It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about memory maker Rambus, but the company has come back into the light to sue Nvidia for patent infringement. Rambus thinks that Nvidia’s use of SDR, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, and GDDR3 SDRAM in their products violates 17 (count ‘em… 17!) patents that Rambus owns. Those chips sit inside all sorts of Nvidia gear, and apparently Rambus has been trying for a settlement for years. Now it’s using the legal system to claim cash for the damages. Bad news for Nvidia, but Rambus is still apparently trying “to continue discussions with Nvidia to reach a negotiated settlement.” I bet. [BusinessWire]
Let me categorically state at the outset that I am not a line-camper. My idea of camping involves bush, a two-man tent, some fishing rods and a lot of booze. But hanging out with the guys at the front of the iPhone 3G line in Auckland gave me a good insight into the method behind the madness of sleeping in the street for 24 hours or more. And I can categorically say that even though the people who line up in queues may be a little bit over-eager, they’re also an incredibly cool bunch of guys, who enjoy hanging out with like-minded people almost as much as they seemed to like their Apple products.
So apparently iPhone 3G stocks are in short supply. That sucks for pretty much everybody. Except for the person destined to win our iPhone 3G competition with iWorld Australia. The winner of that comp will take solace in the fact that while hundreds of people queued up in the middle of night in the depths of winter to purchase their iPhone, they were able to sit back and reap the rewards of Gizmodo competition goodness.
To enter, hit the link below, fill in your details and, come the end of July, you coud be the proud owner of a new iPhone 3G. And that’s not bad.
The line outside of the Apple store on 59th street in NYC is definitely an event. There are about 100 people wrapped around the block, patiently waiting for the iPhone 3G. We’ll be up all night checking out the scene and talking to the diehards who can’t wait to get their hands on the new phone. We’ve got games, blankets, and provisions (liquid and food), so if you’re in town, stop by and say “Hi”. Otherwise, keep checking back to see all of the madness going on—you never know what could happen. Update: Greg Packer showed up!
Duncan Riley at The Inquisitr decided to share his iPhone unboxing with the world, but unlike the boring traditionalists who’ve done the same before, Duncan has a white one. There’s not much new here, but it’s nice to get a good clear view of the look and finish on the paler model.
I’ve thought for awhile that the key to selling the super cheap yet very underpowered sub-notebooks that are exploding all over the place would be carrier subsidisation, and now a carrier in Japan is taking the the idea and running with it, selling the Eee PC 701 for less than US$1 American with a data plan contract, much like how we get mobile phones. These devices often feature 4G—in this case with an external wireless modem—networking, which means you get an always-on Internet connection for your tiny laptop for less than US$65 a month. American carriers, are you paying attention? [JK On The Run, via Liliputing]
Many people have been waiting for the eve of the iPhone 3G’s introduction to pounce on cheap first generation iPhones on eBay and Craigslist. These people are upset. For some reason, contrary to what you’d think, first generation iPhones are going for astronomical prices. Craigslist is full of people offering up to US$600 for 16GB iPhones and up to US$400 for 8GB models. The arrival of the app store might be part of it, and the fact that it’ll be harder to get a 3G iPhone without contract, but $600 for a 16GB iPhone is crazy. Who wants to buy my iPod touch?
Some agency not called the National Pedestrian Walkway and Novelty Tour Commission apparently ran the Segway though a battery of crash tests, dummies and all. I’m sure that by now many people have experienced something resembling this test, so it was probably wise to run the Seg into a few things to make sure it wouldn’t kill anyone. As expected, the effect is almost identical to a tall man sprinting full speed into another, face first. An alternative back story for this video: It’s a performance art piece entitled “Dude, You Kissed My Eyeball.” [YouTube]
Soon many of you are going to go absolutely nuts trying to track down an iPhone 3G at Apple’s retail outlets across the country, and that sounds like fun, but what if you get to your local store and they’re out of the model you wanted? That would ruin your iPhone day completely. Thankfully Apple’s got a neat page of its site that works with the retail back-end that tells you what phones are in stock at which stores. Put in which state you’re in and you can see if the 8GB, 16GB, or 16GB Black iPhone 3G is in stock at your local store, or, more likely, which store you have to drive to to find one. [Apple]
In a short and slightly poignant posting on his MSDN blog, a Microsoft systems engineer has announced that Windows 3.11 will be officially discontinued four months after XP’s unceremonious removal from the consumer market. The secret to 3.11′s 15-year lifespan was the embedded space, where it has dutifully provided a platform for countless low-horsepower cash registers and train schedule displays.
