Another bug in iPhone OS 2.1, which we have tested and reproduced, is that it will no longer fetch emails in the background while in sleep mode on battery power. It’s most probably one of the power-saving tweaks introduced in 2.1, since Apple states that the 15-minute fetch interval is the worst wear on the battery because it never lets the phone go into deep sleep mode. This Apple discussion thread chronicles the problem at length. It’s possible it’ll be fixed in the next update—a reader tells us that Apple confirmed it’s a “known problem” and that they are looking into it, but in the meantime, don’t lean too hard on fetch. [Apple - Thanks Josh!]

Via [gizmodo]

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Logitech has quietly released a new entry-level universal remote, the Harmony 510, for $100. Looking quite similar to the Harmony 550, it offers basically the same features as the rest of the Harmony 500 with a slightly different button layout and a lower price. You should be able to find this on the internet for less than the list price, so if you’re in the market for one of the more basic Harmony remotes, this might be a good bet. [CNET]

Via [gizmodo]

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You Are Not Rich, Sophisticated, or Handsome Enough to Own the Tag Heuer Meridiist Phone [Advertising]

Watchmaker Tag Heuer has put up a teaser video for their forthcoming Meridiist phone, and boy is it a slap in the face to everyday Joe Sixpacks like you and me.

The phone isn’t really, as one suit in the video notes, “A very nice… a very nice PIECE OF ART,” but when the huge innovation is bringing the stunning features of wristwatches to mobile phones (that’s right, the Meridiist has a built-in clock!), you can’t blame them for reaching a bit. The phone’s selling points: made from the finest rubber (?) and alligator skin, creating a “sensual experience,” and to top it off, it is “in some way the first pocket watch of the 21st century!” Never mind that it looks like the obese offspring of my first Nokia candybar from 1998 and an HTC Touch Diamond, conceived in a French executive’s board room— it’s high-priced and so you must want one. [Thanks, Nebosja!]

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Gadgets like this Beer-Filled USB Flash Drive really make me question the basics. More than my first-year university philosophy class did, anyway. Existential angst, the downfall of western civilization, and “customizable floaties” after the jump.

Is capitalism really that great, if it leads to beer-filled USB flash drives with “optional customizable floating objects” inside? Should we Americans really be that pleased with our free speech, if it means I get emails from people who make flash drives with BEER in them? And am I really secure with myself as a gadget dork, getting all excited over the latest and greatest shiny toys, if that same email brags about the floating objects being in 3D? How could they be anything but 3D, when they’re actual, physical objects? I can’t pretend like the world is the same after this. The sun doesn’t shine as bright. The air doesn’t taste as sweet. Congratulations, Beer-Filled USB Drive Manufacturer. You’ve broken me. [CNK]

Via [gizmodo]

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With the upcoming XCM Rapid Fire Gear Lite kit, Xbox 360 gamers will be able to add machine-gun style turbo buttons to their controllers. Working across multiple games and easily toggled with a top-mounted switch, the kit will also nearly double the controller’s D-pad range of motion to 6 degrees in each direction. It will essentially take the stock 360 pad and juice it like [fill in your favorite baseball player here who you are absolutely SURE never used steroids].

The only catch is that the mod will require you to get your hands dirty; soldering is a must. But Extreme-Mods will be offering players the option to send in their controllers and have the magical modding elves do all the hard work. So you can cheat at Halo and COD4 without having any sort of technical knowledge whatsoever. Score!

Neither pricing for the standalone kit nor the install service has been announced. [XCM USA]

Via [gizmodo]

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Linux Netbooks Are Returned 4X More Than Win XP Versions, Says MSI [Linux]

Netbooks were supposed to be this great inroad for Linux development, but it turns out that the XP side of the netbook business is doing a lot better in the area of customer satisfaction: MSI this day told Laptop that, according to internal studies, “The return rate is at least four times higher for Linux netbooks than Windows XP netbooks.”

