Last month's Puff the Flammable MacBook might have been an extreme case, maybe not even related. Still, Reuters reports that Apple recently acknowledged that some of the notebook PC batteries in their MacBook/Pros "may have performance problems," but "the issues are not a safety risk," they insist.

Said issues include not charging when the computer's plugged into an outlet. Strangely enough, that had been a common complaint about laptop batteries - Apple mobile PCs and otherwise - over the past year.

So enough with the bellyaching, solutions, solutions. Apple has released Battery Update 1.2, specified for Intel laptops. It should hopefully improve battery life and "reduce swelling." Swelling batteries: that's always a bad sign. In addition, Reuters notes that the battery replacement program continues and also applies to out-of-warranty MacBook/Pros as well, if and only if:

• Battery is not recognized causing an Â?XÂ? to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
• Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
• Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
• Battery pack is visibly deformed.

For those with Intel Core Duo MacBook/Pros, the repair/replace program "extends repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer." Presuming your hapless battery qualifies, hit the Read link for details.

Of course, if your MacBook/Pro has suffered the fate of Puff, then it's definitely too late for an Update or Replacement. Just hope the house didn't go up with the battery.

  

Freshome decided to survey one of the more interesting lines of iPod/MP3 player accessories out there: pillows. Seems like everyone's embedding speakers into the favored nighty-night companion. We've covered one of the seven devices they've surveyed, the Pillow Pod, but the other six turn out to be interesting in their own right.

There's the iPod Speaker Pillow set that comes in Rectangle and Neck - the Neck's gonna be useful for those long, long, long car trips. Options like the sports-themed iPod speaker pillows or the Cozy Tunes Speaker Pillow carry only the basic function of serving as a soft speaker. The Sound Pillow doubles as an MP3 player speaker and a tinnitus relaxer, actually designed by the UK Royal National Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

   

Most interesting perhaps are the iPod Pillow and the Music Cure Pillow (the two serve as this article's top images). The iPod pillow isn't just a speaker: it also has a built-in FM tuner and the buttons on the darn thing work! (For volume, switch-to-radio, scan for station, and power-off).

The Music Cure Pillow may be the priciest of the bunch, but it also ensures the best night's sleep. For it integrates speakers with ergonomic posture tech: "the pillow is made of viscoelastic foam... supports and relieves pressure on the heads and shoulders, thereby minimizing the risk of bedsores." That certainly sounds like a lullaby. Now, to find the bed that goes with this...

We can drop the question mark now. EMI releases word via its press office that it IS dropping digital rights management (DRM) protocols on "premium downloads" of its music tracks. No DRM = full interoperability across all music platforms, so as long as it can play the file format.

Here's the kicker: making the joint announcement with EMI, Apple says that iTunes will be the first to retail EMI's premium downloads. They also announce that these premium AAC-format tracks at twice the quality of existing downloads, and with the DRM removed, at only US$ 1.29/� 1.29/£ 0.99 on iTunes. Their regular-quality counterparts, still with DRM, will retail for the standard US$ 0.99/� 0.99/£ 0.79. Customers who already have the standard-quality tracks can upgrade to the double-quality DRM-free version for US$ 0.30/� 0.30/£ 0.30. EMI music videos will also be DRM free - no change in price!

There's the shock, ain't it? Pay a higher price for the DRM-free? Of course, at twice the quality of the regular download, it's both a larger file and certainly a premium, which would justify the higher price; we can't exactly envision the higher price as a "disincentive" to DRM-free files with that kind of setup. Or perhaps it's a cautious step by EMI - seeing how the market reacts to this.

Still, EMI expects that customers will flock to the new premium downloads - both for the higher quality and the full interoperability of the files. They've been tinkering with DRM-free tracks since the end of last year, the PR notes. On the other hand, EMI will continue to use DRM in other models of digital distribution, such as subscription-based models, super-distribution (file-sharing with friends - think Zune), and time-limited downloads (such as those subsidized by ads).

Of course if it comes from NewsBiscuit, it is meant to be in good jest (unless you are that rare breed without a sense of humor), but if this were really to happen, Bill Gates would flip his flippin' top off. The hot topic of this laughable day on NewsBiscuit: the ever-helpful Paperclip from Microsoft Word has decided to clip himself to Steve Jobs' pocket protector.

Now that's a hot product for iLaunch to launch with.

Now, calm down, ye peasants at the gates with pitchforks: it's a joke, remember? Of course, when you think about it, Clippy's sorta "on loan" to Macs via Microsoft Office for Mac OS X. Or, as we in the gaming world like to call it - after deleting all the unnecessary and hurtful words from protesting fanboys, "multiplatform".

Clippy the "helpful" clip... Speaking of jokes, remember the one about the lost helicopter pilot and the Microsoft Help support staff?

Answer after the jump! You see, we're still afraid of the peasants with pitchforks.

We thought we were done with this story, because it's so 2006. Down Under, an Australian MacBook owner by the name of mattyb posted on the MacTalk (AU) forums the story of his close brush with Dell death. The short version of this story is that his MacBook battery seemed to have problems and finally went up in smoke (and flames) one early morning one day ago.

Unabridged version of his story is at the Read link, but the gist is that he's been having odd battery problems the past couple of weeks. The real weird part of the story is that he bought his MacBook end of June of last year - so this thing occurred within the 12-month warranty.

Based on the evidence (not to mention the damage pattern), the battery is suspect - but that will depend on whatever Apple Australia finds if and when mattyb sends his damaged unit in for repair autopsy.

