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Er sieht aus wie ein Schlagring - soll aber zum Tippen von Texten dienen. Der Tastaturersatz ist vor allem für den Einsatz mit VR-Brillen, Smartwatches und Smartphones gedacht. Mit dem Tap Strap kann auf jeder Unterlage geschrieben werden. (Mobil, Eingabegerät)

Consumers of audio-visual content – video in particular – are often granted access to different libraries of movies and TV shows depending on which country they’re accessing services from.

Netflix is a prime example. US customers get the best selection by far and even subscribers in various member states of Europe are restricted depending on their home country. This means that those traveling within the region can sometimes be denied access to content.

So-called “geo-blocking” is extremely unpopular with consumers who often go to some lengths, via the use of VPNs etc, to unblock content in other regions. However, last December a light appeared at the end of the tunnel when the European Commission published a proposal which would require streaming services to ban the practice as part of the EU’s wider copyright reforms.

“We want to ensure the portability of content across borders. People who legally buy content – films, books, football matches, TV series – must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe,” said Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market.

The proposals were generally well-received and after a report was published in March which further condemned widespread geo-blocking, it appeared that the European Commission was determined to move ahead with its plan.

However, a leaked document just published by Politico (subscription) reveals that the EC intends to propose exemptions for audio-visual services such as Netflix.

The revelation is tucked away on page 11 of the draft which states the following:

“The material scope of the proposal is aligned with that of Directive 2006/123/EC to the extent possible in order to ensure maximum legal certainty for traders and customers,” it reads.

“This means that, inter alia, non-economic services of general interest, transport services, audio-visual services, gambling activities, healthcare services and certain social services are excluded from the scope of this Regulation.”

Later, on page 18, the European Commission again references exemptions for services offering products that are subject to territorial licensing.

“Audio-visual services, including services the main feature of which is the provision of access to broadcasts of sports events and which are provided on the basis of exclusive territorial licenses, are therefore excluded from the scope of this Regulation,” the draft adds.

While the EC’s proposals are likely to be seen as a negative for consumers, copyright holders will be pleased that the prospect of having to rewrite their licensing agreements has disappeared into the distance.

It is believed that the European Commission will officially unveil these proposals during the next two weeks. Should they be made official they’re expected to come into force during 2017.

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

Erst gab es das Internet, das Computer vernetzte. Dann folgten mit dem Internet der Dinge beliebige Gegenstände. Und jetzt soll es auch ein Internet of Living Things geben - ein Internet der Organismen.Hinweis: Diesen Artikel gibt es auch zum Anhören. Klicken Sie dafür auf den Player im Artikel. (Wissenschaft, Technologie)

Die Vuze-Kamera soll Rundumvideos in 3D erstellen können und misst lediglich 12 x 12 x 3 cm. Acht Objektive und Sensoren mit Full-HD-Auflösung im Inneren sorgen für die Aufnahmen. Mit einem besonders niedrigen Preis will der Hersteller den Markt erobern. (Digitalkamera, H.264)

LG hat eine Actionkamera mit LTE-Modul vorgestellt, die das Livebild zu Youtube streamen kann. Die LG Action Cam LTE benötigt dazu kein separates Smartphone. GPS sowie Bewegungs- und Lagesensoren haben in der Kamera ebenfalls Platz gefunden. (LG, Digitalkamera)

Continental hat eine Technik zur Gestensteuerung am Lenkrad des Autos entwickelt. Mit einem Wisch sollen so die Lautstärke des Radios, die Temperatur der Klimaanlage oder die Freisprecheinrichtung gesteuert werden. Bedienknöpfe am Lenkrad werden überflüssig. (Gestensteuerung, Technologie)

Apple steckt viel Geld in den Mitfahrdienst Didi Chuxing in China. Das strategische Investment solle dem Unternehmen helfen, den chinesischen Markt besser zu verstehen, sagte Apple-Chef Tim Cook. Oder geht es um einen Absatzmarkt für das Apple Car? (Auto, Apple)

Canon hat mit dem EF-M 28mm 1:3,5 Makro IS STM ein neues Objektiv für seine spiegellosen Systemkameras vorgestellt. Das Makro besitzt zur Beleuchtung des Motivs ein Ringlicht. (Objektiv, Digitalkamera)

There's a thriving industry of tech support scammers that take advantage of unsuspecting Windows (and occasionally OS X) users, persuading them that their systems are broken or misbehaving in some way and then charging them extortionate fees to "repair" their machines, or worse, installing malware directly. Many of them cold call their victims, but others advertise in online search engines, buying up ads with tech support keywords and acquiring their victims this way.

That's no longer going to be possible on Microsoft's Bing search engine. Any and all third-party tech support services are now prohibited from advertising on Bing because of the abundance of illegitimate offerings.

This comes a few days after Google announced that it was taking further measures to protect consumers from exploitative advertisers. From July 13, Google will no longer accept ads from payday loan companies. Facebook similarly prohibits payday loan advertising on its site. The advertising gatekeepers appear to be taking a rather more proscriptive, protective stance to try to make advertising a little less harmful.

This week, Nissan announced that people would be able to place orders for its new xStorage battery, a stationary storage battery for individual homeowners, in September.

The xStorage battery was developed by Nissan's London-based design facility with the help of Eaton, a Dublin-based power management company. Nissan has no plans to sell the battery in the US, instead focusing its efforts on the European market. According to the automaker's press release, the battery will have 4.2 kWh of capacity and will cost approximately £3200 (approximately $4622).

The announcement comes one year after Tesla Motors announced a program to build stationary storage lithium-ion batteries for households, setting off a deluge of pre-orders from around the world. Tesla's batteries are only just now reaching customers, but the company has said that unexpected demand for the 7 kWh batteries has led it to expand how much room the company has devoted to the so-called Powerwalls on the floor of Tesla's Reno, NV-based battery factory.

This new generation of stationary storage batteries has been primarily marketed toward people with solar panels on their houses. The pitch is that a stationary storage system allows users to move away from buying electricity from the power company—a battery can store energy produced by solar panels during the day and deploy that energy in the evening, when the homeowner might have to buy energy from the power company otherwise. Potential customers might also use the batteries for more traditional purposes, keeping them charged in case of an emergency blackout.

Nissan's new battery is supposed to be user-friendly, including a smartphone app that will “allow consumers to flick between energy sources at the touch of a button.” The battery will need to be installed by a third-party, certified installer, much like Tesla's Powerwalls.

Nissan did not go into any details about the chemistry of its batteries or how often they can be cycled. However, Paul Wilcox, the Chairman of Nissan Europe, said in a statement that the xStorage batteries would provide “a sustainable ‘second life’ for Nissan’s electric vehicle (EV) batteries after their first life in cars is over.” Each xStorage battery will contain twelve battery modules from the automakers' electric vehicles.

 

This is a similar strategy to one that was recently proposed by Daimler for a stationary storage facility as well—after a decade of use, electric vehicle batteries begin to experience some low-level power loss which might be unacceptable in a car but which is negligible in a stationary storage unit.

Nissan and Eaton said that they expect to sell 100,000 batteries in the next five years as demand for stationary storage grows.