The world of mobility has seen its share of evolution over the years. It began with 1G in the 1980s, and later which later gave way to 2G, 3G and 4G networks. And if U.S.-based Verizon has its way, mobile networks may soon be given a high five.
FiOS, Verizon’s bundled Internet, telephone and television service, is exploring the opportunity to develop and implement 5G capabilities within its service areas. Presently, FiOS is available only to customers in the northeastern United States, but the company plans to take it nationwide if all goes according to plan.
Unlike standard television, DSL and landline phone services, FiOS operates via the use of fiber-optic technology to provide users with increased speed and reliability. The 5G network would build upon FiOS’ success by offering a service with speeds so fast, a feature-length HD movie could be downloaded in mere seconds.
Verizon’s 5G plan, once officially launched, could create an interesting scenario in markets where fewer options available for Internet services.
Read more here:
http://www.cnet.com/news/with-5g-verizon-could-be-anyones-crazy-fast-home-broadband-provider/
If you are a regular reader of our site, you may have seen us tweet out links to our content via our Twitter account, @md2news.
Like anyone else who uses Twitter, we abide by the microblogging site’s strict limit of 140 characters per post. An announcement made by Twitter earlier today will make using the service a bit easier for you, us, and everyone else.
In the coming months, items such as usernames, photos and videos will no longer count towards the 140-character limit, which will remain in place. Previously, adding these items to posts counted towards this limit, with URLs taking up to 23 character in total.
Twitter has been mired in an uphill battle recently, with user growth remaining stagnant. The modification is the latest in a series of new enhancements made by Twitter over the past year.
Read more here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-characters-idUSKCN0YF21M
These are exciting times for Google. What began as a simple search engine service is now among the most powerful companies in the IT and technology industries. Google is always on the lookout for the next great thing, and their latest creation will help you feel right at Home.
At the I/O developer event held in Mountain View, Calif., Mario Queiroz, Vice President of Product Management for Google announced the launch of Google Home. Designed to compete head-on with Amazon’s Echo, Google Home is a voice-activated speaker that enables users to ask questions, receive answers, stream music, and get help with everyday tasks.
Google has made several attempts to expand into the world of artificial intelligence lately, and Google Home represents the next step on that journey. No launch date or price has been set for Google Home as of yet.
Read more here:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Google-Plots-Home-Invasion-83525.html
Official Google Home website:
https://home.google.com/
Google is many things to many people. They’re one of the top search engines in the world, they’re the creators of the Android operating system for mobile phones, and they’re responsible for Blogger, the platform on which this site is hosted. And the list goes on.
But the Alphabet-operated juggernaut is about to expand into a new area – computer chips. On May 19, Google announced that the future of their organization will rely on a custom-designed chip that will power artificial intelligence systems.
The past few years have seen Google undergo an unprecedented evolution from a search engine service to a relative giant in the realms of technology and IT. This progress has many people wondering just what they’ll do or create next.
While Google firmly believes that AI is the future of personal computing and user experience, should the creation of these new chips have companies like Intel and NVIDIA scrambling to maintain their market share?
Read more here:
http://www.wired.com/2016/05/googles-making-chips-now-time-intel-freak/
In the criminal justice system, offenders of all kinds rely on legal representation. At the bankruptcy division for U.S. law firm BakerHostetler, the latest lawyer to join their team is unlike none ever seen before. This is his story.
Meet ROSS, the latest creation from IBM. Built with the assistance of the company’s Watson cognitive system, ROSS is the world’s first artificially intelligent lawyer. Designed to understand language and develop hypotheses when posed legal questions, ROSS provides answers and subsequently draws conclusions backed up by the necessary references and citations.
While ROSS’s arrival on the legal scene certainly won’t spell the beginning of the end for human lawyers, he will certainly make their case work easier.
Read more here:
http://futurism.com/artificially-intelligent-lawyer-ross-hired-first-official-law-firm/
Payday loan services like Cash Money and MoneyMart may soon need to look to other sources if they want to place online ads.
Today, Google announced that effective July 13, they will no longer display ads for payday loan companies. The decision was made based on the fact that the loans offered by these organizations generally do more harm than good for consumers.
“We will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60
days of the date of issue,” wrote Google product policy director David Graff in a blog post.
“When reviewing our policies, research has shown that these loans can
result in unaffordable payment and high default rates for users, so we
will be updating our policies globally to reflect that,” Graff added.
The ban is also extended to American companies offering loans with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 36 per cent or higher.
Read more here:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/11/11656088/payday-loan-ads-banned-from-google
Malware is the thorn in the side of many a computer user. Its sources are many in number, ranging from pop-up ads to downloadable programs, and it can strike when you least expect it.
But how exactly can you tell that your machine has been bitten by the ever-intrusive malware bug? Here are a few ways you can perform your own infection detection, and solve the problem.
Read more here:
https://blog.malwarebytes.org/101/2016/05/how-to-tell-if-youre-infected-with-malware/
Anyone who owns a smartphone knows that as useful as they are, they are often prone to breaking. Take a walk outside, and you’ll most likely encounter a few people using smartphones with damaged screens.
With this in mind, Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab has developed a flexible smartphone. Known as the HoloFlex, the device has a completely flexible body and a holographic screen. The phone’s ability to bend might seem like a novelty to some, but it helps users to interact with with whatever is on the HoloFlex’s screen.
Could flexible smartphones be bending their way into the hands of users soon?
Read more here:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/5/11604680/holoflex-flexible-holographic-smartphone
TV on the Radio is a band known for making noise on the indie rock scene since 2001. If YouTube has their way, they will make TV on the Internet a reality by 2017.
Already home to millions of hours of video content, many of which includes clips and episodes of popular TV shows, YouTube is planning to enter the world of pay TV. They’ll do it with the launch of a new service that would offer users a bundle of cable channels that would be streamed online.
Branded as Unplugged, the service would be available for under $35 per month. YouTube has already begun initial discussions about Unplugged with several major media companies, but has yet to get any of them on board.
Unplugged isn’t the Google-owned company’s first foray into paid video streaming. YouTube launched its Red premium subscription service last year.
Read more here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/youtube-said-to-plan-unplugged-online-tv-service-for-2017
Say, do you remember old what’s-his-face? You know, that guy who might have shoplifted from your store a while back? If not, there’s a new technology being developed that will help many retailers solve that problem.
Los Angeles-based FaceFirst is helping to crack down on crime with an intelligent software system that scans the faces of customers upon entering a store. The software then captures an image of each face and compares their features to those of known shoplifters. A Canadian equivalent, developed by Genetec in Montreal, is also in the works.
In theory, a system like this sounds like a good idea, as it might help the police to nab recurring five-finger discount seekers, but the facial recognition software is not without its detractors. Some top privacy experts are questioning its legality in Canada.
Read more here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/facial-recognition-shopping-1.3561060
