Patrick Beja talks with us about Nintendo’s tentative move to mobile phones and tablets and the mysterious NX console platform that’s coming.

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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja, DTNS contributor and host of the Pixels podcast, Le Rendez-vous Tech and The Phileas Club

Headlines: 

It’s that time again. Apple Television Rumor time! This one comes from the Wall Street Journal. Apple will supposedly launch a TV service with around 25 channels for around $30-$40 dollars a month. It would include ABC CBS and Fox channels but not NBC because of a dispute with Comcast. However 9to5 Mac has a source that says NBC wants to launch apps on Apple TV, Fire TV and Xbox in the second half of this year. The new NBC app would require a cable subscription in order to us.

 

Engadget reports that Google has started reviewing some apps before they are available for download in the Google Play Store.
The policy, which has been in effect for a few month, uses a mix of algorithms and human intervention.  Google also launched a rating system for Android apps that will label which games are appropriate for various age groups.

Nintendo announced in a press conference that it will partner with mobile game publisher DeNA to make original mobile games using Nintendo characters and worlds. Along with the new games, this autumn Nintendo will launch a cross-platform membership service for mobile devices, PC and Nintendo devices. One of those devices will someday be a new game console referred to as NX. Nintendo called it an “entirely new concept” but we won’t hear any details on that until next year. Ars Technica has one of the best stories rounding up the details.

Engadget reports Microsoft announced Windows 10 will support logins by fingerprint, facial recognition and iris scan.  Of course the device it’s running on has to have the right sensor—- but a framework called Hello will make sure the login experience is consistent across different manufacturers.  For devices without sensors, a feature called Passport lets you enter a password and device-specific PIN.  All the biometric data and the PIN will be stored on the machine.

Engadget notes Sling TV launched today on Xbox One. You can pin Sling TV to your Home screen, control the app with Kinect for Xbox One and Snap with other activities so you can play games and watch Sling TV at the same time. Existing Xbox One owners can try out the service free for a month (up from the usual 7 day trial). If you don’t have an Xbox One you can get 3 months free if you purchase an Xbox One before March 22 2015 from a Microsoft retail outlet or online store.

PC World reports Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang revealed details about the GeForce Titan X at the GPU Technology Conference.
The card has 3072 CUDA cores, 12 GB of RAM and costs $1,000.
Huang claimed the single-precision floating point performance is 7 TFLOPS but only 200 GFLOPs in double-precision. The one benchmark revealed was neural net analysis.  Titan X can process the data in 1.5 days compared to 5 days for the Titan Black.

ReCode reports NVidia also announced a self-driving car platform called Drive PX that will go on sale in May for $10,000. This is the platform teased at CES, powered by two Tegra X1 chips and supposedly 3,000 times faster than DARPA’s DAVE platform. The platform also can be trained and Huang said it gets smarter with every OTA update. NVidia hopes to expand its partnerships with Tesla, Audi and BMW. He’ll probably get his wish with Tesla since Elon Musk joined him on stage to talk about security with self-driving cars.

ReCode reports Facebook has launched the ability to send payments through Facebook Messenger at no cost.  Once you’ve tied your debit card to your Facebook account, you can click a dollar sign icon to open a payment screen in messenger.  If someone sends you money and you don’t have a debit card attached, Facebook will hold the money for you until you get it set up.  No payment can be sent without a PIN or thumbprint scan.  The rollout will start in selected US cities and progress internationally later.

3D printing start-up, Carbon3D, has developed a new 3-D printing process that works fast enough to be used for production instead of just protyping reports Re/Code. The process is called CLIP or Continuous Liquid Interface Production. CLIP involves using light and oxygen to grow objects from a pool of resin instead of building the object layer by layer. Carbon3D says CLIP is 25-100 times faster than traditional 3-D writing and can work with a wider array of materials. Carbon3D debuted the technology Monday at the TED conference in Vancouver and said they are turning it inot a shipping product but did not state price.

News From You:

tahras submitted the Verge article that Microsoft marketing chief Chris Capossel told folks at the Microsoft Convergence event that Microsoft is researching a new name for the Project Spartan browser that will come in Windows 10. Testing shows that whatever the name is, it is perceived better if it has the name Microsoft at the beginning. A version of Internet Explorer will also ship with Windows 10 but it will be the last of its name.

