Amazon may be planning a YouTube rival

In the midst of Google’s YouTube blockade on the Echo Show, Amazon could be mulling its own video platform. Google announced it was removing its app from the e-retail giant’s touchscreen-packing Echo earlier this month, with plans to extend the ban to the Fire TV on January 1st. That same day, Amazon filed two trademarks requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for something dubbed “Amazontube,” and another called “Opentube,” as spotted by TV Answer Man.

Beyond their names, the two bear more than a passing resemblance to Google’s video powerhouse. In its filings, Amazon describes Amazontube or Opentube as providers of “non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works via wireless networks.”

It adds that the services would “enable users to share content, photos videos, text, data, images and other electronic works,” and goes on to list topics, ranging from gaming to dance, fashion and tech. It all sounds like a video streaming service that relies on user uploads, much like YouTube. The name could land it in legal trouble with Google, according to TV Answer Man, but that can easily be tweaked if it ever sees the light of day.

What’s more, DomainNameWire points out that Amazon has been registering a bunch of domain names of late, including AlexaOpenTube.com, AmazonAlexaTube.com, and AmazonOpenTube.com.

But, another Amazon video service is far from a sure bet, especially as the company looks to be attempting to patch ties with Google. Just days ago, it put forth an olive branch by promising to return Chromecast to its retail line-up, following years of absence. We’ve reached out to Amazon for a comment.

Via: TV Answer Man

Source: USPTO

Three and EE lose High Court fight over 5G spectrum auction

Ofcom has fended off two legal challenges that threatened to delay the UK’s next mobile spectrum auction. Three and BT-owned EE had filed separate complaints over a proposed bidding war that was scheduled to take place later this year. Three believes that Ofcom should be stricter with its spectrum caps, limiting EE’s spending power and potential allocation, while BT believes that there should be no restrictions whatsoever. The High Court disagreed with both today, believing that Ofcom had done its homework and properly modelled how different caps would affect the outcome of the bid and, subsequently, consumer choice in the UK.

Ofcom has 190 MHz of spectrum to sell across two bands — 40 MHz in a 2.3GHz band and 150 MHz in a 3.4GHz band. The former is usable “immediately” and would help all of the major networks to improve their 4G coverage, while the latter is pivotal to the long-awaited introduction of 5G services. Ofcom’s plan is to place a cap of 255 MHz on “immediately useable” spectrum, which would block BT and EE from making any bids on the 2.3 GHz band. A second cap of 340 MHz will be placed on all mobile spectrum, limiting BT to a maximum of 85 MHz on the 3.4GHz band.

“I reject the argument of H3G that the balance struck was too generous to BT/EE and I also reject the argument of BT/EE that it was too tight and rigid,” the High Court said in a statement. As the Financial Times reports, both networks could appeal the decision. Otherwise, the auction should finally go ahead. “We welcome the High Court’s judgment,” the regulator said in a statement. “Our priority has always been to release these airwaves as soon as possible so customers can get more reliable mobile phone reception. We’ll now proceed with the auction as quickly as possible.”

Source: judiciary.gov.uk, Financial Times

Apple Pay Said to Be Arriving in Poland in Early 2018

Apple Pay could arrive in Poland as soon as the first quarter of 2018, according to financial technology site cashless.pl. Several independent sources are said to have confirmed active negotiations between Apple and five banks operating in the country, including Alior, BZ WBK, and mBank.

According to the Polish tech site, all banks operating in Poland received an offer from Apple earlier this month to make Apple Pay available to their customers. Some of the banks are said to have declined the offer, but the banks listed above are reportedly negotiating financial terms to start supporting the digital wallet in the first half of 2018.

Given that the banks have already implemented MasterCard or Visa tokenization – the same technology used by Apple Pay to securely link a payment card number to a mobile device – rollout could happen very quickly as soon as negotiations have concluded.

The rollout will reportedly take place with active support from payment companies including Mastercard, although there’s no word on whether Visa will be involved in the implementation at this stage.

