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Apple extends MobileMe subscriptions by 30 days
Apple has extended every MobileMe subscription by a month, due to the exceptionally ornery transition this past week. "The .Mac to MobileMe transition was a lot rockier than we had hoped," Apple spokesman Bill Evans told Macworld. "We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge." An email sent to subscribers noted that "we have worked through those problems, and the web apps are now up and running," but several pages of comments from our readers suggest otherwise. TUAW staff with MobileMe accounts agreed yesterday that the service is mostly working, but still quirky. Also in the email, the MobileMe team has promised to stop using the word "push" to describe some aspects of MobileMe's functionality "until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too." This might suggest they're closing the loop on MobileMe's push technology for all connected devices. Hopefully this goes a long way to assuage the burning, burning rage that MobileMe users have been feeling recently. (You can read the full letter, after the jump.) Thanks, Rick, Frank, Mark, Chuck and James for the tip!
First Impressions: PMOG, the passively multiplayer game
We first reported on PMOG here on Massively back at the end of January. It's the product of a videogame startup called GameLayers, Inc., and claims to be a "passively multiplayer game." But unlike most online games, there are no clients or servers -- the game itself is played with just an extension for the Firefox browser, and instead of wandering a vast virtual world with dragons or aliens, you wander around the weirdest virtual landscape out there... the Internet itself.It's an interesting idea, but does it work? I've been playing PMOG for about a month (the game is now in open beta), and I've amassed quite a stash of virtual cash and almost reached level four. Read on to see my impressions of the "passively multiplayer online game," and find out whether it's something worth extending your browser into.
NewerTech unleashes iPhone accessory storm
Well, if you're gonna launch a new product line, why not fill it up, right? NewerTech will debut six lovely products for iPhone at Macworld on the 15th January, though all save the dock are available immediately. The product list features the speaker dock with handsfree mic that includes a couple 2-watt speakers and an "improved" microphone that doubles as charger when your iPhone is in the dock, throw in a couple call handling buttons and all that can be your for a mere $35. Next up is the $20 handsfree mic and earbud which features a 39 inch cable and shirt clip, a $15 mic extender is also on the table featuring a 27 inch cable to give you iPhone handsfree fun with your own earbuds, and of course an $8 headphone adapter to overcome the iPhone's crazy recessed jack. NewerTech rounds out its iPhone collection with a $20 set of buds with passive noise reduction -- said to reduce noise by 42 decibels -- and a $13 car charger for those on the go. We've not tested any of this kit, but the prices seem right and that's at least a good start.
A year in Xbox 360 failures: 2007 Edition
We enter 2008 with the current lifetime Xbox 360 failure rate at Joystiq standing at almost 100% -- we currently have one last man's console standing. Yup, that's right, and for those of you paying attention we hit 90% last month. A few of us experienced issues back in 2006, but almost every person on staff (including those who've left for other opportunities) -- with the exception of The One -- have experienced a Red Ring of Death, disc drive failure, or other non-user-error console bricking incident. There's no denying at this point that as much as we love the games, the Xbox 360 is the most defective console ever manufactured.Check after the break for the staff's experiences with their bricked consoles. Like former Microsoft executive Peter Moore explained earlier this year, when failure is practically guaranteed at some point, all we can do is focus on the repair service.
It's a good idea: the PSP extension cable
Do you sit at the bare edge of your couch while trying to play PSP games on your TV? Well, I do. And it's annoying. The AV cables for the PSP-2000 might be long enough for some, but for those of you that need a bit more distance between your face and the TV, here's a great solution. Hong Kong company Brando Workshop is offering a 5 foot extension cable that attaches to your current PSP-2000 AV cable. It costs $10, almost as much as the original cables you purchased -- but hey, this is the kind of problem that only money can solve.[Via PSP GadgetZ]
MousEX Glider extends your mouse's utility
While there are a myriad devices -- such as the Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit and Belkin n52te SpeedPad -- available to complement your mouse when gaming it up, MousEX extensions look to actually alter the way you handle your critter. The outfit is apparently looking to roll out a number of extensions, but the one currently available (dubbed the Glider; $29.95) enables users to attach their current mouse to a pad along with its programmable keyboard, where he / she can then move the cursor without actually curving their hand around the mouse itself. It also features a whole heap of buttons to store your favorite macros on, and in case it wasn't apparent, looks to assist the everyday user a bit more than the hardcore gamer. We know things such as this are better explained via imagery, so check out an informative (but slightly mundane) video after the jump.
Firefox Quick Add extension for Google Calendar
Elias Torres has put together a most excellent Google Calendar Quick Add extension for Firefox. If you aren't familiar with gCal's Quick Add feature, it's in the upper left of gCal (or just hit 'q' on your keyboard), and it's great: you can create a new event simply by typing it as a sentence, such as: "dinner with Jane May 1st 6 pm." No tabbing or clicking around to chose numbers and fields. Nice.Elias' Firefox extension does a great job of enabling this slick Quick Add ability from any other window/tab in Firefox, and so far it works flawlessly, though I have a couple of tips for you. First, make sure you've already opened gCal at least once during your browser session for this extension to work; it re-uses your session cookie instead of prompting for your password. Also, if you open this Quick Add window but decide you don't need to enter an event for one reason or another, simply hit esc to get rid of the window, as its close button doesn't work.[via Hawk Wings]
