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Drama Mamas: The consequences of lying about your gender
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Sometimes commenters will suggest that we have received a fake letter. I hope this week's is, although that's actually irrelevant. This kind of thing does happen, unfortunately. Dear Drama Mamas, I am writing to you today in need of your coveted wisdom and advice. First just let me inform you that I am a gay man of age 16 in real, and that this type of situation has happened before, but in different variations. Here's my problem.. It all began with an innocent night outside the gates out Stormwind city. I was sat on the grass opposite a guy. He began talking to me very nicely, I replied, and we got on well. We were talking about random topics for around 10 minutes and became instantaneous friends. He was kind, polite and had top notch spelling and grammar (Which I loved). He went on to ask me personal questions. Such as age, place of residence etc. I had asked these questions first so I thought it would be fair to answer his.
Microsoft files complaint over fake Halo 4 beta domain
Believe it or not, there are evil people on the Internet who use misinformation and deception to steal from the innocent and well-meaning. We know, we couldn't believe it either, but it's the truth, as recently demonstrated by an outbreak of fake Halo 4 beta test invites.343 Industries' creative director David Ellis was quick to debunk the bogus site, but the URL used in the phishing scam (halo4beta dot net) is still out there, tempting fate with its Halo-oriented name and un-Microsoftness. Who knows what nefarious maleficence the domain could be used for if left in the wild, so Microsoft has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in order to have the domain name transferred to its ownership.In situations like this, the company filing the complaint has to be able to prove that the domain in question was registered maliciously in order for the Forum to decide in its favor. Under the circumstances, we feel like global fraud will probably be malicious enough to sway things in Microsoft's favor.
iPads replaced with clay, sold to unsuspecting Canadians
That fuzzy sensation we get when unboxing a new toy gadget is the fuel that keeps us going at Engadget. A feeling a few unlucky Canadian's were deprived of, after buying what they believed to be an iPad 2 actually turned out to be a slab of clay. In a calculated scam, crooks purchased real iPads, replaced them with terra-cotta tablets, then returned them to the store in re-sealed boxes. The fakes then found their way back on to the shelves, and into customer's baskets. It was Mark Sandhu who first reported the incident after gifting his wife something a little too slate-like on Christmas Eve. Initially Future Shop wouldn't refund Sandhu, possibly believing him to be the scammer; it was only after taking the story to CTV, and up to ten other cases coming to light -- including some from Best Buy -- that the retailer took the claim seriously. Future Shop has since issued a refund, and given Mark a real iPad 2 for his troubles. Next time, he might want to try an official retailer -- or not.
Another Windows Phone spotted, Nokia Sun on the horizon?
It's getting increasingly difficult to pin down exactly how many Nokia Windows Phones we can expect to see this year, now that the French WinPho obsessives at Mon Windows Phone have added the Nokia Sun to that list. The site got its hands on the vague screengrab above, which shows this mystery phone joining Orange France's ranks of forthcoming devices. With names like the SeaRay and Sabre already being bandied around, the Sun does fit in with Nokia's naming trend for Mango handsets, although it could be another name for previously leaked hardware. The accompanying spec sheet, meanwhile, hints at a very N9-esque device with an AMOLED screen, eight megapixel camera, polycarbonate shell, and (perhaps) a Micro SIM slot -- all centered around a slightly smaller display. Who knows, maybe this is the anonymous (and possibly fake) phone we saw last month? All bets are on the table at this point, but with Nokia World set to kick off in a few weeks, we shouldn't have to wait long for an answer. We'll be there to sniff out all the details on the Finnish colossus' Windows Phone offerings -- however many they decide to shower us with.
Keepin' it real fake: Chinese Nokia N9 makes but minor sacrifices
Chinese rip-off merchants have been crafting N9s since before the handset even existed and by now they're pretty good at it. This latest bogie comes in at just $64 -- way cheaper than a genuine budget smartphone -- but it still manages to pack in dual SIM slots, a mock iPhone UI and a resistive touchscreen that gives you the ergonomic pleasure of pressing everything three times. Sure, we have a few misgivings about the lack of functioning apps and the blurry 1.3MP rear camera, but then even the N-Man himself has the occasional phony moment. Update: We switched the pic to show you the iOS version, rather than the mock Sense variant depicted earlier. Yes, it seems you do get a choice.
