Stanford University released the findings of a study on the comments received by the FCC on its plan to end net neutrality. The FCC received millions of comments from bots that used real identities, making it difficult to determine authenticity. The research analyzed 800,000+ unique comments that were not obviously produced by bots to conclude they were overwhelmingly in favor of net neutrality. The New York attorney general is seeking to determine if false comments swayed legislators in their decision to end net neutrality. Continue reading Millions of Net Neutrality Comments to FCC Judged for Fraud

Facebook’s internal investigation into the recent data breach that affected 30 million user accounts has concluded that the hack was the work of spammers disguised as a digital marketing company, and not foreign nationals. Facebook believes the attack was initiated by a group of Facebook and Instagram spammers that intended to make money by means of deceptive advertising. The FBI is continuing its investigation into the hack, which is the worst security breach in the social network’s 14-year history. Continue reading Facebook Says Spammers, Not Nation-State, Behind Breach

Semiconductor manufacturer ARM, a division of Japan’s SoftBank, and Silicon Valley tech giant Intel have put aside a longstanding rivalry in order to forge a strategic partnership that will adopt common standards developed by Intel for the Internet of Things. The lack of such standards to manage the security of IoT devices, networks and data has been a stumbling block to the growth of the sector. Gartner analyst Bill Ray explains that NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics and Microchip Technology’s Atmel rely on ARM designs, while Intel’s processors dominate today’s cloud data center market. Continue reading ARM and Intel Team on Common Standards for IoT Devices

Just last week, Facebook announced its two new Portal video chat devices featuring 12-megapixel cameras with HD video and AI-powered software. New information suggests that the social giant is also readying a camera-equipped device codenamed “Ripley,” designed to work with your TV for video calling in addition to entertainment services including Facebook Watch. According to an insider with direct knowledge of the project, Ripley — which will use the same core tech as Portal — is likely to be announced by the spring of 2019. Continue reading Facebook Reportedly Building a TV Cam for Streaming Video

According to Gartner Research vice president Brian Burke, the democratization of AI is one of the five megatrends impacting emerging technologies. Although AI is currently in the “hype” stage of its evolution, to be followed by disillusionment, by 2020 it is expected to shape 80 percent of new technologies. Pursuant to that prediction, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released plans for a college of artificial intelligence to be built with $1 billion in investment, of which two-thirds has already been raised. Continue reading Gartner Labels AI a Megatrend, MIT Plans AI-Centric College

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Onshape, a cloud-based CAD (computer-aided design) manufacturer, has created an application for use with Magic Leap’s augmented reality glasses to let engineers collaborate in designing products. Shown as a technology demonstration at the L.E.A.P. conference, Onshape’s tool was one of the few applications that was not entertainment-related and proved the concept of spatial computing’s power touted by Magic Leap chief exec Rony Abovitz. Onshape’s leadership includes the original creators of SolidWorks, a popular CAD tool. Continue reading Onshape App for Magic Leap Powers 3D Engineering Design

Intel and Ovum released a report outlining predictions on the growth of 5G over the next ten years, highlighting that 90 percent of 5G data will be used for video, peaking in 2028. Virtual reality and augmented reality, however, will gradually grow, displacing video as the source of 90 percent of 5G. Intel is the most bullish on gaming, predicting that, “gaming will be at the forefront of 5G-led innovations.” Ovum noted that use of 5G bandwidth by video will increase due to improved resolution among other factors. Continue reading Industry Report Predicts Video, Then Games to Dominate 5G

At its Adobe MAX show in Los Angeles this week, the company debuted a preview of Photoshop for iPad, stating plans to bring the full version to other tablets. The iPad Photoshop app is based on current code for the desktop version, and, within a few versions, will offer identical tools as the desktop version, including layers, masking and 3D. This move comes after Adobe brought Lightroom to mobile devices; at MAX, the company unveiled facial recognition, improved search and updated sharing tools for Lightroom. Continue reading Adobe Previews Photoshop for iPad and Lightroom Updates

Facebook downgraded the number of users hacked two weeks ago to 30 million, revealing that the personal information stolen was more substantial for 14 million of the those hacked, including gender, religion, telephone number, email addresses and computing devices used to connect to Facebook. Hackers also captured the last 15 people or things the user had searched for on Facebook and the last 10 physical locations he had checked into. Another 15 million profiles were scraped for names and contact information. Continue reading Facebook Offers More Hack Details, Exposes Web Scraping

Facebook introduced its Fb.gg online gaming hub this summer, created to draw game streamers and their followers away from rival sites such as Amazon-owned Twitch. The hub — featuring videos based on games and streaming celebs that Facebook users follow, as well as Liked Pages and Groups — is going mobile with an Android launch, now in its beta testing stage. The Android version is expected to provide gamers who stream via Facebook Live a more prominent landing page for improved discovery. Continue reading Facebook Launches Android Version of Game Streaming Site

Walmart is partnering with MGM, which will create short-form original series for release in 2019, to help boost content on its ad-supported streaming service Vudu. The company also invested a reported $250 million in a joint venture with New York startup Eko, which produces so-called interactive stories in which viewers control the plots of commercials and TV episodes. This investment is believed to be the largest ever made in this particular storytelling niche that has interested creatives for years but never caught on. Continue reading Walmart Signs MGM Deal, Invests in Interactive Storytelling

To better compete with social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc. is launching a scripted video initiative called Snap Originals. Teaming with media titans such as Viacom and NBCUniversal to produce original content and syndicate existing shows, Snap aims to ramp up its serialized offerings as Instagram readies its IGTV hub for mobile video. Snap has already been experimenting in this space through partnerships with networks including E!, NBC and ESPN to produce content for its Discover section.

Continue reading Snap Is Latest Social Company to Plan Original Video Push

At a White House, President Trump signed the Music Modernization Act in a ceremony that was scaled back due to Trump’s monitoring of Hurricane Michael in Florida. The bipartisan act lets songwriters and artists be compensated for pre-1972 recordings, and gives them increased pay for works played on streaming services. In attendance were Kid Rock, the Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff Baxter, MercyMe, The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Craig Morgan, John Rich, and Sam Moore. Numerous trade organizations celebrated the new legislation. Continue reading President Trump Signs the Music Modernization Act into Law

Streaming games have taken a step forward. Microsoft is tapping its Research division and 54 global regional Azure data centers for Project xCloud, which aims to transform the Xbox from a box into a hub. The company hopes to test it publicly in 2019. Meanwhile, Google is beta-testing Project Stream, which streams games over the Internet via the Chrome browser. Although gaming boasts 2.3 billion players, console makers are now second place to mobile games, which are responsible for more than half of this year’s $138 billion revenue. Continue reading Microsoft and Google Making Progress in Streaming Games

By the end of 2019, AT&T is slated to introduce a digital video service featuring WarnerMedia films and TV shows. That will include such blockbusters as “Wonder Woman” and the Harry Potter franchise as well as HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” The deal comes on the heels of AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner in June for $85.4 billion. The company made it clear then that the main motivation for the acquisition was to launch a streaming video service. So far, no details have been revealed on the service’s name, price or date that it will be launched. Continue reading AT&T to Launch WarnerMedia Streaming Service Next Year