Guess we're going to have to repeat the PSA we've aired last year. Don't overcharge the battery, if that MacBook gets abnormally hot, start worrying, if at any point those batteries are swelling up to the point of bursting out of their MacBooks, really start worrying, and don't wait for the smoke to start pouring. You know how hot the MacBook can sometimes get, right?

Oh, and mattyb also suggests on checking your smoke alarm detectors. You don't want them malfunctioning when a fire starts while you're sleeping.

Ouch. When Apple says that the iPhone is a closed environment, they meant it all the way up to the graphics user interface (GUI). The tzywen YouTube video of the iPhone GUI on a PocketPC has been [read the banner image above]. Try it out at the linked original article.

This certainly follows the trend of Apple, Inc. being quite protective not only of its proprietary technological advances, but of its proprietary image as well. After all, the word "podcast" probably can't be used as a trademarked term anymore. On the other hand, can we still call it the iPhone, or are Cisco and Apple still talking?

In truth, intellectual property rights are to be respected, although it ultimately depends on how angry an IPR owner can be when someone else uses their stuff and doesn't tell them about it. On the other hand, how would Microsoft react if an iPhone was able to run a Vista-like interface? (Unless it was like, Boot Camp or something...)

(Oh, and we tried visiting the tzywen site for more info, but came across a "509 Bandwidth Limit Exceeded")

Perhaps the world has moved on to the new iPod Nano. Still, there's an entire legacy of iPod minis out there to deal with (heck, the mini gave the new-gen Nano its scratch-proof metal skin. How's that for legacy?).

So, aside from turning minis into flashlight stereos, aircraft black boxes - or, for some weird and psychotic reason, flushing them down the toilet, why not recycle them, and/or turn them into the subject of a mod experiment, as one from the Geek Technique blog has done?

Because the microdrive in a mini is a storage device with moving parts, sooner or later (likely later), that drive will run down and conk out. What this geek did was to swap the 4GB microdrive for a Compact Flash card. He used a 4GB card, but as he pointed out, maybe even bigger "since the CF-standard is able to support capacities up to 137 GB." Hmm... maybe Apple SHOULD go flash for the next generation of video iPods.

Full how-to of modding an iPod mini's memory in ways Steve Jobs hasn't thought of, until perhaps just recently, at the Read link below. And, once recycled and sporting a muy-streamlined flash card, please don't suddenly flush this into the toilet as well. The only iPod that could probably fit with zero damage to the pipes is the Shuffle, anyway. Maybe even survive, too.

 

On to some non-iPhone related news, for a change - although it could be because of all that lavish attention being, well, lavished on Apple's newest darling. Reuters reports that the launch of the Apple TV streaming box has been delayed from end-of-the-month expectations to mid-March.

We don't know what slipped. "Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin shipments mid-March," an Apple spokesperson replied by email to queries from Reuters (Obviously the reply doesn't refer to wrapping the product up in shipping boxes...).

On the other hand, the delay is only a couple of weeks, so it's probably a so-not-the-drama reason. Unless there's another, unforeseen delay.

Digit Online reports on an uncommissioned survey by online market firm Compete, Inc. which hints that (a) the iPhone as it is is simply too expensive (well, (sarcasm deleted)), but (b) if the price drops, they would gladly switch to Cingular and AT&T (which owns Cingular) to get one. It's not that "maybe it's a fake survey" survey - different marketing firm, but as it's uncommissioned, it's got nothing to do with Cingular/AT&T or Apple, either.

Still, everyone seems to be testing the waters these days for the iPhone.

While 379 people across the US surveyed doesn't exactly constitute a statistically representative pool, most of these 379 people were aware of what the iPhone was, and have shopped for an iPod before. Only 1% of this pool was willing to lay down US$ 500 for the low-end iPhone. 42% said they'd likely buy the phone if the price dropped to US$ 200 to US$ 299.

In a potential signal to competitors, 60% said they'd be willing to switch to Cingular/AT&T if they purchased an iPhone. Okay, so 60% isn't exactly a landslide in terms of the cellular market, but other cellular providers might be thinking of talking things over with Apple for a small slice of the pie, too, despite (or probably after) the Cingular exclusivity. Especially if the product goes 3G.

 

We cannot blame the skepticism that greeted our report last month of rumors that Apple was working on a 3G model of the iPhone. For rumors like this, with Apple historically being tight-lipped about their "drawing-board" products - until Steve Jobs says so, that is - obtaining evidence may require us to "borrow" the CIA (on the other hand... maybe we shouldn't). This report still doesn't count as evidence, but it lines up pretty neatly with the chances of seeing a 3G iPhone in the future.

According to AppleInsider, a Swedish firm has received assurances that not only will they receive their iPhones in September, they could also look forward to a 3G model in their hands as early as January 2008. AppleInsider did not name the Swedish firm, or for that matter, its service provider, so it's rather difficult to take this story at face value. AppleInsider did mention two other elements which encourage a more optimistic outlook on this rumor:

• They cited Steve Jobs mentioning 3G in his MacWorld keynote (Was everyone too busy going all ga-ga over the iPhone to notice this?);
• Unlike the U.S., the 3G market is more developed in Europe (no surprise, being that some of the biggest cellular manufacturers are European; e.g. Nokia, and these are the guys Apple is going up against).

We, among other industry observers, already argued that going 3G would be a smart move for Apple if they are planning on pitching the iPhone overseas. Our only question now is whether a 3G iPhone (unit price, not as bundled with a service plan) would cost even more than a 60GB PS3 (US$ 600.00), just to pack the bleeding edge in cellular tech.