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eu posts

China Blue HD crosses over to the UK, third Opium War inevitable

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 13th 2009 at 9:24PM

We've given HD DVD's bastard child China Blue HD its due for a good start in its native land, but now that U.K. Importer GBAX has made a few units available it's time for English language buyers to at least consider this Blu-ray alternative. Of course, with a £259.99 ($413.22 U.S.) pricetag for this plain TCL player, AV and HD cables, plus 14 CBHD movies (The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Invasion, The Island, Flood, Poseidon & 8 Chinese-only flicks) to get you started the barrier to entry is high, but as shown in the unboxing / preview video -- embedded after the break, watch for ninjas -- the experience is very familiar. As Format War Central points out, the 220/240Hz power cord makes things complicated for the U.S. and other places outside Europe, but hardcore HD DVD holdouts are used to a world filled with only Warner and Universal movies already, so why not give the other blue laser flavor a try?

[Via Format War Central]

Continue reading China Blue HD crosses over to the UK, third Opium War inevitable

European Commission likes Windows 7 browser ballot screen, will probably fine Microsoft anyway

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 7th 2009 at 7:37AM

Well, it took two months, but the European Commission has finally decided that Microsoft's idea for a Windows 7 ballot screen, in which users pick which web browser they want installed, is acceptable, saying it'll give users "an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing Web browsers." Previously MS was working on a custom version of the OS for EU shores, called Windows 7 E, but nobody was particularly fond of that idea. We're glad to see the European Commission and Microsoft finally starting to warm to each other -- maybe money can buy you love.

EU's new EGNOS GPS system goes active

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 4th 2009 at 11:44PM

The EU's Galileo satellite positioning project has been lost in a haze of paperwork for a while, but there's finally some positive news to report: a "precursor" system called EGNOS launched last week, which will provide free positioning over most of the 27 EU states. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, as it's charmingly called, consists of three satellites, four control centers, and around 40 positioning stations, all of which combine to take signals from US GPS satellites and enhance them to provide position information that's accurate to six feet, compared to around 60 feet for GPS alone. That means satnavs in Europe are going to get more accurate overnight, as most major brands are already EGNOS-ready -- too bad better navigation won't keep drivers in the UK from careening into rivers and damaging bridges.

EU seeks to make 'cranking it to 11' on DAPs happen less often

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 at 11:57AM

Love that brain-pounding sensation when you jack that volume past the sensible limit? If so, you best hop on the next flight to somewhere not within Europe, as the almighty European Commission is fixing to peg the default volume limit on portable media players at 80 decibels. If you're stricken with an awful case of déjà vu, you're not alone. You may recall that a similar French law forced Apple to limit the volume level on its iPod family to 100dB, and at that time, it decided to make the limit apply to all units shipped within Europe. Now, the EU is seeking to bring that ceiling down to 80dB on all portable music players in an effort to protect the precious hearing abilities of its citizens, though we should note that said level would only apply to the default setting, not overall maximums. In other words, you can override the recommended listening level if you please, but don't bet on that socialized healthcare taking care of you if The Man finds out. Kidding. Maybe.

[Via Telegraph]

BUGbase WiFi finally overcomes, ships in the US and Europe

by Darren Murph posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 9:23PM

It's hard to believe that BUG Labs has been helping tinkerers thinker for two whole years now, particularly when you realize that its BUGbase has been operating sans WiFi all along. At long last, after a painful battle with the licensing overlords connected to WiFi and Bluetooth, BUG has finally received approval to ship the BUGbase WiFi (which does BT as well) both here in the States as well as in Europe. Aside from those two huge additions, BUG also upgraded the device with a friction-fit docking connector and improved power management, not to mention a few subtle "under the hood" tweaks designed to make everyone's lives a little easier. Oh, and for existing BUGbase owners? A special BUGWiFi module will be shipping in a few weeks, and yes, all of BUG's other modules will be compatible with either base. Once you're done hopping around like a jovial schoolgirl, feel free to order your own BUGbase WiFi now for $449.

