Death of the Metro brand: Windows 8′s latest flub
Considering how ferociously Microsoft defends its trademarks (remember the makers of the Linux-based Lindows OS, who were forced to pay $20 million and change their name to "Linspire"?), you have to ask yourself why Microsoft settled on using the ubiquitous term "Metro" to describe its new interface.
Apparently Microsoft doesn't exhibit the same kind of concern for intellectual property when it comes to, uh, borrowing other brands to further its own products. Because in using "Metro" to describe the new interface in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Phone 7 and 8, Office 2013, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Xbox Live, and Visual Studio 2012, Microsoft is stepping on the toes of Germany's Metro AG, which has an established claim on the "Metro" name. Five years ago Metro AG fought -- and won -- a hotly contested trademark battle in EU courts, allowing it to take over the "Metro" trademark from retailing giant Tesco, which failed to properly renew the trademark. While Tesco ultimately withdrew its claim against Metro AG, Tesco continues to use the trademark in the United Kingdom. Read more...
Arianna Huffington No Longer Runs The Aol Tech Sites
You know every once in a while you come across news about your company and it turns out your boss is no longer your boss anymore. If you’re me this probably happens to you every three months.
Anyways this morning I read in the media that Arianna Huffington (who I think used to be my boss) gained more control within Aol and then subsequently read that actually she had been “demoted.” Okay truth please guys?!
Well, because no one ever tells us anything because we’ll publish it, I dug around and found out that we (TechCrunch) are no longer a part of Huffington Post Media Group, and neither is Engadget, Moviephone, Stylist, AOL Video, AOL.com and TUAW. Read more...
Photos from stolen laptop lead to man’s arrest
When he couldn't get help from police, Joshua Kaufman went online and used Twitter and a blog to help track down his stolen laptop.
His efforts were successful and the computer was returned Wednesday — the latest example of people, not police, using technological tools to help find their own stolen property such as cars, cell phones and digital cameras.
It helped that just before the laptop was stolen, he had installed theft-tracking software.
The images from that software that arrived in his inbox were grainy, low-lit and intimate: a man curled up on a couch, sound asleep; the same man propped up against pillows on a bed, shirtless. Read more...
A Home for a Geek: Zuckerberg’s new $7m super home
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has bought a mansion in Palo Alto
According to local newspapers, the world's youngest billionaire recently spent $7m (£4.2m) on a crash pad in Palo Alto, a 10-minute drive in his eco-friendly Acura from Facebook's soon-to-be-opened headquarters in Silicon Valley.
The 5,000sq ft pile may lack what readers of a snobbish persuasion would describe as "character", but it does boast features commensurate with its 26-year-old owner's status. In addition to five bedrooms and five bathrooms, there's a saltwater pool, glassed-in sunroom, and planet-destroying outdoor fireplace.
Until now, Mr Zuckerberg has lived remarkably modestly, renting a sparsely furnished starter home near the office where he spends roughly 16 hours a day. Last year, Oprah Winfrey was allowed inside, revealing that at least some of his furniture was sourced from Ikea. Read more...