|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  After being denied twice, Megupload co-founder Kim Dotcom has been granted bail by a New Zealand judge, who ruled he isn't in fact a flight risk. To date, the court's rationale for keeping Dotcom behind bars has been that he might flee to his native Germany in a bid to avoid extradition to the US, where he stands accused of generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in copyright damage. And though prosecutors had previously argued that Doctom has multiple passports and bank accounts and a "history of fleeing criminal charges," district court Judge N.R. Dawson concluded the risk of him taking off has been overstated. In particular, he noted, Dotcom has a wife, three children and another on the way, and that "the US government has not shown since [his] arrest that he has access to any money." For now, he's been confined to the grounds of his mansion, though he's not permitted to enter the house itself. While there, he must wear an electronic tracking device on his ankle, and access to the internet (and helicopters!) is forbidden. And that, readers, is where he shall remain -- at least until the extradition hearing begins, likely sometime this summer. Megaupload co-founder granted bail, New Zealand judge rules he's not a flight risk originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  TG Daily | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After being denied twice, Megaupload co-founder Kim Dotcom has been granted bail by a New Zealand judge, who ruled he isn't in fact a flight risk. To date, the court's rationale for keeping Dotcom behind bars has been that he might flee to his native Germany in a bid to avoid extradition to the US, where he stands accused of generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds through the exchange of copyrighted material. And though prosecutors had previously argued that Dotcom has multiple passports and bank accounts and a "history of fleeing criminal charges," district court Judge N.R. Dawson concluded the risk of him taking off has been overstated. In particular, he noted, Dotcom has a wife, three children and another on the way, and that "the US government has not shown since [his] arrest that he has access to any money." Though he's returning home, so to speak, he's not permitted to enter the mansion where he's been living before his arrest (he'll instead stay in a small house nearby, according to Reuters). While there, he must wear an electronic tracking device on his ankle, and access to the internet (and helicopters!) is forbidden. And that, readers, is where he shall remain -- at least until the extradition hearing begins, likely sometime this summer. Megaupload co-founder granted bail, New Zealand judge rules he's not a flight risk originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | TG Daily, Reuters | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Early last week, the European Commission gave Google its blessing regarding the purchase of Motorola Mobility. But the honeymoon has been anything but relaxing for the search giant and its latest power-play acquisition, after Apple filed an antitrust complaint, claiming a breach of the company's FRAND obligations. Now Microsoft is waiving the antitrust flag as well, claiming that the company is reportedly abusing its standard-essential patents, impeding fair access to patents that are fundamental to regular device function -- this time dealing with video streaming and wireless connectivity. Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner has posted an appeal to the company's TechNet blog, outlining the issue and explaining that "Motorola is attempting to block sales of Windows PCs, our Xbox game console and other products," further claiming that "Motorola is on a path to use standard essential patents to kill video on the Web, and Google as its new owner doesn't seem to be willing to change course." The key issue at hand is patent pricing -- Microsoft claims that Motorola is demanding an impossibly high royalty of $22.50 for a $1,000 laptop, and that only covers fees for H.264 licensing. It's no secret that Motorola's patent portfolio was a key component of Google's acquisition, and so far it doesn't appear that the company is making any suggestion that Motorola ease up on licensing fees. As always, we'll be keeping an eye on the process, but hit up the source link below for the full scoop from MS. Microsoft files EU antitrust complaint against Motorola Mobility, claims unfair licensing practices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | That's smartphones, guys. Not superphones, and certainly not phablets (blech). After showing off its slate-friendly ClearPad 7300 multitouch display at CES, Synaptics is back with a smaller 2200 series controller designed for phones. Specifically, modest little handsets with screens measuring four inches or less. And, it'll be among the company's first capacitive panels to make use of the outfit's SignalClarity technology, which promises to boost the signal-to-noise ratio for improved accuracy and finger separation. No word, of course, on which phone manufacturers will be taking a chance on the new tech -- not that we expect to see that spec emblazoned across their marketing materials anyway. Still, perhaps Synaptics will be so kind as to let us test that precision claim when we swing by Barcelona next week. Continue reading Synaptics announces ClearPad 2200 touchscreen controller for smartphones Synaptics announces ClearPad 2200 touchscreen controller for smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In addition to better file management, accessibility and that all important new logo, Redmond's engineers are also promising improved language support in Windows 8. So far, Microsoft admits it's seen this as a "local-market feature," putting the onus on non-English users to track down special copies of the OS or language packs online. But the new OS will bring a friendlier philosophy, in which multilingual support is regarded as a "feature for everyone everywhere" and the Control Panel becomes a "one-stop place" to find and install any of 109 different idioms. These will include 13 new interface packs, allowing commonly used Windows features to be displayed in Scottish Gaelic, Punjabi, Uyghur, Cherokee and other tongues listed at the source link. Lastly, there'll also be one entirely new display language: English for the United Kingdom, with Old World spellings and the eternal blessing of David Mitchell (after the break).
[Thanks, Rahul]Continue reading Windows 8 to bring better language support, finally including English Windows 8 to bring better language support, finally including English originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Microsoft | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AMD's Trinity APU can do some remarkable things, but we still don't know exactly what magic ingredients make its Piledriver cores superior to the tepidly received Bulldozer. Now though, a firm called Cyclos claims it's supplying 'resonant clock mesh' power-saving technology for use in the new module. In speaking to the media, it's revealed that this will help to enable a "4+ GHz" factory clock speed, which sounds high if it definitely refers to an integrated chip with low-power credentials. As for the resonant clock mesh itself, it's a bit like KERS for processors: it recycles clock power instead of letting it dissipate and thereby enables higher clock speeds in "next generation SoCs that also require ultra-low power consumption." We also know that the technology is financially backed by ARM and Siemens and has seen precious little implementation prior to AMD -- which is fine, so long as all that resonance doesn't make our rig hum even louder. AMD Piledriver cores will clock over 4GHz, employ 'resonant clock mesh' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | The Inquirer | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Remember when Google launched its desktop-only Flight Search service back in the fall? Well, now it's made the travel checking tool both Android and iOS friendly. All the key flight-finding features of the desktop version are present: search, discover by location, filter by price, airline and calendar view, and have been optimized for the small screen. Bear in mind that this isn't a native app, El Goog has just tweaked the web-service for the respective mobile browsers, hoping to make those spur of the moment travel plans less taxing. Hit the source link below for further info. Google updates Flight Search for Android, iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Google Inside Search | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Perhaps you've had your eye on Dell's XPS 13 since we showed you a pre-production model last month, but were looking to learn a bit more about it before buying one? Well, you're in luck, because a spate of manuals for the thing has shown up online, giving you plenty of info on the Ultrabook before its official debut. The owner's manual is of particular interest, as it shows you how to do your very own iFixit teardown -- with pictures and instructions on how to remove many of the Dell's parts, including the keyboard, battery, and even the I/O board, too. Naturally, there's also a quick start guide and a full spec sheet available for download as well, so what are you waiting for? Head on down to the source link for a heavy dose of all the newest, slimmest Dell has to offer. Dell XPS 13 manuals leak, spill the Ultrabook's guts all over the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Dell | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
