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Nintendo of America has won a key case against the distributor of modchips and circumvention tools for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console.

A federal court in Canada ruled in favor of Nintendo of America in a case against Go Cyber Shopping Ltd. involving the sale of flash carts that can enable the circumvention of anti-piracy measure and boot counterfeit games. Nintendo even went as far as to accuse the GCS founder of boasting about his activities on social media.

CGS maintained that such flash carts and other devices can be used to boot homebrew code, which could be games or apps that are written by enthusiasts. Those apps couldn't otherwise run on the device unmodified, but there is also a legal route to develop games for the 3DS.

The court awarded Nintendo $12.76 million (CAD) against Go Cyber Shopping Ltd., including $1 million in punitive damages. This is the first case of its kind to test anti-circumvention provisions in Canadian law.

"Nintendo continues to be a leader in bringing innovative gaming platforms and software to our fans and millions of gamers across the globe," said Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America's General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs.

A man who admitted selling set-top boxes to pubs and clubs in the UK complete with IPTV software to watch subscription TV has been ordered to pay £250,000.

The 65 year old man from Hartlepool admitted selling the devices to the businesses to enable them to display subscription TV content for free through IPTV. Often described as "Kodi boxes", such devices have nothing at all to do with the development of Kodi, a legitimate media center solution that runs on multiple platforms.

It is the ability of Kodi to install and use third party add-ons that enable piracy, but these add-ons also have nothing to do with the Kodi development project.

Typically, devices that are sold as "fully loaded" are Android-based devices that come with Kodi and a bunch of third party add-ons, or piracy-enabling Android apps, pre-installed. They promise access to thousands of movies, tv shows and live television content.

In this case, the boxes were advertised as "100% legal". Technically, an Android box is as legal as a new Windows laptop, but if they are sold with piracy-enabling add-ons then the seller may be in breach of the law, depending on location.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket launch provider has released an animation showing how its two-stage New Glenn rocket will launch, land and deploy a payload.

The animation comes after Bezos showed off the first BE-4 rocket engine to be fabricated and also announced that the launch provider had secured its first New Glenn customer, French media and communications firm Eutelsat.

The animation shows the two stage version of the New Glenn vehicle (there is also a three stage vehicle on the board) that will fly sometime around 2020, and will be capable of delivering roughly ~45 tons to low-earth orbit, or ~13 tons to geostationary orbit.

The animation shows what the landing of the booster stage of the rocket will look like at sea, with Bezos saying earlier that it is designed for up to 100 reuses. Visually, the landing is very similar to what we have seen SpaceX pull off with the Falcon 9 rocket, though the New Glenn will be a vastly more powerful rocket.

The Danish Data Protection Agency has received a complaint about the retention of user's personal data.

A consumer watchdog in the country sent the complaint to the data regulator for possible violation of privacy rules in the country. At issue is the amount of time that Google retains personal data on users, such as searches or location data.

"The consumer council Taenk would like the Data Protection Agency to assess whether Google's indefinite data collection complies with consumer's basic right to privacy," the watchdog stated, reports the Reuters News Agency.

"We have become aware of the fact that Google today has 9-10 years of data on users with a Google account."

Google has run into similar problems in other European countries, including agreeing to specify a time frame for data to be deleted and to explain how data on users is utilized by the firm, after an Italian regulator scrutinized its practices.

Some gamers with a new Nintendo Switch are complaining about annoying dead or stuck pixels on the device's LCD screen.

Nintendo has responded that the dead or stuck pixels are a characteristic of LCD screens and shouldn't be considered a product defect. Yet, users are complaining that on a portable gaming device, stuck/dead pixels are a considerable distraction.

Similar problems have arose with the launch of other portable consoles, including the Nintendo DS, which eventually prompted Nintendo to replace defective units.

CE products with LCD screens are often returned when found to have dead or stuck pixels, including phones and tablet PCs.

Nintendo customers who have dead or stuck pixels should try to return the device to the retailer and seek a replacement.

Nintendo's new gaming console has been in the stores for just a few days but the buzz around it seems to have proved it a success. The console and the highly-anticipated Zelda game have been sold out in stores around the US – and it is not because of supply problems.

The head of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé has confirmed to the New York Times that Switch has indeed become the fastest Nintendo gaming console of all time. In the first two days has outsold the Wii which held the title after a booming start in the late 2006.

Fils-Aimé also said that the new Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has become the most successful standalone launch title in the company's history. This obviously excludes the likes of Wii Sports that were included with the console.

A good start is as important as anything but will it defeat the reigning king, Wii, in the long? Wii has amassed more than 100 million sold units in the ten odd years it's been on the market. And if it can top Wii will its portable pedigree propel it to the heights of Nintendo DS, past the 150 million mark?

Tesla is looking for submissions of fan-made ads for its cars as part of a contest suggested in a letter from a 10 year old fan.

10 year old Bria Loveday had written a letter for Elon Musk suggesting that the company should run a contest for users to create their own commercials for Tesla vehicles. Musk responded on Twitter that it was a great idea and promised they would do it, and now they have.

Project Loveday is seeking videos that relate to Tesla, SolarCity, their products, or their mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Videos must be 90 seconds or less in length. Contestants should upload their videos to YouTube and then submit them to the contest at the Tesla website.

Submissions will be accepted by Tesla until May 8 this year.

Don't expect a free car though if you win, rather it appears this is more an opportunity to show off your work. The top ten submissions will be featured on Tesla's social media channels, and three of those will receive additional promotion. The outright winner of the contest will be introduced at a future Tesla product launch, with Tesla paying for the travel and accommodation costs for two people.

