Unicorn epidemic portends wild ride for startups

YouTube dumps Flash for HTML5 Mayors of Boston, Seattle, KC, others: No more muni broadband restrictions, please

TechBrief January 30, 2015 Unicorn epidemic portends wild ride for startups In perhaps another sign of an overheated tech economy, the Unicorn Club -- which consists of tech startups valued at more than $1 billion -- has become so crowded they've formed a new club for "decacorns," or companies with valuations exceeding $10 billion. Currently, more than 80 tech startups make the cut for the Unicorn Club, but the A-list of companies soaring to the stratosphere, as assembled by Fortune, contains only eight -- for now. Also read: 12 most eye-popping VC tech deals of 2014  And: Internet venture funding hits a post-2000 record last year READ MORE   Issue highlights 1. YouTube dumps Flash for HTML5 2. Mayors of Boston, Seattle, KC, others: No more muni broadband restrictions, please 3. FCC redefines advanced broadband as 25Mbps, Republicans blow a gasket 4. Scientists say AI fears unfounded, could hinder tech advances White Paper: Hughes Network Systems, LLC The Enterprise Network Enables Business Innovation Customer engagement, internal collaboration, and the emergence of digital products and services all rely on a quality network infrastructure. As a result, the enterprise network no longer functions as a commodity but becomes a key function for success in the age of the customer. LEARN MORE YouTube dumps Flash for HTML5 In a blow to proprietary rich Internet plug-ins, YouTube, which had been a stalwart supporter of Adobe’s Flash plug-in technology, revealed this week that it now defaults to the HTML5 tag. The move shows HTML5's continued march toward Web dominance. Also read: HTML5 finally reaches official status READ MORE Mayors of Boston, Seattle, KC, others: No more muni broadband restrictions, please A group of 38 mayors and other elected officials from cities like Boston, Seattle, and Kansas City Thursday urged the FCC to strike down state laws that restrict the development of public high-speed Internet services and allow municipal networks to flourish. In an open letter to the FCC commissioners, the Next Century Cities group emphasized the importance of universal access to high-speed Internet services. Also read: Think local: The struggle for municipal broadband And: Broadband bullies: Cable companies, lawmakers gang up on local providersREAD MORE White Paper: Hughes Network Systems, LLC Why Is a Cloud Enabled WAN Important? The explosion of new types and volumes of data, and demands for 360° visibility and near real-time accuracy is changing the nature of retail computing. But IT shops continue to face a number of challenges to deliver service levels in the face of exploding demand. LEARN MORE FCC redefines advanced broadband as 25Mbps, Republicans blow a gasket The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has redefined advanced broadband as having 25Mbps download speeds, up from 4Mbps, giving the agency new authority to pass rules to encourage deployment across the country. The FCC, in a 3-2 party-line vote Thursday, also determined that this newly defined advanced broadband wasn't being rolled out in a timely manner across the U.S. The agency released a notice of inquiry asking how it can accelerate broadband deployment, but didn't offer concrete plans on how it will proceed. Also read: 'Extortion' claims fly, and telecom double-talk hits new heightsREAD MORE Scientists say AI fears unfounded, could hinder tech advances Artificial intelligence research -- for at least the foreseeable future -- is going to help humans, not harm them.However, fears about artificial intelligence (AI) and the development of smart robots that have made headlines recently could slow research into an important technology. Also read: Stephen Hawking says AI could 'end human race' READ MORE : Hughes Network Systems, LLC Leverage New Cloud Applications BevMo! needed a network provider that could support their strategic move to the Cloud for many of its backoffice applications. In order to deliver “The BevMo! Experience,” BevMo! turned to Hughes to deliver a network with optimal performance, strong security, and high reliability. LEARN MORE