| Asetek Wins Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against CMI Posted: 18 Dec 2014 04:11 PM PST  Over $400,000 awarded to Asetek
Back in January 2013, Asetek filed a suit against CMI USA Inc, formerly known as Cooler Master, for patent infringement on two of the patents held by the company. Asetek requested that CMI must cease and desist the production and sale of its Seidon 120M, 120XL, and 240M liquid cooling systems because the pumps were too similar to its own design. On Wednesday, a jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that CMI had infringed on Asetek's patents. Asetek was awarded $404,841, a royalty of 14.5 percent, which was based on CMI's infringing sales since 2012. The jury decided that CMI was infringing on US Patent No 8,240,362 and, after the trial began, CMI stipulated to infringement of Asetek's US Patent No. 8,245,764. In addition, Asetek is seeking an injunction against CMI with a trial judge expected to set a hearing soon. "Although it is frustrating to have spent significant time and resources in a courtroom, it is rewarding to be vindicated in this way," said Asetek Founder and CEO André Sloth Eriksen. "We appreciate the value of competition, but it must be done on equal terms. We will not accept anyone blatantly copying the patented solutions that we have worked so hard to bring into the market." Asetek is also continuing patent infringement cases against CoolIT Systems and AVC over the same two patents that CMI infringed. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Mojang Announces Minecraft: Story Mode from Telltale Games Posted: 18 Dec 2014 02:01 PM PST  A Minecraft game with a story?
The acquisition of Minecraft developer Mojang by Microsoft for $2.5 billion took everyone by surprise and caused some debate as to whether or not the purchase was worth it for Microsoft. However, the surprise doesn't stop there as a new game has been announced. Mojang has revealed that Telltale Games is developing Minecraft: Story Mode in collaboration with the Swedish developer and members of the Minecraft community. Minecraft: Story Mode is going to be a narrative-driven game that will be an episodic series similar to Telltale Games' other titles such as The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. As to how the community will help with the game, Mojang didn't expand on their role except that they will help it be as "Minecrafty as possible." "Set in the world of Minecraft, the series will feature an original story, driven by player choice," stated Telltale Games on its website. "It will not be an add-on for Minecraft, but rather a separate stand-alone product that will premiere in 2015 on consoles, computers and mobile devices." Mojang confirmed that Minecraft: Story Mode will not be an official story and didn't provide any further details about the world of Minecraft. What do you think about an episodic Minecraft game being developed by Telltale Games? Let us know in the comments section! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Steam Holiday Sale Kicks Off, Runs Until January 2, 2015 Posted: 18 Dec 2014 11:26 AM PST  More discounts than you can shake a Paypal card at
By my conservative calculations, I'll be approximately 419 years old by the time I play through and finish every untouched game sitting in my Steam library. Maybe you're in the same boat, and perhaps like me, you'll head over to Steam today anyway to take advantage of yet more discounts as part of 2014 Steam Holiday Sale that runs from now until January 2, 2015 (10 AM PST). Steam sales seem to come and go all the time, though the annual Holiday Sale is typically the biggest one of them all, at least in terms of the number of discounted games. Here's a sampling of what's out there: - Dark Souls II - $14.79 (63 percent off)
- Metal Gear Solid V - Ground Zeroes - $13.39 (33 percent off)
- Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth - $29.99 (40 percent off)
- Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition - $14.98 (75 percent off)
- Sniper Elite 3 - $24.99 (50 percent off)
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 - $3.74 (85 percent off)
- State of Decay - $4.99 (75 percent off)
- Space Engineers - $9.99 (50 percent off)
- Rocksmith 2014 - $20.39 (75 percent off)
For those who care, you can earn exclusive Holiday Sale Trading Cards during the promotion -- collect all 10 to earn the Holiday Sale 2014 Badge, backgrounds, and emoticons. More than 100 games and apps will get marked down from now until January 2, with rotating sales every 24 hours. Not that it matters what I write in this spot, because you're probably already on Steam stocking up on more games. For the few who haven't made your way over yet, I can only assume you're waiting for a link -- here you go! Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Flips Kill Switch on EU Browser Ballot Posted: 18 Dec 2014 10:55 AM PST  Has it been five years already?
