Jingle Networks, operator of the free directory assistance service that has been emulated by AT&T, Google and others, was awarded a U.S. Patent “for providing telephone directory assistance service in which a telephone user calls to the system and the system will, based on the requested number or type of service, hear a recorded advertisement.” The patent was issued in May and is being announced by the Company today.
If the patent is enforceable, and Jingle has the stomach to try, it will be a significant hurdle for their competitors. The company has raised significant capital (over $60 million), but that is nothing compared to the resources of Google and AT&T. If those companies are serious about this business, it could get ugly in the courtroom.
We knew they were coming, and now Archos really wants you to know that they're coming, with the company's website now replaced with a teaser page counting down to the imminent launch of its new fifth generation PMPs. Don't get too entranced by those decreasing digits though, we'll have complete coverage of whatever it is the company has in store before you know it.
[Thanks, Mike]
We've been hearing about Sigma's SD14 14.1-megapixel DSLR with that nifty Foveon 3-layer image sensor since last year, but it looks like all the hype was just that: Popular Photography got their hands on a review unit and wasn't too impressed. Although the cam earned high marks for color accuracy and image quality, the reviewers didn't see the full potential of the novel image sensor -- JPEG shots were rated on par with the 8-megapixel Canon Digital Rebel XT, while RAW images actually had less detail in them than shots taken by the 10-megapixel Nikon D80. The reviewers also knocked the slow image processor, which they found produced blocky JPEG images at higher ISOs and took 8-10 seconds to clear its buffer after shooting just six pictures in burst mode. Although the Foveon sensor is promising, the review concludes that you're probably better off spending your $1,600 elsewhere -- not exactly a ringing endorsement of the "fundamentally better technology" Sigma and Foveon promised.
Read - Sigma SD14 review
Read - Foveon X3 sensor review
Looks like Summer Infant has a whole lot of explaining to do after one of its baby monitors has reportedly been able to "pick up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis." A Chicago-based mother probably had uncomfortable flashbacks to Signs after her newly purchased monitoring system chose to broadcast video of the mission right on the screen, but a NASA spokeswoman has already deflated hope that it was somehow coming directly from the shuttle. Apparently, a live feed is also available on NASA's website, which is leading investigators to focus on more earthly origins -- the mom, however, will probably just cancel her cable and keep on watching intently "to see what happens next."
Thu Jun 14, 4:52 PM ET
PALATINE, Ill. - An elementary school science teacher in this Chicago suburb doesn't have to turn on the news for an update on NASA's space mission. She just turns on her video baby monitor. black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis. The other still lets her keep an eye on her baby.
"Whoever has a baby monitor knows what you'll usually see," Meilinger said. "No one would ever expect this."
Live video of the mission is available on NASA's Web site, so it's possible the monitor is picking up a signal from somewhere.
"It's not coming straight from the shuttle," NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said. "People here think this is very interesting and you don't hear of it often — if at all."
Meilinger silenced disbelieving co-workers by bringing in a video of the monitor to show her class on Tuesday, her students' last day of school. At home, 3-month-old Jack and 2-year-old Rachel don't quite understand what their parents are watching.
"I've been addicted to it and keep waiting to see what's next," Meilinger said.
Summer Infant, the monitor's manufacturer, is investigating what could be causing the transmission, communications director Cindy Barlow said. She said she's never heard of anything similar happening.
"Not even close," she said. "Gotta love technology."
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