allen
Latest
Paul Allen-backed Stratolaunch Systems promises flexible, low-cost access to space
When Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan and private spaceflight proponent Elon Musk team up on something, folks are bound to pay attention -- especially when they're promising nothing short of a "revolution in space transportation." At the center of that ambitious goal is a new company backed by Allen, Stratolaunch Systems, and a massive new aircraft to be designed and built by Rutan's Scaled Composites. If all goes as planned, it will be the size of two 747s (with a wingspan greater than the length of a football field), and it will be able to carry a 120 foot long rocket built by Musk's SpaceX to an altitude suitable for launch into orbit. Stratolaunch hopes to do that for a "fraction" of the cost of current launches, and it intends to eventually send everything from satellites to manned capsules into space. As you might expect, however, all of that is still in the early stages. According to Spaceflight Now, Stratolaunch currently employs around 100 people (it says it plans a "significant ramp-up"), and complete details on the aircraft itself remain a bit murky (intentionally so, according to Allen). Flight testing is currently slated for the "2015 timeframe," though, with the first launch expected a year later. What's more, while it's not clear how much Allen plans to invest in the project, he has managed to attract some other big names to the project; former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has joined as a board member, and Gary Wentz, a former chief engineer at NASA, will serve as President and CEO. Head on past the break for a teaser video of what they have planned.
Paul Allen files amended complaint, points out exactly where patent infringement is hiding
Left with just two weeks to explain exactly how seven of the web's biggest properties (and three office supply chains) violated his company Interval's patents, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen figured out a plan -- Intervals' lawyers are drawing big, colored boxes around large swaths of the allegedly infringing websites' real estate. In all seriousness, a lot of companies may owe Allen a lot of money if Interval truly has a case, because Interval claims to have patented no less than the ability for a website to take a user-selected piece of content and suggest other related pieces of content that might be of interest. Oh, and it's also apparently patented pop-ups and widgets, as most anything that displays information "in an unobtrusive manner that occupies the peripheral attention of the user" is getting the same treatment. Hilariously, it appears that the co-founder of Microsoft didn't provide his lawyers with basic scanning technology, because the PDF of the exhibits they uploaded to the court's web site is just epically bad -- check out everything they say infringes in the gallery below. Disclaimer: We should note that AOL is among the companies being sued by Allen and Interval, and that Engadget is owned by AOL. So you know, just think about that a bunch, or something. %Gallery-112185%
Judge throws out Paul Allen's massive patent suit, Allen plans to continue
Remember the massive patent lawsuit leveled at Apple, Google, AOL, Facebook, ebay, Netflix, and a number of other companies by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen? Well, it's now hit something of a snag -- a federal judge dismissed the case on Friday, stating that Allen's suit "failed to identify the infringing products or devices with any specificity," and that the court and defendants were basically "left to guess what devices infringe on the four patents." For his part, Allen apparently plans to persevere with the patent fight, and said through a spokesman that the dismissal was merely a "procedural issue," and that "the case is staying on track" -- Allen now has until December 28th to file an amended complaint.
Time Warner Cable brings 11 HD channels to North Texas
Earlier this year, Time Warner Cable decided to add 11 new high-def channels in Dallas, Texas, but many of the surrounding North Texas towns were inexplicably left out. A half year later, TWC is finally making things right by bringing the newcomers to Allen, Frisco, Stonebridge, The Colony, McKinney, Princeton, Wylie, Sachse, Parker, Murphy, St. Paul and Fairview. For those who have forgotten, we're talking CNN HD (740), TBS HD (744), History HD (745), Food Network HD (752), HGTV HD (753), A&E HD (754), Discovery HD (756), Animal Planet HD (757), National Geographic HD (771), Versus / Golf HD (786) and Fox Sports SW HD (787). Apparently, the carrier is also working to expand these even further, with Carrollton, Arlington and Addison (among other locales) to get 'em "in the immediate future." [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
