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Wink smart home hubs knocked out by security certificate (update)
Now for the downside of a house loaded up with "smart" devices to allow remote control and monitoring: turning your home into a computer means computer-like problems. Today's example comes from the Wink Hub, a $50 device sold at Home Depot that's supposed to simplify things by working across standards and link common home appliances (lights, thermostat, garage door, etc.) to your phone. That was the plan until yesterday when Wink sent out a software update that went wrong somehow, and now a number of users have a box "so secure that it is unable to connect to the Wink servers" (Wink's words, not ours). The problem knocked all Wink hubs offline from 12:40PM to 11PM ET yesterday, and while the company says a "majority" of hubs were able to recover and reconnect, those that weren't will need to be sent back. Update: We've confirmed what several Wink users have reported -- it appears that an expired certificate is at the root of the problem. The update pushed out was an attempt to fix the issue, and judging by responses on the Facebook group it did work for some owners. Stay tuned though, we're expecting more information on the issue shortly. [Thanks, Paul!] Update 2: There's a way to fix the problem! Quirky founder Ben Kaufman tells us that Wink is currently testing it with a small group of users but plans to email directions out soon. Click here for more details, and keep an eye out for that email. [Thanks Larry, Steve & John]
Some Pebble smartwatches bricking after shutdown, company replacing faulty units
It appears that Pebble's smartwatch is officially feeling its largest growing pain since debuting just two months ago. A five-page long (and growing) thread on the company's forum has some owners describing a bug that's leaving their Pebbles pebbled bricked after shutdown. Pebble's Eric Migicovsky let us know that the company is actively replacing affected units, while examining those being sent in to find out the root cause: We've had reports of this issue, and we understand of course that it's annoying for users. We're replacing any Pebbles for users who report this issue. We're reviewing the Pebbles that get returned, working to get to the bottom of the issue. We have our support team ready to follow up to any user that reports this issue. As it stands, there's no word on whether firmware update 1.9 has any role in keeping the devices from turning on after being shut down. Owners have further reported that no amount of charging their Pebble will help it to actually come back to life. We've reached out to the company for more info on the matter (including nailing down how many units the company has replaced so far), and we'll be sure to keep you updated. For now, let us know whether your experience with Pebble has been rocky at all so far. Update: That was fast -- apparently Pebble has received about 30 reports of this issue since Friday. Here's the official word from Migicovsky: We're tracking a few reports of this issue. Up to Friday, we've had 20-30 reports (out of 30,000+ pebbles in the field). We've gotten several back to the office, and we're getting to the bottom of it. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
PSA: Resetting your phone risks upsetting Google Wallet, unless you do it right
Spare a thought for Google Wallet users who have learned this the hard way, but at least you won't have to fall into the same little-known trap. Essentially, if you have a Galaxy Nexus, HTC EVO 4G LTE or any other compatible handset and you perform a factory reset, there's a high chance you'll spoil the secure element that is designed to protect your NFC chip from tampering. This disables Google Wallet and it seems there's no fix once that happens, other than calling up a friendly (and hopefully interactive) customer service agent. However, there is a way to prevent it: before factory resetting, you have to go into the Google Wallet app, choose 'Menu' then 'Settings' and 'Reset Google Wallet'. There it is -- simple enough, but evidently not advertised enough by Google or the phone manufacturers themselves.
Kyocera Echo resumes rollout of Gingerbread, without the bricking
It goes without saying that updates are intended to improve our phones' user experience, but the Gingerbread refresh on the Kyocera Echo had exactly the opposite effect. After a small but significant percentage of owners began reporting that the new software turned their devices into bricks, Sprint pulled the update "until further notice." After nine days, Android 2.3.4 is once again available for download. Upon reaching out to the Now Network, we received the following confirmation: Sprint will restart the Gingerbread update to Kyocera Echo users beginning today (August 10). In an effort to provide the best possible customer experience, Kyocera and Sprint have addressed a previous issue with the update raised last week. The Gingerbread update will provide Kyocera Echo users with performance enhancements including faster response, improved power management, enhancements for gaming, and more. Every Echo customer should have the update within the next few weeks. The update will likely get pushed slowly at first, getting sent to a small number of handsets to make doubly sure the same issue doesn't surface again, so don't stress if it hasn't reached your Echo today; as is the usual procedure with large-scale rollouts, it could be a little while before it actually lands on your particular unit. But when it arrives, feel free to download at will with more confidence.
