| Tim Cook hates litigation, not quite ready to call a patent truce Apr 24th 2012, 22:01  Tired of the ongoing patent wars? Well, Tim Cook gave us some reason to hope. In response to a question about the potential for settlements in the current pile of lawsuits on the company's plate, the CEO seemed open to the idea. In fact, he used the "h" word to describe is feelings towards the process. "I've always hated litigation. I continue to hate it," he said, before striking a slightly more combative tone to clarify, "I just want people to invent their own stuff." So there you go, stop stealing Apple's inventions and its lawyers won't sue. Seems simple enough. The urge to avoid further legal tussles seems genuine though, saying that, if an acceptable agreement could be struck he'd "highly prefer to settle rather than battle." Tim Cook hates litigation, not quite ready to call a patent truce originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | OLED Display Blocks pack six 128 x 128 panels, we go hands-on at MIT (video) Apr 24th 2012, 21:44  How do you develop an OLED display that gives a 360-degree perspective? Toss six 1.25-inch panels into a plastic cube, then turn it as you see fit. That's an overly simplistic explanation for the six-sided display on hand at the MIT Media Lab today, which is quite limited in its current form, but could eventually serve an enormous variety of applications. Fluid Interfaces Group Research Assistant Pol Pla i Conesa presented several such scenarios for his Display Blocks, which consist of 128 x 128-pixel OLED panels. Take, for example, the 2004 film Crash, which tells interweaving stories that could be presented simultaneously with such a display -- simply rotate the cube until you land on a narrative you'd like to follow, and the soundtrack will adjust to match. It could also go a long way when it comes to visualizing data, especially when in groups -- instead of virtually constructing profiles of individuals who applied for a slot at MIT, for example, or segments of a business that need to be organized based on different parameters, you could have each assigned to a cube, which can be tossed into an accepted or rejected pile, and repositioned as necessary. Imagine having a group of display cubes when it comes time to plan the seating chart for a reception -- each cube could represent one individual, with a color-coded background and a name or photo up top, with different descriptive elements on each side. The same could apply to products at monstrous companies like Samsung or Sony, where executives need to make planning decisions based on product performance, and could benefit greatly from having all of the necessary information for a single gadget listed around each cube. On a larger scale, the cubes could be used to replace walls and floors in a building -- want to change the color of your wallpaper? Just push a new image to the display, and dedicate a portion of the wall for watching television, or displaying artwork. You could accomplish this with networked single-sided panels as well, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun. The Media Lab had a working prototype on display today, which demonstrated the size and basic functionality, but didn't have an adjustable picture. Still, it's easy to imagine the potential of such a device, if, of course, it ever becomes a reality. As always, you'll find our hands-on demo just past the break. Continue reading OLED Display Blocks pack six 128 x 128 panels, we go hands-on at MIT (video) OLED Display Blocks pack six 128 x 128 panels, we go hands-on at MIT (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | 365 million iOS devices 'in play,' iPad taking off in education and government markets Apr 24th 2012, 21:30  After the most recent quarter Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer was proud to let us all know that there are now 365 million iOS devices "in play," with over 50 million sold just in Q2. With the iPhone now available in 100 countries on 230 carriers and the new iPad shipping in over 40 countries, the continued growth isn't much of a surprise. Obviously, as the number of devices in the hands of users increases, so does the number of apps, and in this quarter the iTunes app store topped 600,000 apps -- including over 200,000 specifically designed for the iPad. The iPad in particular was singled out as being a driver for growth. Tim Cook said that 67 million iPads have been sold since the first model debuted. By contrast, he claims it took 24 years to sell that many Macs. Oppenheimer said that the education market was increasingly turning to the tablet, purchasing them by a margin of almost two-to-one over Macs. The San Diego school district in particular ordered 10,000 this quarter and has plans to purchase 15,000 more. Even the government is getting in on the action, with the air force using them as flight guides. For more details from Cupertino's earnings call check out our live blog. 365 million iOS devices 'in play,' iPad taking off in education and government