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Man, if you thought the lawsuit action in the mobile space was crazy before, well, you ain't seen nothing yet -- Motorola just sued Huawei and over a dozen former employees for conspiring to steal its wireless trade secrets and other proprietary technology over a period of years starting in 2001. Yeah, it's crazy. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2008 against four former Motorola engineers and a company called Lemko, all of whom Motorola accused of conspiring to stealing trade secrets related to wireless technology. After years of discovery in the case, it appears that Motorola realized the conspiracy went much deeper than it originally thought, leading the company to file a new complaint on July 16th, in which it named Huawei and nine additional former employees, who allegedly schemed to steal plans for a 3G base station called the SC300.

According to the complaint, part of the scheme was ultimately blown up when one of the employees was arrested by Customs at O'Hare airport en route to China with $30,000 in cash and over 1,000 pages of documentation regarding Motorola's various communications networking tech, while another employee was caught buying Motorola phones in bulk and sending unlock codes and dump files to Lemko for reverse engineering purposes. Motorola also says that it doesn't yet know the exact relationship between Lemko, Huawei and some of the former employees because "file destruction software" was installed and run on computers before they were turned over as evidence, but the company claims that Huawei was aware it was receiving proprietary Motorola information the entire time it was in contact with the former employees. Yes, it's all very juicy -- we'll be watching this one closely.

Motorola sues Huawei and several former employees for stealing wireless trade secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#notetaking We're bombarded with things to remember everyday, and it's pretty overwhelming. Rather than sign up for a handful of different services to manage it all, I've consolidated my digital life with one powerful service: Springpad. Here's how. More »

Not interested in Samsung's newfangled DualView cameras? Don't worry, the company is still cranking out plenty of regular point-and-shoots as well -- like this just-announced PL200 model. Coming in at a reasonable $179.99, this one packs a 14.2-megapixel sensor, a 7x optical zoom, a 3-inch LCD 'round back, 720p video recording, and dual optical and digital image stabilization, among other standard features. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and watch for the camera for to be available sometime this September in your choice of black, silver or red.

Gallery: Samsung PL200

Continue reading Samsung rolls out budget-minded PL200 point-and-shoot

Samsung rolls out budget-minded PL200 point-and-shoot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#fromthetipsbox Readers offer their best tips for using the new Google Images, zooming in on Quick Look images, and comfortably wearing one earbud at a time. More »

It seems like everyone is cooking up their own touch-free gesture-based control technology, just like every blogger is destined to refer to it as "Minority Report-like" or "Minority Report-esque," or "Tom Cruise-tastic!" Fraunhofer's FIT, the newest such project, has recently appeared on the YouTubes, where we must say it looks pretty darn good. Not only does it not require special gloves or markers, this thing also works in real time and can support multiple users (and multiple fingers). The researchers hope to use this for working with complex simulation data and in education, although there are some kinks to be worked out: currently elements like the reflections caused by wristwatches and the orientation of the palm confuses the system. That said, the demo is pretty rad! See for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Fraunhofer FIT touch-free gesture-control for multiple users (video)

Fraunhofer FIT touch-free gesture-control for multiple users (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#forwhatitsworth Google ships its last Nexus One, Verizon may start metering their data plans a la AT&T, and Facebook has half a billion active users. More »

#downloads iOS: VoIP application Skype updated its iOS application to support iOS 4 multitasking (which means you can receive calls while other apps are running and switch to another task while keeping the call alive). They've also dropped an extra fee for calls over 3G. Skype on your iPhone 3GS and 4 just got a lot more useful. [Skype for iOS; Skype Blog] More »

We've heard this song and dance before, but DigiTimes has it that MSI is on pace to shove out a 3D laptop this September. Before you open that jaw and feign a yawn, you should know that the company is purportedly not following convention by integrating NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology; instead, it'll rely on Dynamic Digital Depth's (DDD's) TriDef 3D software for transferring 2D images to 3D. This means that users will be able to use cheap-o polarized glasses rather than the more expensive (and battery draining) active shutter variety. Somehow or another, the whole thing is supposed to launch at under a grand, so we'll be poking around on the IFA show floor hoping that this one comes to fruition.

MSI rumored to have TriDef 3D laptops on deck, no active shutters required originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#androidtip Android phone's Google voice search is handy as is, but reader Michael Crider shares a tip with us that we didn't think about before—it also means you have Google's calculator and conversion tools available via voice activation. More »

Microsoft guru extraordinaire Mary Jo Foley has retweeted a company employee boasting of a commitment to hand out Windows Phone 7 devices to each and every one of Redmond's 90,000-plus employees around the world. That's certainly one way to spread the word -- and realistically, the cost to Microsoft is a drop in the bucket if they can really take advantage of the word-of-mouth advertising effect here. Of course, step one in that process is going to be making sure the product is absolutely rock solid by the time those gratis units start getting handed out. Microsoft staffers do know how to multitask when they're working, right?

