Net neutrality expert Tim Wu joins New York attorney general’s office
After running for lieutenant governor and serving as a special adviser to the Federal Trade Commission, the man who coined the term “net neutrality” has a new gig. Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, will take a sabbatical to join the New York attorney general’s office as senior lawyer and special adviser to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Wu will work on matters of consumer protection and fair competition when it comes to technology. More specifically, issues facing companies that do business over the internet. “If I have a life mission, it is to fight bullies,” Wu said in an interview. During his tenure, Schneiderman has dealt with issues concerning internet-based companies like Airbnb and Lyft in addition to advocating for stronger anti-theft features on smartphones.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig]
Filed under:
Internet
Via:
Boing Boing
Source:
New York Times
Tags: attorneygeneral, consumerprotection, faircompetition, newyork, ny, timwu
Russia finds that Google is abusing its mobile dominance
Remember how Russian search firm Yandex claimed that Google was abusing its lead in mobile by making Android phone makers pre-install some Google apps, and precluding some third-party apps? Well, Russia agrees. The country’s anti-monopoly regulator has determined that Google’s app policy violates national competition law. The exact penalty won’t be decided until sometime after September 28th, but Google will at least have to alter its approach to apps. It may also have to cough up as much as 15 percent of its Russian revenue from 2014.
Google’s Russian branch is declining to comment on the decision, but it’s hard to imagine that the internet giant will simply accept the outcome and move on. If it does, it may have to let phone designers install more competing apps (such as Yandex’s search app and store) on devices that support Google Play, and allow more prominent positions for those third-party titles. Those changes would undoubtedly cut into Google’s bottom line — it’s not going to make much money from search ads or Play purchases if the relevant software stays buried in your app drawer. Not every country shares Russia’s views on Google’s market position, but it’s a large enough nation to deal a serious blow.
Filed under:
Internet, Mobile, Google
Source:
Reuters (Yahoo)
Tags: alphabet, android, antitrust, google, internet, mobilepostcross, monopoly, regulation, russia, search, smartphone, yandex
Sony Xperia Z5 showcased in “Made for Bond” promo
Thanks to Sony Pictures, it is pretty much a given that Sony devices will always find their way into Bond movies and advertising. In the latest cross-promotional video, we see Miss Moneypenny sent to pick up James Bond’s new smartphone, the Sony Xperia Z5. Along the way, she is pursued by some bad guys and utilizes Sony tech to evade them. In addition to the Z5, the new Sony RX100 IV camera is also seen in the video, and the ad itself was shot with Sony’s F65 Pro 4K cinema camera.
In homage to the upcoming Bond Movie “Spectre”, the Xperia Z5 is shown with the time of 07:00 and with the date of Friday, November 6th — the movie’s launch date in the US.
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While the tie-in with Bond is a great way to advertise Sony’s latest flagship, it always feels like the company could take things a lot further than they do. After all, marketing and availability are probably the two biggest weaknesses for Sony phones in the US.
What do you think of the latest ad? And of the Sony Xperia Z5 in general? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[Deal] Accessory Power’s Bluetooth FM transmitter is available for $35
Now is the time for you to get Accessory Power’s Bluetooth FM transmitter at an awesome price. Along with free shipping and a three-year warranty, the FlexSMART X2 can be had for $35. Quite the price for an accessory that allows you to listen to the radio, make calls with the built-in microphone, control music, and charge devices simultaneously.
The current price of the item is $45; however, using promo code FLXDEAL1 brings it down by $10.
[Amazon]
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Accessory Power’s Bluetooth FM transmitter is available for $35
BlackBerry’s ‘Venice’ caught roaming the streets of Toronto
Currently, the Toronto Film Festival is being held in Canada. Now through September 20, upcoming films are showcased prior to a larger release this year and next. But perhaps more interesting is that a phone from Canada’s most popular hardware manufacturer made multiple appearances.
That’s right, people spotted BlackBerry’s upcoming ‘Venice’ phone at the Toronto Film Festival.
The image above, provided by BerryFlow, shows what looks to be Google’s Messenger app running on the handset. What we cannot see is the physical keyboard that Venice has. As we all know, BlackBerry is known for sticking with physical keyboards to maximize productivity. Venice’s physical keyboard will actually be housed behind the display and slide out from the bottom when needed.
Alleged specifications:
- 5.4-inch Quad HD (2560×1440) display with curved edges
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor
- 3GB of RAM
- 18MP rear camera with optical image stabilization and dual-LED flash
BlackBerry’s Venice will reportedly be available through Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint in November. Although Android 5.0 Lollipop will be at its core, BlackBerry is definitely going to make adjustments to Venice’s software to provide a unique experience. Just how many elements of the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system are coming over is unknown, but we can assume that similarities will exist.
Via: BlackBerryOS
Come comment on this article: BlackBerry’s ‘Venice’ caught roaming the streets of Toronto
Rumor: Google to offer extended warranties for Nexus devices?
Insurance for your phones can be a challenge. Carriers offer insurance, but at at around $10 a month, plus a deductible when you make a claim, it can be almost the same price as buying a new phone. You can buy a cheaper option from a company like SquareTrade or if you’re an Apple device owner you can get AppleCare+ from Apple themselves.
Now it looks like Google is getting into the warranty game too.
