philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

FTC Targets Anti-Competitive Violations, Fake Amazon Posts

But the burden of proof of such harm has been a high bar. “The FTC, if it is to remain relevant, needs some way of assessing the evident competition problems in the tech sector and taking action when necessary,” said Columbia University law professor Tim Wu. “The FTC needs to get past its laser-focus on consumer prices, and figure out what competitive harm means in today’s tech markets.”

The European Union, meanwhile, has assessed Alphabet with “billions in fines for alleged antitrust violations.”

TechCrunch reports that the FTC’s case against Cure Encapsulations includes company owner Naftula Jacobwitz, who paid a website (amazonverifiedreviews.com) to “post favorable reviews in order to boost its rating.” Jacobowitz emailed that site’s operator to say “he’d pay a total of $1,000 for 30 reviews, three per day, with the goal of increasing its 4.2 rating to 4.3, which he claimed was necessary in order to have sales.” His second goal was to keep the product at five stars.

The site then posted such reviews, making “false claims, including that the pills were a powerful appetite suppressant, caused weight loss of up to 20 pounds, and blocked the formation of new fat cells.” Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the judgment of $12.1 million will be suspended “upon payment of $50,000 to the FTC and certain unpaid income tax obligations.”

See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/ftc-targets-anti-competitive-violations-fake-amazon-posts/

HTC’s blockchain phone can now be bought with real money

HTC is taking its blockchain phone a little more mainstream. Today, the company has announced that the Exodus 1 can be purchased for 750 US dollars. That's right, traditional money. The kind that can be used in any store across the United States. Until now, the beleaguered phone manufacturer has only accepted Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) as tender. Presumably, that was a choice (and not just a lame marketing stunt) to ensure early adopters were open-minded crypto enthusiasts. In addition to USD, the company is adding the Ethereum-powered Binance Coin (BNB) as a way to acquire the niche handset.

From afar, the Exodus 1 looks like a normal mid-to-high-end smartphone with a transparent cover. It has a 6-inch, Quad HD+ display and is powered by a beefy Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 3,500 mAh battery. The phone also ships with 128GB of internal storage and four cameras -- a dual system on the back (12MP and 16MP) and two selfie snappers (8MP and 8MP) with "natural bokeh," according to HTC.

The headline feature, though, is a "secure enclave" that's kept separate from the processor and Android operating system. It can be used to store crypto keys that are normally stored in a software wallet like Mycelium or USB-style devices built by companies such as Ledger and Trezor.

See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/26/htc-exodus-blockchain-crypto-phone-dollars/

Microsoft HoloLens 2 Offers AI Processor, Cloud Connection

HoloLens 2 improves on the first version by being lighter, more comfortable to wear and offering twice the field of view. It did not introduce any games or apps.

With HoloLens 2, which is available for $3,500, Microsoft is betting on the growth of augmented reality in the enterprise space.

Wired goes into more details of what users will find with HoloLens 2. According to Microsoft AI/mixed reality technical fellow Alex Kipman, HoloLens 2 offers three improvements: “It’s more comfortable, it’s more immersive, and it offers more out-of-box value than the first HoloLens.” The field of view has “more than doubled,” it has an AI processing unit and also connects to Microsoft Azure, the company’s cloud service.

HoloLens 2 also offers eye-tracking technology and “cloud-based spatial anchors” which lets users “access holographic app features even if they’re not wearing a HoloLens.”

See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/microsoft-hololens-2-offers-ai-processor-cloud-connection/

Google Adopts Open-Source, Secure Password-Less Logins

All variations of FIDO2 authentication “offer additional phishing protection by requiring user participation during sign-in (like doing a fingerprint scan or producing a dongle) so attackers can’t get as far with usernames and passwords alone.” Previously, FIDO2 and related standard WebAuthn “gained ubiquity through adoption by all the major browsers” — except Safari — although “Apple has hinted it will add support.”

See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/google-adopts-open-source-secure-password-less-logins/

Netflix is killing content piracy

Legitimate streaming content providers are achieving what was impossible for Hollywood to get right: they are stamping out piracy by making available the shows people want to enjoy at reasonable cost and with maximum convenience.