Read more at: www.tesla.com

It has been reported that Uber used a secret program called Greyball to thwart efforts by regulators or authorities to catch its drivers.

Uber is no stranger to conflict with regulators and local authorities. When it expanded its service to new cities, it was inevitably going to face issues with traditional taxi drivers, unions and local laws and regulations that government transport and employment.

In order to protect its drivers and service from local regulators and authorities, Uber reportedly used a secretive program called Greyball, which would identify regulators or local authorities posing as ordinary passengers.

In order to identify a "threat" correctly, Greyball would mull location data and even credit card data in an attempt to link an individual to a law enforcement agency or a government or regulatory building. According to the NYT report which broke the story, Uber even visited cell phone stores to trace devices purchased by regulators and others who were suspected of setting up multiple accounts, and even served fake Uber apps that showed fake nearby cabs and would automatically cancel real bookings that got through.

If you haven't been to see Logan yet then chances are you haven't seen the lengthy Deadpool 2 teaser that runs before it. Well, now you can!

Ryan Reynolds shared the teaser this morning and it's more or less what you'd expect from Deadpool; ridiculous, funny, partial nudity (male.. sorry!) and profanity. Stan Lee also makes a very brief cameo.

Upon witnessing an ongoing mugging, Wade Wilson runs to a nearby phone booth to change into his superhero costume, while the theme from Superman movies plays. Unfortunately for the victim, Wade takes quite a long time to change and doesn't manage to save the day!

Have a look around the set for the visual gags too! Unfortunately, the teaser only informs us that the sequel is coming, "Not Soon Enough!"

Enjoy!

iFixit has once again documented a teardown of a popular new consumer electronics product; this time the Nintendo Switch, a Joy-Con controller and the Dock.

The Switch looks more or less what you'd expect to see, much like the inside of a laptop with a familiar looking heat pipe, thermal paste and so on. What is interesting is the metal plate which lays on top of the components appears to double as a heat sink, which channels heat from the heat pipe (though a purple blob of thermal paste) to the rear case (pictured).

We also see the non-replaceable 16 Wh battery (Nintendo plans to establish a paid replacement program in time), the customized NVIDIA Tegra SOC, 4GB of RAM (2 X Samsung K4F6E304HB-MGCH 2 GB LPDDR4 DRAM) and more.

Visit the detailed iFixit Nintendo Switch teardown to see more (including xray shots), and to learn to what extent the Switch was built with repairing in mind.

Also, watch the accompanied video below.

A leading skin manufacturer for popular consumer electronics has warned customers not to apply any kind of vinyl skin / wrap to the Nintendo Switch console, or Joy-Cons (Switch controllers).

dbrand noticed a problem when it was testing prototypes with the console and its controllers. The coating of the devices doesn't play well with adhesive and drand observed that the coating would begin to peel off after testing a couple of prototypes.

This issue affects retail units being sold to customers.

"Both the JoyCons and the Console are not compatible with vinyl wraps or any adhesive-backed skin of any kind," dbrand warns in a post on the Nintendo Switch subreddit.

Those who already ordered skins for the Nintendo Switch from dbrand will receive a full refund over the coming days.

A High Court ruling against Uber in the UK could cost the firm some of its drivers in London.

Uber has roughly 30,000 drivers operating in London, which has caused no shortage of tension between the firm and the traditional black cab drivers in London.

In October, Uber lost another case when a tribunal ruled that it had to provide two of its drivers with at least minimum wage and also holiday pay.

This time Uber was fighting against proposals from public body Transport for London (TfL) which wants to enforce a standard for English reading and writing skills for drivers that the company believes is too high.

High Court Judge John Mitting ruled that TfL is entitled to require private hire drivers demonstrate English language compliance.

"Writing an essay has nothing to do with communicating with passengers or getting them safely from A to B," Uber's General Manager in London Tom Elvidge said, reports the Reuters News Agency.

"We intend to appeal this unfair and disproportionate new rule."

The value of a Bitcoin unit has surpassed the value of an ounce of gold for the first time since the cryptocurrency appeared in 2009.

At time of writing, Bitcoin is valued at roughly $1,270 (coindesk) whereas a gram of gold is valued at roughly $1,230. It marks an interesting milestone for Bitcoin, which has had a volatile existence in its young life.

After collapsing in value in 2014, Bitcoin has been surging again lately due to its popularity in China, where the authorities are trying to crack down on its use, claiming that the crytocurrency is used to move money out of the country illegally.

It has also been scrutinized in the Western world because it is the currency of choice for black market trade online.

Windows 10 users who are annoyed by the operating system's updates and reboots will soon have more control over when updates are installed.

Disruptive reboots due to Windows 10 update installations have prompted complaints from users since the OS was released less than two years ago. As it stands, some updates cannot be deferred and will install automatically, and often require that the system reboots.

As part of the Creators Update project, Windows 10 users will soon be able to schedule the installation of updates at a specified time, or to hit the "snooze" button to pause updates for up to three days. This should make reboots less disruptive but could come at a security cost.

John Cable, director of program management at Microsoft, also said that the firm is exploring changes to privacy settings in Windows 10, which has been another issue for users since its release.

Read more at blogs.windows.com

More than 50 million Spotify users now pay for its Premium music, podcast and video streaming services.

The Stockholm-based firm announced that it has reached 50 million paid subscribers through social media, after crossing 40 million just in September 2016.

When Apple launched its own subscription service, there were fears about the future of Spotify, but almost two years on it seems that Apple has done little to slow the service's growth.

Apple Music reached 20 million paid subscribers in December last year.