Reports of iPhones exploding, starting fires and killing people in cold blood have been around since the inception of the handset. They've also been relatively sporadic, seemingly short on evidence, and Apple hasn't given complaints much credence or response. So when we heard a story from France the other day about a security guard's iPhone "exploding" and sending a shard of glass into his eye (though apparently not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit), it was a little hard to believe, but with a few other stories of cracking screens due to overheating cropping up in Europe over the past couple weeks, French authorities have taken an interest in the story. Anecdotally, a teen says his phone "imploded" in Belgium and gave him a headache, a woman's phone cracked without warning, and ten or so victims in France have come forward to complain of similar problems, picking up the interest of a French consumer watchdog group. Apple is naturally not new to the concept of overheating in its battery-powered devices -- in fact, it's just entered into its first full-on iPod nano recall in Korea of the 1st-gen players after numerous reports of battery faultiness worldwide -- but with 26 million iPhones out and about, and the iPhone 3GS tending to run a bit hotter than its siblings, a systemic problem with one or all models of the handsets isn't something consumers or Apple would take lightly.

Herve Novelli, France's top trade official, met with Apple France's Michel Coulomb today to discuss the problem, and so far Apple is sticking to its guns: it claims that reported incidents are in the single digits, and that all cases it's investigated fully so far have turned out to be blamed on "external force" to the screen. Herve and Michel seem to have parted on friendly terms, promising to keep in touch over the issue, and the EU's alert system for dangerous consumer products (inexplicably dubbed RAPEX) is staying in the loop as well, asking the 27 member nations to keep tabs on the situation. Novelli says it's "too early to blame anyone," and we'd have to agree, but we hope Apple keeps up the (freshly) open communication about this issue going forward.

Read - French minister meets Apple exec over iPhone problems
Read - Apple denies 'exploding' iPhones
Read - Apple denies battery problem with exploding iPhones
Read - Belgian teenager latest victim of exploding iPhone phenomenon

The U.S. has Netflix, the UK has Sky TV and now France is getting Canal+ added to the Xbox 360, in a similar deal to the one bringing live and on-demand Sky TV in England, the French will be free to party up and watch more than 3,000 movies and TV shows, catch-up TV, French Ligue 1 soccer games, and headbutt flopping, filthy-mouthed Italians in the chest. No word if sports hooliganism will be supported in this iteration, but judging from the screens the avatar support should also mirror its UK counterpart. This is likely not the end of tie-ups between the two either, with the partnership planned to eventually encompass other Canal Plus & Microsoft products. Check out one additional pic of the updated dashboard after the break.

[Via Reuters]

As the list of "awesome things that won't ever happen" grows ever longer, we've got a brilliant team of French physicists who have seemingly concocted a method for storing and retrieving data on hard discs that's around 100,000 times faster than usual. Yes, 100,000x. The trick is based around spintronics, an almost mythical procedure that involves the use of lasers, magnetic sensors and mutant abilities to shuffle data around at a dizzying rate. This particular method, however, improves upon the comparatively sluggish attempts of the past, as it uses photons that "modify the state of the electrons' magnetization on the storage surface." In layman's terms, this all means that the HDD you buy in 2098 will probably operate significantly faster than the one you picked up during Circuit City's going-out-of-business sale. Got it? Good.

And you thought The Shining cuckoo clock was terrifying -- imagine waking up to this. Designed by French artist Stephane Vigny, the loudspeaker clock does exactly what you'd expect it to. When the time comes, the doors flip open, the bottom woofer extends out and a cacophonic emission of sound is heard as you angrily wake from your slumber. We can't imagine that outstretched woofer surviving too many mornings of you waking on the wrong side of the bed.

[Via MAKE]

Far from being the first artificial heart we've seen, the latest iteration unveiled by a team of French scientists is easily the most sophisticated. Built from technology used in satellites and airplanes, the prototype heart is said to "beat almost exactly like the real thing using electronic sensors to regulate heart rate and blood flow." Reportedly, the device boasts "the same tiny sensors that measure air pressure and altitude in an airplane or satellite," enabling it to theoretically react in an instant if the patient suddenly needs more or less blood. Thus far, the heart has only been tested in animals, and now gurus behind it are hoping to net approval from authorities in order to forge ahead with clinical trials. Of course, a "lifelike" heart made from polymer and pig tissue won't come cheap, with initial pricing estimates putting it just south of 200 grand. Or, just enough to give you a heart attack.

[Via DailyTech, image courtesy of AP; thanks, Allislost]

While outfits like Lightning and Tesla are attempting to make eco-friendly cars sexy, MDI is taking things in a completely different direction. The recently-made-official Airpod looks practically nothing like anything seen on American roadways today, which is probably why it's apt to hit the streets of France and New Zealand first. The oddly shaped automobile will reportedly reach a top speed of 70kmh (44mph) and cruise 100-kilometers (62 miles) on just $2. The secret? A minuscule compressed air-powered engine on each of the rear wheels, both of which get instructed by the car's joystick (Atari fans, rejoice!). We're told that reloading the engine with hot air takes less than two minutes, and if all goes well, the first of the urban vehicles will hit the cobblestones in the spring of 2009. Is that the sound of Tata's NANO feeling threatened, or what?

