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Google has just been hit with a $32.5 million penalty for infringing on a patent held by Sonos. According to Law360, a California federal jury ordered the fine after determining that Google infringed on a patent Sonos holds relating to grouping speakers so they can play audio at the same time, something the company has been doing for years. US District Judge William Alsup had already determined that early version of products like the Chromecast Audio and Google Home infringed on Sonos' patent; the question was whether more recent, revamped products were also infringing on the patent. The jury found in favor of Sonos, but decided a second patent one that relates to controlling devices via a smartphone or other device wasn't violated. They said that Sonos hadn't convincingly shown that the Google Home app infringed on that particular patent. This follows the dismissal of four other patent violations that Sonos originally sued over.Google provided Engadget with the following statement: "This is a narrow dispute about some very specific features that are not commonly used. Of the six patents Sonos originally asserted, only one was found to be infringed, and the rest were dismissed as invalid or not infringed. We have always developed technology independently and competed on the merit of our ideas. We are considering our next steps. Today's findings feels like a win for Sonos, who originally filed suit against Google all the way back in January of 2020. Specifically, Sonos claimed that Google gained knowledge of the patent through prior collaboration between the two companies, back they collaborated to allow for integration between Sonos's speakers and Google Play Music.Since then, Google counter-sued Sonos, claiming that Sonos had in fact infringed its own patents around smart speakers. As with any good legal battle, Sonos then expanded its own lawsuit a few months later. More recently, Google sued Sonos in 2022, saying that its new voice assistant infringed on seven patents relating to the Google Assistant. Whether today's decision will slow the legal battle between the two companies remains to be seen, though we'd expect the bickering to continue full-throttle in the months to come. There are plenty of suits out there between the companies that aren't yet resolved, and we'd expect Google to appeal this decision as well. We've reached out to both Sonos and Google and will update this story with anything we hear.Update, May 26th 2023, 5:30PM ET: Added a statement from Google.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-fined-325-million-for-infringing-on-sonos-patent-210411398.html?src=rss
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One of the most notable omissions from this week's PlayStation Showcase was anything from Naughty Dog. Many (including yours truly) expected the studio to reveal more details about its Last of Us multiplayer game, but we'll need to wait a little longer to learn more about that title.In a statement posted on Twitter, Naughty Dog said "we're incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we've realized what is best for the game is to give it more time." As such, it now seems unlikely that we'll hear much about the game during Summer Game Fest (where Naughty Dog offered a first peek at concept art from the project last year) on June 8th or on June 14th, which is the 10th anniversary of The Last Of Us arriving on PS3. pic.twitter.com/DOeO8ZHSlh Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) May 26, 2023In a blog post in January, studio co-president and The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann said the studio would "begin to offer you some details on our ambitious The Last of Us multiplayer game" sometime this year. That suggests the studio wasn't planning to release the title in 2023. In any case, it's probably a good thing that Naughty Dog is taking its time to get things right. The studio won't want to be in a position where it's releasing a game that definitely could have used more time in the oven, as was the case with the buggy debut of The Last of Us Part 1 on PC.Shortly after Naughty Dog released its statement on Twitter, Bloomberg published a report citing multiple unnamed sources who said the studio is reconsidering the viability of the multiplayer project. The report claims that the project has not been cancelled, but many of the developers working on it have been reassigned to other projects. Currently, a "small group" remains on the project as Naughty Dog evaluates what comes next.Sony also reportedly asked another of its studies, Bungie, to evaluate the work that Naughty Dog had done on its unnamed Last of Us multiplayer game. Bungie apparently said it had doubts about whether the game could keep players engaged over a long period of time. Given Bungie's success at that with the Destiny franchise, it makes some sense that the studio was called in for an opinion, though it's also fair to say Destiny and The Last of Us are wildly different games. On a positive note, Naughty Dog says it has other games (plural) in development, "including a brand new single-player experience." It's been known for a while that the studio had at least one other game in the works, but it's not clear whether this single-player title will continue the main story of The Last of Us. Naughty Dog said it looks forward to "sharing more soon."I know the fans really want Last of Us Part 3. I hear about it all of the time and all I can say is that were already into our next project, so the decision has already been made," Druckmann toldKinda Funny in March. "I cant say what it is, but thats the process we went through, that there was a lot of consideration of different things, and we picked the thing we were most excited for.Update, May 26th 2023, 4:20PM ET: This story has been updated to include details about a report just published by Bloomberg on the future of the multiplayer game.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/naughty-dog-says-its-last-of-us-multiplayer-game-needs-more-time-in-the-oven-200315565.html?src=rss
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Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized Twitter alternative, has released one of its most significant updates to date: the ability for users to choose their own algorithms. The service, which is still in a closed beta, released its custom feeds feature, which allows people to subscribe to a range of different algorithms and make their own for others to follow.In practice, the feature works a bit like pinning different lists to your home timeline on Twitter in that users can subscribe to multiple feeds and easily swipe between them in the app. But custom feeds, because theyre algorithmic, are also more powerful than simple account lists.For example, theres a feed dedicated to posts from your mutuals people you follow who also follow you back. That may sound like a list, but unlike a Twitter list, the feed should change as you gain more mutual followers. And while Blueskys app stills defaults to the chronological following timeline, most custom feeds are not chronological.Bluesky The feeds also provide a window into the different communities forming on Bluesky, as well as whats trending on the platform. There are already custom feeds devoted to furries, cat photos, queer shitposters, positive thoughts and the hellthread. Early adopters have been able to experiment with the feature for awhile thanks to third-party apps, like SkyFeed and Flipboard, which added the feature before BlueSkys official app.For now, creating a feed for Bluesky is open to anyone, though its currently a technical process, Blueskys protocol engineer Paul Frazee said in a post. In future updates we'll make it easy for users to create custom feeds in-app.The update could end up being a defining feature of Bluesky. Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky, has said that algorithmic choice could address backlash against the perceived algorithmic manipulation of peoples timelines. It also offers a hint of whats to come for the early-stage platform. Graber has outlined a similar vision for content moderation with users in control of the level of moderation and filtering they want.Our goal is to assemble a social media architecture that composes third-party services into a seamless user experience, because an open ecosystem is likely to evolve more quickly than a single approach to curation or moderation developed within one company, Graber wrote. By creating the interfaces for innovation in these areas, we hope to provide a dynamic and user-driven social experience.The idea of custom algorithms is one thats long been embraced by Jack Dorsey, who floated the idea of allowing users to choose their own algorithms multiple times while he was still running Twitter. It also comes as there is industry-wide scrutiny on how social media algorithms impact users and whether the companies running major platforms are, even inadvertently, putting their thumb on the scale for one group of users. The appeal of custom algorithms is that users know upfront what each feed is prioritizing and can easily move between different experiences, most of which are not controlled by the platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-now-lets-you-choose-your-own-algorithm-183824105.html?src=rss
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