In a ruling which limits the overseas reach of U.S. patents, the United States Supreme Court today sided with Microsoft, overturning a lower court’s decision that would have held the software giant liable for patent infringements contained in copies of Windows sold outside the United States.
Microsoft had previously acknowledged its Windows operating system violated an AT&T patent on technology which digitizes and compresses speech; the companies came to a settlement on most matters in the case back in 2004. However, one point crept its way up through the appeals process, and finally reached the Supreme Court. Now, in a 7-to-1 ruling, the Supreme Court has found that Microsoft does not have to pay AT&T damages for copies of Windows sold (or pre-installed on computers) sold outside the United States whihc violated the AT&T patent.
The decision could have a significant impact on other lawsuits against Microsoft and other technology companies with global operations, and save the companies billions of dollars in damage claims stemming from patent infringement.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.