Google promises better privacy information to settle UK case, and more for Friday, January 30, 2015

Google promises better privacy information to settle UK case David Meyer Jan 30 2015, 6:01am PDT Google has vowed to revise its privacy policy and account settings, in order to make it clearer to people what it does with their data and give them more control. This comes as part of a settlement with the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office, announced on Friday. The […] Read More » Kik CEO: “Hey internet are you listening? Messaging has peaked” Carmel DeAmicis Jan 30 2015, 6:00am PDT It has certainly been an interesting month for messaging apps in the U.S. Around the same time the New York Times penned its zeitgeist proclamation that messaging apps like Snapchat will become hubs of content and commerce like China’s WeChat, we learned from Comscore that these […] Read More » Where to watch the 2015 Super Bowl live online Janko Roettgers Jan 30 2015, 5:00am PDT You may watch it because you’re a football fan. Or for the ads. Or simply because it’s tradition. Regardless of the reason, when the Super Bowl begins on Sunday, you’re going to want to be watching — even if you don’t have cable, or maybe not […] Read More » Indian rape victim sues Uber in US court David Meyer Jan 30 2015, 3:40am PDT The Indian woman whose alleged rape by an Uber driver led to the service being shut down in New Delhi has now sued the car-hailing platform in San Francisco, according to Reuters. The woman, who asked the federal court to protect her identity, said Uber’s service […] Read More » UK’s BT lays out gigabit broadband plans with a hint of a threat David Meyer Jan 30 2015, 1:16am PDT BT is stepping up its superlatives. “Superfast” broadband speeds are so 2014 – now the British telecoms giant is planning a shift to “ultrafast” broadband of up to 500 megabits per second (Mbps) or, for those willing to pay a premium, a whole gigabit per second. […] Read More » New to deep learning? Here are 4 easy lessons from Google Derrick Harris Jan 29 2015, 5:26pm PDT Google employs some of the world’s smartest researchers in deep learning and artificial intelligence, so it’s not a bad idea to listen to what they have to say about the space. One of those researchers, senior research scientist Greg Corrado, spoke at RE:WORK’s Deep Learning Summit on Thursday […] Read More » Why even basic accessories can make virtual reality seem real Signe Brewster Jan 29 2015, 4:31pm PDT There is an alien in the space station. The motion tracker scans my surroundings, but nothing moves. I creep into the next room and duck behind a stack of cargo. The rumble of the spacecraft creeps up my spine as I stare at the tracker. Suddenly, […] Read More » Hooray! Amazon will start breaking out AWS numbers Barb Darrow Jan 29 2015, 1:42pm PDT For cloud watchers,  the real news out of Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings call is that the company will finally break out Amazon Web Services numbers from the rest of its gigantic retail business starting in the first quarter. To date, the AWS numbers have been buried in the […] Read More » Microsoft wants to back Android-forking startup Cyanogen Kif Leswing Jan 29 2015, 11:55am PDT What does Microsoft see in Android developer Cyanogen? It’s a question raised on Thursday by a new report in the Wall Street Journal that says that Microsoft is planning to be a minority investor — to the tune of “roughly $70 million” — in Cyanogen’s latest […] Read More » Crank the music: Windows 10 phones, tablets getting FLAC support Kevin C. Tofel Jan 29 2015, 11:48am PDT Audio lovers will be happy to hear the latest news about Windows 10: the operating system will support lossless audio on phones and tablets. PC World noticed that Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Operating Systems Group, Joe Belfiore, took to Twitter to answer a question about music […] Read More » 4G spectrum auction ends, raising a record $45B Kevin Fitchard Jan 29 2015, 11:42am PDT It took a grueling two and half months, but the Federal Communications Commission auction of new 4G airwaves is finally over. The provisional winning bids totaled $44.9 billion for 65 MHz of airwaves, the most the FCC has ever raised at an auction, but we won’t […] Read More » BAM! The FCC just defined broadband as 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up Stacey Higginbotham Jan 29 2015, 9:30am PDT The Federal Communications Commission just took a bold step and redefined broadband as 25 Mbps for downstream speeds and 3 Mbps for upstream speeds, a move that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had hinted at earlier this month in a speech at International CES. The definition is […] Read More » FTC shuts down “revenge porn” operation, but imposes no fine Jeff John Roberts Jan 29 2015, 9:28am PDT In one of the most despicable scams on the internet, Colorado resident Craig Brittain ran a website that posted nude photographs of hundreds of women alongside their Facebook profiles and other personal information, then blackmailed the victims to pay bogus lawyer sites, controlled by Brittain, in […] Read More » This is Tesla’s first battery swap station (photos) Katie Fehrenbacher Jan 29 2015, 6:00am PDT Last month Tesla announced that it would soon start trialing its first battery swap station in private beta to invited customers, next to its super charger station at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif. Soon after the announcement, customers on Tesla forums started asking each other if […] Read More » Firms may face new $16,500 privacy fines under White House bill Jeff John Roberts Jan 28 2015, 6:14pm PDT Many consumers have grown resigned to the parade of privacy breaches that occur when apps or big tech companies like Facebook or Google misuse their personal data. These incidents typically result in a slap on the wrist for the offending company, but that could change under a new privacy law the White […] Read More » Does the FCC want to oversee peering deals like Netflix vs. Comcast? Jeff John Roberts Jan 28 2015, 4:28pm PDT The FCC will soon pass new rules for how ISP’s must handle broadband traffic and, while it’s expected to impose a policy of net neutrality when it comes to consumers, it’s been less clear how the agency will resolve another thorny internet issue: whether network providers can charge content companies to accept their traffic […] Read More » A sneak peek at Sony’s PlayStation Vue internet TV service Janko Roettgers Jan 28 2015, 2:10pm PDT Sony may have just shuttered its music service, but it’s getting ready to launch another media venture: PlayStation Vue, the company’s upcoming live TV service, is supposed to launch before the end of the quarter. Sony has been testing the service with a limited number of users […] Read More » Qualcomm may have just confirmed no Snapdragon in the Galaxy S6 Kevin C. Tofel Jan 28 2015, 1:38pm PDT Recently we heard various reports of Qualcomm’s latest mobile chip overheating, which led to the expectation that Samsung was planning to use its own processor in the upcoming Galaxy S6. Qualcomm has refuted the heat problem, as did LG which is using the Snapdragon 810 in its new G […] Read More » Looks like those IBM layoffs have started Barb Darrow Jan 28 2015, 1:24pm PDT Reports of big layoffs to come this week at IBM were correct, at least with regard to timing. Starting Wednesday, the message board at Alliance@IBM, a site manned by former IBM employees, was full of posts from people saying (anonymously) that they had been laid off. More accurately, most said they had […] Read More » Amazon launches new email service called WorkMail Jonathan Vanian Jan 28 2015, 11:29am PDT Amazon is once again adding to its business-suite arsenal, this time with the announcement of WorkMail, the company’s new email and calendar service, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The Seattle giant obviously faces some stiff competition in the email business […] Read More »