Police break up fake iPhone ring in China
Chinese police have arrested five members of an organized gang that was making and selling fake iPhones. The members would buy components, some of them genuine, on the black market and assemble the phones in rented Shanghai apartments. The police seized about 200 iPhones in the raid. Each iPhone had an estimated build cost of 2,000 yuan (US$313 as of this writing) and sold for almost twice that on the black market. These dupes were so well done that many people had a hard time distinguishing the fake iPhones from the real ones. It's always been known that imitation iPhones were available in China, but the extent of this forgery was not known until an American blogger posted up images of a phony Apple store earlier this year. This report kicked off a series of subsequent reports detailing similar unauthorized stores that were selling bogus Apple products.
Apple strikes settlement with NYC vendors accused of selling counterfeit products
Remember that lawsuit Apple filed against a pair of Queens stores accused of selling fake iDevice accessories? Well, it looks like it's coming to a close. According to Reuters, Cupertino has reached a settlement with the two Chinatown-area retailers, both of which have agreed to hand over all products emblazoned with the Apple name or logo. If the settlement is approved, the two vendors, Fun Zone and Apple Story, will have five days to clear all counterfeit iPod and iPhone accessories from their inventories, along with any allegedly trademark-infringing promotional materials. The defendants, who maintain their innocence, would also be barred from destroying any records of sales, manufacturing or distribution of the unauthorized cases and headphones -- presumably as part of Apple's ongoing crusade against counterfeiters. Apple Story, meanwhile, would have to change its name, which bears an obvious similarity to another well-known outlet. The proposed settlement was filed with a Brooklyn District Court on Thursday and now awaits the approval of US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. Neither Apple nor the defendants have commented on the case.
Apple proposes settlement with Queens-area knockoff stores
Reuters reports that two Apple-knockoff stores located in the Queens borough of New York City have been offered a settlement agreement, currently under judicial review. Apple's proposed settlement mandates that the stores hand over all products bearing Apple's trademarks and branding; one store called Apple Story has also agreed to change its name to something a bit less infringing. This brings a swift end to a saga that only started a couple months ago. Counterfeited items bearing Apple's trademarks were seized from both stores in July, which followed Apple's initial filing of the suit only two days earlier. According to court filings, Apple hired private investigators to buy many items from both stores earlier this year in order to amass evidence for the case. Apple has found itself a popular target for counterfeiters recently, with fake Apple Stores popping up in China around the same time as the suit against the Queens-area counterfeiters began.
WikiLeaks cables shed light on Apple's battle against counterfeit wares
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but if you're Rolex, Gucci or Apple, you probably aren't very interested in being flattered. Due to Apple's intense popularity, an entire industry has arisen that thrives on knocking off the iconic wares Designed in Cupertino. We've seen plenty in our day, and while it may strike some as if Apple's doing absolutely nothing to curtail the aping, a new WikiLeaks release confirms otherwise. According to an electronic memo from the Beijing embassy dated September 2008, Apple began to put obvious and deliberate pressure on China to act against businesses who were copying its wares a few years back. As it turns out, knocking out the knockoffs isn't exactly high on China's list of governmental priorities, and progress on halting the KIRF extravaganza has been sluggish at best. The entire story is quite the exhausting read, but it's worth delving into if you're curious -- per usual, you can get educated in the links below.
No Comment: Woman buys wooden iPad
This is a completely hypothetical situation: Someone in a McDonald's parking lot says he picked up an iPad for a cheap $300, and wonders if you'd want to buy it off of him for just $180. You decide why not (because reputable salesmen always just hang around in the parking lots of fast food places, right?), and take your new tablet home, only to find that it is in fact a wooden block, not the shiny piece of technology you'd hoped for. And what's more, it's not just a wooden block, but it's a dirty, makeshift fake iPad, complete with an Apple logo on the back, icons on the front, and some sort of weird fake Best Buy sales ticket. Sure, the thieves could have just sold you a brick in a box, but nope, they went all out on this one. Wait, this isn't a hypothetical situation? It actually happened to an, erm, unfortunate lady in South Carolina? Oh. Wait, she really did buy an iPad for $180 from a couple of guys outside McDonald's? Oh. Well then. No comment. [via TechCrunch]
First, fake Apple Stores. Now, fake Steve Jobs biography.
