Google To Be Investigated By The EU

If you’re Google, this news has to scare the hell out of you. The EU is going to investigate the search engine giant for anti-competitive practices:

Several competitors, one owned by Microsoft, say that links to their services appear too low on Google’s general search results. They also claim that when Google offers similar services, such as online price comparison, it puts its own links higher on the sponsored search results, the ones companies have to pay for.

In addition, the Commission will look into whether Google prevented advertising partners from posting ads from Google’s competitors on their sites and whether it was making it more difficult for customers to move data from their advertising campaigns to other ad platforms.

Google needs to pay attention to this. Intel and Microsoft have tried to fight the EU and lost big time. So their odds of winning aren’t that good.

My advice: Google should settle.

Unsealed Lawsuit Provides New Details About Dell’s Faulty Computer Issue

A recently unsealed lawsuit has some new news in regards to that lawsuit where Dell is accused of knowingly selling millions of faulty computers. Depending on who you were, you might have received different treatment from Dell:

Dell apparently ranked its affected customers by importance, the documents showed, giving those who would move to another computer maker because of the issue the highest priority. Instead of recalling the computers, Dell performed “proactive field replacements” — which likely involved having technicians replace affected motherboards before they exhibited problems.

That’s great if you’re a big corporation. But it’s gotta suck if you’re a small or medium sized business. But it’s actually worse than that. News of Dell having issues was rumored for some time. Here’s how Dell handled that:

Dell also instructed its salespeople and technicians not to let customers know about the issues.  Internal presentations (PDF link) contained phrases like “Don’t bring this to customer’s attention proactively” and “emphasize uncertainty” as directives Dell’s employees should follow.

I did mention something about that when I posted the original story in June. The difference is that now you have a smoking gun of sorts. I’m not surprised by their response. I’d be shocked if they admitted to having problems. But it doesn’t look good for them in court.

Top Court To Hear Microsoft vs. i4i: The Final Chapter

The latest twist in the Microsoft vs. i4i saga is here. The U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear the final round in this case:

The Supreme Court’s decision to review the case represents a rare courtroom success for Microsoft, and again prolongs the dispute. However, it appears that this will be the Redmond, Wash.-based company’s final avenue of appeal in the case.

Microsoft’s appeal to the top court essentially asks the court to consider setting a less-stringent standard for invalidating a patent. Currently, companies in Microsoft’s position are required to show “clear and convincing” evidence to invalidate a U.S. patent.

On the other hand, i4i isn’t thrilled:

However, i4i chairman Loudon Owen argues that Microsoft’s court challenge could “dramatically change the effectiveness and health of the U.S. patent system” by making it easier for alleged violators to convince a court to rule a patent invalid.

As such, Mr. Owen said, it would be less useful for inventors to patent their creations in the first place, and subsequently more difficult to take alleged violators to court.

“What’s the point of getting a patent if you can’t enforce it?” he said. “This goes to the heart and soul of the U.S. patent system.”

Check back next spring for the conclusion of this saga. Either Microsoft will claim victory or i4i can expect $290 a million cheque.

So IT Nerd…. Why Did You Buy The Toyota Matrix If You’re Anti-Toyota?

I got an e-mail from a reader of this blog asking the above question. It’s a fair question as I’ve spent a fair amount of time being very mad at Toyota. First over my issues getting my car fixed. Then over the recalls that Toyota has had this year. But it didn’t start out that way. My wife and I were fed up with owning or leasing crappy cars from “the old GM” and we wanted a change. At the time Toyota was the #1 car maker in the world and had a reputation for making quality products. We saw the then new 2009 Toyota Matrix at the Canadian International Car Show in 2008. We were impressed with it for the following reasons:

• It had the option for front wheel drive or all wheel drive. The latter was “borrowed” from the RAV4 which meant it was a proven system which was a plus for us.
• Two engine choices exist. A 1.8L four cylinder engine “borrowed” from the Corolla and a 2.4L 4 cylinder engine “borrowed” from the Camry of the day. Again we thought that was good because they were using a proven pair of engines.
• The platform is a modified version of the Corolla platform. Again, a proven platform which should be a good thing.
• You can fold the front passenger seat down and stick large objects into the car and close the rear hatch. Plus everything is plastic which is easy to keep clean.
• The interior space is massive. It is classified as a compact wagon, but feels much bigger.

