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WebP a New Image Format from Google

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WebP Logo

There is a huge demand for everything to be faster, especially internet speeds. We are constantly trying to see how much data we can pack into our devices and how quickly we can do it. Instead of always focusing on giving each user more bandwidth, it also helps to reduce the size of the files that we are trying to send and receive. The combination of these two methods can greatly improve overall internet “speed”.

The development team at Google has focused on the latter of these two and they have created a new image format which is called WebP. WebP is an image format specifically designed for the web and it’s based off of the VP8 video codec. Google claims it’s WebP lossless images are 26% smaller in size compared to the PNG format. Google also says that WebP lossy images are 25-34% smaller in size when compared to JPEG images.

WebP is not widely supported, mostly because it’s brand new, but Google is trying to change that and they hope to completely replace the current web image standards. You can find our more information on this new image format on Googles’ own developer page.

Nintendo Loses Domain Dispute for Wii U

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WiiU Controller

 

Earlier this year Nintendo wanted to acquire “wiiu.com” but found that it was already taken. Nintendo went ahead and filed a complaint for cybersquatting. Unfortunately for Nintendo, Fusible is reporting that they have lost the dispute and will not be able to take control of the domain.

Nintendo will likely have to fork over some serious cash in order to own the domain and what makes this worse is that prior to the complaint, the domain was up for auction. This is just one of many battles that major companies have had with domain holders over the years. It kind of makes you wonder why these businesses don’t do a little more research before they name a product.

3D Realms Sues Gearbox

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Anyone remember Duke Nukem Forever? It was in development for over a decade and it looked like it might never happen until Gearbox came along and wanted to acquire the rights to the game. Once they took over in 2009 they eventually released the title in 2011 to mediocre reviews. Although it did capture some of the greatness of Duke Nukem as a character, there was much to be desired and the game still didn’t feel complete.

DukeNukemForever

Fast forward to today and things are heating up between the two companies as 3D Realms is now suing Gearbox for $2 million claiming that they are withholding owed royalties. Gearbox’s VP of Marketing, Steve Gibson, responded to a request for further details from Joystiq with the following statement.

Everyone wished that 3DR’s game was better received by the market for the benefit of gamers and profit to its creators,” Gibson continued. “While 3DR might not wish the reality that the results make clear, 3DR turned out to be the only beneficiary of the deal. Gearbox Software, meanwhile, experienced damage to its credibility and loss of its money.”

 

It looks like there are fuzzy details surrounding this lawsuit and it’s probably in the best interest of both companies to get this situation cleaned up and unfortunately that means heading to court. This lawsuit was originally discovered by Duke4.net, where they have an image of the filing.