Hasta La Gadget!

Could Apple’s forthcoming cloud-based music service have a leg up in speed compared to its competitors? It might if a recently published patent application from the company actually pans out. It suggests that just a snippet of the beginning of a song (or movie, for that matter) could be stored locally on a device, and then be synced to the complete version in the cloud, which would let you begin playback “immediately” rather than having to wait for the usual buffering to take place. The patent application also explains that the streaming playback could be adjusted based on the type of communications network, and that there would naturally be various means to authenticate your device and ensure that you actually own the music you’re streaming. Of course, there’s no guarantee that such a system will indeed be a part of Apple’s seemingly imminent streaming service, but the patent application was filed way back in November of 2009, which certainly means it’s had plenty of time to implement it if it chose to.

Apple patent application suggests partial storage of music to speed up streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ThinkFlood is best known for its universal remote control systems, but now it might become famous for something totally different: discovering a way to bring peace to the tiresome iOS/Android fanboy wars. Its new beta app for Android provides complete control over the company’s RedEye and RedEye Pro products, which in the past were strictly iOS-only. In turn, a RedEye system allows a range of IR-equipped devices in a home to be controlled via WiFi — so in principle you should now be able to control your home theater and other kit using your Android tablet or smartphone. But here’s the twist: users of the beta app will need both an Android device and an iOS device in order to get full functionality, because the Android app can’t yet handle configuration. The company insists this limitation will soon be fixed, but we say keep it. If all apps required us to own both platforms, things would be so much more harmonious. Full PR after the break.

[Thanks, Martin]

Continue reading ThinkFlood WiFi remote for Android goes beta, but still requires iOS

ThinkFlood WiFi remote for Android goes beta, but still requires iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 09:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patent firm Lodsys wants a cut every time little Timmy buys a new content pack for Pocket God.  Photo: Emmanuelle Bourgue/Flickr

After threatening last week to sue several iPhone app programmers for implementing a new iOS feature, a patent firm touched off a storm of controversy and even received death threats.

Now the company has explained why it’s going after the little guys, instead of Apple: Lodsys says Apple has licensed the patent in question.

“The scope of their current licenses does NOT enable them to provide ‘pixie dust’ to bless another (3rd party) business applications [sic],” Lodsys writes in a blog post about Apple. “From Lodsys’ perspective, it is seeking to be paid value for rights it holds and which are being used by others.”

Incidentally, Microsoft and Google have also paid for licenses, too, according to Lodsys.

Lodsys sent letters last week to a number of iPhone app developers, accusing them of infringing a patent related to the usage of an “upgrade” button that customers can use to upgrade from a free version of an app to a paid version, or to make purchases from within an app.

Lodsys says that it wants 0.575% of U.S. revenue for any app using its technology.

Apple provides the “in-app billing” infrastructure programmers use to process payments from within their apps, which Lodsys says infringes its patent. In-app billing has been available to iPhone app developers since October 2009, and Apple added support for selling in-app subscriptions to serial content in February 2011.

Not a cease-and-desist letter but rather a warning, the Lodsys letter was meant to encourage developers to “engage in a licensing discussion,” the firm wrote on its blog. However, Lodsys gave the recipients 21 days to comply or else face a lawsuit.

Programmers who said they have received the complaint include James Thomson, creator of the scientific calculator app PCalc; Dave Castelnuovo, creator of the best-selling game Pocket God; and Matt Braun, developer of the popular iPhone kids’ game MASH.

Many apps use Apple’s in-app payment system, so the number of companies to receive the legal threat could soon grow much larger.

James Thomson, developer of the PCalc app, says he has asked Apple’s legal team for help.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Seagate just took the wraps off what’s likely the niftiest portable HDD to cross our path in a long, long while. The GoFlex Satellite is part storage device, part wireless media streamer, and it manages to wear both hats with little compromise on either end. For all intents and purposes, this is a standard 500GB GoFlex HDD with a bit of extra girth, an AC input, an 802.11b/g/n WiFi module and a built-in web server. The reason for those extras? A simple depression of the on / off button starts the streamer up, and it’s ready for a connection in around 30 to 40 seconds. Once fired up you can stream data to just about anything — even iOS devices. That’s an impressive feat, not quite a “first” moment as Seagate would like you to believe (we’ll give that crown to AirStash), but still a rarity.

Our unit shipped with a GoFlex USB 3.0 adapter and a car charger, with the latter enabling users to entertain their children on long road trips — a nice addition, we have to say. Installation is a cinch; just fire up a media sync application that resides on the drive (for OS X users, anyway), and you’re ready to drag and drop files as if it’s any ‘ole HDD. No media management software or anything of the sort, thankfully. The purpose of having your media onboard is to stream videos, photos, documents and music to your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or any other tablet, phone or laptop with WiFi. You heard right — while there’s only a dedicated app for the iOS family, any WiFi-enabled device with a web browser can tap into this. Care to hear our take on this $200 do-it-all hard drive? Have a look at our review video just after the break.

Continue reading Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)

Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Mopho DJ uses your iPhone to track turntable movement (instead of your movements)

Mopho DJ uses your iPhone to track turntable movement (instead of your movements) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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