Ready, set, litigate: Judge sets time limits for Oracle v. Google rematch

Jury may see a whirlwind of dozens of witnesses in a few short weeks.

Was Android built the right way? For the second, a jury will weigh in. (credit: Illustration by Aurich Lawson)

SAN FRANCISCO—Lawyers for Google and Oracle fought over the final details of their upcoming copyright trial today, debating issues of courtroom technology, time limits, and what type of evidence jurors will see.

Oracle sued Google in 2010 for violating its copyright because the search giant used parts of 37 Java APIs in creating its Android operating system. Oracle acquired Java when it purchased Sun.

Oracle lawyer Peter Bicks pleaded for more time, saying that US District Judge William Alsup's original time limit of 12 hours of evidence per side for a "liability phase" and seven hours each for a possible "damages phase" isn't long enough for the company to make its case.

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Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Rumors have been making the rounds that at least one of Google’s next-gen Nexus devices could be built by HTC. Now expert leaker Evan Blass says that “HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google” which are code-named M1 and S1.

Website Android Police quickly followed up with a few more details, and WinFuture.de blogger Roland Quandt spotted some benchmark results that tell us a little more.

So if all of these leaks are accurate, here’s what we know:

  • HTC is developing two devices for Google, which could be upcoming Nexus phones, tablets, or other products.

Continue reading Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1) at Liliputing.

Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Rumors have been making the rounds that at least one of Google’s next-gen Nexus devices could be built by HTC. Now expert leaker Evan Blass says that “HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google” which are code-named M1 and S1.

Website Android Police quickly followed up with a few more details, and WinFuture.de blogger Roland Quandt spotted some benchmark results that tell us a little more.

So if all of these leaks are accurate, here’s what we know:

  • HTC is developing two devices for Google, which could be upcoming Nexus phones, tablets, or other products.

Continue reading Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1) at Liliputing.

Report: HTC to build the next Nexus devices, codenamed Marlin and Sailfish

Multiple reports give us the first details on new Nexus devices.

HTC's latest smartphone, the HTC 10. Nexus devices usually have a lot in common with the OEM's latest flagship. (credit: Ron Amadeo)

The Nexus line has a long history of fish-inspired device code names, and these code names have an equally long history of leaking via rumors and AOSP commit comments. Today both Android Police and Evleaks are chiming in with details on the next Nexus phones.

Android Police nailed early Nexus rumors in 2014 with the Nexus 6 (Codenamed "Shamu") and again in 2015 with the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X (Codenamed "Angler" and "Bullhead," respectively) and today they're introducing us to "Marlin" and "Sailfish," two HTC-built Nexus devices. The names come from sources Android Police isn't sharing, but "Marlin" was actually mentioned in an AOSP commit by a Qualcomm engineer. This all but confirms the device exists as some kind of Nexus product. Qualcomm's involvement points to the device having a Snapdragon 820 SoC.

Scoring the Nexus contract would be a big deal for HTC. With the excellent HTC Vive VR headset and the revamped HTC 10 smartphone, the company has been on a bit of a resurgence.

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Report: In 2006, a VW executive suggested adding illegal software to diesels

Memos show that the company’s top brass were expecting quiet negotiations.

(credit: Thomas Hawk)

According to a report from The New York Times, slides from a 2006 presentation suggest that a "top technology executive" within Volkswagen Group detailed how the company could circumvent US auto emissions regulations by including illegal software on the German automaker’s diesel cars.

That illegal software showed up first in diesel Volkswagen and Audi models from 2009 and later and then in a handful of diesel Audi and Porsche SUV models. The US Environmental Protection Agency cited VW Group for its transgression in September, leading to a huge scandal for the automaker. Last week, VW Group said it would buy back nearly 500,000 affected 2.0L engine vehicles and set aside $18 billion to deal with the buyback, the legal costs, and regulatory fines.

The Times said the 2006 presentation was discovered during the course of investigations into the company’s actions, and two anonymous sources confirmed to the paper that they had seen the slides in question. Volkswagen has maintained that its top management was unaware of the problem for years and then misunderstood the severity of the problem when it was brought to its attention in 2014.