So with all of that in mind, we test drove it and we cross shopped it against the only other hatchback that had all wheel drive at the time which was the Subaru Imperza. Though Subaru had slightly more horsepower and torque (170/170 vs 158/162 for the Matrix), it was slightly smaller. Thus the Toyota won. You can read about what happened after that.

Now, I’ll be fair. Even with all the problems that we’ve had, we still like the car as it is extremely versatile. If I want to toss a couple of bikes in the back, help someone move, or deliver some computer equipment to a client, it can handle it. It’s easy to park and all wheel drive gives me that extra layer of security. But the recalls, the lack of customer service, and the early electrical problems have really given my wife and I a really negative impression of Toyota. As I type this, we have to admit that we’re unlikely to purchase another Toyota product.

So what would we purchase? If we were looking for another compact wagon with all wheel drive, we’d only have two choices. The aforementioned Subaru Imperza and the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart would jump to the front of the line. Something else that would get some consideration would be the Nissan Juke. I haven’t seen one first hand, but it might be a contender if it were big enough. We’ve been considering something bigger and the Ford Edge has gotten our attention. We test drove a Ford Fusion a while ago and we were really impressed with what Ford is doing.

So I hope that answers that question. If not, post a comment and I’ll answer it. Oh, if someone who works in Canada for Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, or Ford happens to read this and is willing to show us why their vehicle is a better choice than our current set of wheels, please send some electrons our way. We’re willing to listen. And to be fair, if someone from Toyota Canada is reading this, please drop us a note and tell us why we should give you guys another chance. We’re open minded enough to listen to what you have to say.

Another Sign That Apple Is Taking Over… They Buy The Old HP Campus

Apple apparently needs more room for their merry band of employees. So Apple went looking for some extra real estate and found some in the form of HP’s old campus:

About a five-minute drive from Apple headquarters, the 98-acre parcel of land is adjacent to 50 acres Apple acquired back in 2006 and will be used to house a workforce that’s expanding nearly as quickly as the market for iOS devices.

“We now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told the Mercury News, which first reported the story. “These offices will give us more space for our employees as we continue to grow.”

I do have one question. US based employees get all this “new” office space. But what do the staff in China who make those shiny iDevices get? Likely more of the same that they get now. That’s too bad.

Pirate Bay Decision Upheld….Founders To Be Keelhauled

The Pirate Bay saga seems to be coming to an end. An appeal to a Swedish appeals court has upheld the convictions of the founders of The Pirate Bay:

The court agreed with last year’s ruling, which found Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundstrom guilty of helping Pirate Bay users break Sweden’s copyright law. However, it revised the ruling to decrease the defendants’ jail sentences and increase the amount they must pay in damages.

The lower court had sentenced the men to a year in prison and set damages at about 30 million Swedish kronor ($4.2 million). The new ruling raises the damages another 16 million kronor and cuts Neij’s sentence to 10 months, Sunde’s to 8 months, and Lundstrom’s to 4 months, based on each man’s individual activities with The Pirate Bay.

A fourth Pirate Bay founder convicted by the lower court, Gottfrid Swartholm Warg, will get a separate ruling later, owing to the fact that illness prevented him from participating in the appeals trial.

While a lot of people will be pretty ticked off, lets face facts here. They were helping people worldwide steal movies, music, and software. They should be punished. Having said that, these torrents will simply show up someplace else on the Internet. Just like playing a game of whack a mole. Thus this news really doesn’t mean much.

Is Windows Phone 7 A Bomb?

Microsoft is trying to get back into the smartphone game, but so far it doesn’t seem to working. AT&T and Microsoft seem to be trying to generate sales of these phones by offering a “buy one, get one free” deal that started on Black Friday:

AT&T and Microsoft today hoped to keep Windows Phone 7 sales and today unveiled a Buy One Get One deal (BOGO) for Black Friday. Those who visit an AT&T store and buy the HTC Surround, LG Quantum or Samsung Focus can get another one of the devices for free. All of them cost $199 and need a two-year contract on each of the two lines for the deal.

