Verizon reportedly wants in on this streaming TV thing

It looks like Comcast isn’t the only cable operator considering a Sling TV-like live streaming service. Verizon has also been acquiring the digital rights to TV stations like CBS and ESPN, according to Bloomberg. However, unlike Comcast, which is rumored to be offering such a service only to its internet customers, Verizon plans to launch it nationwide this summer.

It makes more sense for Verizon (AOL and Engadget’s dear parent) to offer a cable cord-cutting service immediately. It has just 4.6 million cable TV subscribers compared to 22.4 million for Comcast, and with seven million broadband users, could immediately boost those figures. It would also be a way for Verizon to offer a bundled TV streaming service with its wireless plans if it wanted, much as AT&T does with DirecTV Now.

Unlike Comcast, which has been testing its Stream online TV service since 2015 in limited markets, Verizon has never done live TV streaming — apart from the much-derided go90, which mostly features lower-tier and internet content. The company has already signed a pact with CBS with rights for “future digital platforms, with specifics to be released at a later date,” Bloomberg notes.

If the rumors are accurate, and assuming Verizon can sign enough stations to make a streaming TV bundle attractive, it’ll supposedly launch the service this summer for about the same price as DirecTV Now, which runs $35 a month for 60 channels. That would give consumers three main live TV options — Sling TV, DirecTV Now and Verizon — and several more limited offerings, including Playstation Vue and Hulu.

Verizon’s service may also push Comcast into rethinking the scope of its own launch, which would add another nationwide service to the fray. That would make a lot of services for only two million subscribers to internet-based live TV so far. Considering all the cord-cutting happening right now, however, operators seem willing to try anything new.

Source: Bloomberg

Apple Opens iOS App Accelerator Development Facility in India

Apple has officially opened its new App Accelerator in Bangalore as part of an effort to support engineering talent and boost growth in India’s iOS developer community (via Mashable).

At the center, experts will lead briefings and provide one-to-one app reviews for developers. Apple is calling the facility “the first of its kind” in the country, and says it will provide specialized support to developers as well as tools to help them push the boundaries.

“We are impressed by the great entrepreneurial spirit in India, and are excited to provide a platform for these developers to share their innovations with customers around the world,” said Philip Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing at Apple. 

“In just the first few weeks, we’ve already seen some incredible developers here at the App Accelerator Bengaluru, including Practo and Reliance Games, create innovative apps that can meet the needs of customers in India and around the world.”

Apple first announced its plans for the App Accelerator back in May 2016, during CEO Tim Cook’s high profile visit to India, when he met with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Since then, the company has been steadily ramping up its presence in the country, negotiating terms with Modi regarding manufacturing and development, seeking tax concessions for locally manufactured iPhones, and setting up a local distribution center.

Tag: India
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Apple Reiterates Commitment to Obama Era Climate Pledge

Apple has said it will honor the commitment it made under the Obama administration to fight climate change, regardless of actions by President Trump to dismantle his predecessor’s environmental policies (via Bloomberg).

Back in April 2016, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft filed an amicus brief in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which aimed to cut carbon pollution produced by power generators, despite pushback from energy companies. Earlier this week, Trump signed an order telling the EPA to rescind the Clean Power Plan and reconsider all Obama era climate rules, including those relating to building leases and oil pipelines.

In response to Trump’s order, Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft issued a joint statement signaling their continued determination to cut energy costs and address the risks posed by climate change to future business growth.

“We believe that strong clean energy and climate policies, like the Clean Power Plan, can make renewable energy supplies more robust and address the serious threat of climate change while also supporting American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth,” the companies said in a joint statement after Trump’s order was signed.

Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Ikea, Levi Strauss & Co., and Best Buy, which all signed the 2015 pledge organized by the Obama administration, also said they still intended to honor their commitments.

The pledges comes despite support for Trump’s order from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which called it “vital to stimulating economic growth”. The group argues that Obama’s regulations risk a jump in energy prices, and that they have already held back growth by preventing the construction of pipelines, roads, and other infrastructure. The Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents oil and natural gas producers, also praised Trump’s move.

