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Lawsuit takes aim at Google, Huawei over Nexus 6P battery issues
A federal class action complaint has been filed accusing Google and Huawei of fraud, breaching warranty and improperly handling customer complaints after a number of Nexus 6P smartphones unexpectedly shut down and became trapped in "boot loop" cycles. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and it claims Google and Huawei have never publicly admitted there were issues with the Nexus 6P, even while they continued to sell the phone.
Say hello (again) to the Nokia 3310
The rumors were true. The Nokia 3310 is back. Courtesy of new brand owner HMD, the phone is returning with a mixture of 3310 charm and some specification upgrades. The good news: It's cheap (around $50), it has Snake, along with those nostalgic ringtones of yesteryear, and it seems pretty darn indestructible. It's an iconic phone, but one that's over 15 years old. That's a long time in mobile. Still, a lot of people are going to want one. Do you?
Apple pulls down Watch update that bricked Series 2 devices
You can no longer download the latest update for Apple Watch, and that could be a good thing if you have a Series 2 device. Cupertino has pulled down watchOS 3.1.1 after it bricked several Series 2 watches, displaying a red exclamation mark on their screens along with a URL to the company's support page for the wearable. The website doesn't address the current issue, but it does have instructions on what to do in case your watch freezes.
PSA: Nintendo investigating Wii U error code issues
After reports rolled in yesterday about Super Smash Bros. and other Wii U games being met with error codes that resulted in a loss of system functionality, Nintendo acknowledged that it is investigating the problems. Error codes 160-0103 and 160-1710 "could affect the ability of the system to function properly" for a "small percentage of consumers playing Wii U," Nintendo of America told Joystiq. The reported issues varied from a loss of data to games on the system being unplayable entirely, issues that persisted within the data management menu on the Wii U for some. The error messages note that "there is a problem with the system memory." Nintendo encourages anyone experiencing the errors codes to call the Nintendo contact center at 1-800-255-3700 for help, until a solution is available. [Image: Nintendo]
Leave your phone at home without feeling uneasy about it
Finally, there's a device with a spec sheet that'll let you feel good about leaving your other phone elsewhere. Enter the noPhone: a solid brick of plastic that stands in at the size and weight comparable to any of those popular handsets. What's more, the device has a 0-megapixel camera, infinite battery life and is both waterproof and shatterproof. All of that looks good on paper, but the real selling point is how the noPhone's features improve communication. Eye-to-eye contact and conversing with actual spoken words at dinner are on their way back to couples everywhere. That's because you won't be using this slab to text or call someone else, but you can leave it in your pocket to feel like the tether is still intact. No word on a release date or pricing just yet, but you can see the gadget in action on the other side of break.
Binatone's Brick phone was acceptable in the '80s (hands-on)
"If you're an '80s guy like me, then you know it's important to be a shark. That means getting up, choking down a double espresso and listening to Huey Lewis. Then it's time to hit the trading floor and make a cool hundred mil or something before dinner. Lunch? Lunch is for wimps. Talking about wimps, those hipsters who use Native Union's Pop retro smartphone handset are scum. Me? I'm all about the Binatone Brick. Cram in a SIM card and you can make calls on this thing AND play Snake (I mean, we are living in the future) even while riding the elevator. But pair it over Bluetooth to your smartphone, and you'll impress everyone when you're walking and talking. It'll launch soon for you mere mortals, priced at £50 in the UK with a 1,000mAh battery, but for a big-shot like me who's always making deals, I'm holding out for the 2,000mAh version that'll come later for £80. Oh, and one more thing -- in the time it took you to read this, I just bought San Marino." -G. Gekko Mr. Gekko's views are entirely his own and do not reflect those of Engadget or AOL. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub! Dana Wollman learned during this report that greed, for want of a better word, is good.
