Consumer Group iRate over iPhone Battery
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Apple&#39;s iPhone has many consumer-pleasing features, but battery replacement is not going to be one of them. A consumer advocacy group has complained about Apple&#39;s $86, three-day program for putting in a new iBattery.
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A consumer's group said Wednesday it has complained to government regulators about the cost of downloading music from Apple's iTunes system.
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The Consumers&#39; Association (CA) has accused Apple of taking too big a bite out of UK music lovers&#39; money. It has asked the Office of Fair (OFT) to investigate the potential breach of competition law.
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I'm guessing that if people showed up this early, desperate to be the first people in the States to get their hands on the iPhone, they'd be shooed away. From Crave, CNET's gadgets blog.
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The age of convenient portable electronics is also the age of annoying rechargers. Every iPod, cellphone, and digital camera needs to be plugged in regularly or the battery dies and is useless.
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Plus: iPhone price cut, Google Phone rumors, and more.
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There's been a lot of media attention directed at the iPhone recently. Some of it has been positive, some negative, but none have come forth to acknowledge the obvious, sinister context of Apple's latest toy. This device is obviously designed to introduce our children to witchcraft and sorcery.
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Apple angered early purchasers of its iPhone with its $200 price drop but now has detailed how those early adopters can claim a $100 credit.
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A chemical industry group has lashed out against Greenpeace, condemning the environmental lobby group for making unfair&#160;criticism of Apple&#39;s iPhone&#39;s green credentials.Greenpeace last week released an analysis of the iPhone, in which it claims the product contains a range of potentially dangerous chemicals.The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum BSEF), the international organization of the bromine chemical industry, points out that none of the substances Greenpeace is criticizing Apple for deploying in the device are banned under existing environmental law.&quot;All the substances reported by Greenpeace are approved for use, and provide critical performance and safety functions in a wide range of electronic products,&quot; the organization countered.The bromine chemical industry trade body points out that the brominated flame retardants used in the iPhone are commonly used in electronics products from all manufacturers, as they provide a high level of fire safety -- essential in an age in which computer batteries randomly catch fire.Greenpeace&#39;s biggest sin, according to the chemical industry organization, is to have sensationalized its findings.&quot;The Greenpeace report does not say which brominated flame retardants are present in the iPhone because it does not know,&quot; the organization says. &quot;Therefore, the report speculates about what substances might be present, and raises an alarm without any basis for doing so.&quot;The rebuttal continues to explain that -- even according to Greenpeace&#39;s own study -- the iPhone complies with all existing EU regulatory requirements.It adds: &quot;The brominated flame retardant most likely used in the iPhone is actually a reactive -- it reacts with other substances to form a plastic and, once reacted, it is also no longer available to the environment. The Greenpeace report is incorrect in its assertions about the potential for releases to the environment.&quot;The rebuttal also slams Greenpeace because its iPhone criticism ignored the requirement under recent EU law for manufacturers to take responsibility for the disposal of printed circuit boards, and railroads the environmental group for failing to offer a constructive alternative to brominated flame retardants for electronic devices.Naturally, the chemical company trade body is protecting its own vested interests, but claims that its remit is &quot;to ensure that the best available scientific information is used when addressing&quot; issues concerning bromine.BSEF members include Albemarle, ICL Industrial Products, Chemtura, and Tosoh.Macworld.co.uk is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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AN FRANCISCO  - Some of the first iPhone buyers were divided about the news that Apple is slashing its price by $200, barely two months after the cellphone was launched.
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Analysts are alarmed at a perceived discrepancy in the figures in iPhone sales figures.
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MOBILE phone users left talking to themselves when their battery runs out in the middle of a call could soon see an end to their frustration as scientists perfect a way to recharge electrical equipment while on ...
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A MacBook user whose Apple Inc. laptop reportedly burst into flames while being recharged blamed a bad battery for the incident. He said the battery was not on last year's recall list.
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A chemical industry group has lashed out against Greenpeace, condemning the environmental lobby group for making unfair criticism of Apple's iPhone's green credentials.
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Apple's unexpected price cut on the iPhone may spur more sales of the mobile device. But it angered many early buyers, who flooded the companys support forums with complaints.
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For many who bought Apple's new iPhone, members of the early-adopter clan, money is not the issue. Though some are angered by Apple's sudden price drop, some who snapped up the first iPhones say their gratification is being among the first owners of something cool and possibly revolutionary.
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(InfoWorld) - A Los Angeles-based consumer watchdog group that filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2006 has called on the company to spell out the iPhone's battery-replacement policy to prospective buyers. In a letter sent Friday to Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights (FTCR) asked that iPhone battery issues be disclosed in all advertising, before retail sales close and during activation using iTunes "to ensure that no customers are misled concerning the performance and effective cost of the unit." The letter also urged Apple to provide replacement batteries free of charge throughout the life of the iPhone. When FTCR founder Harvey Rosenfield wrote the letter, details were still sketchy about iPhone battery replacement. For example, he noted that the battery was "apparently not user-replaceable." Later Friday, Apple posted additional details of the iPhone's battery -- including tips on extending its lifespan, as well as the procedure for and cost of replacing a battery -- on its Web site. Although Apple doesn't specifically say that the battery can't be replaced by users, early examinations of the iPhone's innards confirmed that it would be nearly impossible. IFixIt.com, which conducted one of the first iPhone "tear-downs," noted that the battery is soldered to the device's logic board; a second tear-down by AnandTech.com photographed the battery's leads in a closeup that clearly showed the soldering. Under the iPhone's standard one-year warranty, Apple will replace the battery free of charge if it drops below 50 percent of original capacity. This month, Apple will begin selling an $69 extended warranty that stretches the hardware repair coverage, battery included, for an additional year. FTCR, however, noted that many users will likely need to replace their iPhone batteries before their two-year contracts with AT&T expire and perhaps after the one-year warranty is defunct. "Unlike the iPod, the iPhone is obviously intended and marketed as a device to be utilized for a broad range of business-related purposes, and on a constant basis," wrote Rosenfield in the letter to Apple and AT&T. "A customer who recharges the iPhone every night, as most cell phone users do, may therefore require a battery replacement within 10 months." Apple has claimed that the iPhone battery will handle 300 to 400 recharges. To replace the iPhone battery, owners must pay $85.95, then ship the device to Apple. The normal repair time, Apple said in a brief FAQ on iPhone battery replacement, will be three business days. Users, however, will receive a data-free iPhone in return. "The repair process will clear all data from your iPhone," Apple's FAQ stated. "It is important to sync your iPhone with iTunes to back up your contacts, photos, e-mail account settings, text messages and more. Apple is not responsible for the loss of information while servicing your iPhone and does not offer any data transfer service." The program is similar to the one offered to iPod owners, which charges $65.95 to replace a battery and returns the unit sans music and video about a week after Apple receives the device. Batteries in virtually every other cell phone, smart phone and mobile device can be replaced by the user or in a visit to the mobile service provider's retail store. The FTCR has history with Apple. In 2006, it filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of not offering dissatisfied iPod nano buyers a full refund after its screen became scratched.