19th February 2012 Archive

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How Google and Apple exposed their Achilles heels this week

Analysis Mobile payments and advertising are rocky ground for the big boys

In the massive tussle between Apple and Google, it is easy to forget that neither giant (for all their successes) is infallible. They are almost unbeatable in their core markets – Apple in device design and user experience, Google in search, advertising and online software. But once they venture out of their comfort zones, …

Music and Media 19 Feb 11:03
Intel shows off near threshold voltage chip wizardry

ISSCC Full digital radio integration with Atom, too

The IEEE is hosting its annual International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco this week, and the start of the show will no doubt be the unveiling of some of the features in Intel's forthcoming "Ivy Bridge" processors for PCs, which cram a multicore CPU and a GPU onto the same 22 nanometer Tri-Gate silicon wafer …

PCs & Chips 19 Feb 19:50
Tiny transistor stays where it's put

Doing well with silicon and phosphorus – one atom at a time

The team that earlier this year characterized a four-atom wire that obeys Ohm’s Law has now demonstrated a repeatable single-atom transistor. While single atoms have been observed acting like transistors in the past, the ‘device’ demonstrated by the UNSW, University of Melbourne and Purdue team is exceptional in that it has …

Physics 19 Feb 21:16
Dick estate gets stiffed

Do writers dream of electric royalties?

The family estate of science fiction writer Philip K Dick has dropped a vexing lawsuit against movie producers Media Rights Capital and filmmaker George Nolfi, the team behind the film The Adjustment Bureau. In October the Philip K Dick family launched a legal attack against The Adjustment Bureau team, which wouldn't agree to …

Music and Media 19 Feb 21:45
Katzenberg takes DreamWorks to China

Games, movies, merchandise for the Asian market

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DreamWorks Animation is moving into China with ambitious plans to launch an Asian transmedia entertainment operation. The China strategy will see DreamWorks form a joint venture with News Corp affiliate China Media Capital, and invest in Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment to form the new …

Music and Media 19 Feb 22:30
Football rights value soars in wake of TV Now lawsuit

Hang on, that can’t be right

As previously noted by The Register, the rent-seekers of the rights industry and their rentable shills have warned of doom and dire disaster in the wake of the “football versus Optus” court case. If Optus’ TV Now service isn’t squashed by the High Court or legislation, they argue, then rights to live sports will be worthless, …

Business 19 Feb 23:00