Apple's patent application notes that it is in the best interest of an electronics manufacturer to be able to know when a device has been "compromised" and opened, thus voiding its warranty. Unauthorized tampering with an electronic device can destroy it, and without evidence of such tampering, a manufacturer may be obligated to support its warranty. Apple's technology, the company said, could save manufacturers "substantial costs.

In another patent, Apple is looking to broaden the role of the accelerometer in it's portable devices, noting that motion could be used to navigate and control the device itself. For example, users could shake the device to play a song or flick it to scroll through menus. That idea has been tossed around before as I recall, so it's not really all that surprising. Perhaps its just a ploy to get us to buy more iPods as more movement will likely result in more drops, tosses and smashes. [Appleinsider]

The Benjamin-a-year plan entitles the user to a service rep to come out next-day, no matter where on the planet you are—provided it's somewhere reasonable, we'd assume. The tech guy came by his office and fixed exactly what was wrong, basically doing an in-house call that Apple stores, even with their notoriously decent service, couldn't match. I mean, in-house? And they even ignored the fact that he put Linux on there instead of his original Vista?

He does some caveats on his experience with IBM/Lenovo as a whole, and you can check that out over at BB. [BoingBoing]

Though Palm or Sprint will likely replace a Pre with obvious wiggle, sometimes you just want to get your hands dirty and do it yourself. The problem seems to be a bit too much give in the tabs that hold the two halves of the phone to the sliding mechanism, so you can fix it by bending the tabs (risky) or even applying a layer of superglue to the rails to make them thick enough to fit the too-loose tabs (riskier). It'd take a confident tinkerer to mess with such delicate hardware, but anything to avoid dealing with wireless carrier customer service, right? [Pre Central, image from same source]

SquareTrade warranties state that should you break your iPhone just because you're an idiot, they'll replace your iPhone with a brand new model. Their prices, below, are reported to be lower than Best Buy's by a good margin:

Current Promotional Rate/Regular Rate:
8gb 3G model: $76.80 / $96 (TOTAL for 2 years)
16gb 3G S: $96 / $120 (TOTAL for 2 years)
32gb 3G S: $120 / $144 (TOTAL for 2 years)

Knock on wood, but the iPhone 3G build has proven to be a pretty sturdy design. I've sat on the thing, dropped it more than once and basically treated it like crap, and the thing still works well. On the same token, I know someone (*cough* Andi Wang *cough*) who drops her cellphone down the stairs on a daily basis.

So she should probably consider this deal from SquareTrade, as well as moving into a ranch-style home. I'm going to take my chances. [SquareTrade]

In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within three years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.

[The Apple Blog]

There are two components to this. One, manufacturers calculate with extreme thoroughness how long to make their warranties so they don't have to repair a bunch of products for free. Two, it's your brain that makes you remember that one time that something broke outside warranty.

"It's really connected to two things: regret and memory," says Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational. A gadget that dies a day out of warranty will piss you off a lot more than one that soldiers on until after you've lost the certificate. And years later, you'll probably remember it more acutely, too.

[Wired]

Auto Warranty Services and Explicit Media (Voice Solutions) had both used auto-dialers to call Verizon customers, as well as everyone else, to offer them auto warranty insurance. Verizon sued last year to stop the practice, and just received $50,000, which they will donate to charity. The main part is, of course, that Verizon customers won't be bothered by these two jackass companies anymore. [Verizon]

Between takes on the set of Law & Order SVU, Mariska Hargitay, actress, advocate and the president and founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, accepted a $50,000 donation from Steve Zipperstein, vice president of legal & external affairs and Leigh Schachter, assistant general counsel at Verizon Wireless.

After I told them to take me off their call list for the fifth time, I suspected something was fishy. This Reddit user finds out that they just don't give a shit about anything.

The company's been making calls since January '08, and has even been sued by AT&T and Verizon for spam calling their customers. For some reason, they still keep calling and making offers (legit or not, I'm not sure) about extending your factory insurance for your vehicle. If you've been getting these calls—and a lot of us here have been—hit up Reddit to see how you can file a complaint. [Reddit via Boing Boing Boing Boing Boing Gadgets]

The major brands, like Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic, may have higher prices, but they back it up with service, especially in warranty and repair. After all, they've got the integrity of their name to protect. But the lesser-known brands (often just rebadged, unidentifiable Chinese models) often have repair options to match their low prices. Almost all of these brands researched require the customer to ship the HDTV out, which usually costs a few hundred dollars. If any warranty is included, it's invariably meager (90 days), but many simply have no option for repair.

