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La Liga fined €250k for using its app to catch illegal soccer streams
Spanish soccer league La Liga has been fined for inappropriately using its app to catch illegal streaming. The Spanish data protection agency charged La Liga with a fine of 250 thousand euros for violating several EU laws on transparency and data privacy, and ordered the app's removal by June 30th. The popular app -- used by over four million in Spain for displaying game results -- was found to be tapping into the location data and microphones of users to find bars that were illegally broadcasting games. But the league of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona isn't taking this lying down -- La Liga will be appealing the decision.
Burger Clan and the weird history of awkward video game promos
Executives at Burger King are convinced playing video games makes people really, really hungry. Like, debilitatingly hungry. So hungry, in fact, that they can't take a few minutes to grab a snack, order a pizza or even look away from the screen. Thankfully for starved players in Madrid, Spain, Burger King and Sony have rolled out a solution to this dining dilemma: Burger Clan.
Ancient mega-tsunamis hint at cold Martian oceans
3.4 billion years ago, a meteorite smashed into the northern plains of Mars, where an ancient ocean once stood. Its impact threw up a massive wall of liquid water that scarred the surrounding landscape with backwash channels as the water poured back into the Martian sea. A few million years later, after the Red Planet had cooled significantly, another huge chunk of space rock tore into Mars -- however, this time, the resulting tsunami was made of ice blobs that simply stuck wherever they landed rather than return to the sea.
High-res imaging satellite shows off with crystal clear pics of Madrid
DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3 satellite has only been in space for less than half a month, but it's already proven itself capable of shooting high-res images just like the company promised. Just a few days after Lockheed Martin flew it to orbit, the satellite quickly went to work, snapping pictures of Madrid, Spain. As you can see in the gallery below, it's pretty easy to spot vehicles, rooftops and landmarks in these images. DigitalGobe says its services can benefit companies and governments that want to assess vehicles and monitor a region's development (housing, infrastructure and road networks), among other things. Conservationists can also use it to monitor natural resources. While these first set of images are already great, the company will start delivering even clearer, closer satellite snapshot to all its customers by February next year.
Madrid's parking meters now charge extra if you drive a fuel hog
Madrid has an air quality problem, and it's taking an unusual approach to getting the offending vehicles off the road: it's discouraging their drivers from parking. As of today, the city's smart parking meters charge up to 20 percent extra if you drive a car that's likely to either be a fuel hog or put out a lot of exhaust fumes, such as pre-2006 diesels. Conversely, you'll get a discount as high as 20 percent if you're driving a newer (and presumably cleaner-running) car; it's completely free if you're using an electric vehicle. The system is based on a simple license plate check, although it's accompanied by parking space sensors that make you pay more if you're using up one of the last available spots.
Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer remade in real life, in Madrid
If Madrid is in the market for a new tourism campaign, the fine folks at Zapruder Pictures have it covered. Zapruder remade the first-ever Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer, shot-for-shot, in real life in Madrid, the capital city of Spain.
Crew building Apple Store discover 15th century hospital
Here in the US, we tend to think something like a 200-year-old barn is "old." Then someone makes a discovery like the one a construction crew in Madrid, Spain, recently unearthed, putting that barn in perspective. A construction crew working on a forthcoming flagship Apple Store at number 1, Puerta del Sol in Madrid have come across the remains of what appears to be a 15th century hospital. The site was formerly the location of a hospital that was demolished in 1854 to make way for a square. While the ruins will be covered back up, the floor will be outlined to mark their presence, and a plaque will explain the outline. As of this time, it's not known if the marking or the plaque will be publicly visible or only accessible to employees, as they'll be on the store's basement level.
Solar Impulse completes transcontinental flight, runs out of complimentary peanuts
The Impulse solar-powered plane has successfully completed its first transcontinental journey. It took 19 hours to jet between Madrid and Morocco -- with the plane's 12,000 solar cells swallowing enough power to keep it going long into the night. Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg can now look forward to planning their next voyage: a round the world cruise penciled in for 2014.
Madrid Spain Apple Store set to open this weekend
Apple's sixth store in Spain and the third in Madrid will open this weekend at 10AM on Friday, April 27th. The store will be located in the suburbs of Madrid at the Centro Comercial Gran Plaza 2 shopping mall located northwest of Madrid's city center. As noted by ifoAppleStore, the Centro Comercial Gran 2 store is located in an upscale residential area that has some of the highest per capita income in the region. The store will be open from 10AM to 10PM Monday through Saturday, but will be closed on Sundays. Sunday closures are common for retailers Spain.