Microsoft's browserless Windows 7 E gets EUthanized

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 7:11AM

Microsoft's browserless Windows 7 E get EUthanized

The saga of Microsoft vs. the European Commission just keeps on keepin' on. MS was accused of harming the browser competition by including IE with Windows, and as part of its pledge to play nice proposed a Europe-only version of Windows 7 that would completely lack Internet Explorer, dubbed Windows 7 E. Last week the company came up with an alternative: a so-called ballot screen version that would allow users to pick (nearly) any browser they like upon start-up -- or just stick with the already installed IE. Buoyed by generally positive feedback from the move, Microsoft has indicated it's going to go ahead and kill off Windows 7 E -- despite the lack of an official agreement from the Commission as of yet. So, the whole, wonderful world will get the same flavor of the OS, and everyone browsed happily ever after. The end...?

[Via ComputerWorld]

Microsoft giving Europeans with Windows XP and Vista choice of browser, too

by Ross Miller posted Jul 29th 2009 at 12:33AM

As it turns out, it won't just be Windows 7 that'll be giving Europeans a choice of what web browser to use. In fact, the lengths that Microsoft is going to appease the European Commission is quite extreme. Ars Technica did some digging and here's the fine print of the proposal. Within three to six months of the EC's approval, an update will be sent out to Europeans with Windows XP and Vista, labeled "high priority" or "important." User who install the update and have Internet Explorer as the default browser will see the ballot screen on next log in, which will show up to ten different browsers with at least a 0.5 percent share of the market in the European Economic Area (EEA). Users can then choose to download something new, ignore the screen, or defer until an indefinite time in the future. Windows 7 users will get the ballot update within two weeks of the Commission's decision or by its October 22nd launch, whichever comes second. Extreme? You betcha -- but we can't argue over having more choice.

[Thanks, Adrian]

Nokia, Apple, RIM and others agree on micro-USB phone charger standard for Europe

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 29th 2009 at 8:15AM

While the free-market works pretty well when, uh, left alone to be free, sometimes it needs a push from a visible hand. Case in point, phone chargers; at the moment some 30 different types of chargers are used with handsets throughout Europe. Today, the European Commission received industry backing of its phone charger standard that relies on a micro-USB socket. The standard is now backed by all the majors (representing 90% of the European mobile market) including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments with compatible devices starting to appear in Europe next year. Or course, the micro-USB charger standard already has the blessings of CTIA, OMTP, and GSM Association which implies a broader adoption beyond Europe, someday. One charger for any mobile phone... where's the catch?

Researchers develop a robot that reads your intentions, says you're 'thick'

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jun 6th 2009 at 7:01AM

Robots won't be able to wrest control of the planet from us silly humans until they learn how to collaborate. Sure, they can mow the lawn or mix a drink, but only when you give 'em explicit instructions. Luckily for our future robot overlords, The EU's JAST project is studying the ways that humans work together, in the hope that it can someday teach robots to anticipate the actions and intentions of a human partner. "In our experiments the robot is not observing to learn a task," explains Wolfram Erlhagen from the University of Minho. "The JAST robots already know the task, but they observe behavior, map it against the task, and quickly learn to anticipate [partner actions] or spot errors when the partner does not follow the correct or expected procedure." This bad boy has a neural architecture that mimics what happens when two people interact, and the video below shows the rather melancholy automaton trying to convince his human partner to pick up the right pieces to complete a simple task. Watch it in action after the break.

Continue reading Researchers develop a robot that reads your intentions, says you're 'thick'

AMD 'breaks free', creates site dedicated to Intel's antitrust ruling

by Ross Miller posted May 18th 2009 at 9:36PM

We knew AMD would be celebrating its victory over Intel and its record $1.45 billion fine doled out by EU over violation of antitrust rules, but we figured that just meant a very fancy cake and maybe a trip to the local zoo. Nay, we were mistaken, as the chip maker has gone all out in creating an entire website dedicated to its victory. "AMD Break Free" is pretty amazing in its thoroughness, and you'll find all kinds of court documents, press releases, explanations of antitrust laws, and even a news feed to follow further developments. Of course, Intel's appeal is a sure sign this case will be drag on for a very long time, possibly even become overturned, and none of this apparent gloating is gonna help one bit in getting the company back into the top ten rankings for chip manufacturers.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Intel fined record $1.45 billion in AMD antitrust case

by Thomas Ricker posted May 13th 2009 at 5:32AM

The verdict is in and it's huge. As expected, the EU is fining Intel a record €1.06 billion or $1.45 billion (Billion!) dollars due to violations of antitrust rules in Europe. The record fine surpasses that of the €497 million fine originally levied against Microsoft. The EU ruled that Intel illegally used hidden rebates to squeeze rivals out of the marketplace for CPUs. In a statement issued by European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, the EC said,

Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years.

