Section: Apple, Apple News

The American Customer Satisfaction Index recorded its highest rating yet, and attached to it was the name Apple, Inc.

Apple, with its score of 85, marks its fifth year of being first place among all other computer manufacturers. The 85 score was a full ten points above runner-up Dell, who was the only other company to record an increase over 2007’s results.

A gap this large has never been seen before, according to the head of the ACSI, who also noted this gap was likely driven by consumer frustration at Windows Vista and related problems. However, Apple’s results don’t include its MobileMe / iPhone 3G launch fiasco, the results of which are expected to level off next year’s scores.

Via [Cult of Mac]

Full Story » | Written by Adam Fisher-Cox for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

What can we say? Intempo has launched a new pair of iPod-compatible speaker systems, and unless you're somehow just entering the market for one in the latter half of 2008, chances are you're already yawning. Nevertheless, the RDi-W (pictured) does distinguish itself somewhat by including support for DAB and wireless internet radio, and there's a 30-watt internal amplifier to kick out the jams. The much drabber Fusion keeps things small and simple by offering up just 25-watts of power and DAB / FM tuners. Expect the couple to sashay into e-tailers next month for £169.99 ($316) / £99 ($184).

Read - RDi-W
Read - Fusion

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Filed under: TUAW Business, iPhone

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch but having trouble with the full-size version of TUAW? Try i.tuaw.com, our mobile Safari-tuned experience. Smaller, faster, lighter and unlike our m.tuaw.com pages (which work great on BlackBerry), you can add comments to posts. We realize it took a while, but we think you'll enjoy the experience of not watching Safari crash or lag horribly. Fun fact: nearly all of our mobile traffic comes from iPhones -- who knew?

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Filed under: Displays

Just what the world needs -- another pair of perfectly average projectors to choose from. Vivitek has boldly gone where so many others have gone before by introducing the D326MX (XGA) and D326WX (WXGA) projectors, both of which rely on Texas Instruments' DLP engine and boast rapid start-up / instant shutdown features, HDMI / component connectors, 2,600 ANSI lumens, a 2,500:1 contrast ratio, 5-segment color wheel and a 1-watt speaker for mind-blowing monaural sound. The units weigh in at just 3.2-pounds apiece, and both should be available now for $999 / $1,199 should you remember to look within the next 15 seconds. Full release after the break.

Continue reading Vivitek introduces its very first projectors, forgets to make 'em memorable

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Filed under: Laptops

We won't say it got picked dead last in kickball or anything, but Sylvania's G Netbook Meso certainly isn't the class king. The ho hum netbook was recently reviewed over at Laptop Mag, and while critics did applaud the Ubuntu Netbook Remix operating system and relatively great battery life, the 512MB of RAM hindered performance. Additionally, the design was harshed on quite heavily, eventually leading to a perfectly middle-of-the-road 2.5 out of 5 stars. Be honest, though -- did you really expect anything different?

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Filed under: TUAW Business, iPhone

So let's say you can't stand the iPhone. "I can't stand the iPhone!" we hear you shout, repeatedly. Fair enough, Apple's "third platform" can certainly take over the news at times, and the plucky little touchscreen-that-could definitely generates strong opinions.

As a gift to those of you tired of everything iPhone, we cooked up an iPhone-free RSS feed for you. Never again will your eyes burn with the news of yet another dice-rolling app, or wacky accessory. One caveat: older iPhone posts might still show up (we're going back in time to fix those as we can), and once in a blue moon an iPhone post might accidentally appear. We apologize in advance for the quasi-cognitive dissonance.

UPDATE: For those of you who want an iPhone-only page, or any other category-specific page, please check out the long list of categories on the right. All those links under "Mac News" on down are category pages. Enjoy!

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Filed under: Transportation, Wireless

At long last, "you are now free to surf the intarwebz while flying." Okay, so maybe it has been possible in the past, but American Airlines is taking a huge leap forward in the US market today by giving passengers aboard long-haul Boeing 767-200 flights the option to hop online during the trip. The GoGo service, which is being provided by Aircell, will charge customers $12.95 for access to the world wide web, though Reuters points out that VoIP calling is "not available." Delta, US Airways, et al. -- time to get with the program.

[Via Dallas News, thanks Travis]

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Filed under: Wireless

It's never been a secret that pro-level wireless audio manufacturers are nervous about the Wireless Innovation Alliance's whitespace internet plans, but now that Google's taken the fight to the people directly, various equipment makers are starting to air their concerns publicly -- and with millions of dollars in gear and people's livelihoods on the line, they aren't being shy about it. "We are worried the FCC will buckle and allow white space to be used by personal portable devices seeking wireless services," says Letrasonic's Karl Winkler, as professional wireless audio systems like those used in theaters and rock venues exist in the same frequency spectrum and redesigning them to avoid interference could "cost big productions millions of dollars." That's of course the same concern groups like the NAB had about television broadcasts, but where we can see consumers being willing to put up with some TV static to get cheaper net access, we don't think rock bands and stage performers will be as willing to compromise -- and although Motorola says its geolocation system will prevent any interference, it doesn't sound like the industry is ready to buy it. Of course, all these hysterics are based on nothing more than speculation and rumors, since basically no one's ever seen a whitespace device in use -- maybe if one of the giant companies backing the tech would actually demo some of this vapor, people wouldn't be so nervous about it. Just a suggestion -- albeit one we've been making for months now.

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Palm_s_Treo_Pro_gets_official_Engadget'; Well you can't say you didn't see this one coming -- between the leaked shots, more leaked shots, and those -- yes -- leaked press materials, this was only a matter of time. That's right: Palm has gone and gotten all official with its latest and greatest smartphone, the now-familiar Treo Pro. The new Windows Mobile device is being sold unlocked (!), and features an HSDPA cell radio (tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM), GPS, 802.11b/g, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, a 2-megapixel camera, support for microSDHC cards up to 32GB... and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack! The Pro will run you $549 contract-free here in the States, while you'll be able to purchase it through Vodafone and O2 for prices ranging from €399 to nothing at all (with a contract, of course). Hit the read link and take a tour of the new device, or watch the totally radical -- and long, and detailed -- video after the break.

Continue reading Palm's Treo Pro gets official

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Filed under: Displays

We've seen one pico projector after another emerge, but we're getting pretty antsy as we wait for one to ship en masse to North America. Call it a hunch, but we highly doubt Fuchitek's PEP01 will be the first to fly stateside. The handheld beamer measures in at just 11.5- x 5- x 2.2-centimeters and features a 640 x 480 native resolution, 80:1 contrast ratio, support for NTSC / PAL, composite input and a battery life of around 40 minutes. Per usual, there's no indication of when Fuchitek plans on releasing it (let alone a price), so we suppose we'll spend yet another night holding the PLC-XL50 up with our hands and pretending that everything's kosher.

[Via Pocket-lint]

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