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Absolute Zero’s Must Reads

• Google responds to Apple's HTC lawsuit: 'We stand behind our Android operating system' March 3, 2010 @ 4:23 pm
  We were wondering when Google would have something to say about Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC, since the majority of the claims appear to implicate Android itself, and while the knives aren't out yet, we just got a short-but-sweet statement from a spokesperson: "We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android oper […]
• Apple Reveals Child Labor was Used to Build iPods, iPhones, and Macs March 3, 2010 @ 12:55 pm
  Company is seeking to correct abusive suppliers […]
• Corsair's 128GB Flash Voyager GTR thumb drive takes USB 2.0 to new heights March 3, 2010 @ 5:42 am
  Who needs USB 3.0 adapters when you've got Corsair, right? In a feat of engineering that can only be described as earth-shattering (or supercalifragilistic, if you prefer), said outfit has somehow created a USB 2.0 flash drive that not only beats the competition in head-to-head speed tests, but obliterates it. The 128GB Flash Voyager GTR utilizes a fanc […]
• Microsoft Research working on portable Surface March 2, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
  Microsoft's Surface has managed to carve out a small niche for itself, but there's only so many places that a large, touchscreen installation can find a home (a yacht, for instance). Microsoft Research seems to be aware of that, and it's apparently been hard at work on a more portable Surface for some time now. As you can see above (and in the […]
• Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown March 2, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
  Apple suing HTC over 20-odd patents before both the US District Court and the International Trade Commission has certainly caused some chaos this morning, but we thought we'd take a quick breath now that we have the complaints and tease out exactly what patents are at stake here. Of note, most of the patents were granted in the past year, but overall th […]
• Porsche 918 Spyder concept is the most beautiful hybrid we've ever seen March 2, 2010 @ 6:58 pm
  Um, we're sure there's something sensible to be said about this Porsche concept, but we're not altogether capable of coherent expression at present. We want to own one of these so badly, we don't even care if it has an engine. And boy does the 918 Spyder have an engine. A 3.4-liter V8 petrol burner is combined with electric motors to put […]
• Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit March 2, 2010 @ 5:06 pm
  There's no delicate way to put this: at least part of Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC appears to be a proxy fight for a larger issue with Android as a whole. Apple's complaint with the International Trade Commission makes an explicit distinction between HTC's Android devices and its WinMo phones (referred only to as "DSP Products […]
• Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents March 2, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
  Looks like Apple's going on the warpath, kids. Just a few months after Cupertino got into it with Nokia over phone patents, Apple's filed suit against HTC, alleging that the company is infringing 20 patents "related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware." Steve, you have something to say? "We can […]
• Logitech 600 and 650 remotes bring Harmony for under $100 March 2, 2010 @ 1:24 pm
  Logitech's most recent offerings in the Harmony line, the 900 and the 700, were much more affordable than the $500 touchscreen Harmony 1100 we reviewed last year, but neither crossed beneath the magical $100 threshold. Finally Logitech has a few new models that'll set you back less than a Benjamin, the $79 Harmony 600 and $99 Harmony 650, said to b […]
• ASUS debuts Bang & Olufsen ICEpowered N-series laptops and 3D gamer displays March 2, 2010 @ 10:29 am
  It's CeBIT time again kids; a chance for the world's vendors to show off much of what was already unveiled at CES in Las Vegas to Europeans for the first time publicly (what, the internet's not good enough?). Just announced in Germany is a trio of N-series laptops — N43, N63 and N73 pictured above — with USB 3.0, Intel Core processors, and B […]
• Skinput: because touchscreens never felt right anyway (video) March 2, 2010 @ 9:27 am
  Microsoft looks to be on a bit of a hot streak with innovations lately, and though this here project hasn't received much hype (yet), we'd say it's one of the most ingenious user interface concepts we've come across. Skinput is based on an armband straddling the wearer's biceps and detecting the small vibrations generated when the us […]
• NVIDIA Ion 2 now official; Acer, ASUS and Lenovo at the ready March 2, 2010 @ 5:01 am
  NVIDIA's Ion 2 chipset — or "the next generation of Ion" as the company clunkily calls it — hasn't exactly been a secret, but NVIDIA is finally signing on the dotted line and giving up the deets on the new Intel Atom-compatible graphics chipset. It hasn't been a secret that Ion 2 uses NVIDIA's new Optimus GPU switching tech to […]
• Google Awarded Broad Patent For Location-Based Advertising March 2, 2010 @ 3:51 am
  Mashable has a report of a patent that just issued (6-1/2 years after filing) — apparently Google now has a lock on location-based advertising. It's not clear that the search company intends to assert the patent against any other companies (such as emerging rival Apple), but it's useful as leverage. Here is the patent. Update: 03/02 14:34 GMT by S […]
• "Patent Markings" Lawsuits Could Run Into the Trillions March 2, 2010 @ 12:01 am
  bizwriter writes "The latest legal bugaboo facing manufacturers is the false patent marking suit. Using what has been until recently an obscure type of legal action, individuals and enterprising law firms have targeted large manufacturers with lawsuits that can easily run million of dollars — in a case involving a drink cup manufacturer, over $10 trilli […]
• Rosum's Alloy chip promises 'precise' location using TV signals March 1, 2010 @ 10:09 pm
  Though plenty of firms (including some big ones) have been trying to commercialize consumer-facing indoor positioning technologies for years, none have succeeded on a wide scale — which certainly seems to leave the door wide open for a system that actually works to be wildly successful, doesn't it? Rosum has been toying with the idea of using plain old […]
• Porsche Showcases Gorgeous 78 MPG 918 Spyder Plug-in Hybrid Concept March 1, 2010 @ 7:56 pm
  Porsche is bringing sexy back with the 918 Spyder Concept […]
• Caltech Makes Flexible, 86% Efficient Solar Arrays March 1, 2010 @ 6:46 am
  strredwolf writes "Caltech has released a flexible solar array that converts 95% of single-wavelength incandescent light and 86% of all sunlight into electricity. Instead of being flat-panel, they stand thin silicon wires in a plastic substrate that scatters the light onto them. The total composition is 98% plastic, 2% wire — the amount of silicon used […]
• Nexus One coming to Verizon March 23rd? February 27, 2010 @ 4:58 pm
  What better way to start your Saturday afternoon than with another Nexus One release rumor. Without further ado, today we've got whispers care of Neowin that the recently-FCC'd CDMA device is launching on Verizon's network March 23rd, perfect timing for the beginning of CTIA. And while that fits pretty neatly into that initial "Spring 201 […]
• Facebook Patents the News Feed February 26, 2010 @ 9:05 pm
  daedae writes "It seems Facebook has been granted a patent for the news feed, as a method of monitoring activities, storing them in a database, and displaying an appropriate set of activities to an appropriate set of users. 'That sounds pretty broad, and the social-networking world was all atwitter at the possible ramifications. Writing for ReadWri […]
• Shuttle's XS35 nettop is 3.3cm thin, too nice to hide behind your HDTV February 26, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
  Nettops keep getting better, and thinner too if Shuttle's latest is anything to go by. It's the XS35, a 3.3cm thin affair packing a dual-core Intel Atom D510 at 1.6GHz and Ion 2 graphics with HDMI output for easy connectivity to your high definition display of choice. Somehow the company has also found room for five USB ports, VGA and discrete audi […]