LG’s StanbyME TV is basically a 27 inch tablet on a stand

It’s been a while since LG stopped making handheld tablets. But the company just introduced a new kind of TV that’s… basically a big tablet placed atop a stand. The LG StanbyME is a 27 inch display with a built-in battery that provides up to 3 hours of viewing time. And while you can use a remote control […]

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It’s been a while since LG stopped making handheld tablets. But the company just introduced a new kind of TV that’s… basically a big tablet placed atop a stand.

The LG StanbyME is a 27 inch display with a built-in battery that provides up to 3 hours of viewing time. And while you can use a remote control to interact with the TV, it also supports touch input. But unlike most tablets, the StanbyME is placed atop a moveable stand that you can move from room to room thanks to wheels.

LG says the screen can be rotated for use in landscape or portrait orientations, and it also supports tilting and swiveling, allowing you to adjust the viewing angle so that it’s comfortable to use whether you’re on the couch, in the kitchen, lying in bed, or just about anywhere else.

While LG is positioning the device as a smart TV rather than a tablet, it has a user interface designed to work with touch input and support for services like KAKAO WEBTOON with support for mobile-like gestures including taps and swipes.

LG says you can even use the StanbyME for video conferencing… although it doesn’t have its own camera and microphone. Instead there’s a removable cradle that can be placed atop the display, allowing you to use your phone’s hardware for voice or video calls. You can mirror the phone’s display to the StanbyME via wireless screen sharing (with Android and iOS support), or use a PC with the display via a USB, HDMI, or wireless connection.

There’s no word on how much the LG StanbyME costs, when it will go on sale, or if it will be available globally. But LG plans to show off the unusual TV/tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

press releases (1)(2)

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Hosting Company Defeats Filmmakers’ “VPN Piracy” Lawsuit in Court

Hosting company Quadranet has scored a crucial victory in a “VPN piracy” lawsuit filed by several film companies earlier this year. A Florida federal court dismissed the claims that the hosting company is liable for infringements of its customers’ subscribers. The filmmakers are not allowed to amend their claims either, as that would be futile.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

pirate-flagA group of independent film companies has taken the piracy liability issue to a new level this year.

After targeting site operators and individual pirates, the makers of films such as “London Has Fallen”, “Outpost” and “Dallas Buyers Club” started going after VPN providers. They didn’t stop there either.

Over the past few months, several hosting companies have been sued as well. This includes the Californian hosting company Quadranet which leased servers to VPN provider LiquidVPN.

The filmmakers argued that the hosting company can be held liable for copyright infringement because some LiquidVPN subscribers were pirating. Quadranet should have taken appropriate action after receiving repeated copyright infringement warnings, they said.

For example, the hosting provider could have cut off the power cord or null-routed the IP addresses of LiquidVPN’s server. In addition, it could have terminated its agreement with the company.

Quadranet Denied Piracy Allgetions

Quadranet vehemently disagreed with the accusations. Through a motion to dismiss, the company challenged the filmmakers’ claims, including the allegation that it is contributorily and vicariously liable for the alleged piracy activities.

Null-routing IP addresses would mean effectively pulling the plug on all LiquidVPN subscribers, including those who use the service for legitimate purposes, it countered.

The hosting provider sees itself as a neutral service provider and it told the court that it’s at least two steps removed from any ‘involvement’ in the alleged copyright infringements.

Court Sides With Quadranet

After allowing the filmmakers to amend their complaints to address potential deficiencies in their pleading, the Florida federal court ruled on the motion to dismiss this week. This resulted in a clear victory for the hosting provider.

District Court Judge Beth Bloom concluded that there isn’t sufficient ground to argue that Quadranet is liable for contributory copyright infringement. This would require the rightsholders to show that culpable intent was involved, which isn’t the case here.

The filmmakers cited jurisprudence that shows that third-party services can be required to take ‘appropriate’ action if they are made aware of infringing activity. However, in this case, the court concludes that Quadranet was not aware of any specific infringements since the pirated traffic was encrypted.

“The [complaint] instead alleges that Quadranet provides servers to VPN companies. Quadranet notes that VPN companies encrypt their clients’ (‘end users’) online activity, which means Quadranet was never aware of the end users’ online activity on Quadranet’s servers.

“As such, even if Plaintiffs sent notices of copyright infringement to Quadranet, which neither Party disputes, Quadranet was unaware of any specific infringing activity,” Judge Bloom adds, while dismissing the contributory infringement claim.

