The Switch: Your cable Internet is about to get way faster

Today's technology and tech policy news  •  Tue., Jan. 6, 2015 View in your Web browser

Your cable Internet is about to get way faster If you've heard of services like Verizon FiOS or Google Fiber, you know that many technologists regard fiber optic Internet as the future. Fiber can deliver Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, marking a 100-fold improvement over today's household average. But now cable is poised to catch up with gigabit speeds of its own, and Comcast will be among the first to adopt the technology behind it.  Read full article »

The FCC just made it easier to complain about your cable company

The only problem with muttering angrily at your cat when your cable bill suddenly spikes is that it does nothing to lower your costs and the cat finds it amusing to see you froth at the mouth. But the Federal Communications Commission is here to try to help save both your sanity and your pride: Those federal regulators have rolled out a new way for the American public to let the agency quickly and easily know about everything from unfair cable bills to telephone service outages to offenses taken to Tom Brady's silent use of the F-word through a new online complaint center.  Read full article »

Elon Musk, gaming supernerd

Elon Musk has grand visions of colonizing Mars and building a corporate empire to stand the test of time. So perhaps it’s no surprise he counts Mass Effect and Civilization among his favorite video game franchises.  Read full article »

Bitcoin had a terrible 2014. And 2015 isn’t looking too hot either.

Last year was not kind to Bitcoin. And 2015 already looks as if it could be just as tough for the digital currency: Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp went offline this week as it investigated a security breach; bitcoin prices fell from about $320 at the beginning of the year to roughly $270 this week, according to industry site CoinDesk.  Read full article »

The Switchboard: Verizon might buy AOL

Published every weekday, the Switchboard is your morning helping of hand-picked stories from the Switch team.Verizon is said to approach AOL for possible takeover, venture. Bloomberg reports that Verizon is "primarily interested in AOL’s programmatic advertising technology -- the automated buying and selling of ads online -- which two people said could be paired with a future online-video product. With a takeover it would also gain Internet properties including the Huffington Post and subscribers who pay for Internet access."  Read full article »

Innovations: Who needs movie theaters anyway?

If there’s one positive result from the decision by Sony Pictures to release “The Interview” straight to video instead of exclusively in movie cinemas first, it’s that it has people once more talking about the future of cinema. That’s because “The Interview” got more streams than anyone expected (two million in the first four days) and made more money than anyone expected during the first weekend ($17.8 million), all while playing in a relatively limited number of independent cinemas.  Read full article »

Innovations: Why Americans should give drones a chance Today drones are generally illegal to operate commercially, and Americans are skeptical of them. An Associated Press poll found that only 21 percent of Americans favor commercial use of drones.But amid that bad rap, drones are quietly proving ways they can save taxpayers money, and help businesses serve their customers better.  Read full article »

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