Vonage joined the NYC Media Lab and will work with the lab and its university partners on innovation-oriented projects and programs, the group said in a release Wednesday. NYC Media Lab connects digital media and technology companies with members of New York City's universities, and Vonage will collaborate with experts in "engineering, data science, computer science, design and more" to further its innovation goals, the group said. Other NYC Media Lab company members include The Associated Press, Bloomberg, ESPN, Hearst, MLB Advanced Media, NBCUniversal, News Corp., Publicis Group, Rogers Communications, Showtime, Tenfore Holdings, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Viacom. Members participate in annual seed projects, which can yield research papers and prototypes.

The BBC teamed with more than two dozen partners, including Microsoft and Samsung, to unveil the “BBC micro:bit,” a pocket-sized computer, a million of which the partners plan to give for free to seventh-graders across the U.K. The U.K. “currently faces a critical skills shortage in the technology sector, and the BBC and our partners aim to help change that,” the BBC said in a Tuesday statement. The BBC hopes the micro:bit giveaway “will inspire a new generation in a defining moment for digital creativity,” it said. The micro:bit, which measures about 1.6 x 2 inches, is a computer “that you can code, customise and control to bring your digital ideas, games and apps to life,” it said. It will be available in a range of colors, and “something simple can be coded in seconds -- like lighting up its LEDs or displaying a pattern -- with no prior knowledge of computing,” it said. Microsoft is providing the TouchDevelop Web-based programming tools and hosting service, plus teacher-training materials for the micro:bit, while Samsung is providing the Android tools for linking the micro:bit to a smartphone or tablet, BBC said. The Bluetooth Smart-enabled micro:bit has 25 red LEDs to light up, flash messages, create games and invent digital stories, it said. It also has two programmable buttons that when activated enable the micro:bit to be a games controller or navigate through songs on a playlist, it said.

The first CanJam event in Europe will be Aug. 29-30 at the Hotel Russell in London, said organizer Head-Fi Tuesday. The exhibitor list numbers “dozens” of headphone makers including Astell & Kern, Chord, KEF, Sennheiser and V-Moda, it said. In addition to product exhibits, the event will include do-it-yourself headphone builds, a selection of out-of-production vintage gear and one-of-a-kind selections, said Head-Fi. Admission is 15 pounds ($23) for one day, 25 pounds ($39) for the weekend.

Pay-TV technology supplier Motive Television developed what it’s calling the world’s first ATSC-format DVR for mobile devices. The new mobile DVR provides the ability to time-shift over-the-air programs on tablets and mobile devices, it said in a Thursday announcement. It works with the existing TabletTV app and TPod antenna that Motive developed jointly with Granite Broadcasting, it said. The DVR “uses an intuitive functionality and interface, similar to the functions consumers have used in the home for the past 20+ years,” it said. Users can schedule the DVR to record programs up to seven days in advance and then watch them for their personal use later, it said. TabletTV previously had a one-touch recording feature that permits pausing, playing and recording a current program, but the new DVR will extend that capability to recording future programs for later viewing, it said. Motive plans this month to introduce the DVR in a beta version to existing TabletTV users and will distribute the DVR to the larger “general market” in September, it said. Motive also later plans to license the DVR software to CE makers and app developers, it said.

Crossfire Media and TMC announced an IoT certification series as part of its IoT Evolution Expo, Aug. 17-20, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The series, slated for Aug. 17, 1-4 p.m., is designed to be a high-level overview of technologies competing in the M2M (machine-to-machine) space, including IoT devices and sensors, sensor networks and gateways and small- and large-scale M2M networks, said show organizers Crossfire Media and TMC Media.

Azione Unlimited scheduled its fall conference at the Westin New Orleans Canal Place Sept. 9-11. The focus of the “Networking in New Orleans” meeting will be on “people, process and presentation,” said Azione. Azione will cover the costs for one employee of member companies. Fees are $950 for additional members with their own room, $550 for a shared room and $250 for spouses, it said.

“Don’t send verification codes to anyone via text or email,” wrote Kristin Cohen, chief of the FTC's Office of Technology Research and Investigation, in a blog post Wednesday. Verification codes should be used only on the login page, Cohen said. Individuals who get a verification code they didn’t request should tell the provider, she said, because it could be a sign someone is tampering with the account. It’s possible a hacker with an individual’s email address and mobile number can pretend to be an individual’s email provider and send a text asking for a verification code to unlock the email account, Cohen said. The hacker can learn a lot of information looking through an email account or change email settings so emails are forwarded directly to the hacker, she said.

People will watch an estimated 136 billion adult videos in 2015, expected to grow to 193 billion by 2020, said Juniper Research Tuesday. Net growth is expected to be fastest in the U.S., and more modest in other mature markets such as Western Europe, while increased availability of 4G and Wi-Fi and more ownership of tablets and smartphones is expected to drive growth in developing regions, Juniper said. Such offerings as webcams and video chats are expected to outperform the industry overall in revenue generation, because they often charge a subscription rather than operate on a pay-per-view basis, though overall revenue is expected to begin declining in 2020 due to the plethora of free content, Juniper said.

The independent audit of the 2015 International CES done by Veris Consulting confirmed attendance of 176,676 industry professionals, a 10 percent increase from the 2014 show, said CEA Tuesday. Attendees included 6,952 media. CEA said (see 1505130030) in May that next year it's implementing stricter credential requirements and implementing a $100 registration fee that goes up to $300 Dec. 21. CEA will cap attendance at for CES 2016 at roughly 176,000 “to ensure the highest quality experience for all in attendance,” it said.

Discovery Communications and its Eurosport sports network got all European broadcast rights for the four Olympic Games in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 from the International Olympic Committee, Discovery said in a Monday news release. The rights, costing about $1.46 billion, include free-to-air and pay TV, Internet and mobile phone. Discovery agreed to air some coverage on free-to-air TV during the Games.