Todd Whitehead is on the show. We’ll talk about the line between your privacy and Google’s obligation to fight child porn. Is it OK to passively scan your email attachements?

MP3

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

Headlines

According to TechCrunch, Square, the company that makes mobile credit card readers, has acquired food delivery service Caviar for a reported 90 million dollars in stock. Square launched its own food-ordering service earlier this year, but only allowed customers to order food for pick-up. Caviar provides delivery for restaurants. Producer Jennie has done some research, and can confirm the ability to order an ounce of actual Osetra caviar from Caviar exists only in New York for now. In related news, producer Jennie is now very hungry. For caviar. No Jennie we cannot have a ‘Jennie gets paid in caviar’ level added to the Patreon.

GigaOm passes along a Xinhua report that the Beijing Youth Daily says a procurement list for governmental security software suppliers now only includes Chinese vendors. Symantec of the US and Kaspersky of Russia have been removed from the list. However it may not be as bad as it looks. A Symantec representative told Reuters “It is important to note that this list is only for certain types of procurement and Symantec products are not banned by the Chinese government.”

The BBC reports a 41-year-old Houston man was arrested on charges of possessing and promoting child pornography after Google sent a tip to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Houston Police’s David Nettles implied Google identified child porn int he man’s Gmail account. Google’s Eric Schmidt wrote int he Daly Mail last year that Google will actively removes such images from its services. A similar case happened in 2013 when a man was caught sharing illegal images through an AOL email account.

The Verge passes along a Wall Street Journal report that the Department of Transportation plans to propose a rule this December that would prohibit making and receiving in-flight cell phone calls. The ban seems to be based on workplace factors for flight crew not because of any technical reason.

ReCode reports Comcast will allow low-income customers with outstanding bills older than a year to to sign up for its $10 a month Internet plan. The plan called Internet Essentials is for families with at least one child that qualifies fro the US school lunch program. Comcast also announced it will waives the first six months of fees for new customers in the program. 

News From You

spsheridan submitted the Reuters story that security researcher Ruben Santamarta says he has figured out how to hack the firmware of satellite communications equipment on passenger jets partly through using WiFi and inflight entertainment systems. Santamarta will present his findings Thursday at the Black Hat security conference this week. His procedures have only been tested in IOActive’s Madrid laboratory, and might be difficult to replicate in the real world. 

mranthropology posted the CNET article about a printout of a screenshot of 4Chan post fetching a BID of $90,900 on eBay. The post from Anonymous reads “Art used to be something to cherish. Now literally anything could be art. This post could be art.” A screenshot of the eBay listing of Artwork by Anonymous — had collected more than $50,000 in bids, but was then taken down. 

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Verge article that Elon Musk seems a little spooked after reading the book ‘Superintelligence’ by Nick Bostrom. On Saturday, less than two hours after experienceing a Guardians of the Galaxy induced euphoria, Musk was brought back down to Earth somehow, writing “We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.” Sunday the man behind Spacex and Tesla Motors was still in a funk writing, “Hope we’re not just the biological boot loader for digital superintelligence. Unfortunately, that is increasingly probable.” 

porkchop_d_clown passes along Gizmodo reports that Japan wants to create a military-based project to monitor space debris. As many as 3,000 individual pieces of trash orbit the earth, moving at speeds up to 22,000 miles per hour. The new force will track debris and share that data with the United States, but the program will also monitor military activity in space. As for what to do with the junk, in January Japan announced a plan to launch a space garbage collection net by 2019.  

Pick of the Day:  Portable USB battery pack via Jamie in Vancouver, Canada.

I just came across this today while researching for a friend. It’s a portable USB battery pack for charging your devices on the go. It packs 11200mAh into its tiny form factor, and you can charge two devices at full speed simultaneously. It supports smartphones, as well as tablets. Best part is the price, only $40! I might be getting one of these for myself, and thought I would share this with you and the listeners of DTNS. Thanks again for an awesome podcast!

Plug of the Day: We’re getting some great pictures from listeners wearing their Daily Tech News Show T-Shirts. There’s still plenty of time to send us a picture of you in YOUR DTNS t-shirt for our special end of year project. Wait, you don’t have a DTNS-T? Well check out Slashloot.com for the very cool shirt with the very cool logo by Mustafa from thepolarcat.com’s logo available in white, black and Ash. Look in the podcasts section.

Tuesday’s guest: Ken Denmead, Grand Nagus at GeekDad.com

Darren Kitchen is on to bust some FUD about the BadUSB. What DO we need to be concerned with. Plus Len Peralta illustrates the show!

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Darren Kitchen of hak5.org & Len Peralta, the artist also know as lenperaltastore.com

Headlines

ReCode reports Apple has officially closed their $3 billion deal to acquire the experience that is Beats Electronics. Apple wrote on a welcome page “We’re delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further. And we can’t wait to hear what’s next.” What’s next for roughly 200 Beats workers is their positions become temporary. Online ordering of Beats products has shifted to the Apple store.

TechCrunch reports HP has teamed up with fashion designer Michael Bastian and shopping site Gilt to sell their snazzy new smartwatch. The watch is custom built and syncs with an app for iOS or Android to push email and text notices to the watch. It’ll also offer music control, as well as weather, sports and stock price updates. But its really all about looks. It has a 44mm circular watchface with straps available in brown leather, a green nylon and black rubber Price hasn’t been set but it will ship this autumn. 

Reuters reports hundreds of Chinese employees of Microsoft’s recently acquired Nokia handset business protested against layoffs at a Beijing research center and factory that currently employs 2,400 people. Microsoft intends to reduce the workforce at the site but not close it entirely. 

If you have more than 3,000 readers on your blog and you operate in Russia, you’ll need to register with telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor under a new law. GigaOm passes along that Izvestia reports Roskomnadzor has sent its first batch of notices to bloggers who must also disclose their true identity, avoid hate speech,“extremist calls” and obscene language. They also must verify any information before publishing it. In response LiveJournal now only reports 2,500+ on its readership stats page. 

According to Engadget, Ebay published their diversity report showing 42 percent of its employees are women. Women account for 28% of leadership roles and 24% of tech jobs. Ebay’s female percentage is slightly larger than Pinterest (40%), Yahoo (37%), Google (30%) and Twitter (30%). The number are smaller when it comes to some ethnicities. 7% of Ebay’s total employees self-identify as Black, and 5% Hispanic. 55 percent of people in tech roles at the company identify as Asian. 

Tired of Europe always going after Google lately? Now they get a break. An Austrian privacy campaign group called Europe-v-Facebook is going after Facebook Ireland filing suit in Vienna claiming the social media giant violated Austrian privacy laws by tracking users on third party websites, and the company’s non-compliance with data access requests and for Facebook’s alleged participation in the Prism data collection program run by the U.S.NSA… among others. 