HP Veer gets bricked, disassembled after checking 'Organ Donor' box
There's a saying 'round the webOS world... something to the effect of "it's impossible to brick a webOS device." Turns out, that's hardly the case these days -- the newfangled Touch to Share technology that's tucked into the latest round of HP devices is mighty fickle, and one Rob Whitby has somehow managed to turn his Veer 4G into a bantam paperweight. Rather than using it as a projectile with a mind to make his security deposit vanish, he did the only remaining intelligent thing to do: rip it open, while taking pleasure in refusing it an epidural. There's no video of the presumably gut-wrenching procedure, but there's a shockingly detailed account of the teardown linked below. Eye candy's just a click away, and yes, donations for a replacement are being accepted. The funeral date, however, remains undetermined.
PSA: Notion Ink Adam can be unbricked, and here's the 80MB fix
There were tears of joy at the Notion Ink Adam launch, but also tears of shame, as owners of the long-awaited Pixel Qi tablet who downloaded the very first OTA update had their slate brutally bricked. Thankfully, the Notion Ink team appears to have issued a speedy fix, as you can download the ROM directly from the company's website and flash it the comfort of your own home. Assuming you've got a Windows or Linux PC handy, it's only an 80MB download away, and you'll find file links and a detailed set of instructions right after the break. We'll also note that this gives the hacker community an intriguing opportunity to peek through the Adam's code -- if you find anything interesting, be sure to let us know!
Peek experiences permanent outage for older devices, vows to replace with free Peek 9
Thinking of upgrading your Peek or Peek Pronto to a shiny new Peek 9? You may no longer have a choice -- following an epic fail when migrating to a new network provider, loads of older devices were reportedly fried. Normally consumer outrage would run rampant at this news, but Peek CEO Amol Sarva has a plan -- he's offering brand-new Peek 9s to existing customers, free of charge. It's not clear what will happen to the older units at this point, but a Peek customer service rep says that while fried QWERTY candybars are no more, the unscathed Peeks might possibly be turned back on. "We are currently waiting on T-Mobile to decide our fate," the rep wrote, "There is still a CHANCE that the sky is not falling and older devices will continue to work." In the meantime, Sarva has an amusing instruction for affected customers looking to get in on the deal: "Just check your email." [Thanks, standingup]
Sprint halts EVO 4G update due to reports of it bricking phones
Uh oh. There's been a tiny little hitch in the latest EVO 4G update, which has resulted in a number of people finding their superphones becoming unusable. Aside from rooted handsets having their predictable woes with new official software, some users have found that applying the update twice bricked their phones, stock OS and all. That's pretty worrying, particularly when you consider that checking for updates after a successful install gives you the option to apply it all over again. Sprint and HTC have acted quickly to pull the OTA for the moment, and promise to restore it as soon as its lethal streak has been ironed out: While the vast majority of consumers successfully downloaded and installed the most recent HTC EVO 4G software update, we have received a handful of reports from customers having some issues with the update. In light of this, HTC and Sprint have decided to temporarily halt distribution of this software release until we can investigate further. We expect to be able to resume software updates shortly. In the mean time, let's all just sit, wait, and hope the sky doesn't fall on our heads.
WD TV Live boxes left bricked by firmware update
In its short stay on retail shelves the WD TV Live HD media box has picked up an avid community of users for the unassuming unit -- at least until they tried to update the firmware of the last couple of days. Forum reports show formerly operational units with nothing but a blank screen after download the v1.101.12 update. For its part Western Digital has acknowledged the problem and pulled the update from its site, but given the poor ratio of successful upgraders to mourners in the thread, we hope it sees loyal customers out of RMA hell and back to 1080p video playing bliss quickly. Until then, we'd keep clear of that "upgrade now" screen until the next patch has been thoroughly vetted. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Samsung delivering botched firmware updates to HT-BD1250 owners, twice
Ever since the tail end of September, owners of the Samsung HT-BD1250 Blu-ray player + HTIB combo have apparently been afflicted by at least two firmware updates that promised new features but instead left many owners staring at only a display flashing "Load" and otherwise unresponsive hardware. If you've already picked up one of these, living without Blockbuster, YouTube and PC Media Streaming access is advisable, as the 2.07 and 2.12 updates appear to be the source of the problems, leaving owners waiting up to several weeks in some cases for repaired hardware to come back their way. Worse yet, according to come posters in the CNET Forums thread, customer service has been slow to pick up the tab for shipping, as if two straight problematic updates weren't bad enough. Ultimately, you may want to look past this one until things are straightened out, or at least for a unit with more (read: any) HDMI inputs. [Thanks, Jarrett]
Garmin 7x5 series devices bricked by firmware update?
