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Monster sues Beats and HTC for fraud over their headphone deal
The rivalry between Beats and its former ally Monster just got particularly bitter. Monster is suing Beats, its founders (Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine) and HTC for allegedly tricking it into giving up one of its best-known headphone lineups. According to the lawsuit, Beats committed fraud when it acquired the Dr. Dre audio range through HTC's investment. It supposedly repurchased enough stock after the HTC deal that it could sever its ties with Monster due to an ownership clause, leaving the latter high and dry with no real warning. Monster also believes that its ex-partner was misleading when it claimed in September 2013 that there was no "liquidity event" (that is, a major transaction) coming within one to two years -- Apple's acquisition of Beats clearly involved a lot of money trading hands. If Monster chief Noel Lee had known that the Apple buyout was looming, the lawsuit reads, he wouldn't have reduced his stake in Beats and missed out on the resulting windfall.
Apple owns Beats, but the brand is still alive at HP
Beats Audio may be moving to Cupertino, but that doesn't mean it's giving up on the PC market. Well, at least not yet -- HP says it still has rights to use the brand's audio technology for the foreseeable future. It's part of the company's pre-existing contract with Beats: HP can develop new Beats-bundled products through 2014, and it's allowed to sell those products through the end of the 2015. In other words, we'll be seeing HP laptops, desktops and tablets with beats branding for the next year and a half. That's a lot of leeway. According to CNET, HP isn't wasting time: it says it's building an aggressive line-up of Beats enabled devices for 2014.
Beats Pill speaker goes 'XL' but specs stay distinctly 'M'
Since no-one's brave enough to ask which University gave Dr. Dre his PhD, he's continuing to prescribe pills at his whim. The latest to emerge from his cabinet is the Beats Pill XL, which we've just spotted being tested for sale at the FCC. The Bluetooth speaker comes with NFC pairing and a 4,400mAh battery, the latter of which you can use to charge your smartphone -- although if you've got something beefy like a Galaxy Note 3 or HTC One Max, don't expect to get more than one charge out of it.
Tupac hologram performs at Coachella, keeps all eyez on him
Have you been getting a kick out of Coachella's jams and arts in Indio, California? Or, did you decide to peacefully enjoy it from home via YouTube's site? Either way, you may have heard Tupac made an on-stage holographic appearance over the weekend, performing Hail Mary and 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted alongside Snoop Dogg. Tupac's hologram was made possible by AV Concepts in partnership with Dr. Dre's production company and Digital Domain, after reportedly working on the project for a few months. The outfits used a display technology dubbed "Eyeliner" that, with the help of a custom rig and a mechanical solution, was able to shoot out a life-sized, 3D illusion of Mr. Shakur onto the Coachella platform. Don't believe us? Hit 'em up at the source below, though we feel compelled to tell you language isn't exactly for all ages.
HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio review
We had some hands-on time with HTC's new European Android flagship a short while back, but it wasn't nearly enough to answer all our questions about how the 4.3-inch, 1.5GHz dual-core XE compares to the original 1.2GHz Sensation, or whether the implementation of Beats Audio was anything more than a cunning scheme cooked up between the manufacturer's marketeers and Dr. Dre's agent. Now, though, this phone has been our closest companion for long enough to reveal its true colors. They're red, primarily, but there's a whole rainbow of detail right after the break. %Gallery-135086%
HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio, we go ears-on (video)
Guess who's back? HTC let us play with the new and improved Sensation XE in London last night and we even managed to find a secluded spot to bop our heads to the integrated Beats Audio and packaged YourBeats headphones. The XE is very similar to the original 4.3-inch flagship Sensation in terms of hardware, except there's a 300MHz clock-speed bump to 1.5GHz, a slightly larger 1750mAh battery and also a packaged 16GB (instead of 8GB) microSD card. But aside from that, we expect it'll be the audio credentials and related marketing hype that will attract most attention when the device reaches shelves later this month. Current Sensation owners probably won't even consider the upgrade unless they're chronic Dr. Dre fans, but what about those with more sticky icky icky devices? Should they be enticed by all the fuss? Click past the break if you think rap's changed and you want know how we feel about it. Update: HTC has been in touch to clarify that this device is not coming to the US. An intriguing decision to say the least. Update: The latest word is that HTC is working on bringing "other Beats-integrated devices" to the US market -- "soon." So, you might find this hands-on relevant after all. %Gallery-134610%
