Frontier teams with AT&T to block Google Fiber access to utility poles

Frontier court filing supports AT&T lawsuit against Louisville, Kentucky.

(credit: Getty Images | aledettaale)

AT&T is getting some help from Frontier Communications in its attempt to block Google Fiber's progress in Kentucky.

As we reported in February, AT&T sued the local government in Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky to stop a new ordinance designed to give Google Fiber and similar companies access to utility poles. Although Frontier has no operations in Kentucky, it submitted a court filing last week supporting AT&T's lawsuit because Frontier is worried such ordinances will come to other states.

AT&T did not ask Frontier for its help, but Frontier's filing said, "the issues raised by the case may have important implications for Frontier’s business and may impact the development of law in jurisdictions throughout the country where Frontier operates."

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Mozilla launches nightly builds of Servo web rendering engine

Mozilla launches nightly builds of Servo web rendering engine

More than three years after announcing plans to launch a new web rendering engine, Mozilla has released the first nightly builds of Servo.

The idea was to build a new, high-performance rendering engine using the latest tools and features. While Servo isn’t ready to replace the Gecko rendering engine used in Mozilla’s Firefox web browser yet, it should offer speedier performance and additional functionality.

For now, you can download and run a simple browser to take the latest nightly builds of the new rendering engine for a spin.

Continue reading Mozilla launches nightly builds of Servo web rendering engine at Liliputing.

Mozilla launches nightly builds of Servo web rendering engine

More than three years after announcing plans to launch a new web rendering engine, Mozilla has released the first nightly builds of Servo.

The idea was to build a new, high-performance rendering engine using the latest tools and features. While Servo isn’t ready to replace the Gecko rendering engine used in Mozilla’s Firefox web browser yet, it should offer speedier performance and additional functionality.

For now, you can download and run a simple browser to take the latest nightly builds of the new rendering engine for a spin.

Continue reading Mozilla launches nightly builds of Servo web rendering engine at Liliputing.

Software faults raise questions about the validity of brain studies

Interpretation of functional MRI data called into question.

(credit: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center)

It's not an exaggeration to say that functional MRI has revolutionized the field of neuroscience. Neuroscientists use MRI machines to pick up changes in blood flow that occur when different areas of the brain become more or less active. This allows them to noninvasively figure out which areas of the brain get used when performing different tasks, from playing economic games to reading words.

But the approach and its users have had their share of critics, including some who worry about over-hyped claims about our ability to read minds. Others point out that improper analysis of fMRI data can produce misleading results, such as finding areas of brain activity in a dead salmon. While that was the result of poor statistical techniques, a new study in PNAS suggests that the problem runs significantly deeper, with some of the basic algorithms involved in fMRI analysis producing false positive "signals" with an alarming frequency.

The principle behind fMRI is pretty simple: neural activity takes energy, which then has to be replenished. This means increased blood flow to areas that have been recently active. That blood flow can be picked up using a high-resolution MRI machine, allowing researchers to identify structures in the brain that become active when certain tasks are performed.

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Spotify update violated Apple’s developer guidelines

Apple general counsel: “We’re disappointed with the public attacks you’ve made.”

(credit: Spotify)

Yesterday, streaming music service Spotify went public with complaints that Apple had recently rejected an update to the the company's iOS app. The company's lawyers alleged that blocking the update "raises serious concerns under both US and EU competition law" and "[diminishes] the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music." But Spotify offered up only a vague explanation for why the app had been rejected, citing "business model rules."

Today, Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell responded, saying that Spotify's app update violated Apple's App Review guidelines and that the company would gladly approve and distribute the update once the problem had been fixed. The full letter is available in this Buzzfeed report.

"We're disappointed with the public attacks you've made and appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight," writes Sewell to Spotify General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez. "Our guidelines help competition, not hurt it. The fact that we compete has never influenced how Apple treats Spotify or other successful competitors like Google Play Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Pandora, or the numerous other apps on the App Store that distribute digital music."

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Cop who drew gun on man filming him says man deserved it

“Go ahead and have a nice day. Put it on YouTube. I don’t care.”

In May, we told you of a lawsuit involving a California cop who looked ready to fire his handgun at a man who was filming the Rohnert Park police officer. Last year's standoff happened right outside the resident's house. Claiming civil rights violations, the alleged victim sued (PDF) the officer and police department that is located about an hour north of San Francisco.

The police department and officer, David Rodriguez, have now responded to the lawsuit. They essentially say it was resident Don McComas' fault from the get go and that McComas' own actions outside his house prompted the officer to draw his weapon on the Rohnert Park man.