markets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Google explains how it searches the internet in under half a second, if you can find the video Apr 24th 2012, 21:06  Ever wonder how Google manages to search the entire web and return results in half a second? Well, RobertvH from Munich did, and Mountain View's head of web-spam, Matt Cutts, talks you through it in the above YouTube video. The short answer? Lots of backend firepower and, you know, a few years in the search game. If you remember the Google dance, Cutts explains what caused that, before going on to give a good idea about how today's version of the site does what it does. If you're thinking this all sounds a bit too much like SEO 101, you'd be half-way right, but as Matt's delivery is so engaging, we're def hoping there'll be a follow up. Google explains how it searches the internet in under half a second, if you can find the video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Google Webmaster Help (YouTube) | Email this | Comments | | SEC investigating movie studios' dealings with China Apr 24th 2012, 20:53  Reuters is reporting that regulators have begun a probe of American movie studios and their dealings with Chinese officials. The Security and Exchange Commission has sent letters to at least five companies, including 20th Century Fox, Disney and DreamWorks Animation requesting information about "potential[ly] inappropriate payments" made to members of the Chinese government. The market in the pseudo-Communist nation is seen as one with huge potential for US-made films, but the state-owned China Film Group has placed strict limits on foreign cinema. However, in February, the group agreed to loosen restrictions and exempt up to 14 IMAX or 3D films a year (along with their 2D counterparts) from the 20 movie cap on international media. Around the same time, DreamWorks announced it would be building a production studio in Shanghai with participation from several large Chinese media companies. Even Disney struck a deal that will see the next Iron Man title co-produced by China's DMG Entertainment. The sudden shift in tone must have raised some eyebrows with watchdogs, and the SEC has responded by hitting up the studios for info over the last few months. Obviously, we'll be keeping an eye on this to see how it develops. SEC investigating movie studios' dealings with China originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Reuters | Email this | Comments | | Apple Q2 2012 earnings: $39.2 billion in revenue, net profit of $11.6 billion Apr 24th 2012, 20:29  How do you follow up a stunning Q1 where you set record quarterly earnings and issue a sizable dividend to investors? Well, if you're Apple, you just keep on keepin' on, shattering even the wildest expectations with "a record March quarter." Leading up to today's earnings, the outfit's stock was down around two percent, mostly on reports that iPhone activations were something other than mind-blowing. That said, shares have already started to creep back into positive territory in after-hours trading. Wall Street was hoping for around $36.88 billion in revenue (despite lower guidance from Apple itself), with upwards of 30 million iPhones sold and 12 million iPads sold -- galling numbers, no matter how you slice it. Just to put things in perspective, Apple nearly doubled its profits in Q2 2012 compared to Q2 2011, and practically quadrupled it compared to Q2 2010. The actuals? Well, we're seeing $12.30 earnings per share, compared to an estimated $10.04 earnings per share. It all adds up to $39.2 billion in revenue and $11.6 billion in pure, unadulterated profit with 35.1 million iPhone units sold alongside 11.8 million iPads. (Of note, the new iPad was only on sale for around a fortnight in this quarter, making that figure even more impressive.) The former represents an 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter, while the latter shows a 151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Though Mac sales weren't equally astonishing, the four million units sold in the past three months indicates a seven percent uptick compared to Q2 2011. The iPod department, which has been sinking in recent years as iPads and iPhones become the primary music players of consumers, still saw 7.7 million units sold, representing a 15 percent decline from the same quarter last year. Just to put things in perspective, Apple nearly doubled its profits in Q2 2012 compared to Q2 2011, and practically quadrupled it compared to Q2 2010. As for CEO Tim Cook's reaction? Aside from grinning from ear-to-ear looking at his growing stash of loot, he stated: "We're thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you're going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver." Keep on telling us that, Tim, and we'll keep waiting. The conference call kicks off at 5PM ET, and we'll be liveblogging it just after the break! Apple Q2 2012 earnings: $39.2 billion in revenue, net profit of $11.6 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Apple | Email this | Comments | |