Apple’s renewed commitment to the Obama era pledge is in line with its overarching aim to become a global clean energy company. More than 93 percent of Apple’s worldwide operations are said to be powered by renewable energy. Earlier this month, it announced that component supplier Ibiden would become the first company in Japan to guarantee all of its Apple manufacturing will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Chinese suppliers have agreed similar commitments.

Beyond manufacturing, Apple’s new headquarters in California will be powered by one of the largest onsite corporate solar energy installations in the world. Likewise, all of the company’s data centers are powered by 100 percent renewable energy, as are 145 of its U.S. retail stores, and the large majority of its corporate facilities.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Apple environment, Donald Trump
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UK broadband prices to fall as Ofcom prioritises high speeds

Ofcom says millions of UK broadband customers could soon pay less for superfast broadband under new plans to limit the amount Openreach charges other ISPs to access its fibre network. The communications regulator said today that it wants to slash the cost of new connections for lower tier fibre services (up to 40Mbps) from £88.80 pounds a year to £52.77 in the hope that providers, like BT and TalkTalk, will pass those savings on to customers.

The new price caps won’t cover faster connections, which can reach 78Mbps and above thanks to G.Fast technology. However, the move is expected to benefit as many as 3 million customers, adding up to around £100 million of savings. The plan is to introduce a series of yearly savings from April next year, which will be completed by 2021.

The idea is simple: if Openreach makes less money from lower-tier broadband packages, it will be forced to invest in new technology and expand its G.Fast network to more of the country. “Our plans are designed to encourage long-term investment in future ultrafast, full-fibre networks, while promoting competition and protecting consumers from high prices,” said Jonathan Oxley, Ofcom’s Competition Group Director.

The announcement has been welcomed by BT’s rivals, but there are some reservations. In a statement, TalkTalk said that it supported price cuts and the continued commitment to improving Openreach’s service, but bemoaned the fact that customers must wait a year to see some savings and that only the slowest “superfast” speeds were included: “Ofcom’s decision to only regulate some products also risks entrenching a speed divide, with customers having to make a false choice between fair prices or higher speeds. Ensuring consumers enjoy low prices on all superfast products is the best way to maximise take-up and encourage investment in the pure fibre infrastructure of the future.”

Earlier this month, BT confirmed that it will finally split Openreach off into a separate company, following pressure from Ofcom to do so. It will continue to be part of the BT Group but it the new entity will be governed by an independent board, manage its own staff and set out its own strategy.

As part of the agreement, Openreach will also need to consult with Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone regarding future “large-scale” investments and the BT logo will be removed from all Openreach branding in order to reduce public confusion.

Source: Ofcom

Minimalist Puzzler ‘Blyss’ is Apple’s Free App of the Week

Apple is currently offering popular minimalist puzzler Blyss as its Free App of the Week on the App Store.

Blyss combines a unique puzzle mechanic with serene and calming aesthetics, some of which have a Monument Valley-style vibe. The game itself involves white blocks laid in a formation against varied backgrounds and themes, with each block presenting a certain number of dots.

These dots indicate how many times they must be covered with a swipe along the game field, and all of the squares must be eliminated to complete the puzzle, but a danger lurks in removing a square that is vital to completing the level. The App Store Editor’s notes are as follows.

Some dots take one swipe, some take two. But one thing’s for certain: If you want to clear every puzzle, you have to think through your moves. Failure’s inevitable in the high-stakes Endless mode – but trust us – you won’t mind restarting.

Blyss launched in July 2016 as Apple Editor’s Choice on the App Store in 78 countries. According to MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, “Blyss appears to achieve that sweet spot of being complex and in-depth, while still having a zen-like vibe”.

Usually $1.99, the game can be downloaded for free on iPad and iPhone over on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: App of the Week
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GoPro’s Karma drone finally takes flight in the U.K. and other European countries

Why it matters to you

if you’re looking for your first drone and your kit bag already includes lots of GoPro gear, the Karma will save you some serious cash.

Following a U.S. launch, recall, and relaunch, GoPro’s compact Karma quadcopter has finally made it to European shores.