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Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus is preparing to launch a new 12.5 inch tablet with a detachable keyboard and Windows 10 software. The upcoming Asus Transformer Book T302 is a follow-up to last year’s T300 Chi. but instead of a Core M Broadwell processor, the new model will be available with low-power Skylake chip options.

Other new features include options for up to 512GB of solid state storage and an option for a backlit keyboard.

Asus hasn’t announced when the new 2-in-1 tablet will be available, but Tablet Monkeys says the Transformer Book T302 should be available in June or July… which suggests Asus will officially launch the notebook at the Computex trade show in June.

Continue reading Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon at Liliputing.

Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus is preparing to launch a new 12.5 inch tablet with a detachable keyboard and Windows 10 software. The upcoming Asus Transformer Book T302 is a follow-up to last year’s T300 Chi. but instead of a Core M Broadwell processor, the new model will be available with low-power Skylake chip options.

Other new features include options for up to 512GB of solid state storage and an option for a backlit keyboard.

Asus hasn’t announced when the new 2-in-1 tablet will be available, but Tablet Monkeys says the Transformer Book T302 should be available in June or July… which suggests Asus will officially launch the notebook at the Computex trade show in June.

Continue reading Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon at Liliputing.

Child porn suspect jailed indefinitely for refusing to decrypt hard drives

Man to remain locked up “until such time that he fully complies” with court order.

(credit: Yuri Samoilov)

A Philadelphia man suspected of possessing child pornography has been in jail for seven months and counting after being found in contempt of a court order demanding that he decrypt two password-protected hard drives.

The suspect, a former Philadelphia Police Department sergeant, has not been charged with any child porn crimes. Instead, he remains indefinitely imprisoned in Philadelphia's Federal Detention Center for refusing to unlock two drives encrypted with Apple's FileVault software in a case that once again highlights the extent to which the authorities are going to crack encrypted devices. The man is to remain jailed "until such time that he fully complies" with the decryption order.

The suspect's attorney, Federal Public Defender Keith Donoghue, urged a federal appeals court on Tuesday to release his client immediately, pending the outcome of appeals. "Not only is he presently being held without charges, but he has never in his life been charged with a crime," Donoghue wrote (PDF) in his brief to the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel recently announced plans eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its entire workforce as the company shifts some of its focus from personal computers to cloud services including data centers and the Internet of Things.

Now Intel CEO Brian Kraznich is offering a little more explanation of what that means.

The company isn’t giving up on PC chips, but Kraznich says the focus is now on a wide range of cloud-connected products, which includes personal computers like laptops, tablets, and desktops.

Continue reading Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud at Liliputing.

Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel recently announced plans eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its entire workforce as the company shifts some of its focus from personal computers to cloud services including data centers and the Internet of Things.

Now Intel CEO Brian Kraznich is offering a little more explanation of what that means.

The company isn’t giving up on PC chips, but Kraznich says the focus is now on a wide range of cloud-connected products, which includes personal computers like laptops, tablets, and desktops.

Continue reading Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud at Liliputing.

Judge: RIAA and MPAA Can’t Copy Megaupload’s Servers, Yet

The legal battles between the RIAA, MPAA and Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload have been put on hold for another six months. Virginia District Court Judge Liam O’Grady agreed to stay the cases, but did not grant a request from the industry groups to allow them to copy Megaupload’s data which remains stored at its former hosting provider.

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

megaupload-logoWell over four years have passed since Megaupload was shutdown, but all this time there has been no real progress on the legal front.

Last December a New Zealand District Court judge ruled that Kim Dotcom and his colleagues can be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges, a decision that’s currently under appeal.

With the criminal case pending, the civil lawsuits against the major record labels and Hollywood’s top movie studios have been halted as well.

Fearing that they might influence criminal proceedings, Megaupload’s legal team have had these cases put on hold since 2014, with permission from the copyright holders. However, when Megaupload’s counsel recently opted for another stay, the RIAA and MPAA objected.

