Google has agreed to pay a hefty sum to make a class action lawsuit concerning Google Buzz disappear $8.5 million, to be exact.The lawsuit dates back to February, when lawyers filed a class action complaint against Google on behalf of Eva Hibnick, a 24-year-old Florida resident and Harvard Law School student. The complaint alleged that Buzz violated several communication privacy laws related to protecting user privacy.Google Buzz caught a lot of flak for its auto-follow and opt-in features, so much so that Google quickly made privacy fixes after launch. They werent enough to quell the criticism though, so Google launched a privacy reset for Buzz, giving users a new opportunity to adjust their privacy settings.According to the settlement, these changes addressed the key privacy issues surrounding Buzz. Google has made changes to the Google Buzz user interface that clarify Google Buzzs operation and users options regarding Google Buzz, it stated.Thats not all, though. While the settlement acknowledges that Google Buzzs privacy issues have been resolved, it says the company must do more to educate users about Google Buzzs potential impact on privacy. The $8.5 million from the settelement will go towards lawyer fees (30%) and the seven named plaintiffs (up to $2,500 each), with the remainder going towards organizations and non-profits focused on Internet privacy.Now that the privacy issues have been settled, Google can focus on a more important problem: actually producing a winner in the social media space.[via AFP]More About: Googl, google buzz, law, lawsuit, privacyFor more Tech coverage:Follow Mashable Tech on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad

We're suckers for wireless speakers, but they have to work. We're not the least bit interested in streaming technologies that stutter from interference or compress the audio to preserve bandwidth. That's why Libratone caught our attention here in Berlin with its new Libratone Beat -- the "world's first high-end active speaker with wireless technology," or so they claim. The speaker features one 5-inch bass, two 3-inch midrange drivers, and two 1-inch ribbon based tweeters. In all we're looking at 50W of bass output and 2x25W at the tweeter / midrange. There's even a 3.5-mm mini jack to tether devices. The big question here is will they be worth the MSRP €595 / $655 when they start shipping across Europe and the US in January?

Well, we can't say for sure. After all, we could only listen to the speaker on the very crowded (and noisy) floor of the IFA trade show. But what we heard sounded decent and did manage to stream audio over its proprietary transmission technology even at a distance of about 50 feet. Very impressive considering the high concentration of WiFi hotspots and other wireless devices in use within just a few feet of the Libratone booth. Here's the catch: a dongle is required to communicate with the speaker -- a small version for the iPod / iPhone / Pad or a larger USB stick for your laptop -- both included with the purchase price. On the plus side, multiple Beats can play at once -- just wander into range of one or multiple Beats and they'll start (and later stop) playing automatically. Nice.

Libratone Beats wireless speakers begin playing when you enter the room originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Those of us waiting for the iOS 4.1 release don’t have too long to go, Apple is set to make the iPhone and iPod touch OS update available for download next week on Wednesday, September 8. Apple didn’t announce an official date, but their UK iPhone site has publicly marked the availability date as just [...]

South Korea's KT Corp. will start selling Apple's iPhone 4 in the country on Sept. 10.

"Rugged" is one of those terms thrown around pretty loosely by the consumer electronics industry. So when Klipsch, a name that's not exactly synonymous with husky men in the saddle, rolled out a rugged version of its S4i in-ear speakers under the Image S5i Rugged moniker, well, we just had to put them to the test. But first we had to give these $129.99 'buds a listen... from the very noisy floor of the Messe Berlin convention center. Fortunately, the oval ear tips did an excellent of job of isolating most external sounds, thus allowing us to hear a rich reproduction of lows and mids with a noticeable emphasis on bass. Not a surprise since the Image S5i headphones feature the same acoustic characteristics as the Image S4i and Image S4 headphones that came before them.

But what we really wanted to know was how that "moisture-resistant" (not waterproof) Apple-compatible three-button remote / mic would hold-up to a torture test. Fortunately, the Image S5i Rugged managed to keep the music playing and under control even after a generous bath of bottled water. Rugged and classy? Looks like iPod, iPhone, and iPad owners just made a new friend.

Continue reading Klipsch Image S5i Rugged in-ear headphones earn our respect (video)

Klipsch Image S5i Rugged in-ear headphones earn our respect (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Apple took the functionality to buy a ringtone out of iTunes 10 for some reason, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have custom ringtones. You can make your own free iPhone ringtones directly within iTunes 10, this is the best way to go since you don’t have to get any additional software or pay [...]

An anonymous reader writes "Scammers and spammers have deluged the new Ping musical social network, created by Apple and built into the new version of iTunes. Sophos researchers have found that Ping is being overrun by scams and spam messages. 'Apple seems to have anticipated a certain degree of malfeasance, as profile pictures that you upload will not appear until approved by Apple. They are likely filtering for other offensive content as well, so they probably have means in place they could use to stop the spam.' It's ironic that the most common scams on Ping right now revolve around Apple's own iPhone." The Sophos blog post adds that Apple is doing their best to clamp down on the spam, manually deleting many of the offending messages for now. Reader Tootech adds that Facebook integration was quickly disabled, possibly because of blocked API access.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Gmail Growl monitors a Gmail account for new mails and displays fancy desktop alerts. With Prowl support, Gmail Growl forwards alerts as push notifications to your iPhone. [License: Freeware| Requires: Win7/Vista/2K/XP | Size: 3.17 MB]

South Korea's KT Corp. will start selling Apple's iPhone 4 in the country on Sept. 10.