That’s borne out in independent research commissioned by Vocus Group NZ which confirms piracy is dying a natural death as more New Zealanders choose to access their content legitimately. “In short, the reason people are moving away from piracy is that it’s simply more hassle than it’s worth,” says Taryn Hamilton, Consumer General Manager at Vocus Group New Zealand which operates brands including Slingshot, Orcon and Flip.

Hamilton says Kiwi consumers are a savvy lot, too. While the research shows that in general people don't have much appetite for pirating, there is much higher agreement that ‘It would be almost impossible to stop people doing this’. “The simple fact for those who know anything about the internet, is that censoring the internet doesn’t work. People know there are multiple sites where it is possible to download illegal material. They also know that blocking the most popular ones simply means you’ll get pirated material elsewhere.”

See the full story here: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1902/S00685/netflix-is-killing-content-piracy.htm

TikTok gaining on Facebook with 1 billion downloads

While Facebook might have global name recognition, TikTok is a giant in the social media space, especially in Asia. The app was created by Chinese company ByteDance, which has been privately valued at $75 billion according to Reuters, putting it on par with the country's biggest tech companies. But it's not without its problems -- the app recently came under fire with claims it was a "hunting ground" for abusers.

In a world where social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are constantly iterating to stay relevant and updating to woo young users (even attempting to create their own versions of the video sharing app), TikTok is a force to be reckoned with.

The 1 billion download figure is also only part of the story -- it includes TikTok's lite app versions and regional variations, according to Yeh, but not the number of downloads the app has received on Android in China (where it is known as Douyin). It also only points to how many times the app has been downloaded, but not how many of these users stick around and stay active.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/news/tiktok-gaining-on-facebook-with-1-billion-downloads-according-to-reports

Random Item Generator — A Story About Joy and Exploding Kittens

We had to learn a lot in a very short amount of time. We learned that balloon animals were a huge crowd favorite, and so we had to frantically watch YouTube videos backstage to learn how to make them.  We learned that in many states you have to be a registered grocer to have produce delivered to a convention hall, so Exploding Kittens is now a registered grocer in 14 states. We learned that we could interact with the audience on a personal level, like when we spotted someone dressed as Daenerys Targaryen (the Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones) in line, we bedazzled an entire watermelon so that when she got to the front of the line, we could instantly deliver a dragon egg and blow up her brain.

We worked so hard to play with the crowd, and they played right back.

They wrote love notes to the machine, and one person actually proposed marriage (for which she received a massive bouquet of 50 red roses). People shared their stories all over the convention floor, in the hallways, and on social media. It was one of the biggest hits at every convention we brought it to.

See the full story here: https://makezine.com/2019/02/28/exploding-kittens-vending-machine/

Hands-on with Microsoft Hololens 2 (video)

Watch the video here: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/02/27/microsoft-hololens-2-augmented-reality-orig.cnn-business/video/playlists/business-news/

Video: Jump in the BMW iNext thanks to Virtual Reality

With the 2021 iNEXT, BMW aims to deliver a car like no other in its range today. ...

BMW is studying human behavior and how we interact with one another and wants the personal assistant on board the BMW iNext to work like a friend instead of a computer. In that regard, the car’s software will know how to read your body language and actual words to figure out what to do. The video below shows that thanks to a virtual reality simulation. In the video, a person is going for a joyride and admiring the scenery.

That’s probably going to be possible as BMW is promising Level 4 autonomous functions on the iNext, which allow you to take your hands off the wheel and your eyes off the road completely. Then, just by pointing at things you look at, you can give your car various commands.
See the full story here: https://www.bmwblog.com/2019/02/27/video-jump-in-the-bmw-inext-thanks-to-virtual-reality/

We’ve Been to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Life Will Never Be the Same

This is a lengthy mid-c0nstruction walk-thru with lots of images!

https://io9.gizmodo.com/weve-been-to-star-wars-galaxys-edge-and-life-will-never-1832878349