The last time we heard about plans for Apple Pay in Poland was in October, when an anonymous tipster emailed in an alleged screenshot of Apple Pay being tested with a Mastercard from PKO Bank Polski, for a possible debut in the country by the end of this year. PKO was not mentioned in today’s source, however, and may have just been used as a placeholder card for Apple’s internal testing only.

(Thanks, Krzysiek!)

Related Roundup: Apple PayTag: Poland
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Coinbase Exchange App Now Supports Bitcoin Cash Transactions

App Store chart topper Coinbase introduced support for Bitcoin Cash on Wednesday, allowing users of the cryptocurrency exchange app to trade in the alternative “forked” digital asset.

Bitcoin Cash appeared in early August when a group of developers created a separate version of the Bitcoin blockchain, so that more transactions could be processed at a faster rate, with lower associated fees involved.

When news of a potential split or “fork” in the blockchain first appeared, Coinbase said it would not support trading in the new currency that would be created as a result, but in August it reversed its decision and said customers would be able to withdraw Bitcoin Cash from the first day of 2018.

Following today’s app update, all users will be credited an amount of Bitcoin Cash that is equal to their Bitcoin balance when the fork occurred on August 1. Bitcoin Cash trading will also be available on GDAX, which is Coinbase’s institutional-based exchange.

The Coinbase app surged to the top of Apple’s free apps chart in the App Store last week, amid a speculative frenzy surrounding the blockchain cryptocurrency. Today’s announcement that it would support Bitcoin Cash caused BTC to drop sharply in the early hours as users switched currencies, but the value appears to have stabilized since, at around $17,599 as of writing.

Also this week, a new version of the CoinHub app was released. Version 1.5 of the cryptocurrency quote platform brings a new secure portfolio, Reddit and news separation, fresh UI styling, and a FOREX engine that lets users purchase any currency pair and automatically see the value in their local fiat currency.

Tags: bitcoin, cryptocurrency
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Audi’s latest models add Amazon Music to the dashboard

If you’re an Apple CarPlay or Android Auto user, you’ve no shortage of music streaming services baked into your dashboard. But, if you’re relying on your vehicle’s default control panel the choices start to dwindle. While, automakers like Ford have started offering Apple and Google’s infotainment systems (which play nicer with smartphones) as an alternative to their own interfaces, Audi is going it alone with a little help from Amazon. The German automotive giant now lets you access Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited on the dashboard inside 2017 and 2018 models.

Compatible vehicles include the Audi A3, A4, A4 allroad, Audi Q7, R8, TT and 2018 models of the Audi Q5 and A5. Just sync the Audi MMI app with your car over WIFI and enter your Amazon login, and you’re good to go. Now, you’ll be able to navigate through the latest tunes, playlists, and your stored music purchases via the dashboard. No more Bluetooth or USB connections for you. Does the Audi-Amazon collab signal that Alexa voice controls are next? Well, if it’s good enough for BMW.

Source: Audi

LG will release new AI products under the ‘ThinQ’ brand

LG is getting serious with artificial intelligence and will launch products and services that use AI under a new sub-brand called “ThinQ” starting in 2018. All its upcoming TVs, fridges, even electronic devices and services under the new brand will have features developed with deep learning techniques and will be able to communicate with one another. LG says you can expect its new offerings to use its own AI tech, DeepThinQ, as well as its partners’, but it didn’t elaborate further or listed possible features.

The Korean company already has smart appliances out on the market under the SmartThinQ banner, but it says the new brand is meant to “highlight that LG(‘s) intelligent products.” It said in a statement that “AI is the next frontier in technology and as a leader in home appliances and consumer electronics, [it has] a responsibility to make AI more approachable and less intimidating.” Over the past year, LG has been dropping hints that it plans to put a spotlight on artificial intelligence. At CES 2017, it announced its DeepThinQ deep learning technology. The company also opened an Artificial Intelligence Lab in Seoul to house all its voice-, video- and sensor-related AI research.

Source: LG

The UK decides 10 Mbps broadband should be a legal right

Over the past decade, the UK government has attempted to lock in a basic level of broadband service across Britain. The idea is that by 2020, members of the public will have the legal right to request speeds of at least 10 Mbps from their ISP, whether they happen to live in a big city or in the countryside. It’s all part of the government’s Universal Service Obligation (USO), which was laid out in the Digital Economy Act passed earlier this year.

Ministers originally considered adopting BT’s voluntary offer, which would have seen it spend up to £600 million giving 1.4 million rural residents access to speeds of at least 10 Mbps. However, in a statement today, the government confirmed that it now will go down the regulatory route as it provides “sufficient certainty and the legal enforceability that is required to ensure high speed broadband access for the whole of the UK by 2020.”

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said: “We know how important broadband is to homes and businesses and we want everyone to benefit from a fast and reliable connection. We are grateful to BT for their proposal but have decided that only a regulatory approach will make high speed broadband a reality for everyone in the UK, regardless of where they live or work.”

The government will now begin setting out what the Universal Service Obligation (USO) must include. It’s expected that legislation will be passed in early 2018 and that it will take roughly two years to formally introduce the minimum expected speeds previously laid out by Ofcom.

While it’s certainly a blow for BT, the government is confident it’s made the correct decision. It believes that by introducing legislation, minimum speeds can be increased as consumers’ requirements evolve and that no household will be left behind (subject to a cost threshold).

The good news is that fixed line “superfast broadband” connections — which provide speeds of 24 Mbps or more — currently cover an estimated 95 percent of UK homes and businesses. Thanks to the Government’s subsidised Broadband Delivery UK programme, that figure could reach 98 percent by 2020. It means that by the time the USO is enforced, only a small percentage of UK premises will fall into the gap.

Source: Gov.uk

EU decides to treat Uber like a taxi company, not an app

Europe’s highest court has ruled that Uber is a transportation company and not some kind of middleman between passengers and drivers, like it has often claimed. The much-anticipated decision opens the door for member nations to impose stricter regulations on the company, especially where it operates the UberPOP service with non-professional drivers.

The judges weren’t buying Uber’s argument that it’s merely an information company. “The service provided by Uber is more than an intermediation service consisting of connecting, by means of a smartphone application, a nonprofessional driver using his or her own vehicle with a person who wishes to make an urban journey,” the ruling states. “The application provided by Uber is indispensable for both the drivers and the persons who wish to make an urban journey.”

Uber took the decision in stride, despite the serious potential impact on its future growth. “This ruling will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate under transportation law,” the company told Engadget in a statement. “However, millions of Europeans are still prevented from using apps like ours. As our new CEO has said, it is appropriate to regulate services such as Uber and so we will continue the dialogue with cities across Europe. This is the approach we’ll take to ensure everyone can get a reliable ride at the tap of a button.”

The service provided by Uber is more than an intermediation service consisting of connecting, by means of a smartphone application, a nonprofessional driver using his or her own vehicle with a person who wishes to make an urban journey. The application provided by Uber is indispensable for both the drivers and the persons who wish to make an urban journey.

The decision came after over two years of deliberation, prodded by a complaint by a Spanish taxi association. It claimed that Uber wasn’t competing fairly by using non-licensed drivers that don’t have to deal with the strict rules and checks imposed on taxi drivers.

The decision caps off a very bad 2017 for Uber in Europe and elsewhere. The company was banned in London and could be outlawed in other UK cities, and has had legal troubles in Spain, Italy, Greece, France and elsewhere. In the US, it was accused of sexual harassment, illegal spying on competitors (and law enforcement), and stealing trade secrets from Waymo. CEO Travis Kalanick also stepped down in June and replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi.

