Ben Jacobsen, a model railroad hobbyist, wrote a bunch of software to let you connect your computer to your model railroad and control trains with it. He chose to not only give the software away for free, but to make the source code available as well, so that the model railroading/hacker community could improve it and customize it to their liking.

And then KAM Industries, maker of commercial software that serves a similar role, tried asserting their ‘patent rights’ over doing just that.

When the author of the open source railroad controller asked for additional information about what claims were being infringed, KAM sent him an invoice for $203,000, claiming that the 7000 or so users of his software resulted in damages of at least $29/each.

Source: righttocreate.blogspot.com

On July 1, search giant Google will start collecting a fee for a service it once offered for free.

The changes, in this instance, affect Internet marketing and advertising companies that rely on data from AdWords, Google’s do-it-yourself advertising feature.

Google’s move though raises a broader question about whether the firm will make similar changes affecting developer access it allows to other features.

There’s plenty of motivation to do so. For one, Google’s been under pressure to come up with new revenue sources to prepare for a predicted slowdown in the growth in Internet search ads, now its main source of income.

Source: eWeek

HD DVD will have taken almost 70 per cent of the high-definition media market by the end of the year, leaving rival format Blu-ray Disc with a market share of just 30 per cent. So claimed market watcher ABI Research this week, though it warned the picture may change in 2007.

Source: The Register

Google’s first-quarter revenue rose nearly 80 percent and, along with an increase in profit, beat analyst expectations as the search giant continued to grow market share, the company said Thursday.

Net income for the quarter ended March 31 was $592 million, or $1.95 per share, compared with $369.2 million, or $1.29 a share, during the same quarter a year ago. Excluding one-time items, including $115 million in stock-based compensation, earnings per share were $2.29.

Revenue rose to $2.25 billion from $1.26 billion a year earlier.

Source: News.com

Following a quiet agreement on a joint IEEE mesh networking standard last month, companies like Motorola are announcing plans to move the technology into their own products.

The Intel-and Firetide-led SEE Mesh, which had put forward a proposal to compete with Nortel’s Wi-Mesh Alliance, resolved their differences and moved forward with a joint proposal that should be voted in as the draft standard for 802.11s, the IEEE mesh networking standard.

Source: extremetech

A California woman who owns a 55-acre property in Malibu and was looking to build a “curvilinear/feminine” property from which to enjoy the views, has decided to knock the whole thing up from bits of an old Boeing 747.

That’s the bold plan of her architects Syndesis, Inc, self-described as “innovators whose work crosses established boundaries to stake out new imaginative territories with an orientation towards the future”, and who proposed acquiring an entire Jumbo and using every component of it, “like the Native American Indians used every part of the buffalo”.

Source: The Register

A string of new LCD factories being built, combined with slow demand for notebook and desktop PC screens, caused LCD prices to fall during the first three months of the year, and the downward trend is expected to continue, vendors and analysts say.

Falling prices for LCD screens should help ensure that users find bargains for new monitors, laptops, and LCD TVs this year, since the screen is among the most expensive components in those products. The price declines are also causing vendors to improve picture quality to catch users’ eyes and draw them away from competitors.

Source: PCWorld

Yahoo has rolled out a new Web-based mail service that the company hopes will provide a richer and more dynamic experience for e-mail users. Yahoo launched the new beta version on Wednesday in partnership with AT&T.

Among other feature, the service offers users drag-and-drop e-mail organization and an integrated Really Simple Syndication (RSS) reader that provides easy access to breaking news, blog entries, and other feeds directly through the e-mail interface.

The upgraded service is currently available only for AT&T Yahoo broadband and dial-up subscribers.

Source: NewsFactor

Sony Corp. on Thursday said it cut the U.S. price of its popular PlayStation 2 video game console by about 13 percent, saying the discount should help fuel demand.

In a statement, the company said that effective immediately the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system would retail for about $130, down from a previous price of around $149.

Source: Reuters

HP recalls about 15,700 HP and Compaq notebook computer batteries due to fire hazard. An internal failure can cause the battery to overheat and melt or char the plastic case, posing a burn and fire hazard.

HP has received 20 reports of batteries overheating, including two in the United States. One minor burn injury has been reported. Eleven cases of minor property damage were reported, including one in the United States.

The recalled lithium ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. The recalled batteries are a subset of those manufactured in early January 2005, and will have a bar code label starting with L3. HP and Compaq Notebook Model Series that may contain a recalled battery include:

• HP Pavilion Family - dv1xxx and ze2xxx
• HP Compaq Family - nx48xx
• Compaq Presario Family - V2xxx and M2xxx

The notebook model is located on the display screen bezel or in the labeling on the bottom of the notebook.

For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web Site at www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement

Online Technology to Help Youngsters and Global Web Browsers Learn English; Search Bar Allows Users to Highlight English-Language Online Text to Be Read Aloud by Computer

Accoona Corp., the artificial intelligence-based online search engine, today launched text-to- speech technology that will enable online users to highlight English-language text on the Internet to be read aloud in English.

Accoona’s Talking Search Bar provides a human-quality, natural voice, combining search technology with an easy-to-use text-to-speech feature. The technology can convert any Web page text into speech. Users simply select the content they want to read — from headlines and news articles to weather reports and stock quotes — and the Talking Search Bar’s text-to-speech technology will transform it.

Download Accoona’s Talking Search Bar

A California court in San Jose on Thursday is scheduled to hear a case brought by Apple Computer that eventually could answer an unsettled legal question: Should online journalists receive the same rights as traditional reporters?

Apple claims they should not. Its lawyers say in court documents that Web scribes are not “legitimate members of the press” when they reveal details about forthcoming products that the company would prefer to keep confidential.

Source: News.com