DTNS 2146 – Curved is better than flat

Tom chats with Nicole Lee from Engadget about the Best of CES and the new Google + email ‘feature.’ Plus Len Peralta joins to draw the stories!

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Show Notes

As I mentioned on the show today, next Thursday and Friday I’ll be shooting season 2 of Sword and Laser’s video show. So I need YOU to guest host.

Next Thursday and Friday will be special “News From You” shows. I’ll still pop in with a couple late-breaking headlines but I want to hear YOUR news reports. What’s the tech project you think isn’t getting
enough attention? What’s that point about wearables you think nobody else has mentioned? Let your voice be heard!

Here’s what you do
Record your bit as an audio file LESS THAN 30 SECONDS PEOPLE, and email it to feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com and use the subject line NEWS FOR YOU. If we get it by 3 PM Eastern/11 AM Pacific Thursday morning, we’ll consider it for that day’s show. Same thing for Friday.

More show notes:

Engadget awarded the Oculus Rift VR prototype ‘Crystal Cove’ the official Best of CES award: The new version of the Rift reduces latency to 30-40 milliseconds and according to reports, eliminates motion blur from the 1080p display. A ton of new sensors on the outside of the headset are tracked by an external camera which means the Rift can now track the position of your body as well as your head. Still no release dates but Oculus says they’re shooting for a ballpark retail price of around $300.

The US Supreme Court has granted writ of certiorari to the case ‘ABC, Inc., et. al v. Aereo Inc.’:  Recode reports that Justice Alito took no part in the consideration of the decision.  Aereo provides access to micro-antennae allowing subscribers to get over the air channels via the Internet. Broadcast networks believe this is an unauthorized rebroadcast. So far, Aereo has won the lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could weigh in on the matter as early as this summer.

Facebook has announced it will phase out its Sponsored Stories ad units as of April 9th,  according to The Verge.  Facebook had announced in June it would end Sponsored Stories but did not give a date. Sponsored stories let companies pay to promote your actions in your friends news feed. For instance if you checked into a coffee shop, the shop could pay to have your check-in show up as an advertisement. Facebook agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought against them because of Sponsored stories.

News From You:

Clemro submitted a TechDirt report that US Senator Patrick Leahy is using the aforementioned Target hack as an excuse to slip a little language in the reintroduced Personal Privacy and Security Act that would broaden the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The change in language would punish anyone who conspires or attempts to commit an offense, as if they had actually completed it. So if I say, “Let’s figure out how to break into the bank’s website” even if it’s meant as an educational exercise, I would be punished under the law as if I’d actually broken into the bank’s website.

SlashTop pointed us to a TechCrunch article about a new app called FOBO, a way to sell used consumer electronics. The app launched in San Francisco today and guarantees a minimum price for any item you attempt to sell, while still running a short auction to try to get you a better price. If nobody bids within 97 minutes of posting, FOBO will buy the item themselves. Buyers pre-pay, so when they pick it up from the seller, on the seller’s schedule mind you. there’s no hassle.

spsheridan sent in a Business Insider post about GHash.io, the world’s largest collective of Bitcoin miners, which now controls 42% of all the computer processing power being used to mine Bitcoins. If the collective were to rise above 50% it could threaten the integrity of Bitcoin’s transaction confirmation system, since the collective could confirm all transactions on their own. GHash released a statement saying that they would take all precautions to prevent reaching the 51% mark.

More links from the show: 

US Appeals Court rules Apple did not violate a Google Motorola patent: 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/10/us-apple-google-patent-idUSBREA090SZ20140110

Target data breach, now even worse:

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/10/target-admits-personal-information-breach-lowers-q4-expectations/

CES Wrap: 

Mophie Space pack:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/08/mophies-space-pack-boosts-both-battery-life-and-storage-requir/

Razer Project Christine:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/07/razer-project-christine-hands-on/