KAPT_Kipper wants you to know that you can now pause videos on your Google Chromecast with your TV remote. As long as it is infrared and has a play/pause button.  TechCrunch reports that Chromecast uses the HDMI-CEC protocol for the function.  So if starting a cast turns your TV on, then this should work for you.  The functionality doesn’t work in every app yet but works in many.

tninja3000 sent us the GeekWire report that Microsoft will let third party retailers Amazon, Best Buy and Target sell the Microsoft Band wearable starting today. The fitness and health tracker already available in Microsoft stores costs $199.99 in the US and offers notifications and lightweight apps, and integration with Android, iOS and Windows Phone. The Microsoft Band will also launch April 15th in the UK,for £169.99.

Discussion Section Links:  

http://recode.net/2015/03/17/why-nintendo-making-mobile-games-is-such-a-big-deal/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/17/nintendo-partners-with-dena-to-brings-its-games-and-ip-to-smartphones/

http://www.cnet.com/news/mario-set-for-smartphones-as-nintendo-forges-new-mobile-deal/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/nintendo-partners-with-dena-to-develop-mobile-phone-games/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/17/nintendo-nx-console/?ncid=rss_truncated

 

Pick of the day: streamingnation.com.au

G’day Tom, Jenny and Pals

Travis from Melbourne, Australia here – with a website that might be useful to other Aussies, especially over the next few weeks. It’s streamingnation.com.au, covering news about the local options for streaming video.

There’s two Netflix-ish services who’ve recently launched, being Presto and Stan, but the elephant in the room is Netflix itself (coming next week, baby!)

Streaming Nation also has lists of newly added shows and films, and has recommendations, which I’m keeping for those nights when my wife just can’t make up her mind

Keep up the awesome work.

Trav.

Messages

I am a cablevision internet subscriber. I don’t have a cable box, only a TiVo . If I subscribed to HBONOW through cablevision, how would I watch? Through apple TV with cable login? Would I have to get a box? If this is the case, why bother? Discounts? Otherwise apple TV would be more convenient, right? Thanks from one of your bosses, Bob

=====

Comcast in North Georgia cable modem users here. We have a 300 GB limit…. and if you cross the magic threshold, they just start charging you some flat rate for each additional 10 or 50 GB or something (I have NOT done this), so now they just make more money from bandwidth hogs.

Woo hoo. No more bandwidth caps. Just what I asked for, sort of.

whistl

=====

We asked for legal uses of P2P after the story that Windows 10 updates will be distributed peer to peer. Mink sent us a link to a makeuseof post from August 2013 that mentioned Archive.org, government data sets, BitTorrent Sync, and BitTorrent bundles. Branden from Winterless Salt Lake serves up 6.6 TB of apps and patches via P2P for the 40,000 computers in his school district. And William downloaded the entire BitCoin blockchain shaving a day off the time to get his bitcoin node up and running.

And Mink added the interesting question of “whether “mobile” (slower & less reliable networks with more data caps and using inherently smaller storage devices) will make torrents more or less attractive to users. “

=====

Hey guys!

A few months back I sent in an audio recording which you played where I discussed the opportunities that are created by GoPro’s new product with builtin wifi/internet service (hopefully). Meerkat would be crazy not to reach out to them for reasons I am sure you can understand. I shot Meerkats support a brief email as well since they are a fun little startup. They could do great things together.

Thanks!
Joe

BOL REUNION!

Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

PODCAST AWARDS

Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.

Wednesday’s guest: Iyaz Akhtar

 

Nicole Lee joins us to talk about Meerkat. Has it brought back SXSW’s app magic? Can it survive?

MP3

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Nicole Lee of Engadget.com

Headlines: 

The Verge reports Facebook updated its community standards page Sunday night to clarify what the policies are. They haven’t actually changed the policy. Among the clarifications Facebook says they want people to use the name they go by regularly, not necessarily their legal name. Hate speech is allowed for satire or commentary. Nudity is still not allowed but more strictly defined and exceptions made for artwork.

TechCrunch notes numbers of government requests for Facebook data were also released. Requests decreased in the US and UK while increasing in India, Turkey and Russia. The US still requests the most while India is number 2. The total number worldwide rose from 34,946 in the first half of the year, to 35,051 between July and December 2014.

