Apple has recently announced an extension on its repair program for certain MacBook models produced between May 2006 and December 2007. Qualifying machines display a flashing question mark on the screen when turned on and are eligible for a free hard drive replacement. Customers with symptomatic MacBooks should bring them to an Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple Store within 3 years from their original date of purchase or until August 15, 2010 (whichever is longer). Apple also said it will reimburse users who paid out-of-pocket to fix this now-covered issue.
Computer veterans often joke about "newbie" users who have trouble understanding basic computing concepts, but it's not funny when you're attempting to help a friend understand something online or if you're dealing with customer support questions. ShoveBox developer Dan Grover writes about the divide between how computers work and the expectations of those who use them, with suggestions for how to improve the experience.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published what it calls a checklist of digital rights for ebooks, designed to provoke thought and discussion about what rights readers should have when purchasing electronic books.
MacSpeech has been acquired by Nuance, the firm from which MacSpeech licensed the voice-recognition engine that powers MacSpeech Dictate. MacSpeech had built its own interface and processing wrapper around the engine, which was somewhat different and not yet as full featured as Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Nuance also offers a set of iPhone apps.
The expected update to SlingPlayer that allows 3G video streaming has appeared on the App Store. SlingPlayer is an iPhone OS app that lets you stream media over a network or the Internet from a Slingbox digital video recorder. The new version allows you to view video while connected via 3G or Wi-Fi, and is the first app to permit 3G video streaming under new guidelines from AT&T.
Google tested Google Buzz only internally, the product manager told the BBC, which is obvious, because only engineers working 80-hour weeks would think that people wouldn't mind having all of their most common email and chat contacts exposed for the world to see.
Steve Jobs will cooperate with best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson on his biography, the New York Times reports. While the article relies on anonymous sources, it's obvious Jobs would be happy to be in the company of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, the subjects of former Time manager editor Isaacson's previous biographies.
Were you unable to make it to Macworld Expo 2010 last week? Catch up on what you missed with Macworld's Best of Show slideshow, highlighting 11 products cherry-picked by Macworld's editors.
Apple has announced it will award a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card to the customer who purchases the 10 billionth song on iTunes. Not surprisingly with such a large reward, the list of rules is long and labyrinthine, but entering is as easy as purchasing a song. With roughly 9,913,000,000 songs already downloaded, and the current purchase rate being about 150 songs per second (there's a nifty counter on Apple's site), the winning purchase should happen soon!
Macworld Expo attendees can now get a free copy of CrashPlan+ (normally $59.99) by stopping at Code 42 Software's booth, #1278. The commercial version of the popular backup software boasts extra features such as stronger 448-bit encryption, Web-restore capabilities, priority support, and an ad-free interface. Again, this is for Macworld Expo attendees only, but if you are at the show be sure to take advantage of this great offer!
In this two-part MacNotables podcast, Adam, Tonya, and the inimitable Andy Ihnatko joined host Chuck Joiner to discuss the dust-up between Amazon and Macmillan. They segued from there into a discussion of the Kindle, the ebook market, and the iPad in general. Well worth putting on your iPod for the evening commute.
Apple's iTunes Preview Web site has enabled Web-based previews of many titles in the App Store, such as Tap Tap Revenge 2.6, linked here. Aside from making it easier for users to check out apps without having to leave their browsers and launch iTunes, Apple undoubtedly wants to encourage Web search engines to link into the App Store. Given that, it's not surprising that the iTunes Preview site still pushes you to iTunes whenever it gets the chance. Finally, an odd - but likely temporary - problem is that not all apps appear to have Web previews, including Apple's own MobileMe iDisk App.
Security research group Cryptopath has discovered a vulnerability in the way the iPhone OS handles authentication certificates that could enable potential attackers to gain access to user data. To take advantage of this flaw, an attacker would have to trick users into downloading a malicious file under the guise of a legitimate update. While there are no reports of this security flaw currently being exploited in the wild, be extra careful when opening unverified links or files until an official security update is released.
AT&T and Sling Media have worked out a deal where SlingPlayer Mobile app for iPhone will be able to stream content from an individual's SlingPlayer digital video recorder over a 3G network. AT&T also said it has worked out streaming video guidelines for 3G, which other developers will have access to in the second quarter of 2010. The updated version hasn't yet been approved and posted by Apple, but it's unlikely to hit other snags.
The New York Times reports that Amazon has purchased the tiny startup Touchco, which was working on a next-generation touch-screen technology that could be used to create full-color touch-screen displays that would be significantly cheaper than current touch screens. Gee, do you think Amazon may be acknowledging that slow E Ink screens aren't going to be sufficient to compete with the iPad?