Imagination Technologies Extends PowerVR Licensing Agreement With Apple
Imagination Technologies today announced that it has extended its licensing agreement with Apple. The financial terms of the deal were not revealed, but Imagination confirmed the deal signed was a multi-year, multi-use agreement that provides Apple with access to the company’s PowerVR graphics and video hardware.
Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE: IMG, “Imagination”) announces that Apple has extended its multi-year, multi-use license agreement, which gives Apple access to Imagination’s wide range of current and future PowerVR graphics and video IP cores.
Under the terms of the above licensing arrangement, Imagination will receive on-going license fees, and royalty revenues on shipment of SoCs (Systems on Chip) incorporating Imagination’s IP.
Imagination also recently announced its Series6XT PowerVR GPUs, which will replace the current Series6 graphics used in Apple’s A7 chipset. In detail, the company claims that its newer GPU chips will deliver a 50% benchmark performance increase when compared to similar configurations of previous generation cores. The technology is expected to debut in devices sometime in 2015.
Apple has used Imagination’s PowerVR graphics architecture in all of its iPhone models to this point, and is a major investor in the company with a 10% ownership stake.
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Google’s latest search tweak encourages you to watch more YouTube music videos
As clever as Google’s search is, finding official YouTube music videos is often harder than it should be, hampering efforts to successfully get your soft rock fix. In a new change rolling out now, the search giant has made it easier to surface such videos by giving the top playable link its very own card. While Google cunningly displays a video player as the top result, it actually directs you to YouTube (and other sites like Vimeo or Dailymotion) to serve legitimate uploads by music labels and the inescapable VEVO. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but Google hasn’t totally nailed the implementation and often displays fan-made videos or doesn’t show one at all. Despite the rise in legal music streaming sites, Google’s well aware YouTube still beats Spotify et al in terms of total users, which is probably why it’s readying its own music subscription service.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Ancient patent troll case against Motorola leaves jurors too baffled to reach a verdict
If the name “Intellectual Ventures” (IV) sounds familiar, that’s because the firm went on a suing spree over patents a few years ago. One of them, a two-year-old lawsuit against Motorola, finally went to court last month, but it’s already hit a snag: the judge just declared it a mistrial. The trial revolved around three smartphone technologies, including one at odds with Google Play, but the jurors have failed to reach a unanimous vote. Although many of IV’s other lawsuits ended in negotiation, Motorola isn’t keen to settle. “We continue to believe this lawsuit was based on overbroad patent claims meant to tax innovation,” a company rep stated. Intellectual Ventures, on the other hand, is looking forward to a retrial — although by then the company could be looking at a slightly different opponent.
[Image credit: Brian Turner/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
Source: Reuters
Engadget UK Giveaway: Win an Advent Tegra Note 7 courtesy of NVIDIA
Is there a tablet-shaped hole in your life? Or maybe you’re something of a collector? Either way, we have three Advent Tegra Note 7′s sat here looking for a good home. You can thank the kind folk at NVIDIA who supplied the goods, which you may also remember from our review of another Tegra Note 7 family member. Want in on the action? Head past the break where out trusty competition-o-matic 3000 (ok, it’s just a widget) awaits you. And, as always, please read the terms and conditions. Good luck!
The Rules:
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above.Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the UK, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at ourlawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. Three (1) winners will win one (1) Advent Tegra Note 7 tablet.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Expansys, and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until Feb 12th 2014 at 00:00 BST. Good luck!
Filed under: Tablets, HD, Mobile, Alt
Source: NVIDIA
[RUMOUR] Samsung Unpacked event to be low key announcement of Galaxy S5
While the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4 last year could be more likened to a Broadway production with its orchestral performance, the New York Times is reporting that a source close to this year’s event is saying that the Samsung Unpacked event scheduled at MWC 2014 this year is going to be a ‘low key’ affair; this event is widely expected to usher in the announcement of Samsung’s next flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S5. According to the Times though, this ‘low key’ event is because the Galaxy S4 ‘underperformed’ according to analyst’s expectations; I’m not sure, but I think most of the other Android phone manufacturers would have died for a disappointing phone that still sold well over 40 million handsets.
Perhaps more interestingly, according to the Times’ source, the Galaxy S5 will not feature a Quad HD display, also known as 2K resolution, nor will the device feature a retina scanner as it has been previously rumoured. This definitely throws a spanner in the works as multiple parties have previously speculated that these features would definitely be in the Galaxy S5, but I guess we should take this, and all other news surrounding the Galaxy S5, with an extra big grain of salt as you never really know who to believe. The Times also goes on to say that its source says Samsung will also show off its upgraded Galaxy Gear, which is actually a little early according to some previous rumours, but I guess the only way we’ll know is to wait till the Unpacked event itself.
I think after all this news, the only thing I know conclusively about the Galaxy S5 is that I’m slightly confused: what hardware will it actually have? What do you think about these rumours: which ones do you think are true? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: New York Times via Phone Arena
Apple to Open First Retail Store in Brazil on February 15
Apple has confirmed on its website that it will be opening its first retail store in Brazil on Saturday, February 15. The store will be located in Rio de Janeiro’s famous Barra da Tijuca borough, located at the VillageMall luxury shopping center.
The news follows a report from last October stating that Apple was reportedly planning to open its first store in the South American country between February and March 2014, giving the location a few months to be up and running before the start of the FIFA World Cup being held in Rio during the months of June and July.