The Verge reports Microsoft launched Office 2016 preview. Microsoft improved search, storage footprint, and email delivery performance, as well as image insertion in Word and Excel 2016. Not all the new features for Office 2016 are in the rpeview yet. Microsoft also launched a test version of Skype for Business, with the ability to integrate with Office apps. The final version of Skype for Business will be available in April, with the final Office 2016 coming later this year. Interested? sign up at Microsoft Connect website at connect.microsoft.com.

Reuters reports BlackBerry will launch high security tablet aimed at governments and enterprise in cooperation with IBM and Samsung. The SecuTABLET is based on the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and works with BlackBerry’s SecuSuite for voice and data encryption. The device is undergoing certification by the German Federal Office for Information Security for secure rating. According to the Wall St Journal, the tablet will be available this summer at a price of $2,380

TechCrunch notes Elon Musk tweeted yesterday that a Tesla press conference will take place Thursday at 9 AM and “end range anxiety… via OTA software update. Affects entire Model S Fleet.”

TechCrunch has covered a new report by the Pew Research Center found 30% of US citizens surveyed have taken steps to shield or hide their information from the US government. TechCrunch notes 52% of those surveyed said they were “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” by government surveillance programs, but 46% said they were “not very concerned” or “not at all concerned.” The survey found that 87% of adults have heard at least something about government surveillance programs and 57% said it is unacceptable for the government to monitor the communications of US citizens, but a majority said spying elsewhere is OK. Most often peopleo change privacy settings on social media, avoiding apps entirely and using social media less. Well… is that about government interference or drunk selfies?

Engadget reports on the launch of free public Internet service at a Havana cultural center. Popular artist Kcho got approval from the state telecom Etecsa to open up his WiFi router at the cultural center. The connection is 2 Mbps but doesn’t caust a centavo.

Variety reports HBO Now will be offered by Cablevision to its broadband-only subscribers. In other words if you get your Internet fro Cablevision, you won’t also have to sign up for TV if you want HBO. Cablevision said it will provide pricing and other details about how HBO Now will be made available to broadband subs in the coming weeks.

News From You:

Rpattony posted the TorrentFreak article highlighting another of the many nuggets found in the recent US Open Internet order. “Nothing in this part prohibits reasonable efforts by a provider of broadband Internet access service to address copyright infringement or other unlawful activity.” It is apparently OK for the ISP to determine what is illegal and what is infringement.

Starfuryzeta sent us this story from the Verge reporting on Yahoo’s new Password-free email login. The new approach dubbed “on demand” passwords sends Yahoo email users a time sensitive code through an app or cellphone text message. No more need to remember a password. Every time you login you’ll be sent a new code. Just don’t lose the phone tied to the account. The new password features is available now and can be enabled from the security section of your account information page.

KAPT_Kipper found the Yahoo Tumbler post announcing the release of source code for Yahoo’s new end-to-end encryption browser extension for Yahoo Mail. The encryption interface is described as intuitive, however, it will have to be activated each time you want it and info like recipient, subject line and time will remain unencrypted. Yahoo used the Google end to end extension in the project. Yahoo released the source code to GitHub and plans to have end to end encryption available for all users by the end of the year.

Eziwireless sent us this Engadget report on Windows 10’s unique update feature. The Verge noticed that a leaked version of Windows 10 lets you grab updates from other PCs whether they’re local or online.This peer-to-peer network patching would accelerate the updating process as well as limiting bandwidth usage on metered internet connections.

Philman 132 submitted the Boing Bong BBS post about GNU Terry Pratchett. When implemented on Apache or Nginx, web-servers transmit a special “X-Clacks-Overhead” header reading “GNU Terry Pratchett.” Pratchett’s book Going Postal described a system called The Clacks where workers who died in the line of duty could have their name transmitted in the system’s signaling layer, because (“A man is not dead while his name is still spoken”

 

Discussion Section Links:  Twitter & Meerkat

blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/03/16/after-twitter-snub-meerkat-aims-to-push-out-new-features/?mod=rss_Technology

www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/16/meerkat-twitter-block-ben-rubin-social-graph

techcrunch.com/2015/03/16/meerkatroullette-is-chatroulette-for-meerkat-because-meerkat

meerkatroulette.com

techcrunch.com/2015/03/14/bird-vs-mammal

www.fastcompany.com/3043716/sxsw/twitter-only-gave-meerkat-2-hours-notice-before-cutting-access-to-the-social-graph

