Today in Tech History – Nov. 19, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1872 – E.D. Barbour of Boston, Mass. received the first U.S. patent for an adding machine capable of printing totals and subtotals. The so-called “calculating machine,” proved impractical.

In 1967 – Hong Kong TV, the first free over the air commercial television station in Hong Kong was established. Today it is known as TVB.

In 1981 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos banned video games, citing such insidious examples as Space Invaders and Asteroids as a “destructive social enemy, the electrical bandit.”

2006 – The Nintendo Wii launched in North America.

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DTNS 2368 – Uber Regretful

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPatrick Beja is in residence today and Nokia just surprised us all with a tablet. Is this the resurrection of the old Nokia? Should Microsoft be angry?

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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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja, DTNS correspondent and host of Le Rendez-vous Tech and Pixels podcast

Headlines:

Facebook launched a new standalone app today from its Creative Labs team, called Groups. Gigaom reports the app– as you might expect– helps users manage their Facebook Groups. Users can create a group, keep up with the latest posts in their existing groups, and search for new groups based on interests. Unlike Facebook’s standalone Messenger App, no one is going to force you to download this one. You can still access your groups through the original Facebook app.

Nokia announced a new tablet called the Nokia N1. The 7.9-inch tablet uses Nokia’s Z Launcher app and runs Android Lollipop and uses an Intel Atom Z3580 processor AND uses the new reversible Type C USB Connector but only at USB 2.0 speeds. Nokia designed the tablet which will be made and sold by FoxConn. It will come to China first around Feb. 19th— Chinese New Year— then to Europe later— and be priced at the equivalent of US$249.

Ars Technica writes up the controversy over Uber Senior VP of Business Emil Michael saying Uber should hire researchers to look into personal lives of journalists and give the media a “taste of its own medicine.” Michael specifically criticized Sarah Lacy of PandoDaily for accusing Uber of “sexism and misogyny” and intimated there was a ‘specific claim’ Uber could prove about her life. The remarks were made at a dinner for Uber execs and journalists in Manhattan on Friday. Uber thought the meeting was off the record, a BuzzFeed editor was not informed of that. Michael stated his remarks were wrong and he regrets them. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick posted several times to Twitter explaining among other things that Michael’s remarks were terrible and do not represent the company.

The Verge reports Apple released WatchKit today, giving developers the tools they need to begin coding and testing apps for the Apple Watch. Watch apps can have their own interface, add a page to the Glances screen and send notifications. All apps must be extensions of existing iOS apps. Tools for native watch apps won’t come until later next year. Still no word on when the watches themselves will be launched.

PC World reports Intel will megre its PC and mobile processor divisions as the line between tablets and laptops continues to blur. The new division will be called the Client Computing Group encompasing Core and Atom processor teams. The Mobile and Communications group will send its Atom processor team to the new group and its modem teams move to a new wireless R&D group. Kirk Skaugen, lead of the PC Client Group will lead the new combined team which takes effect sometime after Jan. 1.

The BBC reports that scientists at Google have created machine-learning software that can accurately describe what a photograph looks like using simple language. The software uses a neural network trained to recognize images, then runs that data through a neural network designed to generate simple language and voila, captions! The software could be used to help visually impaired people understand pictures, provide alternate text for images in places where mobile connections are too slow for images, and put every caption writer on earth out of business.

In a move that sounds dangerously like what HTC was saying a few years ago, Samsung’s head of investor relations Robert Yi told investors Samsung plans to make fewer phones next year, according to the WSJ. GigaOm said the company plans to cut its list of current devices by at least a quarter. So heads up Galaxy Active, Galaxy Star, Galaxy Pocket 2, Galaxy Ace Style LTE, Galaxy J, Galaxy Core Lite LTE, Galaxy Core Advance, Galaxy Grand Prime, Galaxy S III Mini VE, Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy V, Galaxy Avant, Galaxy Mega, Galaxy Mega 2, Galaxy Grand Neo, and Galaxy W.

Reuters reports on IBM’s new email app for business that combines social media, file sharing and other analytics to predict interactions with coworkers. The app– called IBM Verse– does not want to rat you out to the boss– but rather act as a personal assistant and do things like draft response emails based on pervious interactions.

 

 

News From You:

metalfreak sent along the PC world article that a Certificate Authority called ‘Let’s Encrypt’ will start providing website owners with free SSL/TLS certificates starting sometime in Q2 next year. The CA will be run by a new public benefit corporation called Internet Security Research Group set up by Mozilla, the EFF and others. IN an attempt to get as many people as possible using TLS, ‘Lets Encrypt’ will automate certification issuance, configuration and renewal processes. Another primary sponsor, existing CA IdenTrust will cross-sign the certificates.