First fake Apple Stores, now China has fake Steve Jobs biographies. The fake biography's title roughly translates to Steve Jobs Gives 11 Advices To Teenager in English and its author is a man who goes by the name "John Cage." MicGadget says the fake bio first went on sale at Taiwanese bookseller KingStone in April and has already sold 4,000 copies earning US$39,000 in profit. The official Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson launches on November 21st. There's no assertions that this is a stolen and translated copy of Isaacson's manuscript, rather its likely the content of the book is assembled from previously printed information about Jobs. TechCrunch also suggests that the title could imply that the material was translated from Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech. Until the book is pulled by Apple legal it can be purchased for US$8.10 here.
Apple cracks down on counterfeit products being sold in NYC
NYC may not have as many fake Apple stores as China, but it has a few and they've caught the eye of Apple. Apple has executed several seizure warrants and removed fake goods that carry the Apple logo or name from these stores. A trademark infringement lawsuit has halted sales of the alleged knockoffs while a District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto considers the case. Apple has asked that one store, known as Apple Story, change its name to avoid confusion with Apple's retail chain. The Cupertino company is also asking for monetary damages and a vendor list so it can trace back the origin of these counterfeit goods. [Via Engadget; image from f-paper]
Apple cracks down on counterfeit products sold in NYC, files lawsuit against Queens vendors
There may be more than a few fake Apple Stores in China, but for the moment, Cupertino's anti-KIRF crusade seems focused squarely on New York City. According to Reuters, Apple has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against two stores in Queens, alleging that they sold unauthorized cases, headphones and other accessories for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. In the complaint, the company claims that the products in question were all emblazoned with its familiar fruit logo, along with the phrase, "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." The suit also demands that one of the stores, called Apple Story (seriously), change its name to avoid confusion with the real retail outlet and that both vendors disclose full lists of people who both supplied and purchased the goods. It all began when company representatives visited the Chinatown-area stores on "multiple occasions over several weeks," where they bought and examined the items, described in court records as "exact duplicates" of their authentic counterparts. On July 27th, Apple executed a few ex parte seizure warrants, which allowed authorities to seize any goods bearing its logo. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto has already granted an injunction to stop the stores from selling the alleged knockoffs, but hasn't yet decided whether Apple Story will have to change its name. The complaint also seeks undisclosed monetary damages and asks that all existing counterfeit goods be destroyed, though court documents suggest that both sides are close to reaching a deal. Neither Apple nor the defendants have commented on the accusations, but we'll let you know as soon as we learn more. In the meantime, check out this KIRF "iPhone 5" we found in Beijing -- a Java-powered handset that's slimmer than the Galaxy S II and a bit laggy, but boasts a multitouch capacitive screen. Asking price? ¥680, or about $106. %Gallery-131124%
David Byrne creates fake iPhone apps
Musician and artist David Byrne has contributed a few pieces to a social media-related art exhibit at the Pace Gallery in New York, and his entries all consist of authentic-looking App Store listings .. for fake iPhone apps. Childster, for example, will run you $1.99, and "turns your phone into a babysitter," so you don't have to worry about the kids yourself. Invisible Me, on the other hand, will send automatic replies to any communication, leaving you free to be by yourself all the time. Interesting. The gallery is opening up next month, and will feature other works taking a look at social media (and apparently other Internet periphery) through "an aesthetic and conceptual lens." If you're in New York, the gallery will be open until sometime in October.
Apple updates malware definitions to address fake Flash player trojan
Apple's updated an entry in the anti-malware files of OS X to lock down a trojan that pretends to be a Flash player installer, but actually hijacks users' search results. The trojan is known as "OSX.QHost.WB.A," and claims to install Flash, but instead redirects Google results to an IP in the Netherlands, which then loads unwanted ads and offsite content along with the fake search results. When the malware was officially discovered, none of the ad servers actually worked, so the malware threat at this time is more of an inconvenience than anything. Still, Apple apparently doesn't want to take chances -- it's updated the "XProtect.plist" file in OS X with the definition of the trojan. Since an update earlier this year, you don't even need to run Software Update to get this upgrade, as you likely get File Quarantine definitions upgraded daily already. But it's good to know that steps have been taken already to protect your Mac from this malware.
China finds and shuts down 22 more fake Apple Stores
Chinese authorities already shut down two fake Apple Stores located in the Kunming area, but that was apparently just the opening salvo. According to Reuters, 22 more unauthorized Apple retailers have now been located and shuttered. It's not clear from the report if these retailers went all-out like the first two, with stores that looked virtually identical to the real thing. Sources were also unable to confirm if these retailers were actually selling Apple products or just broadly similar fakes. Situations like this are apparently an ongoing issue in China, which is generally lax about enforcing copyright or IP restrictions. Given that the majority of Apple's devices are manufactured in Chinese factories, it's not particularly surprising that so many of them are finding their way onto the grey and black markets of China, and this latest crackdown is probably only a temporary setback for these fake retailers.
New Nokia WP7 handsets either leaked or faked, it's hard to tell (video)
This is a tricky one. You're looking at a grab from a slightly shaky video that was emailed to Jay Montano and MyNokiaBlog. The tipster claimed to be a Microsoft insider, but used a .ovi email address. The video itself certainly looks polished, although it culls a couple of bits of footage from marketing clips that have been out for a while, including a futuristic segment from a Microsoft Office Labs promo. It's either a genuine leak revealing new handsets that look substantially different to the Sea Ray, or it's one of those silly Nokia-style manufactured leaks, or -- very possibly -- it's just a nicely edited bit of fakery from a fan. But, whoever made it, we think they have some style.
Blurrycam Theatre Presents: The i(have too much free time)Phone 5
Usually, tipsters looking to prank us with a faked shot of an unreleased Apple product will send us something like the fake iPod classic we saw a few months ago. You know, the classic Blurrycam shot, where it's obvious that A) the tipster has no idea how to use his camera's focus, and B) also has no idea how to use Photoshop. But today's subject went above and beyond. First off, he didn't stop at sending us a single image of a faked iPhone 5 -- he sent us a full-fledged video. The purported story behind this video is that Apple fouled up somehow and managed to accidentally include a hidden link to the iPhone 5 on its Swiss website. Ludicrous? Absolutely. But if you suspend disbelief for a bit and watch anyway, the video shows our tipster navigating through this secret site, flicking through galleries of a quite convincing-looking iPhone 5 and even a comprehensive tech specs page. The whole thing looks like a lot of effort went into it, with near-professional quality renders of the supposed iPhone 5. Frankly, it's the best fake I've ever seen -- and it was good enough to hoodwink some other sites that have posted it as a legitimate leak. A good fake, however, remains a fake; there are several clues to the faux-ness throughout the video, and they aren't exactly hard to find. First off, check out the URL in the address bar during the opening split second of the video. Busted. Rather than a standard http:// address, the video kicks off with a file:// prefix -- meaning the browsing wasn't of a website hosted on a server, but instead a collection of local files on Peter's desktop. This is an immediate tipoff that the whole thing is fake. All our tipster had to do was edit out this one second of video, and he might not have burnt all his credibility from the word "Go." (And I'm sure it's a total coincidence that the first person to send this video to us was named Peter.) Any other clues this video might be fake? Oh yeah. There's the random string of characters between www.apple.com/chde and iphone5 in the URL -- the current Swiss site for the iPhone 4 is a simple www.apple.com/chde/iphone. There's clumsy typesetting on the iPhone 5 logo. The "hero" images don't autoscroll the way they do on Apple's real site. The gallery's background is