Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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Barnes & Noble Settles With Spring Design, Licenses Its Alex eReader Patents Top
Barnes & Noble this morning announced that it has settled a lawsuit it was served by Spring Design back in November 2009 in connection to the letter’s Alex eReader (which, coincidentally, is in the process of being phased out ). Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Spring Design will grant B&N a “non-exclusive, paid-up royalty free license” for the entire portfolio of the company’s patents and patent applications. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The settlement agreement announced today resolves all claims brought by Spring Design, which will be dismissed with prejudice. The news comes a few months after Barnes & Noble unsuccessfully failed to dismiss Spring Design’s lawsuit. Spring Design claimed the bookseller illegally copied its screen design for the nook electronic book reader, accusing the company of misappropriating trade secrets, breach of contract and unfair competition. Alex is, or rather was, an e-reader that combined two displays (an e-Ink display mainly for reading, and an LCD screen for browsing). One can view content on either of the screens and use a button to flip the display back and forth b/w the touch color screen and EPD screen. In its complaint, Spring Design said it had shared the dual-display design of the device with Barnes & Noble when the companies held potential partnership talks back in 2009, prior to the launch of the nook. The company said Barnes & Noble later incorporated features of the Alex eReader into nook, breaching a nondisclosure agreement. CrunchBase Information Spring Design Barnes & Noble nook Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Linux Foundation's Yocto Project To Join Forces With OpenEmbedded To Advance Embedded Linux Top
The Yocto Project, a working group of the Linux Foundation , is likely something most of you have never heard of. It’s “an open source collaboration project that provides templates, tools and methods to help you create custom Linux-based systems for embedded products regardless of the hardware architecture.” The Yocto Project has been compatible with OpenEmbedded, “the build framework for embedded Linux,” and today comes the announcement that Yocto is aligning more closely with OpenEmbedded, including shared governance. The Linux Foundation will continue to provide support and guidance to the newly merged efforts, and today’s announcement comes with an impressive list of companies committed to the technology. It’s no surprise that MontaVista Software, Texas Instruments and Intel are involved: they’re established players in the embedded Linux world. But to see folks like Dell and LSI in the list is interesting, and says a lot about the health and success of Linux in embedded devices. Read more…
 
Did The iPad 2 Just Leak Out? Again? Top
Apple is announcing the iPad 2 today. That’s a fact, jack. But the Internet has been busy pushing out leaks — or fakes — the last few days. First is this pic that surfaced a few days back that’s likely the latter, but that was just the start. There’s a whole new set of supposed leaked info for your to waste your day debunking. Well, at least until Apple themselves unveils the new iPad sometime after 10 pst . First is this convincing set of photos from the seedy Chinese gadget scene . Even the source isn’t all that sure they’re legit, but even if they’re fakes, the mock-ups are right in line with all the rumors. There’s a larger backside speaker, flat back, slightly slimmer casing, and dual cameras. However, there’s no Thunderbolt port to match up with today’s other major leak straight from Amazon. Read More
 
D2 Technologies Buys Android TV Box Maker Webia Top
D2 Technologies , which markets embedded IP communications software platforms, has acquired Webia Technologies through an all-stock transaction. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, with development centers in Taiwan and Shanghai, China, Webia was one of the first software vendors to introduce set-top box media player platforms based on Google's Android OS. Webia recently unveiled what it claims is the world's first Android TV solution at Broadband Taiwan 2010.
 
Opinionaided Raises $1 Million For Mobile Q&A Service Top
Mobile Q&A service Opinionaided has raised $1 million in funding today from General Catalyst , SoftBank Capital , Draper Fisher Jurvetson , Mark Wachen , Jonah Goodhart, Karl Jacob , ENIAC Ventures and Vince Monical. This brings the startup’s total funding to $1.2 million. Opinionaided is a free iOS app that allows users to get advice and opinions on the fly. Within the app, users can input a question, determine a category and submit it for other Opinionaided users to answer. The startup says questions range from "Does this outfit look good?" to "Would you switch to the Verizon iPhone?" After a question is posted, fellow Opinionaided users can comment on the question and the app will calculate the percentage os users that responded positively or negatively and will list all comments/ From there consumers can reply back to the comments or create a new question for peers to vote on. Since a private beta launch last June, the app has garnered 40 million responses to about 500,000 questions. Opinionaided faces competition from Mahalo and ChaCha. Opinionaided plans to use the new funding to expand the service beyond the iOS platform. CrunchBase Information Opinionaided Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Want To Own The Company Behind iFart Mobile? Buy It Now For $1 Million Top
The iPhone and fart applications. It’s hard to imagine one without the other. One of the companies that’s been on the forefront of the stinky mobile applications revolution for the iOS platform is now up for sale, and you can ‘buy it now’ on eBay for $1 million . So what does that money get you? In a quite humorous press release , the creators of the iFart Mobile app, first released in the App Store in December 2008, acknowledge that you can buy the entire iFart intellectual property and technology, including the iPhone and iPad application, add-on fart packs, all raw code, back-end server code,the iFartMobile.com website and all associated content and copyrights through the eBay auction. Here’s the gist of the pitch: Stories of its great success became international headlines in tech blogs and mainstream news. A firestorm of controversy continued surrounding the app as people debated whether Apple should have allowed a novelty app like iFart in the store in the first place. Despite controversy and criticism, iFart has earned its placed in Apple history as the definitive novelty app. It continues to receive attention as big-name celebrities air their delight at using the app. On the iFart auction page on eBay, creator Joel Comm details why he wants to sell off his smelly mini-empire: I have launched, run and sold a number of successful technology properties in the past sixteen years. I was the co-creator of the web site that was acquired by Yahoo and is now known as Yahoo! Games. I have written best-selling books on the topics of Google AdSense and Twitter. I speak internationally and domestically to Fortune 500 corporations and small businesses alike. As creator of iFart, I have leveraged this simple novelty app into worldwide fame. However, I am now focusing on my latest agency offering, IMDirect.com, and it is time to pass the baton to someone who wishes to own iFart and take it to the next level. The app features a hilarious sound machine that simulates the sound of flatulence. Fart sounds include titles such as The Wipe Out, Dirty Raoul, Brown Mosquito, Jack the Ripper, Bombardier and Burrito Maximo. Each sound has it's own texture, duration and personality. The auction is set to end on March 11, 2011. We’ll evidently keep an eye on it. CrunchBase Information Info Media Inc. Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Cisco Completes Acquisition Of Pari Networks (Started By Former Cisco Execs) Top
Cisco this morning announced that it has completed its acquisition of privately-held Pari Networks , a provider of network configuration and change management solutions, in an effort to complement its own 'smart service' capabilities. Pari Networks, notably, was founded by a group of former Cisco executives . Cisco originally announced its intent to buy Pari Networks on January 26, 2011. Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but Pari Networks employees are to become part of Cisco's Technical Services.