Things are still a little early with this one, but a sizable number of reports have cropped up today indicating that there's some seriously wrong with Garmin's 7x5 series GPS units, with a firmware update seemingly the likely culprit. Interestingly, it doesn't look like the firmware update instantly bricked the units when it was installed, but rather caused them all to suddenly seize up at some point on June 22nd. While it's not saying anything official just yet, a number of folks that have spoken with Garmin's customer support say that the company is aware of the problem now that the calls are pouring in, although it's unfortunately not offering much in the way of solutions to the problem just yet (though at least a few customers seem to have been offered a replacement unit). So, has your nuvi left you in the lurch? Let us know in comments.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Update: Garmin is aware of the issue and is working to fix it. Full response is after the break.
Date/time bugs throughout the years for Apple
As 30GB Zune owners deal with the sudden bricking of their systems after midnight this morning, hopefully they can take comfort in the fact they are not alone in this. Throughout the years, Apple products had their share of time & date problems.In February 2000, Newton owners began reporting that they were having issues with the Newton being rather confused about what century it was in. Some users discovered that when they entered two-digit numbers as part of birthdays and other common abbreviated dates, things got wonky. For example, if I entered my birth date as 2-28-80 on the Newton, it interpreted the number as being February 28, 2080 rather than 1980. Entries of full dates in the 1900s were also affected. Other users stated that when they tried finding 20th century dates in the Find applet of the Newton, the system actually performed the search using 21st-century dates.Fixes included resetting the system clock back to 1999 to enter those dates before resetting it again back to 2000 and applying software patches. Sadly, it's a bug that HAL-9000 forgot to mention. Apple even reported back in 1998 that the Newton was Y2K-compliant. Of course, this won't even begin to cover the problems that Newton owners still using the product will have in 2010. If you see our own Newton-sporting Steve Sande at Macworld, be sure to tease him about it.A Tiger bug discovered in 2005 revealed that Safari's RSS reader would list some items as being an hour ahead of when they were actually posted -- news from the future is not catastrophic, but certainly could be confusing.Our research this morning hasn't turned up any date-related iPod or iPhone hiccups, but if you know of any examples please let us know in the comments. As for the Zune bricks, there's been no word yet from Microsoft regarding the failures, but Engadget's readers have already come up with a number of theories including blaming it on Steve Jobs, the year 2008 being one-second longer, and other conspiracy theories that are sure to come throughout the day.
Sony releasing PS3 firmware 2.41 'midweek' say reps
If you've been stuck waiting on Sony to get its act together concerning firmware 2.40, you might not have to hang back much longer. According to ComputerAndVideoGames, reps from the console-maker say that an update to the broken, PS3-bricking system software will be headed out to users "midweek." The company hasn't made an official announcement yet, but it certainly is looking like 2.41 will become a reality sooner rather than later, which should be music to the ears of a lot of deeply annoyed gamers.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Apple hit with class-action antitrust lawsuit over bricked iPhones
Apple has obviously made some enemies over this whole iPhone firmware situation, and clearly not everyone wants to follow the straight-and-narrow when it comes to the company's factory-limited and locked device. Now, at least one California resident named Timothy Smith has decided to bring the fight to the Cupertino monolith's doorstep -- and he showed up with lawyers. According to papers filed last week, the angry iPhone owner is suing Apple in hopes of barring the company from selling locked phones, and forcing the Mac-maker to provide warranty service for customers even if they've bricked their phones via third-party software -- though there seems to be no definitive evidence that Apple's update is the source of the brickings. The suit claims that, "Apple forced plaintiff and the class members to pay substantially more for the iPhone and cell phone service than they would have paid in a competitive marketplace either for the iPhone or for AT&T's cell phone service," and that the company, "Acted in defiance and without sufficient consideration of consumers' rights to unlock their iPhones because it knew that the probable result of its update would be to render unlocked iPhones inoperable." The lawyers in the case have set up a website where owners can join in on the suit -- so if you're feeling slighted, maybe they can help.
Man to sue over 1.1.1 iBricking
ComputerWorld reports that Timothy Smith, an iPhone owner in California, plans to sue Apple for violating antitrust law. His claim rests on the fact that Apple forces consumers to use AT&T as their sole wireless carrier and that the 1.1.1 update bricked phones that were unlocked for other carriers. This sole agreement with AT&T is, according to his suit, anticompetitive, forcing customers to pay more for their phones and for the cell phone service than they would in a competitive market. The suit goes on to add that Apple knew that the probable result of the update would brick unlocked iPhones. If you're feeling in a litigious mood or if you just want to rubberneck to see what the fuss is about, check out this website set up by the Law Offices of Van Smith and Fernandez. It's got some spiffy photos at the top with a guy on a phone (it's probably not an iPhone) and a couple of lawyers talking (probably neither Van Smith or Fernandez).