"Debrickifying" an iPhone 5
I got my share of flak from TUAW readers when I wrote a post three weeks ago bemoaning the fact that my iPhone 5 -- which was running iOS 7 beta -- lost battery power on the first day of a vacation and went into an endless restart loop. Yes, dear readers, I am well aware of the fact that Apple points out that you shouldn't run beta software on a mission critical device, so I deserved what I got -- a nice three-week-long respite from checking my iPhone every few minutes. This post is to let you know that I did manage to get the iPhone in somewhat working order yesterday (my first day back from vacation), and that you can accomplish the same thing should you ever encounter the endless restart loop problem. Let me describe the symptom of the endless restart loop. The iPhone appears to be starting up, displaying the Apple logo and then going to a black screen showing the familiar progress "rotor" -- which doesn't rotate. After a while, the device decides to reboot and go through the process again, ad infinitum, or at least until the battery is completely drained. This was the point on my trip that I A.) wished I had taken my MacBook Pro on vacation with me and B.) put the iPhone 5 into the safe in my cruise ship cabin to act as a paperweight. Fast-forward to yesterday morning. After a good night's sleep to kill the jet lag and taking care of some TUAW business first thing, I decided to see if I could make my iPhone 5 into something other than an attractive and expensive brick. To begin with, I tethered it to my Mac and launched iTunes, which showed a device running iOS 7, but would not let me restore the device. A Google search for "endless restart loop" somehow pointed me to a June 2013 post by iMore editor Allyson Kazmucha talking about how to downgrade an iOS 7 device to iOS 6. In turn, that pointed to an older post by iMore editor-in-chief and all-around nice guy Rene Ritchie on how to put your iPhone into DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode. Between the two of those posts, I was on the road to Debrick City. At this point the iPhone 5 was back into endless restart looping and still tethered to the iMac, so I picked it up and started with putting it in DFU mode. This involves some critical timing: Hold down the Home button and sleep button on the top of the iPhone simultaneously for about ten seconds. I actually used the second hand on a watch (ancient technology) to time this... Ritchie's instructions note that "if you see the Apple logo, you've held them too long and will need to start again." Next, let go of the sleep button and continue holding the Home button for another five seconds. In this situation, Ritchie warns that "...if you see the 'Plug into iTunes' screen then you held it too long and will need to start again." At this point, the screen remained black, meaning that the device was in DFU mode and happily awaiting new firmware. Where to go from here? Well, I had no choice but to go back to iOS 6, since Dev Center is still down and there's no way I can get access to the iOS 7 files again. My next move was to find the latest iOS 6 firmware file for my phone, which happened to be the 6.1.4 version for CDMA (I have a Verizon iPhone 5). With Dev Center down, I was happy to see that iMore has a downloads section available with all recent firmware files, so it was no problem to grab the file. Once the iPhone 5 was in DFU mode, iTunes began displaying a message (above) that said "iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes." Looking at the device screen for the iPhone 5 in iTunes, there was a button for "Restore iPhone" (image below) Since iOS 7 isn't available (ahem...), I held down the Option key on my keyboard and clicked Restore iPhone, which brought up a dialog where I could select the firmware file. Within a few minutes, the iPhone 5 was humming away happily, although I can't do a restore from iCloud because -- get this -- all of the backups that I can select from were done from an iOS 7 device. At least this gets my device back in my pocket and acting like an iPhone again until I can do a total iOS 7 restore after the Dev Center is back online. Many thanks to iMore for their how-to posts and the screenshots included here.
A tech geek's trip from hell
I'm on a trip right now out of the country, and so far it's been a tech geek's trip from hell. The first day, I ran my iPhone 5 (running iOS 7 beta 2) out of juice -- not surprising, since the beta OS is somewhat power-hungry at this point. Guess what? The iPhone 5 has decided to refuse to start up normally. It has gone into a continuing loop of trying to start up, then rebooting, ad infinitum. Sad, really -- I was planning on shooting a ton of panoramas with the iPhone 5, and I took some wonderful photos from the airplane on the way over. My only choice with this device is to wait until I get back home and then reload the device with a fresh image of iOS 7. Sigh. At least I have my wife's iPhone as a backup for shooting those panoramas. Day two, spouse and I -- both avid photographers -- spent most of the day shooting images of the beautiful Icelandic countryside. Our usual nighttime habit while we're on our trip is to back up the day's photos onto two iPads so that we have the originals on each camera plus two backups. So, while sitting in the lounge at the hotel tonight, I started doing the backups only to find that the Camera Connection Kit wouldn't read either of the 64 GB SDXC cards. After cussing loudly (don't worry, the lounge was empty except for my wife and me), I did a Google search to find that the Camera Connection Kit won't read SDXC cards unless they're formatted in the time-honored and ancient FAT format. Of course, I assumed that formatting the cards in the camera like I've always done would mean they'd be readable by Apple's Camera Connection Kit. Wrong! So, the 64 GB cards are