Norway to sue Apple in hopes of opening up FairPlay DRM
Norway Consumer Ombudsman Bjorn Erik Thon, after two years of being at odds with Apple, is now bringing his case to the Norwegian Market Council, hoping the council will force the company to remove its FairPlay DRM and allow users to play back their iTunes-purchased music on players other than the iPod.
“The Ombudsman demands that the consumers themselves should be able to choose what music device they would like to use to listen to music bought from the iTunes Store,” he said.
Thon adds that Apple uses the DRM to “dictate” what hardware the music is played back on. “As of today, the only portable players able to play files downloaded from iTunes are Apples own iPods,” read his original complaint from 2006.
Since 2006 Thon admits that Apple has made some progress, but that it is not enough and Apple has until November 3rd or he will sue them.
“It’s a consumer’s right to transfer and play digital content bought and downloaded from the Internet to the music device he himself chooses to use,” added Thon. “iTunes makes this impossible or at least difficult, and hence, they act in breach of Norwegian law.”
Now that everybody else is DRM-free, shouldn’t Apple move in that direction as well?
Nero debuts Nero 9 suite, TiVo PC
This morning, the popular software maker Nero AG announced the launch of three new exciting products, Nero TiVo PC, Move it and an updated media suite, now known as Nero 9
If you are interested in purchasing Nero, please visit their site while supporting AfterDawn by using this link: Download Nero 9
If you have any questions about Nero or need help, please visit our unofficial forums here: Nero discussion forums
Nero TiVo PC
TiVo PC brings users the capabilities of TiVo without the need for a set-top box and comes in two varieties. For $199 USD you can purchase the software along with a TiVo PC remote and a TV tuner card. A $99 USD software download is available from their site as well if you already have a TV tuner card. Both versions come with 12 months free of TiVo service, which is a considerable savings considering the plan normally costs $129 USD annually.
The software has all the standard DVR features like pausing of live TV, recording shows right to your HDD and the ability to skip commercials. Other notable features include “Season Pass” recordings which allows users to type in the name of a certain show and have it recorded every week for the entire season, and TiVo Suggestions. Even more importantly, the software allows for HD viewing as well as recording and allows you to transfer the recordings to portable devices, namely iPods, iPhones and Sony PSPs. You also have the option to convert the recordings to MPEG-2 and burn them to DVD-Rs.
Order the program here: Nero.com
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Hitachi to show off new upconversion technology
According to a new report, Hitachi is expected to show off a new “super resolution” upconversion technology at the upcoming CEATEC show in Japan.
The company says the technology will upscale DVD and SDTV images to near 1080p resolution and will also improve the way HDTV broadcasts look.
There was no detailed information on how the process will work but a researcher at the company says the technology “analyzes the luminance signals of input images before processing multiple regions at a time.”
Electronista says the “super resolution technology processes images on a frame-by-frame basis, and does so in real-time. It has the ability to selectively process SDTV and HDTV images on the same screen that occur during relay broadcasts, for example, upconverting either. Also, the software can differentiate between a sharp image, such as a close-up, and less vivid areas, including backgrounds, thereby not having an adverse effect on perspective. This is in contrast with existing upconverting methods, which enhance images from a specific resolution at a fixed rate.”
The technology should be integrated into Hitachi’s LCD and plasma lines beginning in 2010 and the company says they hope to have a dedicated processing LSI chip developed by then.
Picture, thanks to the source:
Judge dismisses iPhone battery suit
According to Bloomberg, the class action lawsuit filed last year over the iPhone battery has been thrown out.
The suit was started by an angry iPhone owner by the name of Jose Trujillo and claimed that Apple was misleading customers by not informing them that the iPhone battery was not user-replaceable and that battery would only last a little over a year. A replacement from Apple costs $86 USD.
U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly has thrown out the case however and added, “Apple disclosed on the outside of the iPhone package that the” battery has “‘limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provide,…Under the circumstances, no reasonable jury could find that deception occurred.”
AT&T, also named in the suit, may not be so lucky however, as they attempted to force the matter into arbitration as per their service terms. The judge said however that Trujillo did not have paper copies of the TOS when he bought the phone and scheduled a hearing for September 29th.
Apple begins selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong
Apple has begun selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong today, marking one of the few times the company has allowed the phone to sell in such a fashion. An unlocked phone can be used on any GSM carrier and is not tied down to any specific carrier.
Until now in Hong Kong, only users of Hutchison Telecom could use the iPhone but now the phone will be available to anyone using a GSM carrier.