Microsoft to employees: 'everybody gets a Windows Phone 7!' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#police We've previously covered how, despite camera ubiquity, amateur and journalistic reports of police, security guards, and other authority figures of varying legitimacy intimidating harmless photographers continue to pop up. Popular Mechanics explains why this harassment isn't just wrong, but illegal. More »

Still pining for one of the best Windows 7 tablets we've seen to date? Yeah, we're talking about the 11.6-inch ExoPC. Well, we've got nothing but good news: the company's still on track for a September release and has been putting the finishing touches on the Windows 7, Intel Atom-powered slate. According to some new videos posted by the company, the tablet's been upgraded with a new LCD that appears to have much better viewing angles than the one we checked out at Computex. Additionally, the Canadian team's been doing some stand-up work on an e-book app. As you can see in the video beyond the break (more can be found there in the source link), it's got a simple interface, snazzy page flip animations and it looks fairly easy to import a book on your own. It's all lookin' quite good to us. Not that we're trying to rush this heat wave or anything, but is it September yet?

Continue reading ExoPC nabs improved screen and e-book app, still on track for a September release (video)

ExoPC nabs improved screen and e-book app, still on track for a September release (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We hear so many iPhone-Verizon-tomorrow-OMG rumors that our nation's brave also-ran carriers hardly get a word in edgewise. While Sprint remains a total longshot, T-Mobile USA is an interesting proposition for the mere fact that it's a GSM network, though its 1700 / 2100 3G network remains ostensibly incompatible with the iPhone 4's existing radio. According to Cult of Mac, a "highly placed source" at T-Mobile let it slip that they've got an 80 percent chance of getting the iPhone in Q3. Now, that's an oddly specific number, and we have no idea what it's contingent on, or how much exactly this source knows. Basically, we don't know a lot here. Of course, the biggest evidence of this possible T-Mobile coup remains the statement from Deutsche Telekom's CEO in March, saying that the USA branch is hoping to get the iPhone later this year. We really don't know who or what to believe, but we do know one thing: if Apple decides to sell a T-Mobile USA iPhone, there's an 80+ percent chance it will tell everybody.

iPhone headed for T-Mobile USA in Q3? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#stuffwelike LaCie XtremKey is a heavy duty thumb drive that boasts a thick, waterproof metal case designed to withstand nearly anything you throw at it. More »

Oh, we know all about doin' time. We watched both Oz and The Wire in their entirety, and have seen Let's Go To Prison, like, eight times. For instance, we know that you only do two days in the joint: the day you go in, and the day you go out. And we know that tattoo guns are readily available (if you have access to an old walkman or Playstation).We also know that cellphones are contraband, and rightfully so: you wouldn't want an inmate ordering a hit on someone, or running their record label from in "the stir." That's why we stand with the CTIA in support of S.1749, or The Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010. Approved in April by the Senate, and passed by the house yesterday, this amendment to title 18 of the United States Code prohibits "possession or use of cellphones and similar wireless devices by Federal prisoners." And once it's signed into law by the President, we're sure that the no-goodniks will stop sneaking handsets in and we can forget all that silly talk of prison cellphone jamming once and for all.

House passes Cellphone Contraband Act of 2010, prisoners go back to writing letters originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#downloads Google Chrome: If you're looking for an easy way to screenshot web pages from within Google Chrome, Awesome Screenshot is a versatile Chrome screenshot tool. More »

This hack seems simple enough:

1. 1. Open hatchback
2. 2. Insert jet engine
3. 3. Profit

Actually, the guy who added a jet engine to a VW Beetle has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford. He claims this is street legal, and even has a snapshot of the police trying to figure out what to charge him with after stopping him on the road. There’s plenty of details and we’re not questioning [Ron Patrick's] competence, but having the intake for the turbine inside the cab of the vehicle seems a bit insane. He remarks that “it’s a little windy but not unbearable”… yeah.

One the same page you’ll find his dual-jet modified scooter. The starting cost there is considerably less, especially if you build your own ram jets.

[Thanks Goldscott]

#windows7 Windows 7: Everybody knows that you can right-click any application to launch it as administrator, but what you might not know is there's an even quicker way you can trigger administrator mode. More »

At present, Verizon only offers prepaid mobile broadband in buckets ranging from 100MB up to 1GB at prices from $15 to $50. Problem is, 1GB goes by in about two seconds if you're YouTubin' your way through a layover in Atlanta, enjoying a little too much Hulu and Pandora, or torrenting a few ISOs (perfectly legal ones, of course) -- so to that end, we're hearing that a 5GB option will be launching on August 23 for a breathtaking $80. Presumably, it'd be good for 30 days from the date of purchase the same as the current 1GB plan, though we don't know that from the information we have. Sounds a little ridiculous to us, but we suppose that's the price of contract freedom on a top-tier network these days.

On a related note, we're now hearing that the FiveSpot mobile hotspot we told you about is lined up for a late August launch as well, though we don't have an exact day, and it'll be officially replacing the MiFi -- makes sense. If you already have a MiFi and you don't do much international travel, it doesn't seem like there's a compelling reason to upgrade, but globetrotters are definitely going to want to check this out.

[Thanks, RBF]

Verizon launching $80 5GB prepaid data plan next month, FiveSpot too? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Excited by some of the possibilities Kinect offers for non-casual games? Then it looks like you might have a bit of a wait in store. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft's VP for Interactive Entertainment in Europe, Chris Lewis, went to some length to point out that Microsoft isn't ignoring core gamers, but would only go as far as to say that non-casual, "hybrid" games that use both Kinect and a standard controller would likely become available "over the coming 18 months or so." Not many more details beyond that, unfortunately, but Lewis did divulge a bit of UK news, saying that sales went up "1,000 percent week-over-week with an 84 per cent market share" following the release of the new, redesigned Xbox 360.

Microsoft says to expect non-casual, 'hybrid' Kinect games 'over the coming 18 months' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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