Android has been cleaning up in marketshare by shipping but what about actual usage? Net Applications tracks just such a stat and for the first tim Android has topped iOS in their survey of usage grabbing 44.62% of worldwide usage to iOS’s 44.19%. Windows Phone took a nice jump to 2.49% of usage.

News From You

dan_linder submitted the Wired Uk story that British scientist Roger Shawyer’s EmDrive may have got some validation from NASA. The controversial drive allegedly converts electric power into thrust, without the need for propellant by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container. Critics say that violates the conservation of momentum. Last year a Chinese team replicated the results to little fanfare. Now US scientist Guido Fetta has built his own version of a microwave thruster, which NASA agreed to test at Johnson Space Center. The test results were presented on July 30 at the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The drive produced 30 to 50 micronewtons of thrust. Small, but positive.

the_big_endian wanted us to know that on the scrap heap of Google tech that includes Google Reader, Google Health and Knol, we should make room for…the Google Barge? The Next Web passes along the Portland-Press Herald report that the barge, which had been intended as a showroom for the Google X division, was towed into Portland Harbor last October, only to be sold to an international barging company. The four-story building built out of shipping containers will be dismantled. However a similar mystery barge docked in Stockton, California remains untouched. 

Pick of the Day: Keysduplicated.com

Joellen writes in: “I wanted to send in a Pick of the day… but it may be more of a discussion topic since it seems a bit controversial at the moment. The pick would be Keysduplicated.com, a service that lets you make copies of your keys by taking pictures with your phone. I’ve used it several times now to get copies of keys, as well as send copies to AirBnB guests who will be staying at my place. It’s worked great thus far, and has saved me many trips to the hardware store. The service, however, has gotten some mixed press recently. Most of it seems like nightly news “scare-mongering”, but I’d be interested to hear your opinion. At the very least, I think its something your audience should know about.”

Pick of the Day: Keys Duplicated via Joellen:

Joellen writes in: “I wanted to send in a Pick of the day… but it may be more of a discussion topic since it seems a bit controversial at the moment. The pick would be Keysduplicated.com, a service that lets you make copies of your keys by taking pictures with your phone. I’ve used it several times now to get copies of keys, as well as send copies to AirBnB guests who will be staying at my place. It’s worked great thus far, and has saved me many trips to the hardware store. The service, however, has gotten some mixed press recently. Most of it seems like nightly news “scare-mongering”, but I’d be interested to hear your opinion. At the very least, I think its something your audience should know about.”

Plug of the Day: 

Plug of the day: Like tech history? I’ve teamed up with Scott Johnson to put out monthly looks at what happened in history this month. For 99 cents you get what happened on each day of the month that helped make the tech we sue today, plus illustrations from Scott Johnson. Check them out for 99 cents each at tommerrittbooks.com or just search Amazon.        

Monday’s guest: Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

Patrick Beja joins us to share some French perspective on Iliad possibly buying T-Mobile USA and why BadUSB makes him afraid of everything.
*Note: Earlier Thursday a version of the MP3 was posted with the last few minutes of the show missing. The file has been removed and a new file replaces that one here. Apologies – Tom

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Patrick Beja!

Headlines

Ars Technica passes along the Wall Street Journal report that French Telecom Iliad, made an offer for T-Mobile USA, less than a week ago. Iliad would reportedly pay $15 billion in cash to buy 56.6% of T-Mobile USA. Softbank, owner of Sprint, also would like to acquire T-Mobile for something around $30 billion for the whole thing.

And T-Mobile is only getting more valuable. In quarterly earnings posted Thursday, T-Mobile USA added 1.5 million customers, for the fifth straight quarter of subscriber gains more than a million. The company posted a net profit of $391 million, or 48 cents per share, boosted by a spectrum license deal with Verizon.

Wired reports researchers from Security Research Labs in Berlin will present a USB vulnerability at Black Hat next week. BadUSB is a hack that replaces a USB controllers chip making it virtually undetectable. Malware on a PC can compromise any USB connected device and likewise any infected USB device can compromise any computer it’s plugged into. That includes mice, keyboards, USB sticks and even cell phones. USB firmware is not code-signed making it easier to spoof.

GigaOm reports Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org foundation has introduced an app in Zambia that allows limited Internet access for free. Through a partnership with India’s Bharti Airtel, custmers can us an Android app or website to access services like Wikipedia, AccuWeater, Google Search, jobs portals, and Facebook Messenger among others, at no cost, except to the idea of net neutrality in Zambia possibly.

BBC reports Samsung’s profits fell 20% in Q2, hurt by slowing smartphone and tablet sales and a strong Korean Won. Samsung reported profit of 6.25 trillion won ($6.1bn; £3.6bn) down from 7.77 trillion won a year ago. The company warned that “prospects for growth remain unclear.”

Here’s why growth prospects might be unclear. Smaller device makers are eating Samsung’s lunch. The Next Web reports Strategy Analytics mobile marketshare numbers for Q2 show Samsung marketshare falling from 32.6% to 25.2% on declining shipments. Apple fella couple points to 11.9% despite rising shipments. The ones to watch are Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi, all jumping above 5%. LG fell from 5.2% to 4.9. Oh and all those phones run Android for the most part. Android now has 84.6% of the market up from 80.2% while every other OS fell.

Ars Technica reports good news for Sony as Quarterly earnings posted a profit of ¥69.7 billion (about $677 million) up nearly 97% from a year ago. The PS4 powered most of the turnaround sending the Game & Network division from ¥16.4 billion (about $160 million) loss last year to a ¥4.3 billion (about $42 million) profit this time around. Spider-Man helped too as Sony Pictures film distribution more than doubled its earnings over last year. More revenue may be coming in through the PS4 as Sony launches it’s on demand PlayStation Now service in the US and Canada with a 100 titles available from $3 to $15 depending on the amount of time you want to play a title.

A friend passed along a press release from ViaWest, a large operator of data centers in North America. Seems Shaw, the only slightly-less-despised-than-Rogers cableco in Canada has purchased ViaWest for $1.2 billion. ViaWest is one of the largest privately held data centre infrastructure, cloud technology and managed IT solutions in North America, with 27 locations in eight states. For you US listeners, imagine Comcast buying a big chunk of the Internet it doesn’t already own and you get the picture.

The Verge reports on a Reuters report that the European Commission is preparing an anti-trust case against Google’s Android mobile platform. According to Reuters’ sources, European regulators have sent questionnaires to telecom companies and phone manufacturers, to see if Google is pressuring them to use Android. Add this to the still unresolved European anti-trust suit over the the web giant’s search practices, and Google may soon be applying for the right to be forgotten by the European government.

GigaOm reports Microsoft lost a fight in US Federal Court in New York Thursday to prevent US law enforcement to access data held on servers in Ireland without requesting permission from the Irish government. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled the search warrant served requires Microsoft to hand over the data requested regardless of where it was stored. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said Microsoft will promptly appeal.

