News

Microsoft filed a complaint to the European Commission against Motorola for asserting its patents. They charged Motorola for ignoring their commitments to support the industry standard. The filling was submitted shortly after Apple registered a similar complaint.

In a video titled “Google: Please Don’t Kill Video on the Web,” Microsoft says that Motorola has broken their promise to contribute on developing standards for streaming video and connecting devices to the internet with Wi-Fi. The post claims that Motorola is making an unfair demand for compensation on their patents which hold for technologies like H.264, the standard video format.

Google’s spokesperson told Mashable that “Microsoft’s complaint is just another example of their attempts to use the regulatory process to attack competitors. It’s particularly ironic given their track record in this area and collaboration with patent trolls.”

Patent expert Floriant Mueller says that he is confident that the European Commission will make it clear to Motorola that their attempt to cash on the standards patents won’t succeed. “As a European consumer, I don’t want to be held hostage by companies that use industry standards as a nuclear weapon and restrict choice,” he wrote.

Google is trying to expand their business into paid TV service. According to The Wall Street Journal, last week, the company applied to provide video service into the residents of Kansas City. If the application is approved, the service could be enjoyed within a month. The New York Post also reporting that the package Google offering is including live TV as well as on demand and online access to TV channels.

WSJ, which cites a “media executive currently involved in negotiations to license channels to the service, also reported that Google planned to reach beyond Kansas City and into other areas with Fiber Optic Services from Verizon. Unfortunately, we can’t reach Google’s reps for the moment.

The application to Kansas City coincides with another request to make a new satellite antenna farm near Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It will allow Google to receive more movies and TV shows to be bundled with the internet service in Kansas City, with a promising 100 times faster than the average connection.

However, this is not the first time Google’s plan for TV service to be exposed. WSJ was reported in November that Google was in talk with Disney and Discovery Communications.

Barnes & Noble will launch the smaller edition of their Nook Tablet this week. According to the leaked memo from Walmart, the new Nook will be an 8GB Android tablet and will surely be a threat for Kindle Fire. The memo which was obtained by The Verge claims that Nook’s 8GB tablet is currently arriving in the store and will be available on Wednesday morning, February 22.

For the specs, the new Nook Tablet will be similar with Kindle Fire: Android tablet, 7 inch screen with 1024×600 screens, 1 GHz dual core processors, Wi-Fi access, built in microphones, more than 8 hours of battery life, and more. However, Nook is coming with double storage space of 16 GBand $50 more expensive. It means that Barnes & Noble now has an option to compete Kindle Fire not only for the specs, but also the price.

Barnes & Noble’s CEO William Lynch said that Nook family of tablets has reached the record sales within the nine week holiday period at the end of 2011.

Amazon also claims to have a record-breaking holiday sales for their Kindle tablets and ereaders with more than 4 million devices sold during the season.

A Chinese blog, Apple Daily, has released some leaked picture of the iPad 3 before Apple itself planned to give a preview in early March. The unconfirmed but pretty convincing photos of the iPad 3 look similar to the iPad 2. However, Apple Daily claims that iPad 3 will provide you with a quad core Apple A6 processor and a 4G. This is a pretty big leap from iPad 2 with only 3G connectivity and 1 GHz dual core Apple A5 processor.

Apple Daily claims they know that iPad 3 will bring a 9.7 inch Retina Display, which is the same size with iPad 2 but with 2048×1356 resolutions (4 times higher). The case also showed that it has an 8 megapixel camera in the outer corner. This thing is a fact as MacRumors confirmed the Retina Display last week. The case has been improved and the screen resolution is similar with the iPhone 4S.

However, the rumors about this new iPad 3 are still pure rumors. We’ll have to wait until March 7 when Apple announces the new tablet.

According to some lawmakers in a hearing last Thursday, the plan from U.S. Department of Homeland Security to monitor social media services will be a threat to the civilian liberties and the online free speech. A report from Electronic Privacy Information Center or EPIC claims that DHS paid for more than $11 million for a system to monitor Facebook and Twitter public posts and the comment threads on major news websites.

EPIC said that the system will watch public social media posts for comments which reflect on the government and for responding the government plans. Originally, EPIC tried to access information through a Freedom of Information request. Unfortunately, it was denied.  Then, they filed a successful lawsuit and it was granted by DHS.

Pennsylvania Republican Represantative, Patrick Meehan, said that he doubts the plan. “My guess is that the average American has no problem with other private individuals reading their commentary in online writings and postings in open forums,” he said.  Would you feel comfortable when your private area such as your social media account is being monitored by the government? Tell it in the comment box below.