From TFA (the one from Florian, the patent expert, not DailyTech, the tech reporting site), Samsung itself complained about Ericsson and Rambus for the usage of FRAND or undisclosed-essential patents and they should be barred from enforcing them.
Apple didn't even want to prevent Samsung from enforcing them. It just wants to separate the cases between : "having to pay a licence for FRAND patents" and "being blocked from selling products because of non-FRAND patents".
I find dubious DailyTech calling Florin Mueller "a pro-Apple blogger" for his patent litigation analysis (most especially the difference in usage of FRAND patents between Nokia and Samsung) while Florian Mueller *IS* the professional expert on patents.
If MMI thought it had stronger patents in its portfolio, it would have brought them to court agains Apple and Microsoft. But only those 18 were put forward.
A FRAND encumbered patent can mostly allow obtaining licensing revenues. The only defense would be to enter a cross licensing deal where both party are avoiding paying licenses to each other.
There are 3 kinds of entities attacking Android : - Apple wants Android blocked or at least some of its feature. Apple want to keep very distinctive feature to itself and does not intend to license them. A FRAND patent would help have Apple pay licensing fees, like it did for Nokia but it would not have Apple stop trying to block some features on Android phones. - Microsoft wants to have revenues from Android so that device manufacturers would consider WP7 as a cheaper/same price alternative to Android. Here the MMI FRAND patents might help if Microsoft is found infringing those. However, Microsoft is handling the OS part : if MMI patents are related to hardware (like radio), those patents won't be able to provide revenues or cross licensing opportunities from Microsoft. Those are the kind of patent MMI would have leveraged against other Android licensees as it threatened to do. - Patent Trolls or Non-Practicing Entities have no product to sell. No hardware. No software. So with FRAND patents or a plain vanilla patents, you can not retaliate by blocking its products or having them pay licenses.
In the end, only Microsoft kind of attack on Android might be curbed down by FRAND patents but this wouldn't affect much Apple and Patent Trolls.
Some of those patents are encumbered by FRAND : Fair, Reasonnable and Non Discrimatory. Such patents are essentiel to a global normalisation in which participant have to disclose their related patents and licence them in a fair, reasonnable and non discriminatory way. You can use them to get royalties but you'll have a hard time using them to block someone.
Remember, in Nokia vs Apple, Apple settlement rather quickly. In Apple vs Motorola, the litigation is still pending. So it seems that Apple considers those patents are rather weak.
At last, remember, Google bought Motorola also because it threatened OTHER ANDROID licensees !!!
whether I play the game for 2 years, using the services provided, or I play the game for 1 year and someone else plays the game for another extra year
In theory, there are no difference. In reality, almost no one plays for 2 years : most players stays only a few weeks or months and switch to a new game.
So, it is much more easy to find 2 players playing for 1 year than 1 player playing for 2.
The game has been payed for, and that includes the 'right' to the services for however long I wish.
And its price has been established on the statistical cost of usage. Ask Sony for perpetual right to resale your game without feature loss, and they'll be happy to give you a sell you a more expensive version.
The proper name for category 2 HDMI cables is indeed "high speed" not "high resolution" as the cable in and of itself does not have nor care about resolution. The added bandwidth could be and often is used for higher resolution, but is also used for 3D, higher refresh rates, or supplementary data like ethernet over HDMI.
Indeed HighSpeed is certified for 1080p (while most short Standard cable might work) and is required for 3D but it is NOT required for Ethernet since this is a independent feature. You can have Standard cable with or without Ethernet and HighSpeed cable with or without Ethernet.
For some uses, such as long runs, you really do need a better cable. For most, you don't.
There is no such thing as a "better cable". You have certified cable (made from better quality component for longer runs) and you have non certified or deceptive products. Once a cable has passed the certification, ALL CABLES are the same regarding image quality.
HDMI certification does not care about the raw quality of the components required to build a cable. It just validates that the cable works. So yes a longer cable requires better components. But as an end-product, it stays a Standard HDMI Cable or a HighSpeed HDMI cable.
By cable, I mean a finished product with soldered connectors at both ends.
Straight from HDMI.org (emphasis added) :
Standard HDMI Cable The Standard HDMI cable is designed to handle most home applications, and is tested to reliably transmit 1080i or 720p video – the HD resolutions that are commonly associated with cable and satellite television, digital broadcast HD, and upscaling DVD players.
