Faced with the high pressure of  several class-action lawsuits,which is about how on earth iPod batteries
could last between charging, Apple Canada finally agreed to compensate $45 credit to any Canadian
who bought an Apple iPod player before June 24, 2004.
 
The claimed working hours is 8 hours,but iPod says farewell to its users after just three hours’ hard work.
In this case, more than 80,000 Canadian users have been recognized as eligible, and it may cost Apple $36 million
in credits.It’s really a great cost to them, but if they had known how to make use of this amount of money to lengthen
the working hours of the battery, to do as it advertises.

Apple must have learnt this lesson well.

I  have just finished reading an opinion piece that, even by the lenient standards of opinion pieces, does a severe injustice to Apple, Inc.The sensationalist attack starts with the article’s title: “The Pusher of Cupertino.” The author, James Daley (who apparently works for The Independent newspaper of the U.K., though the piece appears on the MacNewsWorld Web site), goes on to speculate that Apple sabotages its iPods with software updates with the intent of disabling them.

His sources for this very serious accusation are the unfortunate iPod experiences of his wife and the anecdotal stories of friends and people on unnamed Internet forums. No facts, figures or studies, despite his claim of a “growing body of evidence.”

Daley even admits in his first sentence that “there’s no solid evidence that Apple deliberately kills iPods through software updates,” but the entire piece is predicated on the assumed truth of that allegation.

He is upset because his two-year-old iPod has started to malfunction. His wife has had several iPods, including a 30 GB fifth-generation model that went south.

Meanwhile, her iPod Nano still works fine despite being over two years old because, Daley implies, it has never been synced with a computer. According to his theory, syncing iPods exposes them to the deadly software updates.

Oddly enough, Daley says that despite his suspicions about Apple, he will almost certainly buy another iPod because he “loves” it. But he again faults Apple. The allure of the iPod has seduced him beyond reason: “Even though I know I should take my business elsewhere, it’s an addiction.”

Another 30 GB iPod his wife bought “never-used” almost immediately began having issues. “Short of it being a defective unit, the only obvious explanation was that it was struggling to get to grips with the newer software,” Daley says. How could he be certain his wife simply didn’t receive a defective unit, a considerably more obvious explanation than his software sabotage theory?

I happen to have a 30 GB fifth-generation iPod that I bought in January 2006. I sync it with my Mac frequently. I install every software update. Yet it still works.

I’m not saying my experience proves anything, but neither does Daley’s. I can’t say with certainty Apple is not sabotaging iPods to get people to replace them with new ones. After all, the company did brick unlocked iPhones. But as a journalist I’d need solid proof before I’d accuse a company of this degree of wrongdoing.

Perhaps a significant percentage of iPods do fail after two years. But how many last three years? Or four?

For that matter, what’s the failure rate of competing MP3 players? Better than Apple’s? Worse? The same? Daley offers us no data, just unsubstantiated opinion.

I too have read complaints that iPods don’t last much longer than two years, but I haven’t seen any research that gives hard numbers on what customers can expect. And I certainly have never read any suggestions that Apple is deliberately killing iPods.

There’s usually nothing wrong with offering up some opinions based on anecdotal evidence. You want to complain about the shorter-than-expected life span of your iPods, fine.

But Daley is accusing Apple of a criminal act. I think that calls for stronger facts than his wife’s conspiracy theories, his friends’ problems and some rants he read in a few Internet forums.

via http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/appleaday/blog/2008/04/allegation_that_apple_delibera.html

A study from May 2007 claimed that IPods interfere with the function of Pacemakers. However, a new study that will appear in April’s issue of Heart Rhythm found otherwise. But are Ipods or music to blame?.

In the study which included 55 patients, researchers found that mp3 players did have an effect on the computerized device used by doctors to check and recalibrate a heart device.

Which makes me wonder? Has anyone actually felt a disturbance while using an Ipod near a pacemaker and could the interference be caused by another technology? What is the effect of music on the heart? Can music change your heart rate?