No Vicarious Copyright Infringement Either

The filmmakers’ second copyright claim relates to ‘vicarious’ infringement. They argued that the hosting company purposefully failed to update Whois records, which was seen as an appealing feature by VPN companies that have pirating subscribers.

To back up this allegation, the rightsholders had to show that Quadranet directly profited from the piracy activities and that it had the right and ability to control the alleged infringements.

According to the court, this is not the case. VPN providers such as LiquidVPN would pay for the servers regardless of any piracy activity, Judge Bloom notes.

“VPN companies, not the end users, paid Quadranet for its services, and it is apparent that Quadranet was paid by the VPN companies regardless of whether the end users engaged in infringing activities or legitimate activities.”

Similarly, the hosting provider didn’t have any straightforward options to stop or control the infringing activities either. Disconnecting or null routing the servers is not seen as a viable option, as that would affect legitimate VPN users too.

“If Quadranet were to terminate the accounts of VPN companies, Quadranet would be interfering with the relationship between VPN companies and their customers, many of whom may be engaged in lawful uses of VPN.

“Therefore, the measure that Plaintiffs suggest – namely, null-routing VPN companies – is an impermissibly broad measure that does not constitute a ‘practical ability to police infringing activities of [third parties]’,” Judge Bloom adds, citing jurisprudence.

broad

Dismissed With Prejudice

Based on these and other arguments, the court decided to dismiss the complaint. The filmmakers previously requested to have the option to file an amended version to correct any failures but this request was denied as well.

District Court Judge Bloom writes that the plaintiffs already had two opportunities to file an amended complaint and doesn’t believe another shot is warranted. As such, the complaint is dismissed with prejudice.

“Considering the Parties’ arguments and Plaintiffs’ previous opportunities to amend the complaint, a third opportunity to amend the complaint would be futile, and Plaintiffs’ third amended complaint would likely not survive another motion to dismiss,” Judge Bloom writes.

This outcome is a major victory for Quadranet. The filmmakers, for their part, will be disappointed. However, they still have several other cases pending against VPN providers, hosting companies, and ISPs. So we will likely hear from them again in the near future.

A copy of U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom’s order on Quadranet’s motion to dismiss is available here (pdf)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

T-Mobile’s TVision HUB is a 4K Google TV dongle for $50

T-Mobile’s new TVision HUB is a 4K media streaming device designed to hang from the HDMI port of a TV. Powered by Google TV software and an Amlogic S905Y4 processor, the $50 dongle is a slightly more powerful alternative to the similarly-priced Chromecast with Google TV. And unlike Google’s media streamer, the TVision HUB has a […]

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T-Mobile’s new TVision HUB is a 4K media streaming device designed to hang from the HDMI port of a TV. Powered by Google TV software and an Amlogic S905Y4 processor, the $50 dongle is a slightly more powerful alternative to the similarly-priced Chromecast with Google TV. And unlike Google’s media streamer, the TVision HUB has a built-in Ethernet port.

It’s not not clear if you can actually buy one yet.

According to a product page on the T-Mobile website, the TVision HUB should be available for $50 (or free for T-Mobile Home Internet customers), but there’s no way to actually buy one from the T-Mobile web store yet.

What we do know is that the device’s features include:

  • 4K HDR support
  • HDMI connector
  • Ethernet port
  • USB port (for power)
  • Bluetooth support for headphones, game controllers and other accessories

The TVision Hub also comes with a remote control featuring a Google Assistant key for voice search and controls, power and input buttons for controlling a TV, and a Rec button that would presumably be used for applications that support a cloud DVR function.

That said, it’s probably worth taking some of the listed specs with a grain of salt – a picture of the TVision Hub shows a micro USB port, but the product description says it has a USB Type-C port.

T-Mobile’s new media streamer was made by a Chinese company called SEI Robotics, which also produces several Android TV dongles and set top boxes.

via 9to5Google

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Ajit Pai and Tom Wheeler agree: The FAA is behaving badly in battle against FCC

FAA fights use of spectrum that’s already deployed safely in dozens of countries.

Then-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai smiling and talking to each other before a Congressional hearing.