Pick of the Day: 

Christopher Ragsdale writes: In listening to this discussion on episode 2448 I was reminded of an interview I had heard recently with author Douglass Rushkoff about his book “Present Shock”. Not trying to sell books here. I think you and Jennie might be interested in the info in this book:

rushkoff.com/present-shock

Messages

Every time y’all talk about how bandwidth caps on home Internet access is a thing of the past, my left eye twitches in a peculiar manner. Y’see, I have Comcast as my ISP. The highest tier home service available in my area (Charleston, SC). And we have a 300GB per month cap. Did I mention that this cap only went into place about a year and a half ago? Surprisingly (or not?), not very long after the cap went into place, Comcast had the infamous share holder call in which the CEO stated flatly that Comcast has no plans to implement bandwidth caps.

Cheers,
-Sam

=====

Buzz Out Loud REUNION!

Join the Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

PODCAST AWARDS

Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.

Tuesday’s guest: Patrick Beja!

Darren Kitchen and Brian Brushwood join to talk about the effect tech is having on Brian’s home town and the SXSW Interactive festival. Plus Len Peralta illustrates the show.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Today’s guests: Darren Kitchen of hak5.org, Brian Brushwood of nightattack.tv  & Len Peralta of the Cleveland, Ohio Arts Society

Check out Len’s amazing DTNS original artwork:

http://lenperaltastore.com/products/keep-austin-weirdest-dtns-3-13-15-print

Headlines: 

Reuters reports Microsoft will use research from its Einstein AI project in the next version of Cortana. Cortana is coming to Windows 10 this autumn and Reuters sources say it will come to iOS and Android later as well. Einstein combines speech recognition with machine learning to anticipate user needs.

TechCrunch reports YouTube now lets you upload and view 360-degree video. You have to run a Python script to check for correct metadata so YouTube recognizes the upload as a 360-degree clip, but YouTube says it’s working on automating that part of the process. Next question: How many of you are going to record360 degree video?

Open Signal’s State of LTE post is up. Spaion leads the way with fastest LTE at 18 Mbps and Vodafone ES in Spain has the fastets network in the world at 25.5 Mbps. LG U+ in South Korea has the best coverage at 99% and South Korea as whole has the best coverage at 95%. Top 5 countries for speed were Spain, Finland, Denmark, South Korea and Hungary. The Bottom five were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Mexico, the US and the Philippines.

The Next Web reports that Twitter finally confirmed it purchased live streaming startup Periscope – back in January. Periscope tweeted out “You may have heard some news: It involves a blue bird” followed by a bunch of hashtags one of which was #WeJoinedTheFlockInJanuary. Twitter then re-tweeted the announcement from its official account. If you haven’t heard of Periscope until now, its because they haven’t officially launched yet, and don’t have a publicly available app. In totally unrelated news, live streaming video app Meerkat has attracted tens of thousands of users since it launched at the end of February.

Excerpts from the book “Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader” by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli are spinning out lots of stories ahead of its March 24th release. CultofMac reports among the tidbits are Tim Cook offering to give Jobs part of his liver and being yelled at. Jobs considering partnering with Disney to buy Yahoo. And Jobs telling Jony Ive after his return to Apple in the late 1990s “Apple will never make a TV again.”

MultiChannel.com reports that Moffett Nathanson Research calculated Google Fiber ended 2014 with 29,867 video subscribers across, Stanford, Provo, and Kansas City based on numbers released by the US Copyright Office today. Moffett noted that counts for just 0.025% of the US video market. He also pointed out that high programming costs have dented deployment and has increased TV/1-Gig bundle prices for new subscribers in KC. Google Fiber’s broadband subscribers, which would higher, aren’t factored in the US Copyright Office’s numbers but Moffett says they are likely to be “meaningfully higher.”

