This past year, Mozilla announced plans to develop a website that could support virtual reality. In June, it released an update with an experimental design for Firefox and the Oculus Rift. And earlier this week, to help celebrate Firefox’s 10th anniversary, Mozilla launched MozVR.com, a site featuring virtual demos, website blueprints, source code and guided tutorials to propel the growth of VR online. For now, the experience is only possible with the support of Firefox’s VR-enabled feature and an Oculus Rift headset. Continue reading Mozilla Launches First of its Kind Native VR Web Experience

Pop star Taylor Swift’s new music video “Blank Spaces” comes with an app that offers fans an interactive experience in the video’s pristine mansion setting. The app is available for iOS and Android, and it gives viewers a chance to explore the scenes featured in the music video, see Swift dance just a few feet away, and discover Easter eggs with extras such as Polaroids. This app may point to the future of music videos, and could provide an ideal testing ground for virtual environments. Continue reading Taylor Swift Music Video Offers a New Take on Virtual Reality

Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek defended his streaming service in a statement released Tuesday in response to Taylor Swift’s decision to pull her entire collection of songs from Spotify. Swift, whose latest album “1989” sold almost 1.3 million copies in its first week, pulled her collection from Spotify because she believes the company does not fairly compensate music creators. Ek, however, pointed out that his company has now paid $2 billion in royalties and helps prevent piracy. Continue reading Spotify Chief Exec Responds to Taylor Swift Pulling Her Music

Dozens of computer scientists are calling on the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling that made application programming interfaces eligible for copyright protections. That decision came as part of a federal appeals court case in May over whether Google had copied Oracle’s Java API. The scientists believe that API copyrights would threaten the technology sector and stifle innovation, while Oracle contends that the decision was “a win for the entire software industry.” Continue reading Leading Scientists Urge Supreme Court to Ban API Copyrights

Elon Musk, entrepreneur and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has set global Internet access as his most recent endeavor. Working together with former Google executive and WorldVu Satellites founder Greg Wyler, Musk plans to design smaller and less expensive satellites that would compete with those already in space. Sources predict that the duo plans to launch close to 700 of these satellites. The projected cost of the project is in the range of about $1 billion. Continue reading Elon Musk Plans to Provide Internet Access on a Global Scale

Walmart is launching its first video streaming stick, Vudu Spark, in time for the holiday season. This HDMI stick simply plugs into a television, connects to a Wi-Fi network, and starts playing movies and TV shows from Vudu, the Walmart-owned streaming video service. Vudu Spark will be competing with similar products, such as Google’s Chromecast and Roku streaming sticks, both of which already offer access to the Vudu app and many other streaming services. Continue reading Walmart to Introduce Vudu Spark Streaming Stick for Holidays

Just three months after Facebook cut off the messaging capabilities from its mobile app, the company’s standalone messaging app, Facebook Messenger, now has 500 million monthly active users. That’s a 150 percent increase over last year. Much of the success is thanks to David Marcus, the former CEO of PayPal that took over the Messenger operation. In the future, Marcus and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plan to integrate payments and possibly advertising into the Messenger app. Continue reading Facebook Messenger Growing Rapidly with 500 Million Users

As the market for cloud computing continues to expand, customers can expect to pay less for more. Increased competition in cloud computing is leading to greater storage at lower prices. And at the given rate at which customers are being offered lower prices, tech companies await their greatest challenge — “the race to zero” — or the moment when unlimited storage will be available at no cost. Amazon is one of the first companies to reflect this trend with the cost of its Web Services. Continue reading Race to Zero: Reduced Costs of Cloud Storage and Services

In a statement and video posted on the White House website, President Obama formally announced his support of an open Internet, urging the FCC to treat consumer broadband service as a public utility. The president is proposing a strict net neutrality policy that opposes any need for content providers to pay broadband companies extra for faster access. Service providers including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon were quick to respond, suggesting that the proposal would not stand up in court. Continue reading President Obama Calls for New Rules Protecting Net Neutrality

Technicolor’s Rennes Research & Innovation Lab is a 193,750-square-foot facility located in France’s version of Silicon Valley — Rennes’ Via Silva eco-city. Initially launched by CEO Frederic Rose in 2012, the facility grouped colorists, researchers and engineers together at one site. Today, teams at the R&D lab are working on a host of technologies for content creators and consumers related to virtual reality, augmented reality, stereoscopic video, 3D audio, the Internet of Things, and much more. Continue reading Technicolor Imagines the Future at Research & Innovation Lab

LG debuted plastic OLED tech with its recently launched G Watch R smartwatch, and introduced a version on its G Flex curved smartphone. The company has revealed future plans for P-OLED displays, likely to involve screens for smartphones, tablets, computers and TVs. The tech enables lighter, thinner, more durable screens, which opens a range of possibilities. We should expect to see P-OLED used in foldable computers, tablets with rollable displays, small screens for wearables and bendable screens for automobiles. Continue reading LG Plans P-OLED Bendable Screens for Range of CE Gadgets

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has developed a rubric designed to assess which social and communication apps and tools are best at keeping our messages secure. In an era of growing concern regarding our digital privacy, the EFF believes everyone is entitled to a practical and secure way to communicate via the Internet and mobile phones. This assessment of security, or scorecard for each app and tool, is the initial step of an ongoing campaign to educate and inspire. Continue reading EFF Designs a Scorecard to Help Measure Secure Messaging

Google is re-evaluating its privacy standards with a new open source tool that is designed to maintain confidentiality among participants being evaluated in heavy data sets. The ongoing project, known as RAPPOR, stems from a 1960’s technique that disrupts the correlation between a given data point and the individual behind that data point. The project is set to preserve the privacy and identity of the individual that is often vulnerable in the hands of companies today. Continue reading Google Experiments with New Approach to Individual Privacy

Google is integrating OpenTable’s booking service into its Maps mobile platform feature. Not only can users view turn-by-turn directions, reviews for businesses, and related photographs, but the addition will allow them to reserve a table at a restaurant from inside the application. Google has used other services in similar ways, such as displaying Uber fares, times of arrival and times to destination inside its app. The latest addition is a result of Google’s growing partnership with OpenTable parent Priceline.

Continue reading Google Maps App Includes OpenTable’s Reservation Service

Third quarter reports indicate a greater reduction in the number of pay TV customers as compared to the previous year. The decline in pay TV customers suggest that a growing number of consumers are taking to “cord cutting” when it comes to media consumption. With a number of viable streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon currently available, customers are choosing to abandon traditional pay TV to avoid paying the steep cost of cable and satellite packages. Continue reading Report: TV Viewers Continue to Drop Cable and Satellite Subs