According to The Wall Street Journal, “The Senate on Sunday advanced legislation ending the National Security Agency’s collection of millions of Americans’ telephone records in a key test vote, setting up its passage later this week, in a reversal for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and a victory for the White House.” Yesterday, the Senate voted 77-17 in favor of the House bill (last week the measure was three votes short of advancing). McConnell said the bill is “not ideal,” but “it’s now the only realistic way forward.” The newly proposed U.S.A. Freedom Act would replace the 2001 Patriot Act, provisions of which expired last night.

New York Judge Louis Stanton has ruled that music streaming service Pandora must pay BMI a royalty of 2.5 percent of revenue through next year. The new figure represents a 43 percent increase over the previous fee. “Pandora had sought to pay between 1.70 percent and 1.85 percent of revenue,” reports Inside Radio. “The closely watched trial was the latest confrontation in an ongoing battle over royalty payments between Pandora and the songwriters and composers who create the music.” Pandora tried to be recognized as a radio station owner in order to qualify for a lower royalty rate, but the maneuver was not successful.

Although somewhat lacking in major device announcements, this week’s Google I/O developers conference featured some interesting news. Google unveiled Android M with simplified permissions, support for its Android Pay mobile payments system, and a promised boost to battery life and charging times. As expected, the company announced Project Brillo, its “underlying operating system for the Internet of Things,” and Google Now, which aims to “make the smartphone smarter.” The company also introduced Google Photos and a new version of its Google Cardboard VR viewer. Continue reading Google Unveils Android M, Project Brillo, Google Now and More

Periscope, Twitter’s new mobile live streaming app (and Meerkat competitor), is starting to draw the attention of advertisers and programmers. The app, which Twitter purchased this year for a reported $100 million, allows users to live stream content directly to and from their smartphones. The app was initially released only for iOS devices, but went live on Android phones this week. VH1 recently used the social tool to promote the wedding of two stars on “Love & Hip Hop” by providing users access to the ceremony’s red carpet arrival. Continue reading Now Live on Android, Periscope Part of New Social Strategies

Reports recently surfaced that Twitter has been in talks this year to purchase Flipboard, in a deal that would value the company at more than $1 billion. The acquisition would bring an experienced product team to Twitter as well as an heir apparent to CEO Dick Costolo in Flipboard co-founder Mike McCue. However, updates to the news have suggested that talks between the two companies have stalled, and other companies, including Google and Yahoo have since had discussions about possibly acquiring the newsreader app. Continue reading Interest in Acquiring Flipboard Heats Up with Tech Companies

Official FIDO certification for 31 products — from physical devices to login services — has been issued to 18 companies, marking the first certification under the new spec that aims to foster alternatives to password authentication and provide new opportunities for interoperating services. Systems compatible with FIDO can accept logins from any certified device, such as a fingerprint reader or voiceprint detector. Google’s all-purpose login service was certified as a universal two-factor server, and Yubico received certification for two USB security keys. Continue reading FIDO Certification is First Step for a World Without Passwords

Apple is reportedly planning to distinguish its upcoming TV service by featuring live content from local broadcast stations. However, offering local TV programming could delay a launch since agreements need to be negotiated with networks that also cover affiliates. “Industry executives don’t believe Apple has signed any TV programmers up for its service, which makes it unlikely that the company would announce its plans at its Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off June 8,” reports Re/code. “That said, TV executives who are talking to Apple are optimistic the service will launch eventually, and that the most important hurdle to clear will be money, not technical issues.”

The Augmented World Expo is coming to the Santa Clara Convention Center June 8-10. Organizers anticipate 200 exhibitors and 3,000 attendees. Panel topics include UI designs that work, capabilities and peripherals that matter, aspects of AR that could be standardized, and the balance of privacy, security and functionality. A good portion of the conference is focused on enterprise applications, but there are storytelling and VR tracks. Conference producer Ori Inbar said that, in Silicon Valley and NYC, the AR and VR communities do not communicate with each other. This year he programmed the conference to bridge that divide. ETC’s Phil Lelyveld will report from the expo.

Focus is a multi-material, portable 3D printer from Dutch design firm 3D By Flow, that can be folded flat and carried around like a briefcase. And “despite the fact that it’s completely collapsible, it’s also more capable than most fused-filament fabrication printers currently available,” suggests Digital Trends. “Focus is equipped with an interchangeable extruder system, which allows it to print in a massive range of different materials,” including bio-rubber, bronze, ceramic, nylon, thermoplastics, wood and edible substances. In addition, the company claims the printer does not require any calibration or setup.

Analyst and venture capitalist Mary Meeker has released her annual Internet Trends report, noting that nearly everything is now being optimized for mobile, online video continues its upward trajectory, global Internet user growth is finally showing signs of slowing (as is smartphone adoption), the on-demand economy is healthier than ever, and diversity increasingly matters to the tech industry. Interestingly, Meeker points out that video was responsible for 64 percent of Internet traffic and 55 percent of mobile traffic last year. Continue reading Mary Meeker: Internet Growth is Slowing, Video Remains King

Justin Lin, who directed four films from the “Fast and Furious” franchise, has been collaborating with Google on a mobile movie project. “Help,” Lin’s five-minute short intended for mobile phones, is being released at the Google I/O developer conference this week. The film tells the story of an alien attack on Los Angeles. It is distributed via a mobile app that enables viewers to explore multiple angles by moving the phone around. Google also recently teamed with animation legend Glen Keane on three animated shorts. Continue reading Google Teams with Director to Create Mobile Spherical Videos

Oculus is still aiming for a Q1 2016 launch of its Oculus Rift consumer version VR headset. During an interview at the Re/code conference this week, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe suggested that a complete Rift system, including a computer, should run in the $1,500 range. According to some quick math by Ars Technica, to build a PC with the specs required to power the system would cost around $900. This equation leaves $600 for the Oculus Rift itself, which may be somewhat high of an estimate. There are too many variables to consider at this point, but we may get more details next month when the company shares its plans for a VR control solution at the E3 show.

Despite concerns that Canada’s new copyright notice-and-notice system requires fine-tuning, early results suggest the approach is effective in decreasing online piracy. Thousands of notifications have been sent by Internet providers to subscribers since the system launched earlier this year. According to CEG TEK, the “massive changes in the Canadian market” include the following decreases in online infringement: Bell Canada (69.6 percent), Telus Communications (54 percent), Shaw Communications (52.1 percent), TekSavvy Solutions (38.3 percent) and Rogers Cable (14.9 percent). Law Professor Michael Geist reports that “the system has proven so successful that a consortium of movie companies now want the U.S. to emulate the Canadian approach.”

Research firm SuperData predicts that revenue from video games and e-sports will soon exceed that of broadcast television to take the No. 2 spot in entertainment behind cable TV. According to SuperData’s “Global Games Market Report – 2015,” the share of the entertainment market held by video games has tripled in the past 30 years. “Mobile makes up the largest revenue segment in SuperData’s study, with $22.3 billion of the overall $74.2 billion total,” notes VentureBeat. “Retail sales follow at $19.7 billion. Free-to-play massively multiplayer online games — think ‘League of Legends’ or ‘World of Tanks’ — come in at about half that, followed by social games, downloadable game content for PC, digital console sales, pay-to-play MMOs, and the rest.”

Chipmaker Nvidia, known primarily for its powerful graphics processors popular with PCs and game consoles, is entering the car automation industry with a new SDK it has begun shipping to notable manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Tesla. “When they’re fully trained up, something that should take at least another couple of years, the cars should be able to work with other systems to make decisions in real time, like when to brake and when to swerve,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The kit is made of two parts: an on-board, car stereo-sized graphics processor packed with image-recognition software, and a larger server which sits at a carmaker’s autonomous car testing lab.”