Time Warner Cable fights against municipal broadband by giving lawmakers a vacation
As I have written about in the past, cities around the country are so fed up with their current broadband situation that they are left to either begging Google Fiber to come to their city or starting the process of building their own municipal broadband network.
Rather than increasing speeds or lowering prices, incumbent broadband providers have instead turned towards trying to outlaw municipal broadband networks through increased political contributions. In some cases, lobbyists for the broadband providers actually have written the language found in proposed anti-municipal broadband laws. No, really.
But in Maine, we have a state with maybe the worst broadband situation in the country. According to some rankings, Maine is dead last or near dead last in terms of broadband speeds. Several cities in Maine responded to their lack of current broadband competition by formulating plans to start their own municipal broadband network.
How did Time Warner Cable respond to this plan? As the Portland Press Herald notes, Time Warner Cable hosted Maine lawmakers at a resort by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. At this meeting, Time Warner Cable “tried to convince legislators that government owned-broadband is a bad idea.”
Just as the legislative session was starting in January, Time Warner invited Maine lawmakers to an overnight “Winter Policy Conference” at a resort in Cape Elizabeth, where the company tried to convince legislators that government owned-broadband is a bad idea. The guests were served steak dinners and some were put up for the night in rooms that retail for $205 to $355 per night. – Portland Press Herald
Essentially, they are trying to influence lawmakers behind closed doors. What makes this even more unbelievable is that some of the lawmakers tried to pass off this trip as an “educational forum” about Maine’s broadband situation. It was educational enough for Time Warner Cable to also pay for any lawmakers “partners or spouses.”
But what exactly were they told?
Attendees were given a presentation by two New York legal scholars who asserted that, contrary to what the legislators might think, government-operated networks are neither necessary nor a good public investment. They were also given a presentation by pollster Mary Anne Fitzgerald on a Time Warner-commissioned survey. State Rep. Sarah Gideon, D- Freeport, who attended only Friday’s session, was skeptical of the survey’s section on broadband because some the questions were “leading.” – Portland Press Herald
This isn’t the first time that Time Warner Cable bribed hosted Maine lawmakers to starve off municipal broadband plans. In 2013, Time Warner Cable hosted a similar event. Additionally, since 2008, Time Warner has donated more than $240,000 to Maine politicians.
In Kansas, Time Warner Cable (along with Cox Communications and others) put forward a proposal to impose the strictest municipal broadband bans in the country if a city/area was already served. The bill was even nice enough to make sure that anyone with the slightest cellular connection was deemed “served.”
But at the end of the day, do customers really want faster broadband speeds? Shouldn’t we listen to Time Warner Cable who has publicly told cities like Louisville, KY, that the resident didn’t “need” faster speeds even though the city was begging other telecom companies to come to their area? Time Warner Cable has even reminded us that nobody really wants Google Fiber.
Verizon will discount most More Everything plans by $10 starting Thursday
Verizon will debut new discounts to the majority of More Everything plans beginning Thursday, February 5th. The carrier is also adding a few more data tiers, including 6GB, 8GB, 12GB, 14GB and 16GB options. These new plans will additionally allow some users to save up to $25 on Verizon’s Edge plan. The new data plans are as follows:
- 500MB of data – $20
- 1GB of data – $30 (previous price: $40)
- 2GB of data – $40 (previous price: $50)
- 3GB of data – $50 (previous price: $60)
- 4GB of data – $60 (previous price: $70)
- (NEW) 6GB of data – $70
- (NEW) 8GB of data – $85
- 10GB of data – $100 (previous promotional price: $80)
- (NEW) 12GB of data – $110
- (NEW) 14GB of data – $120
- (NEW) 16GB of data – $130
- 20GB of data – $140 (previous price: $150)
On top of seeing $10 discounts across the board, users can also save some cash if they choose to take advantage of Verizon Edge. Customers that choose lower data tiers (between 500MB and 4GB per month) will receive a $15 discount on Verizon Edge. Anybody with a data tier above that (between 6GB and 20GB per month) will receive a $25 discount.
If you’re on one of these plans currently, you don’t have to do anything. Verizon will automatically discount your plan starting Thursday. If one of the new data tiers interests you, head to the My Verizon site or call customer service to change your plan. The carrier says that these changes will be available for a limited time, though they didn’t give an end date for the promotion.
Asus launches the low-cost ZenFone C in Taiwan
Asus has just announced that the budget-friendly ZenFone C is making its way to Taiwan. While this new device doesn’t have the best specifications on the market (even for the low end), it should be a decent option for folks who don’t want to break the bank.
The ZenFone C has a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with 480 x 854 resolution and a pixel density of 218ppi. It also comes with a dual-core 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2520 processor backed by 1GB of RAM, a 5MP rear-facing camera, a VGA front-facing camera, a 2100mAh battery and ships with Android 4.4 KitKat. The ZenFone C also comes with only 8GB of internal storage though it supports MicroSD card expansion up to 64GB. This is a relatively small device, measuring 136.5 x 67 x 10.9 mm and weighing only 149g. The device is only 3G compatible, but that’s par for the course for sub-$100 devices. The best part? It will launch for NT$2,990 (~$95 US).
For anyone who lives in Taiwan, this seems like a decent option if you’re looking for a cheap Android device. Like I said, the ZenFone C isn’t the best option out there. But Asus has been known to put out some great hardware, even on their low-end devices. Head to Asus’ website for more information on the ZenFone C.
Alleged images of the Galaxy S6 show off metal frame in new leak
As is the case with every year, we’ve heard our fair share of rumors regarding the next-gen Galaxy S. Among others, we’ve heard that Samsung is starting from square one in terms of design and build quality, largely due to the company’s massive decline in Galaxy S5 sales. A few rumors have popped up regarding the Galaxy S6’s hardware, but nothing too substantial quite yet. However, a new leak from today has allegedly outed pictures of the Galaxy S6’s metal frame. Take a look at the photos below for a closer look.
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The alleged photos reveal some new information that we haven’t seen yet: the button layout. As you can see from the photos, the MicroUSB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker and what looks like a microphone cutout are placed at the bottom. The right side looks to feature the power/standby key and SIM card slot. On the left side, we’re seeing a volume rocker, and the top has cutouts for the antennas and what could possibly be an IR blaster. Other rumors suggest that the S6 will feature a 5.5-inch AMOLED 1080p display, a 20MP camera, and even significantly less bloatware when it comes to the software.
Furthermore, Samsung has just released a teaser image for their Unpacked event slated for March 1st. The teaser image shows what looks to be a curved display, much like we’ve seen on the Galaxy Note Edge.
We need to remember that these images, and basically everything in this post, are just rumors for now. If you’re interested in more Galaxy S6 rumors, head to our rumor roundup. So, what do you think? Could this be the Galaxy S6? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
iPhone Keyboard Maker ‘Typo’ Ordered to Pay BlackBerry $860,000
Typo Products, a company that developed a BlackBerry-esque keyboard case for the iPhone, must pay BlackBerry $860,000 for continuing to sell its Typo case despite being ordered to cease sales in March.
The Typo keyboard was first announced in December of 2013 and was backed by media personality Ryan Seacrest (of American Idol fame). Seacrest reportedly invested $1 million into the product, which was the result of a desire to introduce a physical keyboard for the iPhone.
According to Seacrest and his partner Lauren Hallier, they saw many of their friends carrying two phones — one for typing and correspondence, presumably a Blackberry, and an iPhone for everything else. The keyboard that the duo developed, which snapped onto an iPhone, bore a marked resemblance to BlackBerry’s signature keyboards, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the company.
Original Typo iPhone case next to the BlackBerry Q10
Just a month after the Typo keyboard was announced, BlackBerry filed a lawsuit accusing Typo Products of “blatantly” copying the BlackBerry keyboard and infringing on BlackBerry patents. A judge agreed with BlackBerry, handing down the aforementioned injunction that banned the Typo from selling its keyboards, despite Typo’s argument that it was not harming BlackBerry as BlackBerry was already losing market share.
Typo ignored the injunction and continued selling its Typo keyboard cases, leading BlackBerry to file a contempt of court order in August, which resulted in today’s $860,000 fine. BlackBerry had initially asked for $2.6 million in penalties, plus attorneys’ fees for the violation.
In addition to continuing to sell the original keyboard case, Typo Products introduced the Typo2 keyboard for the iPhone 6 in December of 2014, which it says does not infringe on any BlackBerry patents. Typo2 features a sleeker design with a built-in keyboard that unfortunately blocks the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 6. Typo’s website currently sells Typo2 keyboards for both the iPhone 5/5s and the iPhone 6.