As a longtime Apple TV owner, Ill admit a dirty little secret: I really like the device. Sure, it has been one of the rare flops for Apple in recent years. And it could be so much more with say, a Blu-ray player or a web browser. But it is really good at its core functionality: bringing iTunes content into your living room. And thats why this new version of the Apple TV makes sense at least for now. When I first bought the Apple TV, there were two varieties: a 40 gigabyte version and a 160 gigabyte version. I was torn between which one to get, but I ultimately went with the 160 GB one thinking I could put most of my movies on it. Big mistake. I basically never use the hard drive on my Apple TV, so its a 160 GB hard drive sitting there doing nothing. Instead, I stream everything to the Apple TV. In fact, the only time I do use the hard drive on my current Apple TV is when I rent a movie on it. Currently, even when renting, you download a movie to your hard drive where it sits for up to 30 days (or 24 hours after you start playing it). But with the new iTunes rentals (both TV and movies) everything is streamed no hard drive is required (besides a small one for buffering purposes). Thanks to that, and undoubtedly the knowledge that most owners were using it for streaming, Apple removed the hard drive from the device, and cut it down in size and price. Now, at one-forth the size and less than half the price, its an even more attractive way to get your iTunes content into your living room. And it has a few very nice bonuses. The mixture of the new Netflix functionality with Apples new release rental movies makes this an excellent in-home movie machine for the masses. For those who pay $9 a month to Netflix, you get access to tens of thousands of older movies. For those interested in newer movies, theyre $4.99 a pop from Apple. Yes, Apple removed the option to buy movies on the Apple TV itself. But you can still do this through iTunes on your computer or on your iPad/iPhone/iPod touch. And guess what? With the forthcoming AirPlay feature, youll be able to stream any of those purchased movies right from any of those devices to the Apple TV. In a way, it sort of does make the Apple TV a $99 iPad accessory. Further, the removal of the option to buy (as well as the removal of the SD options) make Apple TV much less complicated for general consumers. Now there is no question about whether you should rent or buy. There is also no question about whether you should do rent or buy in HD or SD. I suspect most people were renting in HD on the device, which is why Apple made the move it did to eliminate the other unnecessary options. Theyre keeping it simple, stupid. Apple also removed the option to buy TV shows which never really made much sense to me. There are some shows that people would like to own, but most are definitely watch-once programs. Previously, there was no rental option, you had to buy. Worse, even if you did want to own a lot, the old Apple TV didnt have nearly enough storage to handle them all some HD TV show seasons take up 30 GB of space or more. The model just didnt make a lot of sense. Granted, Apples current $0.99 TV show rental option is pretty weak. They only have shows from ABC and Fox and only some shows from Fox. But obviously, just as happened with iTunes music and movies, Apple is hoping all the studios eventually get on board. And if they do relatively soon, the Apple TV will be a very interesting device to consumers as both a movie box and as a potential cable replacement. Sure, most people arent going to feel comfortable totally killing cable just yet but at $99, this will be a very interesting experiment for a lot of people. All that said, lets be clear: this Apple TV is not the killer device in the living room. This will be more popular than the current Apple TV, but it will not be iPod/iPhone/iPad-big. And Apple seems to know that, which is why theyre still talking cautiously about it. The problem Apple faces is the same problem that everyone faces: content agreements. Hollywood is proving much harder to convince than the music labels were. In a few years, if DVD sales keep falling and cable revenues start decreasing, theyll be more receptive to new options. The killer Apple TV would have TV network subscription packages. It would offer live events. It would have every movie ever made available on-demand. And on-demand is the big key to all of this. All of this content is going to move to the cloud. It has too for storage purposes and given how many devices we all have. Rentals just completely made the jump, but eventually purchases will too. At first, youll have the option to download certain movies youve bought to take on the go, but when youre at your home, even movies you own will be streamed theyll simply be streamed for free. And then one day, all of this stuff will be in the cloud entirely as mobile devices will always be connected by high-speed wireless. This is the future. Its Apples future along with everyone elses. This Apple TV is one small step in that direction, and at $99 it makes sense for now at $229, it never did. This is a stepping stone to the cloud age. Right now its a mixture of the internal cloud (streaming from within your house) with the external cloud (streaming rentals from the cloud). Soon it will all be external. If this half-step isnt your thing, if you want morefunctionality, buy a Mac mini. Theres a reason Apple just added a HDMI output to it. But that device is too complicated and way too expensive for most consumers to use as a set-top box. The Apple TV is simple. Oh, and one more thing: the true killer Apple TV device will have apps. Im still absolutely convinced (as many people are) that its only a question of when they make the jump to the living room. The fact that this new Apple TV is running iOS seems to be all the proof one should need that this will come eventually. When that happens, the Apple TV will become a hell of a lot more than a hobby.