Enlarge / Then-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler (L) and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai talk before testifying to the House Judiciary Committee on March 25, 2015 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla )

Six former chairs of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's fight against a new 5G rollout on spectrum that the FCC has studied and deemed safe to use. Republicans Ajit Pai and Michael Powell joined with Democrats Tom Wheeler, Mignon Clyburn, Julius Genachowski, and Michael Copps in writing a letter describing their concerns about how the FAA has tried to undermine public confidence in the FCC's decision-making process.

"The FAA should work with the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)... to assess and resolve the FAA's concerns expeditiously, but this debate should not be fought publicly in a way that undermines consumer confidence in the process, nor should it require months of additional delays," said the six former chairs' letter, which was sent to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA acting Administrator Evelyn Remaley.

The "FAA position threatens to derail the reasoned conclusions reached by the FCC after years of technical analysis and study," the former chairs also wrote.

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Concerns about sexism in the aerospace industry land at SpaceX

“What will life on Elon’s Mars be like? Probably much like life at SpaceX.”

The front of the SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

The front of the SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California. (credit: Megan Geuss)

In late September, a former communications executive at Blue Origin and 20 other current and former employees raised concerns about the culture at the company, highlighting issues such as sexism in the workplace. Writing on the Lioness website, Alexandra Abrams and the unnamed employees wrote that Blue Origin "turns a blind eye toward sexism."

The essay ignited a wildfire of criticism about the working environment of Blue Origin, even extending to concerns about the safety of the company's vehicles. In the wake of the essay's publication, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation of these safety allegations.

Now the conflagration has spread to SpaceX. On Tuesday, Lioness published another essay by Ashley Kosak, a former mission integration engineer at SpaceX. This essay has fewer anonymous co-signers (only two) and is more tightly focused on sexism rather than the company's broader culture. But in regard to harassment, its allegations are no less worrisome. Kosak writes about multiple occasions of feeling sexually harassed and her belief that SpaceX's management did not do enough to intervene.

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Google is building a new augmented reality device and operating system

Job listings expose plans for a mobile AR platform intended to reach “billions.”

Google Glass for Enterprise. Google's job listings suggest that the new device and platform would be more mass-market than the one picture here.

Enlarge / Google Glass for Enterprise. Google's job listings suggest that the new device and platform would be more mass-market than the one picture here. (credit: Google)

Google was one of the early leaders in the first wave of modern augmented reality (AR) research and devices, but the company has appeared to cool to AR in recent years even as Apple and Facebook have invested heavily in it. But it looks like that trend will soon be reversed.

On LinkedIn, operating system engineering director Mark Lucovsky announced that he has joined Google. He previously headed up mixed reality operating system work for Meta, and before that he was one of the key architects of Windows NT at Microsoft. "My role is to lead the Operating System team for Augmented Reality at Google," he wrote.

He also posted a link to some job listings at Google that give the impression Google is getting just as serious about AR as Apple or Meta.

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Daily Deals (12-14-2021)

Ubisoft is giving away Rayman Origins for free. Humble Bundle is offering a name-your-price deal for a mix of PC games and related digital comics. And Newegg is offering an attractive deal on a thin and light laptop from Asus with top tier specs. But you know what I didn’t expect to find when looking […]

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Ubisoft is giving away Rayman Origins for free. Humble Bundle is offering a name-your-price deal for a mix of PC games and related digital comics. And Newegg is offering an attractive deal on a thin and light laptop from Asus with top tier specs.

But you know what I didn’t expect to find when looking for tech deals today? A set of true wireless earbuds selling for $0.99.

That’s how much PowerAdd is charging for its C11 earbuds, which have a list price of $32.99. So that’s a 97% discount.

Are these earbuds any good? I have no idea. They tick some nice boxes on paper, with IPX7 water resistance and a charging case with a USB-C input. But the most compelling feature is certainly the price – although you will still need to pay for shipping.

Your results may vary, but when I entered my address at checkout, PowerAdd calculated $6 for shipping. While that’s 6X more than the price of the earbuds themselves, it brings the total cost to $6.99, which still ain’t bad.

Here are some of the day’s best deals.

Wireless headphones & earbuds

Computers

Downloads & Streaming

Other

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Android 12 Go Edition will bring a speed boost to budget phones in 2022

Google’s Android 12 software brought big changes to the look and feel of Google’s operating system for smartphones and tablets including flagships like the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But Android isn’t just for flagship devices, and now Google is outlining some of the new features coming to budget phones running Android 12 […]

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Google’s Android 12 software brought big changes to the look and feel of Google’s operating system for smartphones and tablets including flagships like the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But Android isn’t just for flagship devices, and now Google is outlining some of the new features coming to budget phones running Android 12 (Go edition) software in 2022.