The California-based company confirmed this week that its foldable flying machine is now on sale across the pond in the U.K., Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.

A starter kit, which includes the drone, a Hero5 camera, and the Karma Grip for silky smooth video shots with or without the drone, will set Brits back 1200 pounds, that’s 100 pounds less than the similarly diminutive — and equally foldable — Mavic machine from drone giant DJI.

Already have a GoPro camera? Then you’re looking at 870 pounds. What? You have a Grip as well? Then just 570 pounds will do, thank you very much.

The U.S. launch of the Karma toward the end of last year was ruined by a battery fault that caused a small number of the machines to suddenly fall from the sky. Not good for the owner, not good for the Karma, and not good for anyone it happened to hit, though fortunately there were no reports of such calamitous incidents. Following a fix, the Karma returned to the American market at the start of February.

The remotely controlled quadcopter faces tough competition from the likes of the aforementioned Mavic, which has been getting rave reviews since its launch in 2016 (check out DT’s here). The Karma lacks, for example, obstacle avoidance technology and has a shorter flight time than the Mavic.

However, if you’re a wannabe quadcopter pilot looking for your first machine and your kit bag already includes a ton of GoPro gear, the Karma will save you some serious coin.

More: DT’s pick of the best drones available today

Besides last year’s drone debacle, and partly because of it, GoPro was hit by losses of $116 million in the last quarter, and earlier this month the company announced it’s showing the door to 270 employees in a bid to cut costs.

Despite the difficulties, GoPro said it’s determined to press ahead with launches of new hardware and software as the company works to turn its business around.

Watch how these commuters react when they think their phone has been wiped

Why it matters to you

Back up your smartphone data from time to time or you may end up disappointed.

So you’re hurrying to work and some guy with a camera crew in tow asks if you’d like a demo of a new “super-fast charger” using your smartphone. With your handset running on empty after an intense Ballz session on the train in, and no real desire to reach your desk a minute earlier than 9 a.m., you happily place your phone on the proffered pad.

Within seconds, you see messages whizzing up the display saying stuff like “deleting,” “deleting data,” and “deleting cloud backups.” In other words, it’s wiping all of your data.

Kodak pulled this precise stunt on unsuspecting commuters in London recently. As you can see in the video above, the pranked Brits react in a characteristically understated manner, possibly masking less polite thoughts such as, “I’m going to bust your ass arse for this,” or “Get me a cup of tea right now.”

“Is that supposed to happen?” one of the handset owners asks the man with the mic. “It’s just wiped my phone,” another says nonchalantly.

Cue sad music and shots of disappointed faces. There’s no wanton violence, fortunately, though they may have edited that out.

Speaking to the alarmed subjects, the interviewer establishes that, yes, there were rather a lot of important things on their phones, particularly photos. He then asks why they’d never saved the pictures by printing them off in case of such a calamity. According to Kodak, one in three people has lost photos on their handset, you see.

Just as you start wondering if Kodak has ever heard of more modern ways of backing up data, we learn that this whole sorry shebang is geared toward the promotion of Kodak Moments, an app that makes it easy to print off your pics! Brilliant!

And yes, the “wiped” phone was a planted device that the trickster cleverly switched before the “charging” started! Awesome!

More: 17 great wireless chargers to free you from your cables

While most of you still won’t ever think of printing off your smartphone photos, Kodak’s stunt is nevertheless a reminder to ensure you have a regular and effective way of backing up your phone data — whether to your PC or the cloud — in case something disastrous does happen to your device.

Digital Trends offers a few useful tips for Android users, and iOS users.

The Overwatch World Cup is back for 2017

The Overwatch World Cup is back for its second go-round, this time inviting players from more countries, featuring more games and promising even more live events. The world of eSports has continued to expand since the inaugural event last fall, and that’s why things are kicking off now to get ready for a showdown at BlizzCon 2017. Right now, skilled players (the top 100 in each country) need to make sure they represent well enough on average that their country is in the top 32 by the time phase two starts in 25 days.

