Getty Images goes after Google for promoting ‘piracy’

U.S. photography agency Getty Images is lodging a formal complaint against Google, stating that the search vendor is undermining its licensing business by providing access to copyrighted images in Google Images. The company is set to file a complaint with the European Union’s antitrust commission, where Google is already under fire for abusing its dominant position with Android in the region.

Getty Images says that by making “full-screen slideshows of high-resolution copyrighted images” available for download directly within the image search results, Google is hurting its business as users see little intensive to pay for images that are freely available. From TIME:

In a statement released to TIME ahead of the filing, Getty argues that since image consumption is immediate, “there is little impetus to view the image on the original source site” once it’s seen in high resolution on Google. By making these images available to download, Google has “also promoted piracy, resulting in widespread copyright infringement, turning users into accidental pirates,” Getty claims.

Getty Images’ general counsel Yoko Miyashita said that Google is “siphoning traffic and profits from photographers” with its practices:

Getty Images represents over 200,000 photojournalists, content creators and artists around the world who rely on us to protect their ability to be compensated for their work. Google’s behavior is adversely affecting not only our contributors, but the lives and livelihoods of artists around the word, present and future.

We want [Google] to go back to search functioning as search, and not search functioning as a substitute of publishers.

Miyashita also mentioned that the company deliberated with Google for three years over this issue without making any headway:

Google’s proposed solution [was to] accept its presentation of images, or opt-out of image search.

Gionee Marathon M5 Plus finally makes its debut in India for ₹26,999

After unveiling the phone in China late last year, Gionee has commenced sales of the Marathon M5 Plus in India for ₹26,999.

With the Marathon, Marathon M5 Lite, and now the Marathon M5 Plus now available in India, here’s what you need to know about what’s on offer with each phone.

The standard Marathon offers a massive 6020mAh battery and a 5.5-inch 720p display for ₹17,999. The M5 Lite comes with a 5-inch 720p display and a 4000mAh battery, and is available for ₹12,999. The Marathon M5 Plus, meanwhile, features a 6-inch Full HD AMOLED display and a 5020mAh battery, and will retail in the market for ₹26,999.

The Marathon M5 Plus also offers a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6753 SoC, 13MP camera at the back, 5MP front shooter, LTE, USB Type-C, and a fingerprint sensor. Software-wise, it’s still on Android 5.1 Lollipop, with Gionee’s custom Amigo 3.1 running the show.

The bump in screen resolution combined with the huge battery makes the handset an enticing option, but the ₹26,999 asking price is a lot considering you have much better phones in this category. What do you guys think?

EE kicks off pre-orders of its exclusive white pearl Galaxy S7

EE has announced that the UK carrier has commenced pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in an exclusive white pearl color option. Available for order both online and in-store from today, you’ll soon be able to get your hands on the sleek and premium looking handset.

The white Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are expected to be released on May 6. Those interested will be able to upgrade to the 32GB variants of the two smartphones in white for free and £29.99, respectively. Monthly costs will set you back £45.99 for the Galaxy S7 with 4GB of data, while the S7 edge will cost £50.99 a month, but comes with 20GB of data.

Picking up the new Galaxy handsets on EE will also enable owners to take advantage of Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE. EE will also offer £24.99 off the Samsung accessory bundle, which includes the Juice Wireless Charger, Samsung 32GB Micro SD card and CAT Glass Screen Protector, bringing the price down to £59.98

See at EE

Swipe Elite Note offers a 5.5-inch 720p display, 3GB RAM and LTE for just ₹7,999

Swipe Technologies has launched the Elite Note in India, with the phone going up for sale on Flipkart. The highlight of the phone is that it offers a 5.5-inch 720p display as well as 3GB of RAM and LTE connectivity for just ₹7,999.

The dual-SIM Elite Note runs the vendor’s custom Freedom OS atop Android 5.0 Lollipop. Under the hood, there’s a 1.3GHz MediaTek MTK6735 SoC with Mali-T720 GPU, and the phone offers 16GB internal storage, microSD slot, 13MP camera at the back, 5MP front shooter, and a 3000mAh battery.