News From You

Hurmoth sends along the Mashable report that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has sent a letter to Verizon Wireless asking why the company will slow down the top 5% of unlimited plan users on its 4G LTE Networks. Wheeler wrote, “‘Reasonable network management’ concerns the technical management of your network; it is not a loophole designed to enhance your revenue streams.” All major US carriers throttle top users of their 3G networks. A recent GAO report found that wirless carriers find that data caps help ease congestion. The same report did not find that data caps helped ease congestion for wireline ISPs, but were used as revenue generators.

AllanAV sends along a CNET report that Royal College of Art graduate Julian Melchiorri has created the first man-made, biologically functional leaf. Yup it takes in carbon dioxide, water, and light and releases oxygen. In addition to creating some nice air for us to breathe here on Earth, the leaf could also create oxygen on long-duration manned space missions to Mars and beyond. When reached for comment, the photosynthetic organism said, “I am a leaf on the wind.” Too soon?

MikePKennedy posted the Engadget story that Tesla has signed a deal with Panasonic to help build the so-called Gigafactory which will attempt to make cheaper batteries for electric cars. Tesla will build the plant and maintain it, while Panasonic supplies the lithium cells, plant, machinery and manufacturing equipment. The Gigafactory is expected to produce 35GWh of cells and 50GWh of power packs by 2020.

Discussion Section:

http://www.wired.com/2014/07/usb-security/

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/this-thumbdrive-hacks-computers-badusb-exploit-makes-devices-turn-evil/

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/187279-undetectable-indefensible-security-flaw-found-in-usb-its-time-to-get-your-ps2-keyboard-out-of-the-cupboard

https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/briefings.html#badusb-on-accessories-that-turn-evil

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/sprint-has-competition-in-attempt-to-buy-t-mobile/

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/frances-iliad-makes-bid-for-t-mobile-us-1406822189-lMyQjAxMTA0MDMwMTEzNDEyWj

Pick of the Day: Way of Life via Matt from Sweaty Sacramento

Matt from Sweaty Sacramento writes: “I’ve got a productivity app suggestion that, like your show, I use every day. Way of Life is an iOS app that helps you build new habits by tracking them daily. It’s essentially an automated version of the Seinfeld productivity method which has helped me a great deal in building good habits and becoming hyper productive. You can track daily completion, take notes of each habit or task, and look at trends based on your collected data to help motivate you or figure out why you might be struggling. The app also offers Dropbox syncing, note exporting, and custom reminders for each habit or task. The free version allows up to 3 tasks or habits to be track, which is a great way to start testing this method out. I quickly found myself purchasing the full version with no limits and believe it is worth the price of $4.99

Friday’s guest: Darren Kitchen & Len Peralta

Lamarr Wilson is back to help us understand how SnapChat is worth $10 billion.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
Today’s guest:  Lamarr Wilson of all the funny.  And also Mashable.

Headlines

ReCode reports Google changed Hangouts for businesses and Chromebox for Meetings today. Users of Google Apps for Business will now get access to Hangouts without needing a G+ ID. Hangouts will allow up to 15 participants, and will interoperate with video conferencing from Blue Jeans and IntercCall. Starting in September, Dell will sell a version of Chromebox for Meetings with the ability to connect it to more than one display at a time and new management capabilities for administrators.

According to the BBC, Nintendo reported a larger first quarter loss than expected, with a 9.9 billion yen loss (97 million USD), compared with an 8.6 billion loss (about 86 million USD) deficit a year earlier. Nintendo did sell 2.82 million copies of Mario Kart 8 during the quarter, but overall sales fell 8%. Nintendo said it expected new releases in the coming months to boost demand before the holiday shopping season. Hyrule Warriors to the rescue? 

Bloomberg reports China’s Alibaba is part of talks to provide another round of investment in SnapChat. The financing would value SnapChat at $10 billion. Alibaba rival TenCent is already a small and quiet investor in SnapChat.

The Next Web reports Microsoft announced its first update to Windows Phone 8.1 will release Cortana to roam across the world. The voice-activated assistant will be launched as a beta in the UK and in China under the name Xiao Na. Alpha versions of Cortant will arrive in Canada, India, and Australia. All the versions will be localized with spellings and pronunciation. The US version will get new features like snooze times for reminders, impersonations, and a hands-free mode. Folders are also coming to the home screen and VPN supports WiFi hotspots. Preview for Developers will get the update next week and the rest of us mere mortals will see it in the coming months.

Apple Insider reports Russia’s Ministry of Communications and Mass Media asked Apple and SAP to provide source code for inspection. The government wants to make sure the code doesn’t hide any nefarious spy programs. Microsoft agreed to a similar proposal in 2010.

Security Week reports The Tor Project disclosed details of an attack that attempted to deanonymize users. The attack was detected on July 4 while Tor was trying to identify attacks leveraging a method discovered by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s CERT. Tor project leader Roger Dingledine believes the attack may have been conducted by the researchers as a test, but is frustrated beciuse Tor can’t get access to the research. A talk on the topic was planned for Black Hat but then was canceled at the request of the University. Dingledie advised that users who operated or accessed hidden services between February and July 4 should assume they have been affected.

GigaOm reports the UK will permit driverless cars on British roads for testing starting in January 2015. The trials will last between 18 months and 3 years. Tests are already taken place on public roads in Japan and parts of the US. Trials on Swedish roads begin in 2017. 

Wondering why EA Access only came to the Xbox One? Ars Technica reports that a Sony representative told Game Informer that it essenitally just wasn’t worth it. The unnamed Sony rep touted the 200% growth of PlayStation Plus memberships since the launch of PlayStation 4 saying, “We don’t think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value.” So, basically, take your early access to Madden 15 and shove it.  

GigaOm reports FreedomPop will begin selling first-gen iPad Minis and Samsung Tab 3s which will come with the service’s standard free 500 Megabytes a month as well as 500 SMS and 200 voice minutes. Yees you heard that right. You can make calls through FreedomPop’s voice app on your Tablet. You can bring your own tablet on too, as long as it’s compatible with the Sprint LTE network that FreedomPop uses. The iPad mini will sell for $319 and the Tab 3 for $199.

News From You

melchizedek74 posted the Ars Technica article that a survey by the US Government Accounting Office came to the shocking conclusion that people don’t like data caps on home Internet service. They also found that home Internet service providers admit that data caps aren’t really needed to prevent congestion. Instead data caps are needed in order to charge people more for Internet. 

spsheridan submitted the Wired article the peers of the realm in the House of Lords have, after weighty consideration, determined that the so-styled “right to be forgotten” as described by the European Commission is simply “wrong.” The EU sub-committeee of the Lords consulted with the Information Commissioner’s Office, Minister for Justice and Civil Liberties Simon Hughes and Google, before arriving at their inescapable conclusion. Chairman of the Sub-Committee Baroness Prashar said the reality was “crystal clear” — “neither the 1995 Directive, nor the Court of Justice of the European Unions’s (CJEU) interpretation of it, reflects the incredible advancement in technology that we see today, over 20 years since the Directive was drafted”.