Peter_File pointed out the Verge article about WhatsApp’s Android app adding strong end-to-end encryption by default. WhatsApp partnered with Open Whisper Systems, developers of TextSecure among other apps. Open Whisper CTO Moxie Marlinspike says it took six months to get the code ready for the huge deployment.

metalfreak passed along an Ars Technica report that Honorable Ernest H. Goldsmith of San Francisco Superior Court ruled that Google’s search results qualify as free speech. S. Louis Martin of a website called CoastNews sued Google for violating antitrust laws because it put its site lower in search results, than Bing or Yahoo. The site also sued over Google’s refusal to deliver ads to CoastNews after the site posted photographs of a nudist colony. But the court decided that Google is protected by the First Amendment and has the right to organize its search results as it sees fit.

Discussion Section: Nokia N1 Tablet

https://gigaom.com/2014/11/18/non-microsoft-nokia-launches-android-n1-tablet-and-z-launcher/

https://www.zlauncher.com/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/18/7239695/nokia-n1-first-tablet-with-reversible-usb

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8733/nokia-announces-n1-tablet-79-powered-by-android

http://bgr.com/2014/11/18/nokia-n1-release-date-specs-android-5-0-lollipop-tablet/

http://n1.nokia.com/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/11/nokia-launches-an-android-tablet-with-smartphones-likely-to-follow/

Pick of the Day:  myfav.es

My pick is myfav.es I use it for my browser start screen on our Win7 HTPC with Logitech K400 to make life easier for my wife. She’s been happy with it, so I’ve never ventured to anything like Plex or XBMC.

Wednesday’s guest: Iyaz Akhtar of cnet.com!

Today in Tech History – Nov. 18, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1883 – US and Canadian railways adopted five standardized time zones to replace the multitude of local times scattered across North America. It was called “The Day of Two Noons” as each railroad station clock was reset as standard-time noon was reached within each time zone.

In 1928 – Steamboat Willie premiered at Universal’s Colony Theater in New York City. It was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was also the first official appearance of Mickey Mouse. Happy birthday Mickey, now give us back a reasonable public domain date.

In 1977 – A startup called Microsoft, fresh off developing its own version of FORTRAN, won the right in arbitration to license its version of BASIC, previously licensed exclusively through MITS, makers of the Altair.

In 2012 – The Nintendo Wii U launched in North America. The console did not yet feature it TVii service but did require a 5GB download which took over an hour to update the console’s software.

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Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Cordkillers Ep. 45 – MPA—- Yay?

Sony wins the race to first Internet TV service, MPAA does a great job helping you find things to watch, do you want 5 HDMI signals on one screen?

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CordKillers: Ep. MPA—- Yay?
Recorded: November 17, 2014
GuestAndy Forssell, former CEO of Hulu

Intro Video 

Primary Target

Signal Intelligence

  • WhereToWatch Helps You Find TV Shows and Movies to Stream Legally
  • Where to Watch
  •  – MPAA launched wheretowatch.com
    – Service to find where stream or purchase of movies and TV shows online or DVD/Blu-Ray
    – Trailers and behind the scenes footage as well
    – Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Flixster, Paramount Movies, Bravo Now, CNBC Full Episodes, E! Now, Esquire TV Now, Oxygen Now, Sprout Now, Syfy Now, ABC, ABC Family, Disney Movies Anywhere, Vudu, Xbox Video, Sundance Now, SnagFilms, Fandor, Wolfe on Demand, Target Ticket, Movies On Demand, Reelhouse, IndieFlix.

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

2014 Winter Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv

  1. Scott: $207,234,079
  2. Brian: $36,111,775
  3. Justin: $25,910,368
  4. John: $6,471,161
  5. Tom: $0
  6. Brett: $0
     

Dispatches from the Front

That German company you mentioned that’s offering an app to chromecast Amazon Prime videos has had their app shut down. From the Primecast app page (http://primecast-app.com/): “Primecast has been shut down and is no longer available” is all it says. I guess Amazon DID care. So much for “whatever device you please.”

Brian G

 

Holy cow Brian. Sometimes you go off arguing on the silliest of nitpicky (minor) points. The most recent one of having to go thru a one time setup process for Disney, iTunes and GooglePlay. You have to be one of the laziest employees I have. Seriously, it’s getting old. Knock it off.

