CNET Apple News: Exploding iPhones, Music Event Sept. 9th.

Reported by Topher Kessler

In the past week, a few Apple-related news bites have made the rounds. These include reports of iPhones exploding, and rumors of Apple providing Beatles music in the near future, perhaps on Apple's Music event to be held on September 9th.

From CNET News...

EU's exploding-iPhone investigation heats up

by Matt Hickey

I'm on my third iPhone (having upgraded twice), and I've also owned an iPod Touch. I loved them all dearly, largely because they never exploded into flames, burning me and my family alive. Just saying.

But it seems that other people might not have been so lucky. Numerous reports say the European Commission is now looking into accounts of exploding iPhones and iPod Touches--and Apple is cooperating, according to The New York Times.

Apple said "these are isolated incidents," commission spokeswoman Helen Kearns told reporters in Brussels. "They don't consider that there's a general problem." Kearns said the company is seeking more information on the reported incidents and will do necessary tests.

Claims of iPhones exploding have surfaced in Britain and France, with at least one person, a teenager, sustaining an eye injury. In addition, KIRO TV in Seattle has turned up 800 pages of documents from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that include cases of burning or flaming iPods.

There have been many well-documented cases of laptop batteries bursting into flames, so it's plausible that iPhones could heat up too, given that they use the same (or similar) battery technology.

"We are aware of these reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers," Apple said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon. "Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add."

Editors' note: The damage to this iPhone was the result of someone trying to hack the device.

September 9, 2009, could be a Beatles perfect storm

by Daniel Terdiman

What is it with the Beatles and nines?

As my colleague Caroline McCarthy pointed out in March when the launch date (September 9, 2009) for The Beatles: Rock Band was announced, the band's song "Revolution 9" ends with the words, "number nine, number nine, number nine."

So clearly, the date 09/09/09 has at least some symbolic significance for the band. And now, in addition to that date being the launch of the Rock Band title, it was announced Tuesday that on that same day, the Beatles will release a CD box set of their entire catalog, digitally re-mastered for the first time, re-confirming reports from months ago.

At the same time, many people have been talking about the high likelihood of an all-music-related Apple event around some unknown product announcement on September 9. So, with all these facts--and some informed speculation--in hand, one has to think seriously that we may get a star-studded event with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (who, you may remember, showed up at Microsoft's E3 press conference to promote The Beatles: Rock Band) and, of course, Steve Jobs, to announce the availability of that same digitally re-mastered catalog on iTunes.

If that were to come to pass, it would seem to me an entertainment perfect storm. Of course, as is always the case with these things, we have to temper our enthusiasm because the most exciting speculation could well turn out not to be true. But if it does happen like this, well, it would easily be worth the price of admission.

As for today's news, EMI Music and Apple Corps--the Beatles' publishers--said that it took engineers at the famed Abbey Road Studios four full years "of utilizing state of the art recording technology, alongside vintage studio equipment, to create these amazing re-masters."

Having talked to the folks behind both The Beatles: Rock Band and the Cirque du Soleil's Beatle-themed "Love" about the re-mastering processes, I know that this is something that those involved with the band have been putting a lot of effort into over the last few years. And assuming that there will be a digital distribution element to this whole 09/09/09 thing, it's nice that after being very strict for years and years about how their music got out into the world, the band may finally have agreed to loosen the reins a little bit.

Of course, it's not altruism. There will no doubt be massive amounts of money flowing into the coffers of everyone financially involved with the band. And that's because even for people like me who already own the entire catalog on old mono CDs or records, there may be a few extra dollars available for legitimate digital copies of songs like "Hey Jude," "Yesterday," and "A day in the life."

But, of course, as of today, we don't know anything for certain about the Beatles and iTunes. What we do know is that The Beatles: Rock Band will have 45 songs, and that the digitally re-mastered CD collection will comprise all 12 Beatles studio albums--in stereo, no less--as well as "Magical Mystery Tour" and a combined "Past Masters Volume I and II," for a total of 14 titles on 16 CDs. The whole thing will be available, along with a DVD set of Beatles documentaries in one--presumably pricey--stereo boxed set.

Questions? Comments? Send us feedback: http://www.macfixit.com/contact
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

Resources