And finally, sdc111 passed along the BoingBoing post of an NPR report that astronomers at two different radio telescopes on opposite ends of the earth have now picked up fast “burst” radio signals that seem to originate outside our galaxy. Now before you submit your bid to build the wormhole surfing machine based on the schematics that are surely embedded deep within the signal, responsible scientists would like to remind you that these radio bursts could caused by blitzars, pulses of energy from a supermassive star collapsing into a black hole. Or by powerful solar flares from closer stars. Or by something an equally wondrous and yet unknown natural phenomenon. OR ALIENS SCIENTISTS!

Discussion Section:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/snapchat-in-talks-with-alibaba-joins-the-10-billion-valuation-club/?ncid=rss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/snapchat-said-in-funding-talks-with-alibaba-at-10-billion-value.html

http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/20/tencent-snapchat/

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+does+snapchat+make+money%27&oq=how+does+snapchat+make+money%27&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.4093j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/11/snapchat-doesnt-make-any-money-why-is-it-worth-so-much/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/how-could-snapchat-make-money-college-kids/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/10/5887211/can-snapchat-make-money-without-losing-its-cool-filters-stories

http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/24/snapchats-first-monetization-move-will-be-in-app-purchases/

http://www.wired.com/2014/01/secret-snapchats-monetization-success-will-surprise/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/07/23/snapchat-celebrity-advertising/

http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/07/25/jerome-jarre-snapchat-shonduras-chris-carmichael 

Pick of the Day: Francisco Rivera picks testmy.net

Forever, I’ve used speedtest.net by Ookla to check my connection. It’s pretty and all, but I’ve since found testmy.net and it’s great, free, and allows for automatic repeat testing at almost any interval, which is great if you’re trying to find out if your service drops out at odd intervals.

Thursday’s guest: Patrick Beja! 

Scott Johnson joins me to talk about EA’s new all-you-can-eat-of-what-they’ll-serve-you gaming service as well as Microsoft’s rumored selfie phone.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Scott Johnson of the Frogpants Network

Headlines

TechCrunch reports Facebook is getting rid of messaging in the main Facebook app for iPhone and Android and will force users to download the separate “Messenger” app if they want to chat. This is nothing new to European users who were the guinea pigs for the requirement back in April. Mobile web, iPad, feature phone, Windows Phone, Paper, and desktop users can still message like before, for now. Facebook believes the move will make both the Facebook and Messenger apps better.

The Next Web reports EA announced a new subscription service for the Xbox One today. For $5 a month or $30 a year members of EA Access can play older titles from the EA vault and get free access to new titles up to 5 days before release. After the release you’ll still have to buy the game, but you get a 10% discount on all EA titles and DLC in the Xbox store. PLus if you played early and buy the game any progress you amde carries over. Selected users are participating in a beta, but EA promises to take everyone’s money soon. 

Is this good news or bad news for those hopeful of new MacBook pros this autumn? The Next Web reports Apple has done a minor refresh of the MacBook Pros with retina displays. The 13-inch starter model comes with a 2.6 GHz Core i5 processor and 8GB of memory. The entry-level 15-inch MacBook Pro now starts with a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 chip and 16GB of memory.

ZDNet reports BlackBerry said Tuesday it will acquire German mobile security company Secusmart. The two companies have partnered since 2009. Secusmart makes popular anti-eavesdropping product. Or at least its become popular with Chanellor Merkel. The Secusmart Security Card contains the NXP SmartMX P5CT072 crypto-controller with a PKI coprocessor for authentication as well as a high-speed coprocessor that encrypts voice and data communication using 128 bit AES. All of that integrated into the micro-SD card.

Does the App boom smell like it’s ending? Bear with me. In 1999 what’s big Websites Along came DigiScents which made a device called iSmell, I KID YOU NOT, that would allow web pages to emit odor. Within two years, dot-coms were bust. In 2005 AJAX, XML Web 2.0 was all the reage. Everyone’s Rubies were starting to ride Rails. And researchers from the University of Huelva developed XML Smell, a protocol of XML that could transmit smells. Within two years smartphones had wiped Web 2.0 out of our minds. Today with the app universe going strong, Vapor Communications is promoting an Indiegogo campaign for the iPhone. A device to let people send and receive scented messages. Woe betide its funding and the decline of the appiverse.

TechCrunch reports Twitter reported revenue of $312 Million and earnings per share of two copper pennies. The street expected Twitter to lose the one pennie it did have on revenue of only 283.07 million Twitter allegedly said “TAKE THAT STREET WHAT DO YOU KNOW!” although that is unconfirmed. Twitter reported that it has 271 million monthly active users, up from its 255 million tally in the first quarter of 2014. That’s up 24%, year-over-year. Twitter’s monthly mobile user count was also up, to 211 million, a gain of 29%.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Ars Technica report that researchers at Bluebox Security have discovered a hack that allows any malicious app to masquerade as an app with special privileges. The vulnerability has existed since Android 2.1 in early 2010. Apps like Google Wallet and Adobe Flash are allowed to act with other apps in ways the Android sandbox usually prevents. While Android checks the apps ID it does not verify the validity of cryptographic certificates that accompany it. Cleverly made forgeries can therefore get the same special access to private information and device settings. Bluebox calls the vulnerability “Fake ID”. Google has been informed of the vulnerability and say they’ve issued a patch. Bluebox CTO Jeff Forristal will present more details on the vulnerability at Black Hat next week. 

metalfreak posted the PC World article noting the announcement over the weekend that Quantum Mechanix and Spark Plug Games will have the original cast of Firefly do the voicework for their upcoming Firefly game. Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, and Ron Glass have already recorded their bits. Jewel Staite, Gina Torres, and Summer Glau will be in the studio soon. The game will come to iOS, Android, PC and Mac in Spring 2015.

spsheridan pointed us to a Wired UK article that researchers from the University of Michigan and New York University have been simulating wet information storage techniques which uses clusters of nanoparticles suspended in liquid. Working a bit like a rubik’s cube, clusters of particles can reconfigure to represent different storage states. A 12-particle cluster can have almost 8 million states. That means a teaspoon of the stuff could store a Terabyte! All you have to do is use your scanning tunnelling microscope to read the data!

