Apple, Siemens and Sisvel patent infringement leads to CeBIT booth raid

Mama always said that some folks just never learn, and we reckon there’s plenty of wisdom to be had from that very statement. Year after year, German police are called in to raid select booths at CeBIT (and IFA, to be fair), and yet again we’ve seen a booth cleared out at the request of powerful lawyers from a few companies you may have heard of. Word on the street has it that Apple, Siemens and Sisvel were all kvetching over patent infringements made by an unnamed company exhibiting at last week’s show, and within an hour or so of the fuzz showing up, the whole thing was stripped and a hefty fine (€10,000) was levied. Unfortunately, the exact details of who was violating what remains clouded in mystery, but for whatever reason, we get the feeling that something extremely similar will be going down in Hannover next year. We blame KIRFers determination.

[Thanks, TheLostSwede]

Apple, Siemens and Sisvel patent infringement leads to CeBIT booth raid originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK police drone grounded for flying without a license

As you know, the Merseyside (UK) police department finally nabbed a suspect with its £40,000 (roughly $63,000) drone recently — an announcement that was accompanied by backslapping and hearty cheers all around. But what happens when the police run afoul of the law? According to the BBC, the vehicle has been grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under guidelines enacted in January stating that UAVs weighing under fifteen pounds need permission to fly within 164 feet of people and 492 feet of buildings. A spokesman for the coppers said “all Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) flights have been suspended and will remain so until the appropriate license has been granted,” but don’t worry Britons: you should still be able to rest easily at night knowing that you’re still the most surveillance-happy nation in the history of the world. Cheerio!

UK police drone grounded for flying without a license originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK police nab teen using $30,500 drone

Wired recently reported that the UK Home Office is preparing a national fleet of unmanned aircraft, but the surveillance-loving island nation has had a keen interest in drones for quite a while. Now, Merseyside police (who’ve had a drone of their own for about six months) are bragging about their first ever catch with the new toy. When coppers heard that a suspected car thief was hiding in the bushes, they wasted no time launching their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with on-board thermal imaging — which led them to the sixteen year old. In addition to the (alleged) perp, a twenty year old man was arrested in connection with the crime — but his apprehension was done without aid of the UAV and, as such, not nearly as bad-ass. Both have been released on bail pending further inquiries, and both are believed to be looking into purchasing Parrot AR.Drones for themselves. You gotta fight fire with fire, right?

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UK police nab teen using $30,500 drone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on February 15, 2010 at 12:37 am by Joseph L. Flatley · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Axon head-mounted camera records what police see when they keep an eye on Mayberry

Taser International, not content with zapping people with electricity, now wants you to be able to capture the action on video — hands-free. Similar to the helmet cam used on television sports, the Axon system includes a Linux-powered tablet PC, an eye-level HeadCam that records audio and video (using IR in low-light), and a corresponding account on Evidence.com, an online, real time app for accessing and analyzing the data — sure to become law enforcement’s third favorite web portal (after Sprint’s GPS data dispersal site and Garfield Minus Garfield). The system — which will cost $5,700 per officer every three years — made news recently when a Fort Smith, Arkansas officer was cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of a man who had threatened his wife with a handgun. The policeman was wearing an Axon camera at the time, which the county prosecutor said that the video allowed him to “observe what happened with complete objectivity.” Currently officers in San Jose are using the system as part of a free trial, with other departments around the country expected to get in on the action in the near future. And who knows? At the very least we can hope that some hilarious law enforcement hijinks finds its way to YouTube. Get a closer look in the gallery below.

Gallery: Taser Axon head-mounted camera

Axon head-mounted camera records what police see when they keep an eye on Mayberry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook (update: video!)

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Israeli_security_guards_blow_up_woman_s_MacBook’; Young American woman travels over to Jerusalem to meet some friends, see the sights, live the life. Overzealous border security officers ask her a bunch of questions, take issue with her answers, and a few well-placed bullets later she is allowed entry into the country with a somewhat altered MacBook in tow. So what can we all learn from this incident? Firstly, back up all the data you consider important; B, Israeli policemen don’t mess about; and 3, distressed laptops look gorgeous no matter how they got there — just look at the way the glass trackpad has wrinkled up from the force of the bullet penetrating near it, it’s a borderline work of art. The young lady in question has been promised compensation, but lest you think this is a one one-off you can see pictures of an equally dead Dell at the Flickr link below. We’ve got a couple more close-ups of the ravaged MacBook after the break.

[Thanks, Itai N.]

Update – We’ve tracked down a video interview with Lily herself, which shows off a few more angles of the former MacBook and current article of modern art — check it after the break.