now back in my bag full of camera goodies, and a pair of 16 GB cards -- SDHC -- have been drafted into service for the rest of the trip.The photos we took today will have to wait until we get back home to be moved to some sort of backup media. In addition, I discovered today that although I brought a variety of charging cables on the trip with me, as well as a device or two to allow me to plug multiple devices into one outlet, I had neglected to grab my European to North American plug adapters. Last night was fine, as I had a fully-charged external battery pack that I used to charge up one iPad and also had one North American standard outlet that I could use to charge up another. Tonight? All of the devices will be hungry for electrons. At least the airline we're flying, Icelandair, has USB chargers built into the seats so we'll be able to charge the devices on the next leg of our trip. Knowing my luck so far, they won't be working. I was happy to see that the hotel had a publi- use iMac near the lobby; my smile turned to a frown when I discovered that they were running Windows 7 under Boot Camp on the machine. After finding that I couldn't access the iMac's SD card reader from Windows 7 (I was going to upload the photos to Dropbox), I reached around to the back of the machine, powered it down, and rebooted in the hope that I could get it to boot into OS X. No such luck; the hotel IT people had set up the machine with a password. My revenge was leaving the iMac unusable to any of the other guests. Mua-haha! Your takeaways from this post? Never assume that your technology is going to work perfectly for you when you need it the most. Read the fine print about the Apple (and third-party) hardware you'll be using, and using the jargon used by my wife in the aerospace business, "test like you fly." In other words, test all of the component parts exactly the way you expect to use them before you actually leave home -- that way you'll be able to avoid issues like the one I ran into with the Camera Connection Kit. I just assumed that because I had formatted SD cards in my camera before and used them successfully with the CCK, that everything would be OK. That was a stupid assumption. Also, create a packing checklist and use it. I would have remembered the plug adapters if I had put them on a list. I fully intended to grab them, but got caught up in the typical last-minute packing rush and spaced them out. Finally, if you're not a tech blogger / writer by trade, consider leaving as much of your tech at home as you can. You'll certainly be immune from stupid annoyances like I've run into if you don't have a lot of technology accompanying you on a trip. And isn't a vacation supposed to be a relaxing time away from the normal hassles of life? I'm going on a three-day long weekend trip at the end of the summer, and I think I may just go with nothing but a good paperback book.
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]
Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II now open to pleasures of the rooted kind
Shame you can't do anything about that obnoxious home button branding, but thanks to the folks over at XDA you can now squeeze some root juice onto your VZW Samsung Galaxy Note II. As per usual with Sammy's Android devices, the process involves the use of Odin to flash an image before you can enjoy the perks. Do note however, the hackery only gives you superuser access -- there's no way to cram in a custom ROM just yet. Early users have reported a few issues, including busted mics, broken signal strength indicators and general slow-coach behavior, but it sounds like updates have now plugged most of those holes. You'll find the payload and instructions waiting at the source link -- just be careful not to orphan that S Pen.
Apple TV 5.1 update causing issues for many, downgrading cited as popular solution
Whenever you get the urge to ingest an update without doing a bit of research, just remember: things don't always end with streamers falling and glasses raised. Such is the case with the latest Apple TV update, which arrived back in September as v5.1. At the time, it promised users the ability to tap into Shared Photo Streams and to easily switch between iTunes accounts. Now, however, Apple's support boards are rolling with comments about the update. In fact, many users are reporting that the update has killed their device entirely, with most everyone else hitting up links to downgrade in an attempt to dodge the Reaper. Are you amongst the troubled? Let us know how things are going for you in comments below -- particularly if you've stumbled upon a bulletproof solution.
Report: Wii U dies if power cut during massive firmware update
We'll get this out of the way first: Do not unplug or turn off any console when it is performing a firmware update.Unplugging the Wii U during the day-one firmware update might brick the console for good, LA Times film and video game industry journalist Ben Fritz reports on Twitter. Fritz says he unplugged his Wii U 15 minutes into the update, when the progress bar said it would take two hours to finish, and his console is now completely busted. There was no "cancel" option, Fritz says.A few people on Twitter have chimed in with their own update horror stories, with one saying the connection timed out during the update and another claiming Nintendo support told him to unplug the Wii U for 15 seconds, both scenarios ending with bricks. The Wii U's sizable update will take a while to process, of course expanding the chances of something going wrong. Nintendo has not confirmed the update's actual size.Nintendo of America warns Wii U owners, "please do not power down or unplug your system while downloading updates. Doing so may cause damage to your Wii U."In the spirit of Fritz's Twitter avatar, remember: If you unplug your Wii U during a firmware update, you're gonna have a bad time.