Technology news can make you feel old. To wit, it may not seem like five years has passed since Microsoft agreed to a five-year deal in which Windows users in Europe would be offered a choice of browser upon first boot, but that commitment is not behind the Redmond outfit. Having lived up to its end of the deal, Microsoft has yanked the so-called browser ballot, which may not have done much anyway. The browser ballot came about following an investigation by the EU's Competition Commission into Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows. Microsoft agreed to show users in Europe a browser screen with download links to other browsers for a period of five years, though the company still faced a fine -- a technical oversight in Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 inadvertently removed the ballot screen in 2013, resulting in a $732 million penalty for Microsoft. While it's been costly for Microsoft, there's not much evidence that the ballot screen did much good for other browsers. As pointed out by ComputerWorld, Opera lost 27 percent of its global usage share between December 2009 and November 2014, based on stats by StatCounter. Firefox fell even harder, dropping 42 percent of its share. There's a bit of irony there, as Opera Software and Mozilla were most critical of what they perceived as Microsoft's unfair advantage in the browser wars. What does the EU think? In an email to ComputerWorld, the EU called the browser ballot a "successful remedy," noting that it saw 795 million views resulting in 165 million browser installs. Image Source: Flickr (Robert Scoble) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 840 Evo 500GB SSD, AMD FX-6350 Vishera, and More! Posted: 18 Dec 2014 09:25 AM PST |
| Potential Steam Controller Design Leaks to Web Posted: 18 Dec 2014 09:10 AM PST  Welcome back, D-pad
Had things gone to plan, official Steam Machines would have already begun flooding the market by now, though those plans got put on hold when Valve decided to delay the initiative so that it could have extra time to tweak its Steam Controller. Valve dropped the bombshell just shy of seven months ago, and while there's still no completed Steam Controller in sight, there is a new design that's been leaked to the web. A staff member at ValveTime.net who goes by the nick "Omnomnick" posted the updated design, noting that the most recent appearance of the delayed devices was plucked from files contained within the latest Steam Client Beta update. It looks fairly similar to the previous version except what appears to be a D-pad has returned to the left-hand side. "The most striking change from previous designs is the appearance of a four-point directional guide on the left touch pad. It's not entirely clear just yet how the four-point guide will be used or what it's main purpose is, but we'd imagine the left pad may now be re-configurable to feature as a softer, more diverse alternative to the standard D-Pad by offering more directional input than just the standard four-points of motion," Omnomnick said. Unfortunately we still won't see the controller at CES next month. That's because Valve won't be there, a tidbit the company confirmed to our sister site TechRadar. Valve is instead planning a big Steam Machine presence at GDC 2015, which takes place March 2-6. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Marks Down HP Pavilion x2 Hybrid PC to $199 Posted: 18 Dec 2014 08:47 AM PST  Another solid gift idea
You have to hand it to Microsoft for serving up some tantalizing offers as part of its "12 Days of Deals" promotion that's currently on its second to last day. There's been a little something for everyone, and today, that something is an HP Pavilion x2, a hybrid 2-in-1 PC that Microsoft marked down to $199 from its original price tag of $329. It's also a Signature Edition system, meaning there's no third-party bloatware. The Pavilion x2 sports a 10.1-inch IPS display with an LED backlight, 1280x800 resolution, and 10-finger multi-touch support. It's powered by an Intel Atom Z3736F processor (1.33GHz to 2.16GHz) and 2GB of DDR3L-RS 1333MHz RAM. Other features include 32GB of eMMC storage, microSD card reader, USB 2.0, micro HDMI, headphone/microphone combo, HD webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi (Miracast enabled), Bluetooth, and Windows 8.1 with Bing (32-bit). Those aren't the kind of specs that will knock your socks off, though respectable for the money. It also comes with a detachable keyboard and a year of Office 356 Personal, the latter of which is a $70 value. Interested? Go here to pick one up. And if not, here's a heads up that tomorrow's deal -- the last of the promotion -- is going to be half off a 12-month Xbox Music Pass ($49.90 instead of $99.90). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Forget the Picture Frame, Use Lian Li's O Series Chassis to Hang a PC on Your Wall Posted: 18 Dec 2014 08:08 AM PST  An open air wall-mountable chassis
Have you ever thought about hanging your PC components on a wall? Admittedly I have a time or three, though I've never attempted it because, quite frankly, it'd be a lot of work to secure each and every component on a bare wall, and then make it all look nice to boot. It looks like Lian Li read my mind -- the company's new O Series open-air cases are wall-mountable (and also a work in progress). There are four different models: the mini-ITX PC-O5, mini-ITX PC-O5S, micro-ATX PC-O6S, and the ATX PC-O7S. All of them are in the prototype stage, as Lian Li looks for user feedback from the DIY community as it fleshes out and tweaks a final design. Though they're built for different form factors, each case is similar in overall design. They all feature an oversized tempered glass window so that visitors can spy the entire build. And to keep it slim, graphics cards are installed parallel to the motherboard through a PCI riser card and extension. Cases with an "S" suffix denote water cooling compatibility, with the PC-O5S supporting radiators up to 240mm; the PC-O6S and PC-O7S support radiators up to 360mm. Wall mounting any of the O Series cases is optional (you'll probably want a wireless mouse and keyboard if going that route), as they can also be placed on a desk in the vertical position using an included aluminum stand with rubber grip, or horizontally on four attachable feet with rubber padding. No word on when Lian Li might bring these case to market or what the MSRPs will be. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
