Comcast vs Tennessee Utility, Future of the Internet

Comcast’s worst nightmare: How Tennessee could save America’s Internet - Salon.com: ".... To date, those court cases have been thwarted by EPB. However, it is a different story in state legislatures. Once again abandoning the business lobby’s typical call for less government intervention, telecom firms have successfully pushed 20 states to pass laws limiting the reach of community-owned utilities like EPB. That’s where Washington comes in. With Census figures showing more than 1 in 5 Tennessee residents having no Internet connection, EPB is now proposing to offer its ultra-fast services to new communities. But it needs the Federal Communications Commission to preempt the Tennessee statute prohibiting the utility from competing with private telecom companies outside its current market. For EPB, the good news is that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has repeatedly pledged that in the name of competition and broadband access, he will support preempting state laws like Tennessee’s. However, in a capital run by money, EPB may still be politically overpowered. After all, as a community-owned utility in a midsized city, EPB does not have the lobbyists and campaign cash to match those of behemoths like Comcast and AT&T. What the utility does have is a solid track record and a pro-consumer, pro-competition argument. The question is: Will that be enough to prevent Wheeler from backing down or being blocked by Congress? The future of the Internet may be at stake in the answer." (read more at link above)

FCC - Net Neutrality Public Comments support Title II Regulation (via Politico) - "... One key factor: the controversial proposed rules [for internet fast lanes] have touched a very intimate and personal nerve for Web users across the country, raising the political temperature at the FCC on this issue. It's also exposed deep industry divisions over the future of the Internet. 'Telecom and cable companies are mostly in agreement that the last thing they want is a heavy-handed FCC imposing rules that will restrict how they manage Internet traffic. Companies from Netflix to Etsy agree that nothing could be more detrimental to their business than rules that force them to pay more for distribution, urging the agency to use all the available tools to prohibit fast lanes.'...." 

Snowden seeks to develop anti-surveillance technologies | Reuters: "...Snowden, who addressed conference attendees on Saturday via video link from Moscow, said he intends to devote much of his time to promoting such technologies, including ones that allow people to communicate anonymously and encrypt their messages...."

Alibaba's I.P.O. Could Be a Bonanza for the Scions of Chinese Leaders - NYTimes.com: "What Alibaba did not detail was the deep political connections of the investment firms, Boyu Capital, Citic Capital Holdings and CDB Capital, the China Development Bank’s private investment arm. Their senior executive ranks included sons or grandsons of the most powerful members of the ruling Communist Party, according to an analysis by The New York Times."

Mobile messaging platform Tango hires game publishing leader and creates $25M game investment fund | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi: "... Ying said that Tango is putting together an “attractive package” for revenue sharing. The exact percentage Tango takes depends on whether a game has been proven elsewhere before. Rather than limit distribution efforts to premier real estate within Tango, top-performing games will receive promotion through additional, off-platform marketing channels, the company said. Investments and acquisitions of game teams will also be considered, Ying said...."

More Chinese people going online via phones than PCs - The Times of India: "... China's total number of internet users crept up 2.3% to 632 million by the end of June, from 618 million at the end of 2013, said CNNIC's internet development statistics report. Of those, 527 million — or 83% — went online via mobile.... But not all internet activity saw growth. Users of microblogs such as Tencent Weibo and that offered by Weibo fell for the second six-month period in a row, by 1.9% to 275 million. They numbered 331 million at the end of June last year before the government in September started clamping down on "online rumours" which it said threatened social stability. Blockbuster mobile messaging apps such as Tencent's WeChat have since become venues of choice for users who want to express views without fear of retribution...."

Microsoft's Productivity Story: Showtime For Nadella
InformationWeek
Microsoft is Nadella's show now, and the CEO deserves high marks for ... Apple andGoogle have thumped Microsoft in the mobility arena. It may be a ...


Artesia Daily Press
Microsoft makes design central to its future
Salt Lake Tribune
Before Ralf Groene helped devise the look and feel of Microsoft's Surface tablet, ... more competitive with offerings from rivals Apple, Google, and Amazon and to ... And yes, Microsoft is even trying to make devices attractive, cool and ...


