Nokia’s Ovi Store overwhelmed at launch, apology issued

Where’s the fail whale when you need it, right? Early yesterday morning, Nokia flipped the switch on its Ovi Store, claiming that it’s app market would potentially reach some 50 million users around the world. Unfortunately for Nokia, it seems as if all 50 million attempted to check things out at the same time. Web-wide, users were griping that things just weren’t working out, and we’re not talking about small packets of flustered users. In fact, Nokia was forced to admit that “shortly after launching, it began experiencing extraordinarily high spikes of traffic that resulted in some performance issues,” and judging by reactions, we’d say “some” is now a front-runner for understatement of the year. Have things smoothed over for you today? Are you even bothering to check?

Update: Nokia has apologized for the gaff and has reportedly added server capacity to handle the demand. Question is: is the fix working?

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Nokia’s Ovi Store overwhelmed at launch, apology issued originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 May 2009 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs

Wait, what’s this? Intel admitting that its X18-M and X25-M SSDs do actually have the potential to slow after extended use? After the company flat out denied allegations brought forth by PC Perspective earlier this year, it has now quietly pushed out a v1.1 update for the 80GB and 160GB versions of the aforementioned devices. All we’re told is that it brings along “several continuous improvement optimizations intended to provide the best possible user experience,” but there’s absolutely no denying what it’s really aiming to fix. Intel still maintains that the likelihood of users experiencing any long-term issues are next to nothing, but we’d suggest applying the update just in case. Wouldn’t want to be missing out on any lightning fast read / write rates, now would you?

[Via HotHardware]

Read – Intel firmware update
Read – Updated firmware review

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Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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17-inch MBP fan / overheating issues causing GeForce 9600M to bug out?

Oh, brother. We can already tell this one’s going to be a fun, enjoyable journey to follow. Shortly after Apple’s 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro began making its way out to early adopters, small legions of owners have reported all sorts of bizarre graphical glitches. While we first assumed that it was NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M causing all the mayhem, further investigation has led us to believe that faulty fan controls could be the culprit. Granted, all of this is just speculatory at the moment, but it seems that some users have noticed that their fans aren’t kicking into high gear when they should. ‘Course, some folks have seen those RPMs spin up while the funky lines and psychedelic colors remain, so it’s still hard to pinpoint a definite root cause. We’re told that folks from NVIDIA and Apple are spending their weekends working to figure it out, but we can’t help but be reminded of an eerily similar string of events with overheating MacBook Airs just last year. Hopefully a fix will be out soon; till then, just pretend those erratic colors are some new curative feature.

Read – Fan grumbling
Read – More discussions

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17-inch MBP fan / overheating issues causing GeForce 9600M to bug out? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M causing issues in 17-inch MacBook Pro?

It’s hard to say at this point whether we should point the blame at NVIDIA, Apple or right in between the two corporate campuses, but it seems that an uncomfortable amount of 17-inch MacBook Pro owners are having some serious issues with their GeForce 9600M graphics card. For those unaware, there is actually a 9400M in there too, but word on the street has it that the random green lines and nasty artifacts are only showing up when the more potent card is kicked into action. Most folks are saying that a reboot solves the problem momentarily, but eventually it returns to bother, annoy and sadden new owners. Anyone else out there pulling their hair out over this? Here’s hoping a firmware update is all that’ll be needed to bring closure to yet another NVIDIA-Apple related fiasco.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M causing issues in 17-inch MacBook Pro? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is your DISH Network DTVPal DVR having issues?

Crickey! DISH Network’s hotly anticipated DTVPal DVR — which, by the way, is the first standalone OTA HD DVR to come out in years — seems to be causing all sorts of frustration amongst owners. So much, in fact, that DISH now has engineers trying to replicate problems and issue firmware updates; in the meanwhile, the box has suddenly “sold out” from the DTVPal website. A whole swath of users over at AVSForum have reported erratic freezing, reboots and scheduling gaffs, and DISH is candidly admitting that replacement units are apt to have the same issues. In other words, those experiencing quirks have little choice but to wait things out until a solution is found and an update is distributed. Have you run into any issues with your box? Everything humming along smoothly? Tell us, dear readers.

[Thanks, Joshua]

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Is your DISH Network DTVPal DVR having issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIZIO files antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Funai

Aw, snap! Just months after Funai took the reins from Philips in North America, along comes a lawsuit for its lawyers to deal with. VIZIO, still feeling proud after its all-business Super Bowl ad, has thrown a potent antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in Funai’s direction. The outfit alleges that Funai, “acting alone and in concert with others, unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal, as well as the market for digital television sets and receivers.” Specifically, VIZIO seems perturbed that Funai inappropriately acquired the rights to one single US patent, and ever since it has “unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement” of said patent to the “detriment of trade and commerce.” There’s no mention of how many bills VIZIO thinks will fix the problem, but Funai better not try filling stacks of hundies with Washingtons in between.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

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VIZIO files antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Funai originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Y2K8 Zune quirk really a Freescale bug?

Well, here’s an interesting twist to this story. That mysterious and completely enraging “Zune bug” that cropped up on the final day of 2008 may not have been restricted to Microsoft PMPs. A much smaller cadre of Toshiba Gigabeat users reportedly experienced similar issues, and some even noted that the whole “discharge and re-date” rigmarole fixed their unit right up as well. Upon further investigation, it seems that the issue may actually reside in the Freescale MC13783 processor, which — coincidentally enough — is used in the Zune 30 and a few of Toshiba’s alternatives. We suppose it’s a little late to ask, but did any non-Zune owners experience similar issues just prior to the dawn of ’09? Or were you too busy, um, partying like it was 1999?

[Thanks nywytboy68]

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Y2K8 Zune quirk really a Freescale bug? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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