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iFlow Reader developer rages at Apple (Q&A)

CNET ran a story yesterday about BeamItDown Software, the start-up behind the iFlow Reader app for iOS, offering harsh words for Apple as it felt forced to shut down. In a note to customers, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said its demise was due to Apple's "mid-game rule changes that make it impossible for anyone but Apple to sell e-books at a profit on iOS."

I was struck by the candidness of the remarks and decided to track down BeamItDown's co-founder Dennis Morin for a follow-up interview. Morin has been an entrepreneur for a number of … Read more

Sony to restore PSN services, compensate customers

Two weeks after Sony's PlayStation Network was hacked Kazuo Hirai, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, addressed the issue in a press conference in Tokyo tonight.

Though they still don't know who orchestrated the intrusion on the PSN servers in San Diego, Calif., they were "very sophisticated," Hirai said. It's still not entirely clear what kind of data the hackers got their hands on, but he reiterated that they don't believe credit card data to have been taken and added that the company has received no complaints of identity theft or credit card fraud yet.

Most services will be restored "within the week," Hirai said. The first PSN services to come back online will be online game play for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, the ability to play downloaded movies from PSN, and unexpired movie rentals through PSN and Qriocity and chat functionalities.

"We are aiming to restore full services including the PlayStation Store and purchasing features within the month," Hirai said.

The breach took place between April 17 and 19, but Sony didn't tell its 77 million customers until April 26 that their personal information, including names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, and user names, as well as online user handles, had been obtained illegally by an "unauthorized person." … Read more

Savings superstar

Periodically when we shop online we come to the point in the checkout process where we're supposed to enter any coupon or discount codes we have, and we look ruefully at that little box, wishing we knew where we could find such things. We know that if we dug around online long enough we could probably come up with something, but who has time for that? Drop Down Deals is an ingenious Firefox extension that can detect where you're shopping and show relevant coupons and discounts right there on the page.

Drop Down Deals is an unobtrusive extension; … Read more

The 404 795: Where we're shutting down for the weekend (podcast)

Two Natali Morris appearances in one week? It must be Friday. She joins us for the first half of today's episode, where we discuss today's top stories in tech and culture, including new terror alerts coming to Facebook and Twitter, a Vatican magazine that says hackers are doing God's work, a study linking physical pain to social rejection, and "LOL" earning its place in the English Oxford Dictionary.

The 404 Digest for Episode 795

The impact of a government shutdown. Terror alerts make their way to Facebook and Twitter networks. Vatican magazine compares hackers to the work of God. Scientists at Columbia link physical pain with social rejection. Laughing out loud all the way to the English Oxford Dictionary.

Episode 795 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Amazon stymies Lendle e-book lending service

It may be game, set, and match for Lendle. No, not Ivan Lendl, the former tennis great. Lendle, the newly hatched e-book lending service.

Lendle first reported the news via Twitter: "Amazon has revoked Lendle's API access. This is why the site is down. It's sad and unfortunate that Amazon is shutting down lending sites...According to Amazon, Lendle does not 'serve the principal purpose of driving sales of products and services on the Amazon site.'"

Reached by CNET, Lendle co-founder Jeff Croft, who's based in Seattle, had this to say:

They [Amazon] shut the API access off, and without it, our site is mostly useless. So, we went ahead and pulled it down. Could we build a lending site without their API? Yes. But it wouldn't be the quality of product we expect from ourselves.

DownThemAll powers up to next version

It's hardly the only multifeatured download enhancement add-on in Firefox's deep add-ons catalog, but DownThemAll is one of the best. It just got better with an upgrade to version 2 that supports Firefox 4, can customize download speed limits, and sniffs out media including support for HTML5.

While support for Firefox 4 was essential to the add-on's continued life, the granular controls over download speeds are a welcome surprise. You can now set different maximum download speeds by individual download, by server, or as a global preference. Separately, you can also set download limits by server.

Firefox'… Read more

The 404 Yuletide Mini-sode: Where we still like it in 2D (podcast)

Wilson's still gone in China rehabilitating baby pandas, so this yuletide episode of The 404 Podcast features me and Jeff going through the movies and film trends that struck a chord in 2010.

Follow along with us as we the best (Inception, Social Network, Hot Tub Time Machine) and the worst (Prince of Peria: The Sands of Time, Devil, Legends of the Guardians) movies of the past twelve months!

Hope you're having a great holiday, and look forward to another 404 yuletide episode coming your way soon!

The 404 Yuletide Mini-sode, Movies and TV of 2010 Edition Subscribe in iTunes audio | … Read more

Help Viewer issues solved in Mac OS X 10.6.5

Several issues can arise when attempting to access the Help Viewer in Mac OS X 10.6.5. Changed language, no information showing, or access errors are some of the problems that can be fixed by resetting a few files or simply waiting it out.

Apple Support Discussions user Pilif Nudd writes about an issue where documented knowledge base articles are not appearing in Help Viewer:

"Have recently installed 10.6.5 (Combo) and am now getting strange behaviour with Help Viewer. Entering a search term lists standard help items and support articles, as normal. However, clicking on any … Read more

Make the big play

Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance ($2.99) is the sequel to Backbreaker Football (99 cents), a game that put you in the shoes of a football player running and dodging tackles to get to the end zone. Just like the original, beautiful 3D graphics and solid animations give you the feeling of powering your way down the field. But in BackBreaker Football 2: Vengeance, you now have the ability to play on the other side of the ball as a defender who needs to dodge blockers and ultimately tackle the ball carrier. You start off by customizing a player with a … Read more

Racer takes Volvo S60 for blindfolded test drive

Expertly piloting a car around a race track is a hair-raising experience requiring a good deal of skill on the part of the driver. However, even without the skill in place, most licensed drivers could at least make it around the track in a production car (however slowly) without making a total mess of things. But could you do it while blindfolded? New Zealander and racing driver Jonny Reid could and did in this latest promotional video for the 2011 Volvo S60.

Reid's lap around Hampton Downs Raceway in Auckland, New Zealand, was apparently done without the aid of … Read more