Screen Grabs: Dr. Dre video for 'I Need a Doctor' features HP Touchpad, Pre 3, weird Dr. Dre floating in a glass tube
If you have pleasant memories from your youth of a Dr. Dre in happier times, chilling with Snoop somewhere in LBC doing things we can't discuss on a family-friendly site such as this... well, you're in for a bit of a shock to the system with this latest video. The clip for I Need a Doctor -- which is really more of a short film -- features a brutally mangled Ferrari 360 Modena, Skylar Grey, and an angry Eminem (is there any other kind of Eminem?) yelling at Dr. Dre while suspended in some sort of creepy life-supporting fluid. Oh, but let us fast forward to the technology angle: Dre's already hooked up with HP for Beats, and the trend continues here with the appearance of a Touchpad and Pre 3 doing a little Touch to Share action around the 4:20 mark. Follow the break for video. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Beats by Dr. Dre launching Beatbox iPod dock, along with LeBron and Bieber-branded headphones
Dr. Dre knows a hit when he sees one, and the already sprawling Beats lineup is getting five new products to hit just about every demographic you can imagine. First off is the Beatbox, a high-end portable iPod dock with 5.25-inch bass drivers and 2-inch high frequency drivers which will retail for $400. Next up is a LeBron James-branded set of athletics-friendly earbuds dubbed the Powerbeats. The $170 headphones include dual drivers and a design that lets in external noises. Meanwhile, the Beats Pro blows the lid off with a $450 pricetag and audio pro-style quality and performance. At the cheap end we have iBeats, a $120 pair of i-device friendly cans for the less discriminating, and our personal favorites: JustBeats. JustBeats are better than all the other headphones and we heart them and they're totally worth $200 for the on-ear and $120 for the in-ear versions because Justin Bieber is totally down to earth and sexy and probably the best singer ever. All of these should be landing in the next few weeks; we know you'll make the right decision. Update: Oh, and just so you know: we still hate Monster. You just can't pass up some Bieber, you know? %Gallery-103656%
Diddy, Beats combine to make... Diddybeats
Not even Engadget's firm ban on Monster Cable can keep the word "Diddybeats" off these pages.
HP rolls out 'Let's Do Amazing' ad campaign
We'd already gotten word of HP's new $40 million "Let's Do Amazing" ad campaign earlier today, but the company has just now rolled out its first series of ads to give us some indication of how all that money is being spent. Somewhat curiously, for an ad campaign partly intended to reintroduce the HP brand to consumers, the ads stray pretty far beyond HP's consumer products (including a trip to a UPS sorting facility and the Venetian's IT department), but we do at least get to see Dr. Dre extol the benefits of HP Beats audio -- not to mention a little beatboxing from Rhys Darby of "Flight of the Conchords," who serves as the host of the ads. Head on past the break to check out the Dre ad and HP's introduction video, and hit up the link below for the rest of the series.
Users report Halo 3: ODST disc read errors
According to a rather lengthy thread on Bungie.net, several Halo 3: ODST players are having technical issues with the game. Users are reporting that disc read errors are occurring during the game, rendering it unplayable. Some believe the issue only affects older consoles, specifically those with older DVD drives. Anecdotally, our own David Hinkle encountered the DRE issue on a 2008 Elite. According to Hinkle, installing the game to the hard drive seemed to fix the problem. He later bought a second copy of the game and hasn't encountered the issue again. It's also worth noting that this issue seems to be isolated to the ODST campaign and Firefight mode. The Halo 3 multiplayer disc appears to be unaffected. Bungie is looking into the problem, with a member of the test team asking forum users for specific information about problems that have been encountered. For those out there with a copy of ODST, let your voice be heard in the poll below. %Poll-34788%
HP teaming with Dr. Dre for new 'Beats' line, music ecosystem in the works
Naturally, until proven otherwise this just sounds like an excuse for a computer company to charge more for Dre-branded semi-music-related products, but according to CNET there's a bit more meat to a new deal between HP and Dr. Dre to create a line of "Beats by Dr. Dre" laptops, headphones and software. Apparently Dre, Interscope's Jimmy lovine and HP hope to foster a new "digital music ecosystem," which would boost audio quality the whole way down the chain. Sounds great if they can pull it off, and it's not like they're going it alone: they welcome Apple and other CE companies to join forces. But if anything, we're just glad to see Dre and lovine expand their gear collaboration efforts outside of Monster Cable. [Via BusinessWeek]
Engadget endorses Monster Cable? Uh, hell no.
