Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls

Nortel, once one of the biggest telecoms company in the world but now in the death throes of bankruptcy, has selected Google's $900 million bid for its patent portfolio as the stalking horse bid. This doesn't mean that Google will automatically win Nortel's massive array of telecoms patents, but it does mean that Google is the preferred buyer.

Google, which has a history of lobbying for patent law reform, has been the target of many patent litigation suits. Google's relative infancy means that it has a lot less patents in the vault than big-hitters like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, and buying Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents could provide better protection against patent litigation in the future. It's worth noting that both Apple and RIM have showed interested in the portfolio, too.

Mashable speculates that the patents -- which are nearly all telecoms-related -- will be used to defend against Oracle's attacks on Android's use of Java. We reckon that Google is simply looking to cover its future endeavors in the world of networking. In the absence of patent law reform, and continued threats to net neutrality, owning a bunch of telecoms patents sounds like a very sensible move.

Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/google-bids-900-million-for-nortels-patents-to-protect-from-li/

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III's light leak fix found to be black tape

ImageWhen Canon promised a fix for the EOS 5D Mark III's preview LCD leaking light, photographers wondered just what the "countermeasures" would be to prevent the display from affecting exposure readouts. The remedy, it turns out, is a simple patch -- of the physical kind, not software. Roger Cicala at LensRentals was brave enough to tear down one of the DSLRs shipping with a fix already in place and found black electrical tape covering the LCD area that would otherwise spill light into the exposure meter. While basic, the solution does the trick, and will no doubt be a relief to shutterbugs who want to know exactly what exposure they'll get while snapping photos in the dark.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III's light leak fix found to be black tape originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 17:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/1zOhNWj2zzE/

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What If Syncing a Smartphone Was as Simple as a Tap? [Video]

Tired of the near-impossiblehassle of figuring out how to sideload web content onto his ereader, designer Ishac Bertran conceived of a UI design—inspired by spatially-aware objects such as Sifteo cubes—which would allow him to easily transfer content to devices. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xr9bkgDDQMg/what-if-syncing-your-smartphone-was-as-simple-as-a-tap

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A Black Hole Devouring a Star Is One Hell of an Amazing View [Astronomy]

Look at this star turned into a fire dragon by a single point of nothingness with the mass of three million suns—its body twisted and deformed as a black beast 2.7 billion light-years away devours it with infinite hunger. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IJk0qokjj6I/a-black-hole-devouring-a-star-is-one-hell-of-an-amazing-view

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Report: Facebook Messenger App Could Get Video Chat Upgrade Soon [Facebook]

It's rumored that Facebook is extending its standalone Messenger app for iPhone to include video chat capabilities, and 9to5mac reports that the current beta version is "smooth most of the time". More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/C-9ZkpoOR6E/report-facebook-messenger-app-could-get-video-chat-upgrade-soon

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New iPad Battery Life

The new iPad has the same battery life as the iPad 2. This may strike some as peculiar because the iPad 3 has a new more highly-powered battery. However, although the battery does carry more juice, this is offset by the new features of the iPad 3 which require more power, for example the high-definition Retina display and the 4G connectivity. That said, the new iPad battery life is still perfectly reasonable and is suitable both for casual at-home use [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/new-ipad-battery-life/

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Microsoft reportedly launching subsidized Xbox 360 bundle next week for $99 with a two-year subscription

Microsoft has long been pushing to get the Xbox 360 into as many living rooms as possible, and it looks like it could now be about to attempt a new tactic to further expand its reach. According to The Verge's sources, the company will launch a new bundle next week that will include both a 4GB Xbox 360 console and a Kinect sensor for just $99 -- the only catch being that you'll also have to sign a two-year contract at a rate of $15 a month. That will give you access to the Xbox Live Gold service, and potentially some additional streaming content, as well as a two-year warranty (there's also naturally an early termination fee for those that break the contract). From the sound of things, though, the new offering could be getting something of a soft launch -- the only outlet mentioned for the bundle so far is the rather limited number of Microsoft Stores in the US.

Microsoft reportedly launching subsidized Xbox 360 bundle next week for $99 with a two-year subscription originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/rg7aGX39Sp4/

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Amazon outs Cloud Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac, allows easy access to your digital wares

Amazon outs Cloud Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac, allows easy access to your digital wares

If you've been storing part of your digital library on Amazon's Cloud Drive, access to your goods just got easier. The outfit has released a desktop app for both Mac and Windows machines enabling uploads and downloads with minimal effort. For starters, you'll be able to drag and drop files via a Cloud Drive icon and you'll be a brief right-click away from sending any file or folder to the repository. Downloads from the cloud run in the background and can be paused / resumed whenever you darn well please. Dropped your connection in the heat of battle? No worries. The app manages restarts and connectivity hiccups without losing your wares. If you're already signed up, hit the source link below to fetch yours.

[Thanks, Max]

Amazon outs Cloud Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac, allows easy access to your digital wares originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/02/amazon-cloud-drive-desktop-app/

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Talk Radio Startup Stitcher Adds An Election Center

ec_homeAs the Republican primaries wrap up and we head into the Obama vs. Romney stage of the presidential campaign, Stitcher has updated its talk radio app with an Election Center where anyone can track the latest political news. It seems pretty natural for any news-focused app to add an election center, but CEO Noah Shanok says it's a particularly good fit for Stitcher's audience, of which 70 percent has engaged with news and political content. In the Election Center, you follow updates from different news sources like Slate, CBS News, and Marketplace. You can also follow official channels from each of the presidential candidates. Shanok says the campaigns see Stitcher as a big opportunity: "They understand that this is the year of mobile." Will that translate into exclusive content for Stitcher? Shanok says it's too early to know.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/X-rdJJWqc4o/

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Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday

windows phone 7
Happy first birthday, Windows Phone 7! One year on, and the fledgling mobile operating system has 36,000 active developers in its AppHub community, 1.5 million downloads of its Developer Tools, and 11,500 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft is quick to take a couple shots at competitors' app stores, beating its chest about not re-counting tanslations of an app or "lite" apps, "increasing tonnage" by supporting apps from other mobile platforms, and not listing wallpapers as a category.

That's all fine and dandy, but we spend a lot of time sifting through WP7 app feeds -- and we're still not seeing a lot of awesome apps on the platform. We think a few marquee apps would've made a pretty nice first birthday present -- along with a much smoother update process for WP7 users.

Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/microsoft-trumpets-windows-phone-7-numbers-on-first-birthday/

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