"After more than two weeks of dismemberment, disembowelment, and all-around good family fun, this year’s Worst Company In America tournament nears its finale, with only four contenders remaining with a chance at claiming the ultimate victory and clutching the Golden Poo," proclaims the Consumerist website. The site's Worst Company in America award has come down to Comcast, Ticketmaster, EA, and Bank of America. For the second year running, AT&T has caught a break by being matched up against the even-more-disliked EA, who could be propelled to victory this year on the back of their SimCity DRM launch debacle. AT&T's decision to hang up on DSL users and con several states into becoming broadband backwaters apparently isn't quite the same headline grabber as crappy game DRM and obnoxious in-game microtransactions.
A group of annoyed users have recently launched a Time Warner Cable spoof website that takes aim at the company for poor customer service. Videos posted to the website (like this one) involve the folks behind the website going around New York asking locals what the company can do worse -- as well as rather concise fake letters from Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt (whose $17.4 million in 2012 compensation likely dulls the blows received from such critics substantially).
The last few months have seen several leaks that suggest the next Xbox will require an "always on" broadband connection as a way to counter both piracy and used game sales. Microsoft isn't commenting, but the news -- if true -- is angering a lot of possible customers with they botched launches of Diablo 3 and SimCity (both requiring always-on connections) freshly in mind.
While Google's principles may have slid sideways in recent years (their selling out on net neutrality being exhibit A) the company does appear to be putting up a good fight against the government's use of national security letters (NSLs). We've covered for several years the growing use (or in a significant number of proven cases, the abuse) of NSLs, which allow the government to obtain personal user records from ISPs (or banks and other companies), then involve a gag order against the company preventing them from ever mention it -- all with no judicial review.
AT&T's video streaming services have been decidedly "me too" affairs, ranging from a video portal that was effectively a Hulu clone to the U-Verse Screen Pack, which was touted as a "Netflix killer" but suffers from a limited catalog and is only available to U-Verse users for an additional $5 a month. However, a new survey being sent to U-Verse customers indicates AT&T is pondering expanding these options. Variety notes that the survey hints that the service might not be directly run by AT&T:
A customer survey sent out March 14 to AT&T’s U-verse subscribers asked whether they would be interested in signing up for, or even inquiring about, a “new video and Internet service” that would: Stream to customers’ own devices without a receiver box; include local broadcast channels and “popular sports and entertainment” cable channels; the option to bundle one streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime; and better picture quality and shorter wait times for streaming, All this would be offered “at a significantly lower price than traditional pay TV services” and without usage charges for streaming.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Apple is getting ready to fire up production of two new iPhone models: an updated successor to the iPhone 5, and a smaller, cheaper iPhone to be aimed squarely at more cost-conscious users. Details are scarce, though sources tell the Journal the iPhone 5 successor (iPhone 5S?) should start production in the second quarter for a summer launch. The less-expensive iPhone also being produced may come in a variety of colors but will likely use "a different casing from the higher-end iPhone" and possibly come in a variety of colors.
Our friends over at TMONews point out that T-Mobile will be sending out an over-the-air update from Apple that will provide LTE connectivity for unlocked iPhones on T-Mobile's network starting on April 5. According to the leaked internal screenshot, the over-the-air update will also provide those users with other awaited functionality like visual voicemail and MMS.
According to documents obtained by CNET, the DEA is upset because the encryption used by Apple's iMessage foils their ability to snoop on those communications. Even with a warrant (increasingly seen as optional these days by law enforcement and intelligence agencies) and the fact that carriers let the NSA snoop on everything in real time, "it is impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices."
The FCC still has around $185 million out of the $300 million broadband funds available from phase one of their Connect America Fund, dedicated to shoring up broadband coverage gaps. While companies like Frontier took $71.9 million to wire some 92,000 homes, other companies like Windstream balked at taking full funding, saying that getting $775 per install wasn't enough for their liking.
Time Warner Cable hasn't been exactly what you'd call a hero when it comes to furthering national broadband deployment. The company was behind bills in both North and South Carolina banning or hindering towns and cities from deploying their own broadband, even when nobody else will.
