Google has requested permission from the FCC to test a new “entertainment device” in the homes of some of its employees in four cities over the next six months.
According to an FCC application Google submitted in December, the device would be Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled.
Google asked to test 252 devices between mid-January and July in Mountain View, CA; Cambridge, MA; New York and Los Angeles.
“While details of what the actual device is aren’t included in the application, it almost certainly has something to do with Google TV,” reports VentureBeat. “Using the data transfer process described in the application, the device could be a way for people to grab video content from the Internet and distribute it to all the other mobile devices.”
The posts includes the full description from the FCC application.
“Skype for Windows version 5.8 is out, bringing several interesting features, including full HD video-calling, group screen sharing and Facebook integration,” reports Mashable
The new video calling functionality for Facebook works even with social networkers who don’t use Skype. According to the post: “To start a video call with a Facebook buddy, select the person in your list and click ‘video call.'”
Group screen sharing is available with Skype Premium and allows users to share their screen or an application window with others on a conference call.
Also new: full HD video calls, a push-to-talk hotkey, the ability to hide offline Facebook contacts and Bing toolbar integration. Additionally, the new version claims to address several bugs, “including the one that prevented you from adding a phone number to a group which belonged to a Facebook contact.”
Just three days before the Super Bowl, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down more than 300 websites that illegally live stream sports telecasts and allegedly sell counterfeit sports merchandise.
Sixteen of the sites reportedly provided links to pirated versions of live and PPV events for the NFL, NBA, NHL and World Wrestling Entertainment.
“Sports fans may be tempted by illegal streaming websites, but in the end, it is they who pay the price,” explained Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “These websites and their operators deprive sports leagues and networks of legitimate revenue, forcing spectators and viewers to bear the cost of this piracy down the line.”
“The sweeping crackdown, part of an effort dubbed ‘Operation Fake Sweep’ that launched in October, was coordinated with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations team,” reports POLITICO Pro.
A similar operation shut down the domains of 10 sites prior to last year’s Super Bowl, but some of the sites reappeared using new Web addresses.
Based on Internet interviews with 7,000 participants, Centris Research suggests that 21 percent of pay TV subscribers plan to make changes in their current services.
About 10 percent say they want to reduce their monthly bills, 8 percent plan to switch providers and 3 percent plan to cancel their service.
The availability of Internet-based video streaming services is steering the decisions of only 10 percent of those who plan changes.
“It is Centris’ view that defending market share will become increasingly difficult for pay TV providers with increased levels of competition and new over-the-top viewing options,” said Centris president Bill Beaumont. “Enhanced pricing and bundling strategies, as well as effective use of elasticity programs, will need to be deployed to successfully compete.”
Asus plans to unveil a redesigned PadFone tablet and phone combo later this month at Mobile World Congress in Spain.
The new device “is essentially a 10.1-inch tablet that has a slot for a 4.3-inch Asus smartphone to plug into it,” explains Digital Trends. “The processor, which is rumored to be a new Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, and other components all come from the phone.”
It will run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and will have the option of connecting to the Asus Transformer Prime keyboard dock.
“The real question here is how cheap it’s all going to be,” suggests the post. “The PadFone is already somewhat expensive since you have to buy the phone and the tablet to really make use of it. If the phone costs $200-$300 (and hopefully it has LTE), then we can’t imagine people wanting to pay more than $100-$150 for the dock.”
Nicira claims its network virtualization platform (NVP) can create virtual networks in minutes, rather than days or weeks. The concept is similar to creating multiple virtual machines on a single PC.
These NVPs are software-based, do not require any additional hardware and can run on any existing network hardware. The only requirement is IP connectivity.
“On Monday the company is officially taking the wraps off its plans,” reports AllThingsD. “Nicira — which I’m told is pronounced like ‘nice era’ — aims to be the vendor of a new networking technology that’s built specifically for the age of cloud computing.”
AT&T, eBay, Fidelity Investments, Rackspace and NTT are already using Nicira. NTT reportedly used it to switch 10,000 virtual machines to other data centers to deal with blackouts that have occurred since last year’s earthquake.
A virtual network would have the potential to significantly impact current network vendors like Cisco, Juniper and HP.
We may soon see a 7-inch Linux-based slate built around open-source software, possibly making it a viable alternative for developers and users who want something different than proprietary software.
“Announced by leading KDE hacker Aaron Seigo on his blog, it’s called the Spark, and it uses the community-driven spin-off of MeeGo called Mer as its OS, with KDE’s cool Plasma Active user interface over the top,” reports Digital Trends.
It’s expected to sell for about $260 and feature a 1Ghz ARM processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory.
“It’s obviously not for everyone, but if you want an open device loaded with free software, that’s yours to do whatever you like with, then it’s likely to be exactly what you’re after,” suggests the post. “The Spark’s bootloader isn’t locked, so you’re free to install any alternative operating system and any apps too.”
Harris Interactive reports that nearly 60 percent of mobile users will be looking to their phones while they watch the Super Bowl this weekend.
Second screen usage is expected to increase, as 80 percent of those surveyed said they would use their mobile devices more than or as much as they did during last year’s game.
“The results suggest that the two-screen viewing phenomenon could undercut the multimillion TV campaigns advertisers are rolling out for the big game,” reports MediaPost.
“Per the survey, people who plan to use their phones during the game are twice as likely to do so during commercial breaks as opposed to game play.”
Pepsi, Subway, GoDaddy.com and Chevrolet will offer apps tailored to the game, including related content, social sharing, contests and more.
“Shazam has said that nearly a third of Super Bowl spots will allow viewers to unlock special content and offers during commercials by using the Shazam app,” adds the article.
Now that the Facebook IPO has revealed that game publisher, Zynga, generates 12 percent of its revenue, it is not surprising to discover that Google also has big plans to use social games to build its Google+ user base.
Google’s plans call for a multiplatform approach, which allows developers to build games that run on Google+, Chrome and Android.
Moreover, Google is offering game publishers 95 percent of revenues from virtual goods compared to the 70 percent that Facebook offers.
That said, Google is starting with only 36 games. But it has scored some game exclusives encouraged by Google’s marketing assistance.
“We are a start-up platform,” explains Punit Soni, who runs games and mobile for Google+. “We are humble and know our flaws. As we grow, you’ll see new things. My work has barely started.”
Ray William Johnson is YouTube’s biggest star. Five million viewers watch his show twice a week.
“Known as RayWJ, the 30-year-old has morphed into an idol of the teen set at home and abroad by ranting about others’ viral YouTube videos on subjects ranging from a hippopotamus defecating to people who staple the heads of co-workers,” explains the Wall Street Journal.
YouTube often attracts more viewers than traditional TV networks these days. According to comScore, the video site draws more than 780 million unique visitors every month. Of course, the audience is “fragmented among 30,000 channels and millions of videos,” points out WSJ.
“This is a microcosm of what’s going on in the overall media landscape. We’re moving from a scaled mass media to a more hyper-local, niche media,” explains David Cohen of media-buying agency Universal McCann.
RayWJ’s 1.5 billion views reportedly earn him an estimated $1 million a year from YouTube’s Partner Program. He also sells his own merchandise and mobile apps.
“A Google spokeswoman says that ‘several hundred’ of its partners made more than $100,000 in 2011, up 80 percent from the ‘couple of hundred’ partners who made more than that in 2010,” reports WSJ, suggesting this may be the start of a larger shift in media consumption.
According to a study by the content sharing company Shareaholic, Palo Alto-based start-up Pinterest now drives more referral traffic on the Web than Google+, YouTube, Reddit, and LinkedIn combined.
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows users to collect and share photos online, and it has rapidly gained ground over the last year.
The company accounted for 3.6 percent of referrals in January, just behind Twitter at 3.61 percent.
Facebook came in first, responsible for 26.4 percent of all referral traffic in January. StumbleUpon held a distant second with 5.07 percent.
The link includes Shareaholic’s study results, including Google and other top companies’ referral traffic percentages.
The popular Square credit card readers are coming to select retail outlets, enabling mobile transactions at stores equipped with T-Mobile smartphones.
In an effort to help small businesses, the company hopes the readers will especially help cash-only businesses.
“This easy-to-use solution, paired with T-Mobile’s affordable small business plans, aggregated business applications, equipment financing and trade-in services, and in-store support, allows small businesses to maximize their wireless investment and transform their business,” the press release states.
The announcement makes T-Mobile the first wireless carrier to offer Square credit card readers in stores.
Sony announced on Wednesday that video game exec Kazuo Hirai will become the company’s new president and CEO.
Hirai, credited with the turnaround of Sony’s PlayStation business, was selected in a rare unanimous vote by the Sony board “in a bid to regain some of [Sony’s] magic,” reports The New York Times.
Howard Stringer, chief exec of Sony since 2005, will become chairman of the board on April 1, the company explained in a statement.
“As challenging as times are for Sony now, were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position,” Hirai said in a statement. “The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses.”
The article points out that Hirai is taking the helm at a difficult moment in history as the company faces the global economic crisis, a Japanese recession, disrupted production due to recent natural disasters and a rapidly evolving consumer electronics industry.
Earlier this week Google created an official Google+ page for Android developers to connect and share ideas.
Within a few hours of the launch, the page had nearly 7,000 followers. Google hopes the page will facilitate discussions about new developer tools, SDKs, and training material.
“If you like Android and want to learn more about developing your own apps and software for the platform, this will be a great place to start. The page will also host Google+ Hangouts and will allow the developers to share video and pictures from developer events all around the world,” reports SlashGear.
“It’s no surprise that Google would roll out this sort of page for Android developers,” adds the post. “This is the sort of thing Google+ was meant for.”
Google sent a 13-page letter to several members of Congress, standing firm behind its changes to Google privacy policies.
The company said the changes are intended to “make [the privacy policies] simpler and more understandable, and to improve the user experience across Google.”
According to the letter, Google is not collecting any additional data about individuals and users’ existing settings will not be affected.
“If a user is signed in, she can still edit or turn off her search history, switch Gmail chat to ‘off the record,’ control the way Google tailors ads to her interests using our Ads Preferences Manager, use Incognito mode on Chrome, or use any of the other privacy tools we offer,” explains the letter.
Google’s letter comes in response to representatives’ concerns about consumers inability to opt out of data collection.