After that, things get a bit political, with each country’s top eligible players creating a three-person committee that will recommend roster picks for all stages of the competition. Once that’s done, the live qualifiers begin, with four live events scheduled to take place this summer in Europe, North America and Asia. They will be streamed online, or you can buy tickets and watch in person.

There teams from the top 32 countries will battle it out, with the top two automatically qualifying to compete live at BlizzCon 2017 in November. It’s all very simple, right?

Source: Play Overwatch Blog, Overwatch World Cup

Russian hackers targeted Clinton’s email before the elections

US intelligence agents are pretty sure the Russian government authorized the DNC hacks and leaked Hillary Clinton’s emails. While the country continues to deny its involvement, security firm SecureWorks found evidence that it has been targeting Clinton even before the elections began. Apparently, a group of hackers (known by the names APT28, Sofacy and Fancy Bear) working for Russian military intelligence sent 19,315 malicious links to 6,730 people from March 2015 to May 2016. Their targets included Clinton, her campaign chairman John Podesta, her staff, known critics of the Russian government, members of the US military and diplomats around the world.

SecureWorks managed to track their spearphishing operation because they used Bitly to shorten their links and left their accounts public. King’s College professor Thomas Rid analyzed the data and told Motherboard that 3,134 people who got the phishing email clicked the link inside. It opened a website that mimicked the Google log-in page, most likely to take advantage of the fact that Clinton’s campaign staffers used Gmail. 470 people ended up giving away their passwords. Based on the firm’s information, Clinton herself didn’t click the malicious links. However, SecureWorks only counted clicks made on the same day the links were sent, so the scheme might have tricked more people, including the nominee.

Motherboard says 12 out of all the victims who clicked the link had their emails leaked to the public via the DCLeaks website and WikiLeaks or by Guccifer 2.0. Rid, who examined the list of recipients, said the target selection is “what you’d expect from a military intelligence agency.”

In a statement he prepared for a US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, he wrote:

“The publicly available evidence that implicates Russian intelligence agencies in the 2016 active measures campaign is extraordinarily strong. The DNC hack can be compared to a carefully executed physical break-in in which the intruders used uniquely identical listening devices; uniquely identical envelopes to carry the stolen files past security; and uniquely identical getaway vehicles.”

Meanwhile, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner has also revealed that Kremlin employed over a thousand people to create fake anti-Clinton stories during the campaign period. According to The Independent, the fake stories targeted key swing states, particularly Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He said at a press event:

“We know about the hacking, and selective leaks, but what really concerns me as a former tech guy is at least some reports — and we’ve got to get to the bottom of this — that there were upwards of a thousand internet trolls working out of a facility in Russia, in effect taking over a series of computers which are then called botnets, that can then generate news down to specific areas…

An outside foreign adversary effectively sought to hi-jack the most critical democratic process, the election of a President, and in that process, decided to favor one candidate over another.”

Source: Motherboard, SecureWorks, The Independent

Apple Hires Former YouTube Executive to Boost Video Content Strategy

Apple has hired Shiva Rajaraman, a former YouTube and Spotify executive, to help formulate its video content strategy, according to a report on Friday.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, The Information said that Rajaraman will work on a range of projects under the supervision of Apple’s Eddy Cue, senior VP of internet software and services.

According to The Information’s sources within Apple, the company has yet to nail down its video strategy and disagreements remain among executives about its long-term direction.

Executives have debated how to go forward in video. One idea that has been discussed is to bundle its music, news and book offerings with new video and cable services that could be activated via the iPhone and work on Internet-connected TVs.

Rajaraman’s entrance may be able to bring more clarity to Apple’s video content approach. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent eight years at YouTube, operating across a number of roles. “At different times, he ran every individual part of the YouTube team,” a former colleague told The Information. Rajaraman also helped YouTube secure content partnerships with the likes of Disney and Time Warner.

Following his YouTube stint, Rajaraman joined Spotify, where he worked between 2014 and 2016, helping to develop alternative content such as podcasts.

Apple has struggled to get its video aspirations off the ground in recent years, following failed efforts to negotiate with cable TV networks over the possibility of a streaming TV package. Apple does have some original video content coming to Apple Music, but a substantive, separate Netflix-style service remains elusive.
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