Month: November 2015

Von IBMs ehemals vielversprechendem Betriebssystem OS/2 könnte es schon 2016 eine neue Version geben, die der Community helfen soll, auch 20 Jahre später noch das Betriebssystem einzusetzen. Dafür hat Arca Noae eine Lizenz für den einstigen Windows-NT-Konkurrenten bekommen. (IBM, Betriebssystem)

Der erste Prototyp des modularen Smartphones Puzzle Phone wurde bereits Ende 2014 vorgestellt, jetzt sammeln die Macher per Crowdfunding Geld für die Produktion der ersten Geräte. Ausgeliefert werden sollen diese im Herbst 2016 - später als ursprünglich geplant. (Smartphone, Android)

Horizon Hobby stellt Version 3.0 der 2WD Buggy-Plattform TLR 22 vor. Ausgestattet ist der TLR 22 3.0 mit einer 3-Gear-Getriebebox (4-Gear separat erhältlich), einer universellen Akkuhalterung für quer eingebaute Shorties/Saddlepacks, einer verbesserten Aufhängungsgeometrie, Gen II 12mm Big Bore-Dämpfern, einstellbarer Vorspur/Anti-Squat an der Hinterachse, einem verbesserten Kugeldifferential und einem HDS-Slipper. Zu haben ist der Baukasten laut [...]

This week is an extremely important one for Kim Dotcom and former Megaupload colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk.

They’re attending a crucial extradition hearing in the Auckland District Court that could determine whether the four are sent to the United States to face charges including conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Much of the developments this week have centered on argument from Dotcom’s lawyer Ron Mansfield that the alleged offenses don’t meet the criteria for the men to be sent to the United States. While fraud is an extraditable offense, copyright infringement is not, and U.S. case law backs that up, he argued.

But while Mansfield argues the technicalities, including whether the defendants should have protection from liability due to their former position operating as service providers, the United States has other ideas about whether Dotcom should have his say.

Earlier today the U.S. government asked Judge Nevin Dawson to rule that the evidence of the defense is inadmissible, meaning that Dotcom would be left without a defense at all.

TorrentFreak approached Dotcom for comment on this bold move. Fortunately for him the Judge quickly dismissed the U.S. attempt at having a one-sided battle.

“The Judge just ruled that our evidence is admissible,” Dotcom told TF.

“The US Govt seriously asked the Judge to rule that all of our evidence is inadmissible because in their submission it was not relevant. The Judge has said that he wants a fair extradition hearing and has therefore rejected the US Govt position.”

The decision will come as a relief to Dotcom whose defense is set to wind up this week. While a final decision is not expected for some time, it’s unlikely that having come this far either side will accept a defeat. Both are expected to take their case to appeal in the event of a negative ruling.

In the meantime, Dotcom remains upbeat. After the entire court was cleared today after a false alarm, the Megaupload founder took the time to pose for photographs with fans – and take another shot at the U.S.

Fire Alarm at the Court House. Entire building evacuated. I guess the US case is blowing too much smoke ;-) pic.twitter.com/ZgyjSp6Med

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) November 4, 2015

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Hollywood trade group the MPAA has confirmed they and their major studios partners are responsible for taking down major torrent piracy group YIFY (and their YTS website), as well as the most popular version of Popcorn Time.

The multi-nation crackdown occurred a few weeks ago, in separate efforts targeting the operators behind YTS/YIFY, as well as the developers of the most popular branch of Popcorn Time, in New Zealand and Canada.

The major Hollywood studios have initiated lawsuits against three Canadian developers of Popcorn Time, who also operated the now defunct PopcornTime.io website. The MPAA led studios obtained a legal injunction, which allowed them to effectively shut down the PopcornTime.io, new legal documents have now revealed.

Almost at the same time, the studios obtained a warrant against the New Zealand based operator of YTS/YIFY, and also issued threats of multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Sources informed TorrentFreak that several of the targeted are now working with the MPAA, providing information in exchange for a more lenient treatment.

The MPAA declared victory against these two major piracy outlets.

"This coordinated legal action is part of a larger comprehensive approach being taken by the MPAA and its international affiliates to combat content theft," said MPAA boss Chris Dodd.

"Popcorn Time and YTS are illegal platforms that exist for one clear reason: to distribute stolen copies of the latest motion picture and television shows without compensating the people who worked so hard to make them," he added.

Steve Jobs soll schon 2008 die Idee gehabt haben, ein Auto zu bauen. Das verriet der ehemalige Apple-Mitarbeiter Tony Fadell, mit dem Jobs über die Ausgestaltung eines solchen Fahrzeugs sprach, in einem Interview. Damals fehlte es Apple aber an Ressourcen. (Auto, Apple)

Mit dem neuen James-Bond-Film Spectre werden gleich zwei Kinos in Deutschland auch groß auf Imax-Laserprojektion umstellen. Eines der Kinos ist sogar schon seit einigen Tagen in Betrieb und zeigte bis zum 007-Film die Produktion The Walk. (James Bond, Digitalkino)

Sony hat für die Vollformat-Systemkamera Alpha 7 II für den 18. November ein Firmware-Update angekündigt, das es erlaubt, unkomprimierte 14-Bit-RAW-Bilder zu speichern. Bisher verwendet die Kamera eine verlustbehaftete Kompression. (Digitalkamera, Sony)

Der australische Designer Marc Newson hat in einem Interview Kritikern widersprochen, die der Apple Watch wenig Marktchancen einräumen. In fünf Jahren werde die Apple Watch so wichtig sein wie das iPhone heute, sagt Newson. (Apple Watch, Apple)

In den Straßen von Hongkong konnte sich Golem.de die neue Mobilfunktechnik 4.5 G von Huawei in der Praxis ansehen. Die mehrfach gemessene Datenrate lag weit über DSL-Geschwindigkeit. (Huawei, DSL)