An October 2005 study claims that it can. In this study, Italian and British researchers found that listening to music can influence your heart rate and how fast you breathe, especially if you’re a trained musician. So what were the scientists at Michigan State really measuring?

Check out the 2005 study on music and heartrate.

Check out the 2008 study by Children’s Hospital Boston.

Check out the 2007 study by the Michigan State University.

via   http://www.melissa-mcavoy.com/abilityedge/2008/03/27/can-ipods-mess-with-your-pacemaker/

Attention teenagers: There are many ways to see naked girls. Many. Even when I was a teenager, before there were terabytes of porn on the Internet, I found ways, and none of them got me arrested.

This guy from Iowa, though, he had different ideas. He stole a classmate’s iPod, then demanded that she video record herself doing some filthy, dirty sex things and send it to him to get it back.

Yah, he’ll be popular in Juvie Hall. Don’t be like this guy. Just use Google.

via  http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/03/27/dumbass-teen-holds-ipod-ransom-for-sexy-sexy-video-of-schoolmate-goes-to-jail/

Today I’ve found this cool ipod accessory online occasionally!Hope u guys like it! It’s a Blue Heart unique&Deluxe Plastic Hard Case Holder for iPod Touch.

This unique case will give yours iPod Touch a great look and style.And it is supposed to give your ipod Touch protection from scratches and minor drops.Dust resistant and keep dust from absorbing on the iPod Touch protector case for much static charge. This is a great accessorie for a Apple iPod Touch owner to have.

The case is designed to fit specifically for the iPod Touch only with the proper cutouts of the buttons, jacks and connectors for easy access also with a armband slot for convience.
Description:

* 100% brand new and high quality guaranteed Blue Heart Deluxe Plastic Hard Case Holder for iPod Touch.
* iPod Touch Case is completely protect phone from scratch and dirt
* High quality and durable poly carbonate iPod Touch Plastic Case
* Dust resistant and keep dust from absorbing on the iPod Touch protector case for much static charge
* Friendly and handy design to access all buttons and connection
* This is a non OEM generic product.
* Size of the iPod Touch Case: ~11.3 x 6.4 x 1.1cm (L*W*D)
* Weight: 22g

via http://en.netlog.com/stokes520/blog/blogid=1999888#blog

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A 26-year-old woman was sexually battered Saturday by a stranger as she listened to her iPod and gave him directions.

The woman said a man walked up to her near the intersection of 21st Street and Castro Way, asked for directions, and then inappropriately touched her after she responded.

The victim’s name is being withheld as the investigation continues.

via http://www.kcra.com/news/15646885/detail.html

AUTHORITIES are investigating the safety of certain iPod models after one of the audio players reportedly overheated and discharged sparks while being charged.

The malfunctioning iPod Nano was detailed by the Japanese Industry Ministry in a list of dangerous incidents involving consumer products.

“The battery part of the product overheated while being charged and sparked,” the ministry said.

Apple has previously warned that iPods may generate excess heat while being charged in certain carry cases.

Over the past five years there has been a spate of reports about exploding notebook batteries and other dangerous malfunctions involving consumer electronics.

These incidents are often due to a faulty rechargeable lithium ion battery – the same type that is used in the iPod Nano.

In 2006 Dell and Apple recalled their notebook batteries amidst widespread public concern about exploding batteries.

Technology blog Engadget last year published photos of a reader’s charred iPod Nano that allegedly began to spark while it was charging.

However, some reports of battery faults have been fabricated.

Last November South Korean man Kwon Yong-Sup claimed his co-worker died when a mobile phone battery exploded in his chest pocket.

It was later revealed Mr Kwon had fabricated the story to cover up a workplace accident.

Normal batteries will only explode if misused – for example, if they are paired with the wrong charger, punctured or exposed to extreme heat.

via: http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23361721-5014239,00.html

BOSTON - It’s easy to see why iPods would be alluring targets for criminals: The music players are valuable and easy to resell, and people absorbed in their personal soundtracks can be vulnerably oblivious to their surroundings.