Typo2 for iPhone 6
In response to the fine levied against it, a Typo representative told Re/code that the ruling is “part of the ongoing patent litigation related to the initial Typo product” and that it “has no impact on the Typo 2.” A BlackBerry representative only had this to say: “The court’s order speaks for itself.”
LG G4 gets a step closer to launch thanks to WiFi certification
Specifically, the certification was for the codenamed LG-H811, which may not be the regular G4 but a variant such as the G4 Stylus. The certification does add that this device runs Lollipop, so it could be LG’s flagship after all.
Mobile World Congress is set to happen next month from March 2 to March 5. It should not be long before we can expect some announcements of flagships.
Source: Talk Android
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Under Armour buying Endomondo and MyFitnessPal
Sports apparel company Under Armour has announced plans to acquire two leading fitness-themed apps: Endomondo and MyFitnessPal. The two deals, which are scheduled to close before the end of the first quarter of 2015, will cost Under Armour a total of $560 million, with $475 million to acquire MyFitnessPal, and another $85 million for Endomondo.
Apple’s Beats Music service will be offered on Android
After acquiring Beats, it wasn’t clear what Apple was going to do with the company or its music service and technology. So far, Apple hasn’t ditched iTunes Radio, and all we’ve seen is Apple promoting Beats apps and headphones. That looks like it’ll change this year with Apple finally unveiling a service to compete with Spotify and Play Music.
The app in question will reportedly use a blend of Beats Music playlist and mood suggestions and personal library building backed by Apple’s enormous iTunes catalog. Users can pick out specific songs to stream, so long as it’s offered by Beats or iTunes, and you’ll be able to add those songs to your digital library like we’ve seen with Spotify and All Access.
The service is still being worked on and we likely won’t see a launch until later this year, and those close to the matter say we’ll probably see a subscription fee of less than 10 dollars, similar to All Access when it launched.
Interestingly, the service will be made available for Android, marking the first time Apple has released any of its software on an Android device. The app will stick to Apple’s design language, so don’t expect Material Design themes, but if you like the aesthetics of Apple’s applications, you’ll likely appreciate this new service.
The app won’t be made available online or on Windows Phone in contrast to what Beats Music offers now, so it looks like it’s going strictly iOS and Android.
Source: 9 to 5 Mac
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The casual consumer’s misunderstanding of Android
Google designed Android to be a simple experience, but if you were new to the platform, you probably wouldn’t know that. When most manufacturers produce a new Android-based smartphone, it’s typically Google’s software buried under a layer of homegrown gunk. This includes pre-loaded applications and a replacement UI often referred to as a “skin.”
Software like Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense are among some of the more popular third-party interfaces used with Android, but there are countless others. And while some of the best Android-powered devices on the market use manufacturer-built software, there’s a nasty consequence that comes with this practice. Due to the popularity of gadgets like Samsung’s Galaxy Note product line and HTC’s One series, some casual tech fans are under the impression that these third-party developed interfaces are coming straight from Google.
Google designed Android to be a simple experience, but if you were new to the platform, you probably wouldn’t know that.
If you’re an Android enthusiast, this might be shocking, but rest assured, it’s true. After years of being a dedicated iPhone user, my uncle recently decided to give Google’s mobile operating system a shot. He ended up buying an LG G3 and while he was impressed by the phone’s potent hardware, its software was a completely different story. He told me it had “too much going on” and asked why Google made it that way? And then it hit me. He actually thought that Google designed LG’s skinned version of Android. After physically showing him the difference between stock Android and third-party UIs, I realized that a high number of casual smartphone and tablet users probably shared the same beliefs.
This is definitely a problem and it could possibly be hurting Android’s progress as a platform. Don’t believe me? Let’s talk about it for a bit.
First Impressions
Not everyone is a tech expert looking for quad-core processors and extra gigabytes of RAM. Some people simply want an affordable device and often settle for budget-friendly mid-range gear. This already places them at a slight disadvantage when using Android for the first time, because they’re most likely getting a subpar experience with outdated core software. On top of that, if someone buys a handset made by a company like Samsung and doesn’t enjoy TouchWiz; it could quite possibly impact their opinion of Android as a whole.
