| European Court Says Users Can Resell Downloaded Software Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:34 AM PDT  If you can sell an old CD when you're done with it, why can't you sell off an mp3 you no longer want, too? That very question is currently winding its way through the U.S. court system, but the European Union dished out a surprise ruling this week that says users have the right to resell their digitally downloaded software as they see fit, no matter what the original EULA or license says.
"An author of software cannot oppose the resale of his 'used' licences allowing the use of his programs downloaded from the internet," the Court of Justice of the European Union said in a press release announcing the ruling. "The exclusive right of distribution of a copy of a computer program covered by such a licence is exhausted on its first sale." Basically, the top EU Court says that digital downloads are just another distribution model and for all intents and purposes, are the same as selling software on physical media such as a CD (which could already be resold). Of course, the court says that if you sell "used" software to someone else, you need to destroy the copy on your computer, or else you're breaking the law. It remains to be seen how the ruling will affect digital distribution platforms like Steam, Origin or the various App Stores, at least in Europe. You have to wonder: will a ruling like this encourage game makers to embrace free-to-play titles even more enthusiastically than they already are? |
| Corsair Launches Force Series GS SSDs with Toggle NAND Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:03 AM PDT  Corsair's no newcomer in the SSD market, but its new Force Series GS SSDs bring something new to the company's table: toggle NAND flash memory. Corsair claims that one tweak has made the Force Series GS drives the fastest models in its SandForce 2000-series lineup.
That translates into sequential read/write speeds of 555/525MBps and a random write IOPS of 90k in the base 180GB model, which retails for $190 and hits the streets today. 240GB, 360GB and 480GB models are also available with higher price tags and slightly changed performance specs. All of the 2.5-inch Corsair Force Series GS SSDs ship with a 3.5-inch adapter and support TRIM. They're fully SATA 3.0 compatible, too, which means people with SATA 3.0 compliant mobos can see transfer speeds up to 6Gbps. If you're intrigued, you can check out and even pick up Force Series GS SSDs over on the Corsair website. |
| Report: Ultrabook Makers Can’t Catch Apple, MacBook Air in 2012 Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:43 AM PDT  At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if Apple's MacBook Air provided inspiration for Intel's Ultrabook platform and AMD's push into ultrathin territory, or whether these new generation of thin and light machines represent a natural evolution of the form factor. What matters is which platform will rule the day, and thus seize the lion's share of the market and the financial rewards that come with it. At least one analyst believes that platform belongs to Apple.
Joanne Chien, an analyst with Digitimes Research, notes there's been an aggressive push towards developing increasingly thin and portable notebooks running Windows, but "these vendors are still unlikely to be able to compete with Apple." Her reasoning rests on the fact that MacBook Air shipments accounted for half of the global thin and light market in the second quarter, and are on pace to surpass all non-Apple notebook Ultrabook and ultrathin shipments in the fourth quarter. Ms. Chien also references shipment declines in June by Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard, which dropped by more than 15 percent and 2 percent, respectively. The rest of the top-six brand vendors increased by 5-10 percent, but are only expected to go up another 1.3 percent sequentially, much lower than in previous years, in which growth hovered around 6-8 percent. Apple just recently unveiled upgraded MacBook Air models with Ivy Bridge inside. Meanwhile, lower priced Ultrabooks with Ivy Bridge are also starting to emerge, some of which bring an optical drive (like Dell's Inspiron 14z) to the thin and light party. A lot rests on Windows 8 as well, which will debut later this year and undoubtedly give rise to Ultrabooks and ultrathins with touchscreen panels. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Intel Appeals Record-Setting $1.3 Billion EU Antitrust Fine Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:09 AM PDT  Even for a company as financially stable as Intel, paying a $1.3 billion fine doesn't come easy, or without hesitation. It's even tougher to fork over the funds when it's believed the fine is based on "profoundly inadequate" evidence, as the Santa Clara chip maker referred to the European Commission's investigation, which led to the record breaking penalty. Intel is hoping to have the three-year-old fine removed, or at least reduced, via appeal.
Intel has taken the matter to a panel of five judges at the General Court in Luxembourg, which is Europe's second highest, according to a Reuters report. "The quality of evidence relied on by the Commission is profoundly inadequate. The analysis is hopelessly and irretrievably defective,"Intel's lawyer Nicholas Green stated to the court. Intel received the $1.3 billion fine (1.06 billion euros) for offering rebates to customers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo with contract terms that "carefully camouflaged its anti-competitive practices." As the EU sees it, Intel was trying to squeeze out AMD, and rewarded OEMs who fell in line. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Motorola Officially Unveils Atrix HD (Dinara) for AT&T Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:32 AM PDT  The phone formerly known as Dinara just got an official debut from Motorola, and will henceforth be referred to as the Atrix HD. It's a third generation Atrix device destined for AT&T, and it will bring with it a 4.5-inch HD ColorBoost display with a 720x1280 resolution (720p), 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage flanked by a microSD card slot for up to 32GB of additional user-added storage.
Other feature highlights include an 8MP-rear facing camera with LED flash and autofocus, 1.3MB front-facing camera, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, micro USB port, HDMI output, 3.5mm audio jack, 4G radio with hotspot support, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The Atrix HD looks somewhat similar to Motorola's newest Droid RAZR phones, complete with a thin profile and Kelar back; it measures 69.9mm by 133.5mm by 8.4mm and weighs 140g. Unlike the RAZR line, however, Motorola seems to be pushing the Atrix HD, in part, as a business-class device with "government grade encryption" and VPN support. Motorola didn't say when the Atrix HD will launch or how much it will cost. At least part of that information may be hinted on the homescreen, which displays July 26 as the date. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| DNS Malware to Knock Hundreds of Thousands of PCs Offline Monday Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:10 AM PDT  Back in November 2011, the FBI and NASA-OIG worked with Estonian police to arrest a band of cybercriminals known as "Rove Digital" who were operating a botnet that would alter user DNS settings to point infected systems to malicious DNS data centers in Estonia, New York, and Chicago. Come Monday, the Internet will go dark for potentially hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting PC users unaware their system is infected with a DNS changing virus.
It's believed that at least 277,000 PCs are still infected, and possibly many more, according to an AP report. Due to the number of infections, the Internet Systems Consortium agreed to operate replacement DNS servers for the Rove Digital network so users of infected systems could surf the Web as usual. On July 9 at precisely 12:01am EDT, that temporary safety net will shut down. Many users of infected systems don't even know their PC has been compromised, but they'll find out on Monday when the Internet goes dark. To prevent being one of them, there are various steps you can take to check if you're infected, one of which includes simply clicking on a hyperlink. For more information, visit the DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) website. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