Galaxy Note 10.1 just hitting shelves, already said to be rooted
Only two days after Samsung announced the availability of the Galaxy Note 10.1 (and its source code), it appears to already have been rooted. An XDA user named Zedomax claims to have pulled off the feat by injecting root into the stock European firmware, then installing the superuser'd version in conventional ODIN fashion. With the usual bricking caveats, that'll let you start installing unsanctioned apps to the pen-enabled beast, while apparently still getting OTA updates from the mother company. We'd love to verify it ourselves with our own GT-N8000, but we don't have one yet -- and neither does hardly anyone else, so you may want to wait for some other brave soul to confirm it before going ahead.
Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0.4 factory images now available on Google's servers
The Nexus line's open secret is its most alluring, unadvertised feature: the ability to root. Easy access to those superuser privileges, however, comes with a high price of admission -- namely, the loss of a warranty and the questionable stability of your device. Knowing that many an idle tinkerer has bricked his / her phone into a seemingly irrevocable death sleep, Google's tossed the IMM76K factory images for VZW's LTE variant up on its servers, rescuing ROM flashers with a stock Android 4.0.4 lifesaver. If you've been hanging your head in shame for unwittingly obliterating your handset, now would be a good time to hit up that source below and brush up on your command line skills.
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.
OpCapita picks up GAME retail chain, plans to keep 333 stores open
The staff of UK video game retailer GAME's remaining 333 stores can breathe a collective sigh of relief today: investment firm OpCapita is buying the chain. "We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Administrator," declared managing partner Henry Jackson, "We strongly believe there is a place on the high street for a video gaming specialist and GAME is a leading brand in the £2.8bn market in the UK." The retailer's UK assets will be transferred to Baker Acquisitions Limited, an OpCapita funded company. The firm stated that it has "no plans for any further store closures," and that it hopes to safeguard the remaining 3,200 jobs the chain still has under its belt. Read on for the official press release.
Tesla to owners: Plug it in
EV maker Tesla has come under fire for allegations that its vehicles can be "bricked" when their batteries are completely discharged. Such instances require that the cells be replaced to the tune of $40,000, which doesn't sit well with folks who already forked over six figures to buy a Roadster in the first place. Tesla doesn't deny the charge (pardon the pun), but it does offer a common sense suggestion to avoid the problem: simply plug the car in. Tesla implies this danger is only likely for early adopters, and says it's also made strides to idiot-proof later vehicles with advanced warning systems -- Tesla 2.0 Roadsters can phone home to Tesla headquarters with a low juice alert, for example. Tesla documents safe battery charging practices in the owner's documentation, though, so here's an idea: if you're going to spend $109,000 on an electric sports car, maybe it's a good idea to RTFM (read the freaking manual).
Tesla Roadster EVs accused of 'bricking,' Tesla responds
Last night we were sent an interesting report about Tesla Roadsters falling into an unfortunate state -- a very terminal, very expensive state. According to theunderstatement a Tesla Roadster that is left to discharge completely, a process that could take many weeks, will need to have its entire battery pack replaced (pictured above) -- at a cost of approximately $40,000. There are said to be no countermeasures that can prevent this short of keeping your car topped up, and while that may sound simple enough, it becomes tricky if you need to put the thing in storage for a few months.While we haven't been able to confirm all the "several" supposed cases of this happening, we did hear back from Tesla issuing a statement (after the break) that more or less affirms this could happen. Tesla uses a number of so-called "countermeasures" to prevent this, up to and including a representative from the company calling the owner should a battery pack trail dangerously low. Worryingly, though, this situation is said to be possible in both the upcoming Model S sedan and Model X SUV. Here's to hoping for a little more clarity on this issue -- and maybe a solution -- before those two come to market.Update: Autoblog Green takes a closer look at the origins of this story.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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.
