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The best gifts for the home
Maybe you already have a smart speaker or hub. (And if you don't, we have suggestions...) But your home, and kitchen, can benefit from more than just a voice assistant to offer timers and weather forecasts. Yes, everyone's favorite cooking gadget, the Instant Pot, made our nice list once again, but we've also got some more advanced tools like the Thermapen (so someone nails that holiday roast) and Anova's smallest sous vide gadget. We've also included picks for any coffee fanatics you might be buying for, including the Pearl Bluetooth coffee scaled, and the Stagg EKG kettle, which is far more attractive than a kettle needs to be. Speaking of coffee gear, we have a whole guide to that coming later this week -- stay tuned! If you're looking to make a relative's home a little smarter, we like the ecobee Smart Thermostat, while we believe devices with displays like the Amazon Echo Show 5 and Google's Nest Hub Max make for more useful assistants than standalone (but cheaper) smart speakers.
Fujitsu and Acacia resolve patent disputes with settlement, keep it out of the courts
Fujitsu's bank balance may be a little lighter today, since Acacia Research Corp. has reported that subsidiaries of both companies have signed a settlement deal over patent disputes. As usual, Acacia is keeping tight-lipped about exactly what the patents cover, but a little digging on our part has revealed they are related to flash memory and RAM technologies. The agreement resolves lawsuits in the works at district courts in Texas and California, which is probably a good thing. After all, these cases can get pretty messy when they go to court.
Microsoft licenses dozens of patents from Access and Acacia, including some Palm inventions
Complete details on the deal are still a bit light, but it's just been revealed today that Microsoft has licensed a total of 74 patents from Acacia Research Corp. and Access Co. Ltd, some of which come from PalmSource, the software company spun off from Palm Inc. in 2003. While Microsoft itself isn't saying much on the matter beyond the usual formalities, Acacia CEO Paul Ryan says that the patents licensed by Microsoft are "foundational" in the smartphone market and, as The Wall Street Journal reports, they apparently include some of the very same patents that Acacia has sued other companies over, including Apple, RIM, Samsung and Motorola -- those specific patents concern things like email synchronization and "providing phone capabilities from personal computer devices." Guess that's one potential patent lawsuit you can mark off your list.
Digital Security Systems files patent infringement suit against major Blu-ray players
We've witnessed a few lawsuits related to Blu-ray, but this is the first one we can recall that perfectly fits the "patent troll" mold. The Patent Prospector has it that Acacia subsidiary Digital Security Systems is suing a smorgasbord of big BD players for infringing on a patent that it has held for years. Defendants named include Samsung, Best Buy, Denon, Funai, LG, Matsushita, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, and Sharp, though details beyond that are sadly scant. Oh, and if you're wondering where the complaint was filed, it was in the infamous Eastern District of Texas.[Via FormatWarCentral]