grey instead of black. Screenshots of the phone show "No Service" in the status bar -- a great way to advertise a mobile phone, right? The time in the status bar reads 8:07 AM rather than Apple's traditional 9:41. Battery percentage is showing, too, which Apple doesn't show off in its product shots. The forehead-slapping "duh" moment comes in when you see that all of the apps in the gallery shots have English names... on a Swiss site. Oops. The iPhone 5. iPhone without the phone. This changes everything. Peter really went overboard on his tech specs page, with what looks to be carefully-calculated dimensions for an iPhone 5 with a 4.2-inch touchscreen at 275 ppi. The camera has been upgraded to 8 megapixels and 1080p video, and capacity is bumped to 32 or 64 GB. In all, it's a laundry list based off all the rumors we've heard so far, but it falls flat on at least one detail. The tech specs on Peter's page list iTunes 9.2 as the minimum required version for the iPhone 5, and we know full well that iTunes 10.5 will be the earliest version of iTunes that iOS 5 will support. Also, he's missing photos and descriptions of the top and bottom ends of the supposed iPhone 5; I guess he just forgot those? The thing is, I actually like Peter's renders of the iPhone 5 -- I'd be neither surprised nor sad if the device looks similar to them -- but trying to pass this off as a "leak" is what's prompted me to poke fun at him. If he'd sent us these pics and said something like, "Hey, check out my iPhone 5 renders, do you think they're pretty close?" we might have taken him more seriously. But trying to put one over on us (and the rest of the Apple-centric web) this way gets you inducted into the Blurrycam Hall of Shame. We hope that publishing this rundown means our more easily misled readers will stop sending us his video as a tip.
Want free coffee and got an iPhone? Use Jonathan's Card (Updated)
Update from Editor-in-chief: According to evidence surfaced via Coffeestrategies.com, this was supposedly a "viral marketing campaign." While we strive to verify sources before posting, it appears we were too eager to believe this "social experiment" was legitimate (and others have been in the past, just not from Starbucks). - Victor Agreda, Jr. Update 2: We received this statement from Starbucks: "I received your note and wanted to let you know that the information you read is inaccurate. Starbucks had no knowledge of Jonathan's plans, and has no official relationship with him or the company he works for. We do think his project is interesting and we are flattered that he is using Starbucks as a part of his 'pay-it-forward' experiment. Again - Starbucks did not have any knowledge of Jonathan's project." While we here at TUAW find it curious that Starbucks was, at one point, listed on the Mobiquity client page, and shortly after this story went wide that page was removed, it is possible that Jonathan, obviously a Starbucks customer as well, independently came up with this idea on his own and implemented it. Note the use of past-tense when referring to the relationship with Starbucks and Jonathan and his employer. The only comment from Jonathan has been by way of this Facebook page. - Ed. Update 3: Our pals at TechCrunch were even more generous in this post, published 3 minutes before update #2 there. Faith in humanity is once again restored. Mostly. - Ed. App developer Jonathan Stark is taking the Starbucks app and adding a philanthropic twist to it. Stark is trying out a social experiment by offering up a picture of his Starbucks card to the Internet and urges people to get a cup of coffee on him. He bought a Starbucks gift card, took a screencap from his iPhone and uploaded it to the Internet for anyone to use. The only thing Stark asks is that if folks are feeling generous, they can add to the card's balance to pay the good deed forward once they get their free cup of joe. To participate, download a copy of the image to your iPhone and take it to your local Starbucks and use it to pay for your coffee. A Twitter feed keeps track of the current balance on the card. Instead of launching the Starbucks app, open the saved image and have the Starbucks employee scan it. This can be used in locations where the Starbucks mobile app is accepted. Stark told CNN that as of Monday, more than $3,650 has been spent on a card that started with just $30 on it. Starbucks told CNN that the company was flattered that Stark chose to use it for the experiment.
Hackintosh repaired at Apple Genius Bar
So, you're in Shanghai, China with your fake MacBook Air when it suddenly stops working. What do you do? Make an appointment at the real Genius Bar for the Apple Store, Pudong in Shanghai and get help. Fortunately for the man who brought the "MacBook Air" into the store, the Geniuses behind the bar were in a good mood and actually helped him out with diagnostics and troubleshooting. I somehow feel this type of friendly and helpful reception might be lacking if a certain colleague of mine brought her trio of hackintosh netbooks into a local Apple Store here in the U.S.
