Eric Schmidt to quit as executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company

He played a key role in Google’s success before becoming executive chairman of its parent company, Alphabet, but on Thursday Eric Schmidt announced he’s stepping down.

Schmidt will leave his post as executive chairman of Alphabet’s board of directors in January, 2018, and will become the company’s technical advisor. He’ll also continue to serve on Alphabet’s board.

Hired as CEO by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2001 when the web company was pretty much starting out, Schmidt brought with him years of corporate experience gained at Sun Microsystems and Novell that enabled him to help grow the fledgling company into the behemoth that it is today.

In 2011, 62-year-old Schmidt switched to the position of executive chairman, before moving to Alphabet in the same role when it was established as Google’s parent company in 2015.

Specific reasons for Schmidt’s departure haven’t been given, but in a tweet he said he was looking forward to spending more time pursuing other interests while continuing to help out at Alphabet:

“After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy,” Schmidt wrote. “I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet.”

After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy. I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet. https://t.co/nVnZqMEHoI

— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) December 21, 2017

In a statement posted online, he offered a little more information regarding his imminent departure from Alphabet as executive chairman, saying, “Larry, Sergey, Sundar [Sundar Pichai, Google’s current CEO] and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving.”

Schmidt added, “In recent years, I’ve been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work.”

Larry Page, who with partner Brin made the decision to hire Schmidt all those years ago, praised him for providing them “with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology.”

Page confirmed Schmidt will be helping Alphabet as a technical advisor “on science and technology issues,” adding that he’s “incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation.”

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Eric Schmidt to quit as executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company

He played a key role in Google’s success before becoming executive chairman of its parent company, Alphabet, but on Thursday Eric Schmidt announced he’s stepping down.

Schmidt will leave his post as executive chairman of Alphabet’s board of directors in January, 2018, and will become the company’s technical advisor. He’ll also continue to serve on Alphabet’s board.

Hired as CEO by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2001 when the web company was pretty much starting out, Schmidt brought with him years of corporate experience gained at Sun Microsystems and Novell that enabled him to help grow the fledgling company into the behemoth that it is today.

In 2011, 62-year-old Schmidt switched to the position of executive chairman, before moving to Alphabet in the same role when it was established as Google’s parent company in 2015.

Specific reasons for Schmidt’s departure haven’t been given, but in a tweet he said he was looking forward to spending more time pursuing other interests while continuing to help out at Alphabet:

“After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy,” Schmidt wrote. “I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet.”

After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy. I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet. https://t.co/nVnZqMEHoI

— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) December 21, 2017

In a statement posted online, he offered a little more information regarding his imminent departure from Alphabet as executive chairman, saying, “Larry, Sergey, Sundar [Sundar Pichai, Google’s current CEO] and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving.”

Schmidt added, “In recent years, I’ve been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work.”

Larry Page, who with partner Brin made the decision to hire Schmidt all those years ago, praised him for providing them “with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology.”

Page confirmed Schmidt will be helping Alphabet as a technical advisor “on science and technology issues,” adding that he’s “incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation.”

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Surface Pro with LTE is finally available for order, but with caveats

Microsoft first announced the Surface Pro with LTE in May of 2017, over seven months ago. Now, as spotted by MSPowerUser, it’s finally become available for purchase for everyone, even if you’re not an enterprise customer.

Over at the Microsoft Store, you’ll now find it as a detail in the description of the Surface Pro. Fortunately, it appears that “optional LTE advanced” can be included in every configuration of the device, ranging from $800 up to $2,700. However, there are a couple of caveats.

First, it’s only available as a “Commercial” unit, according to its listing. There isn’t currently any indication as to how these differ from a consumer-oriented model, or who is restricted from buying one.

Second, they are currently available only in the Core i5 variety, starting with the $1,150 version with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage up to the $1,450 configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Similar to how Apple has always priced LTE iPads, you may be getting internet wherever you go, but it comes at a price.

Though Microsoft isn’t making a big deal of it, the timing of the release is important. Just a couple of weeks ago, Qualcomm announced its move into the PC market with its “Always Connected PCs.” This new line of Snapdragon-powered 2-in-1s will hit store shelves in Spring with built-in LTE (at no extra cost!) and up to 20 hours of battery life. We’ve already seen a couple of these computers, but we’re expecting a whole line of them to flood the halls of CES in just a few weeks, with entries from companies like HP, Lenovo, and Asus.

These LTE-powered Surface Pros use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 modems that can be found on these Always Connected devices. As pointed out by Neowin, a Core i7 configuration isn’t offered because the modem is placed right where the fan is located on the i7 model.

The Surface Pro LTE is currently listed as sold out on the website, but it appears to be available at a very slim selection of Microsoft stores around the country, for in-store purchase only. If you want one, we recommend acting quickly — it’s sure to be a popular model.

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Apple’s Video Team Gains Three More Former Amazon Studios Executives

Three more former Amazon Studios executives are joining Apple as the company continues to work to build out its video team, reports Variety.

