Google Maps is getting a refresh this year, with upgrades to location capability, weather and routing models, blogged Dane Glasgow, Google Maps vice president-product. Google Maps is using AI to improve indoor navigation for walking, said Glasgow Tuesday.
Congress should fund an infrastructure package because too many areas won’t get broadband without federal help, House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told a Competitive Carriers Association virtual conference Tuesday. “The business case just doesn’t exist for too many communities,” he said: “Infrastructure is a high priority for me and for this new administration.”
DOJ appears to be digging in for a fight over refund relief for the thousands of Section 301 plaintiffs inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade to declare the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs unlawful. The government won’t support a stipulation in which the plaintiffs, if successful in the massive litigation, could seek refunds of all tariffs paid, said a DOJ response (in Pacer) Friday in docket 1:21-cv-52. Importers are seeking upfront government support for refunds, regardless of the imports’ liquidation status, including whether the 12-month window on protesting individual liquidations will have expired.
Xperi tapped into its TiVo subsidiary's IP last week on a TU Automotive future of infotainment webinar, promoting TiVo’s metadata as a differentiator in the world of connected radio. With streaming on the rise and consumers using their phones to stream music through their car radios, Xperi is accelerating its effort to sign on OEMs for its hybrid radio platform, DTS AutoStage, to be the “alternative to big tech in the car,” said Joe D’Angelo, Xperi senior vice president-global radio.
The Washington House broke with the Senate again on enforcement issues that stymied past state privacy legislation. Before voting 11-6 at a livestreamed meeting to clear SB-5062, the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee adopted by voice an amendment by Chair Drew Hansen (D) that included adding a private right of action and sunsetting a right-to-cure provision after one year. Municipal broadband and 988 bills advanced in later meetings Friday.
Sony’s Alpha a7 III mirrorless camera is prone to “mechanical problems with the shutter” that renders it “unusable,” said a fraud complaint (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Manhattan alleging Sony long knew about the defect but refuses to admit it. The action, filed in the wee hours of Friday morning, comes days before Neal Manowitz, Sony Electronics deputy president-imaging products and solutions, Americas, and steward of Sony’s consumer and professional cameras business, takes over for the retiring Mike Fasulo as president-chief operating officer (see 2102150003).
Vizio took the fast lane toward going public Thursday when it priced its 12.25-million-share initial public offering at $21 each, valuing the company at close to $4 billion. But shares plunged nearly 17% to $17.50 when they began trading just before 1 p.m. EDT on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol VZIO. There were fewer than four weeks between the March 1 filing of Vizio’s S-1 registration statement and the first shares changing hands. The SEC declared the registration and IPO effective Wednesday. The stock spent its entire first day in negative territory, closing 9.1% lower Thursday at $19.10.
Warner Bros' decision to release its 2021 film slate simultaneously to theaters and its HBO Max subscription VOD service was an “overcommitment,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told a virtual Digital Entertainment Group Expo Wednesday. “AT&T bit off way more than they could chew when they bought Time-Warner.” Pachter said the media company is “trying to package HBO Max and sell it and maybe later sell the studio.” AT&T is trying to shore up the value of HBO Max “because they think they’re going to get a Netflix multiple on that,” he said. The company is making "bad decisions for the creatives,” he said, trying to maximize profit for the content "by shoving it onto HBO Max.”
Facebook, Google and Twitter support Communications Decency Act Section 230 proposals to increase content moderation transparency, their respective CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey, told House Commerce Committee members Thursday during a virtual hearing. Noting Zuckerberg’s support for “thoughtful changes” to 230 (see 2103240076), Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, asked the Facebook chief for specific proposals. Zuckerberg supported two specific changes, saying Congress should be careful about removing protections for smaller companies.
Despite more than a 30%-plus jump in video streaming in 2020, as consumers ratcheted up their viewing time during stay-at-home orders, there’s still a large revenue opportunity in transactional video, Eddie Cunningham, Universal Pictures & Warner Media president-Studio Distribution Services (S.D.S), told a virtual Digital Entertainment Group Expo Wednesday.