Intellectual Vendors, which invests in and works with investors and technology businesses to drive innovation and invention, owns the rights to a portfolio of nearly 40,000 patents.
Despite upcoming Xbox One launch, Microsoft aims to sell 25 million more Xbox 360s
Microsoft’s newly unveiled Xbox One has gamers excited despite some huge question marks, but Microsoft thinks its current-generation Xbox 360 still has legs. Speaking with Official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft’s senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business Yusuf Mehdi said that the company is looking to sell 25 million more Xbox 360 consoled over the next five years. The Xbox 360 recently registered its 28th consecutive month as top-selling console, but sales of the 8-year-old console have slowed significantly in recent quarters. Inevitable price cuts may help Microsoft on its mission, but the company also has a few tricks up its sleeve that will be announced during the annual E3 video game conference next month.
Automatic Connected Car System Delayed Until August [iOS Blog]
Automatic introduced its Automatic Link connected car system in March of this year, promising to ship out the app and the Bluetooth adapter beginning in May.
The system includes a plug-in adapter that is designed to read data from a car’s onboard diagnostics, turning nearly any car manufactured after 1996 into a connected car. The adapter utilizes an accompanying iPhone app to provide detailed information on driving habits and car health.
Unfortunately, Automatic has experienced some problems with the aforementioned iPhone app and as a result, it has decided to delay (via Engadget) the final release of the system until August to work out some of the kinks.
The good news is that the Link – that little device that plugs into your car – is ready and being manufactured! Unfortunately, we underestimated the time needed to complete the iPhone app and we’re sorry to say that it won’t be ready until the end of August.
As it is only the software that needs to be tweaked (the hardware is already in production), Automatic is offering its first preorder customers the opportunity to test a beta version of the system. Customers that opt-in to the beta will receive the dongle and the app in mid-June, but the company warns that the current version of the app lacks support for Crash Alert, multiple cars, and multiple users.
Customers who are eligible to participate in the early release of the Automatic Link should have already received an email from the company with details on how to proceed. Customers who ordered later or who order today can expect to receive the Link in August.
The Automatic Link retails for $69.95 and can be preordered from the Automatic website.
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Kiss and make up: Microsoft and Google partner for Windows Phone YouTube app
Both Google and Microsoft think it’d be a shame to deny Windows Phone users the glory of Keyboard Cat videos, which is why the two companies have agreed to team up and jointly create a native YouTube app for Microsoft’s mobile platform. The Next Web reports that the companies released a joint statement today saying that they “are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks.” Once they finish the new app, Microsoft will remove the YouTube app it created from the Windows Phone store. The two companies’ decision to collaborate on a new app comes just a week after Google
Microsoft vows Xbox One won’t be struck by ‘red ring of death’
One of the most common problems that annoyed early Xbox 360 adopters was the appearance of the “red ring of death,” a flashing red light on the console’s start button indicating that its hardware was essentially fried and would need to be sent to Microsoft to be replaced. But Microsoft Game Studios vice president Phil Spencer tells Edge that the company has learned its lessons and that the new Xbox One will not experience hardware failures on a mass scale like the Xbox 360 did. In particular, Spencer noted that Microsoft’s success rate on the more recently released Xbox 360 Slim was “very high” and said that the same team behind the Slim also built the Xbox One, so chances are very good that the
Ron Paul Loses Disputes Over RonPaul.com and RonPaul.org, Found Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking
Ron Paul just can’t win when it comes to the Internet, and really, it’s his fault in the first place. First he asked the UN, an organization he notoriously does not like, to take the domain RonPaul.com from the huge supporter base that runs it so that he can have it. Now not only has the UN ruled in favor of those supporters, but they’ve also found Paul guilty of reverse domain name hijacking. Sucks to be you, Ron.
Microsoft And Google Bury The Hatchet To Work On A Windows Phone YouTube App With Ads
Once a upon a time, Microsoft saw fit to put together a YouTube app for Windows Phone and it was actually pretty great — it let users download videos straight from the app and there was nary an ad to be found. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Google wasn’t too pleased: after all, the features that made the app so appealing didn’t exactly jibe with YouTube’s terms of service, and the search giant demanded the offending app be removed.
Well, after a bit of back and forth (and a conciliatory update), it seems the two companies have finally come to an agreement. Microsoft and YouTube released a statement today affirming that the two companies will work together on crafting yet another YouTube app for Windows Phone that doesn’t fly in the face of Google’s and YouTube’s rules.