Tara Sorensen, who previously served as the head of Amazon kids programming, is taking on a similar role at Apple. Sorensen will report directly to former Sony executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, who are running Apple’s video team under iTunes chief Eddy Cue.

Amazon international development executive Carina Walker and business affairs chief Tara Pietri are also leaving Amazon for Apple. Pietri will lead Apple’s legal affairs division, while Walker will serve as an international creative executive under Morgan Wandell. Wandell, also from Amazon Studios, leads international creative development at Apple.

Apple started building its new video division in June of 2017 following the hiring of Erlicht and Van Amburg. The company has been making regular hires for its content team since then, and it has started inking deals for television shows.

So far, Apple has purchased a reboot of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi series “Amazing Stories,” an untitled “morning show drama” that will star Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, and an untitled space drama that “explores what would have happened if the global space race had never ended” created by Ronald D. Moore, known for Battlestar Galactica.

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Instagram Adds Live Video Support for Direct Messages

Instagram today announced the addition of live video support for Direct Messages. Instagram users can tap the Direct icon, create a live video, and then send it to a friend or a group of friends. There’s also an option to for Instagram users to share a live video they’re currently watching with friends.

Live videos sent via Direct Message can only be viewed while the live video is ongoing -i it’s not watchable after streaming has concluded.

When you’re live, just tap the Direct icon at the bottom of the screen and send your live video to friends. You’ll also have this option when going live with a friend. Once sent, the recipient will see your live video in their Direct inbox. Friends can only view your video if you’re currently live. If your live video is over, your friend will see a message saying the video has ended.

Those who do not want to send live videos to friends in Direct can disable the option in the stories settings.

Instagram says the new live video feature is designed to make it easier for people to watch and send live videos to friends, and it comes as Instagram tests a standalone direct messaging app with a small number of users in Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Uruguay.

Instagram can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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Hulu Drops Price of Commercial Free Plan for Apple Subscribers From $13.99 to $11.99

Customers who signed up for a “No Commercials” Hulu streaming plan via an iOS device or Apple TV have been paying $13.99, a $2 premium over the cost of the subscription plan if purchased via the web.

Starting this week, Hulu has dropped the $13.99 subscription price to $11.99, so customers who subscribe via an Apple device using iTunes billing will now pay the same price as other Hulu customers.

Hulu informed subscribers about the change through emails that went out yesterday. Beyond the emails, Hulu offered no explanation for the sudden price drop, which was originally in place because of the cut Apple takes from all App Store purchases, including subscriptions.

Prior to 2016, Apple took a 30 percent cut of all transactions, but in late 2016, Apple cut that in half for video subscription apps. Apple now takes a 15 percent cut of subscription fees for subscriptions for apps like Netflix and Hulu that are purchased via the App Store.

Hulu’s App Store description continues to list $13.99 as the price for the No Commercials plan, but when you sign up in app, it’s providing the new $11.99 price tag.

Hulu’s Limited Commercial plan continues to be priced at $7.99 on Apple devices. $7.99 is the standard price on the Hulu website as well, but at the current time, Hulu is offering a promotion that drops the price to $5.99. That promotion is not available in the Hulu apps for Apple TV and iOS.

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Facebook and Microsoft to receive Helen Keller Achievement Awards

Facebook and Microsoft have been named among the honorees set to receive Helen Keller Achievement Awards at a gala scheduled for April 4. Both companies are being recognized for their efforts to provide products and services that are accessible and inclusive.

Since 1994, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has been issuing awards in memory of Helen Keller, who was the organization’s lead ambassador for more than 40 years. The likes of Apple, Google, and Netflix have all been given the honor in the past, according to the AFB website.

Facebook has been chosen for its inclusivity initiative, which makes the social media platform welcoming to people with disabilities. One feature that the AFB has spotlighted in particular is Automatic Alternative Text, which generates image descriptions so that partially sighted and blind people can be updated on the contents of photographs uploaded by their friends. The company is also being lauded for its commitment accessibility options and assistive technologies.

Meanwhile, Microsoft was picked as a result of a wide range of projects from across the Windows ecosystem and beyond. Examples given by the AFB include the Seeing AI app, which uses artificial intelligence to provide a narration of the user’s environment, and Eye Control for Windows 10,  which allows people with mobility issues like those caused by Lou Gehrig’s disease to interact with their computer using eye movements alone.

The company has also made a wide range of options available across the Office suite, like the optical character recognition supplied by Office Lens. Even the Xbox One gets a mention, thanks to features like Copilot and the accessibility API offered to developers.

The majority of users will never need to call upon the functionality described in this article – but the people who do rely upon it for a positive experience. The Helen Keller Achievement Awards demonstrate the importance of accessibility to products and services that are intended for a mass audience.

Of course, it’s relatively easy for a company the size of Microsoft or Facebook to dedicate time and resources to developing these options. Hopefully, shining a light on the work that they’re doing will convince others to follow their lead.

