to have been able to respond to this request from the community,” he added. “The journey toward a new era for Macworld has begun and we are more excited about this ride than ever before.”

But, in a tech calendar packed with trade shows, it presents a bit of a problem for some.

UK Mac fans (and we suspect most anyone coming from Europe) are grumpy about the new dates — because they can’t make one transatlantic trip to attend both Macworld and CES and the dates are too close to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, scheduled to start two days later on Feb. 15.

How much difference do the new dates make in your plans to attend?

Image courtesy IDG

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2nh469INBk

Hmm. This was one of the suspect newslets (see today’s date) that at least gave me a chuckle: a touchless iCar, especially designed to let kids drive themselves around.

Brought to you by mobile open source software company Funambol, the car was designed by CEO Fabrizio Capobianco.

“I grew tired of driving my toddler daughter everywhere, ” said Capobianco. “The other day, she grabbed my iPhone and mastered it in 10 minutes. That provided the inspiration to add finger gestures to iCar. It’s so intuitive even a five year old can give the finger while driving.”

A jab at a “competing” Microsoft car was also thrown into the press release: “Microsoft also today announced its highly anticipated MiCar. The MiCar not only lacks a steering wheel, it has no wheels, period. In initial test drives, MiCar was completely immobile yet still managed to crash. It is available in one color only, “Death-Screen Blue.”

In an unpredictable turn of events on Woz’s  tumultuous “Dancing With The Stars” gig, his partner Karina Smirnoff has asked him to walk (not fox trot or tango) her down the aisle at her upcoming wedding.

The dancer will wed former DWTS co-star, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who was paired with Denise Richards.  Richards and Chmerkovsiy were eliminated unexpectedly on last week’s show.

Smirnoff says of Woz:
“He’s a little out of his element but has the biggest personality you’ll ever meet. He’s super funny and super charming.”

Awww. Let’s hope the pair makes it out of tonight’s show — it’s largely thought his internet fan base is keeping Woz in the running in what has been described as not so much dirty dancing but stinky.

Via Detroit Free Press

If you travel frequently in the US and need to book a cab, an iPhone app may be a piece of wizardry worth downloading.

Called “Taxi Magic” the app from RideCharge Inc. allows travelers to book and pay for cabs via the iPhone.

The “magic?” While a number of apps will help you find a cab telephone numbers, this one connects to taxi computer dispatch systems directly, without making a phone call, and gives you live updates on the arrival of your cab. Plus you can pay with a credit card input on the system.

The hat trick is probably most impressive for business travelers, though. While the app is free on iTunes, the service charge by operating company RideCharge is $1.50 per booking if  you pay via credit card.

Currently available for: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orange Co., Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose/Silicon Valley, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington DC Area.

Via Chicago Sun-Times

Came across the Italian edition of CoM founder Leander Kahney’s book on Steve Jobs (“Inside Steve’s Brain“) the other day in a shop in Milan.

The title in Italian has been translated as “Inside Steve’s Head.” Perhaps the idea of being in his brain was considered a little too graphic?

It looks like the Spanish edition took the same route…Curious to see if there are any other differences in title translations, if you spot any, let me know…

Doubt I’ll be making lunch on my MacBook anytime soon, but its ongoing overheating and fan problems have made me wonder whether the rumors they get hot enough to cook on are true.

Wonder no more: flickr user Digital Monk tossed a little egg yolk on his MacBook Pro and in 10 minutes, voila , cooked it. (Unless it’s an early April Fool’s joke…)

He says:

“I’ve read in more than one instance that you can cook an egg on a Macbook pro. Of course, whoever was saying that was using it as a metaphor to explain how hot these laptops can really get. I have always nodded my head in agreement that mbp’s heating problem is something Apple is not taking seriously (Do you hear us Apple? Grrrr!). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic machine, far superior than the laptops that run Window or what have you. But it does have it’s own share of drawbacks.

Today I decided to see for myself if you could really cook an egg on a Macbook pro! So I ended up placing some yolk on my MBP. And it didn’t take more than 10 minutes to find out if MBP is also a cooking machine!  Above are the results.. I did not actually taste the yolk, but it was cooked alright!”

Via Technopath