Discussion Section:

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/07/29/ea-announces-5-gaming-subscription-xbox-one/

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/07/29/ea-announces-5-gaming-subscription-xbox-one/

http://www.ea.com/news/ea-announces-ea-access-on-xbox-one?utm_campaign=ea-social-global-tw-easports-ea-access-072914-tw-text-site-ramp&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&sourceid=ea-social-global-tw-easports-ea-access-072914-tw-text-site-ramp&cid=23663&ts=1406654315238

http://www.ea.com/eaaccess/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/29/5947583/new-microsoft-windows-phones

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/28/5660722/nokia-superman-windows-phone-features

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/3/5867113/nokia-lumia-830-rumor-photos

http://www.wpcentral.com/verizon-htc-one-w8-windows-phone-august-21

Pick of the Day:  ProClip via Kevin Klecker

Kevin Klecker has our pick of the day! My commute averages about an hour each way, and it would be much more torturous if I didn’t have The Daily Tech News Show to keep me informed and entertained. I always want my podcasts, music, and Waze at my fingertips, I never knew where to keep my phone until I stumbled onto ProClip.

ProClip offers vehicle mounting solutions for all of your tech and gadgetry. ProClip is a 2-piece solution. It consists of a custom base that is engineered to fit your specific vehicle (You can choose one of several mounting locations. This is paired with either a universal/adjustable mount or custom mount which is engineered for your device (phones, tablets, 2 way radios, GPS units, etc). They have mounts to fit a large variety of device (iPhones, iPads, Galaxy series, heck….even my Windows Phone 8 Device). Most have the option to include a hardwired charger, or a cigarette lighter adapters to automatically charge your device while docked. They are fairly easy to install (usually lock into vents or molding), and have always seemed sturdy. Since the system is 2 pieces, it is easy to replace the base if you get a new vehicle – or the mount if you get a new device. My wife and I will be customers for life!

Wednesday’s guest: Lamarr Wilson of all the funny.  And also Mashable.

Pelle Eklund is on the show to chat about Spain charging to link to things on the Internet and NHL Refs getting sent off for Twittering.

MP3

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Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Eklund of hockeybuzz.com

Headlines

GigaOm compiles reports from Reuters and the South China Morning Post that Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu have been visited by authorities. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce is investigating the company. Chinese authorities banned government institutions from using Windows 8 in late May. Microsoft said Monday the company is “happy to answer the government’s questions.”

TechCrunch reports the European Commission has given Apple permission to acquire Beats Electronics. The approval was predicated partly on the fact that beats has a very small marketshare in Europe for both headphones and digital music. Apple still needs approval in the SU which it is expected to get. Then it can take on Bose which is suing Beats for patent infringement. And come on, you know Apple lawyers love a good patent infringement case, amiright?

Mozilla chair Mitchell Baker announced Monday that interim CEO Chris Beard has been appointed permanently as CEO of Mozilla Corporation. Beard joined Mozilla in 2004, left for Greylock Partners in July 2013 and re-joined Mozilla in April of this year when CEO Brendan Eich was removed in controversy over his support of Proposition 8 in California. 

The Verge reports OKCupid co-founder Christian Rudder has admitted that his site experimented on users as well. In one of three described experiments, users were told they were good matches for people they were bad matches for in order to measure the change int he rate of correspondence. Being told you were a good or bad match did have an impact but did not fully offset the calculated compatibility. Users were informed after the fact that they were part of the experiment. 

The Verge reports that most Hilton-owned hotels worldwide plan to allow customers to use a smartphone to unlock their rooms by the end of 2016. Hilton also plans to allow guests to check themselves in and choose their own room locations.

News From You

ayserk56 posted the Engadget story that researchers at Stanford have developed a new lithium battery that uses a nanoscopic carbon shield to allow for denser more efficient lithium use in a batteries anode, the part that discharges electrons. The result is a battery that lasts considerably longer, won’t decay quickly and remains relatively safe. They estimate the battery could get 2-3 times the life of current cell phone batteries. 

spsheridan sent along the ReCode report that Apple is close to buying Swell, an app that plays podcasts and other talk shows in a Pandora style, that surfaced shows adapted to the listeners tastes. Swell will apparently be shut down this week.

metalfreak pointed out the OS News story that Trend Micro’s report that Android is populated with many fake apps, half of which are malware, turns out to be an exaggeration. Techrepublic and Android Police both uncovered that Trend Micro’s promotion of their report didn’t work very hard to make clear that the fake apps in question did not exist in the Google Play store but had to be side-loaded, meaning a user had to ignore and disable security warnings to make the apps work.

KAPT_Kipper posted the Verge article that Amazon appears to be going after Square. 9to5 Mac showed off internal documents from Staples indicating an “Amazon Card Reader” will arrive on store shelves August 12 for $9.95 right next to Square and Staples’ own payments dongle.

geewhipped submitted the Vice article detailing disclosures that reveal 3 US FISA Court Judges own Verizon stock, two purchasing it within the last year. That includes Judge James Zagel who signed off on a government request to renew ongoing metadata collection in June. 

And Ek sent us a report from Scouting the Refs.com detailing the rise and fall of NHL official Tim Peel’s Twitter account. Turned out Mr. Peel was excited to reach out to fans and put a human face on Referees, but he hadn’t read the rules closely. The NHL-NHLOA Collective Bargaining Agreement forbids officials from having have social media accounts. His time on Twitter was brief but burned brightly. We will miss you @TimTpeel

Discussion Section:

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140728/06561628035/spain-likely-to-pass-google-tax-makes-paying-news-snippets-inalienable-right-new-bureaucracy-to-collect-it.shtml

https://medium.com/@JulioAlonso/the-story-of-spains-google-tax-5434d746df48

http://www.meneame.net/

http://coalicionprointernet.com/?page_id=7#APOYOS

http://qz.com/241005/nobody-seems-quite-sure-how-spains-new-google-tax-will-work/

http://www.xataka.com/otros/el-gobierno-aclara-que-las-redes-sociales-no-pagaran-canon-aede-aunque-el-texto-de-la-ley-no-lo-indica?_ga=1.68851857.1477832429.1402335428

http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/spains-launches-google-tax-attacks-piracy-linking-sites-1201105933/

Pick of the Day:  canistream.it

Our pick of the day comes from Julio M. Romero a fellow cordcutter: “I don’t know if you have already heard about this app/website/service is called canistream.it and is just that, a service that let’s you find out if that movie or show episode is available for streaming legally in different services iTunes, Amazon, play store, Netflix and some others. It even tells you prices so you can check which one is better for your wallet. The site is available as an app in the Apple & Android stores as well as the Windows Marketplace AND as a chrome extension. JMR

Tuesday’s guest: Scott Johnson 

Scott Sigler joins the show to talk about Comic-Con and the unholy merging of tech, nerds and the entertainment industry.

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

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Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Scott Sigler, author and podcaster

Headlines

GigaOm passes along a Wall Street Journal piece describing a Google X project to establish what a fully healthy human looks like in order to identify disease faster and easier. The BAseline Study Project will be led by molecular biologist Andrew Conrad, who joined Google X 16 months ago. All info will be anonymized and used only for health-related purposes though it will not be shared with insurance companies. Google will see benefits for the development of its wearable devices.

