Lawyers for Ford and General Motors and their respective suppliers Clarion and Denso got a 14-day deadline extension to Oct. 10 to answer recording industry allegations they violated the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) by shipping car infotainment systems with CD-copying hard drives without building the Serial Copy Management System into the devices (CED July 31 p5). Lawyers for the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, which filed the complaint July 25 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, did not oppose the deadline-extension motion, which was filed Monday and granted Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, court documents said (http://1.usa.gov/1pdd3Iu). “Good causes exist to grant this motion,” the documents said. They said more time was needed because Ford, Clarion, Denso and GM are trying to “coordinate in an effort to streamline their responses” to the complaint. The complaint “involves potentially complex issues of law” arising under the AHRA, and several lawyers for the defendants have only recently joined the case “and thus have been working to familiarize themselves with the claims and defenses in the action,” the motion said. It was the second time Jackson has granted the defendants more time to answer the complaint.
The total cost of the Apple Watch’s plastic AMOLED display “is highly dependent on yield rates throughout the manufacturing and assembly process,” DisplaySearch said Wednesday in an emailed sales pitch for its Flexible Displays Technology and Market Forecast Report (http://bit.ly/1msRbgB). “Producing a high resolution AMOLED display alone is challenging,” the company said. “Add the processes for coating the flexible substrate on carrier glass, encapsulation, and laser-lift off and the module process becomes even more complicated.” Assuming a 60 percent yield rate, DisplaySearch estimates the Apple Watch’s display costs more than $27 on bill of materials terms, “depending on the costs of the module, touch panel interface, and cover lens.” For the Apple Watch, Apple is sourcing 1.3- and 1.5-inch AMOLEDs on plastic substrates from LG Display, a DisplaySearch blogger said last month, saying a big benefit of AMOLED on plastic is that it can be extremely thin, light and rugged (CED Aug 26 p6). DisplaySearch has estimated average yield rates above 60 percent would allow LG Display to produce more than 10 million AMOLED-on-plastic panels in 2014. Apple hasn’t given a precise release date on the Apple Watch, but has said it would debut the watch in early 2015 at $349 (CED Sept 10 p1).
A bipartisan group of lawmakers warned several government agencies against allowing in-flight cellphone conversation, earning praise from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA). The 77 House members sent a letter to the heads of the FCC as well as to the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation and Attorney General Eric Holder. Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., led the Monday letter. “We urge you to continue the ban on voice calls on all commercial aircraft, and believe that your agencies must also work collaboratively to address safety and security concerns raised by the potential introduction of other wireless capabilities before they are permitted in-flight,” the lawmakers said (http://bit.ly/1tXz2si). They are “extremely concerned” over the FCC proposal “to allow the use of wireless communication devices on commercial flights that does not fully address these safety and security issues, nor does it seem coordinated with your other agencies,” they said. The FCC has said it is examining this issue from a technical standpoint, and the Department of Transportation has begun examining a potential ban of in-flight cellphone conversation. “For over ten years, AFA has been a leader in pushing for comprehensive and ongoing consideration of the risks associated with new in-flight communications technology,” AFA International President Sara Nelson said in a statement. “As first responders and the last line of defense in our nation’s aviation system, Flight Attendants remain strongly opposed to cell phone use in the aircraft cabin. ... In far too many operational scenarios, mobile broadband use could be far worse than a mere nuisance: It could have catastrophic effects on aviation safety and security.”
Mojio will introduce a cloud-based device in time for the holiday selling seasons that will let most vehicles manufactured after 1996 become connected cars via AT&T’s wireless network, Mojio said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1riGtYU). The Mojio device plugs into any car’s onboard diagnostic port, which is found on most cars made after 1996. With AT&T’s wireless network connectivity, car owners will be able to locate, monitor and diagnose their car from an iPhone or Android smartphone. Unlike other aftermarket connected car devices, Mojio is built on an open platform that supports an ecosystem “where developers can focus on continually improving the driver experience by creating apps that run on Mojio’s platform,” it said. Third-party apps in development include parking payments, automated trip expensing, simplified car rental and home automation connections, it said. The Mojio device will be available for $149, which includes the first year of service, it said. The second year will cost $4.99 a month, it said.
Doppler Labs launched tech-infused earplugs Tuesday that are designed to protect ears from loud sounds without sacrificing sound fidelity. The Dubs use mechanical filters made up of 17 parts that use dynamic attenuation to protect ears by reducing audio levels by an average of 12 dB, the company said. More than 6 million people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 44 suffer from hearing loss due to exposure to loud sounds, including settings such as live music venues and sports stadiums, which can lead to permanent hearing damage, Doppler said. The earplugs began shipping Tuesday for $25 at SoulCycle, through TAO Group locations and online (www.getDUBS.com). They'll be sold at Best Buy beginning Nov. 3, Doppler said. The earplugs are the first product from Doppler Labs, whose founders include Dan Wiggins, a former transducer engineer for Sonos, and ex-Microsoft executive Fritz Lanman.
