164043558
submission
fermion writes:
El Tiempo[Google English Translation] is reporting the sales of all 5G models of iPhone and iPads are banned. This apparently is a result of the lawsuits between Apple and Ericsson, and a violation of a Colombian patent.
The decision comes after the court found that Apple infringed the Colombian patent NC2019/0003681, which is necessary to develop 5G technology. This permit was granted to Ericsson in 2019 and is valid until December 2037 .
158517043
submission
fermion writes:
The mystery of how cryptocurrency miners are paying for their energy intensives mining operation in rural areas has been solved. Instead of paying up to 40% in taxes, the miners build mining operations in "opportunity zones". There are few requirements to show these produce jobs or any income. From the article
The law allowed companies and investors to delay and reduce their capital gains taxes after they sell a financial asset like stock, so long as they invest the money in a new project located in one of thousands of struggling American neighborhoods designated as opportunity zones. If the investment lasts for more than 10 years, the profits from the new business are completely tax-free.
Investors face few requirements to prove that their projects will create jobs or housing for a community’s existing residents, and scores of them have taken advantage of opportunity zones to erect high-end hotels and luxury real estate in gentrifying neighborhoods.
145263078
submission
fermion writes:
Dish Network is partnering with Amazon to roll out 5G service in Las Vegas. The will evidently not only be the first cloud based 5G service, but also will allow Amazon to test it network in a large telecommunication situation. Dish will start operating “the first standalone, cloud-based 5G Open Radio Access Network in the United States, beginning with Las Vegas later this year,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. The statement said Amazon and Dish will work together to see how organizations including Amazon and AWS use 5G or build their own networks. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Dave Brown, vice president of AWS’ core Elastic Compute Cloud service, told CNBC’s “TechCheck” on Wednesday that the collaboration with Dish will “absolutely” serve as a sort of case study Amazon can take to other telecommunications providers to show that 5G networks can run in clouds, rather than in data centers with special-purpose infrastructure.
144546500
submission
fermion writes:
Deliveroo is set to begun one of the largest IPO on the London stock exchange in a decade. It has reduced it valuation in response to customer complaints.The Amazon-backed company announced Monday that it will now sell shares for £3.90 ($5.40) to £4.10 each instead of £3.90 to £4.60 each. As a result, Deliveroo’s market cap will be between £7.6 billion and £7.8 billion, instead of between £7.6 billion and £8.8 billion.
Deliveroo said it’s reacting to market conditions, which have taken a turn for the worse in the last week. Half of the tech IPOs in the U.S., and in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, priced in the bottom third of their announced ranges last week.
50700153
submission
fermion writes:
This weeks "Who Made That" column in The New York Times concerns the built in pencil eraser. In 1858 Hymen Lipman put a rubber plug into the wood shaft of a pencil. An investor then paid about 2 million in today's dollars for the patent. This investor might have become very rich had the supreme court not ruled that all Lipmen had dome was put together two known technologies, so the patent was not valid. The question is where has this need for patents to be innovative gone? After all there is the Amazon one-click patent which, after revision, has been upheld. Microsoft Activesync technology patent seems to simply patent copying information from one place to another. In this modern day do patents promote innovation, or simply protect firms from competition?
38000725
submission
fermion writes:
I am sure most have heard about Michael Grimm, a US House of Representatives member from New York, who's campaign headquarters was vandalized. What has not been reported everywhere is that Linux was installed on one of his computer, erasing data in the process. Is this a new attack on democracy by the open source radicals, or it is just a random occurrence?
22595356
submission
fermion writes:
This American Life runs a story this week on Intelectual Ventures, a firm some consider the leader of the patent trolls . The story dwells into the origins of the term patent troll and the rise of the patent troll industry. Much time is spent presenting Intelectual Ventrues both as a patent troll firm and a legitimate business that allows helpless inventors to monetize patents. It is stipulated that Intellectual Ventures does not in fact sue anyone. It is also alleged that the Intellectual Ventures create many shell companies presumable to hid such activity. Intellectual Ventures is compared to a Mafia protection racket that may never actually burn down a business that does not pay the dues, does encourage such burning to occur.
21258840
submission
fermion writes:
An initial report has been released by the BEA concerning the details of the last minutes of Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. According the report the autopilot disengaged and stall warning engaged at 2 hours 10 minutes and 5 seconds into flight. Less than 2 minutes later the recorded speeds became invalid. At 2 hours 14 minutes and 28 seconds, the recording stopped. The final vertical speed was recorded around 10,912 ft/min.