Your boss

Kyle in Pittsburgh

 

 

Hey guys. You are always talking about how Nielsen is behind the times, but a lot of that is contractual between Nielsen and our Clients. Often we are limited by what we can do because of the push and pull between national and local interests. Few local TV stations are interested in internet video measurement for example, because very little of their content and audience is online. The National networks how ever have their own streaming infrastructure setup.

Check out this article about how Nielsen is trying to evolve the way video ratings are done. 

David The Nielsen Guy

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/238149/nielsen-calls-for-industry-to-adopt-new-ratings-st.html

 

 

Hey guys! I am a freshman in college and my university does not have a deal with any cable company so I had to find another way to watch some shows.

This won’t apply to the vast majority of the audience BUT my parents live in Mexico so I got them cable+internet for around $40 US. The awesome thing is that for an extra $10 a month they get “on demand online” which basically means I get to stream (because I am the one that uses it) every channel they have!. For most channels this is in Spanish (which I do speak) but this also means live events like the emmys, grammys, the world series, football on sundays and monday night, basketball games, all live and online! I know I’m cheating on cutting the cord since I am technically paying for a cable service but still I get to whatch live tv without problems online in HD. I know this seems like something a slingbox could do but this way no TV is being “used” while I watch what I want some 2000 miles away.

Love the show take care!

Charles O

PS. I love Brian’s sing-along the theme song after the credits. 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

 

 

DTNS 2367 – Riding in Cars with Noise

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Young is on the show today and we’ll talk about Uber’s integration with Spotify. Will anyone use it? And if so will it become a nightmare for drivers?

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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young, DTNS correspondent

Headlines:

New York City is getting free gigabit WiFi. TechCrunch reports that a public-private consortium will begin building wifi enabled kiosks all around the five boroughs, beginning in 2015. The LinkNYC kiosks will have an encrypted network connection and offer free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S, as well as a touchscreen tablet interface to access city services, interactive maps, free emergency and information calls, charging stations and displays for advertising and public service announcements. They will also feature display advertising space which the city expects will generate $500 million in revenue over the next twelve years.

Good news for iOS 8 users with older devices. 9 to 5 mac reports that Apple has released iOS 8.1.1, which will improve performance for older A5-powered devices, including the iPad2 and iPhone 4s. Apple also release OS X 10.10.1, with wi-fi performance fixes, as well as a maintenance update for third-generation Apple TVs, also known as version 7.0.2. So far no reports of install issues with any of the updates.

GigaOm passes a long a Financial Times report that Facebook is testing a new product called Facebook for Work. Rather than be a clever way to hide your Facebook surfing while at work. the service would instead allow users to chat with colleague, make professional contacts and do boring job-enhancing things like collaborating on documents. Work accounts would be separated from personal accounts. TechCrunch previously uncovered info about the project back in June.

Spotify announced today it will launch a partnership with Uber in ten cities around the world on Nov. 21st that will let Spotify Premium users choose the music in their Uber rides. Users can link their Uber and Spotify accounts today. The feature is opt-in for the driver so not all cars will have it. Meanwhile TechCrunch reports developer Ethan Lee has uncovered code in Spotify’s app indicating it may add a special section for podcasts at some point. That was obvious because the entry in the code was called ‘Podcasts.’ Lee found another entry called ‘Magic’ that obviously means Spotify will be incorporating magic in its app at some point.

Engadget reports Sony just launched a stacked CMOS photo sensor for smartphones, the Exmor RS IMX230, that puts 21 megapixels into a 1/2.4-inch sized form factor. It has 192-point phase-detection autofocus and integrated HDR for high-res photos and 4K video. Pretty much its being called dSLR features in a smartphone sensor. The iPhone 6 and OnePlus One use current version of the Exmor sensor. This new Exmore RS sensor should appear in April.

The Next Web reports Apple announced Chinese customers can now use Union Pay cards with their iTunes accounts. Previously Chinese customers had to transfer money into their App Store account before making purchase. Now they can just make a purchase and be charged directly.

TechCrunch reports that a group of technology companies wrote a letter urging the US Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would prevent bulk collection of Internet metadata and increase transparency about government demands for user information from technology companies. The letetr was written on behalf of the Reform Government Surveillance Group which includes AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo. The bill could come before the Senate this week.

The US State Department shut down its entire unclassified email system this weekend so engineers could repair possible damage from a suspected attack. A senior state department official said “activity of concern” was first detected around the same time as the October incident that targeted the White house unclassified computer network. No word yet on who was responsible for the State Department breach, but the official said no classified systems were affected.

