Gadgets Future

Talk tough but keep your ass covered.

That might be the motto of companies who want to take on famously litigious Apple by making Mac clones.

An official from Open Tech has said the company is confident it can sell its Mac clones and avoid a lawsuit from Apple. He wasn’t so confident that he was willing to let us publish his full name, though.

Tom, an Open Tech employee who asked that his last name not be revealed to protect him from legal retribution, said his company’s legal team has carefully looked over the complaint Apple filed against Mac cloner Psystar to ensure Open Tech doesn’t meet a similar fate. He added that Open Tech’s method of selling computers with how-to kits for users to install the operating system of their choice — OS X Leopard, Windows XP, Ubuntu or Vista — would not violate Apple’s copyrights.

"If Apple didn’t want to have this problem with us or anybody, all they have to do is remove their software from their shelves, because if they don’t want that software used then they shouldn’t even sell it," Tom said in a phone interview.

Saying Apple has a "ruthless reputation" for stomping Mac cloners, Tom noted it was possible Apple might allege contributory infringement. Contributory infringement requires two conditions: 1.) The company is aware of which violation(s) it is assisting others in committing; 2.) The company provides materials to assist users in infringement.

Apple’s end-user agreement reads, “You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so.”    

Open Tech emerged a week after Apple sued Mac copycat Psystar, which sold hacked PCs with OS X Leopard preinstalled. Shortly after filing a lawsuit alleging copyright, trademark and shrink-wrap infringement, Apple demanded Psystar recall all the Mac clones it sold. Days later, Psystar’s office building appeared for sale in an ad.

Open Tech has not announced a price for its computer lineup. One of the systems will feature a 3.45GHz Intel Pentium D Dual-Core processor, a 500GB hard drive and 3GB of RAM.

Tom said Open Tech is making necessary preparations, as Apple is already beginning to take action.

"We’re on guard for the sharks," he said. "They’re already coming at us."

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 1:38PM
Okay, so we’re trying not to judge this book by its cover, but Taijia’s PSP-860S just reeks of chintzy. The handheld gaming PMP not only plays back the elusive MP4 file format, but it also snaps presumably lackluster still shots with its 2-megapixel camera. You’ll also find 1GB / 2GB of built-in RAM, a USB port, AV in / out, miniSD expansion slot and some form of emulation application. If you’re not dozing by now, you may actually care that it’ll only run you 399 yuan ($59) / 499 yuan ($73).

[Via PMP Today]

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Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 2:51PM
Mizanur Rahman is clearly sick and tired of traditional mousing devices. So sick and tired, in fact, that he’s kicked out a rendering of the Project: Alien Mouse. In short, this decidedly gigantic mouse shoots for ergonomics by providing a place for your wrist, lower arm and maybe your elbow if you’re a small enough person. We’ll be honest, all those gel cushions sure look comfy from here, but the amount of brain energy that would be required to use it kind of puts a damper on the whole deal.

[Via Wired]

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Filed under: Peripherals

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 12:56PM
Not that mad scientists haven’t figured out a way to convert waste heat into energy, but a team from Ohio State University has developed a new material that does the same sort of thing… just way, way better. The new material goes by the name thallium-doped lead telluride, and at least in theory, it could actually convert exhaust heat from vehicles into electricity. According to a new report about to hit the journal Science, the material packs “twice the efficiency of anything currently on the market,” though it still seems as if it’s a good ways out from being ready for commercial applications. Nanotechnology geeks — you’ve got a real treat waiting in the read link.

[Via CNET]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Brando has the new USB M.A.D. Game Pad which was specially designed to fit virtually any gamer’s needs when traveling. I’m afraid it might be just nice for smaller sized hands, but those with larger palms and long digits will find themselves feeling cramped after a while. Still, it comes with a mini-detachable steering wheel for a mini-sized driving experience if you’re into racing simulators. The USB M.A.D. Game Pad will retail for $20 a pop and is currently available for pre-order, with the stock shipping in the middle of August.

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Designer Joongoo Lee has dreamt of this Samsung Costume 2.5″ hard drive concept that takes its inspiration from a ladies make-up compact located in most hand bags. It will fit comfortably into the palm of your hand, and I will even go out on a limb here and speculate that the Costume will be able to hold a maximum of 320GB of storage space thanks to SATA connectivity utilized here. Won’t be surprised if it came with a vanity mirror though.

Nokia and Qualcomm have not been the best of friends over the last few years. The two have been squabbling over intellectual property and patent rights going all the way back to November 2005. We first reported that Qualcomm launched a lawsuit against Nokia accusing the company of infringing upon eleven Qualcomm patents at that time. Nokia’s response included filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission accusing Qualcomm of violating five of its own patents. Nokia was seeking to bar the importation of all Qualcomm chips and phones containing the chips which violated Nokia patents

In a move which shows that its possible for cats and dogs to get along the two companies have announced a new 15-year agreement which will mean an end to all pending litigation between them. As part of the agreement Nokia will also withdraw its complaint about Qualcomm from the European Union. The new agreement covers technology standards including GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMAX and LTE in addition to others.

Qualcomm will grant Nokia a license for all Qualcomm patents which they can then use in Nokia mobile devices. In turn, Nokia will not enforce its patents against Qualcomm, which allows the company to use Nokia technology in its chipsets. Nokia went one step further in the agreement and has even assigned ownership of patents covering WCDMA, GSM and OFDMA over to Qualcomm.

Read more from the joint press release.

Brian’s Opinion
Man, it’s about time that these two companies settled their differences. In the end, the fighting only hurt the ability for them to innovate and consumers who were unfortunately caught in the crossfire. I get the impression that in the end it was only the lawyers who truly benefitted from all of these years of lawsuits and complaints.

You have to wonder what the breakthrough was that finally brought them together to reach an agreement. Was it a change in the guard? Perhaps it was the economy and the fact that the two companies didn’t need the resource drain the patent infringement battle was causing. Honestly, it could have been as simple as an executive waking up one morning and deciding he was sick of worrying about this garbage between the two companies.

Now that Qualcomm and Nokia have settled differences perhaps we will see some fruits from this new partnership between the two companies. Both companies can truly benefit one another when it comes to the consumer market. After all, Qualcomm can’t sell its chipsets directly to the general public and Nokia can’t sell its phones without Qualcomm technology built into them. The duo truly need each other to succeed and it’s nice to see that they both finally realized that.

As promised, Nikon has started shipping its newest camera, the 12-megapixel D700 DSLR. The D700 is already listed at Ritz Camera and is retailing for $2,999.99 (body only). Ritz Camera said that it’s got limited supply of the D700 so if you’re keen on getting this new camera, you better hurry up and reserve your unit now. The store promises to deliver the D700 within 24 hours after an order is placed.

Looking back at our previous coverage of the D700, we told you that this camera packs a 12.1-megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor complemented by Nikon’s EXPEED image processing technology, an ISO sensitivity of up to 6,400, continuous shooting speed of 5fps, a 3-inch VGA color display with 170-degree wide-angle viewing, two live shooting modes. In addition, the D700 is encased in magnesium alloy body. It also employs the Dynamic Integrated Dust Reduction System and Nikon’s Scene Recognition System. This is also Nikon’s first DSLR that comes with a built-in flash.

Product [Ritz] Via [I4U]

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You know how filling up a fridge’s front with your more memorable photos can be a fun thing to do? Well, that is now possible in a radically different manner with the Digital Fridge Photo Frame.

DigiFrame the digital magnetic photo frame is a stylish accessory for your home. Display up to 66 of your favorite digital photographs on the magnetic picture frame – downloaded via USB – and stick the digital photo frame to your fridge. You can even use this stylish fridge photo frame as picture frame for your desktop by simply folding down the back stand. Show off your loved ones and keep your treasured memories safe on a sharp LCD display with a generous 2.4 inch screen. All the most common file types like JPG are recognized and the built-in rechargeable battery of your USB digital photo frame can be powered up via any USB port - a full charge delivers 11 hours of life.

Unfortunately, the Digital Fridge Photo Frame is not compatible with Macs as the bundled software CD works with Windows-based computers only. You will be able to pick this up for £29.99 a pop.

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Summer is here, and Thanko is on a mission to keep things cool with their new Thanko Cooler USB keyboard. It works pretty much the same way as those bowling lane machines do, featuring air vents to keep those fingers and palms dry. Good thing the built-in fan comes with a switch on the front end of the keyboard, as you can turn it off whenever you don’t need it. A trio of fans will ensure that you get an adequate amount of air to keep your hands dry as you furiously type out that report for your boss. I’m not too sure how noisy this is going to get though, but hopefully your co-workers will understand as they too benefit from not having to shake a clammy hand with you the next time. The Thanko Cooler USB keyboard will retail for approximately $62.