problems

Apple's iMessage, FaceTime experiencing problems

Two of Apple's communication networks, iMessage and FaceTime, are currently experiencing outages for some users.

According to Apple's fancy system status page, the issues for the two services began just after noon PT.

iMessage, of course, is Apple's proprietary messaging platform that works between iOS and OS X users. FaceTime is the company's live video chat service, also for those two platforms. Affected users report being unable to send or receive iMessages or FaceTime video calls.

This is not the first outage for either service, though iMessage has historically experienced more problems. This latest follows one … Read more

Some Surface covers are splitting seams

CNET Update is counting the cracks:

Friday's tech news roundup looks at Priceline's biggest deal yet. It negotiated to buy rival travel website Kayak for $1.8 billion.

Microsoft is replacing broken Touch Covers for the Surface tablet. Some customers have reported seams splitting where the keyboard cover connects to the tablet.

Verizon plans to roll out 4G LTE to all of its coverage areas in the U.S. by mid-2013.

GameFly, the Netflix for video games, has launched an online shop for PC game downloads. Subscribers of GameFly have unlimited access to play hundreds of Windows games. … Read more

SpaceX rocket engine shut down at launch

Monday's CNET Update finds a few problems:

Although it appeared to be a flawless launch, there was a problem with one of the engines of the SpaceX Falcon 9. About a minute after takeoff, one of the engines detected a drop in pressure and shut down. Video posted on YouTube shows debris falling off in what some have called an explosion. SpaceX said the engine did not explode, but rather the protective fairing for the engine ruptured due to the pressure change. The other engines compensated for the failed engine, as was designed to happen if there was a … Read more

Myspace gets a new face

Tuesday's CNET Update is bringing sexy back to Myspace:

Myspace is getting an extreme makeover. The former king of social media has a video teaser of what the site's relaunch will look like. It's focused around displaying your photos, videos and music in a horizontal-scrolling profile. It looks like a mash-up between Pinterest and Microsoft's Windows 8 interface.

Music is still a major part of Myspace. There's an area to create playlist mixes, and those mixes can also have photos. (You could post a party playlist along with the party photos, for example.) There's … Read more

Some users reporting Wi-Fi issues with iPhone 5

Comments about Wi-Fi issues with the iPhone 5 are beginning to pile up on user forums.

While the cause of the issue is not clear at this stage, a thread on Apple's Support Communities page makes repeated references to Wi-Fi router security settings.

"I deactivate... the WPA2 Personal Wifi Security [on the router] and the iphone started to browse the web normally," wrote one poster identified as C4RLOCO, on the Support Communities forum.

And Apple enthusiast site MacRumors, has its own thread on the topic titled "Painfully slow WiFi on new iPhone 5."

This issue … Read more

Some Office 365 users reporting Outlook.com sign-up problems

A number of users attempting to sign up for Microsoft's new Outlook.com free e-mail preview are reporting they are having problems that seem to be connected to their Office 365 accounts.Peter Bright, an editor with Ars Technica, said he believed the issue to be connected with Office 365 cookies that may not be clearing correctly.

"The big problem is that O365 used the Outlook domain for some things, and it doesn't let you clear the cookies right," he said on Twitter, where I asked individuals experiencing problems to weigh in. "Because the … Read more

Nasdaq expresses regret over Facebook IPO

Nasdaq would have delayed Facebook's IPO to address technical problems had it known the extent they would affect its trading system, a senior official for the exchange told customers today.

Eric Noll, Nasdaq's head of transaction services, said the exchange "by no means would have gone forward" with the much-anticipated offering had it known problems would disrupt a "normal trading day," according to an account of the conference call reported by the Wall Street Journal.

"In retrospect, it was incorrect," Noll said of the decision to proceed with the blockbuster offering after … Read more

Rumored: Transformer Prime to get GPS Band-Aid

According to a post on the Transformer Prime XDA Developers forum, Asus will soon release an attachment for the Prime that will "address the GPS function and be a fully usable GPS that will lock onto many satellites and keep their lock with Wi-Fi active."

The post goes on to indicate that the proposed dongle will be offered for free and will arrive in mid-April.

Though the original post was copied from an e-mail exchange with a purported Asus rep, no official announcement has been made by Asus.

Back in Feburary, we gave Asus the chance to address … Read more

The case of the mysterious iPad magnets

Recently, a few stories have posted about problems some new iPad buyers encountered with the iPad sleep/wake function when opening and closing "smart" covers--those iPad screen covers that automatically put the tablet to sleep when closed.

Mashable wrote a story focusing on the problem with Apple's Smart Covers, "which attach to the iPad's built-in magnets [and] are supposed to turn the tablet on automatically when you flip them open." Apparently, some users were complaining that their old Smart Covers weren't working with their new (third-generation) iPads. … Read more

The case for getting grandma to play World of Warcraft

The online video game World of Warcraft is in the news again, this time for its potential to help boost certain cognitive skills--specifically spatial ability and focused attention--in older adults.

Researchers at North Carolina State University's Gains Through Gaming Lab tested the cognitive functions of 39 60- to 77-year-olds and then broke the study's participants into an experimental group, which played the MMORPG for 14 hours over a two-week period, and a control group, which did not play WoW at all.

It turns out that the adults who played WoW for two weeks improved their baseline scores, with … Read more