Lest you think I’ve somehow chopped this figure and embedded it out of context, here’s what MSI’s US sales director Andy Tung told our friend Joanna at Laptop when she asked about high return rates:

We’ve done a lot of studies on the return rates and haven’t really talked about it much until now. Our internal research has shown that the return of netbooks is higher than regular notebooks, but the main cause of that’s Linux. People would love to pay $299 or $399 but they don’t know what they get until they open the box. They start playing around with Linux and begin realizing that it’s not what they are used to. They don’t want to spend time to learn it so they bring it back to the store. The return rate is at least four times higher for Linux netbooks than Windows XP netbooks.

Check out Laptop for more of the interview. [Laptop]

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Sony’s Bendy Organic Screen Means Video Clothes, Animated Cereal Boxes At Last [Oled]

OLEDs are pretty much awesome, but the coolest application, the bendy one, is still tricky, because flexible plastic is more porous than stiff glass, and OLEDs get really upset when they come in contact with oxygen. Apparently, though, Sony and Germany’s Max Planck Institute have cooked up a flexible and transparent organic display that will do alright, when it is released in the undisclosed future.

Since it’s see-through, it will be able to be seen at all viewing angles (uh, including those greater than 180

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VoodooPC Will Survive, But Confirms “Integration” into HP [Interview]

I just got off the phone with Rahul Sood, founder of VoodooPC, who confirmed that the rumors of Voodoo’s demise were not just premature but “nonsense,” but said “HP is asking us to integrate into the more massive execution engine.” Rahul is comfortable talking both plainly and in business-ese—what we take this to mean is that Voodoo will merge manufacturing with HP’s core in Asia, unify other non-design aspects of the business, and shut down a good chunk of the operation in Calgary, Alberta. “Typically we don’t comment on layoffs specifically,” says Rahul, who adds that he himself will not be leaving Canada.

“We’re basically plugging into the bigger businesses,” he says. “Notebooks will be manufactured and handled in Asia where there’s much broader distribution. I can’t just snap my fingers and have [the Envy and Omen] in Russia, Dubai and other places where people are begging for them. To scale the business and stay true to the brand, we’ve to structure it accordingly.” Regarding layoffs, he did acknowledge: “There are definitely going to be people impacted. With any change, we’ve to take that impact in stride and keep pressing forward.”

Rahul also addressed the concerns that some gamers had that Voodoo had abandoned its core audience. He surprised us with an interesting statistic: 25% of the Voodoo customer base are gamers, he states. The other 75% are “fortunate people who love the style and the fact that our products are so different.” On the matter of the sleek new Envy not being a gaming PC at all, he mentions that it’s not the first time, and that the hot-selling 12-inch Envy had integrated graphics too.

He stresses that the crazy Omen desktop and the Blackbird are both solid gaming platform. He also says that he’s interested in the new directions that DIY enthusiast gamers will soon be taking. “The DIY enthusiast market will change,” he states. “They’re going to focus on more efficient computing rather than speeds and feeds, to bring more value to the end than just framerates. The DIY market will evolve—that’s an opportunity for us to look into.”

We’ve no idea what that might mean. Could it be a line of Voodoo-branded accessories? Or simply designing systems themselves with more DIY tweakbility in mind, like the Blackbird? Your guess is as good, or actually probably better, than mine, so go ahead and guess.

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Nokia Teases Swiveling Touchscreen Phone, Leaves It Shrouded in Mystery [Smartphones]

During an otherwise uneventful podcast on the S60, Nokia revealed this shot of an unnamed concept device. It features a big touchscreen interface like the HTC Touch or the iPhone, but a QWERTY keypad can fold out while the touchscreen swivels, transforming the candy bar device into a premium clamshell. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not anything comes of the concept, but if Nokia knows what’s good for them, we’ll hopefully see the real product soon enough. [Cell Passion via BGR]

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How did HP, the second largest personal maker in the US, get away with not having a 13.3-inch notebook for so damn long? It’s like the perfect notebook size. The Pavilion dv3500t is their first, which is its most exceptional feature, actually. Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard collection of the latest in notebook silicon—with specs running up to a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM and 400GB hard drive, with a 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M as standard—dipped in a kind of attractive liquid bronze candy coating. It starts at $1000, and congrats on finally getting there, HP. [HP via Laptoping]

Via [gizmodo]

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