According to Cellular News Apple has decided it will, after all, settle in the case of two Canadian class-action lawsuits concerning the battery life of the iPod. It only covers old iPods, specifically those purchased before the 24th June 2004, and concerns those iPod owners whose devices have reduced battery life of less than five hours on a full charge for 1st and 2nd gen iPods, less than four hours for 3rd gen devices. However, if you do meet the requirements, and that Includes being a Canadian resident who purchased an iPod in Canada, then apparently Apple will pay you just under $45 in compensation to offset the marketing claim that the iPods could run for anything up to ten hours.

US iPod owners should not feel too miffed at this, as I understand a similar class-action lawsuit was settled covering US devices in 20905 and some iPod owners got a choice of $25 cash or a $50 Apple store credit if battery life had dipped below a set level.

I feel sorry for us Brits and our European cousins who get nada, except an iPod which goes flat really rather quickly...