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An ITC judge has ruled this week that Microsoft Xbox 360 should be banned from import into the U.S. due to violations of Motorola patents.

The console violates four patents, says Law Judge David Shaw. Shaw made his original ruling in April and has now recommended a full injunction on sales and import into the States Shaw made his initial ruling against Microsoft in April, and now recommends a ban on sales and import of the game console.

Gamers should not fret, however, as Shaw's ruling needs approval from the ITC board of commissioners, with a deadline of August 23rd. After that, if the board approves, then they will still need to get a signature from the President before the ban goes into effect.

The Motorola patents relate to H.264 codec for online video.

Motorola's fight with Microsoft goes farther than just one video patent, and has extended to multiple nations and patents related to Android, as well.

Blizzard Activision has proudly boasted today that Diablo 3 is the fastest selling PC game of all-time.

The game sold 3.5 million copies in just 24 hours, not including the 1.2 million people who were given the game after signing up for a World of Warcraft annual pass earlier this year.

Overall, there are now 6.3 million people playing the popular game.

"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo 3 and jump in the moment it went live," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo 3 players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support."

On the retail front, both GameStop and Amazon have both called the game one of the best video game launches in their histories.

According to Millward Brown Optimor's annual BrandZ study, Apple is once again the most valuable brand in the work with a valuation of $183 billion.

Year-over-year, the brand's value jumped 19 percent from $153.3 billion.

Other tech firms also saw strong rankings this year, with IBM in second at $116 billion and Google in third at $108 billion.

BrandZ bases their valuations on the "company's financial data, market intelligence, and consumer opinions related to brand equity."

Rounding out the top 5 were McDonald's and Microsoft, at $95.2 billion and $76.7 billion.

(Pic via Cnet)

VIA makes own micro-PC, running Android.

APC runs a custom Android system, based on Android 2.3, and comes with a bunch of applications pre-installed. It puts a lot of emphasis on power consumption, consuming only 4 watts of power when idle, and 13.5 watts under maximum load.

It comes as a bare board, measuring just 170 x 85mm, conforming to the Neo-ITX form factor (compatible with Mini-ATX and Micro-ATX.)

VIA APC Anroid-PC Specifications...

• Model: APC 8750
• Software: Android 2.3 (PC System)
• Chip: VIA 800MHz Processor
• Memory: DDR3 512MB Memory / 2GB NAND Flash
• Graphics: Built-in 2D/3D Graphic / Resolution up to 720p
• Input and Output: HDMI / VGA / USB 2.0 (x4) / Audio out / Mic in / microSD Slot
• Network: 10/100 Ethernet
• Size: 170 x 85mm (W x H) / Neo-ITX Standard

In January, Samsung unveiled its "Chromebox" device at CES.

Since then, however, there has been little in the way of news for the device, which is a mini-PC run by Chrome OS.

This week, a full product listing showed up on the TigerDirect website, before it was taken down. Although unconfirmed, it appears the PC will run on a 1.9 GHz Intel Celeron B840 dual core processor, have 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 16GB solid state disk, and 6 USB ports.

The MSRP (or at least Tiger's selling price) was put at $329.99.

Google's Chrome OS is a web-based cloud operating system, where you must be online to take advantage of any feature, including writing documents using Google Docs. The OS boots very quickly (13 seconds on average), and let's you re-open previous data quickly thanks to cloud sync.

Verizon has begun the promotion in an effort to boost sales.

Until the 24th, Verizon is offering a $40 bill credit to anyone who purchases a 4G smartphone through either Wirefly or Amazon Wireless.

The latest promotion is available to new and existing customers, and you can activate up to 5 new phones, receiving $40 for each.

Although Verizon is the most expensive carrier, $40 will certainly pay for a month of data use, at least.

Check the promotion here at Wirefly and Amazon.

Pirate Bay responds to blocks.

Users in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy have been blocked from accessing the Pirate Bay, as widely reported. Now, the notorious BitTorrent site has launched a new site at 194.71.107.80, which may be reachable in those countries, for now.

The new site is also optimizes for use with proxies, which can help to get around a national or local block of a website. It is likely that the new IP address will be blocked in affected countries very quickly, but the proxy optimization might be useful for some users.

It is somewhat different than the normal Pirate Bay site, in that it only posts links to magnet files, it does not allow logins or comments, nor does it allow you to upload.

Foxconn has announced that it will spend over $200 million to build a new factory dedicated to Apple iOS devices.

The new factory will total 430,000 square feet and will employ up to 36,000 workers.

According to sources, the factory will output $1 billion of Apple products every year.

Construction begins in October, and is expected to be completed by earl 2013.

Last month, Apple and Foxconn announced they would share the initial costs of improving Chinese factories where millions of iOS devices are already built. In February, wages were raised, on average, 21 percent for its workers and last month the two companies reached an agreement to hire new workers and cut overtime for existing workers.

Japanese gamers pick 3DS over Vita.

After a slow start for its 3D gaming handheld, Nintendo has started to pick up some momentum with the 3DS. Much of the boost can be attributed to new game titles being released for the device.

It now reportedly has sold 6 million units in Japan, according to Famitsu. Japanese gamers appear to be embracing the 3DS after a slow start in Nintnedo's home market, while they appear cold to the PlayStation Vita so far.

In the UK, Nintendo is expected to pass 1 million units for the 3DS very soon also. Total worldwide sales for the device are around 18 million.

Virgin Media says UK government subsidizing BT.

Labour MP Chi Onwurah has attacked the coalition government's rural broadband plan, telling a the House of Lords communications select committee that the current system is skewed toward BT.

Virgin Media has backed the comments made by the shadow business minister. UK counties have been allocated a share of £530m of government cash for broadband schemes. The counties aim to match the government funding and contract firms to roll out high-speed Internet access in the areas.