You also get an IR blaster, and the phone is coated with a sandstone finish at the back. There’s certainly a lot on offer when you consider the phone’s price point.

See at Flipkart

Jaguar F-Pace first drive: Aspirational yet attainable

Jaguar has created its first crossover SUV, the F-Pace, that aims to offers the size and comfort of a larger car while still delivering the driving performance and luxury you’d expect from a Jag. Jaguar calls it a practical performance car.

The F-Pace joins a busy market where crossover vehicles are cropping up from many manufacturers. Competition from the Porsche Macan, Audi Q5 and BMW X3 – all more established in this range – makes it an uphill struggle… which is something this 4×4 should be well suited to handle, right?

Extras like a wearable keyless entry bracelet and smart InControl Touch Pro infotainment system should give this a technological edge over the competition. And starting at £35,000 it’s a lot of car for the price, clearly undercutting the £43,000 Porsche Macan.

We took the F-Pace onto the road to see if Jaguar’s first crossover SUV is here to leave the competition behind.

Jaguar F-Pace: Design and build

Jaguar has built the F-Pace to straddle the line between luxury, comfort, and sports performance – something that’s difficult to do in a large SUV. It certainly looks the part with a blend of aggression, high ride prowess and plenty of space.

Pocket-lint

Looking at the F-Pace front-on, that aggressive look of a Jag is not lost on the larger build. The grille is grand while the bonnet behind is powerfully angular. This is accented by the iconic J-blade shaped LED headlights which give a futuristic feel to the face. It doesn’t look wide despite offering plenty of room inside.

From the side the car looks tall enough to be classed as a capable SUV but still has enough of a haunch to deliver a look of performance. Sitting on 22-inch alloy forged wheels, a first for Jaguar, is just the icing on the cake. Although if you want winter tyres from Jag then you’ll be limited to 20-inch wheels – which come on most models other than the First Edition line.

The rear features the F-Type brake lighting with those iconic eye-like tail lamps. The rear screen is small for a sporty finish but large and well placed enough to work effectively while driving – and there’s an optional rear camera should you need that too. The twin chrome tailpipes, which sound great, help make the car look even more sporty.

With 15-years of aerodynamics research this car benefits from a drag coefficient of just 0.34, impressive for an SUV. This is needed to make sure all the weight of this car doesn’t slow it down – but more about that in the handling section later.

Get inside the cabin and you’re met with all the luxury and comfort you’d expect from a Jaguar. Central to the dash is the 12.3-inch virtual instrument cluster plus 10.2-inch central touchscreen to the side featuring InControl Touch Pro for interactions.

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This is all surrounded by leather and a suede-like ceiling for a cosy yet functional finish. There is very little plastic to be found and there aren’t too many buttons as Jaguar clearly isn’t afraid of allowing touch controls to offer plenty of options. We’re probably a bit more afraid though: using a touchscreen while driving isn’t as safety conscious as the likes of BMW’s dash-based control in our view, plus the deep menus on the digital screen can get distracting if you’re on the move. However, the Jag’s wheel has enough buttons to do pretty much anything you could need while driving.

The driving position feels low enough to give a sporty character, but the designers have managed to give a high ride view that you’d expect from an SUV. We’re not going to try to understand how it works, but it does.

The rear seats offer plenty of legroom, deliver the widest rear space in the class, and there’s ample headroom too. It doesn’t feel like the rear was an afterthought, as even the rear seats have electrically reclining options. That space continues into the boot where there’s a hefty 650-litre luggage compartment with auto tailgate.

Pocket-lint

The final point has to be made about that gorgeous Cesium Blue exterior pain job. Sadly it’s only available on the £65,000 First Edition models, the sold-out limited edition 2,000 run that you won’t be able to buy. So here’s hoping Jag lets that paint pot lose again in the near future.

Jaguar F-Pace: Performance and handling

Under the hood of the F-Pace there’s enough power to throw this sizeable car about. The top end S line, starting at £50,000, features a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine that’s supercharged to offer a 0-62mph time of 5.5-seconds thanks to a hefty 380bhp. There are also 300bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel (same price) and entry-level 180bhp 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel engine options – the latter being not-so-hot, as we found in the XE R-Sport model.