So, I bought a finish product that has been tested for reliability.
Now, you might buy raw cable that might be enough to build short cable or a long cable build from this BUT the end result does not bear the Standard HDMI Cable certification. And if it does and still fails to properly display your image : GET A REFUND for this deceptive product.
Whatever the length of your cable, either it works and display a perfect picture and earns its HDMI certification or it does not work properly and its NOT a valid HDMI product. And you get a refund for this deceptive product.
I don't care that with a longer cable, it requires higher quality cable parts. I want a Normal Speed HDMI cable or a HighSpeed HDMI cable.
I buy a certified product, not raw components to solder myself.
For those who didn't realized what this is because this is unbelievable. This cable is used to connect a Denon DVD player to a Denon AV Receiver to transmit digital audio.
This is a 1.5m RJ45 Ethernet Cat5 cable. For half a grand.
And from the owner manuel
Signal direction indicator Connect in the direction shown on the diagram above to achieve the maximum performance the cable has to offer.
Until 1.4, all cables were the sames but had different qualities. This quality was not "certified" until 1.3.
In 1.3, they defined cable Categories : - Category 1 (renamed Normal in 1.4) was certified for 1080i - Category 2 (renamed HighSpeed in 1.4) was certified for higher resolutions and frequencies (like 3D)
Category 1 is certified for displaying 1080i but would generally work for 1080p 2D content. Category 2 is required for 3D. In 2D, it is required for insane resolutions or frequencies no consumer video source or display support.
1.4 added Ethernet over HDMI using a connector pin that was previously reserved hence not soldered (pin 14). This is called HDMI Ethernet Channel and HDMI ask to label it HDMI HEC. So far, I haven't found a single HDMI HEC TV.
It looks like HDMI really wants to avoid consumer confusion to slow its adoption and with 1.4 cable specification and guidelines, it seems they REALLT wanted to cut the BS on cable "quality".
Since 1.4, there are only 5 differentes cables and correctly labelling them is REQUIRED by HDMI (there is a grace period until the end of 2011).
It's simple : 2 speeds (Normal or HighSpeed) and a feature (with or without Ethernet). Basically, Normal supports up to 1080i and HighSpeed supports above.
The last category is about automative cabling so we can forget about it.
At last, it is FORBIDDEN to make reference to a HDMI version number for cables ("upgrade your 1.3 cables to 1.4" : those are the same - except for Ethernet but your pre-1.4 devices did not support it). And for products, if you want to use a version number, the manufacturer have to specifically list the feature added in this version supported by its product.
Sure you returned them : they were deceptive products ! To bear the HDMI logo, a cable needs to be certified. No signal : those were not HDMI certified cables and you should get a refund.
So, taking a dirt cheap cable is a no risk situation : either it works or you get a refund.
First, "improve the overall ride quality of cars by 60 percent". How do you MEASURE and QUANTIFY "ride quality" ?
Second, "if the batteries should fail, the system will still work as a purely mechanical suspension". FAIL. A mechanical suspension is BOTH a spring AND a damper. If the electromagnetic damper fails, you're headed for trouble.
ID3 is a de facto standard widely used for music. It is targeted at MP3 file format but many alternative music file formats also support embedding it. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3 for more details.
Now, for everything outside music, the need/usage/online-store haven't managed to create a standard (even de facto) for meta-tagging files.
Since all formats might not support metadata, the simplest would be to use the file system meta-data/extended attributes. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems for the list of FS supporting extended attributes.
As with music, you'll need dedicated applications to edit and browse those tags. Since you already have a folder structure, you could jump start those tags with the information that can be retrieved from the folder names. For movies and books, you might be able to complement those tags from IMDb or Amazon.
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From TFA (the one from Florian, the patent expert, not DailyTech, the tech reporting site), Samsung itself complained about Ericsson and Rambus for the usage of FRAND or undisclosed-essential patents and they should be barred from enforcing them.
Apple didn't even want to prevent Samsung from enforcing them. It just wants to separate the cases between : "having to pay a licence for FRAND patents" and "being blocked from selling products because of non-FRAND patents".
As usual, noone ever RTFAs.
