IBM sells 900 patents to Twitter and Keeps Patent Squabbles Under Wraps
Twitter has acquired 900 patents from IBM today after a deal was made back in December to sell them to the social media giant. The two companies are also entering into cross-licensing deals on various other patents to bring patent infringement squabbles down a notch.
The talks began about a month after IBM accused Twitter of violating 3 of their patents. One was related to advertising, a discovery of contacts and a resource locator. Rather than taking things to court Twitter handled things in a more professional manner and opened up talks to buy patents from IBM. The financial details about the amount paid or the deal brokered has still not been disclosed.
“This acquisition of patents from IBM and licensing agreement provides us with greater intellectual property protection and gives us freedom of action to innovate on behalf of all those who use our service,” said Ben Lee, Legal Director for Twitter.
“We are pleased to reach this agreement with Twitter because it illustrates the value of patented IBM inventions and demonstrates our commitment to licensing access to our broad patent portfolio. We look forward to a productive relationship with Twitter in the future,” said Ken King, General Manager of Intellectual Property for IBM.
I am happy to see them getting along so well with the matter.
Source: Cnet
Img via csmonitor
Twitter buys hundreds of patents from IBM, ending legal spat
IBM’s the biggest patent holder of all time, and when it comes to defending them, it tries to work things out amicably. That’s exactly what’s happened with Twitter, after the social giant today announced it has bought 900 patents from Big Blue and entered into a cross-licensing agreement to limit the threat of future lawsuits. The move comes after IBM accused Twitter of infringing three of the company’s patents concerning: “efficient retrieval of uniform resource allocators,” “presenting advertising in an interactive service,” and “programmatic discovery of common contacts.” IBM noted at the time that it would rather talk it out instead of lawyering up, while Twitter claimed it could defend itself against IBM’s allegations. Thankfully, it didn’t move from the boardroom to the courtroom and the two parties have signed a deal that will provide Twitter with “greater intellectual property protection” and “freedom of action to innovate,” meaning it’s business as usual for users.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: AP
Source: IBM
SenseGiz seeking funding for Star, a multi-functional safety and activity tracker
There are many fitness trackers and smartwatches on the market, but how about a device that alerts your loved ones when you are injured?
SenseGiz, a company that you may not have heard of, is seeking funding on Indiegogo for Star, what it calls “the world’s first emergency identification and all in one tracker.”
The company, which has its research and development hub in India, was started by Abhishek Latthe and Apurva Shetty. Its prime focus is to design products that help keep people safe, fit, happy and empowered.
Like most fitness trackers, it has sensors to track how many steps you take, calories you burn, and keep track of your sleep patterns, but the thing that separates the Star from the rest of the competition is its integrated crash/fall-alert technology. When the device is paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth, it automatically alerts your emergency contacts “along with your GPS location” when you are in an accident. Through the app for either Android or iOS, users can set the sensitivity. At times when the alarm alert doesn’t go off, like in the instance of a non-crash emergency, there is a manual emergency contact button that the wearer can use.
Along with these unique featuers, Star can be worn as a smartband or attach as a clip to your clothing, and in addition to showing the time, it gives various notifications and alerts such as incoming calls, scheduled exercise time, social media, medication reminders, plus it can be used to control music and as a gesture control for your smartphone.
At the time of writing this, there are 13 days left in the crowdfunding campaign and the company has raised $760 of its $100,000 goal. No matter how much it raises, it will receive any funds it raises. If you’re interested, there are still over 100 early backer specials for $79, where you receive a SenseGiz Star in the color of your choice, either black, pink, blue or white, and it comes with a wristband and clip.
SenseGiz may have a long way to go until it reaches its goal, but if you do contribute, you will be backing a startup that seems to truly want to make a difference in people’s everyday lives.
The post SenseGiz seeking funding for Star, a multi-functional safety and activity tracker appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Twitter is making searches easier with filters for news, videos and more
Searching Twitter for a video you saw last week isn’t always the easiest thing in the world, but a new update for the microblogging platform might fix that. New search filters are available that’ll allow you to separate your query by location, whether the tweet has a video or photo attached or if it’s a newsy 140 characters. This seems more like a universal roll-out than a test, but, given Twitter’s history, you may have to wait for a more controlled way of searching for time-travelers.
We’re bringing new filters to search on http://t.co/eNvqKTup1d: by videos, news, people you follow, and more. pic.twitter.com/vkxfkNf2ou
– Twitter (@twitter) January 29, 2014
Filed under: Internet
Source: Twitter
Twitter tool tells journalists what’s BREAKING!
We’ve known for sometime that Twitter is looking to make a move in the news game, but what that would look like was still unclear. Today, the blue bird’s intentions are starting to look a bit more concrete, with the announcement of Dataminr for News, a tool that pinpoints and alerts journalists of breaking news before every Joe with a dot com is tweeting about it. The tool, created in partnership with NY startup Dataminr, uses machine-learning algorithms to identify big and reliable stories and alert journalists via email, mobile alerts and other means. It will also provide detailed information about the origins and sources behind the information. According to The Verge, CNN has used Dataminr tools for months and is already seeing some payoff: It claims to produce at least two stories a day sourced from the service.
