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]

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Filed under: Handhelds

Man, the Peek email-only handheld must really be, uh, piquing people’s interest — it just went up for pre-orders and two of the three colors are already backordered a week. The $100 device should also be showing up in Targets nationwide Monday, so if you’re as curious as we are they’ll be easy to impulse purchase in person as well. Too bad that you’re locked into that $19.95/mo data plan as your only option, though — if we could somehow use our existing data plan or even pay a flat fee upfront for lifetime service we’d be way more likely to snag one. Anyone else picking one up?

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

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Filed under: Handhelds

For some reason, we’re quite taken with the Peek email-only handheld, and Gadling’s followup review of the love-it-or-hate-it device mostly reinforces that positive impression. The squared-off, Ideo-designed unit did its one task admirably well, sending and receiving emails using T-Mobile’s network with only slight delay, and the OS is minimal and easy to use. Sure, at $99 and $20/mo it’s still way too expensive for the typical gadget nerd who’s already packing a phone data plan and maybe a data card as well, but if you’re trying to keep things on the prepaid tip or looking to get a Luddite friend or relative on the mobile email bandwagon, the Peek is certainly worth a second, uh, peek.

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Filed under: Handhelds

For many of us, the mere thought of toting yet another device in our pocket, purse, or belt holster is truly disgusting, particularly when said device resembles a primitive BlackBerry hewn from solid stone and does literally nothing but send and receive email for twenty bucks a month. For others, though, the Peek might be just what the doctor ordered. Laptop Magazine took a quick look at the $100 email-only brick, declaring it “dead simple” to use — a good thing, considering its target demo — and finding its expansive soft-touch keyboard easy on the fingers. As ugly as it might be, it’ll be easy enough to hide; Laptop says users will have no issues tucking it into a pocket, owing in no small part to the fact that it’s a full 30 percent thinner than the iPhone 3G. Still, we’re going to like ‘em ten times better when they’re hacked to run Android, Doom, Maemo, or pretty much anything else that ends in “ux.”

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Filed under: Cellphones

Ready for some excitement in the form of watching a startup squirm as it waits for its product to gain traction? Take a glance at Peek, which is churning out a dedicated handheld that handles e-mail, a few chain forwards, and more e-mails when you’re done with that. At first glance, one may consider such a one-trick-pony quite ridiculous, but it’s hard to say what will end up catching on these days. The biggest problem facing Peek is the pricing: it’ll be $99.95 up front when it lands in Target next month, plus $19.95 per month to send unlimited e-mails over T-Mobile’s network. Of course, if anyone figures out how to load Opera Mini up here, the Bulls-eye Shop won’t be able to keep the shelves stocked.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Shocker_Apple_actually_apologizes_to_MobileMe_customers’; After six long days, Apple has issued an official statement on the debacle that was / is the MobileMe transition, and has offered a 30-day extension to contracts as an olive branch to disgruntled users. According to a form letter being sent to subscribers, the company openly admits that the switch to MobileMe was “a lot rockier than hoped,” and claims that the service is now running smoothly. Additionally (and somewhat surprisingly) Apple rescinded its use of the word “push” to cover all of its services, conceding that while there is indeed push to-and-from iPhones and the “cloud,” computers are still being polled every 15 minutes… which is the same as .Mac (and honestly Apple, you didn’t know that wasn’t technically push?). We suppose this would be all well and good provided that MobileMe was actually functioning as advertised, but indications from readers — and our own testing — suggest otherwise. Customers are still having difficulties with email and syncing between iPhones and the cloud (duplicate messages, deleted messages that don’t leave the inbox, etc.), the advertised “auto-complete” on mail addressing doesn’t function at all, and calendars are plagued with small moving / deletion problems, as well as being unable to sync subscriptions… and that’s just off the top of our head (see the company’s support forums for more). The 30-day extension is a nice gesture Apple, but we’re thinking customers would prefer a service that works as advertised.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

By now you’ve probably heard about .Mac’s replacement, MobileMe. It’s like Yahoo! Mail, Google Docs, and every other Ajaxy web app you’ve ever used… just way more Apple-ish. If you’re feeling confused by all the synchronized over-the-air options it presents, your good friend John (aka Classy Apple Dude) is here to explain things in a simple, easy-to-understand tour. Just watching this makes us feel safe, secure… and frankly, a little sleepy.

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Filed under: Transportation

During our time on JetBlue’s BetaBlue aircraft, we came away mildly impressed with what was available. Thankfully, the airline isn’t resting on its laurels, and has today announced expanded services for those lucky enough to secure a seat on the connected Airbus A320. By utilizing LiveTV’s Kiteline platform, patrons can now check their Gmail, AOL Mail, Hotmail and Windows Live Mail from the comfort of their seat, and just in case you get bored with that, a “customized in-flight version of Amazon.com” will also be accessible. Yeah, we’re talking really minor updates here, but at least the whole gamut of what’s available is still totally free. Gratis and airlines just don’t go together these days, so it’s certainly a welcome change.

[Via Jaunted]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

It’s been two years since we first heard that Qantas was bringing in-flight email and SMS to its fleet, and after a lengthy testing period, it looks like it’s finally happening. The last set of test flights wrapped up in January, and allowing people to check in on the status of their Nigerian money transfers and send R U HERE texts apparently didn’t cause any major problems, so the airline is moving to bring the tech to all Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 flights in Australia. Voice service still isn’t in the cards, but considering how long it’s taking to get any of this tech off the ground in the States, we’ll take what we can get.

[Thanks, Chris]

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