Khosrowshahi isi trying reform Uber’s battered image, but it’ll be hard for him to stay ahead of all the problems. That was highlighted in the so-called Jacob Letter, that brought a number of previously unknown issues to light. Uber will do well just to keep those fires tamped down, so 2018 isn’t looking any better for the ride-hailing, er, transportation service.

Via: CNBC

Source: European Commission

White House points finger at North Korea as the source of 2017’s WannaCry attack

The United States is publicly attributing the WannaCry ransomware attack to North Korea, counterterrorism adviser Thomas Bossert said during a White House briefing. The attack took place for three days in May across 150 countries using the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm, which encrypted Windows-based PCs and demanded Bitcoins in return.

“This was a careless and reckless attack,” he stated. “It affected individuals, industry, governments. And the consequences were beyond economic. The computers affected badly in the UK and their healthcare system put lives at risk, not just money.”

The United States isn’t simply throwing out accusations in a heated war of words. Bossert said the White House made its final decision “after careful investigation” backed by evidence, and a unanimous agreement with Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Microsoft is even involved, tracing the WannaCry attack back to “cyber affiliates” of North Korea’s government.

So what now? First, the briefing is part of a public move to hold North Korea accountable for its actions. Second, the United States will spearhead a plan that will bring the government and corporations closer together, thus increasing the cost for hackers by strengthening the nation’s cyber defenses. Good cooperation between the two entities will bring improved security across the board, Bossert said.

During his briefing, Bossert said Microsoft, Facebook, and other technology entities already began purging exploits used by North Korea and shutting down accounts used in attacks. They did so on their own without any government nudging, although he gave a special acknowledgement to Microsoft, whixh addressed exploits prior to the attack that kept many U.S. targets out of the line of fire.

“We call today — I call today, and the President calls today, on the private sector to increase its accountability in the cyber realm by taking actions that deny North Korea and the bad actors the ability to launch reckless and disruptive cyber acts,” he said.

Most of what he said during the White House briefing made its way into his op-ed post on The Wall Street Journal. But the briefing also introduced the nation to Jeanette Manfra, Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security. She will be joined by Christopher Krebs and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to coordinate operations with corporations to beef up cyber security on all fronts.

As an example of a government/corporate collaboration, Manfra relayed the events that began when WannaCry began attacking the Asia-Pacific region. By the end of the first day, all major local internet providers, IT and cybersecurity firms, and more than 30 companies across the nation were providing analytical assistance. This local collaboration between the government and the private sector helped defend the United States against the brunt of the WannaCry attack.

“In many ways, WannaCry was a defining moment and an inspiring one,” Manfra said. “It demonstrated the tireless commitment of our industry partners, a moment that showed how the government and private sector got it right.”

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The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will display an iPhone 5s

Director Sean Baker ripped up the filmmaking rulebook by shooting his Sundance hit Tangerine on an iPhone 5s. Now, over two years since the flick scooped more than seven times its budget at theaters, the Oscars has come knocking. No, the filmmaker isn’t getting a belated gong (although his current indie success story The Florida Project could change that). Rather, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is pinching one of three iPhone 5s handsets used to film Tangerine to display in its upcoming Academy Museum. You’ll be able to see it for yourself, alongside film memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz and Alien, when the 300,000 square foot space opens its doors in 2019.

Tangerine follows a day in the life of a transgender sex worker who discovers her pimp boyfriend has been cheating on her. Baker revisits the Hollywood location where one of the film’s climactic scenes takes place in the Academy’s announcement video (above). The director also talks of the equipment he used, including the soon-to-be immortalized iPhone 5s, outfitted with an an anamorphic adapter made by Moondog Labs, and a Steadicam rig. The film was edited using the $8 Filmic Pro app.

If that doesn’t inspire a bunch of aspiring filmmakers to shoot on the fly, then nothing will. And with awesome camera tech now on plenty of flagships, from the LG V30 to the iPhone X, you’ve no excuse.

Source: Oscars (YouTube)