Google: No Bias from Newsbot
"Google News trumpets its ability to stay abreast of current events ‘solely by computer algorithms without human intervention.’ But the robot approach has come under fire. Rather than representing news, the bots often reflect a bias that exists on the Net.
"Search for, say, John Kerry, and you’ll get fringe sites like s5000.com. We asked Krishna Bharat, chief scientist for Google News, if he should put a few pulses on the payroll for quality control."
Lucas Graves. Google’s Newsbot Isn’t Biased!. Wired. Dec. 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Nintendo Handhelds to Add Music & Video
"Nintendo will begin selling an adaptor for its DS and Game Boy Advance handheld game players to allow them to play music and video, the company said, matching a popular feature on Sony’s portable game machine.
"Nintendo is in a heated battle to defend its dominant position in the lucrative handheld market against new competitor Sony, which launched the PlayStation Portable (PSP), its first ever mobile game device, on Dec. 12 in Japan.
"Nintendo’s DS, launched in the United States on Nov. 21 and in Japan on Dec. 2, has been flying off the shelves. The PSP has generated an equal level of buzz among game fans, in large part because it can also play back music and movie files"
Reuters. Nintendo Plugs Video Into Game Handhelds. News.com. Dec. 15, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Nintendo Handhelds to Add Music & Video
"Nintendo will begin selling an adaptor for its DS and Game Boy Advance handheld game players to allow them to play music and video, the company said, matching a popular feature on Sony’s portable game machine.
"Nintendo is in a heated battle to defend its dominant position in the lucrative handheld market against new competitor Sony, which launched the PlayStation Portable (PSP), its first ever mobile game device, on Dec. 12 in Japan.
"Nintendo’s DS, launched in the United States on Nov. 21 and in Japan on Dec. 2, has been flying off the shelves. The PSP has generated an equal level of buzz among game fans, in large part because it can also play back music and movie files"
Reuters. Nintendo Plugs Video Into Game Handhelds. News.com. Dec. 15, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Court Rules RIM Infringed on NTP Patent
"A U.S. appeals court upheld a patent infringement finding against BlackBerry e-mail device maker Research In Motion Ltd. on Tuesday, but struck down part of the ruling and sent it back to a lower court for further proceedings.
"Shares of Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM soared more than 10 percent on news that a decision had been reached, but erased those gains after the court released details of the decision. Trading was then halted. Analysts offered widely divided opinions on whether the decision was mainly positive or negative for RIM.
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a lower court had ‘correctly found infringement’ in the case that pitted RIM against patent holding company NTP Inc."
Jeffrey Hodgson and Peter Kaplan. BlackBerry Maker’s Patent Suit Upheld. WashingtonPost.com. Dec. 14, 2004.
See also:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. NTP, Inc., v. Research In Motion, LTD.. (.pdf) Dec. 14, 2004.
John Shinal. Appeals Court: RIM Violated Patents. CBS MarketWatch. Dec. 14, 2004.
Roy Mark. Court Rules RIM Infringed. InternetNews.com. Dec. 14, 2004.
Mike Dano. Mixed Ruling in RIM Patent Suit Could Affect Entire Wireless E-mail Market. RCR Wireless News. Dec. 15, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Film Group Sues DVD Jukebox Maker
"A Hollywood-backed technology group is suing a high-end home theater system company, contending that its home DVD jukebox technology is illegal.
"The DVD Copy Control Association, the group that owns the copy-protection technology contained on DVDs, said a company called Kaleidescape is offering products that illegally make copies of DVDs. The company, which has won several recent consumer electronics awards, said it has worked closely with the DVD CCA for more than a year, and will fight the suit, filed Tuesday.
"Kaleidescape creates expensive consumer electronics networks that upload the full contents of as many as 500 DVDs to a home server, and allow the owner to browse through the movies without later using the DVDs themselves. That’s exactly what the copy-protection technology on DVDs, called Content Scramble System (CSS) was meant to prevent, the Hollywood-backed group said."
John Borland. Hollywood Allies Sue DVD Jukebox Maker. News.com. Dec. 7, 2004.
See also:
Tina Harlan. Home Theater Maker Kaleidescape Hit with Copyright Suit. E-Commerce Times. Dec. 9, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Major Libraries, Google Partner to Digitize Collections
"Five prestigious university and public libraries have reached agreement with Google Inc. to digitize millions of volumes in their collections and make portions of the text available for free to computer users online, the search giant plans to announce today.
"The collaboration is likely to rekindle debate about the extent to which books should be available on the Internet. Some publishers worry that such efforts will depress sales. But the libraries say online access can be a boon to researchers and a benefit to people who do not have access to high-quality collections.
"Initially, some of the libraries plan to make available the full text of books that are in the public domain while offering snippets or excepts of books protected by copyright."
David A. Vise. Google to Digitize Some Library Collections. WashingtonPost.com. Dec. 14, 2004.
Cynthia L. Webb. Google — 21st Century Dewey Decimal System. WashingtonPost.com. Dec. 14, 2004.
See also:
Hiawatha Bray. Google to Index Works at Harvard, Other Major Libraries. The Boston Globe. Dec. 14, 2004.
Gary Price. Google Partners with Oxford, Harvard & Others to Digitize Libraries. Search Engine Watch. Dec. 14, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
EA and NFL Sign Exclusive Licensing Deal
"The video game maker Electronic Arts announced an exclusive five-year deal with the National Football League and its players yesterday to design games using the N.F.L. brand, stadiums, player names and uniforms.
"The deal could be a boon for Electronic Arts, industry analysts said, particularly given what has turned out to be surprisingly intense competition in the sports video game market in recent months.
"Since September, Electronic Arts has been forced to cut prices nearly in half, to $29.95, to compete with a new line of low-cost sports games introduced by its two chief rivals, Sega and Take Two Interactive."
Matt Hicks. Electronic Arts Gets an Exclusive N.F.L. Deal. WashingtonPost.com. Dec. 14, 2004.
See also:
Reuters. EA Signs Exclusive NFL Video Game Deal. News.com. Dec. 13, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
COPYCENSE 