Owners of yesteryear Apple products (and consumer advocates) had a pretty solid week. Friday it came to light that more than two million 2001-era PowerBook owners could be eligible for refunds between $25 and $75 in a class-action settlement (which is set for final approval on September 8th) over faulty, sometimes even sparking power adapters. But that's not all: Apple is also offering up $45 credits to any Canadian iPod owner that bought before June 24th, 2004 as part of a class-action suit claiming Apple misrepresented the advertised battery life of the players.

Read - Power adapters
Read - Canadian iPods [sub req'd]

Have you heard of Jibe Audio? No worries, the San Francisco based company doesn't have any product... yet. That will change at CES with this, the Sound Machine iPhone docking station. Designed in part by Robert Brunner who led Apple's design team from 1989-1996, an era which birthed the Newton and the first Powerbooks. The Sound Machine is said to support Bluetooth audio, iPhone synchronization over USB, and unspecified audio input for other audio sources. If this is the same device first mentioned as the "iPhone Station" back in October, then it will also feature DVD playback and streaming internet radio. We'll find out soon enough. CES is only a few weeks away.

[Via Gizmos]

Read -- Brunner's iPhone Station
Read -- Jibe Audio

For those who look at their PowerBook, iBook or MacBook Pro and long for a Blu-ray optical drive, FastMac's got you covered. Of course, some Macs were already on its list of compatible machines, but the firm is now announcing that the trio of aforementioned systems have joined the fray alongside the iMac and Mac mini. The slimline drive writes to BD-RE at 2x, DVD±RW at 8x and CD-R/W at 8x, and provides up to 50GB of storage on a single disc. The unit is slated to ship within 30 days and is available for pre-order as we speak for a stiff $999.99.

Granted, we've seen our fair share of Apple products getting a bit hot under the collar, and while the PowerBook AC adapters never were truly regarded as top-notch pieces of equipment, it seems that this particular one chose the wrong guy to get all sparked up on. Justin Stangel, a head writer / producer for the Late Show with David Letterman, was presumably writing up the night's monologue when he was uncomfortably faced with a sparking AC adapter. As any true professional would do, he actually filmed the volatile device getting its spark (and smoke) on rather than evacuating the area, so be sure and click on through to see what the fuss is all about.

Inspired by the DIY Wacom Cintiq tablet that we wrote about a few weeks ago, Florian Maurer, a USC mechanical engineering undergraduate student, recently took apart his Wacom Graphire 6 x 8 inch tablet and combined the internals with a PowerBook Titanium 800MHz machine. The result, two days later, was a a fully functional PowerBook tablet, with a touch-sensitive section. From what we can tell, he also added in a feature so that you can draw words (such as "google") and then use a gesture stroke to load that particular page. Check out the YouTube vid on the next page for the full effect. Watch out Jobs, hackers are always a step ahead.

[Via digg]

As of today, Dell isn't the only major victim of Sony's exploding battery fiasco. (Well, if you don't count the millions of consumers potentially in danger -- and who does?) Apple has just recalled 1.8 million iBook and PowerBook laptop batteries, 1.1 million of those in the US and 700,000 abroad. They've had their fair share of recalls already, including the unrelated MacBook Pro battery recall just last month, and another Powerbook/iBook recall last year, but this one really takes the proverbial cake. Apple says they've received nine reports of overheating, with two incidents of minor burning and a few claims of "minor" property damage. The laptop models include the 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4, and the recall includes computers sold from October 2003 through August 2006. So unless you're looking for the next hot pic of a laptop inferno, we suppose you'd better head on over to the official recall site and peep your battery serial number for the official word on your particular model.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Just when we think these explosive batteries can't get any worse, then you see a PowerBook that looks like it was hit with a high powered explosive charge -- which, in a manner of speaking, it was. This unit was apparently a year old and wasn't even powered at the time it, um, went off -- 6:00AM. Talk about your rude awakenings. So please, people, learn from this rash of Li-ion explosions: you lessen your chances of battery combustion by returning them wherever possible, so return your frickin defective batteries, ok?

[Via Cult of Mac]

Ceci n'est pas un PowerBook.

[Via Make: Blog]

When Apple Computer introduced the first PowerBook in 1991, it was a dud. Not technologically -- as a relatively lightweight laptop with the power of a desktop Mac, it was a marked improvement over Apple's first attempt at portability, the hulking Mac Portable. But, like many Apple products, the PowerBook was initially priced at a level too high for the market to bear. Repriced at about $1,000, the model took off, and launched a line that would become nearly synonymous with Apple for years to come. Until today, that is. As part of the launch of the MacBook, Apple apparently removed the last remaining PowerBook, the 12-inch model, from its site earlier today (Apple also killed the iBook brand, but we don't really see anyone missing that nearly as much). While not unexpected, the retirement of the PowerBook does mark the end of a brand with a long, storied history as a sturdy, reliable workhorse, which later -- after Steve Jobs' return to the company -- morphed into a sleek and stylish object of desire for visual and creative artists. It also marks the end of the line for one of the last Apple brands still remaining from the interregnum between Jobs I and Jobs II: only the vestigial Power Mac G5 remains from that period. Will Apple retire that one as well, or will Jobs allow one product to carry the legacy of the Sculley, Spindler and Amelio? Yeah, when put like that, we'd vote to kill it, too. So, we'll wipe the tears. Now, bring us that Intel desktop already, Steve. Whatever you decide to call it.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

If you've been hankering for one of Apple's $2,500, 17-inch G4 PowerBooks, you may just want to put your wallet away for a little while. According to AppleInsider, the company is due to roll out a 17-inch version of the Core Duo-powered MacBook Pro at the National Association of Broadcasters conference next week. According to the report, the 17-inch MBP would include a faster processor than the 2.16GHz version currently available in the 15-incher's top configuration. That could put pricing for the model well above $3,000, given the $2,800 price for the 2.16GHz version -- which may explain why Apple's choosing to show it off for TV pros, who may be willing to splurge for a high-end box, especially if they can run an Intel-native version of Apple's Final Cut Studio on it for a mere $1,300 more. Hmm, maybe that G4 isn't such a bad deal after all.

[Thanks, Adam]

In the tradition of "The Crash" feature on Japan's Impress Watch site, we present this very sad case: a PowerBook that has seen much better days. However, as shown here, it still runs when hooked up to an external keyboard and monitor. So, don't feel sorry for this Mac's owner. Just think of him as the ultimate case modder, who managed to turn an old laptop into a desktop using nothing but a Hummer H2.

[Via TUAW]

Has it really been 30 years since two buddies named Steve sold off their prized possessions (Woz's HP calculator and Jobs'  VW van) to raise money and launch a company? Has it really been 30 years since the two Steves, tired of selling blue boxes, built the Apple I and began selling it for $666.66? Yes, it has, and if you don't believe it, just compare Jobs' hairlines from '76 and today. And while the company has become known for many things, from its groundbreaking GUI to the iTunes Music Store, we know Apple has always been a hardware company at heart. So here's to you, Apple: the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly from the past 30 years. Happy Birthday.