The unlocked iPhone will sell for a high premium however, $695 USD for the 8GB model and $795 USD for the larger capacity 16GB model.
In the US, where the phone sells the best, AT&T sells the phone with 2 year contract for $199 and $299 USD but will eventually sell the phone unlocked for $599 USD.
New Nintendo DS has camera, music player
According to a new Nikkei business daily, gaming giant Nintendo is planning to release a new model of its popular DS handheld before the end of the year, one that has a built-in camera and a music player.
The price will be a bit more expensive than the current model, but will also come equipped with “advanced wireless communications functions.” The price is expected to be about $189 USD in Japan, according to the Nikkei. The console sells for much cheaper in the US, but there was no word on a NA release.
The official announcement is set for next week at a Tokyo press conference.
The DS is currently the most popular of all consoles and regularly outsells its main rival, the Sony PSP. The PSP however, has been outselling the DS in Japan for some time now, which is a potential sign that the current model’s sales growth is slowing.
Pandora and Internet radio need your help
Last month we reported that SoundExchange had killed off Internet radio by upping royalties to levels that cannot be sustained by any company. Pandora, the largest and most popular of current Internet radio companies, admitted that day that they are most likely going to have to shut down if the royalty charges are not lowered.
Yesterday we received an email from a Pandora representative which was very interesting and I will post in its entirety later in this article. In the email, the rep says that the RIAA and SoundExchange have come to their senses and are ready to agree to lower royalties to levels where an Internet company can survive and the trade groups can make the profit they want. It appears there is another roadblock however, one being brought forward by the traditional radio broadcasters, most notably Clear Channel Communications. The entire email as we received it:
Hi, it’s Tim from Pandora;
After a yearlong negotiation, Pandora, SoundExchange and the RIAA are finally optimistic about reaching an agreement on royalties that would save Pandora and Internet radio. But just as we’ve gotten close, large traditional broadcast radio companies have launched a covert lobbying campaign to sabotage our progress.
Yesterday, Congressman Jay Inslee, and several co-sponsors, introduced legislation to give us the extra time we need but the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which represents radio broadcasters such as Clear Channel, has begun intensively pressuring lawmakers to kill the bill. We have just days to keep this from collapsing.
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‘Three strikes’ plan is struck down
The European Parliament has once again voted against the proposed “three strikes” plan on unauthorized files sharers that would ban three time offenders from the Internet.
Earlier this year MEPs backed an amendment to the Bono Report on the Cultural Industries in which EU members were asked to “avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights… such as the interruption of internet access”.
This time, the vote was a landslide however, 573-74 in favor of the amendment and the killing of the “three strikes” plan.
“You don’t play with individual freedoms like that,” added Guy Bono, the MEP who originally proposed the amendment. Bono believes France should revoke their current “three strikes” plan.
Earlier this week the BPI said that there was “no way” that UK ISPs would cut off file sharers from the Internet.
Telefonica signs iPhone distribution deal
The Spanish company Telefonica has announced it will distribute the iPhone to 16 countries in Latin America and the Czech Republic after striking a deal with Apple.
“The 16 countries where we will distribute the iPhone have a market potential of 500 million people, making us one of the global leaders in the distribution of these revolutionary handsets,” Telefonica Chairman Cesar Alierta said in a statement.
Telefonica already sells the phone in the UK and Ireland through O2 and will begin selling the device in Spain on July 11th.
The 16 new countries are the Czech Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Unlike its current markets however, the new markets will not be exclusive for Telefonica as America Movil has already signed a deal to distribute the phone in most of those countries.
Orange opens music download store
The French mobile carrier Orange has announced the launch of Musique Max, a desktop and mobile music download store. The service has music from the Big 4 labels plus independents, “with an emphasis on French artists.”
Musique Max will be a subscription based store, but there will be a limited amount of songs you can download per month. For €12 a month, users are allowed to download up to 500 songs. If you want more, each track will cost an additional 99 euro cents.
Making the service unique, and very intriguing, is the fact that the songs never “expire” even after your monthly subscription is up. Any song you’ve downloaded is yours to keep, whether you cancel the service or not.
The only catch however, is that the songs, at least for the time being, are DRM-riddled Windows Media files. Orange had hoped to open a DRM-free store, but it appears the labels would not allow it. The songs can be played on a maximum of 5 PCs and 5 portable devices but notably the songs are locked out of the dominant market leader, the iPod which cannot play locked WMAs.
