We have Iyaz Akhtar and Nate Lanxon joining us to chat about the Samsung Galaxy S5. We also clear up *some* of the confusion around the Netflix Comcast agreement. The bad things about it are likely not the bad things you think they are.

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Show Notes

Samsung announces  the Samsung Galaxy V:  The 5.1-inch phone comes with a fingerprint unlock button, built-in heart rate monitor, and is IP67-rated for water and dust resistance. It can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. It also comes with a 16-megapixel camera capable of recording at 4K and inside sports a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM,and a 2800mAh battery. The Galaxy S5 is scheduled to launch globally on April 11 and will be available on all major US carriers. Samsung also announced the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear 2 Fit with a heart rate monitor, the next versions of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch. The new versions run on the Tizen operating system, promising better battery life and camera placement.

Nokia introduces Android-based smartphone with Microsoft Apps Ars Technica reports Nokia introduced a line of Android-based smartphones. Similar to a Kindle Fire, the Nokia X phones will run Android underneath but without any of the Google services. Nokia will have its own app store, mapping services, search by Bing, and Microsoft apps like Skype and Outlook pre-installed. The interface also has a Windows Phone-like style. The 4-inch Nokia X goes on sale immediately for €89. The 4-inch X+ and 5-inch XL go on sale next quarter, at €99 and €109 respectively.

HTC reveals mid-range smartphones, saves the ‘flagship’ device for March 25th: According to Recode, HTC announced two mid-range smartphones at Mobile World Congress. The HTC Desire 816 features a 5-megapixel front camera, 13 megapixel rear camera, a quad-cord Snapdragon processor and 5.5 inch display. The device hits China in March and other countries in April. The 4.7-inch Desire 610 ships to Europe In May. No pricing available yet for either phone. The company saved a new flagship device for an event on March 25th. The Verge reports HTC also announced the ‘Power to Give’ app which uses idle phone processors to provide up to a petaflop of processing power to speed help cure AIDS, fight cancer and help SETI find ET, who could then phone home on a new — nope. Not gonna do it.

Zuckerberg talks internet.org at Mobile World Congress: The BBC wrote about Mark Zuckerberg’s speech at Mobile World Congress. Zuckerberg focused on the Internet.org effort he spearheads, which aims to put billions of people online. A pilot program was announced to bring free online education to students in Rwanda. A partnership between Facebook and Unilever will research lack of Internet access in India, and another survey will estimate the value of expanding access in the developing world in general. CNN reports that in a Q&A session, Zuckerberg also said WhatsApp was worth more than $19 billion because it has the potential for 1 billion users. He also indicated he though the government blew it in its response to the Snowden leaks.

News From You

MANAGEMIKE and elefunk both submitted stories about Netflix and Comcast announcing the two companies have reached a mutually beneficial interconnection agreement. The Wall Street Journal claims Netflix will pay for the deal. Ars Technica’s sources could not confirm that. Dan Rayburn argued on streamingmedia.com that this agreement is a good thing for both Netflix and Comcast.

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2014/02/media-botching-coverage-netflix-comcast-deal-getting-basics-wrong.html

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/netflix-is-paying-comcast-for-direct-connection-to-network-wsj-reports/

http://gigaom.com/2014/02/23/the-netflix-comcast-agreement-isnt-a-network-neutrality-violation-but-it-is-a-problem/

http://arstechnica.com/features/2008/09/peering-and-transit/

flashsider submitted a CNET report that Mozilla announced a partnership with Chinese semiconductor designer Spreadtrum to produce a FirefoxOS phone that will sell for $25. A prototype was available, and CNET’s Stepghen Shankland said it worked well. Mozilla also showed off new FirefoxOS phones coming from Alcatel, ZTE and Huawei, as well as tablet designs from VIA, Foxconn and Alcatel.

SkyJedi submitted the Guardian article that Jan Koum, CEO of WhatsApp announced voice capability will be added to the Android and iOS versions of the app starting in the second quarter of this year, followed by some Nokia and BlackBerry phones. Competing messaging apps like KakaoTalk, Line and BBM already offer voice services.

More links from the show

Sony announces two smartphones and a tablet at Mobile World Congress

 Microsoft announces bundles of the Xbox One console with the game Titanfall for $499 starting March 11, that’s the same price the Xbox One sells for in the US without Titanfall

Apple releases security patch for SSL vulnerability

Brazil and the European Union agreed Monday to lay an undersea communications cable between Lisbon, Portugal and Fortaleza, Brazil. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the $185 million cable project was central to “guarantee the neutrality” of the Internet.” 

Ashley Esqueda and Darren Kitchen join to get pumped for the Samsung Galaxy S V, buyout a Chevy’s, and divine the release date of the Oculus Rift by reading the entrails of an Oculus Rift. Also Len Peralta will illustrate the show.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Apple acquires Burstly TechCrunch reports Apple acquired Burstly, the company that owns analytic tool FlightPath and the app TestFlight which lets developers distribute their apps to beta testers before they submit it to the app store. TestFlight plans to end support for Android app testing as of March 21st. Shocker.

Samsung: Number 5 is Alive. (Also, wet.)  TechCrunch reports on Samsung’s teaser video promoting its upcoming February 24th announcement. The video shows a lot of people having fun doing things that involve phones somehow along with suggestive words like “Alive” and “Wet” all accompanied by the number 5. SO CRYPTIC SAMSUNG! I’ll be joining Cali Lewis and John P. for the GeekBeat.tv coverage of the event Monday at 2 PM Eastern.

News From You

Normgregory submitted our first News from You on the subreddit. This Reuters story tells how DirecTV Chief Executive Officer Mike White rather unsurprisingly has called for close scrutiny of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger, and the effective broadband monopoly it would create. But White didn’t exactly say he’s against it, just that his company has not decided what position to take, and wants to make sure it’s appropriately scrutinized.

habichuelacondulce pointed us to this Engadget article on Broadcom’s new BCM4771 Global Navigation Satellite System System on a Chip. What does that mean in English? Better battery life for wearables like smart watches that want GPS built in. The 40-nanometer construction and new sensor hub also make it more accurate. Broadcom will show it off at Mobiel World Congress next week.

And Rich_Seattle pointed us to an Engadget story that European streaming service Lovefilm will become part of Amazon’s Prime subscription in both UK and Germany starting Feb. 26th, under the new name Prime Instant Video. The Prime service which still gives one-day shipping will jump from £49 (€29) to £79 (€49). Existing subscribers won’t have to pay extra until the next time their subscription is up. Lovefilm will continue to run a DVD rental business.

More links from the show

Oculus Gearing Up to Host its Own VR Convention, ‘RiftCon’

Amazon getting ready to launch an Internet video streaming box?

Google acquires Spider.io

Fitbit issues a voluntary recall of the Fitbit Force following reports of skin irritation

Nvidia announces the Tegra Note 7 LTE for $299

Korean Messaging Service Kakao Gets Ready For A $2 Billion IPO 

Jolla’s Sailfish OS and smartphones are commercially ready and heading into new markets 

Oculus, not just for games

Pick of the day via listener Ron Kehn:

I recently discovered an app that allows me to use my Google chromecast to play videos stored on my android device.

The free application is called AllCast. It is available on the playstore.  A review can be found at Digital Trends

Veronica Belmont and Nate Lanxon join us to explain why Facebook REALLY bought WhatsApp. Also why Twitch Plays Pokemon is probably more important.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Facebook Did What? I don’t know if y’all heard, but Facebook announced it has agreed to acquire messaging app company WhatsApp for $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion worth of stock. An additional $3 billion worth of stock goes to the founders of WhatsApp and its employees that vests over 4 years. Co-founder an CEO of WhatsApp Jan Koum also gets a spot on Facebook’s board. Fortune reported Google had offered $10 billion but no board seat.

Reassuring Blog Post from Jan Koum

Jan Koum’s first Tweet

David Rowan of Wired UK spent three days with WhatsApp for article in March 6th issue of Wired

Mark Zuckerberg has learned what Steve Jobs knew: You need to disrupt yourself before your competitors do

NPD releases US smartphone market numbers:  The smartphone market grew there by 21% in 2013. Apple captured 45% of the market growing a bit over 2012’s 44%. Samsung and LG also grew at the expense of HTC and Motorola.

The Kansas legislation attempting to ban nearly all municipal broadband networks is apparently dead: Joshua Montgomery, who runs a small ISP in Lawrence, KS, told Ars Technica he thinks they killed the issue at least for a year. A Senate committee hearing has been canceled and not rescheduled. Kansas Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) told Montgomery in an e-mail that the bill “has lost its momentum at this time.”

News From You

KAPT_Kipper posted the GigaOm story about Aereo losing its court case in the US District Court covering the 10th Circuit including Utah and Colorado. Judge Dale Kimball is the first of three Distrcit Court’s not accept Aereo’s argument that renting a micro antenna to a customer over the Internet is not a public transmission. Judge Kimball wrote “Aereo’s device or process transmits Plaintiffs’ copyrighted programs to the public.” The Supreme Court will hear Aereo’s case April 22. In the meantime Aereo will have to shut down operations in Salt Lake City and Denver.

Dmmacs submitted a GigaOm story about Visa and MasterCard announcing upgrades to their point-of-sale systems to take advantage of new capabilities in Android 4.4, aka Kit Kat. Previous NFC systems required hardware cooperation, meaning mobile carriers could keep out competing payment products in favor of their own. Google has developed host card emulation which allows the security element to be done in software allowing Visa and MasterCard to use NFC without any cooperation front he hardware makers.

Kylde pointed us to a Slashdot posting about Mercedes-Benz new 360-degree video capture method. A ball made of wide-angle cameras allows the viewer to swivel and tilt the camera angle in pretty much any direction as the car speeds around the track. And yes there’s an iOS app. The device will launch with the Mercedes AMG F1 team this year.

And flying spatula submitted this Engadget article about Waze updating its navigation map for Android and iOS to talk to your calendar. If your appointment has a location you can now ask Waze for directions right from inside the calendar.

More links from the show

Microsoft’s Office Web Apps changes its name to Office Online, launches new features

HTC to  show first of three wearable devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. 

Virtual keyboard Fleksy has made itself open and free for developers to integrate into iOS apps

Google announces Project Tango– aims to develop a prototype smartphone equipped with cameras, sensors and chips that can create a 3D map of a user’s surroundings.

Mobile analytics firm Distimo releases a new report showing the most lucrative markets for game apps are Japan, Australia, and South Korea, in that order.

Andrew Zarian joins us as we talk about Google Fiber possibly invading 34 new cities, and the FCC cracking down on Net Neutrality violations again.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

FCC announces it will create new rules to strengthen net neutrality Ars Technica reports US FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced today that the agency will not appeal the court ruling that struck down parts of the Open Internet Order. Instead the FCC will begin the process of creating new rules to prevent ISPs from blocking or discriminating against websites, that have a more solid basis in law. Wheeler said the FCC will also continue to consider reclassifying ISPs as a common carrier as an option.

Google Fiber expands Ars Technica also reports Google posted that Google Fiber will investigate 9 new metro areas, a total of 24 cities, as possible sites for Google’s 1 Gbps Internet service. Google will send representatives to Portland, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Antonio, Nashiville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham to meet with municipal governments and make detailed studies of the areas. Google hopes to make decisions about the new locations by the end of the year.

Important thing that happened after the show

Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $16 billion

News From You

pete_c submitted this Wired article about Steve Perlman’s attempt to end cell phone congestion, and increase speeds about 1,000 times what they are now by replacing cell phone broadcast antennas and adding a card into existing cell phones. Perlman’s technology is called pCell which works by targeting individual cell phones and using a data center and an algorithm, provides each device with its own connection, rather than sharing bandwidth with every other device in the area. Perlman demonstrated the technology publicly for the first time this morning at Columbia University in New York.

lythander sent in a story from the Charleston Daily Mail describing how customer complaints have dropped nearly 70% since Frontier Communications took over Verizon’s West Virginia landline operations. Frontier has also expanded access to roughly 176,000 households. Regulators required Frontier to invest in infrastructure and increase access as a condition for buying the operation from Verizon.

And ancientbearwizard posted this Popular Mechanics story about a study published in Current Biology showing that an app called UltimEyes lengthened the distance people could see by an average of 31%. The app works by taking advantage of neuroplasticity, the way the brain can require itself. The app confronts you with patterns based on the Gabor stimuli which the brain uses to represent incoming visual information in the visual cortex. This trains your brain to process the patterns more efficiently. Researchers are still unable to say what is happening int he brain that improves acuity.