P.S. – As always, we encourage a discussion. A sensitive, intellectual, worldly discussion. If you can’t infer what it is we’re asking of our dear readers tempted to intone on this matter, then please skip commenting on this thread, mkay?

Continue reading Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook (update: video!)

Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Israeli_security_guards_blow_up_woman_s_MacBook’; Young American woman travels over to Jerusalem to meet some friends, see the sights, live the life. Overzealous border security officers ask her a bunch of questions, take issue with her answers, and a few well-placed bullets later she is allowed entry into the country with a somewhat altered MacBook in tow. So what can we all learn from this incident? Firstly, back up all the data you consider important; B, Israeli policemen don’t mess about; and 3, distressed laptops look gorgeous no matter how they got there — just look at the way the glass trackpad has wrinkled up from the force of the bullet penetrating near it, it’s a borderline work of art. The young lady in question has been promised compensation, but we’re hearing she’s not the only one to experience the wrath of Israel’s finest. Flickr link below will lead you to fallout pictures from a separate incident, and we’ve got a couple more close-ups of the ravaged MacBook after the break.

[Thanks, Itai N.]

Continue reading Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook

Border security guards kill — literally kill — a MacBook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Police Wii Bowling team issued stern rebuke

You know, policing can be a tiresome, thankless task — that’s why we weren’t all that surprised when Polk County’s finest were caught on camera at the scene of a Florida drug raid engaging in a reported nine hour Wii Sports tourney. As you’ll recall, investigators raided a home back in March on the lookout for drugs and stolen items — which they found, along with weapons and that infamous Nintendo game console. Fans of police accountability will be pleased to note that when all is said and done, eleven members of the multiagency task force were eventually disciplined with a letter in their permanent records and a couple hours of re-training. According to Polk County sheriff’s Chief of Staff Gary Hester, all of those involved “were all remorseful, upset with themselves, [and] apologetic,” except one officer who finally bowled a perfect game: “It was totally worth it. The Dude abides.”

[Via Joystiq]

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Police Wii Bowling team issued stern rebuke originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on November 12, 2009 at 9:59 am by Joseph L. Flatley · Permalink · Comments Closed
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BlackBerrys for coppers: UK law enforcement to smarten up in 2010

Police men and women of Blighty are about to step into the 21st century, albeit a decade late, with a new weapon in the fight against boredom on the beat. The BBC reports that smartphones will become standard issue throughout the Queen’s realm by March 2010, as a result of successful trials carried out in 30 constabularies through this year. Improved “operational efficiency” and reduced bureaucracy are argued as the key benefits, with a solid 30 minutes less time being spent in police stations each day. And we’re absolutely positive that extra half hour will go toward increased “visibility in the community” and not checking out friends’ Facebook status updates. No, really!

Read — BBC report
Read — Bedfordshire case study

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BlackBerrys for coppers: UK law enforcement to smarten up in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on October 16, 2009 at 6:01 am by Vladislav Savov · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Portable pain gun could replace Colt 45s, logic in robot-controlled future

The Pentagon has been dreaming of portable pain guns for as long as we can remember, and if it has its druthers, said fantasy could soon become a reality. The Thermal Laser System (or the IR-Lesslethal device, if you prefer) has been brewing since at least 2005, but just recently the weapon prove to testers that it could create a beam strong enough to cause alarm and pain without actually damaging the skin or retina. Think of it as a portable crowd controller (or your worst nightmare, either one). Of course, there’s still quite a bit of testing to get through before it’s actually rolled out for military or police use, and there’s the fact that leaving no marks leaves open the possibility for undocumentable abuse. Not like that would ever happen, though.

[Image courtesy of Deeper Thought]

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Portable pain gun could replace Colt 45s, logic in robot-controlled future originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Taser International’s six-shot Shockwave demonstration

If you’re looking to incapacitate with electricity, Taser International is your go-to source. And while single-shot (or even triple shot) weapons have their place, what do you do when faced with a whole crowd of no-goodniks? For instance, take that Travis County, Texas constable who zapped a 72 year old woman this spring (she dared him, remember). What if he was confronted by a whole van full of Ragin’ Grannies? That, dear readers, is what Shockwave is for. Each module holds six Tazers seated in a twenty-degree arc, and multiple units can either be stacked horizontally or daisy chained for simultaneous deployment. The unit is activated by a push-button control box that allows the operator to to stand up to 100 meters away, and the maximum range is 25 feet. Never before has electrocution been this easy. Video after the break.

[Via Defense Tech]

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Taser International’s six-shot Shockwave demonstration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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