"And for a third, separate and affirmative defense, these answering defendants allege that the sole proximate cause of the injuries and damages, if any, claimed by plaintiff was the negligence and fault of the plaintiff...," they responded in court documents. (PDF)

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Netzausbau: Telekom will ihre Mobilfunkmasten verkaufen

Um 5 Milliarden Euro für den Netzausbau zu erhalten, will die Telekom offenbar ihre Mobilfunkmasten verkaufen. Goldman Sachs und Morgan Stanley arbeiten an dem Prospekt. (Telefónica, Telekom)

Um 5 Milliarden Euro für den Netzausbau zu erhalten, will die Telekom offenbar ihre Mobilfunkmasten verkaufen. Goldman Sachs und Morgan Stanley arbeiten an dem Prospekt. (Telefónica, Telekom)

CTO and co-founder of Hyperloop One leaves amid reported tensions

Despite turmoil in upper echelons, company looked to be doing well in recent months.

Here's a look at the sled Hyperloop One tested in North Las Vegas. (credit: Hyperloop One)

According to Re/code, co-founder and chief technology officer of Hyperloop One, Brogan BamBrogan, has stepped down from his position at the company. The startup, which is angling to develop a super-fast enclosed transit system, promoted former Vice President of Engineering Josh Giegel to president of engineering and has given him a seat on the company’s board.

BamBrogan was a former SpaceX employee who temporarily served as Hyperloop One’s CEO until 2015. He joined the company after Shervin Pishevar, the other cofounder, had a conversation with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. While credited with coming up with a detailed white paper describing how a Hyperloop would work, Musk has declined to throw resources at building a Hyperloop himself, citing his many standing obligations.

Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies) is currently competing with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) to see who can bring the 700mph magnetically driven rail system to fruition first. Notably, Hyperloop One is structured as a traditional startup, recently raising $80 million from investors including France’s national railway system, SNCF. HTT, on the other hand, depends largely on volunteer time from engineers who are also veterans of NASA, Boeing, Tesla, and SpaceX.

Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Deals of the Day (7-01-2016)

Deals of the Day (7-01-2016)

Want a portable notebook for under $200? There are plenty of Chromebooks that fit that description. But there are also a handful of Windows notebooks in that category, including the Lenovo IdeaPad 100S notebook with an 11.6 inch display, an Intel Atom Bay Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

Lenovo’s tiny Windows 10 laptop comes with a 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and has a list price of $200, but you can currently pick one up from Lenovo.com for $160… or get it for $30 less from Best Buy.

Continue reading Deals of the Day (7-01-2016) at Liliputing.

Deals of the Day (7-01-2016)

Want a portable notebook for under $200? There are plenty of Chromebooks that fit that description. But there are also a handful of Windows notebooks in that category, including the Lenovo IdeaPad 100S notebook with an 11.6 inch display, an Intel Atom Bay Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

Lenovo’s tiny Windows 10 laptop comes with a 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and has a list price of $200, but you can currently pick one up from Lenovo.com for $160… or get it for $30 less from Best Buy.

Continue reading Deals of the Day (7-01-2016) at Liliputing.

Report: BlackBerry has 3 more Android phones on the way

Report: BlackBerry has 3 more Android phones on the way

BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone may not exactly be a best-seller. But BlackBerry executives have suggested that the Priv is just the first of several Android-powered phones the company is producing.

Now VentureBeat reports that there could be at least three of them coming in the next year.

But only one will have the feature that makes the Priv stand out: a physical keyboard.

The report comes from VentureBeat writer Evan Blass, also known as @evleaks.

Continue reading Report: BlackBerry has 3 more Android phones on the way at Liliputing.

Report: BlackBerry has 3 more Android phones on the way

BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone may not exactly be a best-seller. But BlackBerry executives have suggested that the Priv is just the first of several Android-powered phones the company is producing.

Now VentureBeat reports that there could be at least three of them coming in the next year.

But only one will have the feature that makes the Priv stand out: a physical keyboard.

The report comes from VentureBeat writer Evan Blass, also known as @evleaks.

Continue reading Report: BlackBerry has 3 more Android phones on the way at Liliputing.

Gran Turismo maker calls PlayStation 3 development a “nightmare”

Cell processor’s unique architecture hindered progress on the racing series.

Gran Turismo 5's creator says creating in-game imagery like this on the PS3 was a "nightmare."

If you were reading Ars about a decade ago, you may remember our extensive coverage of the baffling architecture behind the PlayStation 3's unique Cell processor. Many developers reportedly encountered difficulties trying to program for it effectively. If you haven't read all that, let Ars' Jon Stokes sum it up for you: "...the PlayStation 3 was all about more: more hype, and more programming headaches."

Today, we can add another posthumous log to that already burning fire of developer ire for the PlayStation 3 and the Cell architecture. Polyphony Digital CEO and Gran Turismo series lead Kazunori Yamauchi told IGN this week that working on the PS3 "was really a nightmare for us."

After addressing the slumping sales for the two PS3 editions of the Gran Turismo series, Yamauchi was quick to blame Sony's hardware for at least part of the series' development problems. "The conditions for GT6 were really against us, mainly because the PlayStation 3 hardware was a very difficult piece of hardware to develop for, and it caused our development team a lot of stress," he said.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments