“Tech Pundit” Leo Laporte tweeted this earlier today:

Holman is well known as the man behind Lucasfilm’s THX sound system.  A pioneer is audio technology, he developed the world’s first 10.2 surround sound system.  Holman spent 15 years working at Lucasfilm as the corporate technical director and currently teaches film sound at the University of Southern California.  He even won an Oscar for technical achievement in 2002.

Now, if this is indeed true, it indicates that Apple is serious about upgrading the sound capabilities on their devices. iPhones could definitely stand to get an audio makeover, and don’t even get me started on the built-in speakers on the macbook.

Most owners know that the sound from iOS mobile devices is less than stellar. But many have complained the the iPad doesn’t contain enough oomph from its internal speakers either. Improved audio quality from these devices could force a pessimist like me to actually want to watch television or a film on them.

And maybe turn the sound on during Angry Birds. Well, actually no. Nothing could make we want to do that.

It has also been reported that Apple has been in the process of trying to improve the quality of files in their iTunes store.  So this acquisition could have something to do with that.

Just yesterday, iMac desktop got a refresh with a bunch of new goodies like quad-core processors and HD FaceTime cameras.

Hat tip to GigaOm

The trademark attorneys for LucasFilms, the George Lucas’s production company responsible for such classics as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, claims Digg is far too similar to The Dig, a relatively obscure video game released first released in 1994.

In the complaint (PDF) filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, there is first a focus on Digg’s own description of its services, specifically the part addressing "news and information in the field of technology, namely computer games and computer enhancement for games."

While making a case that product descriptions are somewhat similar might be a stretch, LucasFilms really doesn’t like it that the marks are different by only a letter – only one letter because, according to the complaint "the" doesn’t count as part of the mark, though some may beg to differ.

LucasFilms claims that Digg is identical or nearly identical to The Dig and is "confusingly similar in sound, meaning, and appearance," which likely will "create confusion, mistake or deception in the minds of prospective purchasers as to the origin of source of goods." What’s more, they "travel in the same channels."

And while any self-respecting Digg.com is, by creed, a major George Lucas fan, the users seem more confused about someone suggesting they don’t know the difference between the news website and the video game nobody plays. One commentator calls the lawsuit "frivolous."

In almost correct English, Digger Maxwell Lamb writes:

Lucasfilm no longer care about ‘The Dig’ trademark, as the brand is obsolete and no longer relevant to their business or their merchandising. They have filed what they know to be a frivolous suit with a view to Digg winning with ease, thus setting a precedence for the prevalence of their trademark.

But Richard "Red Eye" says LucasFilms’ legal team is just doing their job:

As far as I know "The Dig" wasnt a website full of megalomaniacs who thought that the world revolved around their opinions.

So since there is no likely confusion between the two trademarks then the suit will be tossed and both trademarks will be enforced. Lucas is just exercising their legal requirement to defend their trademarks or risk losing them. A little overzealous but it provides 100% protection for them in the future.

But we won’t know for sure until at least after August this year, when the discovery period closes. Interestingly though, as one commentator has mentioned, TheDig.com doesn’t belong to LucasFilms, even though the product has been around for a dozen years. So this latest enforcement action seems to have just occurred to them after Digg.com became so popular.

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