AT&T and FCC chairman square off in set-top box fight

FCC set to vote on a card-less replacement for CableCard.

(credit: AT&T)

The Federal Communications Commission chairman dismissed concerns from AT&T and other pay-TV providers about new set-top box rules, saying that the companies shouldn't fear a little competition.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal would force pay-TV providers to make video programming available to the makers of third-party devices and software, saying he wants customers to have more alternatives to set-top boxes rented from cable companies. A vote is scheduled for next week, and TV providers are furious.

Wheeler doesn't mind, though. “The big kick I get is that AT&T and the cable companies have been putting out statements say, ‘This is going to thwart innovation,'” Wheeler said in an interview with Variety. “And I scratch my head and say, ‘My goodness, let’s see. When was the last time that competition thwarted innovation rather than spurring innovation?’ And you are telling me that a locked-down, closed system will have more impetus to be innovative, than a competitive, open system? I think that history shows that it is exactly the opposite of what happens in reality.”

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Streaming: Mobiler Datentraffic steigt um das Siebenfache

Im Jahr 2020 erreicht der mobile Datenverkehr in Deutschland wohl 345,2 PByte im Monat. Damit steigt der Anteil des mobilen Traffics am gesamten Datenverkehr aber nur von drei auf neun Prozent, will Cisco errechnet haben. (Netzneutralität, Google)

Im Jahr 2020 erreicht der mobile Datenverkehr in Deutschland wohl 345,2 PByte im Monat. Damit steigt der Anteil des mobilen Traffics am gesamten Datenverkehr aber nur von drei auf neun Prozent, will Cisco errechnet haben. (Netzneutralität, Google)

Google display ads going all-HTML, will ban Flash in 2017

Acceptance of new Flash ads ends in June; old Flash ads can remain until January.

On the Adwords Google+ page, Google just announced a timeline for banishing Flash from its advertising network, announcing that "Google Display Network and DoubleClick Digital Marketing are now going 100% HTML5."

Starting on June 30, 2016, Google will no longer accept new Flash display ads from advertisers. On January 2, 2017, even old Flash ads will be blocked from appearing, making Google's ad network mostly Flash-free. The one exception seems to be video ads, as Google notes "Video ads built in Flash will not be impacted at this time."

Google has been trying to wean advertisers off of Flash for some time, providing tools and best practices for switching. Now it apparently feels good enough about the switch to force it on everyone.

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KAT Adds Torrent Streaming: Expect Bloodshed, Tech Devs Warn

Following moves by The Pirate Bay to introduce on-site video streaming, today KickassTorrents implemented the same feature. The people at Torrents-Time, the people behind the technology, say that the development marks the start of a revolution. “Expect a bloodshed,” they warn.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

katLast week saw the launch of Torrents-Time, software for Windows and Mac that allows people to view torrents embedded in a webpage and without need for an external torrent client.

Initially the technology was employed by Popcorntime-Online.io, a browser-based edition of Popcorn Time that for the first time used peer-to-peer transfers rather than resource hungry HTTP.

Then, just a couple of days later, The Pirate Bay became the first general torrent index to utilize the Torrents-Time software, meaning that users are now able to watch videos embedded in The Pirate Bay. Torrents-Time is appealing to torrent site operators because it enables them to generate extra revenue through an embedded VPN advertisement.

Today we can report that KickassTorrents has implemented the same feature, making it not only the world’s largest torrent site, but also the largest streaming portal too. However, while the process is pretty straightforward on Pirate Bay (users simply have to press a button marked ‘stream it’), things are a bit more confusing on KAT.

First of all, members of KAT who are actively logged into the site cannot see the feature. It’s only visible to non-members, something that usually only takes place with ads. And indeed, the KAT team confirmed to TorrentFreak that they are categorizing this as an advert.

Also, two sets of ‘streaming’ buttons exist on KAT. One relates to the Torrents-Time feature, the other does not.

kat-tt1

The obvious ‘Stream Torrent’ button (next to the ‘Download Torrent’ button) is not the Torrents-Time feature and actually links to another service we have no official information on. It’s a big download in comparison and is almost certainly ad-related as well. For those interested in reading more, discussion here.

The Torrents-Time feature is actually the big black ‘play’ button situated under the ‘Main’ tab for each torrent. It functions in the same way as The Pirate Bay’s implementation, via a popup window carrying the same video controls.

“Kickass Torrents (Kat.cr), the biggest torrent site on Earth have embedded Torrents Time as of NOW,” the Torrents-Time (TT) team told TF in a statement.

“We launched last week and in a few days changed forever the way people use the treasures found through torrents sites, directly from their browser. It means that from today on, any user who is able to use Facebook can enjoy almost any movie or TV show that was created in this world.”

However, while the TT are optimistic, they also caution that problems lie on the horizon for this disruptive technology.

