Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

customize

Apple support company sues customer for complaining

Returning to my inbox after the New Year's break, I found it full of Greeks bearing rifts.

The national press, the tech blogosphere, even normal, ordinary human beings on Twitter are railing against Systemgraph, a support company officially approved by Apple to be its reseller and authorized service provider.

Dimitris Papadimitriadis, a physician in Greece, was apparently having a little trouble with his iMac, so he took it to Systemgraph in order to enjoy its authorized servicing skills. According to the Greek newspaper Proto Thema, Papadimitriadis discovered dark patches on the screen of his machine.

As Papadimitriadis describes the story, … Read more

Amazon, Apple, Netflix tops in customer satisfaction

Online stores scored record sales this holiday season, but it's not just low prices and a tentatively improving economy that may have brought in the buyers.

Though customer satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers dipped 1 percent this year, scoring 78 out of 100, that number still proved much higher than in prior years, according to survey results released yesterday by ForeSee Results.

Among the online businesses tracked in ForeSee's E-Retail Satisfaction Index (U.S. Holiday Edition), Amazon, Netflix, QVC.com, Avon.com, LLBean.com, Newegg.com, and Apple.com were highest in customer satisfaction, each scoring … Read more

Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor headphone: Ultimate perfection?

Ultimate Ears' new Reference Monitor in-ear headphone is a very different take on the state of the art. UE collaborated with EMI Music's Capitol Studios to design this headphone for recording, mixing, and mastering engineers. The UE engineers submitted a number of prototypes to Capitol and other beta testers for feedback before arriving at the finished Reference Monitor. I'm no engineer, but I think the Reference Monitor is the best, most accurate-sounding in-ear headphone I've heard to date.

Right, I know some of you must be thinking, aren't all headphones designed to be accurate? Once you … Read more

AT&T panned in Consumer Reports survey

It's official: AT&T is considered the worst cell phone network in the U.S., despite the fact it keeps attracting new customers interested in the iPhone, according to a survey of nearly 60,000 wireless consumers by Consumer Reports.

AT&T continues to rack up new subscribers every quarter due to its exclusive iPhone deal, but the company is slipping in terms of customer satisfaction, Consumer Reports says. In a blog post previewing its January issue which hits newsstands today, the group said that according to a survey of 58,000 consumers, AT&T had … Read more

Custom labeling out of order in Snow Leopard Address Book

When using Address Book to manage contacts, one of its useful features is to be able to add custom labels to the various contact fields. For instance, instead of being limited to "Work," "Home," and "Mobile" as the names for phone numbers, you can add "Emergency," "Vacation house," or even "Space shuttle" as the name for a contact's phone number.

This functionality is working in Snow Leopard, but there appears to be a bug with the ordering of these items, which results in an apparently random listing … Read more

Desktop topper

Winstep Xtreme is a customizable Windows interface suite that combines enhanced functionality and attractive effects with a wide variety of widgets, utilities, task managers, and power tools, all designed to work together seamlessly. It bundles the NeXuS Ultimate dock system; WorkShelf, a versatile tabbed dock; NextStart, an enhanced system taskbar; Winstep Start Menu Organizer; FontBrowser; and more. Not to mention a wide variety of desktop widgets such as weather monitors, system meters, and time/date displays.

We opened Winstep Xtreme, and first to appear was NextStart, a skinnable, totally customizable taskbar replacement that basically lets you park anything you want … Read more

The 404 703: Where we're Sheetzucacapoopoo about the Audiophiliac (podcast)

Our resident CNET audio expert Steve Guttenberg finally joined the rest of us and started his own Twitter page, so we invited him back on today's episode to see what else is going on with The Audiophiliac.

Steve always comes prepared with relevant (and not so relevant) talking points for us, and today's includes Joy Behar's mixed-breeding novel Sheetzucacapoopoo (Steve's a big fan of her work), the value of headphone amplifiers, and his concerns about the next generation of self-proclaimed audiophiliacs.

It's not a term that should be lightly used to describe anyone who loves music, and Steve considers a real audiophiliac to be someone who is truly concerned with an active music listening experience where extra attention is paid to audio fidelity in all its expensive glory.

The high-priced equipment might be the reason why audiophiliacs are a dying breed of enthusiast, but Steve makes it clear that quality audio gear is worth the price, especially when you consider that some equipment like headphones can last a lifetime.

We also learn that today's younger audiophiliacs are specifically interested in headphones and can be found on Head-Fi.org, a comprehensive audio site with in-depth headphone reviews, expert forums, and more.

Check it out if you're shopping for new cans or earbuds, along with CNET, of course!

Episode 703 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

A 10-item Facebook wish list

Someday Facebook won't be the No. 1 social network and No. 2 most popular Web site (numbers courtesy of Alexa's Top Sites list). But that day is probably a long way off. Here are 10 ways I'd like to see everybody's favorite social network improved. (For 10 ways to customize your Facebook status, see Amy-Mae Elliott's post on Mashable.)

1) Prioritize the feed. Facebook's Top News feed delivers the most popular updates from your friends. (The Facebook Blog explains how the Top News feed functions.) Unfortunately, there's no way to customize this feature … Read more

Chevrolet tips its SEMA Show hand

Las Vegas, Nevada is a city where you normally keep your cards close to the vest. However, with the 2010 SEMA Show just around the corner, Chevrolet gives us a sneak peak at what it plans to bring to the show floor in a slick promotional video.

As was the case last year, expect to see more Camaros than you can shake a shift knob at, both at GM's own booth and peppered about at the booths of third parties. From the looks of the video, Chevrolet will be rounding out the selection with what look like a few heavily modified Silverados and at least two custom Corvettes.

Check out the video after the jump and stay tuned to our continuing coverage of the 2010 SEMA Show. … Read more