We took out the 380 model initially. This is the same engine as used in the F-Type and therefore has a lot of the glorious sound of that sports car. In F-Pace form it isn’t as tuned and the exhaust isn’t as loud, but it still has enough snarl to make revving a lot of fun. That said if you switch out of sport mode it purrs gently enough to make long drives comfortably quiet. Put your foot down in normal mode, though, and most of the power is still there (just with more lag).

Pocket-lint

Onto handling. Thanks to a magnesium front-end carrier, steel doors and composite tailgate, there’s a near perfect 50/50 weight distribution. That makes for a balanced handling and performance experience. The lateral stiffness is 50 per cent greater than that of the Porsche Macan, claims Jaguar, which results in tight handling. In the real-world that translates to a lot of fun.

We threw the F-Pace about and it just kept hanging on. Sure, all the automated power doesn’t leave you feeling that directly in control, even with traction control off, but it’s still fun. This car lets you feel like you’re racing as it clings onto corners as though on rails. For some it might feel too safe but for most it will provide fun without too much of the risk. Going downhill, in the wet, on a hairpin and we got a wheel to spin a bit once but without any real loss of road position.

Thanks to the Integral Link rear suspension the F-Pace is still able to absorb bumps for a comfy ride. Yet somehow manages to offer tight enough steering for a hair-raising drive. Jaguar is the king of steering though, just as we said of the XE R-Sport.

READ: Jaguar XE R-Sport review

The F-Pace is built for all conditions, meaning it offers all-wheel-drive to handle off-road situations. Not that most will take it off the tarmac. But it’s well equipped there thanks to Intelligent Driveline Dynamics, as developed for the F-Type, so car can essentially handle as a rear-wheel drive machine most of the time. It knows when power needs to be moved to the front for grip and applies it as necessary.

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This is a brilliant way of offering a driver’s experience while also keeping the car safely on the road and maintaining fuel economy. It’s accessible for anyone but there to take those who need it that extra bit further into a thrilling driving experience.

A good example of this balance is All Surface Progress Control mode. This controls throttle and brakes for a smooth pull away, while all you do is steer. But for those who want a bit more control there’s Low-Friction Launch which maps the throttle – so even when using the pedal the driver is assisted by the car to avoid slip. Of course there’s manual mode too for those who want total control.

These layers of control are brilliantly balanced to appeal to everyone depending on the situation or mood. We loved the All Surface Progress Control for a really steep off-road climb and descent where we didn’t even need to touch the pedals – it was so easy it felt like cheating gravity.

If you do head off the beaten path, the Adaptive Surface Response system, first developed for the XF, can be used to deliver power intelligently. There is even a mode for gravel and deep snow, should you find yourself caught out. We went off-road onto some steep grass verges and loose gravel surfaces and the car handled them with ease.

Dynamic settings can be adjusted from the screen, thus allowing you to switch dynamic control on or off. So if you want sport mode for tight handling but don’t want the car revving so high, you can turn the engine to normal mode, for example.

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Jaguar F-Pace: Infotainment and smart driving

One of the rare and unique offerings of the F-Pace is its Activity Key, that comes with the £39,000 and above spec models. This is a wristband that’s totally waterproof and uses RFID transmission. Leave your main keys in the car and they will be deactivated so the car is only looking for the band to unlock and wake the vehicle. The nice thing here is it’s so light to wear that you don’t notice it, so even when practising sport it can be left on without thought. So you can pull up to a beach, leave valuables in the car, jump in the sea and feel truly free. A wonderful accolade for such a simple little device.

The optional heads-up display (HUD), unlike traditional offerings, uses lasers. This means the image that bounces back off the window and, therefore, should be brighter and clearer. Team Pocket-lint is in contention about this: in the F-Pace we agree it’s colourful and visible in sunlight, whereas in the XE R-Sport we found it mediocre and the data – it shows speed, speed limit, gear and sat-nav turn-by-turns – too crammed together. The UI is really nice, it just needs some work yet.