“Torrents Time is revolutionizing the world of torrents, here and now. Because it’s a revolution, you can expect a bloodshed, like the fate of all revolutions. We already managed to get a cease and desist letter from BREIN,” the team explain.

TF reported on the BREIN complaint earlier today.

“Because it’s the people’s revolution, a network of hundreds of millions of people who wish to consume Free Content, the people will prevail and the illegal harassment by the film and TV producers industry who claim that P2P ruins their business model will be defeated, by the people,” TT continue.

“It’s a false claim driven only by their sheer greed. P2P does not come instead of going to the cinema, watching cable or satellite, paying for VOD, buying a disk or a piece of merchandise. With P2P we make the world smaller, a people’s village where all the neighbors can watch together the staff they like.

“Torrents Time is not a pirate’s tool. It’s cool and it’s legal. We are certain it will improve the world,” they conclude.

Torrents-Time say that several other large torrent sites are also considering coming on board but some who asked not to be named have informed TF that for now they’ll be sitting on the fence to see how things go. Not all are excited by the prospect of ‘bloodshed’, at least for now.

Update: 1337x.to informs TorrentFreak that they have added Torrents-Time as well.

“We always try to keep our users happy, streaming is another way to use torrents. At this moment we do show a VPN message that Torrents-Time has, however with or without revenue we would have implemented this since it is a great solution.”

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Abodienst: Humble Bundle finanziert neue Indiegames

Eigentlich ist ein Humble Bundle eine Vertriebsform für Computerspiele. Jetzt hat das Unternehmen hinter dem Bundle damit begonnen, selbst kleinere Indiegames zu finanzieren und sie zuerst zu veröffentlichen. (Indiegames, Games)

Eigentlich ist ein Humble Bundle eine Vertriebsform für Computerspiele. Jetzt hat das Unternehmen hinter dem Bundle damit begonnen, selbst kleinere Indiegames zu finanzieren und sie zuerst zu veröffentlichen. (Indiegames, Games)

28HPCU-Fertigung: ARM und UMC machen Smartphone-Chips günstiger

Schnelle Implementierung für preiswertere Systems-on-a-Chip: ARM hat sein Processor Optimization Pack für die 28HPCU-Technik des Auftragsfertigers UMC angekündigt. Ziel sind Smartphones. (Prozessor, Embedded Systems)

Schnelle Implementierung für preiswertere Systems-on-a-Chip: ARM hat sein Processor Optimization Pack für die 28HPCU-Technik des Auftragsfertigers UMC angekündigt. Ziel sind Smartphones. (Prozessor, Embedded Systems)

Dealmaster: Get an Amazon Fire tablet with Amazon Underground access for $40

Plus many more deals on TVs, laptops, and accessories.

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our partners at TechBargains, we're here to share a number of great deals for you to consider as you shop for that special someone in your life. Now, you can get a 7-inch Amazon Fire tablet with 8GB of storage for just $40. This deal includes some special offers with the tablet, including Amazon Underground access, which is an online app store filled with apps and games that feature free extras, levels, packs, and more.

Shop for a great Valentine's Day gift from the rest of the deals we have listed below.

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Kickstarter examines 100 thousand projects funded in 7 years

Kickstarter examines 100 thousand projects funded in 7 years

Have an idea for a new product, artwork, or performance piece, but don’t have the funding to bring it to market? Once upon a time you had to find investors or take out loans. These days you can turn to a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter to see if you can get potential customers to help […]

Kickstarter examines 100 thousand projects funded in 7 years is a post from: Liliputing

Kickstarter examines 100 thousand projects funded in 7 years

Have an idea for a new product, artwork, or performance piece, but don’t have the funding to bring it to market? Once upon a time you had to find investors or take out loans. These days you can turn to a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter to see if you can get potential customers to help […]

Kickstarter examines 100 thousand projects funded in 7 years is a post from: Liliputing

tvOS 9.2 beta includes voice dictation to replace annoying keyboard

Siri-driven feature will only work in countries where Siri is supported.

Enlarge (credit: MacRumors)

When we reviewed the new Apple TV and tvOS, one of our biggest complaints with the core experience was text entry with the Siri Remote. The scrolling and swiping was inaccurate and time-consuming—it's a big pain during initial setup and text-driven searches, and it is at best a step sideways from the old Apple TV software keyboard.

Apple released the third beta of tvOS 9.2 yesterday, and among its new features was a new text dictation feature that will let users spell out usernames and passwords letter by letter with their voices instead of the trackpad. The feature is driven by Siri, so it will only work in countries where Siri is available, but for those users it looks like a decent way to save time while typing things out.

This is all still subject to change—Apple has been known to test out new features in beta builds before removing them in the final version. That's pretty rare, though, and complaints about text entry were loud enough that it's not surprising to see Apple working on a fix. We'll be giving the final version of tvOS 9.2 a closer look when it's released, possibly at or soon after Apple's rumored product event in March. The update will also add Bluetooth keyboard support, folders for apps, and an updated multitasking switcher.

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