Filed under: Cellphones

Just when you think you’ve escaped the darkened woods of firmware 2.0.2 and previous ilk, along comes 2.1, wrapped in faster-loading-contacts-finery to convince you all is well in the iPhone world. That isn’t entirely the case, it seems, if you’re user of POP or IMAP mail accounts which are set to fetch messages. Apparently, a maddening bug exists in the new software which — in the interest of battery power conservation, we assume — stops the device from pulling down new emails while sleeping… unless the phone happens to be plugged in and charging. An ever-growing thread on Apple’s support forums has been barraged with reports of the problem, and editors here at Engadget have certainly felt the burn. So we’re putting the question to you, dear readers (and hoping the folks in Cupertino are paying attention). Are you noticing email issues with firmware 2.1? Let us know in the poll below!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

View Poll

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Networking

That nasty Windows Home Server data corruption bug might finally be a thing of the past, as WHS Power Pack 1 has gone live after a month-long beta test. Not much else to the enhancement suite: x64 support and support for backup to external media are along for the ride, but otherwise it’s mostly performance tweaks. Go on and grab it now, you crazy home-server admins.

[Thanks, Neal]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops

In the name of developers, developers, developers… data corruption bug be gone! Microsoft just released its Windows Homes Server Power Pack 1 for public beta consumption. Perhaps the most important contribution for some of you is a fix to WHS data corruption issues — a bug which proved more difficult to squash than previously thought. PP1 beta also teaches WHS a few new tricks including support for x64-based Windows boxes and the ability to backup the server to external media. Still, as solid as this release appears, it’s still beta, so be careful.

[Via ZDNET, thanks Matthew B.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Like having control of your connection to the internet? Don’t tell Dan Kaminsky that — the researcher has developed a method of DNS attack utilizing typical D-Link or Linksys routers that can allow hackers to gain command of your gear. The winner-takes-all maneuver, which is called a “DNS rebinding attack,” functions by putting JavaScript into play that fools your browser into altering your router’s configuration, thus letting the operator remotely administer the device. The concept isn’t water-tight, as it takes advantage of easily-guessable router admin passwords, though Kaminsky says the enabling bug exists as a “core issue” for browsers. The attack will be showcased at tomorrow’s RSA security conference, where it’s hoped the demonstration will raise awareness about router security vulnerability. In the meantime, we suggest you change that default password.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Bug Labs announced in January that it’d be busting out a BUG+EDU program for getting units into the hands of impressionable youngsters, and now that they’ve sold out of the first crop of units they’re getting those educational discounts off the ground. Students (with relevant ID) can now purchase modules at a 10% discount, while K-12 schools and secondary education institutions can buy Bug for 25% off. K-12 schools can also participate in Bug giveaways, while undergrad and postgrad programs can develop coursework in conjunction with Bug — long story short, some kids out there are going to get themselves some fun edumicatin’.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Media PCs, Storage

Looks like we’ve got a definitive answer to “How would you change Windows Home Server?” — make it so it doesn’t corrupt data. Microsoft has just posted a Knowledge Base document saying that it’s confirmed WHS corrupts various files when saved to the server by certain apps. The bug affects several MS apps, including Money, Outlook 2007, Vista Photo Gallery, Live Photo Gallery, and SyncToy, but it also hits Quicken, Quickbooks, and — fatally for a media server — BitTorrent clients. Microsoft says it’s working on a fix, but that in the meantime, you should avoid using WHS with these apps.

[Via Computerworld, thanks Tanner E.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

Word on the street — or on the Apple discussion boards, rather — is that quite a few 3G iPod nanos aren’t exactly acting as they should when interfacing with the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. Users are reporting that after updating to software v1.0.2, mileage is being displayed in kilometers instead of miles, even though the internal voice still quotes the latter. Additionally, recorded information uploaded to the Nike+ website is correctly shown (in miles), while the “Your Last Workout” section in iTunes makes you wonder if you’re still living in America. Apple is apparently aware of the issue and is working towards a fix, but for now, it looks like you can turn lemons into lemonade by practicing your distance conversions on-the-run.

[Iimage courtesy of jfab, thanks Gerry]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Desktops

Not a moment too soon, Apple has apparently delivered on its intentions to squash that annoying freezing bug that plagued some of its latest iMacs. Available now for Leopard (iMac Software Update 1.3) and Tiger (iMac Software Update 1.2), the update reportedly “provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20- and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.” Unfortunately, we’re given absolutely no elaboration beyond that, so for any of you out there still limping by on a freeze-happy machine, why not get your download on and let us know if your troubles do indeed vanish?

[Via PCWorld]
Read - iMac Software Update 1.3 for Leopard
Read - iMac Software Update 1.2 for Tiger

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Desktops

Although this doesn’t seem to relate to the janky LCDs that some users were seeing on their 20-inch iMacs, Apple has admitted that at least some of the newest machines do have an issue. Reportedly, an Apple spokesperson stated that a “small number of iMac users have made us aware that a recent software update can sometimes cause their iMacs to freeze, requiring them to restart.” Apparently, the machines become “unusable, requiring a hard reset in order to recover,” and Cupertino is currently “tracking down the root cause of the bug.” So, if you just so happen to be moments away from chucking your new iMac through the nearest window over this, restrain yourself — a software update with the cure should be coming “later this month.”

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wireless

The iPhone 1.1.1 update has a hidden little surprise for y’all: Bluetooth audio streaming is now available off of your iPhone for whatever you darn please, meaning you can finally listen to music from the phone wirelessly. Oddly enough, this “function” has been unleashed by a Visual Voicemail bug that leaves Bluetooth audio on even after you’ve left the Voicemail interface. Of course, it’s only mono audio, and the audio keeps playing out of your built-in speaker — if you plug in headphones to cut off the speaker you’ll lose Bluetooth streaming as well — but it’s nice to see Apple forking over some “should have been there in the first place” functionality accidentally to go along with all that stuff of the same ilk 1.1.1 took away from us.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you were considering picking up one of Apple’s capacious new iPod classics whilst casually snickering at those poor saps dealing with faulty screens on the iPod touch, you could be in for problems of your own. According to a number of reports around the web, users are experience a myriad issues with the new player, including high processor utilization, excruciatingly long connect / disconnect times, and random crashes that seemed to occur when the device attempted to “display preview images taken from album cover art.” Some users are also reporting that iTunes will actually “freeze up and stop responding” after the classic is plugged in, and attempts to install firmware updates have apparently not remedied the issues. So, dear readers, how’s your iPod classic faring? Are these quibbles legit, or is the intarweb working itself into an unsubstantiated frenzy?

[Thanks, Rahul B.]
Read - One new iPod classic, two new iPod bugs
Read - Mysterious problems with new iPod classic
Read - Discussions about iPod classic troubles

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!