iPhone Blew Your Budget? 'Recession Case' Is for You

Customers complain of phone problems and rotten Apple response

(NEWSER) - Owners of 3G iPhones complain that their new phones are suffering from glitches, especially dropped calls—and that Apple seems keen to drop their calls when they report issues, ABC News reports. A company spokeswoman refused to comment when contacted about the iPhone problems, which also include slow web access and a lack of access to AT&T's network. More»

Apple's upgraded phone goes on sale in Japan, elsewhere

(AP) - The new iPhone model went on sale in the Asia-Pacific region, with throngs at one Tokyo store counting down the last 30 seconds in unison. The celebration is part of a global rollout in 22 nations of the 3G, or third-generation, wireless connecting iPhone, an upgrade of the model that went on sale last year in the US and several other nations. The phone goes on sale in the US at 8am tomorrow in each time zone. More»

Spend much less, get slightly less, but hey, it's a recession

(NEWSER) - A bunch of older gadgets—read: last year's models—"work fantastically well yet have been largely forgotten," Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate . What's more, they're relatively cheap, and perfect for the penny-pinching holiday shopper. A sampling:

• Kindle 1: The design is a bit "off-putting," and the device holds 200 titles compared with 1,500 for the latest version, but hey, it works. And it's less than $160, not $259.

Finnish cell phone maker alleges copyright infringement

(NEWSER) - Nokia, the world's biggest cell phone maker, is suing Apple in US federal court for alleged copyright infringement, saying it has 10 claims on the technology used in the iPhone. The Finnish company said Apple used "fundamental" patented technologies concerning wireless data, speech recognition, security, and encryption. It has reasons to be concerned: This week Apple posted a blazing 47% jump in quarterly profits, while Nokia swung to a loss. More»

(NEWSER) - Even a gadget as good as the iPhone isn't without its annoyances, although luckily bigger geeks than you have cooked up workarounds for most of them, Jared Newman writes in PC World. Some major gripes:

• AT&T: The carrier's stranglehold in the US is becoming even more irksome as foreign iPhone users start to enjoy better tethering and multimedia messaging services.
• Weak email management: An update has added bulk email management, but there's still no simple way to delete or move batches of messages.