According to Apple's UK website, iOS 4.1 will hit on Wednesday, September 8th. The US website still displays the non-commital "Coming Soon" message, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled. We're going to go ahead and guess that all those shiny new iPods will come to retail that day too... but don't hold us to that one. Like we said, it's only a guess.

[Thanks, Luca]

iOS 4.1 confirmed for September 8th on Apple's UK website originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple UK  | Email this | Comments

It looks like Android may not be as far behind Apple iPhone (and iOS devices) as it may seem when it comes to mobile web usage, as new research from Quantcast shows the little green robot is gaining on iOS.

Last week we gave the Apple loyalists in attendance a chance to rip and rag the iPhone 4, and this time around we're doing the same for Motorola's best frienemies. The Droid X is without question the largest Droid in the family today, and calling it a showstopper on Verizon would probably be understating things. Now that it's been on the market a few months, we're curious to know how you early adopters like (or dislike) it. Did the massive screen end up being too large for comfort? Anything you'd tweak software-wise? How's the VZW service been? Might your world change if Android 2.2 ever hits in official fashion? Go on and let us know how you'd alter this behemoth down in comments below -- but give it some real thought first, cool? Cool.

How would you change Motorola's Droid X? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Google Wave was once one of Google's hottest projects, promising a new way of communication that might even replace email. Alas, it was not to be, and Google shut it down soon after public launch due to lack of user adoption - but not completely.Wave still draws interest from users, although it turned out to be more of a niche product than a massively disruptive tool. Recently, Google promised to keep Wave alive at least until the end of the year and to open source some parts of it.Now, Google has finally decided what to do with Wave. According to a recent blog post, Google will release most of the Wave code in the form of an (almost) complete application, which Google calls "Wave in a Box."For exact deatils on what this bundle will include go here, but it seem to be enough for developers to pick up where Wave left off and create their own, complete app based on the code.Yes, Wave was a failure in Google's hands, but we'll sure that developers will find a way to instill new life into the project. Who knows, maybe soon we'll see a better Wave, and maybe this new version will (finally) conquer the hearts of users.For more Tech coverage:Follow Mashable Tech on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Curious what Google's Gmail Priority Inbox means for those of us who use an IMAP or POP client like Mac Mail or the Mail function on an iPhone? Well as of yet the feature is not fully enabled on either IMAP or POP-compatible third party or mobile clients, leaving a large percentage of people who hate viewing email their email on a standard web browser out in the cold. If you try to use the service in Mac Mail right now the emails determined by the Priority Inbox algorithm to be "Important" are sent to an "Important" folder under Gmail. In order to reach them in Mail for the iPhone you have to search for the "Important" folder under your Gmail account.

The Wireless Power Consortium says its Qi format is ready to be built into hardware.

PC World - Now that I’ve been using the GM release for the past 24 hours, I can safely say- iOS 4.1 on iPhone (including the 3G) is the most solid, responsive iOS release to date. With some cool new features to boot.

It's been awhile since we sashayed through Klipsch's world headquarters back in December of last year, but the company certainly hasn't let off of the pedal. Today at IFA, it managed to introduce no fewer than three new headphones, including the outfit's very first on-ear set. The Image One was built to bring Klipsch's signature sound to folks who'd prefer cans over 'buds, and it's also amongst the first to have an Apple-centric mic and three-button remote for controlling music playback on iPods, iPads and iPhones. Travelers will be pleased to hear that the ear cups fold flat for portability, but you'll need $149.99 to call 'em yours when they ship this November. Moving on, there's the Image S5i Rugged (shown above) -- essentially, you're looking at the same sound quality we lauded last year, but with a rugged slant. These feature the aforesaid three-button remote / mic as well as a "safety case" that touts a built-in flashlight. We're expecting a demonstration of their toughness at IFA tomorrow, but in the meanwhile you can start sacking away $129.99 for their November debut. Finally, the October-bound Image S3 is the company's new low-end set, priced at just $49.99 but still shipping with a trio of oval ear tips, a carrying case and a choice of gray, red, pink or green hues. The full presser is after the break, if you're into that type of thing.

Continue reading Klipsch issues first on-ear headphones, Image S5i Rugged and bargain Image S3 earbuds

Klipsch issues first on-ear headphones, Image S5i Rugged and bargain Image S3 earbuds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

This app won't match the polished experience you'd get from a dedicated Facebook or Twitter client. But it does prove to be very convenient for updating multiple social networks services at once.

Klipsch took advantage of new iPod launches to trot out three headphones to match. The Image One breaks the most ground of the three and is Klipsch's first over-ear headphone set with an in-line mic and remote compatible with all iOS devices. The leather-lined design folds flat and will ship in November for $150....


iPhone 3G - IPhone - Handhelds - Smartphones - Wallpapers and Themes