The F-Pace is smart enough to spot pedestrians using front-facing cameras, which means the car will brake for you should it need to. Luckily we didn’t need to find out how well this worked, although the forward braking warning and lane-keep assist helped a few times, especially when enjoying adaptive cruise control.

The cubby box unit is kitted out for connectivity with two USB ports, a 12-volt socket, and HDMI for streaming video to the main car display. Even the rear has two more 12V sockets and two USB ports so everyone can be connected with power, enjoying the car’s 3G Wi-Fi connection. We found the car’s aerial to find strong signal even when our phone had none at all.

Customisable screens with pinch-to-zoom and swipe controls work like a tablet, but even faster. The split-screen is useful to keep navigation on one side while the passenger can look up other data or control music on the rest of the display.

Pocket-lint

Navigation gives a Google Streetview-style visual of the destination and will even check fuel against the route to let you know if you can make it in one trip. You can share the journey data, like arrival time, over messaging to others, directly from the app. The nav is also smart enough to pull in a route you found on the app in your phone, allow you to send it to whoever you’re visiting and it will then text them if you get stuck in traffic.

The InControl Touch Pro platform still sports over 20 apps but this could be even more impressive in the future as Jaguar opens its car sensors to developers.

Overall, the InControl system is a big and welcome step forward compared to Jaguar’s setup of old. For speed, clarity and premium feel, both BMW’s Pro Media system and Audi’s MMI+ still better it though – and work via a rotary controller which we think is safer and preferable to touchscreen when on the move.

First Impressions

To own a Jaguar was once a luxury reserved for the few who could afford it. Even then it meant either opting for extravagant luxury or raw sports power. Now in the F-Pace, Jaguar has discovered a way to offer everything it is good at all in one package – and one that’s relatively affordable in its class.

The F-Pace enters the busy market of crossover vehicles with a complete package. It can work for those seeking a functional and spacious SUV, while also offering the power, handling and fun of a sportier machine – all tied together with future-proofed tech that’s a big step beyond older Jag tech installs.

Of course for every feature – like that throaty 3.0-litre V6, or extras like 22-inch rims and the Active Key – you’ll need to shell out extra for the higher-end specification. But for someone wanting the Jag badge and much of the luxury, comfort and reliable handling you’d expect, the entry-level price will get you more than enough to impress.

You’ll be driving with autonomous Volvo cars on UK roads in 2017

Self-driving cars are going to hit the roads sooner than expected, with the UK helping lead the way. This time next year you could be on the same roads as cars that are driving themselves, thanks to new Volvo plans.

Volvo has announced that it will be introducing its autonomous driving program for the UK in 2017. This will mean that real families will be using self-driving Volvo cars on the public roads. Initially the project will begin in London from 2017 with what it’s calling Drive Me London.

The Drive Me project has already begun in Volvo’s home country of Sweden where the self-driving cars are on the roads of Gothenburg. These use what Volvo calls its Autopilot technology.

At the moment the self-driving is limited to speed adaption and merging traffic. Other cars can do that, we hear you say. What’s unique here is that the project isn’t Volvo alone but involves legislators, transport authorities, the city and real drivers. That should mean the results help to push, not only the tech, but the legislation for autonomous driving too – helping bring it to reality sooner.

Drive Me London will start in early 2017 with a limited number of semi-autonomous cars and expand to 100 autonomous cars by 2018. Volvo says drivers will be able to “drop out of the loop” of control for certain parts of their journey by 2021.

READ: Jaguar F-Pace first drive: Aspirational yet attainable

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare leaked, coming 4 November

Thanks to a leak by a Reddit user (who has since been deleted), we now know the next Call of Duty game’s name and release date. An image of a reservation card from US store Target reveals the name Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and its American street date of 4 November.

It was also accidentally listed in the US PlayStation Store, which one PS4 owner spotted before it disappeared again.

It is likely, considering the timing of the leaks, that Activision will formerly announce the new title soon – before E3 2016. The publisher will not have a stand at the show in June, for the first time in many a year, but is likely to be allied to a partner, thought to be Sony.

That means there’s a good chance we’ll see a trailer or gameplay footage during the PlayStation press conference on 13 June.

