Stewart Butterfield, founder and CEO of office chat software maker Slack Technologies, says his company is using AI to help build an advanced virtual assistant. Slackbot, Slack’s current built-in assistant, is an icon used for tips, searches and even a sprinkling of humor. In discussing the future potential of Slackbot, Butterfield compares it to the Samantha software voiced by Scarlett Johansson from the film “Her.” Butterfield is leveraging natural language processing and machine learning to build a truly helpful digital office assistant. Continue reading Slack Uses Artificial Intelligence to Build New Virtual Assistant

The Department of Commerce announced that it would renew its contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for one year (with options to extend it another three years), delaying its plans to relinquish oversight of one aspect of Internet governance. Commerce has overseen ICANN’s management of the Internet’s domain-name system since 1998. But last year, the Obama administration proposed transferring the oversight to international stakeholders, a plan that has met criticism regarding the potential impact to free expression. Continue reading U.S. Renews Contract with ICANN, Delays Giving Up Oversight

Last week we reported that beneath the aura of excitement generated this year at SIGGRAPH 2015 by the prevalence of virtual reality, a number of compelling panels examined the nuts and bolts of creating VR experiences, including managing workflow and assets. Part 2 of our report on SIGGRAPH VR panels continues with coverage of the VR Village sessions Creating on the Edge and Convergences in Film and Games Technologies, featuring perspectives from professionals in production, post production, visual effects, gaming and journalism. Continue reading SIGGRAPH 2015: More on VR and 360 Degrees of Experience

According to a new report from music analytics firm Next Big Sound, consumers streamed more than one trillion songs during the first six months of this year. The report acquired data from Pandora, Rdio, SoundCloud, Spotify, Vevo, Vimeo and YouTube. While digital downloads and CDs continue to experience a decline, streaming music generated $1.87 billion last year. Streaming music is clearly on the rise (Next Big Sound cites only 450 billion streams for all of 2014), yet companies are still looking for opportunities to profit. Continue reading Music Fans Have Already Streamed One Trillion Songs in 2015

While Twitter’s 140-character limit may have become a defining characteristic of the social platform, the company has decided to address the growing popularity of messaging apps by making a change to its private messaging feature. Last week, Twitter opened up its private chat function to allow users to send messages to each other using unlimited characters. It is unclear whether Twitter is considering a similar change to the character constraint on public tweets. “Twitter’s move is yet another admission that it needs to make the service more useful and easier to navigate,” suggests The Wall Street Journal.

Paramount Pictures is looking to experiment with two October film releases — “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” and “Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” — by shortening the length of time it takes to make them available to watch at home via digital platforms. AMC and Cineplex are joined by several smaller operators in participating in the new approach. However, Cinemark (the nation’s third largest exhibitor) and Regal Entertainment Group (the No. 1 chain in North America) have declined. Continue reading Paramount to Experiment with Flexible Film Release Window

Facebook has been developing a tool that would enable public figures to broadcast live to their fans. The social network launched “Live” this week, as a feature in its Mentions app exclusively available to celebrities with verified Pages. The launch kicked off with streams from stars such as Luke Bryan, The Rock and Serena Williams. It is not known whether the feature will be made available to ordinary users to compete with the likes of Periscope and Meerkat, but the company plans to gather feedback from celebs and viewers to “evolve the product.” Continue reading Facebook Rolls Out Live Streaming Video Feature for Celebs

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that developers would be given access to the company’s augmented reality HoloLens headset within the next year. In a recent BBC interview, he noted that the HoloLens is on a “five-year journey” that will include a developer release and enterprise applications prior to arriving on the consumer market. Microsoft has been generating early interest in HoloLens with compelling demonstrations involving architecture, gaming, videoconferencing and more. “We are looking forward to getting a V1 out, which is more around developers and enterprises,” said Nadella. “It’s in the Windows 10 time frame, which means that it is within the next year.”

Samsung has shelved its ambitious plan to reinvent the remote control, a project known internally as “Perfect Experience.” Samsung acquired set-top box startup Boxee for $30 million in 2013, and recruited the Boxee team to build a tablet that would double as a media guide for TV viewers. “The tablet was supposed to give users access to a unified guide with listings of live TV and streaming content with a custom-built user interface that looked unlike any traditional multi-purpose mobile device,” reports Variety. In addition to making the device available with high-end TVs, Samsung was hoping to partner with streaming services and pay TV operators to include their apps and content.

Chinese electronics-maker Hisense is looking to ramp up its TV business in the Americas with the $23.7 million purchase of a Sharp manufacturing plant in Mexico. Sharp is exiting the business after struggling to compete with TV leaders such as LG and Samsung, and will lease rights to its brand name to Hisense. “Once Hisense picks up production, it’ll be the real name behind Sharp TVs, as well as the Aquos and Quattron branding,” reports The Verge. Sharp plans to continue offering other consumer electronics — such as ovens, photocopiers, and solar cells — in the Americas. However, the company is getting out of the TV game.

Major League Baseball’s fast-growing technology arm and the National Hockey League have announced a $600 million deal involving TV and digital rights to NHL games and related content. MLB Advanced Media will pay $100 million annually for six years to take control of NHL digital and broadcast operations, including NHL.com and distribution of live out-of-market games. The deal is also expected to lead to a fully integrated global hub including live game streaming, video, social media, apps, and statistical and analytical content. Continue reading NHL and MLB Advanced Media Team Up on Digital Global Hub

Greenlight VR, a San Francisco-based business intelligence startup specializing in the virtual reality industry, has created a business map of significant VR players. The rising prospects for virtual reality as a mainstream medium has seen new demand for ways of better grasping the scope and nuances of the industry’s emerging and rapidly evolving landscape. The database profiles hundreds of VR businesses from around the world — from fledgling startups to the established companies entering this space — organized by 22 categories across 11 sectors. Continue reading Greenlight VR Maps Today’s Virtual Reality Industry Ecosystem

Less then two weeks following FCC approval of its $48.5 billion takeover of DirecTV, AT&T is already rolling out plans to lure new customers. In a first-of-its kind nationwide offer to be made available August 10, AT&T is packaging wireless phone service and television for $200 per month for the first year. The “All in One” promotional plan places an emphasis on TV anywhere, featuring HDTV and DVR services across four receivers through DirecTV or U-verse, four smartphone connections including unlimited talk and text, in addition to 10GB of shared data. Continue reading Watch TV on Any Device with AT&T’s First Nationwide Bundle

The MxR Studio at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts will host a presentation of new content for Birdly on Thursday, August 6, 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM (following a workshop in collaboration with SOMNIACS and Max Rheiner from Zurich University of Art and Design). Birdly is an award-winning full-body immersive VR flying simulator, which has been deemed among the most exciting VR experiences worldwide. You can experience Birdly and learn more about the innovative VR projects taking place at the MxR Studio at Thursday’s open house. For more information or to RSVP, contact Vangelis Lympouridis (vangelis@lympouridis.gr) or Wasef El-Kharouf (wasefe@gmail.com).

Apple reportedly plans to unveil its next-gen Apple TV this September at the company’s annual fall event. The device has not had a significant upgrade since 2012. “Expect a refreshed and slimmer chassis and new innards,” notes BuzzFeed, in addition to “Apple’s A8 system on chip; a new remote that sources say has been ‘drastically improved’ by a touch-pad input; an increase in on-board storage; and an improved operating system that will support Siri voice control.” The debut is expected to coincide with “a long-awaited App Store and the software development kit developers need to populate it.”