TechCrunch reports Lyft will begin operations in all five boroughs of New York City, not just Brooklyn and Queens, starting at 7 PM tonight. After negotiations with the New York Attorney General and the Taxi and Limousine Commission, Lyft will license all its drivers through the Taxi and Limousine Commission in NYC and pause operations in Buffalo and Rochester while it works to comply with insurance requirements there.

A Google representative confirmed to CNET on Friday that the company removed more than 50 percent of “right to be forgotten” requests it processed so far. The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that information Thursday night.

The US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill today legalizing cell phone unlocking. The bill will allow consumers and third-parties to legally unlock phones that were received through a carrier. The US Senate passed the bill earlier this year, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law. Today’s legislation will not permanently allow legal phone unlocking. The rule will be reconsidered by the Library of Congress once again in 2015 and every three years thereafter unless circumstances should change.

News From You:

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Ars Technica story that Wikipedia has imposed a 10-day ban on the IP address connected to the US House of Representatives. A series of edits described as “disruptive” were revealed on the Twitter account @congressedits that tracks edits made from Congress IP addresses. The account bans all anonymous edits from the IP which affects thousands of staffers. House staffers could make a Wikipedia account, which would allow them to continue editing.

the_big_endian posted the Verge report that Comixology is making DRM-free backups of purchased comics available for some of its catalog. Some publishers have not agreed to remove DRM, and comics from those publishers will not be available. However those that are can be downloaded from the “My Books” section of Comixology’s site as PDF and CBZ files. posted the Verge report that Comixology is making DRM-free backups of purchased comics available for some of its catalog. Some publishers have not agreed to remove DRM, and comics from those publishers will not be available. However those that are can be downloaded from the “My Books” section of Comixology’s site as PDF and CBZ files.

Discussion Section:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/25/5934849/trailers-predestination-dear-white-people-honeymoon-nightcrawler-out-of-print

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/24/comic-con-bans-google-glass/?ncid=rss_truncated

Pick of the Day: Waze

Monday’s guest:  Eklund of hockeybuzz.com

Tim Stevens is on the show. We’ll reminisce about the great PlayStation Network outage of 2011 and posit just what the heck Oculus is up to.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s Guest: Tim Stevens, editor-at-large at cnet.com

IDC released its estimate for the worldwide tablet market for the second quarter of 2014. 49.3 million tablets were shipped, an 11% rise over last year although a decline of 1.5% from Q1. While Apples shipment and market share declined they still lead with 26.9% followed by Samsung, whose tablet market is also declining to 17.2%.. The rise in the market is powered by the smaller tablet makers Lenovo, Asus and Acer in that order, although a whopping 44.4% of the market comes from tablets made by even smaller producers.

Remember the great Sony PlayStation Network outage of April 2011? Well Ars Technica reports Sony has agreed to a court settlement in the southern district of California, that could hold it liable for up to $15 million in damages, plus nearly $2.75 million in attorney fees. What does it mean for you? a free downloadable PS3 or PSP game (from a selection of 14 titles), three PS3 themes (from a selection of six), or a three-month subscription to PlayStation Plus. You have to pick one if you already took part in the Welcome Back” promotion back in 2011, otherwise youc an choose two. If you’re identity was compromised as a result of the breach Sony will pay up to $2500. 

ReCode reports HP will invest $50 million in Hortonworks, the Hadoop startup spun out of Yahoo. Big Data is a big problem for big companies. Hadoop is open source technology designed to make it easier to work with large collections of data in a distributed computing environment.

One year ago today Google unleashed the ChromeCast dongle on the world out of nowhere. Users have pressed the cast button on an app 400 million times since that day. Chromecast is now available in more than 30,000 stores worldwide, and repeated that more than 6,000 developers have signed up.

Oculus has begun shipping its DK2 virtual reality headset for developers. The DK2 costs $350 and is not a consumer version of the hardware but is a refined version of the Crystal Cove headset that won a Best of CES award. It features lower latency, a low persistence OLED screen and positional tracking as well as simplified cords. Oculus plans to ship 10,000 DK2 units in July, though as of April it had sold 25,000 headsets.

The Next Web reports Razer’s Nabu smartband will integrate WeChat alongside the usual fitness tracking applications. Messages could show up on the band’s screen but apparently things like ‘high five to exchange contact info’ might also be in the works. Nabu will debut in international markets over the next few months and make it to China before the end of the year. It’s meant to retail for less than $100. 

The Telegraph has a look at Twitter’s new diversity report which reports 30% of the company’s workforce is female. That’s the same as Google, 1 percent worse than Facebook and 7% behind Yahoo. The drag on balance comes from Twitter’s tech division which is 90% male and leadership which is 79% male. Twitter’s also revealed that 59 per cent of its global workforce was white, 29 per cent Asian. Less than 7% are Black, Hispanic, Latino or other.

Microsoft has released the first trailer for its upcoming Halo: Nightfall live-action TV series, which Ridley Scott is working on as an executive producer. The trailer reveals a new element that can selectively wipe out humans, which protagonist Jameson Locke, a an agent for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and his squad must seek out and destroy. takes place between Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.

Amazon reported Q2 earnings including a 27 cents per share loss on revenue of $19.34 billion. Amazon was expected to only lose 15 cents on revenue of 19.34 billion. Still, Amazon’s revenue grew 23% year over year. 

Also Pandora announced Q2 earnings Topping Expectations Slightly With $218.9M In Revenue, also announcing it Has 76.4M Active Listeners

News From You: 

jeff_rose submitted the Engadget report that you can now place phone calls directly from the Google Voice website using hangout. You don’t need to have enabled hangouts in Gmail or even have a G+ account. 

Inge_Aning pointed us to the MIT Technology Review article on Resistive Random Access Memory that could let you score ten to a hundred times as much data on a smartphone. RRAM already is being developed by several companies, but researchers at Rice University have shown how to make it easier and cheaper at room temperature and with lower voltage. RRAM stores bits using resistance and retains data without power just like Flash memory. It can operate a hundred times faster though, and can concentrate a terrabyte into the space of a postage stamp. The new method uses a layer of silicon dioxide poked full of holes, sandwiched between thin layers of metal. 

Discussion Section Links: Oculus What? Where? 

http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-dk2-pre-orders-now-shipping-breaking/

http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2bjnlm/just_got_charged_and_received_an_email_its_about/

http://www.cnet.com/news/facebooks-oculus-teams-with-samsung-for-mobile-virtual-reality-push/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/24/5933039/we-piloted-a-giant-robot-from-pacific-rim-using-oculus-rift

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/23/oculus-rift-tuns-x-men-into-a-vr-head-trip/

http://www.oculusvr.com/dk2/

https://support.oculusvr.com/hc/en-us/articles/201835987-Oculus-Rift-Development-Kit-2-FAQ

http://www.entertherift.fr/en/fiche-45-oculus-rift-dk2.html

Pick of the Day: Autohotkey via Conrad Lawrence

Autohotkey for PC. On the surface it is a hotkey generator, capable of reading abbreviations or key combinations and outputting long strings of text or data. For example type in “dtns” and get “Daily Tech News Show”.