Recode reports that Snapchat unveiled a new feature powered by Square, that allows you to send and receive money through the Snapchat app. Here’s how it works: Users type out the dollar amount they want to send as part of a private message. The app recognizes the dollar sign + number and presents a green payment button, which users tap to activate payment. We’re trying to confirm if the money stays or disappears after 12 seconds.

News From You:

metalfreak pointed out last Thursday’s Science Daily post about A3, a software suite that attempts to recognize and eliminate never-before-seen malware, repair any damage it caused and prevent against future infection. A team of computer scientists at the University of Utah led by research assistant professor Eric Eide and associate professor John Regehr developed the software. A3 detects unusual OS behavior and stops it. As a test it discovered and repaired a Shellshock attack in 4 minutes. The software is open source and is designed to protect servers running Linux.

starfuryzeta posted the Guardian story that Google’s Project Loon is coming to Australia in conjunction with Telstra. 20 balloons will fly in western Queensland in December as a test. The balloons beam Internet signals to homes and phones. Telstra will provide base stations and spectrum. Google tested the project in Christchurch, New Zealand last June. The goal of Project Loon it to eventual circle the whole Earth providing Internet connectivity to unwired areas.

jaymz668 let us know about the Ars Technica article about Martijn Wismeijer, a Dutch entrepreneur and Bitcoin enthusiast, who embedded an NFC chip in each hand. One encodes love and the other hate. I mean one hand he overwrites with things like contact details and the other contains the encrypted key to his private BitCoin wallet. He uses it to stock ATMs that are part of his company Mr. Bitcoin. He also would like to get NFC-enabled locks so he can unlock doors with his hand.

Discussion Section: Riding in Cars with Noise

http://thenextweb.com/opinion/2014/11/17/think-ubers-deal-spotify-awful-idea/

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/11/17/official-spotify-uber-team-let-control-music-ride/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/14/uber-music/

https://news.spotify.com/us/2014/11/17/uber/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/17/uber-spotify-bmw/?ncid=rss

Pick of the Day: Alien Blue via Andrew Hughes from epic Portland

Andrew from epic Portland here and I want to recommend the reddit app Alien Blue for iOS. It’s got a ton of different features but the things that make it stand out the most to me are how it manages your subreddits and how easy it is to share a post. I definitely think that any redditor that has an iOS device needs this app. Thank you to everyone at DTNS for a great podcast keep up the amazing work.

Tuesday’s guest: Patrick Beja, DTNS correspondent

Today in Tech History – Nov. 17, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1790 – August Ferdinand Mobius was born in Schulpforta, Saxony. The mathematician, astronomer and physicist is most well remembered for the discovery of the Mobius strip, a 2-dimensional object with only one side when embedded in 3D space. Poor Johann Benedict Listing also discovered it at the same time but Listing strip just doesn’t have the same ring.

In 1947 – Walter Brattain dumped a semiconductor experiment into a thermos of water and unexpectedly saw a large amplification of electricity. Working with John Bardeen they developed it into a new amplifier that would eventually be called the transistor.

In 1970 – The Soviet Union landed Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium on the Moon. It was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.

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Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Today in Tech History – Nov. 16, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1904 – Sir John Ambrose Fleming went “scudding down Gower Street” in London on his way to patenting the “oscillation valve” which we fondly call the Vacuum Tube. His patent was later invalidated by the US supreme court, but that didn’t stop Fleming from being Knighted and receiving a medal of honor from the Institute of Radio Engineers.

In 1965 – The Soviet Union launched the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus. It would become the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet, though it failed to return data.

In 2000 – ICANN announced its decision to include 7 new top-level domains giving birth to the .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name and .pro, TLDs.

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Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Today in Tech History – Nov. 15, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1926 – The National Broadcasting Company radio network opened with 24 stations. It was a joint creation of RCA, General Electric and Westinghouse. AT&T provided the spark for the network by selling WEAF to RCA.

In 1971 – Intel released the world’s first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004 with an advertisement in Electronic News, though the chip may have been delivered earlier in the spring to some customers. It was the first complete CPU on one chip.

In 2001 – Microsoft entered the game console war with the first Xbox going on sale in North America. It pitted Microsoft against Sony’s PS2 just three days before Nintendo’s GameCube went on sale.

In 2013 – Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console went on sale with a big event in New York where Sony rented out the entire Standard Hotel.

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Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 2366 – Biased Neutrality

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMolly wood is on the show and we’ll dig into what’s really going on with the net neutrality fight and hopefully dispel a few myths from all sides. Plus, Len Peralta is here to illustrate 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes