Certain customers who recently purchased the Logitech Revue Google TV set top box with the hope of transforming their normal TV into a web-ready smart TV have been left with nothing but disappointment. Logitech has confirmed that a small percentage of recently manufactured Revue devices were shipped with “corrupted firmware,” preventing select customers from activating their new devices. The box would drop its connection when attempting to access the company’s license agreement, leading many to originally believe it was a mere server error. Logitech has stated that there is no fix besides physically swapping an affected Revue box with a working one, however. The symptoms are fairly obvious, but users can determine whether or not they own and problematic unit conclusively by checking the unit’s MAC address. If the MAC address begins with 1C6F657, it’s likely to be affected by EULA-gate. Logitech hasn’t had a good run with Google’s first entrance into the TV market, and CEO Guerrino De Luca said recently that the failed product was a mistake that cost the company dearly. De Luca also confirmed that the company currently has no plans to follow up with a second Google TV device.

[Via The Verge]

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RIM has responded to an exclusive BGR report published on Thursday in which our source claimed BlackBerry 10 was delayed not because the vendor was waiting for a new LTE chip, but because RIM’s developers have not yet been able to resolve many of the issues plaguing the new OS. “RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual core chip set architecture,” RIM told AllThingsD. “As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices. The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chip set architecture is required to deliver the world class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false.” Contrary to RIM’s statement, our source indicated that the company has not yet been able to get core features like email and BlackBerry Messenger working as desired on BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and that it is “pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don’t have a working product yet.”

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Amazon confirmed recently that it will release a patch for its Kindle Fire Android tablet that will address a number of bugs and user complaints. “In less than two weeks, we’re rolling out an over-the-air update to Kindle Fire,” Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener told The New York Times in a recent interview. Herdener explained that Amazon will improve multitouch performance on the device, and will also enable a feature that allows users to edit their usage history on the tablet. Despite mixed reviews, including our own, Amazon’s Kindle Fire has been labeled a potential “blazing success” by Morgan Stanley and a number of analysts expect the firm to ship as many as 5 million units during the fourth quarter.

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It has been a month and a half since Apple released its record-setting iPhone 4S and users are still plagued by a series of bugs that has made the device unusable for some. BGR was one of the first sites to report on a troubling glitch that causes audio to cut out during voice calls when using a headset, and many users continue to experience very poor battery life despite the recent iOS 5.0.1 update Apple released to address the issue. Another bug that has not been widely reported in recent weeks involves static sounds that are heard during voice calls, and the issue may be more serious than initially believed. Read on for more.

Thousands of iPhone 4S owners have taken to Apple’s support forum and other forums around the web to complain of a troublesome bug that rears its head during voice calls. According to users, the iPhone emits an annoying “static digital crackling” sound during voice calls.

“[My] wife and I upgraded to new 4s phones. When we talk to each other we both hear the static,” iPhone 4S user Robert Cantrell wrote in a thread on Apple’s support forum with nearly 600 replies. ”I tried calling her with my company blackberry and she sounded good as I did to her. We are on Verizon by the way. She called me back later on my sons Motorola phone and she sounded ok but she said I had static in my voice again.” Hundreds of posts from other users detail similar experiences across various carriers in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.

“It doesn’t prevent me from having a conversation, but it does get annoying on a long phone call,” one user said on Apple’s support forum. Others are not so forgiving, however, and a number of users say they have returned their iPhones after several exchanges failed to resolve the issue.

While initial speculation suggested software might be to blame, recent posts in at least one thread on Apple’s forum suggest the matter could be more serious. Some users have speculated that the sound is actually caused by a hardware issue related to the embedded 3G radio in the iPhone 4S.

“It’s definitely a hardware problem,” a user wrote on Apple’s support board after performing a series of tests. ”If I use the Siri with 3G network, the noise is absolutely happened. But [if] airplane mode is ON and Wifi is also ON, there is no noise. That means a 3G module inside the iPhone 4S makes a noise. I don’t know the technical issue exactly, but the first reason is by using a 3G module.”

“With every app that requires 3G connection (have not testet [sic] WI-FI yet) the static sound appears when you hold listen on the backside (around the apple logo),” another user wrote. “This seams [sic] like the sound appears when it is connected and loads data.”

Apple has not publicly addressed the matter and BGR has been unable to reproduce the bug during tests performed with two iPhone 4S units.

Apple has reportedly delayed the release of iOS 5.0.2, German-language technology blog Macerkopf.de said on Monday. Rumors surfaced last week suggesting that Apple was preparing to release the update, which is expected to address poor battery life with iOS 5, out of the door before the end of this week. Macerkopf.de said iOS 5.0.2 has been delayed to fix “address-based memory leaks,” or bugs that cause apps to consume memory without releasing resources once they are no longer needed. A new release date for iOS 5.0.2 has reportedly not yet been scheduled.

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Launching new products is always difficult. Launching new products with hundreds of different carriers is exponentially more difficult. Apparently there is an easy way and a hard way to do things, however, and RIM has been making carriers offers they can’t refuse. BGR has learned from a trusted source that RIM has been strong-arming several carriers, essentially forcing them to approve devices they normally would not move through the Technical Acceptance phase.

Here is how it works: once an OS software build (bundle) has been tested internally at RIM, and the OS performs well, it moves up to be a Technical Acceptance candidate. The OS is then sent to the carrier to test and approve, or test and reject. If a carrier rejects a build, it can take weeks to get a new build tested and approved, and it can slow down a device’s release by months — as evidenced many times with different BlackBerry products in the past.

What’s the problem, then? We have been informed by a very reliable source at a major carrier that RIM has been putting an enormous amount of pressure on carriers to approve the upcoming BlackBerry smartphones like the BlackBerry Bold 9900 — phones that have to hold RIM over until its next-generation platform launch in 2012 — and that certain carriers will be approving the devices, “no matter what — with bugs and problems.”  Additionally, RIM is putting huge pressure on its internal engineers to deliver Technical Acceptance bundles even when there are serious problems with the OS. In short, RIM is pushing unfinished OS builds from its engineers to the carriers, and demanding that the carriers approve them.

The thing is, this isn’t something new, and it’s part of the reason your BlackBerry is so buggy, reboots randomly, and there are possible signal and connection issues. There have been multiple devices, we have been told, that have been forced through the Technical Acceptance process with multiple carriers, and it’s one of the reasons some carriers launch devices sooner than others (barring any exclusivity arrangements) — some play ball but others won’t. Remember how Rogers was one of the first carriers to launch the BlackBerry Bold 9000 while AT&T didn’t launch the device until November? The device constantly failed Technical Acceptance on AT&T, but Rogers pushed the device out anyway as a result of pressure from RIM. And Rogers is most certainly not the only carrier that has found itself in that position.

Spokespeople from RIM and Rogers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple’s iOS App Store, which is now home to over 500,000 applications, is currently down according to several tips we have received via email. Preliminary reports of the outage first came in shortly after 2:00 p.m. Eastern. The store is accessible and app pages can be opened, but apps cannot be installed on iPhones, iPads or on iPod touch units. Users report that app updates are not being downloaded either, though available updates to appear on the Updates tab. BGR has confirmed the issues on several iOS devices. Oddly, some users are reporting that installations are working sporadically, while others are not able to install any apps at all. Let us know if the App Store is working for you in the comments below.

UPDATE: Functionality appears to have been restored some time before 2:55 p.m.

Earlier this week TmoNews suggested that T-Mobile may have started to pull the G2x from store shelves due to performance issues. T-Mobile confirmed with BGR on Wednesday that the unit was simply missing from shelves due to “high demand” and “inventory constraints.” However, PCMag is now reporting that T-Mobile may also be working on a software fix for some G2x after some customers have reported random restarts and shutdowns. “Customer satisfaction for the G2x has been high,” T-Mobile said. “As with any new device, a small percentage of customers have commented about possible improvements and we are working with LG to deliver a software update, which we expect to offer some performance issues.” T-Mobile may issue this fix at the same time it rolls out its planned Android Gingerbread update, which the carrier announced will occur sometime before summer.

Read [TmoNews] Read [PCMag] Read [T-Mobile]

Verizon Wireless has announced that it will issue a software update for the HTC ThunderBolt on May 3rd. The update will enhance the connectivity to Verizon’s 3G network – when a 4G signal isn’t available, of course – and will also fix some email and SMS bugs so that messages are stored properly in your inbox. Verizon also said that, after the patch is applied, the Backup Assistant application will display properly in the applications menu. Other fixes include faster loading of GPS updates and stability improvements for Facebook, KAYAK, Yahoo! Mail, My Verizon, and others. Unfortunately, the update doesn’t appear to offer any improvements to the ThunderBolt’s notoriously bad battery life.

