GigaOM » Apple

Reports Surface of Faulty Core i7 iMacs

Liam Cassidy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:30:20 +0000

Shattered glass. Flickering displays. Non-booting machines. So-goes the list of maladies affecting Apple’s brand new quad-core 27” Core i7-based iMacs. Threads over on the Apple Support Discussion forums are alive with complaints and debate by affected users.

After hitting the power button, some owners hear the startup chime, but don’t get to boot successfully to their desktop. One particularly high-profile customer was Engadget, who took delivery of a machine that simply refused to boot. They didn’t even get as far as the teasing chime.

A video has surfaced on YouTube of a machine that does boot, but its display ducks out and “flashes” every so often, rendering it impractical (and uncomfortable) for any kind of actual use.

Several customers are reporting shattered or cracked glass on the bottom left hand corner of the iMac’s huge display.

There’s currently no official comment on the matter by Apple (I doubt there ever will be) but the favourite explanation floating around the intertubes is that the packaging for these computers is somehow flawed, leading to damage (visible and otherwise) of their precious contents while in transit.

Gizmodo says:

What’s most plausible is that the packaging just wasn’t designed to handle the size and weight of the giant 27-inch iMac as it gets tossed around the cab of a FedEx truck. Apple has so far been extremely responsive and effective in making repairs and exchanges, but it’s still a discomfiting sign.

This is the second wave of bad news regarding Apple’s new 27″ iMac lineup. Late last month reports surfaced on the Apple Support discussion website of incredibly sluggish Flash playback, and claims of a bug causing hard drives to spin down and even of a faulty Snow Leopard installation. You can read those discussion for yourself here and here.

So, if you bought one of these machines as a holiday gift for someone, it’s probably a good idea to open the box and take it for a test-drive, while there’s still time to get a replacement from Apple should the need arise.

Have you been affected by one of these faults?

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Crackulous Defeats App Protection

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:27:18 +0000

I debated covering this, because in no way do I or TheAppleBlog endorse the cracking and/or illegal distribution of software, but it definitely deserves attention because of the potential implications it has for the future of Apple’s App Store. A new app available for jailbroken iPhones called “Crackulous” now allows owners of phones running the hacked firmware to remove the copyright protection from any app available legitimately through the official App Store. Push-button simple cracking means that torrent sites will likely soon be flooded with .ipa files installable via iTunes on any iPhone or iPod Touch, jailbroken or not.

Until now, getting cracked versions of apps onto Apple handset devices has required jailbreaking, and there is probably a significant portion of their userbase who avoided trying for just that reason. The availability of easy-to-install, free versions of any and all apps currently in the App Store does not bode well for sales, at least not if piracy rates in comparable areas like PC games and software are any indication.

Likely this will spark a cat-and-mouse game between Apple and would-be pirates, with Apple introducing new, more difficult to crack copyright protections, and Crackulous developers updating their software to counter as necessary. The problem in this case is the issue of legacy software. Apps already approved and downloaded by users will lack any protection updates unless Apple conducts a total overhaul and upgrades the protection on the existing 15,000-plus applications. This would obviously be extremely time-consuming, and annoying for iPhone users, unless Apple can find a way to quietly push a fix to all devices without requiring action from individual developers and/or users.

Speaking as an iPhone user, the only reason to even worry about this app is because Apple still refuses to implement a trial or demo infrastructure into the App Store. That means it’s up to developers to release a “lite” or stripped-down version of their apps if they want to offer users a preview. Not being one to part with my hard-earned money very easily, I see the appeal of getting to try out an app before spending even $2 or $3 on it, and cracked apps, though unethical and illegal, offer that possibility.

Hopefully Apple waits to see how many iPhone users end up actually crossing over into using cracked apps before making any moves that might alienate and inconvenience those of us who continue to use the App Store legitimately. An overreaction on Apple’s part could do more damage than the inroad Crackulous creates for piracy.

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When The Cracked and The Cracker Meet: An iPhone Tale

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:34:48 +0000

Imagine sitting down to talk with the guy who just broke into your apartment and stole your TV. You might ask him, “Why did you steal my TV?” and he might answer “Because I wanted it.” or “Because I wanted to sell it.” In the real world, a thief’s motivations are generally not very complicated. On the internet, though, those who crack or otherwise pirate software usually aren’t after money, since they generally give away the fruits of their labour. Since that’s the case, a conversation between thief and victim might prove a little more useful.

And it did, for iPhone developer James Bossert, who together with his wife, Constance, developed the Whack’em All game, which is based on the concept of the popular carnival Whack A Mole game. According to an article at TorrentFreak, James took matters in to his own hands when he noticed one day that his user base had spiked, gaining over 400 users in one day, compared to the usual ten. Excited, he looked into the purchasing numbers via Apple, only to find out he’d only sold 12 copies, which was pretty much par for the course.

As it turned out, Whack’em All had been cracked and distributed to users with jailbroken iPhones. At this point, most people would’ve just sighed and gone about their business, but James contacted the cracker responsible for pirating his app via email and asked him why he’d done what he’d done. The answer was an outright condemnation of the App Store, and suggestions as to how, as a developer, James might avoid being cracked by offering free trials or ad supported releases. Here’s a quote from the cracker, via TorrentFreak:

As many iPhone and iPod touch owners have discovered, Apple’s iTunes App Store has many flaws which render it useless to the common user. Apple has chosen to allow a multitude of ridiculous, worthless, poorly-represented applications through its ’strict’ screening process, nearly all written by mediocre programmers with a dream of getting rich quick. Many of these programmers game the reviews system, misrepresent their application in the description, and generally try to swindle the honest buyer.

Regardless of what you think of his methods (i.e. stealing and distributing stolen software), the pirate in this case makes a number of valid points. He goes on to point the finger at Apple for refusing to allow users to download apps for an initial free trial period to test out the game and see if it’s worth the money. And we’ve seen review gaming in action.

Do you see this kind of thing as a valid form of protest against the sometimes tyrannical App Store? Or is this software cracker just going out of his way to justify what is still essentially just the basic desire to get something for nothing?

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