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Visualized: VIA's versatile video wall signage solution (video)
VIA Technologies isn't a name that often pops up on Engadget, but its latest video wall signage solution deserves a shout-out. The idea's simple: you can output a 4K x 2K footage to an array of thin-bezel 1080p LCDs -- powered by S3 Graphics cards -- arranged in any way you like, including the orientation of each monitor. While the Taiwanese company wasn't keen to show off too much of its backend system, we were given a glimpse of its S3 MagicView software, which lets you easily fit one or multiple clips across a carefully aligned canvas corresponding to the LCDs. Check out our video after the break and you'll get the idea. (HTC and VIA are both chaired by Cher Wang, so it's no surprise to see the latter displaying HTC ads for its signage demo. Wang's husband, Wen-Chi Chen, is the President and CEO of VIA.) A complete system similar to the above two -- either with eight 46-inch panels or fifteen 42-inch panels -- could cost between NT$3 million (about US$102,000) to NT$4 million (US$136,000), and it's also available for rental. VIA said it's targeting the likes of churches, schools, cinemas and shops with its range of signage solutions, some of which can be powered by the company's Android PCs to reduce costs.
Microsoft catches a break: ITC remands Motorola case, Xbox 360 dodges at least a 2012 ban
Things were looking grim for gaming in April, when the International Trade Commission decided that the Xbox 360 violated Motorola patents and the console's US future was in doubt. The agency hasn't necessarily reversed its decision, but it just gave Microsoft a significant (and possibly permanent) reprieve. The Commission has remanded Motorola's case back to the Administrative Law Judge that gave the initial ruling, which very nearly restarts the clock: a new ruling won't come for months, and the usual review process guarantees even more of a delay even if the decision once more works in Motorola's favor. Patent suit watcher Florian Mueller is now confident that the Xbox 360 won't face any real risk of a ban in 2012, at a minimum. If the new decision doesn't clear Microsoft outright, it still pushes any ruling past a Microsoft lawsuit's trial in mid-November, when Motorola might be blocked from attempting any ban using its standards-based patents. We've rarely seen a majority or total reversal of this kind of ITC patent dispute before it reaches the appeals stage, but there's a distinct chance of that flip happening here -- especially as the ITC is using Apple's successful dismissal of an S3 Graphics victory as the judge's new template.
Cher Wang: HTC will grab as many patents as it can
HTC co-founder and chair Cher Wang has said that her company plans to register and buy a host of patents in order to maintain parity with its competition. Speaking at the firm's 15th anniversary party, she said that despite being unable to use S3 Graphics' patents in ongoing litigation, the company will register and purchase patents in a variety of "different fields." It looks like we can expect to see a lot more filings at the USPTO in the future, and perhaps a few more buyouts along the way. [Image Credit: WSJ / Zuma Press]
HTC decides to buy S3 after all, keeps it on ice for future patent wars
HTC was exhibiting more than a bit of buyer's remorse after its acquisition of S3 Graphics went off the rails: it had used the $300 million deal to scoop up a company with a victory over Apple in a patent dispute at the ITC, only to see that decision reversed and its dreams crumble. S3 will be glad to know that HTC wants the shotgun wedding to last. The One X creator's general counsel, Grace Lei, is now promising that the buyout will wrap up at some point in the near future after "cautious assessment" of its worth. The union won't help HTC fend off escalating Apple assaults, but the 270 patents may make other companies think twice before starting a feud -- oh, and give HTC some graphics technology to improve its products.
HTC 're-evaluates' S3 Graphics deal following patent defeat by Apple
Just four months have passed since HTC announced its amorous intentions towards S3 Graphics and already the romance seems to be going sour. S3 lost its battle against Apple at the ITC a couple of days ago, devaluing its patent portfolio and subsequently forcing HTC into a "holistic re-evaluation" of its $300 million acquisition of the company. S3 can still appeal the ITC's ruling, however, so this fling might be far from finished.
