Apple Still Guilty Of eBook Conspiracy

Apple Conspired to Fix E-book Prices: U.S. Appeals Court

By a 2-1 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court judge that the conspiracy violated federal antitrust law, and that the judge acted properly in imposing an injunction to prevent a recurrence.

Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston said that by organizing the conspiracy, “Apple found an easy path to opening its iBookstore,” while ensuring that marketwide prices rose to a level that Apple and the publishers wanted.

Previously here:

Apple Guilty Of eBook Conspiracy

The Making Of Ticwatch

The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch: How the Ticwatch won over China’s answer to Kickstarter

The Frog team learned that Mobvoi’s young target market in China approached smartwatches in a much more “idiosyncratic” way than the makers of the iconic international smartwatches we’ve seen so far would lead us to believe.

“They seemed to be buying less to be ‘seen’ or to project status or to communicate upwards social mobility,” said Wessler. “It was much more idiosyncratic and more for ‘myself’. So people really wanted it to look like a classic watch. The interactions and the information gained from it and the way that you play with it, it’s a more personal interaction. Toned down, classic, not so loud about being different. It’s not really about anybody else, it’s about me.”

One of Frog’s biggest inputs into how Ticwatch owners will use the smartwatch comes in the form of the Tickle strip, a capacitive strip along the stainless steel edge of the watch itself. It’s a clever solution which really pays attention to how our hands approach a smartwatch worn on the wrist.

It’s very rare to get an English-language look at something this new. Worth a read.

Previously here:

Ticwatch Raised $1.3M
Video: Ticwatch
Go Ask Is Hiring For Ticwatch/Ticwear
More About The Ticwatch
Ticwatch Crowdfunding Increases
Ticwatch/Ticwear OS
Ticwatch Crowdfunds Over 2.5 Million Yuan

Meizu, Huawei Introduce New Phones

Weibo:

5.2 and 5.5 inch screens. Boring.

Click the Weibo link for more photos or see these reports at GizChina:

Launched: This is the Helio X10 powered Meizu MX5

Launched: Huawei Honor 7 full specifications

Full Specs, Price Of Core-M Onda V919 3G Leaked On JD China

Via IMP3Net, which found the listing [Google Translate]:

iOS 9 And PDFs

iOS 9 includes a share action for saving PDFs to iBooks

The option is limited, however, as once the PDF is saved to iBooks, the only export options you have are Email and Print. That said, this is still a definite step in the right direction for iOS. Archiving webpages will be much easier as a result, even if iBooks isn’t the most ideal option for storing PDFs.

Not only will users be able to save webpages to PDFs, but the option shows up in first-party apps like Notes and Photos as well. Being that it is a native sharing activity, it would seem likely that third-party apps would gain access to the feature as well.

That is interesting.

The West Began In Greece …

… will it end in Greece too?

Or will The New West begin there?

Actor Lance Henriksen: Wow

Lance Henriksen’s ‘oddball’ film picks speak to his creative nature

Henriksen hit the road permanently at age 12.

“I hated school,” said the gregarious character actor, now 75. “I never went to high school.”

[…]

For the first three decades of his life, Henriksen didn’t bother to learn to read. In fact, he learned his part in an off-Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Three Plays of the Sea” when he was 30 by having a friend read the entire piece on tape for him.

Henriksen not only learned how to read but also became a writer. In 2011, he published his autobiography, “Not Bad for a Human,” and his five-part Dark Horse horror comic book series “To Hell You Ride,” which he wrote with Joseph Maddrey, came out in 2012 and ’13.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

Now there’s someone who should be doing TV ads for literacy and public libraries.

Quante Wright Out Of Jail

Being away from the notebook most of the day for two days caused me not to update until now …

Judge releases Quante Wright, former gang member, from jail

Wright must wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet so that federal probation officers can keep tabs on his whereabouts, Mordue ruled.

After serving six years in prison, Wright went to Bryant & Stratton, earned an associate’s degree, and got a job selling cars for Lowery Brothers Chrysler Jeep. Syracuse.com / The Post-Standard published a story about Wright’s successes on June 14. He was fired by the car dealership the next day.

Vido W80 Apple Watch Clone Gets A Review

Weibo:

Over at PC Online (use Chrome browser to translate).

I’m not sure any of these — including this one — are worth more than US$19.99; or even US$9.99, on sale at Best Buy in hanging blister packs as year-end stocking stuffers. That’s probably how one or two of them will enter the American market, so be on the lookout, especially at Wal-Mart.

Previously here:

New Photos, Unboxing Of The Vido Watch W80 Apple Watch Clone
Another Apple Watch Clone: Vido Watch W80

R.I.P. Actor Patrick Macnee

Official Patrick Macnee website:

Daniel Patrick Macnee
(6th February 1922 – 25 th June 2015)

Daniel Patrick Macnee died a natural death at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 93, with his family at his bedside, according to his son, Rupert.

Macnee was best known for playing the internationally recognized, charmingly elegant, quintessentially English, and slightly mysterious character of John Steed in the 1960s’ British television series, The Avengers. Patrick Macnee, along with co-stars Ian Hendry, Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson, Joanna Lumley, and Gareth Hunt, created a unique identity that has reverberated for nearly half a century. The pioneering television series aired throughout the 1960s, and The Avengers became known for its progressive approach to feminism, the female stars being more than a match for Steed…and a plethora of “diabolical master minds.” The programme was also known for its creative team’s interest in stories about cutting-edge technology,