Intel was ordered to cease the illegal practices immediately and has three months from the notification of the decision to pay up. Of course, Intel will appeal and this will drag the litigation on for years as did Microsoft. Regardless, we'll bet that AMD, who raised the complaint against Intel back in 2000, will be celebrating come dawn in Sunnyvale.

Update: Intel has issued a formal response to the ruling saying that the commission "is wrong and ignores the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor marketplace," and that its practices have caused, "absolutely zero harm to consumers." Oh, and it will <gasp> appeal the decision. Hurrah for corporate lawyers!

[Via Canada.com]

EU expected to rule against Intel in AMD antitrust case: Microsoft points, afraid to laugh

by Thomas Ricker posted May 11th 2009 at 3:57AM

There are many tried and true methods for beating your competition in the free-market. Product innovation seems to work as does a proprietary ecosystem of peripherals, media, and services that keep customers locked-in for life. Or you can take Intel's approach: pay computer makers and retailers "to postpone or cancel" products containing CPUs from AMD, Intel's chief rival. That's the allegation it faces in the EU which, according to Reuters, has completed its antitrust investigation and is preparing to announce its decision on Wednesday. According to Reuters' sources, the European Commission will fine Intel for the violations discovered over the last eight years and order changes to Intel's business practices. It remains to be seen if the related fine exceeds the $655 million levied against Microsoft in 2004. But given the EU's distaste for anti-competitive practices, we're not expecting Intel to get off easy -- self-proclaimed "rock star" status or not.

Carriers could be forced by EU to support VoIP services

by Darren Murph posted Apr 13th 2009 at 7:37AM

We've seen it time and time again -- carriers using their power to strong-arm consumers into paying services that could very well be free. Over in Europe, the almighty EU is considering "binding guidelines" that could force wireless operators to allow VoIP services such as Skype to run over their cellular networks. It should be noted that all of this is still very preliminary at the moment, but if the Union can somehow force carriers to support these so-called "innovative services," we could see a very favorable (for consumers, anyway) domino effect. As it stands, each EU country has the ability to decide individually on how they deal with blocked internet services, but obviously an EU-wide mandate would seriously shake things up. Or cause unstoppable riots, one.

[Via Electronista]

EU commissioner pushing for standard connector for all cellphones

by Donald Melanson posted Feb 15th 2009 at 9:17PM

While some companies like Connectland have already offered up their own solution to the problem of multiple cellphone connectors (seen at right), a European Union commissioner now seems to be taking the idea one step further, and is starting to push the notion of one standard cellphone connector to rule them all. According to Telcompaper, European Commissioner for Industry Günter Verheugen recently said in a German interview that he has had his patience tested after giving the cellphone industry several chances to develop a single cellphone connector, and he's now not excluding "severe measures" to force them to reach a solution. His main concern, as you might have guessed, is the waste that results from folks needing a new charger for each new cellphone, although the cellphone industry obviously sees things a bit differently, with the EICTA's Tony Graziano saying that Verheugen's demand is "legally and technically impossible" due to differences in voltage and battery requirements within the European Union. In any event, it seems that some actual regulations are still quite a ways off from becoming a reality, and Verheugen still insists that he'd prefer to see the industry arrive at a standard voluntarily.

[Via Tweakers.net]

Microsoft accused by EU of harming web browser competition, again

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 19th 2009 at 3:49AM

Gulp, here we go again. The European Commission is accusing Microsoft of unfairly dominating its competition by bundling Internet Explorer with its Windows OS. Yup, the very same argument heard in the US courts more than a decade ago after Netscape saw its 86% market share plummet in the face of a bundled IE. The commission, which already fined Microsoft $1.35 billion for anti-competitive practices in early 2008, has published the following preliminary view on the matter:

"Microsoft's tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice."

Microsoft has 8 weeks to reply to the charge. It's worth noting that while Apple bundles its Safari browser with OS X, Apple commands a much, much smaller share of the operating system and web browser markets globally, particularly outside of the US. The EU's ruling does, perhaps, shed some light on why Apple's App Store is suddenly stocked with a variety of browsers for the hot selling iPhone, eh? Regardless, we have a feeling that the Norwegian cats behind Opera are feeling pretty smug right about now; Google too, as it kicks back licking its Chromium chops on the road to dominating "The Cloud."

[Thanks, Marcus]