Contracts have been awarded in Lancashire and Rutland so far, both to BT. In some areas, BT is the only firm bidding for contracts, with rivals Fujitsu and Cable & Wireless withdrawing from the process in many areas. Virgin Media says it is not in the best interest of consumers for a single entity to win all contracts, and criticized the BDUK, the group that oversees the government's broadband strategy.

Virgin Media chief operating officer Andrew Barron said that some of the funds should be used to fund Wi-Fi and 4G networks in rural areas, but BT has said the closed nature of Virgin's networks exclude it from the process.

"BT would be more than happy to compete directly with Virgin for BDUK funds but we doubt that will happen. That is because Virgin have steadfastly refused to provide open wholesale access to their network - a key BDUK requirement - and because they have shown no interest to date in supplying rural areas with broadband," a BT spokesman said in a statement.

Google closes Motorola Mobility deal.

Google announced on Tuesday that it has officially acquired Motorola Mobility after clearing regulatory hurdles around the world. The web search giant paid $40 per share in cash. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business to the development of its Android platform, which will remain open, while Motorola Mobility will remain an Android licensee.

Dennis Woodside has been announced as the new chief executive of Motorola Mobility, with Sanjay Jha stepping down from the role. Jha will continue to work with Google to help ensure a smooth transition.

"I'm happy to announce the deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation. It's a great time to be in the mobile business, and I'm confident that the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come," said Google CEO Larry Page.

Dennis Woodside, previously served as President of Google's Americas region, praised the history of Motorola.

"Motorola literally invented the entire mobile industry with the first-ever commercial cell phone in 1983. Thirty years later, mobile devices are at the center of the computing revolution. Our aim is simple: to focus Motorola Mobility's remarkable talent on fewer, bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people around the world."

Parents can now control their kids' phones remotely.

The new Bemilo SIM system allows parents to control mobile phone settings and read text messages and other data remotely, using a computer. The system is set to run on the Vodafone network in the UK.

The child will not have any ability to "turn it off," as they do with some parental control apps. Parents can set limits on a device, such as preventing a phone from being used at certain hours altogher (night time, school hours etc.), or by blocking just certain aspects of the phones features, such as web browsing, or sending / receiving text messages and so forth.

Parents can also block numbers from being called, or receiving a call from, and can read text messages and view multimedia stored on the device.

"It's a SIM that is just like any other SIM you would buy for any other network, but it enables parents to have full control in the context of safety," Simon Goff, founder and chairman of Bemilo, told the BBC. "They can allow or disallow certain contacts to call them, and they can set the times of day the phone can operate."

Google has weeks to avoid formal charges.

The European Commission (EC), the European Union's main regulatory body, has been investigating allegations of anti-competitive behavior on Google's part related to its search service. Rivals in Europe, including Microsoft, complained to the European Commission that Google was manipulating search results to promote its own services over others.

Google has denied the allegations and is working with the European Commission to explain how its search service works.

European Commissioner for Competition, Joaquin Almunia, said that the Commission is as eager as Google to avoid a lengthy proceedings, and that if Google could come up with remedies for the complaint within the next few weeks, then the anti-trust case could come to a close.

"I believe that these fast-moving markets would particularly benefit from a quick resolution of the competition issues identified. Restoring competition swiftly to the benefit of users at an early stage is always better than lengthy proceedings," Almunia told a news briefing.

"Google has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss any concerns that the Commission might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings. This is why today I'm giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies to address concerns that we have identified."

CyberLink further optimizes products for hardware acceleration.

It has released updates for PowerDirector 10, PowerDVD 12, MediaShow 6 and MediaEspresso 6.5, optimized for the new Second-Generation AMD A-Series APUs benefit users from hardware-accelerated HD playback, enhanced video editing, maximum rendering and improved transcoding performance.

The optimization will improve its PowerDVD 12 software by improving its ability to stream videos on-the-fly to portable devices. PowerDirector 10 now offers up to 3.6 times faster video production speed and allows users to produce professional quality home videos and 3D movies, by harnessing the power of the system?s GPU to greatly improve the speed of the editing process.

CyberLink MediaShow 6 offers a rich set of features to help users rapidly import, organize and share SD, HD and 3D media content. With the optimization for the 2nd Gen AMD A-Series APUs, users can now create stylish slideshow videos with incredible speed.

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 accelerates the conversion of standard and HD videos into multiple formats for use on various consumer electronics devices. In conjunction with AMD's VCE, MediaEspresso 6.5 provides quick output of video content for playback on new iPad, iPhone 4S, iPod and PSP devices at much higher speeds.

TiVo, Pace announce the XG1 for American markets.

TiVo and Pace announced a global partnership in February 2012, to develop flexible, advanced television solutions for operators. They have now announced the first product that comes as a result of that partnership, the Pace XG1 Multi-tuner Video Gateway.

It includes 6 video tuners, an integrated DOCSIS 3.0 modem, and at least 500GB of on board hard drive storage. It will utilize TiVo's whole-home capabilities, such as multi-room streaming and support for both traditional set-top boxes and IP devices as clients over MoCA, and support for TiVo's mobile and tablet applications.

"This partnership will make the TiVo experience easily accessible to more cable operators than ever before. It will provide operators a best-in-class advanced television solution that they can quickly and cost-effectively deploy and will serve as the gateway to a rapidly expanding choice of content across multiple screens through TiVo's whole-home solutions," said David Sandford, Vice President and General Manager of TiVo's Service Provider Business.

As previously announced, this initial offering will first be made available by Pace to cable operators in the Americas later this year. TiVo and Pace also expect to follow the XG1 with additional solutions for domestic and international operators soon after.