You know, we were as surprised as anyone to see a totally out-of-context quote of ours used on a Monster Cable site (without permission, mind you) to sell the company's "Beats by Dre" headphones (you can see the screen cap after the break). It's ironic, really, given that we currently have a blacklist in place for the overpriced cable-maker because of their rotten business practices (like regularly going after other companies that happen to use the word monster in their name, faking performance tests, and generally bilking customers out of their hard-earned dough). Regardless, if Monster wants to use a quote from Engadget, that's no problem. We suggest this one: Monster Cable sucks. Update: Monster has removed the quote from the site. Now that was fast. Power to the people! [Thanks, Michael K.]
DRE Medical lets loose compact, PC-based ECG system
We've seen ECG systems of all sorts (homemade included), but DRE Medical has now released what it claims to be the most compact system on the market today. Dubbed simply the Universal ECG, the system relies on a Windows-based desktop, laptop or Pocket PC for its computing component, which the company says offers a number of benefits over a standalone ECG system, not the least of which is a sizable cost savings. That savings also extends to printing costs, as the system can print reports on standard computer paper as opposed to the pricey thermal paper used by regular ECG systems. Among other things, the ECG also apparently requires no calibration, and it draws all its power from the device its connected to, so if you're using it with a laptop you may want to bring along a couple of extra batteries. Of course, while it's less expensive than a standalone ECG, that still probably doesn't mean it'll come cheap -- a likelihood further backed up by the fact that you have to contact DRE for a quote if you're interested in buying one.[Via Medgadget]
Is Halo 3 suffering from disc read error syndrome?
We didn't post about this news previously, because we couldn't be sure if the problem was related to scratched Halo 3 collector's edition discs or not, but now it seems like it's becoming a little more widespread.Over on the official Xbox.com forums and all across the internet come reports from gamers who are claiming that certain copies of Halo 3 suffer from disc read errors problems. Varied first hand reports from recent Halo 3 purchasers talk about certain campaign levels not loading, certain multiplayer maps not playable and just general disc read error problems. Heck, we thought it was a fluke at the time, but even had a first hand Halo 3 disc problem where one of our copies wouldn't work on a certain 360, so we swapped out the disc with another and it fired up just fine. An odd occurrence indeed.We're sure some of the complaints could stem from scratched discs or other 360 related hardware failures, but with our first hand experience and just the shear number of reports we've come across, we have to be at least a tad suspicious. We'll keep an eye on this mini-Halo 3 disc read error drama for further developments, but until then we advise playing Halo 3 ... that is if you don't get a disc read error.[Thanks, xUNBOUNDx]
So it begins: Florida bans touch-screen e-voting machines
If you didn't see this one coming, we'll just assume the glaring sun had you blinded, as the Sunshine State has apparently had quite enough of the e-voting woes within its borders. Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed into law a bill "requiring that all voting districts in the state replace most touchscreen electronic voting machines with optical scan machines." From day one, the state has been plagued with one mishap after another, and while some touch-screen systems will be maintained for "handicapped voters that require its features to vote unaided," the vast majority of the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines will be nixed in favor of a less hackable flavor. Flinging one last blow of frustration at the e-voting curse, Crist went so far as to suggest that ditching them would allow Floridians to "leave the polling place knowing that their vote had been counted and recorded and can be verified." Of course, we're sure the tax-paying citizens of the state are entirely more focused on the $27.8 million he approved to buy all new optical scan equipment.
Let the DREs begin!
Kotaku has received a couple of emails from Wii owners reporting of already receiving DRE (disc-read error) messages. Some have even reported that their Wii has become bricked and won't even power on! What horror! Have any of you out there in Wii Fanboy land been the unfortunate recipient of a painful message declaring that your Wii will not read your discs or even turn on anymore?[Thanks Naruhodou!]
X360F Poll: (Insert game) killed my 360! [update 1]
We ran a story earlier this week about Dead Rising killing off 360 consoles. That post seems to have struck a chord with lots of our readers, as it has drawn more comments than any other blog post the internet has ever seen. Okay, so that last sentence is completely false, but we did receive a lot of comments. More comments than we've seen in a while. Is one game really destroying 360s? Probably not, but it is evidence of a wider problem for our beloved console. So, here's the big question: have you had any problems with your 360? Tell us about your experience with your 360. Has it been fine? Has it been hell? Are you just a Sony fanboy who's trying to scare people away from the 360? Place your votes and tell us your story. We'll discuss the results and highlight some of the more enlightening comments next week. Oh, and, for the record, I finally got a chance to fire up Dead Rising on my 360. Played it for five or six hours on Saturday. I had one incident of a load screen that just hung there, but otherwise the game ran flawlessly. Update: This poll is now closed. Click here to see the results and commentary.