PC Advisor
Microsoft reveals bankruptcy of devices strategy by dumping Nokia feature phones
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft was right to ax the feature phone business it inherited when it bought Nokia's handset business for $7.2 billion, analysts ...

Facebook Earnings Preview: Good Performance Expected to Continue
Forbes
Facebook will release its Q2 2014 results on July 23. The expectations are high considering the company's performance in recent quarters. We expect ...


New York Times
Microsoft's Top Lawyer Is the Tech World's Envoy
New York Times
Bradford Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, worked as a lawyer in ....


Re/code
Yahoo to Acquire Flurry to Strengthen Mobile Products
MarketWatch
Our agreement to acquire Flurry is a meaningful step for the company and reinforcesYahoo's commitment to building and supporting useful, inspiring ...


MarketWatch
Apple options traders aren't willing to roll the dice
MarketWatch
If investors are expecting Apple to give them something special this quarter, ... Apple will reveal results after the Tuesday's closing bell, with analysts ...


Capital FM Kenya
Google To Turn NYC Payphones Into WiFi Hotspots
InformationWeek
More than 50 companies are interested in assisting New York's bid to become more connected, including Google, Cisco, Samsung, and IBM.


Wired
Facebook Explains Why It Wants to Be a Retail Store
Wired
Why Cutting 18,000 Jobs Was Likely Microsoft's Plan All Along .... Apple, with iTunes and the App Store, is now an online retailer. ... available to a would-be consumer: clicking over to Amazon or Google or any other retail site. ... A Facebook version of PayPal or GoogleWallet may also be in the works.

Apple Releases iOS 8 Beta 4 to Developers
Juli Clover
Apple today released the fourth beta of iOS 8 to developers, two weeks after ... Apple has also released Xcode 6 beta 4 and a new Apple TV beta. ... concerned with privacy and security, there's always Google and Microsoft, ...Facebook Launches Exclusive 'Mentions' App for Verified Public Figures (31).

Apple readying OS X Yosemite Public Beta for this month, new developer preview today
Mark Gurman
Apple is planning to release a publicly available beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite later this month, according to sources briefed on the plans.

Yahoo Is Going To Buy Mobile Ad Company Flurry For Hundreds Of Millions
Steven Tweedie
Yahoo is reportedly acquiring mobile app firm Flurry for "hundreds of millions." ... 

Marin Adds Google Shopping Campaign Management
Jessica Lee
That's likely part of the fuel behind Marin's latest launch: support for Google Shopping ... Some of the features of the Google Shopping release include: ... and retarget consumers across the web, including Facebook," said Matt Ackley, ...

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Starbucks WiFi goes Google

Lucky Starbucks--how about the rest of us?

Official Blog: Starbucks’ WiFi goes Google: " . . .we’re teaming up with Starbucks to bring faster, free WiFi connections to all 7,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States over the next 18 months. When your local Starbucks WiFi network goes Google, you’ll be able to surf the web at speeds up to 10x faster than before. If you’re in a Google Fiber city, we’re hoping to get you a connection that’s up to 100x faster. . . ."

Here are the 7 companies Microsoft doesn’t want its ex-Windows chief to join — Tech News and Analysis: " . . . now we know, thanks to Microsoft’s 10-K filing, just which companies has are off limits to Sinofsky until December 31, 2013, a  year from his termination date. By virtue of Sinofsky’s retirement agreement, he “cannot accept direct or indirect employment” with Amazon, Apple, EMC, Google, Facebook, Oracle and VMware. . . . "--(not that any of those 7 companies would want to have anything to do with Sinofsky who is infamous for his project known as "Windows 8")

Microsoft forced to rename SkyDrive following trademark case with broadcaster | The Verge: " . . . In a settlement issued on Wednesday, BSkyB notes that Microsoft will not appeal the court ruling and that the company will allow Microsoft to continue using the brand "for a reasonable period of time to allow for an orderly transition to a new brand." . . ."

XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet' | World news | theguardian.com: " XKeyscore gives 'widest-reaching' collection of online data • NSA analysts require no prior authorization for searches • Sweeps up emails, social media activity and browsing history • NSA's XKeyscore program – read one of the presentations . . ."

Robocalls and third-party violations: FCC rules on vicarious liability under the TCPA | DLA Piper - JDSupra: "The Federal Communications Commission recently clarified whether parties on whose behalf telemarketing “robocalls” are made may be liable for third-party violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).   Retailers who did not actually place calls may only be “vicariously” liable and subject to damages for third-party TCPA violations if federal common law principles of agency apply. "

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 2013: Specs revealed (exclusive) | BGR: "Amazon to combine powerhouse specs and affordable prices in bid to scorch the competition"

Microsoft Office comes to Android, but not tablets

Boston.com
Microsoft Corp. is trying to make its Office 365 subscription more compelling, ... competing offerings such as QuickOffice from Google and iWork from Apple. . . .

Apple Faces App Review Backlog After Developer Center Breach

ReadWrite
As Apple plows towards the release of the next iPhone, it is working with developers to get their apps ready for the next version of its mobile operating system, ...

Amazon: 8 essential tips to save money online

Christian Science Monitor
Well, “ultimate” might be a bit of hyperbole, but I thought it would be useful to collect together all of the things I've learned about saving money on Amazon.com in ...

Facebook Said to Plan to Sell TV-Style Ads for $2.5M Each
Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. (FB), seeking to break the long-held dominance of television over advertising budgets, plans to sell TV-style commercials on its site for as much as $2.5 million a day, two people familiar with the matter said. The world's largest social-networking ...

Egad! Could Samsung be CHEATING in Galaxy benchmark tests?
Register
Samsung has reportedly been cheating in benchmark tests, artificially boosting the scores of its latest and greatest system-on-chip, the Exynos 5 Octa, on those performance-ranking number generators so beloved by reviewers and product evaluators. "Oh hell ...

Facebook fights for real-time relevance with embedded posts
CNET
The social network launches a new feature to remind the media that its 1.15 billion members can serve as sources for stories....

Microsoft Office Mobile Comes to Android Phones
PC Magazine
Despite the problems Microsoft has had in recent years breaking into mobile and refreshing its interface guidelines, the company's Office suite is still the gold standard for productivity software. After years of speculation and rumors, Microsoft has finally ...

This is the total from both tablet launches until June 30
DailyTech
Microsoft has been pretty stingy about revealing sales numbers for its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets, but the Windows maker finally threw a number out there -- just one. From the launch of the Surface RT tablet (October 26, 2012) and the launch of the ...

NASA astronaut explains cause of helmet leak that aborted spacewalk
Christian Science Monitor
Two weeks after NASA aborted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station when up to 1.5 liters of “funny-tasting” water leaked into Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet, Maj. Parmitano's spacewalk partner has released a video explaining what ...

Google Gets TV Right With Chromecast: Rich Jaroslovsky
Bloomberg
Google (GOOG) has a long history of spaghetti-style product development: throw a lot of stuff against the wall and see what sticks. When it comes to television, the result has often been a mushy mess. Now the company is trying again, with a new $35 gadget ...

Microsoft confirms it will change SkyDrive name after trademark suit
VentureBeat
Microsoft has done a lot of work to make SkyDrive one of the most competitive cloud storage services on the market. But soon the name SkyDrive will fly away into the clouds, never to be heard again. After a U.K. court ruled that the SkyDrive name infringed on ...

Starbucks Drops AT&T, Teams With Google for In-Store Wi-Fi
PC Magazine
Soon, Starbucks customers will be able to log onto the Web quicker than they can order a triple grande non-fat decaf iced latte. The eatery is ditching its current AT&T Wi-Fi setup for a partnership with Google. An 18-month rollout will begin in August, with all ...

Google Play apps pass Apple's App Store
USA TODAY
It was bound to happen: Google Play downloads of apps jumped ahead of those at Apple's App Store. Google Play app downloads were 10% higher than at Apple's App Store ...

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