Hot off wire: ‘uDraw’ tablet coming for Wii; Spain targets Google; EU loses U.S. tech goods tax case; no charges in school laptop spy case
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A roundup of the latest high-tech news “Hot off the Wire” from The Associated Press and Local Tech Wire:
• THQ develops drawing tablet for Wii
NEW YORK — Video game publisher THQ Inc. hopes to draw in artistically inclined fans when its uDraw GameTablet is available for the Wii this year.
The $70 add-on accessory to Nintendo Co.'s popular game console is aimed mainly at 6- to 12-year-olds. Players will be able to make drawing and sketches, or play games such as "Pictionary."
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said he's surprised Nintendo didn't come out with one on its own. With no marketing, he believes THQ will be able to sell at least 1 million tablets. But if the company can convince customers — starting with the kids, then their parents — that they need the tablet, this number could be much higher.
The GameTablet is 9 inches wide and 7 inches long. To use it, you pop in the Wii's controller, which also powers the gadget, and use an attached stylus pen to create pictures or play games.
The tabled will come packaged with an art-based game, "uDraw Studio," when it goes on sale ahead of the holidays. "Pictionary" and another game, "Dood's Big Adventure," will be sold separately for $30 each.
• Spain becomes latest country to take on Google
MADRID — Spain is investigating Google over its "Street View" mapping feature, becoming the latest country to tangle with the Internet search giant over concerns it violated people's privacy while taking shots of city streets.
Madrid Judge Raquel Fernandino has issued a subpoena for an Oct. 4 appearance by a Google representative, Google Spain spokeswoman Marisa Toro said Tuesday, adding that the company will cooperate with Spanish authorities.
The judge is acting on a complaint filed in June by a private Internet watchdog and technology consultancy called APEDANICA.
In an order released Monday, the judge said she is probing whether Google committed a "computer crime," according to APEDANICA attorney Valentin Playa.
The Spanish probe is the latest opened up since Google acknowledged in the spring that the technology used by its "Street View" cars had also inadvertently recorded fragments of people's online activities broadcast over public Wi-Fi networks for the past four years.
The Mountain View, California, company said it collected such data from public Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries, but it maintains it never used the data and it hasn't broken any laws.
Google also is facing investigations or inquiries over this practice, which it says it has discontinued, in the United States, Germany and Australia.
• EU loses case over taxes on U.S., Asian tech goods
GENEVA — The European Union is weighing whether to appeal a World Trade Organization ruling that condemned the bloc for illegally collecting tariffs on billions of dollars worth of high-tech goods from the U.S., Japan and Taiwan.
EU spokesman Patrizio Fiorilli said officials were still studying the decision, even though they've had weeks to read through the 444-page confidential report. It was made public Monday.
Brussels has until Sept. 25 to appeal the WTO verdict, which found that the 27-nation union broke trade rules by levying duties on flat-panel computer monitors, cable and satellite boxes, and combination printer-scanners.
• Feds: No charges in Pa. school laptop-spying case
PHILADELPHIA — Federal prosecutors will not file charges against a school district or its employees over the use of software to remotely monitor students.
U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger says investigators have found no evidence of criminal intent by Lower Merion School District employees who activated tracking software that took thousands of webcam and screenshot images on school-provided laptops.
A student and his family sued the district in February, claiming officials invaded his privacy by activating the software. That case continues.
The district has acknowledged capturing 56,000 screen shots and webcam images so it could locate missing laptops.
Memeger says he decided to make Tuesday's announcement to close the matter before the start of the school year.
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