Reuters reports IBM is considering using the blockchain system used in bitcoin, to create digital cash and payment systems for other currencies. The potential is there to make fast fee-free payments online using currencies like the dollar or the Euro.It would likely not be anonymous as a digital wallet would be linked to a bank account. IBM is seeking the cooperation of central banks like the US Federal Reserve. The Bank of England has stated it considers the blockchain open ledger a significant innovation.

ArsTechnica reports that Google will close its Google Code programming project hosting service. Google says the reduced number of users as existing developers migrated to GitHub and Bitbucket and the increased number of spammers and abuse are factors. Google itself moved a number of their open source projects from Google code to GitHub. Google is providing migration tools to export projects to GitHub and Bitbucket, and SourceForge is offering a Google Code project import service. New projects will no longer be accepted as of today and updates to existing projects will not be accepted after August 24th. The site will close down completely January 25, 2016.

The US Federal Communications Commission is putting its review of Comcast Corp.’s deal for Time Warner Cable and AT&T Inc.’s planned acquisition of DirecTV on hold, pending a court decision related to the disclosure of video-programming contracts. The FCC says it can’t go forward with the review of these deals until a court determines whether interested parties should be granted limited access to confidential information about the involved companies. The FCC already has these documents and is free to review them on their own, but the broadcasters object to the notion of this sensitive data being shared with people outside of the Commission, even if done under high security and strict non-disclosure agreements.

 

 

 

News From You:

starfuryzeta submitted the Verge article by Russell Brandom about the new rules for transparency in the US FCC’s Open Internet Order. Packet loss has been added as a metric for ISP’s to make public which led some engineers to fear networks would be forced to add more buffering and latency to juice the stats to look good. However the full order says that packet loss will be listed alongside existing latency and bandwidth reporting.

KAPT_Kipper sent us this story from ArsTechnica that since the middle of 2013, Google Apps for Work leaked hidden whois data attached to 282,867 domains. A bug in the way Google Apps integrated with eNom’s com registration program interface caused private whois info including names, phone numbers, email and physical addresses to be leaked when domains were renwed. Cisco Systems research discovered the flaw Feb 19 and five days later the leak was patched. eNom charged an extra $6/yr to shield the info from public view.

Discussion Section Links:  Waning Weird 

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6502060/austin-and-sxsws-waning-weirdness-blame-spiking-real

Pick of the Day: 

Kevin: I hope this hasn’t already been mentioned, but given the how many times Radio Shack has been discussed lately, my pick is:

radioshackcatalogs.com

If you, like me, spent way too many hours pouring through the catalogs, you will enjoy seeing these familiar pages again.

Messages

Hey Tom and Jenny,

For Valentines day my wife subscribed to HBO via my ATT Uverse cable. For several weeks I’ve been getting caught up with Game of Thrones which I’ve only been watching in the 5am EST hour on ROKU, when I’ve been running on my treadmill….Not a single problem. Tonight and for the first time I watched an episode on my XBOX One and it happened to be during prime time. It was extremely choppy would have to wait for queuing of the show just about every minute (not exaggerating). … Are the cable companies grasping at straws and slowing down online content at certain hours to make the consumer want to keep watching via the cable box? While I most certainly hope not…I can’t help but think they are.

Not quite an executive producer, but close. – David Wilke

========

I wanted to throw a totally self-promotional pick out there for your European fans. I put together a special 30-minute programme for my new podcast Tech’s Message about the European Apple Watch. It’s had some amazing feedback and in the interest of also trying to get some more ears on the show I hoped you might be interested in checking it out.

It’s at natelanxon.com/podcast and marked as a special edition, and is in all the iTunes stores and podcatcher directories under Tech’s Message.

Looking forward to joining you on the show soon! Nate

=====

BOL REUNION!

Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

PODCAST AWARDS

Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.

Wednesday’s guest: Eklund!

Justin Young is in for an early show wherein we greet the new FCC Open Internet Rules and discuss why Snapchat is worth $15 billion these days.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Justin Robert Young

“As Ars Technica reports the FCC released its report on “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet”. In the 400 page document the rules themselves make up 8 pages. The rest is commentary and analysis including a 64-page dissent from Commissioner Ajit Pai and a 16-page dissent from Commissioner Michael O’Reilly. Among the analysis are the forebearances from Title II which include this line that will cause most of the debate: “”we do not forbear from
sections 201, 202, and 208.”” The rules will now be published in the Federal Register within a week or two. 60 days after that happens the rules go into effect, except for additions to the transparency rules which require approval by the Office of Management and Budget. Let the parsing BEGIN!”