The company is promising speedier app launch times, smoother animations, and longer battery life, among other things.

Google says apps running Android 12 (Go edition) will be able to launch apps up to 30% faster than the same device running Android 11 (Go edition), while smoother animations and a new SplashScreen API available to developers means that even when you are waiting for an app to load, at least you’ll have something to look at.

Android 12 (Go edition) also automatically hibernates apps that haven’t been used for a while, helping extend battery life by preventing those apps from demanding system resources unnecessarily.

Other changes include support for sharing apps with other users via a direct connection to save data using Android’s Nearby Share feature. You can also share your device with other users quickly thanks to support for switching profiles from the lock screen so you can move between your primary profile and a guest profile. And when you visit the recent apps screen, there will be options to listen to the news and translate on-screen content into your language.

The Privacy Dashboard that debuted with Android 12 for the Pixel 6 is also included in Android 12 (Go edition), giving you a single place to see which apps are accessing sensitive data like your device location or accessing the mic or camera hardware. And you’ll see privacy indicators in the status bar when the mic or camera are active.

Android 12 (Go edition) should roll out to supported devices as an over-the-air updates, and Google says it will also ship on some new devices in 2022.

You can find more details in Google’s blog post announcing the new release.

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Turns out that “HDMI 2.1” ports don’t need to actually support HDMI 2.1 features

HDMI 2.1 is an upgrade to HDMI 2.0, except when it isn’t.

Newer game consoles like the Xbox Series X and S support additional features on HDMI 2.1 displays, but HDMI 2.1 can mean different things depending on what product you're buying.

Enlarge / Newer game consoles like the Xbox Series X and S support additional features on HDMI 2.1 displays, but HDMI 2.1 can mean different things depending on what product you're buying. (credit: Microsoft)

If you dabble in high-end 8K TV equipment or own one of the newest Xbox or PlayStation consoles, you might be familiar with HDMI 2.1. The latest version of the ubiquitous display spec adds variable refresh rate support, reduces latency, and offers a big bandwidth increase that allows for higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, and greater color depth. At least, it can support those things.

It turns out that TV and monitor makers don't actually need to support those marquee HDMI 2.1 features to claim HDMI 2.1 compliance. That's the gist of a report from TFTCentral, which points out that the HDMI 2.1 spec actually fully replaces the HDMI 2.0 spec rather than simply upgrading it. So any manufacturer that supports HDMI 2.0-level features is technically supporting "HDMI 2.1" because the HDMI 2.0 spec doesn't exist anymore. And the features we think of when we talk about HDMI 2.1—including Fixed Rate Link (FRL) signaling, variable refresh rate (VRR) support, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and the enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC)—are technically optional.

"Products can no longer get certified for 2.0 only for 2.1, and also 2.1 features are optional to implement, so popular features like 4k120, ALLM, VRR are not required," Brad Bramy, VP of Marketing and Operations for the HDMI LA, confirmed to Ars. "Manufacturers could only implement eARC, for example, and claim to be a 2.1-enabled device."

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There’s a lot we don’t know about ocean CO₂ removal

There are some intriguing ideas, but big questions remain about all of them.

There’s a lot we don’t know about ocean CO₂ removal

Enlarge (credit: National Academy of Sciences)

It’s clear from climate science that we need to drop greenhouse gas emissions to zero as quickly as possible. But it’s also clear from our slow progress that we could use some help with those emissions. One thing that can help is carbon dioxide removal, as it allows us to reach net-zero emissions even as some difficult-to-solve emissions remain.

Carbon removal on land—including obvious techniques like reforestation—gets a lot of attention. Carbon removal in the ocean, on the other hand, has seemed a bit pie-in-the-sky, even though the ocean already soaks up more CO2 than land ecosystems do. A new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report takes up the challenge of outlining what we would need to learn to make some theoretical techniques for boosting ocean uptake a reality—or to rule them out. The report follows 2015 and 2019 reports that set the stage for carbon dioxide removal science more broadly.

Boosting productivity

The report's goal is to provide some direction, both for scientists designing studies and for funders (like the National Science Foundation) setting priorities. The report is the work of a sizable group of scientists organized by the National Academies, with funding provided by a sponsorship from the ClimateWorks Foundation.

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