Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 5th Oct 2010 14:25 UTC
With the release of Windows Phone 7 upon us, the hype machine now goes all the way up to 11. While hype machines are generally relatively harmless and easy to poke a hole through, coordinated FUD campaigns by patent trolls are not. After Apple and Microsoft trolled HTC, and Microsoft now trolling Motorola, the actual FUD campaign against Android is in full swing.
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RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by tylerdurden on Tue 5th Oct 2010 16:34
in reply to "It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2009-03-17
RE[2]: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by irbis on Tue 5th Oct 2010 21:15
in reply to "RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2005-07-08
Patents are an intrinsic part of the US constitution, so it is not gonna happen.
The US constitution says nothing about software patents that often cover very basic ideas that could be invented by almost anyone anytime.
But, yeah, many big companies in the USA seem to fear that the only means to compete against the growing competition is by building a protective wall from their so-called "intellectual property". But that is more about blocking others than about encouraging innovation and competition.
RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by emilsedgh on Tue 5th Oct 2010 21:47
in reply to "It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2007-06-21
They will never stop this patent game. They dont care how much money they spend on it.
To them, patents are more than a source of revenue (through license fee's).
Microsoft doesnt really look for Motorola's license fee's. They are taking advantage of the situation to spread FUD about their competeitor. And sweet patents are the only tool available for the job.
RE[2]: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by lemur2 on Tue 5th Oct 2010 22:41
in reply to "RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2007-02-17
Microsoft doesnt really look for Motorola's license fee's. They are taking advantage of the situation to spread FUD about their competeitor. And sweet patents are the only tool available for the job.
Attacking Google with weak patents just gives Google an excellent opportunity to fight back.
Google can now legitimately counter-attack (perhaps take down Bing?) and they can also now allege all kinds of anti-competitive behaviour of Microsoft without having to wear such accusations themselves (as in, you raised the lawsuit, not us).
RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by tomcat on Wed 6th Oct 2010 21:57
in reply to "It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2006-01-06
RE[2]: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by lemur2 on Wed 6th Oct 2010 22:50
in reply to "RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2007-02-17
"Abolish software patents
It's easy to say that when you don't have any skin in the game. I like software patents. They've provided a decent amount of money to me over the years, and I'm not fond of people infringing on my inventions. " By definition, you cannot invent abstract ideas, scientific theories or mathematics, you can only uncover or discover them. In contrast, "inventions" are specific physical embodiments of ideas.
Software is mathematics.
RE[2]: It's gonna get worse before it gets better
by Neolander on Thu 7th Oct 2010 06:04
in reply to "RE: It's gonna get worse before it gets better"
Member since:2010-03-08
It's easy to say that when you don't have any skin in the game. I like software patents. They've provided a decent amount of money to me over the years, and I'm not fond of people infringing on my inventions.
So, if you're knowledgeable on that subject, please explain how copyright is not enough and you have to patent vague concepts in a manner that's more prone to abuse than legit use in order to be happy.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.More News »
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Member since:
2005-07-12
This a huge mess. Everyone is suing everyone right now, particularly in the smartphone arena, but in other arenas as well.
Eventually something is going to give. The big tech titans are going to eventually realize that this is all a huge waste of time and money, and nobody really wins, except for the lawyers and patent trolls (who regularly sue the big tech titans - look at Apple losing a lawsuit to a patent troll over cover flow).
It costs a lot of money to file patents, it costs a lot of money litigating patents, and it costs a lot of money fighting off patent litigation.
Eventually the cost of filing, litigating, and fighting off patents is going to exceed the revenue that patent licenses might bring in.
Then the big tech titans are going to go to congress, with money toting lobbyists, and campaign for real patent reform.
Here is my patent reform "wish list":
1. Abolish software patents