Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Hey, any of you remember Rambus? That company that wanted to force RDRAM onto the market and basically sued everyone until it flamed out into oblivion in the early 2000s? Yeah, it’s still around, has an massively stupid slogan, and it’s suing NVIDIA for — what else? — patent infringment, claiming that NVIDIA products with SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, and GDDR3 memory controller violate some 17 different patents. Rambus says it’s tried for six years to negotiate licensing terms with capital-N, but that it has “no other recourse than litigation” to get things sorted out. Valid or not, that’s not good news for NVIDIA, whose stock price is struggling due to market pricing pressure and the news that perhaps all its 8400M and 8600M chips are faulty and will require repair or replacement at the cost of at least $250M. We’ll see how this one goes — now’s a good a time as any to open that can of whoop-ass, guys.
Read - Rambus sues NVIDIA
Read - Incredibly douchebaggy “Rambus Trademark Guidelines” page we’re linking just because it’s so pretentiously awful
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Filed under: Gaming
Alright, this is getting a little silly. First it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band and Guitar Hero violated a patent covering “simulating a musical performance,” and now Konami is suing Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game because Rock Band allegedly violates a similar set of patents covering “simulated musical instruments” and “musical rhythm-based matching games.” Filed in good ol’ Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in damages and an order preventing the sale of Rock Band’s instruments. Interestingly, Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine print on Activision’s Guitar Hero homepage says the game is covered by the Konami patents in question, so it appears that Activision’s managed to reach a licensing agreement with Konami — which, if true, doesn’t necessarily bode well for Harmonix and company. No one’s commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix’s lawyers are furiously punching in the old up-up-down-down trying to get this to go away.
Read - Wired article on the lawsuit
Read - Gamasutra article
Read - Konami’s complaint (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering simulated musical instruments (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical arcade machines (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical game machines (PDF)
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Filed under: Cellphones
It doesn’t talke a genius to figure out that there’s something wrong with Apple’s MobileMe transition — which was originally scheduled to take place Wednesday evening. Now, into the early hours of Friday, and almost a day after the iPhone 3G’s launch in NZ, we’ve seen maybe a total of 30 minutes of scattered uptime for the service, and Apple is finally confessing that the transition is “taking longer than expected.” The good news is that .Mac users should still be able to check their mail, sync their contacts and use their iDisks, but at the moment there’s no telling when MobileMe’s sexy new web apps will be available, or what to expect next as far as those other services.
[Thanks, Alec A]
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Filed under: Displays, HDTV
AOC’s 2230Fh LCD was fine and dandy, but if you’re looking for something similar to pull triple duty as a media player and digital photo frame (its words, not ours), you’ll need to refocus on the 2230Fm. Said display is apparently the first from the firm to boast HD3 technology, which alludes to its abilities to function as more than just an HDTV. The unit includes a proprietary menu and remote to play back clips loaded onto memory cards (there’s a 4-in-1 reader), not to mention a 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, USB 2.0 socket, DVI / HDMI inputs, integrated speakers, 2-millisecond response time and a piano black finish. All that for $399.99. Full release posted after the jump.
Continue reading AOC’s 22-inch 2230Fm HD3 display includes integrated media player
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Filed under: Cellphones
Here she is: the iPhone 3G, captured on video. We’ve gone through a number of the new features on the device and in the 2.0 software release, but apologies in advance if you’re looking for side by side speed tests (there are some coverage issues where we’re at). Video of the unboxing and new feature walkthrough after the break. We should also have a bit more video shortly, so check back soon.
Still got questions about the 3G? Get ‘em answered right here.
Continue reading Video: iPhone 3G unboxing and first look
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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage
This week’s Ask Engadget question is a bit on the specific side, but it’s one we’ve heard asked time and time again. Thus, we figured it was time to finally get it out in the open for you readers to debate.
“I have an extensive DVD library that I would like to archive on a network drive and be able to access via my PS3, menus and all. I am currently using TVersity to stream videos from my PC to the console. I’ve seen walk-throughs for archiving DVDs, but I haven’t seen anything that will present these via a DLNA server (to my PS3) with their original menus intact so that you can access special features such as commentary tracks and featurettes. I am not even sure that it is possible to navigate the menus via the PS3 remote. Any recommended solutions out there?”
Can’t you just hear the hopelessness in poor Ron’s voice? Throw the guy a bone, will ya? And while you’re at it, throw our highly sophisticated email sorter a question of your own at ask at engadget dawt com.
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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Well, looky here! Not happy with the Touch Dual or Touch Pro, you saucy CDMA lovers, you? Try this one on for size then: the last piece in HTC’s EV-DO puzzle for 2008 has now hit the FCC, the Touch Diamond — and though only Telus has managed to announce it so far, we’re feeling good about plenty of other carriers on the CDMA train recognizing the importance of this device and signing on before too long. We see test reports for WiFi, too, though we imagine it’ll be at carriers’ descretions to disable it if they’re so inclined. Let’s get a move on, Sprint. You too, Verizon, don’t think we don’t see you whistling over there in the corner.
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Filed under: Cellphones
So we can’t help but notice that Apple still hasn’t officially released iPhone software 2.0 for first-gen iPhones, even though most self-respecting gadget freaks have pulled it from the direct download links that popped up earlier. Since the file was hosted and available on Apple’s servers around the time it was expected for release, it seemed safe to assume that it was legit — and indeed, it (for the most part) works fine and plays well with the newly-live App Store. But a few of us here have had persistent problems on our first-gen iPhones: interface lag, crashing apps, hard resets, you name it. On top of that, we’re hearing whispers that the .ipsw in question was meant only for 3G phones and not first-gen units — and bizarrely, the build number of what we’ve got is 5A347, while our launch iPhone 3G is running build 5A345 on them. So until Apple stops being, well, Apple, and clears this all up, we’re putting it to you: how are things going? Any problems, or smooth sailing? Happy you took the early plunge? Let us know in comments!
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Filed under: Digital Cameras
From the word go, amateurs and professionals alike were hot for RED’s (relatively) minuscule Scarlet. After all, can you really go wrong with a 3K camera in one hand and a Dairy Queen dipped cone in the other? (No, no you cannot.) Nevertheless, those anxious to see more as the run-up to its early 2009 release continues can feast their eyes on an all new rendering. Oh, and if you’re the talkative type, tag the read link and join in the 8+ page discussion about that image you’re eyes are still fixated on above.
[Thanks, anonymous]
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Filed under: Cellphones
Things have been looking pretty bleak for Motorola and its attempts to salvage its handset division for some time now, but a number of analysts are now painting an even clearer picture of just how bad things might be. According to BusinessWeek, some analysts are saying that with spin-off plans looking less and less likely, Motorola may revert back to its original plan to sell off the handset division outright, although Envisioneering Group’s Richard Doherty says it “would be lucky to fetch $500 million.” As BusinessWeek points out, that very same analyst pegged the business at a hefty $8 billion just last year. Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura even went so far as to say that Motorola might actually have to pay someone to take the division off its hands. Now that’s an idea we can get behind.
[Via Unwired View]
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