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By: Ryan Whitwam Apr. 19, 2012

A few years back, Apple released an updated MacBook Pro with a more powerful graphics chip, the Nvidia 8600M GT. That proved to be a decision Cupertino would regret. The Nvidia GPU was defective, and as a result, the failure rate of the logic board in that generation’s MacBook was startlingly high. 

One Apple customer, who goes by the name of Seattle Rex, has spent the last few months trying to get Apple to pay for the repairs it promised for his defective computer, and that took him all the way to small claims court. The verdict is in, and the little guy won. Instead of replacing the defective machines, Apple agreed to repair the boards for free when they failed for up to 4 years. Rex’s machine was still in that window when it finally gave up the ghost due to the bad GPU. When he tried to get it repaired, Apple said that because the machine was un-bootable, they could not confirm the GPU was the problem, and he would have to pay for the repair. After months of back and forth, the issue came before a judge. Often times, a company won’t bother to send a representative to small claims court, resulting in a default judgement. But Apple isn’t just any company — it has $500 billion lying around, so it sent two people to court that day. Our everyman hero made his case, and Apple countered with an assertion that his laptop was a different model than the one covered by the warranty. This was, of course, a lie which was exposed immediately. According to Rex, Apple tried a number of ways to talk him out of compensation, but the judge was impressed with Rex’s knowledge of the hardware. The eventual ruling compensated him for the $4000 MacBook Pro, plus court costs. A judgement in hand, the next order of business is to collect the payment. It’s unclear if Apple will continue to fight it, or just pony up the cash.

Read more here –>geek.com

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By Jose Vilches April 19, 2012

Indian handset manufacturer Lava today announced the imminent launch of what will be the world's first Intel-based smartphone to hit the consumer market, beating Lenovo and Orange to the punch.

Dubbed Xolo X900, the device will launch Monday April 23 in India and will be sold at a street price of approximately 22,000 rupees, or about $420, through a national chain of megastores called Croma. In terms of specifications, the Xolo X900 packs a 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 (Medfield) processor with a 400MHz graphics chip clock capable of full-HD video encoding and playback, HDMI-out, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with burst mode, 16GB internal storage, HSPA+ 3G connectivity, and a 4.03-inch 1024×600 LCD screen. It also supports Near Field Communication and additional storage through microSD cards. Intel claims battery life of up to 5 hours with 3G browsing and 8 hours of talk time. Initially the phone will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but an over-the-air software upgrade to the more recent Ice Cream Sandwich release of Google's mobile OS is planned "shortly," according to Lava and Intel. With this, Intel has made good on its promise to launch its first smartphone in 2012. The launch marks a major milestone for the company, which has has been synonymous with the PC industry but struggled to break into the mobile segment while ARM licensees like Qualcomm and Nvidia took all the glory.

Read more here –>techspot.com

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By AP April 20, 2012

There's a constantly spinning mill of rumours about Apple products, most of which turn out to be untrue. What's unusual this week is that talk has revived of a smaller iPad model, an idea company founder Steve Jobs derided publicly a year before he died. Apple and its suppliers aren't commenting. Rumors of a smaller iPad, or "iPad mini" have percolated ever since the first iPad was launched two years ago. This time around, they're fed by media reports from South Korea, China and Taiwan, saying Apple has ordered Samsung screens that are 7.86 inches measured on the diagonal. That would make for a screen about half the size of the current iPad, which has a diagonal measurement of 9.7 inches. WHY IT'S A GOOD IDEA: A smaller tablet would help Apple further its lead in the tablet market. "From a competitive standpoint, we believe an iPad mini with a lower price point would be the competition's worst nightmare, says Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee. "Most (competitors) already have a tough enough time competing against the iPad 2, as well as the new iPad." Apple has successfully fended off competitors who have tried to sell tablets in iPad's size range. But last year, Amazon.com figured out how to crack Apple's stranglehold on tablets by making a half-size, no-frills tablet. The result was the Kindle Fire, which sells for $US199 – basically, the cost of production. Amazon has sold millions of them. Apple sells the iPod Touch for $US199, but its screen is about a quarter of the size of the Kindle Fire – a big disadvantage for people who want to enjoy books, movies and games. It also sells the older iPad model for $US399. It has nothing in between. Price isn't the only reason customers might prefer a smaller tablet. A 7-inch model would fit in many handbags, unlike the current iPad.

Read more here –>smh.com.au

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