Thursday, October 09, 2008

Court bans sales of RealDVD indefinitely

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/415566087/

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It look like Hollywood's won the first round in court against RealNetworks' RealDVD DVD-ripping software -- Judge Maralyn Hall Patel (of Napster fame, remember her?) ruled yesterday that a temporary restraining order blocking sales of the software will stay in place indefinitely until she decides whether it violates the DMCA. The central issue is whether or not making a bit-for-bit copy of a DVD constitutes circumventing copy protection: the studios claim the encryption keys must be read off the disk under the terms of the license agreement, and RealNetworks obviously disagrees. There's a lot at play here, including the studios' argument that fair use doesn't serve as a defense to backing up DVDs, so we'll be tracking this one closely -- it's sadly clear to us that Hollywood's fight here is against consumers having flexibility with their media, since it lost the battle against actual piracy ages ago.
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Posted by Augustine at 6:13 AM

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

DPAC II -- Is The Widget The Future of Digital Advertising?

Advertiser Track: Is The Widget The Future of Digital Advertising? As Publishers, Media Companies, Networks, Bloggers and the long tail use and push the ad widget, will the marketers come rushing in? As widget companies abound and offer simple DIY design tools that make it possible for any size media company and agency to create customized and inexpensive widgets for their advertisers, will this be the next killer app for brands? And how are agencies and brands using them now? What type of communication strategies and approaches are marketers using to engage consumers? Where and how do widgets fit into media plans? And what metrics do you use to track their efficacy? Lastly, do they have the right stuff to be the future of digital advertising? Moderator:  Matt Goddard, CEO, R2integrated Speakers:  Christian Oestlien, Senior Product Manager, Google Content Network Dr. Augustine Fou, SVP Digital Strategist, MRM Worldwide Heidi Henson, Director, RockYou Advertising

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Posted by Augustine at 4:54 PM

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Light bulb networks could be the next WiFi

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/413679387/

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If researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering have their way, light bulbs of the future may be the highway your data gets carried along. A team at the school is working on low-power LEDs which could utilize an optical communication system to carry data wirelessly. Using a technique which rapidly switches the LEDs on and off data transmissions could be made via imperceptible -- yet undoubtedly brain-scrambling -- flickering patterns, and each light would be its own network entry point at speeds of 1 to 10Mbps. The concept is more secure than current RF techniques because it requires linked devices be in line-of-sight, and the technology would draw far less energy than conventional radios. Says professor Thomas Little, "Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires." Yes... and talk about you behind your back. And plot your "accidental" death after taking out a large life insurance policy on you. You won't get away with this LED network!

[Thanks, Travis]
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Posted by Augustine at 3:40 AM

Microsoft set to launch Surface SDK this month

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/413773670/

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In a fashion not dissimilar from one tiny multitouch device (save the outcry), Microsoft's large multitouch device -- the Surface -- will be getting its very own SDK at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference this month. The package, which the folks in Redmond have apparently been promising since April, will introduce developers to "vision-based object recognition" and something called ScatterView, and a session at the PDC will detail how the kit "aligns with the multitouch developer roadmap for Windows 7." All exciting stuff, but if we don't see a giant, multitouch version of FreeCell soon, we might just stop paying attention.
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Posted by Augustine at 3:39 AM

Nikon announces Media Port UP300x head-mounted PMP

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/413849020/

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Just when we were getting used to having most Nikon announcements thoroughly preceded by a flood of leaks, the company's managed to totally surprise us by introducing a new head-mounted display with PMP features -- and it actually looks pretty sweet. The WiFi-enabled 8GB Media Port UP UP300x has a .44-inch 640 x 480 screen that appears to be the equivalent of a 50-inch image viewed from about 10 feet away, and includes a motion sensor that allows media functions to be controlled through head movements. (There's also a "basic" 4GB UP300 that omits the motion control features.) Codec support is pretty slim, but there's a browser app and a new UP media store that allows for direct downloads. Two AA batteries will last for two hours of video or 270 minutes of audio, which should be enough time for you to look thoroughly like a dork, but we won't lie -- we'd buy one of these in a heartbeat if they ever make it out of Japan.

[Via Akihabara News]
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Posted by Augustine at 3:39 AM

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