 
The Pros And Cons Of Facebook Comments Top
Today, Facebook rolled out a new commenting system for blogs and third-party sites. We’ve implemented it here on TechCrunch, and after a few hours of the system being live it is obvious that it has its share of pros and cons. Readers have certainly noticed, and there is already a ton debate about whether this is good or bad for the Internet. It is certainly not perfect. Facebook comments don’t support Twitter or Google logins. It doesn’t yet allow sites to archive their comments to make backups (although an API for that is forthcoming I am told), and switching away from Facebook comments after a few months on the system looks like it will be a hassle (data portability anyone?). Some corporations block Facebook, which kills it as a commenting system for that subset of users. In one fell swoop it could hurt Disqus , which is a great startup that’s been perfecting its commenting system for years. And there are lots of little bugs we’ve noticed that hopefully will be fixed soon (we were manually moderating every comment on TechCrunch until a few minutes ago, and you still can’t see a comment count at the top of each post like you could before). On the other hand, it also has some real advantages. Primary among these is that it requires commenters to use their real identities. In the past few hours, most of the anonymous trolls who have come to call TechCrunch comments a second home are gone. Of course, some people don’t want to comment with their real names for good reason (they want to speak freely without fear of reprisals), but for the most part in practice anonymity was abused. It was used mostly as a shield to hide behind and throw out invective. Have the trolls really vanished or will they return? I certainly hope they are gone. We have fewer comments in general on most posts today, but the conversations are much more civil and interesting. The other main benefit is social virality. When you comment on TechCrunch, your comment also appears in your Facebook stream with a link back to the post (unless you opt out of that option in the comment box). It would be better if the link went right to your comment instead of to the post in general, but that is a feature that can be added. It brings in more readers from Facebook who are pulled in to see what their friends said. So what are the results? So far today, Facebook is our No. 2 referring site, after AOL (thank you, Justin Bieber ). It is beating out Twitter, which is usually our top source of referring traffic. This viral effect would be twice as powerful, of course, if people could use their Twitter IDs as well. Pros Real names and identities greatly reduces the number of trolls and anonymous cowards in comments. Social virality boosts traffic by creating a feedback loop between Facebook and participating sites.  Friends pull in their friends, creating a social entry point to your site. Automatic sign-in if you already signed into Facebook elsewhere, lowers the barriers to commenting. Most “liked” comments get voted to the top.  It also knows who your friends are, so you will see those comments first. Cons No support for Twitter or Google IDs, which leaves out the other half of the social Web. No backups and other lock-ins will make it hard for sites to leave. If you work somewhere that blocks Facebook, you are out of luck. Your friends might be surprised to find their replies in your Facebook News stream reproduced on another site’s comments.  Expect a backlash . Moderation bugs, no view counts at the top of posts or ways to highlight site owners/writers in comments. What do you think are the biggest pros and cons? @ScepticGeek Mahendra Palsule I don't think FB offers any backup for comments, unlike Disqus does with WordPress. Also, issue of single-point-of-failure. about 21 hours ago via TweetDeck Retweet Reply @alexia Alexia Tsotsis The worst thing about Facebook Comments is that now all our comments are people bitching about Facebook Comments. about 17 hours ago via Seesmic Desktop Retweet Reply CrunchBase Information Facebook DISQUS Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Charlie Sheen, Now On Twitter At @CharlieSheen Top
Because if I don’t write this somebody else will: After blazing a colorful trail through some obscure radio show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, TMZ, CNN and so on, media obsession of the moment Charlie Sheen has brought his antics to Twitter. It looks like Sheen was  just set up with a “Verified” account at @CharlieSheen. @everydaydude Aaron Durand Somebody just helped set up @ CharlieSheen . The things I do for you guys. about 17 hours ago via web Retweet Reply While the account does seem pretty boring and lacks an image currently, I’m guessing that it was set up as more of a counter measure to prevent parody accounts like the one below (which sneakily uses a capital “I” instead of an “L” in Charlie) from continuing to, um, parody unchallenged. It’s testament to the times we live in that Sheen or someone on behalf of Sheen would consider Twitter an important enough arena to pin down. I mean, it’s not like he’s worried about his Myspace profile. In any case, “Followed” — By me and everybody else in the world. Update: It took the account less than an hour to amass 100K followers, all awaiting what promises to be a very heavily covered first tweet. Update 2: And he’s tweeted! And I called it. Also: His bio? “Unemployed Winner….,” referring to his now signature catchphrase. Update 3: Curiouser and curiouser. @TechmemeFH Techmeme Firehose The @ AdlyAds and @ Twitter team signed up Charlie Sheen to Twitter today. 250,000 followers in… http://j.mp/gxKuP0 http://techme.me/BF1G about 11 hours ago via Techmeme Retweet Reply Thanks:  Samir CrunchBase Information Twitter Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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