Instead of simply signing off on another extension, the movie and music industry groups asked for permission to subpoena Megaupload’s former hosting provider Cogent Communications. Suggesting that the data might not be safe, they asked to make a backup of some crucial evidence the provider has in storage.

“To avoid the risk of substantial prejudice to Plaintiffs from the potential loss of the relevant data in Cogent’s possession, the Court should carve out of any further stay of this case the permission for Plaintiffs to subpoena Cogent for a forensic copy of that data,” both groups informed the court.

The MPAA and RIAA even offered to pay the costs of such a backup, which they estimate to be in the range of $20,000 or less.

Megaupload’s legal team, however, rejected the proposal. Among other things, they argued that privacy sensitive data on their former customers should not be freely shared, and asked the court not to issue a subpoena.

Last Friday both parties presented their case during a hearing and after careful deliberation District Court Judge Liam O’Grady has now decided (pdf) not to issue a subpoena.

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Instead, he decided that things should stay as they are, meaning that Cogent will be the only party that has a copy of the Megaupload data in question. RIAA, MPAA or Megaupload should, however, inform the court if they have concrete evidence that this data is at risk.

“…if any party gains knowledge that any potential evidence in this case, including digital evidence currently being held by Cogent Communications, Inc., is being or might be destroyed, it should notify the Court immediately.”

This decision can be seen as win for Megaupload and Kim Dotcom, as they have successfully averted an attempt from the movie and music companies to gain access to crucial evidence in the case before the official discovery process begins.

“We are pleased that the Federal Court granted the Megaupload defendants’ request for a stay of the civil copyright cases and denied the MPAA and RIAA plaintiffs’ request for early discovery,” Ira Rothken, Megaupload’s Lead Global Counsel, informs TorrentFreak

“The stay will assist the orderly conduct of parallel criminal related proceedings,” he adds.

As requested by Megaupload, Judge O’Grady agreed to put the civil cases on hold for another six months, after the appeal of the New Zealand extradition decision is heard.

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

The Division appears to be broken at a fundamental level, enabling cheats

Networking expert suggests the game is broken at a fundamental level.

A video demonstrating how trivial it is to hack the naive online infrastructure of The Division.

Since the release of The Division last month, Ubisoft has been scrambling to stem the widespread use of hacks, cheats, and exploits that have ruined much of the PvP experience in the online-focused multiplayer shooter. But an analysis of client-side cheating programs by an experienced network gaming developer suggests the game may need a "complete rewrite" to fix major holes in its online security.

Glenn Fiedler is a game-networking consultant with credits on Sony's God of War series, Respawn's Titanfall, and more. In a detailed blog post this week, he lays out what he sees as a core problem of client-side trust in the way The Division's basic networking is structured.

For his analysis, Fiedler makes reference to a recent hacking video that which shows a client-side program modifying local memory locations to give a player infinite health, infinite ammo, the ability to warp around the level and shoot through walls, and more. These kinds of demonstrations suggest to Fiedler that the game is using a trusted client network model, where the server essentially accepts the client-side reports of in-game events like player position, weapon fire rates, item inventory, and even when players are hit with bullets.

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SpaceX plans to send its Dragon spacecraft to Mars

Elon Musk’s company finally reveals the first details of its Mars architecture.


SpaceX announced Wednesday that it intends to begin sending uncrewed Dragon spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018. This is the first step in the company's plan to one day land humans on Mars, which is the goal founder Elon Musk set for SpaceX when he created the company in 2002.

According to the company, these initial test missions will help demonstrate the technologies needed to land large payloads propulsively on Mars. This series of missions, to be launched on the company's not-yet-completed Falcon Heavy rocket, will provide key data for SpaceX as the company develops an overall plan to send humans to the red planet and colonize Mars.

One of the biggest challenges in landing on Mars is the fact that its atmosphere is so thin it provides little braking capacity. To land the 900kg Curiosity rover on Mars, NASA had to devise the complicated sky crane system that led to its "Seven Minutes of Terror." A Dragon would weigh much more, perhaps about 6,000kg. To solve this problem SpaceX plans to use an upgraded spacecraft, a Dragon2 powered by eight SuperDraco engines, to land using propulsion.

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