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Dänisches Smartphone im Hands on: Eins ausgewischt

Die Lösung ist da, aber das Problem fehlt: Mit einem neuen Bedienungskonzept will eine dänische Firma die Eindaumenbedienung aufs Smartphone bringen. Aber die kann man viel einfacher haben. (Smartphone, Mobil)

Audio-Technica’s valve headphone amp makes any pair of cans sound awesome

$6,000 amp offers huge range of 120Ω, 82Ω, 33Ω and 0.1Ω outputs for true audiophiles.

(credit: Andrew Williams)

Headphone amps are usually pretty simple things. You get an input or two on the back, a headphone input on the front, and a volume knob. That's all you really need, particularly if you're not looking for one with a dedicated DAC (digital-to-analogue converter).

The Audio-Technica AT-HA5050H, which gets bonus points for sounding like an awesome website that we all know and love, is well beyond the curve. Far from being just ready for so-called "high-res" audio and expensive headphones, it's an amp that can satisfy those with headphone collections valued at more than a London flat deposit, provided you're willing to fork over a cool £3,500 (MSRP $6,000) to buy one. And that's only if you manage to find one in stock at all—the unit I looked at was apparently the only one in the UK at the time.

The AT-HA5050H is a headphone amp that assumes you have good knowledge of how headphones work, that you know about impedance, and that you know about the difference between a DSD audio file—that's Direct Stream Digital, the format used by Super Audio CDs that stores audio at a 2.8224MHz sampling rate—and a "normal" one.

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See a chemical signal ripple through cells and other cool science wonders

“Cool Science Image” contest lives up to name with tick barbs, crystal axes, etc.

In its sixth year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s “Cool Science Image” contest has lived up to its name.

As the name implies, the contest strives to pick out awe-inspiring images of nature or science composed by creative and technically skilled students, researchers, and faculty at UW-Madison. Of the 93 entries, which included 86 stills and seven videos, a panel of judges selected 10 images and two videos. The winners were announced late last week.

The subjects of the winning entries include microscopic impressionism and strobing biochemistry, state lakes snapped by satellites, and the sun’s path from solstice-to-solstice, tracked with a homemade camera.

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Studio Ghibli und Futurama: Animationssoftware für Zeichentrick wird Open Source

Als Teil eines Übernahmegeschäfts soll die 2D-Animationssoftware Toonz Open Source werden. Das Werkzeug wurde für Futurama genutzt sowie vom Studio Ghibli für einige seiner Filme, etwa Prinzessin Mononoke. (Open Source, Applikationen)

Entertain TV Plus: Hybrid-Router der Telekom bereit für neues Entertain

An den Hybrid-Router von Huawei und Telekom kann die Entertain-Set-Top-Box in Kürze direkt angeschlossen werden. Die Einführung der IPTV-Dienste im Hybridnetz dürfte kurz bevorstehen. (Speedport, DSL)

Intelligente Parkplatzsuche: Mut zur Lücke

Die Suche nach einem Parkplatz kann viel Zeit und Nerven kosten. Mehrere Systeme wollen mit Radar oder anderen Sensoren freie Parkplätze erkennen und vorhersagen. Obwohl Bosch, Siemens und SAP in den Markt drängen, liegt ein Münchner Startup derzeit weit vorne. (Cebit 2016, ERP)

Umwandlung zum Hintergrundsystem: Touch-&-Travel-Ticket wird eingestellt

Das Handy-Ticketsystem Touch & Travel wird von der Deutschen Bahn eingestellt. Es gibt zu wenige Kunden. Es gibt allerdings Pläne, das System als Check-in-/Check-out- oder Be-in-/Be-out-System fortzuführen und in andere E-Ticket-Lösungen zu integrieren. (Deutsche Bahn, Unternehmenssoftware)

Google Takedown Request: Netflix beginnt die Jagd auf illegal kopierte Inhalte

Netflix hat seine entspannte Haltung zu illegalen Kopien seiner Filme auf einschlägigen Torrent- und Streaming-Plattformen aufgegeben. Google erreichen unzählige Takedown-Anfragen, aber illegale Plattformen werden auch direkt unter Druck gesetzt. (Netflix, Tauschbörse)

Law Breakers: Erwachsener Grafikstil und kein Free-to-Play

Gears-of-War-Schöpfer Cliff Bleszinski hat zwei wesentliche Elemente seines nächsten Werks Law Breakers geändert: Statt auf Free-to-Play setzt er auf ein klassisches PC-Kaufspiel. Bei der Grafik kommt statt eines Cartoon-Stils eine erwachsenere Aufmachung zum Einsatz. (Cliff Bleszinski, Steam)

68% of Digital Content Providers Geo-Block in the EU

Initial findings published as a result of the EU Commission’s e-commerce antitrust inquiry reveal widespread content blocking across the European Union. According to the report, 68% of digital content providers say they block consumers located in other EU countries, with 74% of all fiction TV licensing agreements demanding the practice.

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

The European Union wants companies selling digital content to citizens in EU Member States to do so across the entire region. Instead, companies continue to ring-fence their content, making material available in one region and not another.

The practice is known as geo-blocking and is carried out by checking users’ IP addresses and other data against commercial blocklists. A decision is then taken by providers as to which country’s content to serve to the user. This means that when an England-based Netflix user travels to mainland Europe, he can no longer access the same content he can when he’s at home.

In part to discover more about geo-restriction, last year the European Commission launched its Digital Single Market Strategy alongside an antitrust sector inquiry into e-commerce. After sending out questionnaires to both retailers of physical goods and companies offering digital content, the EU Commission has now published its initial findings.

Responses from more than 1,400 companies from all 28 Member States reveals widespread geo-blocking. In respect of physical goods, the EU reports that geo-blocking is often based on the “unilateral business decisions of retailers”, i.e simply not wanting to do business abroad.

“Where a non-dominant company decides unilaterally not to sell abroad, that is not an issue for competition law,” says European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

However, the situation with digital content supply is somewhat different. While the decision not to sell physical goods elsewhere is mainly the decision of the retailers, it was found that agreements between suppliers and distributors are often the cause of geo-blocking of digital content.

While 68% of digital content providers told the Commission that they geo-block users located in other Member States, 59% admitted that they are contractually bound to do so by their suppliers. The Commission says that these kinds of agreements have the potential to restrict competition in the EU Single Market and breach EU antitrust rules.

While all digital content covered by the EU inquiry was found to be affected by geo-blocking, the chart below clearly shows that worst offenders can be found in the fiction TV, films and sports sectors, with almost three-quarters of suppliers of the former engaged in contractual blocking.

“The information gathered as part of our e-commerce sector inquiry confirms the indications that made us launch the inquiry: Not only does geo-blocking frequently prevent European consumers from buying goods and digital content online from another EU country, but some of that geo-blocking is the result of restrictions in agreements between suppliers and distributors,” Vestager says.

“Where geo-blocking occurs due to agreements, we need to take a close look whether there is anti-competitive behavior, which can be addressed by EU competition tools.”

The Commission notes that if specific competition concerns arise it could open investigations into restrictive practices and abuse of dominant market positions. However, any enforcement measures would need to be carried out on a case-by-case basis.

Margrethe Vestager will offer a more detailed analysis of the inquiry in a preliminary report set to be published and opened for public consultation mid-2016. The final report is scheduled for publication in the first quarter of 2017.

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