Hasta La Gadget!

Perhaps one of the least protective iPad cases available but simultaneously one of the coolest ones, Colorware’s new Grip for iPad is the first product that Colorware actually manufactures. The company has made its success on providing customization and color options for a gaming consoles, laptops, and other devices that you couldn’t get from their manufacturers.

The new Grip for iPad is made of aircraft aluminum and fits snugly around your iPad to keep it protected. It features a prominent handle on the side of the case, and comes in virtually any color you choose. It’s available in three different models: the version that fits an unpainted, stock iPad, or one of the two versions that fits an iPad that’s been painted by ColorWare with wither a glossy finish or the “softtouch” matte finish.

The Grip for iPad will cost you $300, regardless of which model you select, and each one comes with tools and instructions to make sure you install it around your iPad for the best fit and protection. New orders will ship in 3-4 weeks.

Remember what I said yesterday, about “patent infringement suits mak[ing] strange bedfellows?” It was in reference to the fact that Microsoft’s frequent competitors, Apple and Google (not to mention a slew of other folks like Walmart, and Toyota), had joined with the Redmond in its fight to lower the bar for the defense in patent cases.

Now you can add another surprising name to the list: The Electronic Frontier Foundation. The organization tasked with defending the rights of technology consumers is siding with Microsoft in its multi-million dollar battle against i4i.

The organization this week allied itself with the software giant, filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, alongside Public Knowledge, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the Apache Software Foundation.

According to the EFF, “the Federal Circuit’s requirement that an accused infringer prove patent invalidity by ‘clear and convincing’ evidence unfairly burdens patent defendants, especially in the free and open source software context.”

A court awarded i4i $290 million in its battle against Microsoft and also ordered Redmond to stop selling Word in its current form. Microsoft has already unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the ruling.

It’s like the saying goes, patent infringement suits make strange bedfellows. Or something like that. Microsoft has been joined by an impressive cast of companies, in its battle against i4i.

The software giant appealed to the Supreme Court back in August, in an attempt to reverse a $290 million award over a feature in Microsoft Word said to infringe on an i4i patent. The company is looking to redefine the way patents are validated–and it has some high-profile allies.

Some of the biggest corporations in the world (including a handful of Microsoft competitors) have filed amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs, including Apple, Google, Intel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Facebook, Walmart, and Toyota.

Microsoft is battling to lower the bar for the defense in such suits. Says SeattlePI,

During infringement lawsuits, courts apply the “clear and convincing evidence” standard to determine whether a patent — one already approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — is indeed valid. Microsoft, and other companies that deal heavily in intellectual property, would like to see the standard changed to “preponderance of evidence.”

The new rules, at least in theory, would help protect large companies from so-called “patent trolls.”

Following rumors that the United Nations tapped astrophysicist Mazlan Othman to be the official Ambassador of Earth should we come in contact with intelligent extraterrestrials, the web went into speculation overdrive pondering just what international powers-that-be might know. (Ms. Othman has denied the space promotion.)

The diplomat-to-the-stars story broke at the same time that a group of retired US airmen held a press conference to announce that they all had experiences with giant flying “cigar-shaped” objects that would regularly hover over military bases to observe and mess with US nuke silos.

Following these extraordinary announcements, the human species took a moment to meditate on its place in the vast cosmos. But that was boring so then we went back to what we do best: makin’ movies about internet billionaires, gossipin’ about Lindsay’s latest stab at staying off the sauce, and placin’ bets. Crazy bets! British odds-makers are taking bets that there will be an official announcement from either Barack Obama or David Cameron on the existence of extraterrestrial life within the next year–100-to-1 odds. Bookmaker William Hills has announced he has taken “multiple bets” that mankind will come into contact with real-life E.T.s and K-Paxes.

The odds were even better back in August (80-to-1) when it was revealed that Winston
Churchill covered
up a run-in a RAF aircraft had with a UFO during WWII fearing that the
incident might cause a national panic.

So, do the bookies and UN know something we don’t? Or are they just greedy and an unwieldy bureaucracy respectively? I hope for the former, but I’m betting on the latter.

In conjunction with the Air Force, nanotech researchers at the University of Michigan have created a new super-efficient ultra-thin display technology. The new “plasmonic” technology is far more versatile than any currently available display technology and will allow for the projection of high quality images and video the size of a stamp.

The Air Force is interested in utilizing the tech to project virtual displays onto pilots’ windshields. For us civilians, the tech could also be incorporated into clothing to create wearable computer screens–your shirt could be your smart phone. It will also allow for very tiny displays. If people are still sending letters in 10 years, it may be possible that the post office could create a commemorative stamp for the 10-year anniversary of Avatar that will actually show Avatar.

And the displays will be very high quality. The tech uses pixels 10 times smaller than those of your average
desktop and more than eight times smaller than displays currently
available on most smart phones.

What makes the tech so versatile is its efficient use of light. The new technology quite handy at trapping and transmitting light–they make the current technology seem sloppy. For
example, in current LCD displays, only about five percent of the
backlighting makes it through to the viewer. The rest is lost in the process.

The nerdly whats and hows are a little
complicated, but for those who are interested, the deets are available over at Physorg.