Obama administration announces initiative to target patent trolls, protect consumers

The White House announced an initiative today to curb the use of patents by patent holders as a tool for "frivolous litigation," and to protect "Main Street retailers, consumers and other end-users of productions containing patented technology." The initiative's inception is composed of legislative recommendations to Congress and a handful of executive actions being carried out directly by the White House -- it's essentially an initiative targeting patent trolls. Administration officials wouldn't say which congressional representatives might propose bills carrying the White House's recommendations; they characterized today's announcement as part of the administration's ongoing effort to reform patent law.

Though the terms are broad, a senior Obama administration official told Engadget that today's announcement is "specifically designed to deal with abusive patent legislation" rather than sweeping patent reform, and is, "not designed in any way to pursue legit patent rights holders."

The executive actions (five in total) range from making sure that patent holders are clearly identified -- meant to target patent trolls that intentionally confuse litigation with myriad "shell" companies -- to providing more clear information on patent use to consumers who may be targeted by patent trolls. The legislative recommendations list includes many of the same provisions as the executive actions, and adds even more protections for individual consumers (a stay in suits that target consumers when "an infringement suit has also been brought against a vendor, retailer, or manufacturer," for instance).

In 2011, the US Senate passed a patent legislation bill that President Obama later signed into law -- the America Invents Act. It's unclear how, if at all, support has changed for patent reform in the Senate since, but it's a hopeful sign that some of today's announcement may actually become law.

Michael Gorman contributed to this report.

Lenovo Reach cloud service opens in beta, official launch coming 'later this year'

Lenovo's getting into the cloud storage game, but rather than dive straight in, the company's taking a tiptoe approach. Starting today, curious consumers can sign up to preview the company's cloud service, dubbed Reach, which offers exactly what you'd expect: remote access to stored files and applications from any device, be it Android, iOS or Windows. The actual beta won't be open until June 22nd, at which point only a select few will be able to test drive the new service and provide Lenovo with feedback. Depending on how smoothly things go, an official launch for all comers should be announced sometime "later this year." But with so many other free cloud storage options already available and so many consumers already tethered to those clouds, Reach could find itself overextended.

Bose unveils SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker, QuietComfort 20 noise-cancelling in-ears (ears-on)

Nestled near an entrance inside Grand Central Terminal, Bose just unveiled its latest two portable audio creations: The SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker (A2DP) and QuietComfort 20 noise-cancelling in-ears. Measuring in at 2 x 7 x 2 inches (slightly larger than palm-sized), the aluminum-wrapped SoundLink Mini is slightly larger and heavier than a JawBone Jambox. Like its bigger brethren, the Mini has dual-opposing passive bass radiators and a two custom neodymium drivers for mids and highs. Bose claims these new drivers will output twice the volume of other, similar speakers.

While the unit will bust out the jams for seven hours, it sadly uses a proprietary charging dock. Thankfully, however, the Li-Ion battery is user replaceable. All the controls rest as a strip of silicone buttons on the top, while the side features a 3.5mm input jack. We're digging the look of the naked metal, though, rubber covers and a nylon carry pouch will be on offer for protection. The unit's audio quality was very pleasing, without any notable harshness. We noted an acceptable level of bass on the lowest notes of dubstep tracks and there wasn't too much distortion when cranked up. Join us past the break for more info on the in-ears, as well as all the pricing and availability details for both items.

Gmail updated on iOS to support new inbox, more notification options Mobile

Desktop? Check. Android? Check. iOS? Check that one off too. The refreshed Gmail design is now officially available on the App Store for both iPad and iPhone. The update not only brings the new category-based, multiple-tab inbox -- bringing it in line with Google's new interface on other platforms -- but throws in the ability to set notification options for individual accounts. According to the change log, you'll now get "notified for all messages, only important messages, or none at all, on a per account basis." You'll also be able to view YouTube videos and Google Maps links through the appropriate app, rather than the browser. Lastly, you can turn off the multiple tab interface if you're not a fan, but unfortunately Google has restricted the new notification options so they'll only work with the new inbox. Just as we noticed with Android, we wouldn't be surprised if it's not available to everyone yet -- it likely is undergoing a similar rollout effort. Either way, it doesn't hurt to click the source link to see if you can grab the update sooner rather than later.