Beneath the surface though, it is an easy to learn scripting language capable performing long, complex operations using data from a variety of sources, including user input. To easily enter this data and view the results Autohotkey also allows the creation of GUI windows.

I work in the Test Department of a hardware/software tech company, and in the year or so since discovering Autohotkey, I have created dozens of custom GUIs designed to facilitate testing and increase productivity. A signature check of almost 60 modules would once take hours. I can now perform the same task in just a few minutes.

Autohotkey is fully documented and supported at http://www.autohotkey.com/ and it can be downloaded for free for both personal and commercial use. It does not require a compiler but includes one so that applications can be shared with PCs where Autohotkey is not installed.

 

The Amazon Fire Phone is out tomorrow and Anthony Carboni is on the show to help us ask the question on everyone’s mind: why? Also a workers paradise is coming to Helsinki and robots may take over the Olympics.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Anthony Carboni, of wehaveconcerns.com

Headlines

PC Mag among the folks reminding us that Apple’s public beta of OS X Yosemite begins tomorrow. The first 1 million people who signed up at applessed.apple.com will get a link to download the beta and be asked to submit feedback if/when they run into problems. Yosemite has been available to developers and will be finished and available to all later this autumn.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley points out a passing comment Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made in the company’s earnings call yesterday regarding the mythical ‘One Windows’ strategy. Nadella said MS will, “streamline the next version of Windows from three operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes.” Later int he call he clarified this meant one team developing all variants built off the NT core with a unified store and developer platform. It does not mean you can install the same copy of Windows on your phone as on your dekstop.

Anthony! Anthony! Anthony! Did you hear! Foursquare has a new logo that looks kind of like a superhereo and is a rosy shade of pinky russet. And the typeface! Its a darker blue! And there’s a new navigation bar at the bottom! And there’s mor ephotos. and recommendations. And it’s really confusing if you still want to check in because that button is hidden and only shows up if you have Swarm installed. And it’s coming in a couple weeks to android and iOS! Are you excited?

The Next Web reports Microsoft announced the Lumia 530 arriving at the beginning of August in Europe for €85 BEFORE tax and subsidies. The low-end Lumia has a 4-inch 854×480 screen and runs Windows Phone 8.1 on a 1.2GHz Snapdragon. You can also select from one of many brightly colored interchangeable shells! Well three of the colors are bright if you conisder white to be bright. They’re bright orange, bright green, grey or white. The 530 wil also be available in single and dual SIM versions. 

VentureBeat reports Google has purchased Helsinki’s own 3D graphics startup DrawElements for an unofficial $10 million according to Arcticstartup. DRawElements tech lets developers test various GPUs across mobile devices. That should be handy for Android devs at Google one might think. Also it will be party time in Finland as the management team will move to Mountain View while the rest of the team will be left to create a worker’s paradise in Helsinki.

Messaging app LINE announced a new ‘Hidden Chats’ feature for Android and iOS users that lets users send messages with a time limit attached for more ephemeral private conversations. Time limits can be set from 2 seconds up to 1 week. Bloggers are now working furiously to post how-tos describing ways to subvert the feature and keep the ephemeral messages anyway.

TechCrunch reports Facebook beat earnings projections with 2.91 Billion in revenue and earnings per share of 42 cents. Analysts expected revenue of 2.81 billion and earnings per share of .32 cents. Facebook reported 1.07 billion monthly MOBILE users and 654 million DAILY mobile users. 62% of its ad revenue came from mobile. Facebook now has 1.32 billion monthly users and 829 million daily users. Facebook’s total user count is up 3.125% from Q1. 

Reuters reports that AT&T announced that its quarterly revenue rose, but slightly less than Wall Street forecasts. AT&T earned $3.6 billion, or 68 cents per share, in the second quarter, compared with $3.8 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $32.6 billion from $32.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

News From You

metalfreak posted the Wired article calling attention to the fact that Marvel is selling one month of access to its online comics archive for 99 cents. That gives you access to more than 15,000 digital comics from the golden age to the halcyon days of 6 months ago. The service is usually $10 a month or $69 for a year. The 99 cent offer ends in one week. 

eean submitted the Ars Technica story that Verizon has been opposing net neutrality rules partly under the argument that so-called fast lanes could be used to make more accessible services fro blind, deaf and disabled users. Several groups who lobby for accessibility filed comments asking the FCC not to let Verizon speak for them, writing “In no case should accessibility considerations form a basis for permitting paid prioritization more broadly, and the Commission should reject any overture to the contrary,” wrote the Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.; the National Association of the Deaf; the Hearing Loss Association of America; Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network; and Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access. The American Association of People with Disabilities also wrote to oppose allowing paid prioritization.

exfig pointed out the Verge posting that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said “In 2020 I would like to gather all of the world’s robots and aim to hold an Olympics where they compete in technical skill.” Tokyo will be hosting the allegedly unenhanced human Olympics that same year. Switzerland plans to host games for athletes with robotic prosthetics in 2016. 

spsheridan posted the Scientific American article on China’s planned supercollider. Scientists at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing, working with international collaborators, want to build a 52-kilometer electron-positron collider by 2028. It would be used as a ‘Higgs factory’ allowing the Higgs boson to be studied with greater precision than can be achieved at the smaller Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Discussion Section:  Amazon Fire

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/22/amazon-fire-phone-review/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EOE0WKQ/ref=amb_link_423232362_2?ie=UTF8&nav_sdd=aps&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1G6WNRNJBCQRXNN4CDR4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1869136282&pf_rd_i=507846

http://recode.net/2014/07/22/can-the-amazon-fire-smartphone-take-on-iphone-and-samsung/

http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/23/the-voice-renaissance-why-amazon-and-apple-are-returning-to-the-roots-of-mobile/

Picks of the Day: Scottevest via Russell Manthy

 A couple of weeks ago Scottevest was mentioned in passing on DTNS and thought it might be a good pick of the day. Scottevest was founded by Scott Jordan in 2000. He had noticed a problem early on that people were carrying more and more gear, gadgets, chargers, etc. and that the only vests on the market with pockets enough were designed for fishing or photography. Scottevest sells ‘technology enabled clothing’ which has pockets which are tailored especially for your gear. Some pockets have translucent touch sensitive lining so that you can operate your smart phone while not taking it out, others are RFID shielded. In addition to smaller pockets there are also bigger pouches for tablets and cameras. Wire ways are also provided for lacing wires for headphones from a device in a pocket to the collar. The vests and jackets are engineered to balance the load so that the clothes do not hang on you oddly. From the outside you would think they were normal vests or jackets but on the inside they are really great for keeping all your gear organized and concealed. I have been using one through fall and winter for the last few years and it is great; I actually miss it in the summer!

Tomorrow’s guest: Tim Stevens of cnet.com

Molly Wood is on to talk about Amazon’s new wallet app, the future of payments, and possibly a tiny little patent rant.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Molly Wood, of the paper of record! 

Headlines

Techcrunch reports Xiaomi announced a new phone called the Mi4 and a wearable called the Mi Band. The wristband device is a fitness tracker and can unlock your mi phone, coming in 5 colors and will sell for 79 renminbi or about US$13. The Mi4 has a metal band reminiscent of the iPhone with a 5-inch 1080p display 2.5GHz processor snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 3,080 mAh battery. It’s also the first model with LTE. TNW reports the Mi 4 will be available for CNY 1,999 (approximately $322) for the 16GB and CNY 2,499 (around $403) for the 64 GB. 3G versions come July 29 (China Unicom) and August (China Telecom), while the 4G version will land some time in September. 

Apple Insider posted that the USPTO granted Apple a patent for a “ “Wrist-worn electronic device and methods therefore” The device can connect with portable devices and the strap carries sensors. It also supports wrist gestures and proximity-sensing circuitry. Prior art? Never heard of it. Apple Insider points out the patent seems to be as much about putting an iPod Nano in an enhanced wristband as anything. 

TechCrunch started the wave of tech news sites noticing that Amazon had quietly launched a wallet app on July 17th for Kindles and Android. The app lets you store gift cards and loyalty cards and in some cases check balances. You can manage the app at amazon.com/wallet which also will list your Amazon-linked credit cards, implying that someday those too may become available in the wallet app. Amazon says the current app is in beta and will ship pre-installed on the Amazon Fire Phone. 

Ars Technica passes along the Nvidia announcement of a new version of the Shield Android gaming tablet. The previous all-in-one unit becomes the Shield Portable while the new unit is an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 tablet that can be controlled with a WiFi connected controller sold separately. The tablet includes 2GB of RAM, 300Mbps 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 5MP front and rear cameras. It also supports 4K video through its micro-HDMI port. The tablet will sell for $299 at 16GB and $399 at 32GB with LTE. Controllers will cost an extra $59 and a cover-case is $39. All of that arrives on July 29 in the US and Canada.

Ars Technica reports researchers from Carnegie Mellon University Alexander Volynkin and Michael McCord had to cancel a talk at Black Hat that would have shown how to discover the identity of Tor users for less than $3,000. Attorneys from Carnegie Mellon and the Software Engineering Institute requested the cancelation. Tor project leader Roger Dingledine wrote in an e-mail to Tor users that a fix is coming that should close the particular bug in question. 

CNET reports Verizon posted Q2 profits of $4.32 billion, down from last year’s $5.2 billion. But Verizon’s share of the profit, after excluding the cut that Vodafone used to get as part owner, was actually $4.2 billion, or $1.01 a share, up significantly from a year-ago gain of $2.2 billion, or 78 cents a share. Revenue rose 5.7 percent. Verizon’s customer growth was attributed to tablet demand as well as net addition of 304,000 phone subscribers.

The Wall Street Journal reports sources say Apple is asking suppliers to manufacture between 70 million and 80 million units two iPhone models with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays by December 30. Either phone could go on sale well before that date. Foxconn and Pegatron plan to start mass producing the 4.7-inch iPhone model next month and Hon Hai will reportedly begin making the 5.5-inch version exclusively in September.

Microsoft reported Q4 revenue of $23.38 billion with earnings per share of 55 cents. TechCrunch reports analysts expected the company to earn $0.60 on revenue of $23.00 billion. It sold 5.8 million Windows Phone-based Lumia handsets in the period. Phones cost the company $0.08 in earnings per share and lost it $692 million in the quarter. Devices and Consumer segment revenue were up 42% and Commercial revenue up 11%. So in the end, more revenue, less profit.

Apple reported revenues of $37.4 billion for its third fiscal quarter and profits of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per share. Wall Street was expecting the company to announce earnings of $1.23 a share, on $37.99 billion in revenue. The results are right in the middle of Apple’s own revenue forecast, which was between $36 and $38 billion. 35.2 million iPhones shipped, versus 31.2 million a year ago 13.2 million iPads shipped, versus 14.6 million last year and 17 million the year before that 4.4 million Macs shipped, compared to 3.8 million last year

News From You

Kylde, the self-described janitor of the subreddit, whose tireless efforts keep it spam free pointed out the daily dot post about a decision U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to allow law enforcement officials access to a suspect’s entire email account without limit. The judge placed no limits on the time frame or manner of search, which is unusual when approving a search warrant. The decision contrasts with one made by Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola, in March, blocking an attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) to obtain what he saw as an overly broad search warrant for an email account. 

melchizedek74 submitted the Verge report that FXX cable channel will marathoin the entire run of the Simpson’s, all 25 seasons, from August 21st to September 1st. After THAT, Variety reports that FXX will launch “Simpsons World” in October, which will let cable subscribers watch every episode on demand at SimpsonsWorld.com, or on the FXNow app.

Discussion Section:  Amazon Mobile Wallet

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/22/amazon-quietly-launches-its-consumer-facing-mobile-wallet-app-amazon-wallet/?ncid=rss

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LIBDH8M/ref=mas_dl?ie=UTF8&mas_redir=T5&ref=mas_dl

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.wallet
https://www.amazon.com/wallet/merchantCards?ref_=wallet_ln_mc

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/amazon-wants-to-include-peer-to-peer-payments-in-its-real-world-paypal-competitor/

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/16/amazon-reportedly-buys-mobile-payments-startup-gopago-working-on-an-ambitious-new-project/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/us-nigeria-paypal-launch-idUSKBN0FR22L20140722?

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 Picks of the Day: iSmoothRun & Smashrun via Neil

Mr. Merritt, Here are two picks in the category of fitness (primarily running, but iSmoothRun does work well with bicycling too).

iSmoothRun — how I collect my GPX run data and view on my phone
The best running application for iOS devices, in my opinion, is iSmoothRun.It doesn’t hold your GPX data hostage like some competitor applications, and makes it easy for you to share your data (I can export all, not just one at a time). I can also link it to many sites (including those that would be considered competitors). It has feature that no other running application has (or at least I have found) … It is only $5.99 and is the best money I have spent on my staying fit and healthy.

Smashrun.com – how I analyze my GPX run data on my computer

I use multiple sites to track and share my runs. This site has become my favorite. It has a good social aspect as well as provided a lot of details into your various runs. It is actually the first running or application with badges that are actually encouraging and worthwhile (IMHO). The ability to summarize my running data is great. The pro features allow me to do a deep dive into a run and see my pace, heart rate, and elevation along the entire course. Considering how new of offering this is, it is very impressive. Also, the blog posts show the upcoming feature set based on votes from those that are using smashrun.

Tomorrow’s guest: