Apple has announced the Battery Replacement Service for the iPad today, and notably the company has decided to not only replace the battery, but replace the entire device for $99 if you ever need a battery replacement.

"If your iPad requires service due to the battery's diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee," says Apple. However, buyers will "receive a replacement iPad that will not contain any of your personal data."

The service is $99 and $7 shipping, and Apple says it will take about one week turnaround from the time you send in your dead iPad to the time you receive your replacement.

To not lose your data, Apple suggests syncing first.

"Before you submit your iPad for service, it is important to sync your iPad with iTunes to back up your contacts, calendars, email account settings, bookmarks, apps, etc. Apple is not responsible for the loss of information when servicing your iPad."

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According to government officials, it appears that the Android Marketplace may be banned from South Korea, as its game contents have yet to receive approval from the nation's regulating body, the Games Ratings Board.

The Ratings Board sent a letter to Google's Korea branch detailing what must be done, and board official Lee Jong-bae adds: "If Google does not take any measures, we may block the Android market here."

Over 4000 games have not yet been rated by the country's board, but still remain available to South Korean users, which appears to be the problem. Korea has two Android devices, from Motorola and LG, with up to five more promised for 2010.

Google is currently reviewing the letter.

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AndroidCentral reported yesterday that Verizon's Nexus One listing in the Equipment Guide showed a reference to HTC Sense, the user interface seen in most HTC-made Android devices, but not used by the current T-Mobile Nexus One.

Today, the carrier has removed the reference to HTC Sense, replacing it with "Google Experience UI," which makes much more sense.

Also notably is the fact that Verizon will not offer the phone in retail stores, and will be available only at google.com/phone, squashing rumors that users would be able to demo the phone in Verizon's thousands of retail shops.

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Fortune magazine writer Philip Elmer DeWitt is reporting that Apple sold 90,000 iPad tablets in the first 6 hours of availability yesterday, with the majority purchasing the Wi-Fi-only 16GB version. By the first 24 hours, that number had swelled to almost 120,000.

The group of analysts compiling the data is asking that anyone who purchased an iPad please just email their order number to ipadsales10@gmail.com to keep the tally current.

Original estimates showed around 50,000 sales in the fist two hours, and then 75,000 in the first 4.5 hours.

The numbers are unofficial, but rest assured if they are anywhere near accurate, Apple will release a press release on Monday noting the extremely strong pre-order sales.

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Twitter users can now opt-in to allow for current location sharing, a feature that will append your Tweets with your geolocation.

Adds Twitter co-founder Biz Stone of why they added the feature: "A recent burst of interest in location sharing applications, games, and services has many Twitter users excited about appending geographic data to some of their tweets."

The real question remains as to how many users will opt-in to the optional feature or even what the point is. Still, once a good number of celebrities opt-in, it is likely many followers will do the same. Those who frequent at pleaserobme.com will then have a field day.

Full instructions from Twitter:

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Netflix's second $1 million contest, which offered to give the winner the money for creating the best way to improve the company's movie recommendation system, has been canceled this week, with Netflix citing privacy concerns.

University of Texas researchers found that the "anonymous" data released by Netflix for the contest, including recommendations and choices from hundreds of thousands of users could be used to identify the users, by name.

The researchers brought the news to the FTC, and a class action lawsuit as well, leading Netflix to cancel the second contest. They have also settled the lawsuit.

Says Neil Hunt, Netflix's chief product officer: "The resolution of both matters involves certain parameters on how we use Netflix data in any future research programs."

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According to the latest data released by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cyberfraud losses doubled in 2009, with victims reporting $560 million in losses for the year.

The biggest scam was one using emails claiming to come from FBI Deputy Director John Pistole. Victims were asked to pay small fees in order to receive a larger amount of money in return, money that obviously never comes.

Of the 336,665 complaints received by the IC3, over 55,000 were FBI-themed scams. Total complaints were up 22 percent from 2008, and losses were up 111 percent.

Among other popular scams were fake antivirus software, non-delivery of merchandise or payments via online marketplaces and identity theft.

PCWorld reports the strangest scam as being one where the victim received an email from a hitman claiming he had been hired to assassinate them. The assassin offered to cancel the job, if the victim sent them $800 within three days.

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