Apart from its name and release date, few other details can be gleaned from the leaks.

Reddit

READ: E3 2016: All the launches, games and consoles to expect

Eurogamer claims that the new game will take the future soldier theme even further than Advanced Warfare. It could even be set in space, with warring groups battling it out in true sci-fi fashion.

Certainly, Call of Duty has been heading in that direction for a while, with Black Ops 3 following on from Advanced Warfare with an even greater focus on science fiction tropes.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is being developed by Infinity Ward, the team behind the Modern Warfare trilogy. Its last game in the franchise was Ghosts, one of the less critically acclaimed outings.

The Target reservation card posted also reveals that a remastered version of Modern Warfare is on the, ahem, cards.

Formula E is getting electric trucks from the creator of Roborace

Electric truck firm Charge will supply Formula E with several electric trucks, it revealed at last weekend’s race in Paris. The trucks will help shuttle equipment around the track. Interestingly, the CEO of Charge is also the CEO of Roborace, a forthcoming driverless racing series. (Curiously enough, Denis Sverdlov is also the CEO behind YotaPhone — but back to the trucks.) According to The Verge report, investment firm Kinetik has pumped $500 million dollars into Charge — a firm also run by Sverdlov. While the trucks use some fuel to extend how far they can run on a single charge, the EVs will help to keep with the spirit behind the scenes of the electric-powered races.

Source: The Verge

Nintendo’s ‘Miitomo’ app passes 10 million users

Nintendo dropped a pile of news on our laps this morning. Along with its earnings, the Japanese game company gave us a release date for its new NX console, announced a pair of new mobile apps and delayed Zelda into 2017. Buried in among these bigger items is the detail that its first mobile app, Miitomo, now has over 10 million unique users.

Over 10M users worldwide have enjoyed #Miitomo! Are you among them? pic.twitter.com/RX16wrTN9Q

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 27, 2016

That’s an impressive number for an app that’s been available for less than two months. During that time, Nintendo says over 20 million “Miifotos” have been saved. A Miifoto is a small, sharable images of user’s in-game avatar, designed to be shared on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

It could be argued — and my colleague Nicole has — that Nintendo’s app is a social network in and of itself. Although it differs in many ways, Miitomo employs the same hook of Twitter and Facebook likes by rewarding you with coins for answering questions or sharing photos. And in that way, it’s certainly doing better at carving out a slice of the market than other app-based networks like Path.

For its next two mobile apps, Nintendo will be sticking more closely to its roots. A version of Fire Emblem will come to smartphones that’ll be “more accessible in comparison to the Fire Emblem games for Nintendo’s dedicated gaming systems.” It strongly hints that another app, this time based on the popular Animal Crossing franchise, will link with existing titles in the series for dedicated systems like the 3DS and Wii U. “By playing both Animal Crossing games, users will find increased enjoyment,” the company says. Compared to Miitomo, both of these are “pure game applications” and have “more prominent game elements.” If it can match half of Miitomo’s figures with Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing, Nintendo will definitely be on the path to mobile success.

Source: Nintendo

Volvo will test self-driving cars on the public next year

Volvo has been working on its autonomous vehicle program for several years now, but there’s only so much you can learn from testing tech in controlled conditions. While the company has run trials on public roads before, it’s now planning to take engineers and technicians out of the equation to see how regular road users take to self-driving cars. As part of its ongoing “Drive Me” project, Volvo is going to put real people behind the wheels of “semi-autonomous” vehicles from early next year, in order to understand how they are suited to everyday scenarios like doing the school run and picking up the weekly grocery shop.

Similar large-scale trials will be taking place in Volvo’s home town of Gothenburg, Sweden, and on the streets of London. In the UK capital specifically, the plan is to start out with a small number of XC90 SUVs fitted with “IntelliSafe Autopilot,” Volvo’s half-assistive, half-autonomous vehicle tech. If all goes well, the trial will be expanded in 2018 to include up to 100 cars capable of full autonomy. Hopefully, Volvo will also be done developing its next-generation infotainment system by then, allowing these early test subjects to Netflix and chill while their car takes full charge of the daily commute.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Volvo