Recently we told you how Apple and Microsoft are engaged in a battle over the intricacy of how words are interpreted. Now the two are disputing the way to put those words on paper. As we noted, Microsoft is objecting to Apple’s attempts to trademark the term “App Store”, which has led to an argument […]
An alleged methamphetamine dealer may have his comic book collection seized by the US government. But this isn’t just a case of the legal system taking away a couple of issues in the style of a disappointed parent disciplining a troublesome youth. Instead it’s a proposed seizure of around $500,000 in what prosecutors call criminal […]
Sony has confirmed that PlayStation 3 consoles have been seized by customs officials in the Netherlands over a patent dispute. The case involves claims by LG that the Blu-Ray feature of the console violates a patent it holds. The relevant patents appear to cover a very specific element of the technology as they don’t affect […]
You might think it is tough to have a lengthy argument about the meaning of two words. But in the case of Apple and Microsoft, you’d be wrong. Apple has now fired back in a legal row with Microsoft over whether or not the term “App store” should be protected as intellectual property. The dispute […]
A NASA telescope has discovered two planets sharing an identical orbit. It’s the first time that’s been found in reality, and gives a little more weight (or should that be mass?) to a theory about the formation of our Moon. The Kepler telescope is housed on a spacecraft that trails our solar system in a […]
Wartime notes belonging to the “father of modern computing”, Alan Turing, have been saved from falling into private hands. They’ll now be on display in Britain’s Bletchley Park. That’s particularly appropriate because Bletchley Park is where Turing and others worked to decipher the Enigma encryption system used for German military communication. This successful work is […]
It turns out some things are too creepy even for Facebook. The site has blocked an application that allowed users to get an automated notification when the relationship status of a friend on the site changed. If you can’t see a possible use for that, you’re probably a well-balanced, healthy minded individual. For the rest […]
Apple may be facing antitrust scrutiny over the way it allows publishers to sell content on its portable devices. But while there’s interest among US authorities, European regulators appear more relaxed on the issue. Both the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department are said to be taking an initial interest in the subscriptions: neither body […]
The IBM computer “Watson” has established a clear lead after two days of its gameshow challenge against Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. But thankfully for those fearing 2011 may be the year the machines take over, it has made a couple of flubs. The three-episode challenge is an attempt to test IBM’s abilities […]
Google has cracked down on what has been described as the most ambitious attempt to unfairly influence its search rankings. And the offender? J.C. Penney. An online search expert says the retail store benefited from a mass-scale exploitation of one of the key elements of Google’s ranking: inbound links. While the exact algorithm Google uses […]