Here’s the kicker. There’s no end date to this deal. That’s not a good sign. Given that Microsoft might have sold only 40,000 phones on launch day, it may show that Windows Phone 7 is a bomb. I guess we’ll find out shortly.

 

Dell Introduces The Inspiron Duo – A Convertable Unlike Any Other

I got a press release from Dell this morning that announced their new Inspiron Duo which is a computer that converts from a tablet to a computer with a keyboard. Here’s what Dell had to say about the computer:

Sporting a unique, flip-hinge design, the Inspiron duo combines the simplicity of a tablet, the functionality of a full keyboard and the convenience of a dock so you can switch seamlessly from touch to type to dock mode in seconds. The tri-mode functionality is perfect for those who crave productivity yet also want the fun, interactive nature of a touch screen offering easy access to movies, TV shows, social-networking sites and more.

Here’s the specs:

•              10.1-inch HD (1366×768) display with capacitive multi-touch and HD accelerator for smooth HD playback; flips from touch to type
•              Windows® 7 Home Premium installed
•              Dell duo Stage software
•              Integrated 1.3MP Webcam and digital microphone
•              Two USB 2.0 ports; one headphone port
•              Intel® AtomTM N550 dual core processor (1.5GHz)
•              250GB, 5400 RPM and 320GB, 7200 RPM hard drive options (vary by region)
•              2GB RAM DIMM DDR3 800 MHz
•              Colors: Foggy Night standard; optional Fastback Red, Marlin Blue
•              Optional Inspiron™ duo Audio Station dock with 7 in 1 card reader, JBL speakers, two additional USB 2.0 ports and an Ethernet adapter; charges battery while displaying photos or digital alarm clock

Another key feature is their duo Stage user interface:

The new interface presents instant access to collections of music, photos, videos, games, e-books and other applications. For instance:

·         Touching the MusicStage tile reveals an individual’s personal music collection.
·         The VideoStage organizes personal videos and downloaded TV shows and movies and gives people the ability to purchase or rent content directly from partners like CinemaNow in the United States.
·         The PhotoStage includes integrated social networking capabilities through Facebook and Flickr so people can upload their latest photos or view pictures of their friends.
·         BookStage provides a central location for storing and purchasing e-books (available in the U.S. and U.K.).

All in all, it sounds like a computer that should garner attention in the New Year. Expect to spend $549 on one. If you want the optional dock, it will set you back $649. If this has you interested, check out the video here.

Attachmate Buys Novell…. The Big News Lies Elsewhere

Novell has been sold to Attachmate for roughly $2.2 billion. Here’s the press release with the details. That should be the big news of the day. But the Boston Globe has the big news that you should care about:

Novell also said it has entered into an agreement for the concurrent sale of certain intellectual property assets to CPTN Holdings LLC, a consortium of technology companies organized by Microsoft Corp., for $450 million in cash, “which cash payment is reflected in the merger consideration to be paid by Attachmate Corp.,” a company press release said.

So, why would a Microsoft backed group buy some IP from Novell? There must be something really interesting there to make Microsoft want to dive in for it.  We’ll soon see what they paid all that money for I suspect.

iOS 4.2 Arrives For iPad, iPod Touch, And iPhone

For those of you who like to use Mr. Jobs shiny iDevices, you’re going to love the fact that Apple has released iOS 4.2. Here’s why you might want to upgrade:

• Multitasking on iPad
• AirPrint – Print wirelessly to a growing list of printers without a driver. Interesting
• AirPlay – Stream media wirelessly from iOS device to another iOS device.
• Find My iDevice – Find, lock, and remote wipe your iDevice if you lose it. This is a feature that you were forced to pay for by buying a a MobileMe account at $99/yr. Now it’s free. About time!

You can check the link above for all the details. As I speak, fanbois all over are upgrading their iDevices to get the latest and greatest from “Steve-O.”

Oh yeah, if you have an Apple TV, there’s an update for you too that brings some of these features to those users.

So, what do you think of these updates? Post your comments below.