I find dubious DailyTech calling Florin Mueller "a pro-Apple blogger" for his patent litigation analysis (most especially the difference in usage of FRAND patents between Nokia and Samsung) while Florian Mueller *IS* the professional expert on patents.
If MMI thought it had stronger patents in its portfolio, it would have brought them to court agains Apple and Microsoft. But only those 18 were put forward.
A FRAND encumbered patent can mostly allow obtaining licensing revenues. The only defense would be to enter a cross licensing deal where both party are avoiding paying licenses to each other.
There are 3 kinds of entities attacking Android :
- Apple wants Android blocked or at least some of its feature. Apple want to keep very distinctive feature to itself and does not intend to license them. A FRAND patent would help have Apple pay licensing fees, like it did for Nokia but it would not have Apple stop trying to block some features on Android phones.
- Microsoft wants to have revenues from Android so that device manufacturers would consider WP7 as a cheaper/same price alternative to Android. Here the MMI FRAND patents might help if Microsoft is found infringing those. However, Microsoft is handling the OS part : if MMI patents are related to hardware (like radio), those patents won't be able to provide revenues or cross licensing opportunities from Microsoft. Those are the kind of patent MMI would have leveraged against other Android licensees as it threatened to do.
- Patent Trolls or Non-Practicing Entities have no product to sell. No hardware. No software. So with FRAND patents or a plain vanilla patents, you can not retaliate by blocking its products or having them pay licenses.
In the end, only Microsoft kind of attack on Android might be curbed down by FRAND patents but this wouldn't affect much Apple and Patent Trolls.
RTFATitle : "Most important 18 patents" and the potential FRAND encumberance relates to those.
Some of those patents are encumbered by FRAND : Fair, Reasonnable and Non Discrimatory.
Such patents are essentiel to a global normalisation in which participant have to disclose their related patents and licence them in a fair, reasonnable and non discriminatory way. You can use them to get royalties but you'll have a hard time using them to block someone.
Remember, in Nokia vs Apple, Apple settlement rather quickly. In Apple vs Motorola, the litigation is still pending. So it seems that Apple considers those patents are rather weak.
At last, remember, Google bought Motorola also because it threatened OTHER ANDROID licensees !!!
It originally said : "you forgot the <sarcasm> tag" but /. considered it a true XML tag and stripped it.
I didn't use HTML entities.
I should have used the preview button.
You forgot the tag.
whether I play the game for 2 years, using the services provided, or I play the game for 1 year and someone else plays the game for another extra year
In theory, there are no difference.
In reality, almost no one plays for 2 years : most players stays only a few weeks or months and switch to a new game.
So, it is much more easy to find 2 players playing for 1 year than 1 player playing for 2.
The game has been payed for, and that includes the 'right' to the services for however long I wish.
And its price has been established on the statistical cost of usage. Ask Sony for perpetual right to resale your game without feature loss, and they'll be happy to give you a sell you a more expensive version.
You need 19 of them since HDMI is using 19 connectors. And 20 for HDMI Ethernet Channel.
The proper name for category 2 HDMI cables is indeed "high speed" not "high resolution" as the cable in and of itself does not have nor care about resolution. The added bandwidth could be and often is used for higher resolution, but is also used for 3D, higher refresh rates, or supplementary data like ethernet over HDMI.
Indeed HighSpeed is certified for 1080p (while most short Standard cable might work) and is required for 3D but it is NOT required for Ethernet since this is a independent feature. You can have Standard cable with or without Ethernet and HighSpeed cable with or without Ethernet.
Actually, this is Standard and not Normal. Sorry :)
For some uses, such as long runs, you really do need a better cable. For most, you don't.
There is no such thing as a "better cable". You have certified cable (made from better quality component for longer runs) and you have non certified or deceptive products.
Once a cable has passed the certification, ALL CABLES are the same regarding image quality.
Cause you buy a certified product.
HDMI certification does not care about the raw quality of the components required to build a cable. It just validates that the cable works.
So yes a longer cable requires better components. But as an end-product, it stays a Standard HDMI Cable or a HighSpeed HDMI cable.
IT'S A SCAM !!
By cable, I mean a finished product with soldered connectors at both ends.