Samsung bowed the Ryder Cup TV App, an interactive app developed with Turner Sports that’s designed to let users follow live scores, access behind-the-scenes video footage and view course details via virtual hole flyovers during the Ryder Cup tournament held in Perthshire, Scotland, Sept. 23-28. The app is a way for consumers to enjoy “new and immersive experiences across our products,” including smart TVs and mobile devices, said Eric Anderson, Samsung vice president-content and product solutions, Tuesday. A broadcast mode allows users to toggle between checking live video feeds, an interactive leaderboard and their favorite Team USA golfers, Samsung said. The app is available on select 2013 and 2014 Samsung smart TVs, it said.
Rovi program guides have been deployed on more than half a million standard-def and HD digital terminal adapters (DTAs), the company said Tuesday. Rovi is providing its TV programming guide “throughout the U.S. and Latin America” through deals with Armstrong, Arris, Cablevision Argentina, Evolution Digital, Pace and “more than a dozen leading cable operators,” Rovi said. DTAs convert incoming digital signals into analog signals that can be viewed on older television sets, the release said. The devices help cable companies upgrade local systems from analog to digital and optimize bandwidth to support high-definition channels and high-speed data, the release said. Rovi’s DTA Guide “eases the digital transition and enhances the experience for consumers by offering cable subscribers an Interactive Program Guide for navigating content choices,” the release said.
Vizio exerted more pricing pressure on the 4K Ultra HD TV market Tuesday with a three-figure starting price point for a 50-inch full-array LED-lit LCD TV. The lineup of P series TVs, Vizio’s first foray into 4K, ranges from $999 for the 50-inch P502ui-B1 to $2,499 for a 70-inch P702ui-B3. Vizio’s $2,499 price for a 70-inch model compares with the same $2,499 suggested retail price for a Samsung 50-inch 4K Ultra HD TV, but Samsung’s 50-inch UN50HU8550 had a street price of $1,797 Tuesday at Amazon in a competitive market. Vizio’s P series has full-array local dimming LED backlights, supported by 72 active LED zones, the company said. Each zone dynamically adjusts to control the backlight based on the content on screen for deeper black levels and higher contrast than edge-lit LED TVs, it said. The P series includes an HEVC H.265 codec, 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi for faster streaming and the HDCP 2.2 support for playback of protected Ultra HD content, Vizio said. A V6 six-core processor -- comprising a quad-core graphics processor plus a dual-core CPU -- powers the TV and enables an “even faster smart TV” experience, Vizio said. The TVs will be available “soon” at retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart, it said. Walmart was taking pre-orders for the 50-inch model Tuesday at a dollar off, $998. Prices for additional models are $1,399 for the 55-inch model, $1,699 for the 60-inch and $2,199 for the 65-inch, it said.
"Europe needs to reform and forge a true digital single market,” said Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in an essay published on the European Commission’s website (http://bit.ly/1ylRKhy). If Europe establishes a digital single market, “the macroeconomic benefits would be enormous,” he said. Citing European Policy Centre research (http://www.epc.eu/dsm/1/), Schmidt said a single digital market in Europe could raise EU GDP by at least 4 percent by 2020, generating 250 billion euros of “additional growth.” But European companies have lagged in technology adoption, partially due to hesitancy about obtaining individual licenses to operate in each of the 28 EU countries, he said. “If regulatory barriers are removed, startups could directly access half a billion European consumers, a market that’s larger than the US, where technology companies have the ability to achieve scale before they expand internationally.” The essay was posted on the site for Neelie Kroes, a European commissioner and head of the EC’s digital agenda. Kroes has made a single digital market a top priority of her tenure, but Google has faced ongoing pushback from EU antitrust officials.
Beats Electronics denies Bose allegations it infringed five Bose noise-canceling headphone patents, and wants the investigation into those allegations terminated, Beats told the U.S. International Trade Commission last week in its answer to the Bose complaint (http://1.usa.gov/1u9bx0M). Beats believes the Bose patents are not “valid or enforceable” because they were issued “in violation of one or more provisions” of U.S. patent law, Beats said without elaborating. Bose filed the ITC complaint July 25 seeking exclusion and cease-and-desist orders against Beats imports. But the relief Bose seeks “would not further the public interest,” and would “adversely affect the public welfare, competitive conditions, and the U.S. consumer,” Beats said. Bose “has failed to show that it is practicing the claims of the asserted patents in the United States or that it has made a significant investment in U.S. plant and equipment related to the asserted patents, a significant employment of U.S. labor and capital related to the asserted patents, or a substantial investment in U.S. exploitation of the asserted patents, including engineering, research, development, and/or licensing in the United States,” Beats said. ITC judges voted unanimously Aug. 27 to open a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into the Bose allegations (CED Aug 29 p6). Two days later, U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke granted Beats its motion for a stay, pending the outcome of the ITC investigation, in the mirror complaint that Bose filed against Beats July 25 in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware (CED July 29 p3). Bose lawyers did not oppose the Beats motion for a stay, court documents said (http://1.usa.gov/1rcU5EU). Beats and Bose representatives didn’t comment on the Beats answer to the Bose ITC complaint, which is being heard in ITC docket number 337-TA-927.