4862011
submission
fermion writes:
The Register is reporting that the Pre Dev Wiki has been sent a note asking it to stop discussing tethering. Evidently Sprint is none to eager to have users tether the game changing tetherable smart phone. The development forum is evidently eager to avoid lawsuits, so has rapidly agreed. Perhaps, like the iPhone, the Pre is going have a vigorous underground. What is interesting is that the Pre, like the iPhone(allegedly), can be tethered in the non-US domain, but even those customers are being denied apparently lawful information to satisfy the US exclusive agents.
2837629
submission
fermion writes:
According to the NYT a judge has decided that Fox owns the copyright to Watchman, not Warner. Is this an example of copyright law becoming so complex that companies can abuse the court system to prevent competition, or just extreme incompetence by Warner. In the current business environment, either explanation is believable. Yet it is unbelievable that seasoned producers would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create a movie that they can't even release. It seems the judge didn't want to bring this to a jury, and maybe daring Warner to appeal, or Fox to settle.
2143119
submission
fermion writes:
If seems that Google Android and T-Mobile has not learned from the bad experience and wrath Apple incurred with roaming charges on the iPhone. It seems that application can switch to roaming and data operation without the user knowledge. Also, according to The Register, there is no way to switch off roaming. Given the backlash that Apple experienced over international roaming charges, one would think that T-Mobile would have built a phone to prevent such unexpected charges. On the other hand, while iPhone lives under the protective graces of Apple, the G1 is a much more laissez-faire business model, and perhaps has no reasonable expectations of such intervention to protect the user.
459550
submission
fermion writes:
Wired asserts that the iPhone Blew up the wireless industry. This article argues that because Apple demanded the opportunity to control thier own phone, and ATT née Cingular agreed, other companies are opening up the networks, and google now has the opportunity to make Android a realty. There are other tidbits. Allegedly Verizon turned Jobs down without even listening to his pitch, a decision they may well regret now that they are hemorrhaging customers. That Motorola and the networks were responsible for the fiasco dubbed the ROKR, something which I believe given how damaged the American version of the RAZR was compared to international version. It also estimates that the iPhone cost upward of $150 million to design, and earns Apple about $200 profit per phone.
304023
submission
fermion writes:
The NYT is reporting that Verizon has banned text ads based on controversial content. While many would agree that, as a private carrier, Verizon have every right to so do, there are other concerns. For instance, from the article, "The dispute over the Naral messages is a skirmish in the larger battle over the question of "net neutrality" — whether carriers or Internet service providers should have a voice in the content they provide to customers." What makes this more interesting is these are not push messages, but messages requested for one time delivery by the customer. If Verizon is going to play Big Brother and censor customers content, perhaps that is one more reason to move to AT&T, even if it does not provide equal service.
162163
submission
fermion writes:
In a major blow to Steve Ballmer's cunning plan to sell Zunes to the elderly, The Register reports a study that indicates iPods and Pacemakers do not get along. While there does not appear to any long term effects, iPods, and presumable other media players, disrupt the operation of the pacemaker. It is noted that such effects have not previously been observed as iPods do seem to be popular with the pacemaker wearing population.
45452
submission
fermion writes:
Xerox is reported to be working on some interesting forms of digital paper. The New York Times reports a 16 hour reusable paper. This system uses a coated paper and special ink to produce a copy that will fade over 16 hours, or sooner if the paper is put back in the copy tray. It can then be reused for a new copy, up to 10 times. According to the article, the rational for this is that paper is no longer used to store information, but merely to temporarily display it. The research suggest that in the typical office many copies end up in the recycle bin by the end of the day.
The main obstacle to commercialization seems to be the question of whether people need this product. Will people have digital displays that will take the place of paper? Will something radically different from plain paper, but with competitive costs and characteristics, become popular? Xerox itself is working on something called gyricon, a system of tiny bichromal beads encased between sheets of plastics. Evidently the beads can be set electrically to either reflect of absorb light, thus allowing images to be generated at will. According to the page, the images can be set by a printer or a hand held wand. The 'paper' could even be combined with electronics to create a flexible display.
So, /., where is our display technology headed? Coated conventional paper? Plastic reprintable paper? Glasses with heads up displays and wireless data feed?