ITC rules Apple didn't violate S3 Graphics' patents
According to the FOSS Patents Blog, earlier today the US International Trade Commission entirely dismissed the first S3 Graphics complaint against Apple. Interestingly, the official notice (PDF link) has no explanation why the Administrative Law Judge was overruled. There is still one pending complaint by S3 Graphics against Apple which has not been ruled on. Part of what makes this an issue is that HTC is in the process of buying S3 Graphics, and a couple of strikes against Apple patent-wise would have just sweetened that deal. At least we don't have to wait long for more progress on the ITC front, as a date of December 6th has been set for a ruling on Apple's first complaint against S3 Graphics. And don't forget there's still a bit of tussling between Apple and HTC going on as well, with a patent infringement throwdown still not yet decided between them, either. Whew! It's all a bit confusing at first glance, so get comfy, get ready to take some notes, and head over to the FOSS Patents Blog for more information and links to other coverage that will help you make sense of all the legal wrangling.
HTC acquires S3 Graphics and its prodigious patent portfolio, dares you to sue
Flush with cash, but not a fan of spending it on litigation? We hear you, and apparently so does HTC. The Taiwanese firm announced today it'll purchase S3 Graphics and its patent portfolio from VIA for a cool $300 million, giving the smartphone maker 265 new weapons in its IP arsenal. Also part of the deal is a perpetual license to the patents' former owner, so that the chipset manufacturer can keep cranking out silicon without fear of legal reprisal. Given HTC's competitors recently went on a giant patent shopping spree, we'd surmise that strengthening its warchest is, dare we say, quietly brilliant.
Apple countersues S3 Graphics in patent dispute
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has countersued S3 Graphics after the company, a maker of graphics-visualization technologies for the notebook and desktop markets, originally sued Apple last June for patent infringement related to a number of Apple's devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook computers. The original complaint stated that Apple has violated four S3 patents relating to image processing systems and "fixed-rate block-based image compression with inferred pixel values." AppleInsider notes that at this time it is not clear why Apple is countersuing S3 Graphics. The details of their complaint, filed this month, remain unknown. Apple's complaint in a US District Court in the Northern District of California is currently classified as an "oversized document," which means that no one can download it (yet) to find out what it contains. The countersuit does appear to be related to patents. However, it is not currently clear whether Apple is accusing S3 Graphics of patent violations itself, or if Apple is seeking to invalidate the patents S3 is suing it for violating.
VIA's Trinity Platform brings much-needed religious imagery to small form factor media acceleration
Not to be outdone by NVIDIA's move to accelerate netbook graphics with its new Ion platform, VIA just debuted its "Trinity" platform, which pairs a VIA Nano chip with a Media System Processor like the VIA VX800 and a discrete S3 Graphics PCI Express GPU. VIA is aiming this lineup at netbooks and mini-PCs, and are planning to power DirectX 10.1, HD video, Blu-ray playback and Windows Vista. Sounds fine and dandy to us, but unfortunately, like with NVIDIA, we're at the mercy of the manufacturers who will actually be stuffing this into their product -- and they've sure seemed gun-shy with Nano so far. Hopefully this can change some of that, Christian Bale is only half as badass at 15 fps QVGA.
S3's Chrome 500 graphics processors handle Blu-ray, HD video
Movin' on up in the world, are we S3? Just a month after the VIA-owned S3 Graphics returned to the scene with its Chrome 400 line of discrete graphics cards comes this, the predictably named Chrome 500 series. The new line is capable of handling Blu-ray / streaming HD video playback and provides support for DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.0 applications. You'll also find a built-in Dolby 7.1 digital surround sound processor, GPGPU (General Purpose GPU) technology, ChromotionHD (which offloads video processing from the CPU) and compatibility with DisplayPort / HDMI / DVI (with HDCP). The first off the blocks is the 512MB Chrome 530 GT (pictured), and the bargain-bin-styled $44.95 should work wonders given the economy.
VIA-owned S3 Graphics crashes the GPGPU party
We know the past couple years haven't been kind to VIA-owned S3 Graphics -- market share has declined, and NVIDIA and ATI keep introducing fancy new technologies, making it tough to keep up. That said, we're inspired by S3's ardent attempts to stay relevant in an industry that won't easily make room for small competitors. The latest case in point: the company has released a photo-editing app to demonstrate the newly-programmed GPGPU (general-purpose computing on graphics processing units) functionalities of its DirectX 10.1 Chrome 400 line of discrete graphics cards. S3 claims its hard work has produced an HPC environment that can be used to reduce processing time for scientific and other applications from days to seconds -- we'll believe it when we see it, but you've gotta admire the tenacity.[Via CustomPC]