Our friends over at AndroidPolice have discovered references to “Nexus Protect” in the page source on Google’s device pages. The exact toast message shows up as this:
“You can’t add this phone unless it has the same Nexus Protect choice as other phones in your cart. You can update your choice or purchase this phone in your next order.“
The assumption we’re going to make is that Nexus Protect is an AppleCare type product. Currently AppleCare+ for iPhone 6 and earlier models offers you two years of hardware coverage, support and up to two “incidents” claims (with a $79 deductible).
We have no concrete evidence of what Nexus Protect will offer, but we hope it’s in the same range as Apple’s services where you can swap out a broken phone for a nominal fee. HTC recently released Uh Oh protection where they’ll swap out your HTC One M9 in the first year no questions asked, so it looks like this is a growing trend.
We expect to see two new Nexus devices in the coming months so it seems like that would be a logical time to launch such a program.
Source: AndroidPolice
The post Rumor: Google to offer extended warranties for Nexus devices? appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Is Twitter down for you right now?
On Monday afternoon, users around the world began noticing that Twitter is experiencing technical difficulties. The web version of Twitter displays a page with the message seen above. Mobile users, though, are seeing spotty performance. Users on phones and tablets are split between using Twitter’s services like usual and not being able to do anything at all.
The social networking site has not yet commented on the outage.
Developing…
Come comment on this article: Is Twitter down for you right now?
LG sends out invites for October 1st event
LG has begun sending out invites for an event on October 1st. The invite features a film reel and a slateboard asking you to save the date for October 1st in New York. Generally companies try to tie in some sort of element from their presentation into invite but we’ve seen no leaks having to do with movies.
We have, however, seen a lot of leaks for a new flagship phone from LG. Whether it’s called the LG G4 Note or LG G4 Pro is yet to be seen, but we did catch a trademark filing for the G4 Note earlier this month.
There haven’t been a ton of hardware leaks on the G4 Note but we might be seeing a very similar phone to the G4 released earlier this year. It’s probably too early in the year to see a newer processor and 3 gigs of RAM seem to be the sweet spot right now. If they follow Samsung’s example, we’ll probably see a stylus of some sort too.
What do you think LG will be showing off? A new phone? Maybe a new watch? Let us know in the comments how you think the film theme may play in.
Source: AndroidCentral
The post LG sends out invites for October 1st event appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Keep your galleries clean with Duplicate Photos Fixer (App Review)
Although Cloud Storage is leading the way in backing up all of our photos and such, keeping our device memory low is still important. So in addition to backing everything up to the cloud, you also want to make sure that you don’t have any unnecessary or redundant files on your device.
Setup
Today’s app hopes to help you with that predicament. Duplicate Photos Fixer is the app that aims to keep your device storage low, and your gallery cleaned up. There are really no settings to tinker with in regards to Duplicate Photos Fixer, but when you first start the app, there is a panel that pops up and asks you which storage location you would like the app to scan. You can select a specific folder, your SD card, or the entire device.
Usage
Once you’ve selected where you would like the app to scan, Duplicate Photos Fixer will scan those folders, and show you the duplicates that were found. At the bottom of the Duplicates page, you will see how many duplicates were found, how many photos have been marked, the size of the marked photos, and a trash can button. Being able to see how much storage is being taken up by these duplicates, is a great asset to have to help control the storage.
Once you’ve had your folders scanned, and you have selected which photos you no longer want on your device, hit the trash can button. Hitting this will bring up a Confirm Delete dialogue box, that ensures that you don’t delete anything by accident. If you’re 100% sure you want to delete the duplicates, hit “OK” and your available storage increases bit by bit.
Earlier, it was mentioned that there weren’t many settings to tinker with. However, the main setting to change around is the severity of how hard Duplicate Photos Fixer looks for similar images. This is helpful if you have a lot of images that are similar, but different at the same time, and you don’t want the app to recognize the wrong images as being duplicates.
Is it for me?
All in all, Duplicate Photos Fixer is a free and easy way to keep those extra images out of your gallery. In addition to that, you will also be able to free up some space just to make sure that you never get close to filling your device up with useless files.
What We Like
- Simple Interface
- Adjustable Matching Levels
- Helps save space on your device
And not so much…
- No complaints here. Duplicate Photos Fixer works as advertised
Duplicate Photos Fixer is short, sweet, and to the point. There are really no qualms about what this app does, and there’s not much more that you need for it to do. Duplicate Photos Fixer is a great solution to save yourself some storage, or just to clean out your Gallery from those extra photos/wallpapers that have been downloaded by mistake. Head over to the Google Play Store and pick up this app for free via the link down below.
Download: Duplicate Photos Fixer
The post Keep your galleries clean with Duplicate Photos Fixer (App Review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Verizon Moto X (1st Gen.) is finally receiving Android 5.1 Lollipop
Believe it or not, owners of the Motorola Moto X (2013) on Verizon Wireless have been stuck on Android 4.4.4 KitKat for all this time. That’s finally changing, as Big Red is now officially beginning to roll out Android 5.1 Lollipop to the first-generation Moto X. Coming in at a hefty 712MB in size, the new update will bring the device’s software version up to 222.21.39.
Not only will Moto X owners finally be able to experience the wonders of Google’s Material Design user interface tweaks, new interruption controls, enhanced volume controls and factory reset protection, this update also includes a patch for the Stagefright exploit.
If you have yet to receive your update, you can check manually by heading to Settings>About device>Software update. Have you gotten the update yet? If so, feel free to let us know how you like it in the comment section below! You can find a more detailed description of the 5.1 update by following this link.
AIVAnet 