More links from the show

Microsoft OneDrive launches

Canonical  announces the first Ubuntu-powered phones for sale; will ship later this year from BQ in Spain and Meizu in China

 Nokia to introduce Treasure Tag, a previously rumored device meant to pair physical objects like keys and wallets with a Nokia smartphone

Glove for Android to help you pick the right mobile carrier by collecting your mobile data

Russian company Yandex launches a firmware kit for Android phones offering a suite of services for carriers and device manufacturers wanting to use Android without agreeing to Google’s terms 

Pick of the day:

Jennie Pick! Ridiculous awesome thing: Z-Board –It’s an electric skateboard for pete’s sake. Lean forward to go, lean back to stop. The company was founded by two guys in Hermosa beach who learn as they go and always try to please their customers. They built a special skateboard for the hills of San Francisco,  and made a replica of the Back to Future II hoverboard, complete with awesome promo video. What’s not to love?  (Jennie road a Z-board once, and it was awesome. Also she used it to film a Dolly shot.)

Lamarr Wilson joins as we ponder the wonders of an IPO based on Candy Crush, and watch our audience debate a la carte cable TV.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

New details on Samsung’s high-end smart phone: Bloomberg reports Samsung’s forthcoming high-end smartphone will have a 5.2-inch screen with improved resolution.  Marketing will focus on improved security, an upgraded camera and integration with wearable devices. It also may be sold for less than the Samsung Galaxy S4. The phone is expected to be released at the same time as an update Galaxy Gear smart watch. Samsung has an event scheduled for Monday 2/24.

New Snowden docs show debates in NSA about treatment of WikiLeaks: Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher of The Intercept revealed details from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, showing debates in the NSA about how to treat organizations like WikiLeaks and The Pirate Bay as well as general Internet users. The debates centered on when it was required to filter out data on US users, when monitoring visitors to a site like Wikileaks. One document argued Wikileaks particularly should be dubbed a “malicious foreign actor” so that no filtering would be required. ON a side note, The Verge reports AT&T issued their first transparency report, indicating the company received 301,816 total requests for phone records and subscriber information in 2013.

 News From You

AllanAv called our attention to this Verge article about BitCoin ATMs coming to Seattle and Austin this month. Robocoin will install similar machines to the one it set up at Waves coffee in Vancouver last year. Robocoin also plans to bring its machines to Asia in a few weeks. The Vancouver ATM processed more than $900,000 in transactions in its first month.

Maurice emailed us a Daily Mail story about an organization called the Media Development Investment Fund that wants to create wifi access beamed from hundreds of cubesat satellites launched into orbit by 2015. The company calls the project the Outernet. Each satellite would receive data from a network of ground stations and use UDP to send data to users. The folks at Lightsquared will likely be very interested to see if this is allowed.

gigitrix posted this GameSpot article about the weekend craze of up to 7,000 people at a time playing a game of Pokemon on Twitch. An emulator allowed viewers to input text commands like A, B, Start and Select in chat which controlled the game. As of yesterday the game had four badges under its belt, and more than 80,000 people watching. You can watch and play at:  http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon

KAPT_Kipper pointed us to the Verge article about Gabe Newell’s blog post where he explains why Valve’s Anti-Cheat software was looking at users DNS data. What VAC does look for is DNS that matches the DRM used by cheat software. Details on matching DNS entries are sent, checked again and if matched to known cheat software, the client is marked for a future ban.

and pete_c submitted the Ars Technica article about hackers taking advantage of a known critical vulnerability in Asus routers to place text files on drives connected to the routers. Asus reportedly patched the vulnerability late last week. Readers are advised to lock down their routers by installing any available firmware updates, changing any default passwords, and ensuring that remote administration, Cloud, and FTP options are set to off if they’re not needed.

More links from the show

AT&T files first transparency report

Candy Crush maker King files for IPO

Irrational Games, creator of BioShock Infinite  to close

NVidia reveals new power-efficient GPU architecture

Microsoft makes Skype and Lync more compatible

Just a quick glance at the headlines. No guest today as it’s a holiday in the US.

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Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit