Battery myth busting: There are a lot of misconceptions about the iPhone battery life, mostly spread by journalist who don't do their research. These reporters inaccurately say that the battery will last only 400 charges. In actuality, the iPhone battery maintains about 80 percent of its capacity after 400 complete charging cycles. That's a lot different than what's been reported. It's a good idea to do some research to check your facts - if you just poke around Apple's Web site, you'll see that Apple clearly states the charge cycles of the iPhone battery.
I luv my iPhone: Bought an iPhone? Chances are that you don't regret buying one. Out of 200 iPhone owners surveyed, 90 percent were "extremely" or "very" satisfied with the iPhone. Another survey found that 25 percent of iPhone customers switched from another carrier. A lot of those people were willing to pay the pricey cancelation fees to switch. (One interesting point the article makes: Motorola's RAZR was $500 when it was first released, a point many journalists and analysts overlooked when talking about the iPhone's hefty $499/$599 price tag.) The popularity of th eiPhone may result in Apple beating its goal of 10 million iPhones by 2008. If you bought your iPhone on June 29, today is the last day you can return it for a refund (sans a 10 percent restocking fee). It'll be interesting to see if anyone reports on the number of returns done today - we've heard of one journalist who returned his iPhone on deadline day.
Sneak peek at the new iLife and iWork: Apple has filed new patents related to new iWork and iLife features. Some of the new features include, "Movie Authoring," "Text flow in and around irregular containers," "Predictive styling," "Automatic sub-template selection based on content," "User interface for Web page creation/editing," and "Publishing and subscribing to digital image feeds." No word on when we'll see the new software.
15-inch MacBook Pro Firmware Update: Apple has released a MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 for the 2.2 and 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo 15-inch MacBook Pros. You must have the MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 installed before you install the new firmware update. Apple has also released a Firmware Restoration CD 1.3 for Intel Macs. The CD can be used to restore the firmware after an interrupted or failed update.
It's not the iPod's fault: What's surprising about the New England Journal of Medicine's report about an iPod-clad man struck by lightning is that the media jumped all ove rthe iPod angle - on second thought, maybe that's not so surprising. Wearing an iPod doesn't increase your chances of being struck by lightning, it's about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The report does point out that electrical current was directed through the man's head via the headphones, but that would happen with any headphones, not just iPod-specific ones. And if you're struck by lightning, not wearing headphones isn't going to make you less screwed.
In other news: Bang & Olufsen has a new 4GB music player. Net radio broadcasters and the recording industry are trying to work things out. Intel has joined the One Laptop Per Child initiative (wouldn't it be cool to see a $100 Mac laptop?). Id Software's John Carmack demonstrated a new game engine at E3. And finally, the folks at NASA should look into spell check technology.
traumastudent
July 13, 2007 at 1:28pm
I have a couple thoughts:
just like electricity, well, or anybody that is lazy, lightning travels the path of least resistance. In this case, the sweat on his skin, the ipod headphone wires, and the rest of his body. The resistance the rest of his body makes--ie bones turns electrical energy into heat energy...hence why he had full thickness ("2nd degree and 3rd degree burns" which burn centers now call full thickness) its in my opinion that the ipod headphones helped *potentially* save his life---however likely causing his deafness by injuring the ossicles in his ears (ie hammer, anvil stirrup) and fracturing his mandible (jawbone) by creating a short circuit past his heart (assuming his ipod was below the waste) However, his typanum (eardrums) could have ruptured easily secondary to the lightning with or with out the ipod. truthfully, I am not a burn expert, nor do I know any of the particulars of this case...so do not quote me....frankly... to add some humor...-maybe he was listening to AC/DC at high volume
-he tried to pull a Ben Franklin and find a new way to power his ipodto be honest, frankly, I think he deserves a new (free) ipod (Apple, are you listening?)....the poor guy has a long recovery ahead...best wishes to him and his family