Every so often we see a carrier get the bright idea to use modern network technology to inject their ads into website content -- and once publicized they become very short-lived affairs. You might recall that Mediacom got busted for this back in 2011, when they started using deep packet inspection and Javascript injection technology to insert ads into numerous websites -- even those traditionally without ads (like Apple or Google).
Last month I noted how CISPA was likely returning for a second try, despite complaints that the bill would significantly erode consumer privacy and expand Internet activity surveillance under the guise of "cybersecurity." Sponsor Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger insisted he was working on fixing the bill so it addressed the concerns of privacy advocates, then immediately proceeded in re-introducing a completely unchanged version of the original. Now the bill is heading to Congress for a closed door debate so that the public can't point out how awful the bill is -- again. About that whole Congress supposedly working for the people thing...
It was forty years ago today that Martin Cooper (who we often use in the story photo to the upper right) placed the first mobile phone call to a fellow engineer at Motorola. In an older interview with the BBC, Cooper states they knew they had something compelling, but had doubts about massive adoption due to potentially prohibitive costs. As of last year, there were six billion mobile connections globally. "It pleases me no end to have had some small impact on people's lives because these phones do make people's lives better," said Cooper. "They promote productivity, they make people more comfortable, they make them feel safe and all of those things." Let's not forget smartphone fart apps.
Comcast told one DC-area grandmother that she could no longer be a Comcast Internet Voice subscriber after she cast an immense amount of votes for an "American Idol" contestant. According to local DC Fox affiliate Fox 5, Comcast sent the notification after the woman called the "American Idol" hotline "several hundred times in an hour." The 72-year-old woman was confused by the termination letter because Comcast advertises its Digital Voice service as unlimited, a word that generally means the exact opposite in telecommunications markets. After the letter was publicized, Comcast claimed the termination notice was sent in error but reiterated their right to warn or terminate excessive voice users.
In order to get everyone on board the entertainment industry's recently-launched "six strikes" anti-piracy initiative, the entertainment industry-run group behind the program (the Center for Copyright Information) repeatedly stated that data collection from the program wouldn't be used for lawsuits. While the MPAA and RIAA so far haven't requested that data, that hasn't stopped copyright trolls from doing so.
Verizon is working with the Bloomberg administration to speed up the deployment of fiber installs beneath the street of New York City. According to Bloomberg, Verizon will begin testing "micro-trenching" or "saw cutting," which involves cutting shallower-than-usual grooves in the ground for fiber laying (video here). Verizon will test the installation technology in twelve markets then discuss with the city whether to proceed from there. Verizon signed a franchise agreement in 2008 that is supposed to bring FiOS to everyone in NYC by the end of 2014 (they're probably currently at around 50% or less). However, the agreement fine print allows Verizon to buy or wiggle their way out of 100% deployment, which means a lot of people across the five boroughs are going to wind up disappointed no matter how deeply Verizon digs their trenches.
In 2010, Google was busted using their Google Street View cars to collect Wi-Fi data from areas they passed through. The company claimed that the effort was a rogue action of one employee running a test project, and the data collected was largely useless (confirmed by subsequent studies) given the collection vehicles flipped channels roughly five times each second.
The return of "Game of Thrones" to HBO broke all manner of records Sunday night, both traditional and otherwise. The show posted a viewership of 4.4 million, and including the two replays of 6.7 million -- breaking previous records for the show.
Around a thousand people submitted this mock ad for "the first honest cable company" to our news queue, and if you haven't seen it yet it's rather amusing. There is some not-safe-for-work-or-kids-or-the-easily-offended language in it, so if you're averse to a little swearing please just keep on walking.
Things have been falling apart for copyright troll Prenda Law, who has been gleefully threatening to sue copyrighted porn downloaders if they don't pony up some cash (aka extortion). The porn focused copyright troll outfit didn't bother to show at a hearing earlier this month that was intended to address some of the sleazier things the group has allegedly been up to, including identity theft.
