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FCC commissioners play it safe and loose at CES

6 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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There was an elephant in the packed CES meeting room where three Federal Communications Commissioners spoke yesterday, and no one noticed him. The session, moderated by a deferential lobbyist from the show’s producer, the Consumer Technology Association, ran its full allotted half hour, with no mention of Donald Trump, who will be setting the course for federal telecoms policy when he chooses a new FCC chair – perhaps one of the current republican commissioners, perhaps not.… More

Rosenworcel back in line for seat on the FCC

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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How long will she have to wait this time?

Even with three members of the Federal Communications Commission on stage together at CES in Las Vegas this afternoon, the big news is still coming out of Washington. Jessica Rosenworcel was renominated for another term on the FCC by president Obama yesterday, although it’s by no means certain that her U.S. senate confirmation will fare any better than it did the last time.

Rosenworcel’s first term as one of the designated democratic commissioners timed out at the end of 2016, despite the fact that she had been nominated for a second term in 2015.… More

Key senator plans to take small bites out of U.S. telecom law

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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The basic telecommunications law in the U.S. is set to get a makeover. John Thune, a republican U.S. senator from South Dakota and the chair of the senate committee that deals with telecoms – the commerce, science and transportation committee – said yesterday that he wants to rewrite the Communications Act, last overhauled in 1996. But according to a story by Brendan Bordelon in Morning Consult, he doesn’t want to do it all at once…

“It’s time to update the law,” Thune told reporters.

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It's OK when dumb people kill, smart cars not so much

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Not even with the best intentions.

“Would we accept thirty-five thousand deaths at the hands of a machine?” That’s the question Gil Pratt, the CEO of the Toyota Research Institute posed as he discussed the challenges of designing autonomous vehicles at CES yesterday. U.S. society does accept 35,000 traffic deaths a year at the hands of human drivers. Might not like it, but humans are allowed to drive nevertheless.

Pratt doesn’t believe the same casualty rate, or even half that rate, would be acceptable if cars drove themselves.… More

New phone designed, named and launched by ZTE's fan base

4 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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It takes a crowd to stand out in a crowd.

ZTE is crowdsourcing its brand strategy, along with product design and test marketing. Based in China, the company has been in business for nearly twenty years, and selling in the U.S. in a meaningful way for ten years.

On the consumer side, it’s a smartphone maker. But it’s also a major telecoms infrastructure player, including mobile infrastructure. Company executives didn’t say much about that aspect of the business today during a media presentation at CES, except to drop some hints about developing 5G infrastructure in tandem with consumer products, and to say that their plan is to develop technology that will allow 5G service to be deployed on 4G networks.… More

Consumer electronics is smart phones and dumb TVs, and the rest is bits

4 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full presentation.

The consumer electronics technology market is congealing into two products: smart phones and televisions. And even the television segment is showing weakness. That’s what the raw numbers say, although there’s more to it.

The first caveat is that sales figures are measured in U.S. dollars, and the dollar is getting stronger relative to currencies in key consumer electronics markets, particularly China. So products made and sold in China for yuan will be undervalued on a year over year basis if reckoned in U.S.… More

Forget cars, the business model is high tech automotive innovation

4 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Love child of a minivan and a Gremlin.

If the Fiat-Chrysler media presentation is anything to judge by, the major automaker offensive at CES will be long on flashy concepts, disappointingly short on actual products but interesting from a business innovation perspective. The event featured a mock up a concept car that’s “designed by millennials for millennials”, along with the four millennials who are apparently responsible for it. They did some decidedly old school gushing over the car – called the Chrysler Portal – before wrapping up with a group hug.… More

Self driving cars and self starting republicans headline CES

3 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Vegas, baby.

The product and policy buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show I mean International CES oops, the global technology event which has the official name of CES is humming around autonomous vehicles as the show gets under way this week. Car companies are out in force, while Silicon Valley-style tech companies continue to back away and the big guns of consumer electronics seem to be showing up because its the Car Electronics Show the most awesome global technology event ever.… More

California broadband rodeo kicks off again

2 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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But no room for a working clown.

Strap in for the ride – 2017 is shaping up to be a Bizarro rerun of 2016, at least where broadband policy is concerned. Last year’s most contentious policy broncos are in the chute, ready for another go round with a new cast of cowboys in Washington and Sacramento.

Top draw is common carrier status for broadband service, also known as title II, AKA net neutrality. The republican rump majority on the Federal Communications Commission – Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly – have targeted the Obama administration’s marquee telecoms policy initiative for a preemptive weed whacking.… More

A known cyber threat is no threat to those who know it

1 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Caught.

Vermont municipal electric utility employees read the cyber security alert jointly published by the FBI and the federal homeland security department, and did what it suggested: check their computers for the specific type of malware detailed in the report. According to a press release from the City of Burlington’s Electric Department…

U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name DHS has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks.

… More