Apple Geniuses are reportedly unbricking iPhones
Apple continues posting warning signs around their stores, cautioning customers that unlocked and modded iPhones fall outside their warranty. And at the same time, Apple Geniuses around the country quietly are reportedly accepting bricked iphones, slipping into the back and returning with functioning units. We're not sure whether they're doing a low-level reflash or just swapping units out. We have reports of at least four customers who walked in with iBricks and walked out with iPhones. It is unclear at this time whether these customers unlocked their iPhones or not--we're also receiving reports of iBricks from people who never unlocked or modded their units. Thanks to Ronald Ishak and "Martyn".Update: Bolding added to existing text for clarity and emphasis.
Wii update provides minor menu changes, could brick modded consoles
It's that time again folks -- the moment when you're rushing out of the house, but you make the oh-so-wise decision to head in even later rather than leaving that glowing Wii unattended. Today, Wii owners in Europe, Japan, and the US can download a shiny new firmware update, which institutes a new digital clock on the main menu, a few "aesthetic changes to the Wii Shop," an updated Forecast Channel window, a "Today's Accomplishments" note on the message board, and a made over Wii Shop that "changes the way Virtual Console games are ordered." Also of note, some users are reporting that a message appears before updating that states: "If your Wii console has an unauthorized technical modification, this upgrade could cause interoperability of your console." Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise considering the Big N's crackdown on modders, but in our single attempt of updating a Wii not left on standby, the aforementioned statement did not appear. So go on, head on down and get to updatin' (if you're not chipped, that is), and do let us know how your experience goes.[Via The Wolf Web]UPDATE: We've seen numerous reports of the new firmware not bricking modded Wii consoles, and that includes machines using Cyclowiz and WiiKey. If you're courageous enough, give it a go yourself and let us know how it turns out in comments.
Xbox 360 diehard loses loyalty after seven bricked consoles
It's not too difficult to keep the faith if everything's clicking along nicely, but when console after console began to fail soon after Microsoft's highly-anticipated launch of the Xbox 360, skeptics began to surface. Rob and Mindy Cassingham were self-proclaimed "Xbox fanboys," and felt assured that their love for the next rendition would never sway, but after picking up six consoles to install in their home and personally owned gaming center, the relationship started to crumble. The jovial couple snatched up four units at the Zero Hour launch party, and while folks from all over were swarming to get their game on at their party haven, the days of elation were short lived. After dropping over $2,600 on hardware along, registering an "Xbox360" Utah license plate, and rocking Microsoft swag day in and day out, all four of the launch units bit the dust. Eventually, every single first wave unit croaked, and each time the Cassingham's found themselves fighting with overseas call centers just to get a much-belated refurbished unit sent back to them, one of which also fell victim to the red ring of doom. After seven out of six (that's over 100-percent, folks) consoles decide to call it a career before you've had your due fun, it's not easy to remain steadfast in your devotion, and even after an email to Peter Moore himself finally got a brand new console on its way to the once-diehards, things will never be the same. We feel your pain, man.
IGN's broken 360, cardboard coffin reviewed
It happens to the best of them, each curvacious white box having so much potential and so much to offer in its lifetime. But sometimes their life is tragically cut short for no particular reason, especially those first pioneers. IGN recently had to say goodbye to their broken Xbox 360 (a 2005 version at that) and chronicled the emotional journey they faced. A poem was written, the processed was journaled, and the cardboard coffin box came in the mail. And leave it to IGN to write a full review of the official coffin of the 360 ... you know, just in case you have to go through the process. We send IGN our prayers in hopes that they come to peace with the loss and accept a new Xbox 360 member into their gaming family.[Thanks, Jonah]
Tech designed to die
Kris Wagner posts an amusing Wired News column asking if technology companies design a life-span into products, forcing customers into a money-spending cycle. While the conspiracy has existed as long as our technology has failed, it's hard to make the next jump to nefarious, Tomorrow Never Dies-style meetings where company leaders maniacally ask for bugs to be added into products.Our informal poll around the Joystiq offices suggests that most of our game hardware has never broken. But a few of us are cursed with failure mojo, with one writer having had problems with an Xbox 360, PS2, SNES, and GameBoy. Is game hardware built better than iPods, or do we just pamper it more? (We've never taken an Xbox jogging.)
