Google, Microsoft navigate mobile: Google’s bad earnings in an early release may have been the news of the day Thursday but, The Washington Post reported, the real story in the technology industry is that everyone is struggling with the shift to mobile.
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Sandy problems persist: Hurricane Sandy exposed gaps in the nation’s wireless and digital phone systems, The Washington Post reported, as problems with power, downed trees and even fuel shortages hinder carriers as they slowly restore service to the East Coast.
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Google falls after accidental earnings release: Google, which was set to report its third-quarter earnings after market trading Thursday, accidentally released its third-quarter earnings early, reporting a surprising 20 percent drop in profit.
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Internet Radio Fairness Coalition: Organizations and companies lobbying to pass a bill backed by online music service Pandora announced that they have formed a new coalition to urge Congress to pass two bills known as the Internet Radio Fairness Act.
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Carriers brace for Hurricane Sandy: Mobile carriers are taking lessons they learned in the summer’s derecho as they prepare networks for Hurricane Sandy, The Hill reported.
Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have all moved generators into place to keep cell towers up and running. Verizon and Comcast have also taken measures to ensure that impact on Internet service is kept to a minimum, the site reported.
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Pandora: Pandora took a beating in the last minutes of trading Thursday, after Bloomberg resurfaced rumors that Apple would be entering the streaming music space early next year.
Trading in Pandora shares was halted after it fell over 11 percent when the reports began circulating. It recovered slightly to close at $8.20 on Thursday, but continued to fall in Friday trading.
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Sprint, SoftBank announce a deal: Sprint Nextel and the Japanese carrier SoftBank announced a $20.1 billion deal Monday that will hand majority control of the U.S. carrier to SoftBank. The Japanese firm is buying an approximately 70 percent stake in Sprint — an infusion of capital that will help the Sprint as it makes over its network.
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Panetta speaks on cyberwarfare: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday night that the Defense Department would be responsible for defending the country against a cyberattack, The Washington Post reported. Under new rules for cyberwarfare, Panetta said, the Pentagon would also defend private-sector companies against major attacks.
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FCC activates disaster reporting system: The Federal Communications Commission activated the Disaster Information Reporting System Monday for Washington, D.C. and other areas up and down the East Coast in response to Hurricane Sandy. Wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and VoIP providers can report their infrastructure status and other information to the agency. The companies who report are asked to submit their information by 10 a.m.
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This post has been updated.
Google faces heat from E.U. regulators: European officials announced Tuesday that Google’s privacy policy does not meet the E.U.’s standards and that the company needs to give consumers more information about data collection and more control over data use.
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FTC releases best practices on facial recognition: The Federal Trade Commission Monday released a recommendation of best practices for companies using facial recognition technology.
The agency recommended that companies adopt a privacy-first approach to building their services, and develop security protections for the data. Companies, the FTC said, should also have clear data retention policies and consider their audiences before adding facial recognition features.
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Sprint, Softbank confirm talks: Sprint Nextel confirmed that it is in discussions with Softbank, a Japanese telecommunications firm, over a “possible substantial investment” in the U.S. carrier.
In a statement, the company said the talks could “involve a change of control of Sprint,” but that discussions were not final.
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Silicon Valley and Obama: In an op-ed for the San Jose Mercury News on Tuesday, Rep. Michael M. Honda (D-Calif.) laid out his arguments for why he believes President Obama is the best candidate for the country’s cradle of innovation.
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This story has been updated.
E.U. hits Microsoft with browser complaint: The European Union filed a formal complaint against Microsoft for not offering consumers more browser choice in Windows 7. According to the Associated Press, Microsoft said that a technical error kept it from complying with an antitrust settlement requirement that said the company had to include a “browser choice screen” in its operating system.
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Robocalls: The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against five agencies that they say made illegal robocalls claiming to give consumers a way to lower the interest rate on their credit card debt. The five companies may have taken in as much as $30 million from consumers in the past two or three years, the agency said.
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Robocalls: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked the Federal Trade Commission to work with legislators as it moves ahead with an examination of automatic “robocall” technology.
“[It] is imperative that any discussion properly distinguish between illegal telemarketing calls and informational calls that benefit consumers, and address modernizing and improving America’s existing telecommunications laws,” said Bill Kovacs, the Chamber’s senior vice president of Environment, Technology & Regulatory Affairs in a statement.
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