The prior report also stated that Apple would be seeking some of its U.S. Apple retail employees to temporarily relocate to Brazil to educate local employees about Apple retail procedures and act as in-store workers. However, it is unclear as to whether Apple actually followed through on the initiative or not. Apple’s difficulty in recruiting employees for its Brazilian store was reportedly one of the reasons as to why the company could not open the store in July as originally intended.
Apple began hiring for its first Brazilian retail stores in November 2012, and has been working with Foxconn to move some iPhone and iPad production to the country to avoid hefty import taxes and allow Apple to expand its market share. Last October, a regulatory agency also granted Apple the authorization needed to sell the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in Brazil, as both phones launched in the country shortly thereafter. It was also reported earlier this week that the company will restart iPhone 4 production in order to sell the device in Brazil, India, and Indonesia.
Thanks, Cássio!
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BlackBerry Messenger adds ‘Find Friends on BBM’ feature to Android
To say that the release of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was underwhelming would be a bit of an understatement; while it retained many of the things that BlackBerry users have gushed about, it was decidedly old-fashioned compared to some of our more recent messaging clients like Whatsapp. Though perhaps the most infuriating aspect of picking up BBM for the first time was the inability to add your old contacts and friends by any conventional means. Instead, you were burdened with the old fashioned BlackBerry PIN, which I would liken to physically handing out your phone number. Fortunately, BBM is being updated with a feature called ‘Find Friends on BBM’ which should make a whole world of difference to those who have hankered for it.
From tomorrow (or today for some of you), the BBM app will be updated on Android to include ‘Find Friends on BBM’, a feature which will allow you to quickly assess which of your friends are already on BBM and give you options to send them your PIN. As for the friends that haven’t fortuitously keep BBM on their phones after its October release, or tried it at all, you can send them an invite via email or SMS.
Personally, I think this update is too little, far too late. This feature should have been available from day one and its effect may be minimal now seeing as many people will have simply uninstalled it when they realised how unintuitive it was to add people. Maybe I’m wrong and this will fuel a resurgence for BBM, which may do considering that BlackBerry says they are working on BBM v2.0, but I think BBM has a lot of catching up to do before it becomes a number one choice among messaging circles.
What do you think about ‘Find Friends with BBM’? Are you likely to try BBM out again now that this feature has been added? Let us know what your opinion of BBM is.
The NYPD try Google Glass out on the job
Image courtesy of Officer.com
Google Glass has been gradually finding its way into all facets of daily life, even firefighting, and with each passing week it looks like there are even more applications for it. The latest development is that the NYPD is trying Google Glass to see if they are of any benefit during routine patrolling by officers. According to an official, the NYPD are already trying out “a few” pairs of Google Glass as part of the pilot, and if it’s successful, you can imagine the benefit that it would have for its 34,500 strong force if it were able to utilize things like facial recognition and the like.
That said, we are still in the infancy of the whole wearables movement and there is doubtless going to be ongoing ethics and legislative discussions that crop up now and then, least of all whether police should be allowed to use it. Of particular note is the movement by some American states to ban wearing Google Glass while driving. While probably a sound move in general, there is obviously a lot of contention to do with this as the possibilities are essentially limitless when Google Glass is concerned. That said, if these laws are passed, even policemen won’t be able to wear Google Glass while patrolling in their cars. Maybe save them for the horse-mounted division?
What do you think about police getting Google Glass? Do you think this NYPD trial will result in the widespread use of Google Glass by the police? Let us know you opinion in the comments below.
Source: VentureBeat via Phone Arena
Motorola to hold press conference at MWC 2014 on February 25th
Only a week removed from Motorola’s acqusition by Lenovo, it seems all the furore surrounding the deal has already lost all its romance. I think it would be safe to say many of us don’t expect to hear much from Motorola, but they have in fact scheduled a press conference on February 25th at MWC 2014. To be fair, after the sale to Lenovo, we’ve all be unsure what is going to even happen to Motorola Mobility as we know it, but perhaps this press conference will give us a bit more of an insight as to what’s happened behind the scenes.
We’ve also heard whispers of an updated Moto X and sure enough, Motorola’s flagship device does make a sneak appearance in its invitation from behind a beach towel. Maybe Motorola is going to offer fabric covers for the Moto X as well? We’ve also heard rumours that Motorola also has a smartwatch and a phablet device undergoing development, but they sounded a bit far off to be announced in a few weeks time. While we’d like to think Motorola has something up its sleeve, whatever they have to say at MWC 2014 will likely define their direction for the foreseeable future considering Lenovo is now pulling the strings.
What do you think Motorola is going to say at their press conference? Do you think they are going to announce a new device, say, a refreshed Moto X? Let us know what you suspect in the comments.
Source: Pocket-lint via Phone Arena
Experience life as an England rugby player with an Oculus Rift, nine GoPros and zero bruises
The Oculus Rift’s impact on gaming is obvious, but it’s not hard to imagine how the virtual reality headset could change how we consume home entertainment as a whole. UK mobile network O2 and the England rugby team know this, and have collaborated to create an immersive experience to prove it. Recorded using nine GoPro Hero 3 cameras on a custom gimble, the footage sees you on the training pitch with the team, where you get stuck right in the middle of the action, and burpee along, right next to the players. While this is mostly part of a broader promotion for the sport’s 6-nations tournament in Europe, you can bet your bottom 100 cents that we’re going to see a lot more of these “experiences” going forward. We’re getting the hairdryer out for the inevitable skydive one already.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
AIVAnet 