Recode reports that Apple has stopped selling Jawbone Up, and Nike + FuelBand in its stores ahead of the Apple Watch launch. The Mio, a heart tracking device worn on the wrist, can only be found in Apple’s online store. Recode checked stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and New York. The CEO of Mio said Apple notified her a few months ahead of time that the tracker would be removed from the store, citing a desire to “rework branding for the stores, and to make the Apple brand more front and center” and “minimize the number of accessories.”

Bloomberg Business reports that 11,000 people have already signed up for a Stanford University cardiovascular study using Apple’s Research Kit. The medical director of Stanford’s Cardiovascular Heath department said that getting 10,000 people enrolled in a medical study would normally take a year, and 50 medical centers around the country. The article also notes some researchers are skeptical that the data won’t be skweed by the type of participant or rendered controversial by things like unclear consent forms. Way to harsh Stanford’s mellow, Bloomberg Business.

Buzzfeed reports that Twitter has issued new rules that say “You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.” and says it will lock the accounts of users who violate the rule. The company also issued a new FAQ regarding stolen nudes and revenge porn which they posted on reddit. Users can report possible violations through Twitter’s reporting process.

Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose said Tuesday that plaintiffs can bring a class action against Facebook regarding online purchases by children. Facebook argued against a class action, saying the claims were too disparate, and an injunction would not address them. The parents of two children who made large amounts of in app purchases brought the suit in April 2012. It says Facebook violated California law by refusing refunds under its “all sales are final” policy when the parents complained. A trial date is set for October 19th.

Bloomberg has sources that say Alibaba will invest $200 million in Snapchat based on a valuation of $15 billion. Snapchat is supposedly seeking a round of $500 million of investment. CB Insights says the valuation ranks it right behind Uber at $40 billion and Xiaomi at $45 billion.

Meanwhile Reuters reports Alibaba is hiring in Seattle for positions related to cloud computing. Microsoft and Amazon, also in the Seattle area, also do cloud computing. Alibaba has already hired 10 software engineers or computing experts from either Microsoft or Amazon since July 2014. Alibaba launched its first cloud computing hub outside of China on March 4 in Silicon Valley.

Reuters reports US District Judges Edward Chen and Vince Chhabria in San Francisco federal court said in two rulings that the status of drivers for Uber and Lyft will need to be decided by juries. Both companies face class action lawsuits on behalf of drivers who want the benefits of being employees not independent contractors.

The BBC is working with Samsung, Microsoft, ARM and the people behind Raspberry Pi to give 1 million 11 year-olds in the UK a free computer reports CNET. The low cost machine, still in development, is called the Micro Bit, and is similar to the Raspberry Pi and Arduino. The unit fits inside the palm of a child’s hand and sports a simple array of LED lights as a display plus Bluetooth. It launches this September and will support Python, C++, and Touch Develop. The BBC will also launchshows about programming as well as a new drama based on the development of Grand Theft Auto along with a documentary on Bletchley Park.

Reuters reports Xiaomi will being local production of devices in India within 12 to 18 months. Xiaomi has sold more than a million phones in 5 months in India. Xiaomi is also looking to invest in start-ups and service centers and will open 100 stores in the country to help consumers “experience” the phones. So you’ll be able to walk into a store in India and by a Mi Phone? No. Xiaomi insist on continuing to use online flash sales and Flipkart.com to actually sell phones.

The Next Web reports a new UK Parliamentary report from the Intelligence and Security Committee revealing how the agencies gathered bulk personal data, and recommending Britain’s laws governing those agencies should be overhauled. Some members of the UK’s intelligence services have been fired for “inappropriately” accessing personal data. The report concludes that existing laws were not broken and bulk data collection did not amount to mass surveillance or threaten privacy.

If you’ve seen the video going around of a laughing Spanish man subtitled as if he’s telling the story of how the new MacBook was created, the Next Web would like you to know. Juan Joya, a Spanish actor and comedian known as El Risitas. If you don’t speak the language, the story he’s actually telling is about washing pots and pans in the ocean. It is the new “Hitler Reacts.”

Bad news in chip town. Reuters reports Intel cut its revenue forecast for Q1 from $13.7 billion to $12.8 billion +- $300 million, citing lower-than-expected demand for business PCs and lower inventory levels across the PC supply chain.

News From You

metalfreak submitted the Ars Technica article that Google now claims its Project Loon balloons can stay aloft for more than 6 months and deliver LTE service to an area the size of Rhode Island. The US State of Rhode Island is 3,140 km².

philo1927 cited two stories of major companies taking a breather from competing. In a TechDirt article Cablevision vice chairman Gregg Seibert says “I don’t want to roll a truck to you every two years if you keep going back and forth to another provider … So we’re getting rid of that lower quality, lower profitability base of subscriber.” And in a CNET article, AT&T CFO John Stephens says “We won’t chase customers net additions for the sake of another account. We’re going to be smart about it.”

Discussion: Snapchat

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-11/alibaba-said-to-plan-snapchat-funding-at-15-billion-valuation

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-alibaba-snapchat-idUSKBN0M72L320150311

http://digiday.com/platforms/madness-snapchat-moves-closer-becoming-sports-broadcaster/

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/03/dont-even-try-to-be-chic-on-snapchat.html

 

Pick of the day: tapiriik.com

I had wanted to keep this one to myself as it is so useful but it’s probably time to share…

I am a keen runner and will change running tracking app depending on features or, for example, whether my Garmin is charged! I also like to keep a backup of my runs on Dropbox. Have a look at the site – he supports all major providers – a massive selection and it keeps growing.

There is only one service which allows this – tapiriik.com. It is run by a chap called Colin Fair who offers great support. Best of all, it’s free for manual syncing. If you want automagic syncing, it costs a paltry $2 per year.

Oh, and it isn’t limited to running, but all sports. It will even sync activities marked private and keep them private.

I encourage listeners to try it and to pay for it!

Love the show, as ever.

Andrew from libertine London

Message:

Hello Tom,
Another issue with MLB tv is, if you are in between markets, you are considered part of their viewing areas. I live in Charlotte and when I subscribed two years ago I was considered to be in the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, and for some reason the Cincinnati Reds markets. As a Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox fan it seemed like every game I tried to watch was blacked out because of markets or national broadcasting rights, so I cancelled the service. Thanks for the great work.
Chris in Charlotte NC
Sent from my iPhone

Tomorrow’s guest: Brian Brushwood! Darren Kitchen! Len Peralta!

Ever wonder why pro sports can’t get rid of local blackouts on digital streams? Hockeybuzz’s Eklund is here to help us understand that and how Samsung hopes to force hockey fans to buy a Galaxy or Note.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Patrick Beja is in today. First the Web now mobile. In light of the shut down of GigaOm, can journalism survive continued disruption?

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Patrick Beja, DNTS contributor and independent podcaster. Check out Pixels and The Phileas Club on Frenchspin.com

Headlines: 

TechCrunch reports an Apple Spokesman confirmed the Apple Watch battery is replaceable and the lifecycle is about three years. The Next Web has a good breakdown of the way Apple calculates battery life. The 18 hours of typical use means 90 time checks, 5 per hour, 90 notifications, 45 minutes total app use and a 30-minute workout with Bluetooth. Other estimates are that total talk time is 3 hours. Total music over Bluetooth is 6.5 hours. Heart rate sensor use runs 7 hours. And if you do nothing but check the time you should get 48 hours. Charging up from empty takes 1.5 hours to 80% and 2.5 hours to full.

The Intercept reports on documents leaked by Edward Snowden from a security gathering called the “jamboree” sponsored by the CIA’s Information Operations Center and held on a Lockheed campus in Northern Virginia. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories discussed a modified Xcode that put secret backdoors into apps— a modified OS X updater that could install a keylogger— and attempts to break encryption on iOS firmware. Attacks against Microsoft devices were also discussed.

The Next Web reports that The Wikimedia Foundation is joining Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and 6 other organizations to sue the National Security Agency and the US Department of Justice over the NSA’s mass surveillance program. Wikimedia says that the intelligence agency’s methods captures communications by its users and staff, thereby violating their privacy and threatening intellectual freedom.

