Google CEO: ‘Devices’ will be things of the past (USA Today)
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the next big evolution for technology is artificial intelligence. “Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the ‘device’ to fade away,” Pichai wrote in the technology giant’s annual founders’ letter to shareholders.
Snapchatters Are Now Watching 10 Billion Videos Every Day (Ad Week)
Snapchat is officially part of the 10 billion club. Bloomberg reported that 10 billion videos are now viewed each day on the ephemeral photo- and video-sharing app, up from 8 billion per day in February. A Snapchat rep confirmed the stat. In addition, 60 percent of the app’s daily users crank out their own snaps every day.
Sen. Markey Eyeing TV Ratings System Complaints (Broadcasting & Cable)
Sen. Ed Markey could be weighing back in to the kids TV content and ratings fray. A group of academics—from Harvard to New Mexico—has written FCC chair Tom Wheeler and the other commissioners asking them to look into the TV ratings system and how it could be improved given what they say is the documented impact of TV.
Divided FCC Proposes Special Access Remake (Broadcasting & Cable)
A politically divided FCC voted to propose remaking the business broadband marketplace and potentially regulating rates for cable operators’ special access service. The FCC is phasing out the presumption of regulating the rates of historically “dominant carriers” ILECs as a way to boost competition from “nondominant” CLECs.
NCTA Seeks Obama Action on 5.9 GHz Spectrum (Broadcasting & Cable)
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is pushing President Barack Obama to make opening up the 5.9 GHz band for more Wi-Fi a priority in his remaining days in office, saying the need is urgent and the spectrum deficit dangerous. It signed on to a joint letter to the White House.
Here’s How TV Might Change if the Cable Box Goes Away (Technology Review- Commentary)
You may soon have the chance to say goodbye to that mostly useless cable TV box. Its replacement might resemble one of the many streaming devices on the market, like Apple TV. Maybe it will be a new kind of remote-control device. Or, if your TV connects to the Internet, you may not need new hardware at all.
Europe’s Case Against Google Might Help Rivals More Than Consumers (NY Times)
In a persistent (and thus far fruitless) effort to hobble giant American technology companies, the European Union has again taken aim at Alphabet’s Google search engine. The driving force pushing the recent European action against Google’s search engine was a consortium of corporate rivals.
Reddit’s plan to become a real business could fall apart pretty easily (Recode)
The promise of Reddit’s business has always been that it brings in millions and millions of eyeballs, hosts content that other websites use for themselves and has a highly engaged community that advertisers would love to reach. Now Reddit says it has bolstered its sales staff and put its energy toward actually making money from digital ads.
How this Hollywood vet is using virtual reality and storytelling to disrupt the sports world (Geekwire)
Recruiting. Coaching. Training. Fans. Retail. Photography. Media. Immersive virtual reality technology may impact the sports industry in more ways than you might think. HeadcaseVR is developing projects for clients like Nike and Chevy, using new technology to do everything from recruit high schools athletes to establish new retail avenues.
COURT APPROVES WARRANT RULE CHANGE (Reuters)
The Supreme Court approved a rule change that would let US judges issue search warrants for access to computers located in any jurisdiction despite opposition from civil liberties groups who say it will greatly expand the FBI’s hacking authority.
China’s Internet censorship: A WTO challenge is long overdue (Tech Policy Daily- Commentary)
For the first time this year, the United States Trade Representative’s “National Trade Estimate Report” took note of China’s Great Firewall. The report did not indicate what steps, if any, the US plans to take. But it is high time for the US, possibly in conjunction with others, to test the legality of China’s sweeping Internet censorship system.
VR’s Imminence Comes Into Sharp Focus (Net News Check)
Virtual reality was a major strand of the tech/media/marketing conference Collision this week, and one of its most breathtaking media applications came via The Guardian’s new “6X9” project. Strong signals point to VR’s coming mass adoption, along with the pressures of platform publishing and ad blocking that have surfaced.
How one woman’s ‘hyperlocal C-Span’ brings transparency to politics in Georgia (Columbia Journalism Review)
Nydia Tisdale, Georgia’s most notorious citizen journalist, crisscrosses the state with a cardboard box containing little red and blue books in the back of her 2003 Honda CRV. The red one is Georgia’s Sunshine Laws; the blue one is Georgia Law Enforcement and the Open Records Act.