Straight from HDMI.org (emphasis added) :
Standard HDMI Cable
The Standard HDMI cable is designed to handle most home applications, and is tested to reliably transmit 1080i or 720p video – the HD resolutions that are commonly associated with cable and satellite television, digital broadcast HD, and upscaling DVD players.
So, I bought a finish product that has been tested for reliability.
Now, you might buy raw cable that might be enough to build short cable or a long cable build from this BUT the end result does not bear the Standard HDMI Cable certification. And if it does and still fails to properly display your image : GET A REFUND for this deceptive product.
Whatever the length of your cable, either it works and display a perfect picture and earns its HDMI certification or it does not work properly and its NOT a valid HDMI product. And you get a refund for this deceptive product.
I don't care that with a longer cable, it requires higher quality cable parts. I want a Normal Speed HDMI cable or a HighSpeed HDMI cable.
I buy a certified product, not raw components to solder myself.
For those who didn't realized what this is because this is unbelievable.
This cable is used to connect a Denon DVD player to a Denon AV Receiver to transmit digital audio.
This is a 1.5m RJ45 Ethernet Cat5 cable.
For half a grand.
And from the owner manuel
Signal direction indicator
Connect in the direction shown on the diagram above to achieve the maximum performance the cable has to offer.
Until 1.4, all cables were the sames but had different qualities. This quality was not "certified" until 1.3.
In 1.3, they defined cable Categories :
- Category 1 (renamed Normal in 1.4) was certified for 1080i
- Category 2 (renamed HighSpeed in 1.4) was certified for higher resolutions and frequencies (like 3D)
Category 1 is certified for displaying 1080i but would generally work for 1080p 2D content.
Category 2 is required for 3D. In 2D, it is required for insane resolutions or frequencies no consumer video source or display support.
1.4 added Ethernet over HDMI using a connector pin that was previously reserved hence not soldered (pin 14). This is called HDMI Ethernet Channel and HDMI ask to label it HDMI HEC. So far, I haven't found a single HDMI HEC TV.
It looks like HDMI really wants to avoid consumer confusion to slow its adoption and with 1.4 cable specification and guidelines, it seems they REALLT wanted to cut the BS on cable "quality".
Directly from HDMI.org :
http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/finding_right_cable.aspx
http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/trademark_logo_pub.aspx
Since 1.4, there are only 5 differentes cables and correctly labelling them is REQUIRED by HDMI (there is a grace period until the end of 2011).
It's simple : 2 speeds (Normal or HighSpeed) and a feature (with or without Ethernet).
Basically, Normal supports up to 1080i and HighSpeed supports above.
The last category is about automative cabling so we can forget about it.
At last, it is FORBIDDEN to make reference to a HDMI version number for cables ("upgrade your 1.3 cables to 1.4" : those are the same - except for Ethernet but your pre-1.4 devices did not support it).
And for products, if you want to use a version number, the manufacturer have to specifically list the feature added in this version supported by its product.
"Returned them"
Sure you returned them : they were deceptive products ! To bear the HDMI logo, a cable needs to be certified.
No signal : those were not HDMI certified cables and you should get a refund.
So, taking a dirt cheap cable is a no risk situation : either it works or you get a refund.
TFA is about (old) people complaining about THEIR PERSONNAL prefered (10 years ago) feature being abandonned for lack of actual or widespread usage.
http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/automotive/bose_suspension/index.jsp
First, "improve the overall ride quality of cars by 60 percent". How do you MEASURE and QUANTIFY "ride quality" ?
Second, "if the batteries should fail, the system will still work as a purely mechanical suspension". FAIL. A mechanical suspension is BOTH a spring AND a damper. If the electromagnetic damper fails, you're headed for trouble.
ID3 is a de facto standard widely used for music. It is targeted at MP3 file format but many alternative music file formats also support embedding it.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3 for more details.
Now, for everything outside music, the need/usage/online-store haven't managed to create a standard (even de facto) for meta-tagging files.
Since all formats might not support metadata, the simplest would be to use the file system meta-data/extended attributes.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems for the list of FS supporting extended attributes.
As with music, you'll need dedicated applications to edit and browse those tags. Since you already have a folder structure, you could jump start those tags with the information that can be retrieved from the folder names. For movies and books, you might be able to complement those tags from IMDb or Amazon.