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Pitta is a palm-sized drone that moonlights as an action cam and security system

Are you looking for one last kickass Kickstarter project to get involved in before the holidays? If so, you should totally check out Pitta. A combination action cam and camera drone that resembles a high-tech version of the “golden snitch” from Harry Potter, Pitta boasts a nifty modular design that gives it several interesting uses. Whether you want to mount it on your bike like a GoPro or take to the skies, Pitta is a complete system packaged into a single device, with a modular snap-and-twist-to-lock design that lets you easily switch between modes.

“It all really started from a personal frustration,” J.B. Hwang, co-founder of manufacturer Eyedea, Inc., told Digital Trends. “I was a fairly heavy GoPro user, and action cameras with mounts and rigs were something I always carried with me. Naturally, I wanted more diversified clips and started to get my hands on drones. When I tried out a handful of drones, the operation process was not friendly to first-time pilots. Even after I got the basic sense of controlling a drone, I wasn’t able to capture the footage that I desired. All I really wanted was an easy-to-fly drone that would not require hours of training.”

This insight let Hwang to start developing the combination drone and action cam, which meant he didn’t have to “carry a hundred things with him all the time.”

It’s definitely a nifty idea, and it promises some impressive capabilities, including the ability to shoot 4K 30fps video and 13-megapixel stills. The drone component can be controlled from your smartphone, although it also promises to automatically follow moving targets, orbit a stationary target, and land autonomously. When do you don’t want it to be a drone, simply snap on the action cam mount to attach it to your bike, — or even use it as a home Wi-Fi home security camera that  live-streams to your device.

“We have secured and locked in on most of the suppliers and are finalizing designs,” Hwang said. “It will be over by the time the Kickstarter campaign wraps, so that we move right on to the production phase.”

If you would like to get your hands on a Pitta transformative autonomous 4K selfie drone, you can place a pre-order on Kickstarter right now. Prices start at $269, with shipping set for April 2018.

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Luxturna becomes first gene therapy approved to treat an inherited disease

Biomedicine just took a giant step forward in the U.S. This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, a form of gene therapy that seeks to treat retinal dystrophy, a rare eye condition affecting cells in the retina. This marks the first time the FDA has approved gene therapy for an inherited disease.

Specifically, Luxturna is a genetically modified virus that carries a healthy gene into a patient’s eye. Tests have shown “dramatic results,” per an NPR report, with treated patients able to see far more effectively than before. Consequently, many of those who received Luxturna treatment were able to perform certain tasks for the first time — patients could read, play sports, ride bikes, and go outside on their own thanks to their significantly improved vision.

“Today’s approval marks another first in the field of gene therapy — both in how the therapy works and in expanding the use of gene therapy beyond the treatment of cancer to the treatment of vision loss — and this milestone reinforces the potential of this breakthrough approach in treating a wide range of challenging diseases,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a statement.

This has been a good year as a whole for gene therapy — in August, Kymriah became the first gene-therapy drug approved to treat leukemia, while Yescarta received FDA approval to treat lymphoma in October.

“The culmination of decades of research has resulted in three gene therapy approvals this year for patients with serious and rare diseases,” Gottlieb added. “I believe gene therapy will become a mainstay in treating, and maybe curing, many of our most devastating and intractable illnesses.”

While gene therapy could indeed be a long-awaited cure to many of these diseases, these treatments might also come with some pretty serious price tags. As NPR noted, the first gene therapy product costs a whopping $475,000, and Luxturna maker Spark Therapeutics has yet to reveal how much it will charge. But speculation suggests it could cost $1 million per patient.

“I think the price tag will be enormous — 20 or 30 times the annual wages of the typical American,” Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told NPR. “For rare conditions like this, the question we need to ask ourselves is exactly how much wealth should be transferred from society to the investors in these companies. Without addressing that we are just letting the investors decide how much they can take.”

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Eric Schmidt leaving Executive Chairman role, becoming ‘technical advisor’ at Alphabet

January will bring a big change at the highest ranks of Alphabet.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is stepping down from his position as Executive Chairman of the Board at Google’s parent company Alphabet. He will remain at the company in a new position as a “technical advisor,” and remain on the Board of Directors in a typical member capacity, building on his 17 years at the company thus far.

Google co-founder and current Alphabet CEO Larry Page made the following statement on Schmidt’s move:

Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology. Continuing his 17 years of service to the company, he’ll now be helping us as a technical advisor on science and technology issues. I’m incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation.

In the company’s announcement of the change, Schmidt said the time was right for him to make a move away from the Executive Chairman role and into a more general advisory position, as he sees Alphabet’s structure working very well under the leadership of Larry Page, Sergey Brin and current Google CEO Sundar Pichai. With this less-defined position at the company, Schmidt plans to spend even more time on “science and technology issues, and philanthropy.”

The change in Schmidt’s position will be finalized in January, when the Alphabet Board next meets. The Board is also expected to appoint a new non-executive chairman.