Madrid's visitors can rent tourist-friendly iPads
If you're vacationing in Madrid, you may want to check out PadInTheCity before you arrive. The local service lets you rent an iPad for the duration of your stay. The iPad is filled with apps and games to make your stay more enjoyable. According to Springwise, you'll find apps like Metro Madrid, Weather HD, City Maps 2Go, Emergency Numbers, iTranslate, and the Prado Museum Audioguide. They even put Angry Birds on the tablet for some casual entertainment. The iPads are delivered to your location in Madrid and individuals can rent one for €25 (US$33) per day after a €390 ($516) deposit. The company also offers volume rentals to hotels and corporations who can insert their own branding onto the device.
Do we have the right to be 'forgotten' on Google? Spain asks ECJ to investigate
Google has already tasted European hot water over its revised privacy policy, and soon the European Court of Justice (ECJ) may expand its remit to consider other related issues too. Spanish judges are asking the top court to consider complaints from 100 Spaniards who wish to have their names removed from news articles and websites. Among the complainants are a plastic surgeon who wants to delete archived references to a botched operation, and a man who appears on the Google News aggregator for alleged non-payment of social security. Google itself told Reuters that it supports the "right to be forgotten," but only if it's applied to search engines "in a way that protects both the right to privacy and the right to free expression." If only life was as simple as Pay N' Spray.
RIM, Telefonica announce NFC trial, aim to launch mobile wallet next year
RIM's NFC campaign is about to roll into Iberia, now that the BlackBerry manufacturer has announced a new partnership with Madrid-based Telefonica. This week, the two companies unveiled plans to begin testing a mobile payment and ID card system across the Spanish capital, in the hopes of launching commercial services next year. The so-called Telefonica Wallet for BlackBerry trial will involve some 350 Telefonica employees and a select group of testers within Madrid, each of whom will be able to make payments, access offices and check bank statements from their BlackBerry handsets. Telefonica's Matthew Key told Reuters that his company chose RIM to participate in the trial primarily because of the security of its BlackBerry platform, stressing the importance of earning enough consumer trust to handle sensitive personal data. No specifics yet on when or where the carrier will launch a full payment system, though Key said that Telefonica's aiming to bring it to a handful of markets in 2012.
iPad rental business is booming in Madrid, Spain
PadInTheCity is a company offering up an intriguing proposition: Rent a 3G iPad while you happen to be touring around the city of Madrid, Spain. I do happen to be traveling to Europe next year, and while I just bought an iPad for myself, I can see the benefit of not only being able to carry an iPad around, but also a 3G iPad already configured to work with the local wireless networks. PadInTheCity charges 25 Euros, or about $35, a day to rent the iPad, and they'll even deliver it to your hotel and pay for all the data you use in the same period. The company is also targeting hotels and events, perhaps renting iPads to conference attendees, or setting them up for hotel guests when they buy certain packages. Each iPad is equipped with a certain number of apps set up for feeding users information about the area, but it's not clear if users can add their own on if needed. It's quite an idea, and apparently business is going great in Madrid so far. Apple has even forwarded a few customers on to the company, and in one or two years, PadInTheCity plans to have outlets in places like London and New York, and hopes to "talk about profits." I don't know yet what my plans are in Europe next year, but if I make my way down to Madrid, maybe I'll check the service out.
eT-shirt from España looks after your heart, minds its bedside manners (video)
Spain -- the land of pasión, jamón ibérico and flamenco is throwing a stylish solución towards the medical community's way. Researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have created an intelligent eT-shirt (looks more like a tank top to us) for biomonitoring of hospital patients. The wearable, washable chaleco is embedded with electrodes that monitor its wearer's vitals, and a removable thermometer and accelerometer for the collection of temperature and positioning data. A separate in-pocket GPS dongle is also used to locate individuals "within a two-meter margin of error," but the team plans to incorporate this localizer directly into the shirt in future iterations. Tested at the Cardiology unit of Madrid's Hospital Universitario La Paz, the collaborative LOBIN (Locating & Biomonitoring by means of Wireless Networks in Hospitals) project prototype could help reduce in-patient stays, delivering SMS alerts to off-site, connected medical staffs. No word on whether this'll be offered in S, M, L or XL, but hey, at least that black is slimming. ¿Hablas español? Pues, skip past the break for a video tour of the form-fitting device.
