Three US TV broadcasters, Fox, NBC and CBS, have sued the maker of the device, Dish Network, in a bid to ensure viewers see ads.

Dish Network has filed a separate lawsuit which asks a court to declare that ad-skipping can go ahead.

The networks fear that if viewers choose not to see ads their main source of revenue will dry up.

Sources:  http://www.dish.com/technology/hopper/, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18206803

Sourced by Roy W. Nash

The vast majority of the links in question were ones which took people to sites connecting to pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft’s requests dwarf those of the British Phonographic Institute, which represents record labels.

It asked for 160,000 links to be removed, again because they gave people access to pirated content.

In a blog post explaining its decision to share the figures, Google said it had revealed the figures because it believed there should be transparency when “something gets in the way of the free flow of information.”

Sources:  http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18204411

Sourced by Roy W. Nash

European laws that define what details sites can record in cookies came into force on Saturday.

Cookies are widely used to customize what repeat visitors see on a site and by advertisers to track users online.

The Information Commissioner’s Office said it would offer help to non-compliant sites rather than take legal action against them.

Sources:  http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18206810

Sourced by Roy W. Nash

The technique uses two proteins adapted from viruses to “flip” the DNA bits.

Though it is at an early stage, the advance could help pave the way for computing and memory storage within biological systems.

The team, from Stanford University’s bioengineering department, has been trying for three years to fine-tune the biological recipe they use to change the bits’ value.

After some 750 trials, the team struck on the right recipe of proteins, and now have their sights set on creating a full “byte” – eight bits – of DNA information that can be manipulated using parts of a virus.

The senior author of the research paper, Drew Endy said ”One of the coolest places for computing is within biological systems”, and that they plan to create “scalable and reliable biological bits as soon as possible”.

Sources:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18158131

Sourced by Roy W. Nash

Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in January and is seeking to sell many of its patents to secure its future.

A preliminary ruling by the body recommended that a claim against Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM should be ruled invalid because of the innovation’s “obviousness”.

The patent, submitted in 1997, relates to a way of creating image previews.

The firm said it planned to appeal against the ruling, but its share price fell by more than 25% after the announcement.

Sources:  http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18159189

Sourced by Roy W. Nash

Three patents for a “wearable display device” with characteristics of the much-talked about futuristic glasses were submitted last autumn.

The patents reference such functions as displaying data in front of the wearer’s eyes and playing audio.

The Circus Challenge game, created with a computer game studio, aims to help patients recover motor functions.

Players use wireless controllers to perform virtual circus acts such as lion taming and plate spinning.

It is hoped the PC-based game will serve as a cheaper and more effective alternative to existing treatments, with patients able to play at home.

The project received a £1.5m grant from the Health Innovation Challenge Fund, a partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, to allow further development.

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-18102299

Sourced by Roy W Nash

The website is designed to let users share and comment on interesting search results and connect with “like-minded” people.

It is targeted at students and had formerly been restricted to invitees at universities and schools in the US.

The service integrates with Facebook and is being pitched as an “experiment” rather than a rival to other networks.

Sources:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18161597 http://www.so.cl/

Sourced by Roy W Nash

One concession Google had to make in order to garner approval from Chinese antitrust regulators was a commitment to Android’s openness. Google agreed to keep the platform open to other handset makers for a period of at least five years from the closing of the acquisition.

Now that the deal is complete, Google has already made changes to the company’s leadership. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, who led the company for about three and a half years, is stepping aside and being replaced by Dennis Woodside, a Google veteran. According to Google, Woodside played a pivotal role in the acquisition process. Jha will work with Google to help complete the leadership transition, but only temporarily.

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/240000797

As consumers become ever more hungry for high data rates, standard lower-frequency bands have become crowded.

The band makes use of frequencies from about 300 gigahertz to 3THz, between the microwave and far-infrared spectrums, which are entirely unregulated at this time.

It is used principally for imaging in research contexts, as terahertz waves penetrate many materials as effectively as X-rays but deposit far less energy and therefore cause less damage.

Terahertz wi-fi would probably only work within ranges of about 10m, but could in theory support data rates up to 100Gb/s.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18072618

Sourced by Roy W Nash