[Via EcoGeek]

According to a recent report, the French head of stun-gun maker Taser has plans to create a "mini-flying saucer like drone which could also fire Taser stun rounds on criminal suspects or rioting crowds." Antoine di Zazzo, fervent proselytizer of the electroshock weapon, is cutting through the is / isn't torture noise of recent UN reports with the news that the non-lethal device is about to make a serious splash in France, with president Nicolas Sarkozy promising to hand one to every policeman and gendarme. Of course, once di Zazzo's army of tiny, hovering stun machines take to the air -- sometime next year -- the police probably won't have to worry about brandishing their weapons.

[Thanks, Craig B.]

It's not like this is the first e-newspaper we've seen, but France's Les Echos is now offering up an electronic flavor of its product to those with an iRex iLiad or STAReBook. Oh, and the Amazon Kindle, too as you'll recall from that little inadvertently mentioned tidbit from their press release. Reportedly, the e-paper edition "will include whole articles just like in the printed" version, but unlike the traditional medium, those with e-readers will receive constant updates of the day's hottest stories and will actually be able to read the 6:00AM print edition at 9:00PM the night prior. Notably, the newfangled Les Echos edition will cost a stiff €365 ($506) per year if you provide your own reader, and for those of us far, far away from the Eiffel Tower, check out a video demonstration after the jump.

[Via MobileRead]
Read - Press Release [PDF]
Read - Photos of Les Echos e-newspaper
Read - Videos of Les Echos e-newspaper

At least those residing in the UK can breathe a momentary sigh of relief, as it's not the only locale where the amount of surveillance drones is quickly approaching the number of citizens. Reportedly, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently announced that the government is planning to "triple" the existing CCTV surveillance capacities across the country, "with a view to curb the risks of terrorism and acts of violence." Beyond just bumping the amount of eyes scanning for troublemakers, she also suggested that the network of systems be more tightly connected in order to effectively "protect the French people and enable them to move freely without fearing for their lives or property." Of course, we're sure there's quite a few citizens who'd have beef with the whole "moving freely sans fear" tidbit, no?

[Via The Raw Feed]

Managed to not entirely forget that Sony owes us all a rumbling SIXAXIS or two? If so, you may actually be delighted to hear that the end result could be quite the device if whispers stemming from the latest issue of PSM France are to be believed. Reportedly, the forthcoming controller will not only sport a vanilla rumble, but it will also boast a "touch sense" feature that allows rumbles to emanate from specific locales on the device. Additionally, the shakin' is said to be "more powerful and more intense" than prior renditions on the PS2, which means that the 90-pound wusses in the crowd best get to the weight room, and programmers are purportedly working to enable shorter bursts of sensation to make even the most subtle of movements ones you can feel. Now, how's about a release date?

Mmm, nothing like a sleek, glossy black PMP to get your juices flowin'. If you tend to agree with that sentiment, Memup's Orizon should suit your fancy quite well, as the 30GB unit comes in an ebony outfit, sports a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution display, and even includes an SD / MMC card slot to watch media clips stored on your flash memory. You'll also find a text viewer and built-in FM tuner to complement the obligatory MP3, WMA, MPEG4, JPEG, BMP, and GIF file support, but the ability to play nice with Motion JPEG and XviD are welcome extras. Unfortunately, you're going to have to love the looks some kind of fierce in order to find value in the purported $378 pricetag. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via AnythingButiPod]

UPDATE: Looks like this creature may actually be a straight up rip of another. Check out Coby's PMP4330 to see for yourself.

Put down those freedom fries son, there's a xenophobic firestorm abrewin'. According to France's venerable Le Monde newspaper, French government officials have been banned from using the uber popular BlackBerry devices for fears of foreign spying. Specifically, the issue has to do with the fact that RIM's servers reside in the US and the UK. In other words, they fear US and UK spies. We kid you not. Of course, RIM responded with the usual assurances of security going so far as to say that even the US National Security Agency couldn't view the content of any Blackberry communicated data. Hell, its networks have even been cleared by the UK government and NATO for sending sensitive data. This is not going to be pretty.

[Thanks, Rahul]

If you thought donning tin foil caps was excessive, Isabodywear is out to make those contraptions looks mighty mild. While the debate about just how dangerous (or not) cellphone radiation is still rages on, there's certainly a paranoid sect that will snap up anything that claims to "protect them," and this Swiss garb maker is latching onto said opportunity. The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect. Reportedly, 4,000 pairs have been created so far, and for folks willing to give these a try and fill out a survey, the first 500 of you to email in and request one will seemingly have one sent out gratis. There's no word on when you can expect the Slipways to hit the market, but they should sell for CHF29.90 ($24) apiece when retailers start stocking.

[Via Textually]

Product reviews are typically a welcome nugget of knowledge when trying to make a critical purchasing decision, but we'd probably succumb to just picking a power supply at random before actually wading through 105 reviews to find out which one was king. While this could all very well be a completely impractical prank, Stéphane Charpentier of MatBe has apparently put just over one hundred PSUs on the testing bench in order to find out which is worth your cash, and he went through a variety of flavors and wattages to make sure the very one you were eying was thoughtfully included. Without getting into specifics, Akasa's Power80+ took home the gold in the nonmodular category, Antec's Neo HE notched first place in the modular realm, the Fortron Zen won in the fanless arena, Cooler Master's Real Power Pro ruled the "powerful" division, and Antec's Earthwatts proved the most "valuable." Of course, there's a good bit of detail surrounding the 100 other losers in the crowd, so if you're down with skimming through 140 pages of PSU reviews, the read link awaits your attention.

[Via Inquirer]