Silicon Beach has become home to a number of tech startups, publicly traded companies and business incubators. Recent years have seen a wave of talent, innovation and investors that have fostered compelling new companies and, in some cases, acquisitions by larger Silicon Valley tech leaders. However, a number of startups have opted to stay in Los Angeles, while larger companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are building a presence. While still early in its development, the LA tech scene now has the core ingredients that helped launch Silicon Valley. Continue reading Silicon Beach Now the Main Tech Hub of Southern California

Italian surveillance firm Hacking Team, a company that provides technology for state intelligence agencies to infiltrate computer networks, was itself hacked in a breach that exposed more than 400 gigabytes of data. “The breached trove includes executive emails, customer invoices and even source code; the company’s Twitter feed was hacked, controlled by the intruders for nearly 12 hours, and used to distribute samples of the company’s hacked files,” explains Wired. “These are the equivalents of the Edward Snowden leaks for the surveillance industry,” said Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International. “There are few countries [Hacking Team] aren’t willing to sell to. There are few lines they aren’t willing to cross.”

Recently, Amazon has been offering discounts on sneakers and video games to its Prime members, prompting some industry watchers to predict an impending price war with discount shopping site Jet.com. Operating in private beta, the members-only Jet offers cheaper prices by lowering order fulfillment and shipping costs. The belief in the possibility of a price war is rooted in recent history: Jet was founded by former Amazon employee Marc Lore, whose previous company Diapers.com was the focus of a heated price war that ended with Amazon’s 2010 acquisition. Continue reading Is a Price War Brewing Between Amazon.com and Jet.com?

Amazon announced that it plans to conduct a special one-day sale for Prime members on July 15. The “Prime Day” sale, commemorating the e-commerce giant’s 20th anniversary, promises “more deals than Black Friday.” Special deals will start to appear at midnight and new offers will be introduced as frequently as every 10 minutes. The event is designed to bring more shoppers to its subscription service. “You can simply sign up for a 30-day free trial and cancel before the end, though of course Amazon is hoping that plenty of those that do join to take advantage of its one-day sale end up staying on and paying the $99-a-year membership fee,” reports Digital Trends.

Japan broadcaster NHK has chosen the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London to test its Super Hi-Vision 8K system. NHK is using Sony’s high-end F65 4K camera for production and upconverting content to 8K through a Sony processor. The production also includes a a FOR-A FT-ONE camera and two Ikegami SHV8000 Super Hi-Vision cameras. “Japan’s government and NHK are leading an effort to bring Super Hi-Vision — which combines 8K with a 22.2 surround sound system and a high frame rate of 60 frames per second — to Japan,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. “Plans are to start some satellite 8K broadcasting, beginning next June with the Rio Olympics.”

Sphericam 2 is a 4K spherical camera launched recently as a Kickstarter project with the intent of providing photographers, cinematographers and consumers with a means of easily capturing high-quality 360-degree video. The developers behind Sphericam see the camera is an ideal solution for producing content for VR hardware including Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard. The camera features six built-in 4K lenses and records 360-degree video at 60fps. With 23 days to go in the campaign, the project has already exceeded its $150,000 goal. Continue reading New 4K 360-Degree Camera is Designed for Virtual Reality

Speaking before the Internet Innovation Alliance about the appropriate role of regulators in a growing broadband economy, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly suggested that the Internet is not a necessity or human right, as many tech leaders have suggested. “It is important to note that Internet access is not a necessity in the day-to-day lives of Americans and doesn’t even come close to the threshold to be considered a basic human right,” he said. “I am not in any way trying to diminish the significance of the Internet in our daily lives.” Continue reading FCC Commissioner Says the Internet is Not a Human Right

Google Glass may have failed to gain mainstream traction its first time around, but the device managed to generate some significant interest from a range of businesses and organizations. As a result, a new version of Glass is likely going to focus on the enterprise market. According to 9to5Google, the next device is being referred to by Google as “Enterprise Edition” or “Google Glass EE.” Development transitioned from Google X to Tony Fadell’s team at Google’s Nest division earlier this year. Now that a device called “GG1” has passed through the FCC, the company may be closer to making an announcement. Sources say extensive testing is scheduled for later this year.

Researchers in Tokyo have developed a way to print electrodes directly onto material, featuring highly conductive elastic ink that could be used to measure heart rates and report vital statistics. If researchers can make the technology robust and washable, then stretchable, sensor-loaded clothing could become a future trend in commercial wearables. Sportswear, for example, is one area that could benefit. Google’s Project Jacquard, NTT DoCoMo and chemical company Toray Industries are among those developing smart fabric technology. Continue reading Next Wearables Could Use Smart Fabric with Conductive Ink

Facebook, Google, Pinterest and Twitter are among those looking to bridge mobile browsing and online purchasing with “buy” buttons that provide shoppers with one-click ordering for products offered by thousands of retailers. Despite increased mobile usage, Americans still order most of their products from desktop and laptop PCs. According to The New York Times, “This may seem like a minor inconvenience in a world where so much information is at our fingertips, but it is a big deal for tech companies whose multibillion-dollar advertising businesses are increasingly mobile yet remain highly tethered to the success of online shopping.”

New language in China’s recently enacted national security law is generating major concern across the global technology industry. The rules call for a “national security review” of networking, tech products and services, and foreign investment. In addition, the rules call for crucial tech sectors to be made “secure and controllable,” which industry groups fear may suggest that back doors for allowing third-party access to systems would be necessary, perhaps even leading to the sharing of encryption keys or source code. Continue reading New Chinese Security Law Raises Concerns by Tech Industry

Videos on Facebook garner 4 billion views a day — 75 percent on smartphones — and the company is increasing its efforts to turn views into profits. Its newly unveiled strategy is to share ad revenue with video creators, both to attract better content and more ads. Facebook will keep 45 percent of the revenue, similar to YouTube’s revenue model, but the two differ in a significant way: Facebook will divide the creators’ 55 percent share of ad revenue among all the videos that appear adjacent to the ad, based on how long users watch each video. Continue reading Facebook Plans to Push More Videos and Share Ad Revenue

Facebook will exclusively premiere three animated movies from Shorts International’s Shorts HD TV channel. The shorts will run, one week each, for free during July. Since Shorts HD could have turned to a variety of distribution platforms — including YouTube or its own website — the move may be either a vote of confidence, or a toe in the water, for Facebook’s new focus on video. The Shorts videos, however, will not be part of Facebook’s new Suggested Videos feature, which shares revenue with creators, in a move to attract better video content and more ads. Continue reading Shorts HD to Premiere Three Animated Movies on Facebook

A week before Apple was set to unveil its streaming music service, Google came out with a free, albeit limited, version of Play Music, which began as a $9.99-a-month subscription service in 2013. Google is offering the service to lure more listeners to its subscription version, which loses potential customers when they are asked to input credit card information. Whether this strategy pays off is unclear, and some industry analysts wonder if Google is cannibalizing its own services or amping up its music creds in a competitive streaming music environment. Continue reading Google Amps Up Competition with Free Version of Play Music

MasterCard plans to test a new program this fall that will experiment with using facial scans to approve online purchases. Consumers will photograph themselves with their smartphones at checkout, an approach MasterCard believes will be easier than remembering passwords. The company also believes it will help combat fraud. While SecureCode was used in 3 billion transactions last year, passwords can still be forgotten, intercepted or stolen. As a result, a number of companies have been turning to biometrics as a solution. Continue reading MasterCard to Test Using Facial Scans for Purchase Approvals