This issue doesn’t just stop at cheap bargain bin devices either. Third-party UIs also have an impact on high-end gadgets as well. Think about it. How many times has one of your not so tech savvy friends asked you about a new flagship Android phone? If they’re coming from a fairly uniform platform like iOS or even BlackBerry OS, odds are they’ll expect a similar experience. Unfortunately, this is what happened with my uncle and after a few months, it sent him running back to an iPhone.
Why do Android Skins Exist in the First Place?
Remember, Android is a simple operating system at its core. Google designed it to be open and developer-friendly, so it was literally built to be tinkered with from day one. And with an almost innumerable number of hardware partners across the globe, Android is a highly competitive platform.
Manufacturers often go too far and we end up getting phones and tablets with remarkable hardware, weighed down by clunky software.
In addition to designing devices with unique form factors, equipment manufacturers add homemade software and hardware features to their products in order to stand out. Just imagine the exact same phones being released over and over again every few weeks. A world without third-party UIs would be loaded with this type of cycle. Globally recognized firms such as Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, Motorola and Xiaomi are all competing for relevance in a very crowded space. On paper, the addition of exclusive software is a practical way to offer an improved user experience. Sadly, however, manufacturers often go too far and we end up getting phones and tablets with remarkable hardware, weighed down by clunky software.
A Possible Solution
Despite the fact that countless mobile devices ship with skinned versions of Android, some companies actually do release products with stock software. However, these handsets and tablets are typically launched under Google’s Nexus product line. When producing new Nexus equipment, Google collaborates with a third-party manufacturer, but oversees the device’s design, development and future support. This often results in faster system updates, superior hardware performance and a reduced software footprint.
Nexus phones and tablets are typically released each year, but sadly they’re almost advertised like any other third-party flagship device, if not less. This could possibly be vanilla Android’s biggest missed opportunity.
In order to help average Joes understand the difference between stock Android and replacement UIs, Google needs to tweak its marketing
In order to help average Joes understand the difference between stock Android and replacement UIs, Google needs to tweak its marketing. The search giant has produced some great ad campaigns over the years, however it really should drive home the fact that its Nexus gear runs pure Android. The company should do all it can to stress that this is the best its mobile operating system has to offer and be sure to let consumers know why. In addition to talking up its in-house software, Google could use this new sales pitch to discuss what its partners bring to the table.
Manufacturer developed software enhancements actually aren’t all bad. In fact, some phones like the Moto X offer a near-stock Android experience paired with a few nifty extras. The idea here isn’t about steering new users towards one direction over another. It’s about helping Joe Q. Public understand the advantages that come with using Android and how the platform has an almost limitless number of possibilities.
Final Thoughts
Google’s mobile OS may have the biggest slice of the smartphone pie, but there’s always room for improvement. While most hardcore tech enthusiasts consider third-party Android UIs an abomination, these sentiments actually only come from a small group of purists. Like my uncle, most consumers don’t even know what version of Android their smartphone is running, let alone if it’s stock or not.
A possible remedy for this situation could be Google releasing multiple Nexus devices throughout the year, or the company working with its partners to produce more hardware loaded with stock software. Until then, the folks in Mountain View will have to settle for a large number of potential customers thinking all Android-powered devices run TouchWiz or Sense.
Verizon Announces New Promotions Beginning Thursday, Feb 5
Verizon has announced a few new promotions in a press release providing a way for new and existing customers to save and experience the More Everything plans.
Promotion #1: Starting on Thursday, 5 February, 2015 for customers that currently have 1GB to 3GB of data on their plans, an additional 1GB of data will be added for the same price. Verizon will offer a new data plan of 6GB for $70.
Promotion #2: For customers choosing the 6GB data plan or higher, they are eligible to add smartphones on Verizon Edge for $15/month with a $25 discount per line. In other words, with a Verizon Edge plan that has two smartphones and 6GB of data would be $100.
Promotion #3: For a limited time, for any new customers that switch and port their number over from another carrier will receive a one-time credit of $100 per line. New customers must activate their new Verizon smartphone with the Edge program.
Finally, Verizon is also announcing the option to add 12GB, 14GB, and 16GB to its plan for those who eat up a lot of data. It’s great for those that constantly stream movies, videos, sports, and share large files.
Source – VerizonWireless
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