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Apple patent app details 'accessory detector' for mobile handset
Just days after hearing that Steve Jobs was indeed looking into the possibility of letting third party applications play nice with his precious iPhone, along comes a suitable patent application that further proves his hesitance to let it happen. Jobs didn't shy away from suggesting that non-native apps aren't usually cellphone-friendly, and a new filing from Cupertino's lair details an "accessory detector" that would "detect whether an external accessory coupled to the connector may interfere with wireless communication with the handheld device." Of course, no direct mention of the iPhone is given, but it sounds like this here invention would alert the user via on-screen messages and flurries of frightening noises if the inserted / installed accessory did not match up with an internally stored "list" of okayed devices. Additionally, the handset would be able to adjust itself on the fly if the add-on did indeed "interfere" with operations, and while no verbiage mentioned any kinds of shut downs or undercover dial-ups to Apple HQ for unauthorized use, there's always the possibility that this type of scrutiny could lead to an easier implementation of a "Made for iPhone" type royalty program.[Via UnwiredView]
Environmentalists in the UK want to tax plasmas for wasting electricity
Plasmas don't get any love these days, if people aren't complaining about the theoretical possibility of burn-in or the fading of colors, it's something else. Now some environmentalists in the UK are proposing an additional tax on plasmas TVs to reflect their "greater climate change burden". Without getting involved in the whole global warming debate, our position is that any tax on HDTV is a bad thing. Seriously, there is nothing cheap about going HD, and if people who use too much electricity need to be taxed, let it be based on the actual consumption. Besides the size of the TV has a bigger impact on the power consumption than anything else, and one thing is for sure, we're not all going back to 20" CRTs.
Filipinos paying taxes by SMS
For us here in the States, April 17 was the deadline for filing those pesky 2006 taxes. There were probably a few million folks scrambling to get their tax filing completed online or with a mad dash to the post office. Why not pay taxes by SMS? After all, text messaging is a bigger industry than Hollywood. Alas, we're not quite there yet, but in the Philippines, the Bureau of Revenue Service is offering a tax filing service that works via text messaging. The SMS tax service, dubbed "PAYBIR," allows Filipino taxpayers with a tab of $281 or less to pay by whipping out their mobile. The service works in concert with Land Bank of the Philippines and Globe Telecom, which uses its G-Cash service to facilitate tax payments for SMS customers.[Via textually.org]
CPCC wants to tax your iPod
Bad news for our buddies up north: Canada's Private Copyright Collective (CPCC) is hoping to tax consumers who purchase portable MP3 players, planning to compensate musicians for money lost due to copyright infringement and music copying. The Canadian federal court turned down the previous lobbying attempt made by the CPCC last year, because their law did not recognize portable players' hard drives and memory storage among its list of recording media. However, this hasn't stopped the CPCC from trying again, with a new proposal that suggests taxes on MP3 players in the amounts of $5CAD for players with up to 1GB of storage, $25CAD for players up to 10GB, $50CAD for players holding 10GB-30GB, and $75CAD for any player holding more than 30GB. Steep. In addition to MP3 players, the CPCC hopes to include memory cards (SD, MMC, Memory Sticks, etc.) to the list of taxable items. (Insert eye rolling here.)(via MacNN)
Taxing Second Life [update 1]
The new Reuters Second Life branch reports on a Congressional probe into games with virtual economies like Second Life and World of Warcraft. Massive amounts of money changes hands in these titles; Second Life users spend up to $500,000 in daily transactions. The U.S. government has caught the scent of money wafting up from the internet tubes and hopes to get its share.Americans are already required to pay taxes on real-world earnings when they cash out of a game, but should they pay taxes on virtual, in-game profits? For example, citizens pay capital gains taxes on real-world asset sales -- profits from an investment over time -- but in-game capital gains policy and enforcement are unclear. Should you owe Linden Dollars to the U.S. government after selling Second Life property in-game, even if you don't cash-out to U.S. currency?Should virtual worlds be governed by real-world laws, or are they becoming something closer to their own nations? If governments start taxing strictly in-game situations, will gamers deserve in-game social services and a virtual seat in Congress?[Via Second Life Insider][Update 1: Thanks, Ish, for the capital gains lesson. Sorry for the mistake; the second paragraph is clarified.]
New Jersey begins taxing iTS downloads like CDs and armored cars
The state of New Jersey is suffering from a slight $4.5 billion debt problem. Macenstein is reporting that amidst a recent sales tax increase and a frantic session of checking the sofa for change, Governor Jon Corzine has expanded the list of items which can be taxed to include, amongst other things, iTunes Store purchases. This means that all iTS downloads will be taxed at the same recently raised 7% rate of other newly taxable items such as storage space, tanning, health club memberships and security alarms.Interestingly, Dr. Macenstein also reports that he'll be trying to work around the new charges by changing his virtual iTS address to another state. C'mon Dr. M, you need to pay up for your tanning and limousine luxuries just like everybody else.
Durham police department in trouble over 1080p DLP HDTV purchase
Usually, congratulations are in order after you purchase a new HDTV, but not so for the Durham Police Department. In need of a replacement for a dead $800 TV, they decided on a 52-inch Mitsubishi DLP for a little over $2,000. From the information available, it looks like they picked up the 1080p WD-52631 with 6-color wheel and Plush1080p image processing for upconverting lower-res signals, at a decent price for the model. The timing of the purchase is what's raising eybrows, while Durham's City Council is reviewing the budget and considering a possible tax increase. We think if they invited the taxpayers over for a little Xbox 360, HD DVD or Blu-ray action all this would blow over and they would realize how totally necessary this equipment is.
Let's tax games, proposes Texas senator
Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of Texas recently proposed a plan that would generate an estimated $65 million, which could be used to build or upgrade public schools. That plan is to apply a special tax to video game sales. The logic behind the proposal is that if school-aged kids are spending a lot of money on video games — or parents are spending a lot of money on games for their school-aged kids — these consumers can spend a little bit more in order to improve their school systems.What's outrageous is that the proposal has not been extended to other forms of popular consumer entertainment. Music? Movies? Why doesn't Hinojosa want to tax these formats?
