fixed

LG Display agreed to pay $380 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of conspiring to fix prices in the liquid crystal display market, the largest sum among its fellow defendants in the case.

Collectively, three companies agreed to pay $571 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged LCD manufacturers colluded to drive up the price of screens used in televisions, laptops, and other electronics, according to a Reuters report. AU Optronics and Toshiba agreed to pay $170 million and $21 million, respectively, according to a plaintiffs' attorney.

A separate case involving seven other companies, including Samsung, Sharp, and … Read more

Since installing the beta version of Messages (on day one), I have quite enjoyed its capability to sync with my iOS device messages as well as Google Chat, AIM, and other Jabber accounts. Today though, Messages did not open as expected.

At first I thought it had something to do with the beta version running out. Recently, Apple took down the capability to download Messages, so perhaps disabling the beta version was part of the plan all along. But, that doesn't really make sense without a clear replacement intact.

With Mountain Lion still being tested, I needed to find … Read more

Toshiba conspired with vendors to keep LCD prices artificially high and is liable for an $87 million fine, a San Francisco jury determined today.

The 10-member jury deliberated for less than two days before finding Toshiba liable to manufacturers for $17 million and to consumers for $70 million. U.S. antitrust laws allow overcharge damages to be tripled.

However, the Japanese electronics giant said it doesn't anticipate paying anything toward the jury's fine because other defendants in the class-action lawsuit have already paid settlements that exceed the fine against Toshiba.

"Given credits for settlements by other defendants, … Read more

Skype for Windows Phone received an update today that makes some minor improvements to smooth the experience for users of the VoIP service Microsoft acquired last year.

The changes to the app include enhancements to the contact list, which now displays all contacts that have at least one phone number in the list. You'll also now be able to edit a phone number using the dial-pad before making a call.

The release comes with some minor bug fixes as well. An issue that would end a Skype call if another incoming call or a calendar notification came up has … Read more

Apple and five big publishers are still on the hook to battle allegations of price fixing after a U.S. district court judge rejected their bid to dismiss a consumer lawsuit accusing them of colluding to maintain artificially high e-book prices.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced settlements with three publishers: Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Harper Collins. Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin intend to fight the allegations in court. (Disclosure: Simon & Schuster is owned by CNET's parent company, CBS.)

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, … Read more

New details have surfaced in the class-action e-book price-fixing lawsuit against Apple, according to tech news site paidContent. The most notable revelation is an e-mail from Steve Jobs to one of the bookseller's executives that was previously redacted and is now public.

The gist of the case, which was filed in April and now has 29 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico involved, is an allegation that Apple and a group of book publishers illegally fixed e-book prices to "boost profits and force e-book rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing."

The Department of Justice … Read more

GarageBand got a few tweaks, but they are mostly limited to fixing stability issues. Apple says a bug that formerly would crash the app when uploading songs to iCloud, and another that caused an error when logging into SoundCloud with a Facebook account, have been fixed.

iPhoto received mostly bug fixes and enhancements to streamline use as well, but did get a minor interface tweak that will be useful. Now when you publish a journal to iCloud, a new button lets you copy the link to clipboard -- useful for sharing freshly made journals with friends right away.

iMovie received … Read more

According to the Montreal Gazette, a local lawyer has seized an opportunity to sue Apple on behalf of any Canadian citizen who has purchased an e-book over the last two years, piggybacking on the U.S. Department of Justice's recent lawsuit (video), claiming Apple and its publishing partners colluded to fix the prices of e-books and drive down competition.

The Canadian class action suit was filed in February in Quebec Superior Court by Montreal lawyer Norman Painchaud, asserting that Apple (in tandem with its publishing partners) had conspired to raise prices of e-books from the $9.99 previously commonly … Read more

Lots of free fixes are available for common Windows problems, most of them either built into Windows (but in out-of-the-way corners) or freely available from Microsoft or other developers. We've seen (and used) several freeware collections of these tools, including 7 Quick Fix from leelu soft. It packs 108 different Windows 7 fixes and tweaks, everything from enabling or disabling common features to opening the Registry Editor or Task Manager when your system is under duress. This portable freeware tips the scales at a mere 1.1 MB.

We opened 7 Quick Fix when the installer finished, but a … Read more