Body tracking Tetris game lights up the streets of Madrid (video)
Part public art project, part video game, Lummo Blocks has taken over the Plaza de Las Letras. Basically Tetris writ large, two players shuffle horizontally in front of the billboard-sized display: one controls the trajectory of the game piece, while the other rotates it into place. The goal of the designers, MediaLab Prado, is to "creat[e] an interaction between the passersby and the public space of the plaza." Works for us! Madrid: we are officially jealous. Video after the break.
Did malware cause the crash of Spanair Flight JK 5022? (update)
The inquiry into the August 2008 crash of Spanair Flight JK 5022 at Barajas Airport in Madrid took a bizarre turn recently when Spanish daily El Pais reported that the server that the airline used to track technical problems on aircraft contained malware. Although the flaps and slats were not in the proper position for takeoff, the crew was never alerted -- causing the flight to go down moments after takeoff, killing all but 18 of the 172 on board. That's not to say that human error wasn't a factor: as well as causing an audible alarm, the problem should have been spotted by the mechanic or airport maintenance chief, both of whom are under investigation. Space stations, power grids, and now airline safety systems? Please, people -- keep your antivirus software up to date. Update: Of the many possibilities that could have brought down JK 5022, it turns out malware was pretty low on the list -- ZDNet's Ed Bott reports that it was a maintenance computer at the airline's HQ that was infected, and the plane itself (an MD-82) uses a takeoff warning system that predates airplane computerization, and was thus not susceptible to viruses.
More photography with the iPhone
The above video shows a fashion photo shoot taken completely with an iPhone, and it isn't even the iPhone 4! The photographer uses only an iPhone 3GS. I think there might be a little cheating involved; the lighting is overdone and the photos were sent off to a retoucher, so it's not that surprising that they look as good as they do. Then again, considering that all fashion shoots probably have that kind of lighting and retouching applied to them, the fact that the iPhone can even compete is pretty impressive. If you like iPhone photography, you might want to check out the eyephoneography blog; it's a site that features some great photographs that are taken strictly with mobile phones (including the iPhone). They just announced an exhibit that will take place next September in Madrid, Spain, and they're also working with another blog called iPhoneography to spotlight and show off some of the best iPhone 4-based photography on the Web. It's pretty cool stuff. The iPhone's mobility and interface have always made it a pretty good camera, but with the arrival of HD on the iPhone 4, it's turned into an even better tool for photographers.
Santander Visitors Center infested by swarms of helpful robots (video)
Santander's Group City in Madrid is a big place; nine buildings sheltering 5,500 employees of one of the largest banks in the world. Guiding visitors around such a massive complex is a challenge, and what's the best way to solve any challenge? Robots, of course. Santander turned to YDreams, who we've seen before playing with augmented reality, but in this case produced something more tangible: a fleet of little red guys called "Interactive Guest Assistants" that use swarm interactions to guide fat cat bankers to their next conference -- and maybe to face off against the evil Maximilian in a harrowing battle at the end of the movie. There's also a giant virtual wall full of boring financial information presented in fancy ways, even an augmented reality map of the complex, all shown in a video after the break. It's the bots we like the best, so we'll be ordering a gaggle to guide our own visitors -- to their doom.
Blizzard releases EU Wrath launch video
Blizzard has released some launch night video from the Wrath of the Lich King release over on their EU site, and it looks like things were pretty crazy across the pond. There were costumes aplenty, and there were crowds in London, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. Plus, the video even has a nice appearance by the man/demon himself, as you can see above.Unfortunately, the US site hasn't posted any such video yet, so while you can definitely read here on this site about all of the crowds and chaos that went down on this side of the world, there's no video to compare. My guess is that while the EU folks were definitely excited, over there it was more contained to the big events and the big cities, while over here in the US even small towns had lines outside the gaming stores.But it was definitely a night to remember for WoW fans, no matter where you were.[via WorldofWar]
World Table Tennis Championships get HD coverage -- can it get any better?
You know high-def is well on its way to "arriving" when the World Junior Table Tennis Championships secure HD coverage, don't you? While the vast majority of you will likely laugh this off as some sort of promotional stunt, we can't help but be pleased at what this could signal about HD adoption overseas. For the first time in the history of the tournament, viewers in Spain with access to the high-def version of Canal+ will be able to see the team and individual finals in astounding clarity. Negotiations are currently underway to get the HD feed beamed out to more nations, and even if you're completely disinterested in the sport, you should probably hope that pans out.