[Via Mobile Burn]

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According to Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu, RIM may be forced to delay the release of its first tablet computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook. Wu claims he is hearing that the PlayBook “needs to improve its relatively poor battery life of a few hours compared to 6 hours for the Samsung Galaxy Tab and 10 hours for [Apple's] iPad.” As a result, Wu writes, the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook may be delayed until May, 2011. Wu notes that the cause of the battery issues may stem from the fact that QNX, the PlayBook’s operating system, was designed for use in scenarios where battery life is not an issue — such as in automobiles. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie stated last month that the PlayBook would launch in the first quarter of 2011, with a price tag under $500.

We ran an exhaustive video preview of the BlackBerry PlayBook earlier this month, and called the PlayBook experience as it stands now “fluid, quick, and downright impressive.” With Apple’s iPad 2 and several Android tablets set to launch over the course of the first quarter, however, sales of the BlackBerry PlayBook could be negatively impacted should RIM be forced to delay the tablet’s launch until the second quarter.

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Logitech has responded to rumors that it had been asked to halt production of its Google TV-enabled Logitech Revue while Google addresses bugs and other usability issues. In a statement delivered via email to Barron’s, Logitech spokesperson Nancy Morrison denied the reports, saying Google made no such request.

Logitech has not been asked by Google to suspend production of its Google TV products. As those familiar with the product know, it is not necessary for Logitech to make changes to the Logitech Revue with Google TV companion box to accommodate future enhancements to Google TV. Every Logitech Revue companion box will receive free over-the-air updates whenever Google and Logitech release software enhancements.

Logitech is currently meeting the inventory needs of its retail customers, continuing to ship products on schedule to meet their holiday and post-holiday demand.

Logitech does not discuss the specific production plans for any of its products. As high-volume manufacturer of electronic products, Logitech’s use of its own factories as well as those of its manufacturing partners, provides the company with flexibility in how and when it produces products to accommodate customer demand.

Reports that Google asked other partners such as Toshiba, LG and Sharp to cancel plans for Google TV-related announcements at CES next week have not been publicly refuted.

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According to a report by Droid-Life, a software update for the DROID 2 Global handset it on the way. The update, which weighs in at around 16MB, fixes several international calling bugs, including: device resets when switching from GSM/UMTS mode, errant “No Service” signals, and a blank screen when activating call forwarding. The report also boasts of “improved audio during voice calls” and “reduced user interface lock-ups,” which are always a good thing. No word on when the software will officially begin hitting handsets, but we’re sure it won’t be too long from now.

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The Motorola DEFY might be rugged enough to withstand a long drop, a dust storm and even a monsoon, but it looks as though countless units around the world couldn’t even endure the manufacturing process. Hundreds of DEFY users from markets across the globe have taken to forums complaining of the same problem — the ear speaker stops working within the first few days of use. Owners are able to hear callers fine when using the handset’s loudspeaker, but the ear speaker remains nonfunctional. Some users have attempted to take the phone apart and repair the speaker themselves, though this is not advisable. Motorola has yet to confirm or deny the issue publicly, but affected handsets are being repaired or replaced under warranty.

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AT&T’s Captivate and T-Mobile’s Vibrant are among several Samsung Galaxy S-branded smartphones that have been plagued by GPS issues since they launched. While this isn’t the first time the manufacturer has issued a supposed fix, Samsung today announced the availability of a new app called GPS Restore — which has the sole purpose of restoring a device’s GPS settings to their original state. We’re not sure how this would help resolve any issues, unless Samsung is suggesting that some carrier tweaks are responsible for the problems. In any case, owners of with the Captivate or the Vibrant will undoubtedly be happy to give Samsung’s new GPS Restore app a whirl. Simply search the Android Market for “GPSSamsungRestore” to give it a go.

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Earlier this month, BGR exclusively confirmed that Apple was working on fixes for a string of troublesome MacBook Air bugs. The issues were widespread, and they involved a variety of problems with display flickering, fading and discoloration when affected notebooks woke from sleep. Internal documents revealed by BGR suggested that the problems would be addressed by an upcoming software update and as expected, OS X 10.6.5 appears to have resolved the bugs described in those documents. Apple also issued a new support document on the matter. While Apple’s description of the issues does not appear to encompass all of the problems reported earlier this month, we have confirmed with several affected users that these bugs no longer occur on their devices.

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