But could the temptation for stealing iPods be so strong that they’re behind an increase in the crime rate? Researchers at a public policy institute say yes.

They argue that the tantalizing gadgets are perhaps the main reason U.S. violent crime rose in 2005 and 2006 after declining every year since 1991 - although a close look at the findings suggests the hypothesis has holes.

The Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, first raised the subject of an “iCrime wave” last September, and held a panel discussion Tuesday to explore it further. The researchers don’t blame iPod maker Apple Inc. or any other device maker for crime, but they do say consumers should demand technologies that would render stolen gadgets useless.

Apple - which has explored anti-theft locks in patent filings - had no comment.

A key point in the Urban Institute’s argument is that robberies - the taking of something by force or the threat of it - had seen dramatic reductions since the 1990s, but jumped in 2005 and 2006. FBI statistics show the robbery rate went from 137 per 100,000 people in 2004 to 141 per 100,000 in 2005 and 149 in 2006. That helped boost the overall rate of violent crime in those years, even as rape rates fell and aggravated assault was generally flat.

During those years, iPods were going mainstream. In late 2004, Apple had sold about 5 million iPods. By the end of 2005 that had ballooned to 42 million, and in 2006 the number neared 90 million.

One widely accepted theory holds that crime happens when three things come together: A motivated offender encounters a suitable victim and perceives a high chance of getting away with it. And the Urban Institute researchers believe the sudden prevalence of iPods increased all three factors.

Motivation: The iPod’s several-hundred-dollar expense and pop-culture buzz made potential thieves, especially young ones, crave the device for themselves or for a lucrative resale market. Suitable victims: People listening through the iconic white earphones are easy to pick out and often unaware of their surroundings. Easy to get away with: IPods lack a mechanism that would pinpoint a thief’s location or a subscription that could be canceled by the rightful owner.

Anecdotal evidence bears out a lot of this. Subway officials in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., reported big increases in iPods being stolen from passengers. News reports cast the iPod as the latest must-steal item for some thugs, following in the footsteps of things like Air Jordan sneakers.

Furthering this idea, the rate for robberies by juveniles increased during this “iCrime Wave” to a much greater degree than the rate for adults, Urban Institute researcher John Roman pointed out. And if economic woes could explain the jump - a traditional place to look in crime research - Roman doesn’t believe the overall rates of property crimes would have dropped in 05 and 06, as they did.

But is it plausible that so many iPods and similar gadgets were stolen that they drove the rising robbery rate? That robbers would not have just stolen something else if not for shiny music players? This is where the iCrime Wave begins to seem less certain.

For one thing, homicides also increased in this same span, albeit slightly, from 5.5 per 100,000 people to 5.6 in 2005 and 5.7 in 2007. Since crime trends are often murky, whatever caused the bump in homicides might also explain the rise in robberies.

Roman responded that increases in violent crimes like robberies tend to correspond with rises in the homicide rate: Muggings often go badly and end in murder, so with more muggings going on, more homicide victims should be expected. But without good data indicating lots of people killed in iPod thefts, Roman acknowledged it’s possible that “we’ve got our causation backwards.”

It’s also curious that while iPod thefts on subways and other crowded urban settings provide the best anecdotal evidence, the 2005-06 crime increases were highest in small and midsized cities - places with less-dense pedestrian traffic, let alone teeming subways.

Also, some stolen iPods might fall into the category of larceny - a theft without force, such as when something is filched from a backpack - and larcenies dropped in 05 and 06.

In other words, there might have been an iCrime wave, but it would be hard to be sure. After all, robberies also jumped in pre-iPod 2001.

“There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence of cell phones, iPods, GPS systems that have been targets for theft. No research can tell us those wouldn’t have been substituted for other things,” said Jack McDevitt, associate dean at Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice.

“I guess I could sort of understand and buy that in a very narrow place, in a short period of time - a short spike for a few months,” he said. “But to suggest that that’s driving the crime numbers in any major way, I don’t think so.”

via http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0304biz-ipodcrime04-ON.html