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EPL Holdings sues Apple over playback tech in QuickTime, iPhone
According to a report on Patently Apple, Apple is facing yet another patent lawsuit. This latest suit was filed by EPL Holdings, LLC and accuses Apple of infringing on two patents governing audio and video playback. EPL, formerly Enounce, claims company founder Donald J. Hejna Jr. met with Tony Fadell, the former senior Vice President of Apple's iPod division, in January, 2002. The two sides discussed EPL's playback technology, which lets users speed up and slow down tracks. EPL entered into a four-year non-disclosure agreement with Apple and shared information about its technology with the Cupertino company. After seeing the technology, Apple allegedly offered $50,000 to license one of EPL's patents. EPL declined Apple's offer because it believed the amount was too low. EPL alleges Apple went ahead and used the technology in its iPads, iPhone and Quicktime without EPL's consent or knowledge. "Apple took these actions with blatant knowledge and disregard for the legal rights of Enounce," claims EPL in its lawsuit. EPL is seeking a jury trial and is asking that Apple pay for damages, costs, expenses and any associated interest. The company also wants Apple to pay for all legal fees and any other relief the court believes is appropriate. You can read the full complaint on PriorSmart.com.
AUO Sipix e-paper staggers through video at 6 fps, could go as high as 16
We haven't heard from the folks at IRX Innovations in a while, but if this video is any indication, they haven't given up on their e-reader dreams just yet. A wily internet video shows the outfit squeezing a modest 6 fps out of an AUO Sipix e-paper panel. Playback is noticeably choppy, but IRX engineers say they can eek an additional 10 fps from the unit by running content through a memory buffer. It's a far cry from Mirasol's crazy-smooth 1080p color displays, or even Bookeen's anti-chromatic offering -- but we won't complain if they can keep it cheap. Besides, Chariots of Fire was born to be seen in slow motion.
Google Docs introduces video player, yet another way to kill time in the office
Google's headed ever deeper into the clouds this year with a new function for Google Docs: video playback. As of this week, users can upload videos (up to 1GB) in a supported format, and make them available for viewing in Google Docs. As with the previous video sharing set up, you can still download video, including previous versions. Google engineers have warned of excessive processing time, but once videos are up, viewing is as easy as clicking play -- and having a Flash player, of course. We're not entirely sure what the advantage is over Youtube, but we're on board for anything that lets us share our love of creepy robot workout videos with our coworkers.
iPod nano code hints at possible video playback
It may not be anything more than a bit of excess or leftover code, but it looks like there's at least a hint of some possible video playback capabilities lying deep in the code for the new iPod nano (the internal settings property list, to be specific). As discovered by Erica Sadun over at TUAW, that includes options for things like TV subtitles, captions and alternate audio, and even a fit-to-screen option -- for the perfectly square aspect ratio of the nano's screen, perhaps? Of course, there doesn't seem to be an option to actually make video watchable on a 1.5-inch screen.
iPad gets Xvid AVI video playback with CineXPlayer app on iTunes, hell freezes over
Now here's a surprise. Apple isn't exactly known to be super friendly when it comes to video compatibility, and we can sympathize to an extent. However, for some inexplicable reason, Steve's brethren decided to give this CineXPlayer app the green light for general consumption, thus finally allowing iPad users to load up their stash of Xvid AVI files -- sans conversion -- via iTunes. While this is worth a quick celebration, it's still rather absurd having to resort to underhanded apps for such basic functionality -- something that we've been able to do natively on many other tablets and PMPs for years. Let's not also assume that this free app is staying for good, so grab it while it's hot. Video instructions after the break.
iPhone 4 vs. Galaxy S, part deux: HD video playback (video)
We just couldn't leave this face-off of superscreens alone, and went back for another bite at the cherry. Admittedly, we found out the Galaxy S had a browser-specific brightness setting that we hadn't maxed out before setting off our camera hounds, so we've gone and remedied earlier comparison shots with the gallery below, and just as a bonus, we've now also run a HD video clip on both phones. This was to see how the Hummingbird and A4 SOCs, considered close siblings, handled some taxing video work and also to again compare performance deep down on the pixel level. What we can tell you now is that both handsets chewed through the 1080p HD clip with ease and that both gave results we have no hesitation in describing as sublime. Click past the break for the up close and personal video comparison action. N.B. -- We ran a 1080p clip on both phones' respective YouTube apps over WiFi. Although we're certain from the quality of the video that it was at least 720p, we can't say for sure that it was the full 1080 enchilada.%Gallery-96333%
Meizu Mini Player coming to America
Ask, and ye shall receive. When we mentioned that we'd like to spend some time with Meizu's M6 Mini Player a few months back, we were pretty sure that like most foreign gadgets we feature, this one would always remain just out of reach -- so imagine our surprise when we learned that pre-ordering has already begun to bring the M6 stateside. You'll probably recall that this model, which has the nano squarely in its sights (promotional materials even warn the iPod to "step aside"), comes in either 1GB ($139), 2GB ($159), or 4GB ($220) capacities, and besides supporting the usual assortment of MP3, WMA, WAV, and OGG audio files, does the AVI playback thing on its 2.4-inch QVGA screen as well. Also included are an FM tuner, voice recorder, calendar, stopwatch, USB On The Go support, and a couple of games, which is a lot more features than the nano offers, so it looks like Apple has reason to be mighty worried come July or early August when the first shipments of these arrive. Keep reading for a few more comparison shots that show just how mini this Mini really is...
Creative reveals Zen V and V Plus flash-based DAPs
So it looks like Creative's made good with the "mystery MP3 player" they promised us in that rather uninspiring teaser campaign: meet the Zen V. Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, the V's smallish size and 1.5-inch, photo-capable OLED clearly indicate that Creative's got the slightly-smaller nano squarely in its sights, with the V Plus (offered in the same capacities) going for the knockout punch by throwing in video playback and an FM tuner in the usual hope that adding more and more features will somehow make iPod owners realize what iChimps they've been. Both models come in several combinations of black or white highlighted by either green, orange, or blue accents, feature a line-in jack for direct-from-disc recording, support PlaysForSure subscription services, and offer a claimed 15 hours of battery life before recharging becomes an issue. The V will be available in July for $120, $150, or $200, depending on capacity, while the V Plus will be coming in August and priced at $130, $170, and $230 for the 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB versions, respectively.Read- Zen VRead- Zen V Plus
