Items tagged with DRM
It's hard to compete against Apple. A few years back, SanDisk's CEO stated that no one could "out iPod the iPod," and to this day, everyone that has tried hasn't succeeded. Even Microsoft has let the Zune family die down, despite spending tons of cash marketing it as a major iPod competitor. Apple has just been on fire over the last decade,...
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Sony's attempts to prevent piracy on both the PS3 and PSP have taken a number of blows in recent weeks. Today, the company announced that it intends to sue the PS3 hacker GeoHot, who's been an increasingly large thorn in the company's side over the past 18 months. When Sony released the 3.21 firmware update that broke Other OS functionality,...
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Intel's Sandy Bridge made headlines this week for its improved efficiency, reduced power consumption, and much-improved graphics engine, but there's another important feature that's not yet gotten the same degree of press. One of the new technologies incorporated into Sandy Bridge, Intel Insider, is designed to ensure that only paying, authorized...
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Soon, you may be able to pick up a microSD card with a movie preloaded on it to enjoy on your Android-powered smartphone or tablet. Mo-DV is now offering its Universal Player on microSD cards for the Android operation system (version 2.1 and later). Movie studios are generally pretty protective over their content, so...
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LiveWire Mobile is introducing a new DRM-free mobile music service for wireless carriers and online service operators. The company plans to launch the service with two North American operators later this year. With the service, customers will be able to purchase DRM-free music directly from their handsets. LiveWire Mobile Offers New DRM-Free...
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Did Google miss a critical opportunity? Some might say they did. Google has obviously capitalized on quite a number of market openings, paving the way for true smartphone competition with Android, putting Yahoo! and MSN on their toes with Google search, and putting Yahoo! Mail as well as Hotmail on guard with Gmail. And that's just the beginning....
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Fans of James Cameron's Avatar were undoubtedly thrilled with the movie's appearance on DVD and Blu-ray last week, but cat lovers who purchased the HD version of the film have been heared yowling discontentedly in the bushes. In a deeply ironic twist, the story of the nature-loving, free-spirited Na'vi is only...
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We'd like to begin our coverage of the latest DRM idiocy in gaming by apologizing to Ubisoft. After reading about some of EA's recent bright ideas and the constant connection EA's Command and Conquer: Tiberian Twilight requires in order to play the single-player game, we realized we'd unfairly painted Ubisoft as being uniquely stupid, out-of-touch,...
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Ubisoft's eagerly awaited Silent Hunter 5 was released last week as the first title carrying the company's new DRM system. That system, as we've previously discussed, requires that gamers maintain a constant Internet connection or be kicked from the game. One of the major flaws in that system was the fact that the game wasn't saved before...
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There's two bits of Ubisoft news today, one of which we're still investigating. First up, the company apparently payed attention to the outrage of gamers who discovered the DRM in the PC version of Assassin's Creed II would throw them out of game without saving if they lost an Internet connection in a single-player game. AC2 won't be released...
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Ubisoft is one of the largest video game publishing companies in the world, but when it comes to DRM (Digital Rights Management), the corporate executives at the helm have the collective intelligence of a ham sandwich. In years' past, the publisher was criticized for its use of StarForce copy protection, the PC port...
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In what should surprise few, Apple will sell e-books in its iBook store wrapped in its FairPlay digital rights management (DRM, copy protection) technology, according to unnamed sources speaking to the L.A. Times. Consumers may recall that Apple phased out DRM for music in the iTunes store last year, but still has DRM warpping around other...
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Anything that can be hacked will be hacked, and virtually everything can be hacked. Thus, we see that latest escapade in the land of hacking. The Kindle's DRM (digital rights management, copy protection) has been compromised.Amazon sells content for the Kindle in a proprietary format, .azw. It contains DRM to prevent users from transferring...
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With all the talk of music piracy clouding the airwaves these days, it's rather refreshing to hear some positive news about music in the digital age. And despite what the RIAA or anyone else may have you believe, music sales are still happening. Just not in the same way that they were when your mother was buying...
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You know what we haven't heard much about lately? Piracy. It used to be all the rage, but after iTunes (and pretty much every other online music store) went DRM-free, it seems those stormy waters have calmed. Or, on second thought, maybe no one was talking about it. New research from the University of Hertfordshire over in the UK has found...
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Astak launched a new 5-inch Pocket PRO eBook reader that should provide Amazon’s Kindle with some good competition. This new reader supports over 20 open file formats and also features Adobe firmware that adds support for Digital Rights Management PDF files. Thanks to the Adobe firmware, users can read both...
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DRM, or Digital Rights Management, never did go over well in the court of public opinion. To the music industry at large, DRM was a mostly futile attempt to lock music down to certain players or systems, thus making it something harder--in theory, anyway--to freely distribute. In reality, however, those who were circumventing the rules in...
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On April 7th, iTunes went 100% DRM-free, but at the same time Apple introduced tiered pricing. And therein lies the crux of this new lawsuit against Apple. Daniel and Barbara Owens of Illinois have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple. The couple has purchased "numerous" iTunes gift cards over the years, but in this case the gift cards...
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Napster unveiled its latest plan to compete in the subscription music space by offering a $5 per month service that is similar to what Zune users enjoy. Through Napster’s latest offering, you’ll enjoy a combination of on-demand music streaming and five tracks to download and keep each month. At that price, you basically buy five tracks each...
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Some might say it's the end of an era. Just so we're clear, Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom are definitely not among that group. The four men most tightly linked to torrent hosting site The Pirate Bay have been found guilty in a Stockholm district court and sentenced to one year in prison. Not to mention...
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Apple has rolled out the 100% DRM free iTunes, otherwise known as iTunes+. With this change also comes variable pricing; songs now cost $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29. Most albums still cost $9.99. Users who have purchased music via iTunes prior to the upgrade have the option to upgrade their songs, albums, or their entire library for a cost of $0.30...
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The rumors were true; Apple has indeed popped a new "control chip" within the headphones on its talkative new iPod Shuffle, and this little inclusion has all manners of panties up in bunches. After a flood of questions surrounding a mysterious chip within the inline remote cropped up over the weekend, a number of third-party Shuffle headphone...
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