Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Dutch mapping company TomTom have joined forces with The Linux Foundation to give Google a run for its money in the maps space with the launch of the Overture Maps Foundation to build interoperable open map data. “Mapping the physical environment and every community in the world, even as they grow and change, is a massively complex challenge that no one organization can manage,” Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin said. Overture’s mission is to create an extensible mapping framework that will enable companies to contribute their own data, constantly refreshing as the physical world changes. Continue reading Meta, Microsoft, AWS Want to Map the Future with Overture

Netflix is tooting its own horn for 10 years of Open Connect, an initiative designed to provide customers with improved technical performance. Since launching the program in 2012, Netflix has worked with global ISPs to optimize servers in high-density customer areas so programming will stream at high quality and with minimal lag time. Open Connect identifies the most efficient delivery route based on ISPs’ preferences, and ensures that the show or film is available on local servers ahead of time, ensuring access even when demand is at its highest, according to Netflix. Continue reading Netflix Open Connect Program Helps ISPs and All Networks

Japan, once the world’s top producer of computer chips, is seeking to regain its foothold in the manufacture of leading-edge semiconductors. Last month, a consortium of eight Japanese companies formed Rapidus, a foundry the Japanese government hopes will help get the nation on track for advanced chip manufacturing. IBM Research is joining forces with Rapidus, with plans to manufacture IBM’s 2nm technology in fabs that Rapidus is building in Japan, with output expected to commence in the latter half of the decade. Continue reading IBM Teams Up with Rapidus Foundry on Chip Manufacturing

Magazine reading app Flipboard is aiming to relocate some of the online discussion taking place on Twitter to its own platform. Users — which Flipboard calls “curators” — can “write new notes and start conversations” within their magazines, a move to give content creators “more ways to connect with their followers on Flipboard.” Now, curators who open any of the magazines they manage will find in the navigation bar a new “Create” icon they can click to create a note. “Use notes to write messages to your followers, ask them questions or even welcome new readers,” Flipboard suggests. Continue reading Magazine App Flipboard Makes a Push for Social Interactivity

Twitter has reintroduced its Twitter Blue paid subscription service, which will cost $11 a month for those using Apple mobile devices and $8 monthly for those who sign up using web browsers. The iOS premium compensates for the 30 percent initial fee Apple charges developers for subscriptions purchased through its App Store (which falls to 15 percent after a year). Twitter owner Elon Musk previously tweeted complaints about Apple’s pricing policy, which has also rankled other developers. Twitter Blue subscribers get access to features including editable tweets, upgraded video and a blue verification check mark. Continue reading Twitter Reboots Blue Subscription, Charges iOS Users More

Meta Platforms has shuttered its Connectivity division, which focused on areas including subsea cabling. The group’s functions will be divided among two other company units, Infrastructure and Central Products. Launched in 2013 as Facebook Connectivity, the business group developed connectivity technologies, concentrating on innovations like solar-powered drones, low-Earth orbit satellites and fiber-laying robots to expand the footprint of the company’s social platforms and other services. In 2021, it is estimated that more than 300 million people were able to access faster Internet services as a result of Meta Connectivity initiatives. Continue reading Meta Closes Its Connectivity Unit, Reassigns Responsibilities

DeepMind researchers have trained an AI to solve computer coding challenges as well as the average person. In a paper published last week in the journal Science, the group from Google’s AI division described how AlphaCode performed when pitted against human programmers, ranking in the top 54.3 percent in simulated tests, commensurate with “approximately human-level performance.” “This performance in competitions approximately corresponds to a novice programmer with a few months to a year of training,” according to Science, which says about half the humans who compete in coding contests could outperform the AI. Continue reading Deepmind’s AlphaCode AI Can Program Like Human Coders

For four days in Las Vegas, CES 2023 becomes the nucleus of global innovation. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner of CES, predicts a show significantly larger than CES 2022, emerging from two pandemic restricted years on January 5. The annual confab will open more than two million square feet of exhibit space with more than 2,400 exhibitors and the expectation of as many as 100,000 attendees, more than double the last show. ETC@USC will have its team in place, on the ground and online, to explore the show floor and over 175 sessions and keynotes. We’ll be reporting on the latest in AI, Web3, multiverses, image displays and other emerging CE tech impacting M&E. Continue reading CES 2023: What to Expect When the Show Opens in January

The House Judiciary Committee has approved the American Music Fairness Act, which would require broadcast radio stations to pay royalties to performance artists and musicians. Currently only songwriters and publishers get royalties for terrestrial radio play. The U.S. is unusual among developed nations in failing to provide a legal framework for performer compensation for songs played on-air — a vestigial artifact from the days when radio was a fledgling media and airplay was considered promotion for record sales. Newer media, including streaming and other subscription services, pays performance royalties. Continue reading Music Fairness Act to Secure Radio Payments for Performers

Amazon Studios has officially opened its 34,000-square-foot virtual production stage in Culver City, California. On hand for the Monday ribbon-cutting ceremony was director Reginald Hudlin, whose Eddie Murphy-starrer “Candy Cane Lane” will be the first feature to shoot there. Once the set for films including “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “RoboCop,” Stage 15 has undergone a transformation from its original 1940 configuration, now housing a wall of more than 3,000 LED panels as well as 100 motion capture cameras in what is LA’s largest virtual production stage. Continue reading Amazon Opens Stage 15: New LA Virtual Production Facility

Big Tech’s battle with news publishers has moved to the U.S. where Congress is considering legislation to help publishers collectively negotiate compensation from social media sites disseminating their copyrighted content. Meta Platforms reacted strongly to the bill, called the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. “If Congress passes an ill-considered journalism bill as part of national security legislation, we will be forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether rather than submit to government mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions,” the company tweeted. Continue reading Meta and Alphabet on the Frontlines of Big Tech News Battle

Amazon has announced a preview release of CodeCatalyst, a unified software development and delivery service that the company says enables software teams to plan, build and deliver applications on AWS with reduced friction throughout the development lifecycle. At AWS re:Invent 2022 in Las Vegas, Amazon VP and CTO Werner Vogels detailed how CodeCatalyst offers a “single place” where developers can collaborate to create an app on Amazon Web Services. CodeCatalyst is designed to make it simple to marshal resources and toggle between different application development environments, Vogels explained from the stage at his Thursday keynote. Continue reading CodeCatalyst Automatically Sets Up Developer Environments

Meta Platforms has been fined $275 million for violating European Union privacy rules, the result of a 2021 data leak that led to the online publication of personal information belonging to 500 million Facebook users. The penalty is the latest imposed on Meta by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which in September imposed a $400 million penalty on Instagram for mishandling children’s data. In October 2021, the same regulator fined Meta $235 million for violations by its WhatsApp messaging service. In total, Irish authorities have imposed penalties of more than $900 million on Meta in the past two years. Continue reading Ireland DPC Fines Meta $275 Million for Data Privacy Breach

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules prohibiting the U.S. sale of certain telecommunications and surveillance devices manufactured by Chinese companies. In a move to shore up national security, the move blocks equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk from receiving import authorization. In recent years, the government has taken various actions to secure the U.S. supply chain for communications equipment and services. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications,” FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. Continue reading FCC Adds Rules Blocking the Sale of Devices Made in China

Intel is shaking up the business model for computer chips, debuting Intel On Demand, a software-defined silicon (SDSi) service designed to get customers to pay to enable features built into future Xeon server processors. The move signals a major change in how computer chips are marketed and could increase flexibility in how organizations configure their infrastructure. While Intel hasn’t indicated whether SDSi will be mandatory for users buying next-gen Xeons, the concept has created some concern among IT professionals, many of whom view it as charging extra for features that are already hardwired into the silicon. Continue reading New Chip Licensing Model Introduced with ‘Intel On Demand’