DRM is a bitch when it comes to copying music for a friend, but pretty soon we’ll have another reason to hate it. Apple recently filed a patent suggesting that in the near future you might not even be able to charge a friend’s iPod, let alone slip him a few tunes.

Apple’s patent outlines plans for providing each and every iPod with a specific charger, without which that iPod (or iPhone) won’t charge. Each charger will come equipped with a simple circuit to determine if and when power can be supplied to the attached device. The plan behind this seemingly totalitarian scheme is actually rather benign; it’s all about protecting your iPod from theft. Actually, on second thought, it might still get stolen, but hey, at least it won’t charge. Good thinking, Apple!

According to the patent, if your iPod is plugged into an unauthorized charger, leaves a specified geographical location, or if a timer expires, and no PIN is entered, it won’t charge, causing it to slowly wither and die, producing yet another beautiful Apple paperweight.

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Congress must seem to think that they are on a role when it comes to technology issues; first they wanted to scrutinize the Google/DoubleClick merger, then they took an interest in the iPhone and it’s exclusive contract, and how they’re coming after P2P as a possible threat to national security. However, unlike the first two high profile issues, their current crusade is just stupid; in fact, it’s downright shameful.

What would any rational entity do if they noticed that their sensitive data is being leaked to P2P networks? They would most certainly not do what Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Representative Tom Davis are currently doing, which is blame the P2P networks for leaking national secrets to potential terrorists. During the hearings, Mark Gorton, the chairman of LimeWire, was actually accused of harming national security by offering his P2P product. Waxman even mentioned that he’s thinking about proposing laws to regulate peer-to-peer file sharing. Oh boy.

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Anyone who’s a Bank of America customer has probably gone through the process at one time or another. The site loads, you enter your username and state, and you hit “Sign In.” Waiting, waiting, waiting. Ok, next step: do you recognize this image? Huh, yeah, whatever; you enter your passcode and hit “Sign In” again. “Your request is being processed, Please wait…” Am I in yet? Oh, wait, what’s this. An ad? “Not now.” Ok, we’re in….

I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with the Bank of America login system, cumbersome as it might be, because it helps protect my banking information from those ruthless Nigerian phishers, right? Well, no; it doesn’t, actually. As it turns out, the implementation of the SiteKey system is nothing more than smoke and mirrors, or as Steve Gibson puts it, nothing more than a “touchy-feely sort of solution” that will look good in the papers.

According to federal law, any banking institution that wishes to provide an online service for “high-risk transactions involving access to customer information or the movement of information to other parties” must implement two-factor authentication (FDIC). So, what does all that mean? How will users be authenticated? (more…)

Let’s suppose for a minute that you are a customer of Sprint, Verizon, or T-Mobile and you want an iPhone. Chances are that you’re still caught in the death grip of your current service contract, and unless it’s about to expire, you’ll probably have to lighten your wallet by a hefty $200 to cover the early termination fee. Ok, so you decide to pay the fee. At this point you aren’t tied to a contract; but, then again, you don’t have a phone either. Off to the Apple store to get that gorgeous new iPhone!

With iPhone in hand, you walk out of the store, drive home, and with a huge grin on your face, you happily unpack your brand new phone. At this point you might want to wipe the drool from you chin and make your way over the nearest computer to activate the thing. You happily log on the site, and proceed to fill in the necessary details. Then, all of sudden, that awesome grin of yours fades and you’re pissed. You’ve just realized that, in order to actually use the phone, you’ll have to sell your soul all over again – this time to AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier.

To the vast majority of brand new iPhone owners, this might not be a problem at all. I bet most Apple fans would be willing to do a whole lot more to get their hands on the so-called “Jesus Phone.” However, now that the iPhone is out and other companies see what their phones should be like, what happens when the next super-phone hits the market. Will you be willing to bite the bullet and lay down another $200 to redeem your soul? (more…)

Even though the Xbox 360 is statistically speaking the current leader in the next-gen console wars, it’s pretty far from perfect as many disappointed users will gladly tell you. From the beginning, the console has suffered from a variety of problems: some overheat and die, some scratch discs beyond repair, and all of them make you think there’s a jumbo-jet in your living room. However, there might still be hope for a better console, since Microsoft announced that their current project, code-named “Falcon,” is well on its way to deliver a completely revamped 360 to consumers.

With summer in full swing, temperatures are on the rise and so are the complaints. Over the last few months, Microsoft has had an unusually high number of complaints about its consoles sticking it to users with the now infamous “Red Ring of Death,” meaning that the console suffered one or more fatal hardware failures. Many have come to suspect that the failures are due to the consoles inability to deal with heat – a problem that has plagued the 360 since the first batch.

Earlier this month, Microsoft crunched some numbers and came to the conclusion it would be in their best interest to extend the warranty, again. However, this new extended three year warranty only applies to the consoles that have been afflicted by the ominous red ring. So, this means that if your console suffers (or has suffered) a heatstroke, you can send it back to Microsoft to have it repaired and shipped back to you; all of this, free of charge. All of this benevolence does come at a cost to Microsoft though. According to the press release that went out, the company is expecting this move to cost them an estimate $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion – for this quarter alone!

So, what’s the solution to this entire mess? Well, redesign parts of the console, of course. Microsoft wasted no time Monday evening at E3, and was quick to announce that the gaming division was already hard at work designing a cooler 360, based on a 65nm design. The goal of the “Falcon” project is to have the more robust console on store shelves by this fall. The redesign will apply to both the triple-core CPU as well as to the AMD/ATI GPU. (more…)