The new initiative feeds into the “me first” media culture that has seen hoaxes rise to the top of Twitter as quickly as real breaking news stories. However, Dataminr claims that its algorithms cut through the bull shit by looking beyond the first tweet to find “corroborating sources on the ground” among other factors. According to TechCrunch, Dataminr CEO Ted Bailey said Dataminr for News will become available to all journalists for an undisclosed price later this year.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Verge, TechCrunch
Source: Twitter
Twitter experimenting with pop-up notifications on the web
Twitter isn’t shy when it comes to experimentation. The social network tests some new features by rolling them out to regular users, albeit on a very limited basis, while other projects, such as @eventparrot, are made available to the entire community. The latest unreleased tool to make an appearance is a notification window that pops up whenever you receive a reply or mention, a la the screenshot above. Engadget editor Sarah Silbert noticed the pop-up in her own account, but she seems to be the only staffer with access to this particular tool. We reached out to Twitter for more information, but reps weren’t able to share anything related to this particular implementation.
The company has gone on the record before to shed some light on its otherwise mysterious experiment program — in the past, engineers have “tested various features with small groups,” and that appears to be the case here as well. Have you come across any Twitter features that your friends haven’t seen? Let us know in the comments, and feel free to send us a tip with a screenshot, too.
Filed under: Internet
Twitter update now lets you crop, rotate photos on Android
Love sharing photos on Twitter? If you’re an Android user, it just got a little easier. The microblogging service’s latest app update adds a simple photo-editor that allows users to crop and rotate images without the aid of a third-party program. It also flashes a reminder to @mention friends whenever you upload pics with people in it, emulating Facebook’s photo-tagging feature. Pulling down on the timeline reveals other new features: if there aren’t any tweets to load, the app will show recommended tweets, trending topics and will suggest users to follow. In the US, that list also includes news, sports, TV and events updates. While these new additions to the Twitter feed are only available for Android right now, the company promises that they’ll soon arrive on iOS.
Source: Twitter
Talon for Twitter: A step in the right direction
From the creators of Sliding Messaging and EvolveSMS, Talon for Twitter is a great way to experience what Kit Kat has to offer on Android.
If you’ve ever used the official Twitter app for Android, you’d know very quickly that it could use some work. Third party apps have clearly taken over the Twitter space on Android, and unfortunately, some of these apps won’t last. The big bad people over at Twitter HQ would like to put a stop to third party apps all together, by limiting the amount of users each app can have. Fortunately for us, Talon is just now emerging in the app space, so it has a little while to go before hitting the dreaded API wall.
Let’s talk user interface
One of the features introduced in the launcher on the Nexus 5 were the transparent status bar and soft keys. When Kit Kat launched, Google gave developers the ability to use these features. But, that doesn’t mean developers will necessarily use them. Currently, I’ve only ever seen the Nexus 5 launcher and Google Now take advantage of these features… until now.
The use of transparent notification and status bars bring a whole new level to Immersive Mode. We’ve seen Carbon for Twitter take a stab at it, but nothing that quite uses the screen real estate this well. Moving forward, it would be great to see other developers take advantage of this.
On top of all of this, Talon just added a nice tablet UI. Not many apps have a tablet version, so this is always nice to see.
Customizations, galore
Talon has more customization options than you can shake a stick at. If the dark theme doesn’t suit you well enough, you can download a pre-made theme, or create your own. Change your font, or use “night mode” (do not disturb). It doesn’t really provide more options than other Twitter apps, but it sure isn’t lacking in this category.
A decent widget!
If you have read anything about Twitter on this website, you’ll know that I really fancy a decent widget. I’m not going to talk too much about this one, but sometimes these things are hard to come by.
Problems?
This app is almost brand new, so we’re going to give Klinker Apps the benefit of the doubt. But this is buggy. Not so much that it’s unusable, but enough to get on your nerves. It has some force closes, theme selection problems, and sometimes it takes a very long time to refresh. But it’s getting updated pretty quickly, so it’s nothing to worry about.
The future
Talon for Twitter is an example of how beautiful apps can look on Android 4.4. And for only $1.99, it’s worth every penny. If you’re looking for another Twitter client on Android, you need to check this out. Klinker Apps, keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s working.
The post Talon for Twitter: A step in the right direction appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Twitter’s web look refreshed to match your phone
Where one of Twitter’s app designs goes, the rest will follow — hot on the heels of its latest Android and iOS releases, the social network is rolling out a new web interface with a matching look. The change is primarily cosmetic at first glance, although you can now personalize the accent color in addition to usual elements like backgrounds and profile photos. Not everyone is seeing the new look at this stage, but we’d expect it to reach many of Twitter’s web users in the near future.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Twitter (1), (2)
Vine update for iOS brings exposure and focus locking
Vine’s six-second videos may not allow much room for artistic expression, but the company is happy to provide a little more control. It just updated its iOS app to enable exposure and focus locking; you now just have to tap and hold on a subject to prevent any surprise changes in brightness or sharpness while you’re recording. There aren’t any corresponding updates to Vine for Android or Windows Phone, but we wouldn’t be surprised if those arrive in the near future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: App Store
AIVAnet 