Yesterday the tech news blog GigaOm came to a sudden halt.  A post on the site said GigaOm was unable to pay its creditors and had ceased operations. Founder Om Malik, who is no longer working on the site, expressed regret and thanked its workers and readers.  The company does not intend to file for bankruptcy but it’s eventual fate is unclear.

The Verge reports a “source knowledgeable with Android Wear’s product road map” says the next software release will add WiFi support, gesture support like flicking the wrist to scroll, and easier access to apps and contact.

The Verge has the news that the Playstation 4 and PlayStation Vita are going on sale in China on March 20th.  The PS4 will code 2,889 yuan (about $464) and the Vita will sell for 1,299 yuan ($207). Chinese officials banned foreign game consoles in 2000, driving most gamers to PCs or mobile devices.  The prohibition was lifted in 2013, and Microsoft launched the Xbox One in September 2014.

The Daily Dot reports the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology issued a briefing saying a ban on data encryption and online anonymity is neither acceptable nor feasible. Earlier this year UK Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to ban encryption on the web and end online anonymity to combat terrorism and child pornography. The briefing specifically mentioned TOR as a tool used to bypass censors and the difficulty foreign censors have had in blocking it. Furthermore it noted that 1,624 domains were found to have child abuse material on the open Web, while 36 were found on the Dark Net.

TechCrunch reports the app Yik Yak seems to have been delisted from the Google Play store. The anonymous localized chat app can be found in search but is not listed on any charts. Yik Yak is listed as #20 in social on iOS. Several college campuses in the US have banned the app recently because of the offensive and abusive nature of some postings.

News From You:

tninja3000 & starfuryzeta would like you to know that the US Senate has confirmed former Google Inc executive Michelle Lee as the head of the US Patent and Trademark office. Reuters reports that the position had been vacant for more than two years with Lee as acting director. Lee had been head of patents and patent strategy at Google and joined the USPTO in 2012.

the_corey has sent us a story from The Next Web with a report that Sky Broadband has been ordered to hand over customer data to copyright enforcement company TCYK by a UK court.  Sky has sent letters to subscribers explaining the situation and that they should examine any correspondence from TCYK carefully.  Sky subscribers who receive a letter from TCYK can contact the Citizens Advice Bureau for guidance.

Discussion Section Links:  

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/09/pioneering-tech-blog-gigaom-is-shutting-down/?ncid=rss

https://www.google.com/search?q=ad+spending+media&oq=ad+spending+media+&aqs=chrome..69i57.3407j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8

http://adage.com/article/media/digital-overtake-tv-ad-spending-years-forrester/295694/

http://www.emarketer.com/adspendtool

http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/20/2015-ad-spend-rises-to-187b-digital-inches-closer-to-one-third-of-it/

 

Pick of the Day:  Synergy Project via Satya

Satya: Hi Tom,

My pick is Synergy Project, http://synergy-project.org.

It is a pretty cool and very useful software for a sharing a single keyboard and mouse across multiple computers without any additional hardware.

It costs 10$ and works on all operating systems. It is worth every penny.

Messages:

Hi Tom-

When I saw the new USB port world serve as charger and it’s some input, I freaked at first. When I thought about it, I realized with modern battery life, Wi-Fi, cloud storage, and Bluetooth, ports are less useful than they were in the past.

I’m glad they kept the headphone jack since Bluetooth audio fidelity still isn’t quite to to snuff yet. I’m hoping future Wi-Fi specs can support multiple connections to connect wireless storage or wifi headphones or speakers while not cutting off your network access. Pull that off and we might enter a brave new portless world.

Thanks for the great work!

Mike in Smoggy Beirut

================

“Hey, guys. A quick thought on the new MacBooks.

To understand how Apple is positioning them, I think it makes sense to consider its specs:
Retina screen.
M-class processor (which doesn’t require a fan).
Extremely thin and light.
Just two ports (power/data and audio).
Emphasis on touch interaction.
Three colors.
Sort of reminds me of an iPad.

I think it’s really meant for people who are tired of trying to combine an iPad with a keyboard in order to get real work done. In other words, in my opinion, the new MacBook is the best iPad Apple’s ever made (and I want one).

Christian”

=====

BOL REUNION!

Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

PODCAST AWARDS

Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.

Wednesday’s guest: Eklund!