Considering a certain flammable Insignia set, extended warranties seem more pressing now than ever. Maybe spending a few more bucks now isn't such a bad idea. [HDGuru]

Here's the deal: If you buy the TV with an American Express card, Purchase Protection covers your ass for up to $1,000 for repairs or reimbursement—though they are presuming you broke it after you bought it—within 90 days of purchase. Check out their purchase protection policy here for all the details.

If you guys know of other credit card companies with similar policies that'll rescue hosed Circuit City shoppers, let us know. [American Express - Thanks Gary and Fmuniz!]

Of course, this isn't exactly shocking—Dean Takahashi revealed just how startlingly troubled the Xbox 360 was from the get-go. Hiro Umeno, a Microsoft program manager, said in a declaration about the disc-scratching problem that "This is ... information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about. When we first discovered the problem in September or October (2005), when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what's causing the problem."

The solutions considered—and rejected—were to increase the magnetic field of the disc holder (could've interfered with the disc opening and closing), slowing the disc speed (could've increased load time) and to install small bumpers (too expensive, costing between $35 million and $75 million). Instead, they went with a warning in the manual not to move the console with the discs still inside, a warning that Microsoft itself thought was insufficient, according to an internal email. A consultant for the plaintiff notes that Sony and Nintendo "almost always incorporate the possibility that a console could be moved while a disc is rotating inside in the designs of their products."

Moral of the story seems to be not to buy rev. A hardware from Microsoft, perhaps the only major company to not pass muster under our maxim it's safer than ever to do so. [Seattle Tech Report via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Is this worth it? It depends on your luck. Most products don't break within the first three years of their lifespan, but if you buy enough STUFF, the odds are that at least one of your things will break. Since we're all Giz readers here, we're likely to fall under this category. So here's the bottom line. You're paying $360 over the course of three years (the extend that they cover a product) for this. If in that span of three years, something(s) breaks that will cost more than $360 to fix or replace, you're out in front. If not, you're out $360.

We can't say whether they're good with honoring repairs since they're a new company, but they are owned by the parent corporation Experian. Does Experian ring a bell? They also own FreeCreditReport.com, which signs you up for a $14.95 a month fee when you get a "free" credit report from their site. [Green Umbrella]

"I'll tell you the truth," a criminal complaint quotes an apparently inebriated Keith Walendowski. "I got pissed because my lawn mower wouldn't start, so I got my shotgun and shot it.

"I can do that. It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want," Walendowski told police.

…

According to the complaint, Walendowski had been drinking all morning. Around 9:30 a.m., he attempted to start his 21-inch Lawn-Boy - unsuccessfully.

After shooting the mower, he went in his basement, where he was arrested by police, the complaint says.

Police recovered the shotgun, shells, a handgun, rounds for the handgun and a stun gun.

Dick Wagner of Wagner's Garden Mart, 6075 N. Green Bay Ave., said shooting the mower didn't help Walendowski's odds of getting it repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," he said.

God bless America. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Consumerist]

As Ars points out, Microsoft's been pretty public and all apologetic about the rampant Red Ring plague, dumping a billion dollars into seriously (and appropriately) extended warranties for repairs multiple times, and beefing up hardware to take the heat. More importantly, the Xbox 360 was killed by Halo with the candlestick in the living room connection is a thread that hasn't exactly lit up the internet or the media, and they (we) love jumping on that kind of stuff.

Our verdict? Bogus and unnecessary. We sentence you to death by Needler. Before they put it on steroids. [Ars]

Even if the forum poster was told that his warranty was voided, it could have been a result of a customer service rep not wanting to deal with this guy rather than some kind of company policy.

We've also heard that Microsoft's recommended usage is to plug your Xbox 360 into the wall, and not a power strip, because a poorly made surge protector or an overloaded strip can cause damage to your console from not supplying enough power. We're still waiting on official word from Microsoft to see if it's against their warranty to plug a 360 in this way (it's probably not). [Wired]

Although Jason's colleague eventually got Apple to take the iPhone back for a return, they did charge him a 10% restocking fee even though the phone was under two weeks old. We'll try and find out whether this is a company-wide policy or just a store manager shooting off the cuff, but to play it safe, wipe out your iPhone and put the AT&T SIM back in when you take yours in for a service or a return. [ZDNET]

From what we've seen in unconfirmed reports on the Net, the problem comes from insufficient cooling for the GPU. This in turn causes the three red lights, which means you're going to have to send back your 360 to Microsoft and possibly get a dirty refurbished unit in return. If you're really, really lucky (and French), you'll get a unit with added cooling as well. – Jason Chen

Massive Failure Rate For Xbox 360 Exposed [Smarthouse]