Daily Tech Headlines – June 30, 2016
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| Daily Tech Headlines – June 30, 2016 | |
| Number | 16 |
| Broadcast Date | JUNE 30, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 7:47 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Android gets a name, Spotify threatens Apple and a new cable connects the Pacific.
Headlines
- The official Android account Tweeted today that the official name of Android N will be Nougat, The final release will come sometime during Q3.
- Microsoft announced the 1 TB versions of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, previously available only in Canada and the US, are coming to 10 new markets. Australia, Austria, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK can get them now, Germany and Japan will get them later this month. Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands get only the Surface Pro 4 later this summer.
- ReCode reports Spotify general counsel Horacio Gutierrez sent a letter to Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell on May 26 accusing Apple of causing “grave harm” by blocking an update to the Spotify app. The letter says Apple turned down the update for business model rules regarding Apple’s requirement that apps use Apple’s billing system to acquire new customers. Apple takes 30% of in-app subscriptions and prevents companies from promoting alternative ways of subscribing in their iOS apps. The letter says the denial “raises serious concerns under both US and EU competition law.”
- The transpacific internet cable called Faster goes live Thursday. The cable stretches more than 9,000 kilometers, connecting Oregon to Chiba and Mie prefectures in Japan, with a top speed of 60 terabits per second. A consortium including Google, Global Transit, China Telecom Global, Singtel, China Mobile International, and KDDI funded the project, with construction and technical assistance from NEC.
- Samsung announced that their Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will now be available unlocked in the US. Previously the devices could only be purchased locked to a carrier, with carrier except for certain phones at Samsung Experience stores in Canada and then run across the border. The S7 and S7 Edge are available at various online retailers today for $669.99 and $769.99, respectively.
- HTC confirmed to the Verge that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary called HTC Vive Tech Corporation in order to develop its VR business.
- A Brussels appeals court dismissed a case against Facebook Wednesday, saying the Belgian Commission for Protection of Privacy had no jurisdiction, since Facebook's European headquarters is in Dublin. The Comission may appeal to the Belgian Court of Cassation. The CPP brought the case over Facebook's practice of tracking users who don't have a Facebook account or weren't logged into one.
- In an SEC filing, hard drive manufacturer Seagate says it plans t cut 1,600 jobs by the end of Q3. This amounts to about 3% of its global workforce. The company estimates the move will save the company $100 million annualy, and comes after 5 consecutive quarters of declining revenue.
- Wednesday attackers accessed the Twitter account of Oculus CEO Bredan Iribe posting a fake announcement of a new CEO. The attacker told TechCrunch's Lucas Matney that the password for Iribe's account was obtained from last month's MySpace breach.
- Earlier this week Sony launched its PlayStation Vue TV service on the Roku and Thursday it went live on Android. Users of the service on the PlayStation got a new feature that keeps video playing in a window in the upper right corner while scrolling through viewing options. The FireTV version of PSView now supports 60fps video. And quick navigation overlay already used in the PS4 now comes to PS3 and Fire TV users as well.
- Akamai's State of Internet report for Q1 2016 shows average speeds worldwide increased 12% from the previous quarter to 6.3 Mbps, a 23% rise over the past year. IPv6 adoption on the rise. South Korea still leads with the highest average connection speed of 29 Mbps, followed by Norway, Sweden, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Singapore still has the highest average peak connection speed of 146.9 Mbps. Average mobile connection speeds were highest in the UK at 27.9Mbps and peak speeds for mobile topped out at 171.6 Mbps in Germany.
- The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission denied an appeal by Bell Wednesday. The telco will now have to provide wholesale access to its fibre network. Independent ISPs will be able to use Bell's network for last mile access to homes but will still need to strike their own transit deals to bring data to the Bell network.
- Spanish authorities raided Google's Madrid office on Thursday as part of a probe into tax evasion. This comes a month after a similar action in the Google's Paris offices. Google told Reuters it is working with the Spanish authorities to address any concerns, and maintained that the company complies with Spanish tax law.
- At the Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt Germany, Fujitsu announced a partnership with ARM Holdings to develop its successor to the K Supercomputer. The K Supercomputer, the world's fastest when it was released in 2011, used a custom SPARC64 architecture. It is now the 5th fastest behind 2 Chinese and two US machines. The new supercomputer will be developed as a co-venture between Fujitsu and the Riken research institute with some government funding. Fujitsu expects completion by 2020.
- Reuters reports Sidian bank approved its first car loans to Uber drivers in Kenya as part of a new program between the two companies. Under the program, Uber drivers with 500 trips and an average passenger rating of 4.6 or more may secure a loan. Sidian has approved 10 three-year loans at a 10.5% interest rate, well below the usual 18%. A similar credit scheme has been rolled out using Uber data in South Africa.
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| Preceded by: "Daily Tech Headlines – June 29, 2016" |
Daily Tech Headlines – June 30, 2016 |
Followed by: "Daily Tech Headlines – July 1, 2016" |