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  • Microsoft Opens the Door to Azure Programs Running on Competitors’ Clouds

    Microsoft Opens the Door to Azure Programs Running on Competitors’ Clouds

    At its Ignite 2019 conference, Microsoft announced the release of Azure Arc, a tool designed to allow developers to deploy Azure programs to Amazon and Google clouds.

    Since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, Microsoft has taken a completely different approach to competitors. Rather than viewing other companies as the enemy and doing everything possible to keep users locked into the Windows ecosystem, the company has focused on making the best software possible and deploying it as widely as possible.

    This approach has led to a renewed focus on Office for the Mac, industry-leading versions of the productivity suite for iOS and Android, not to mention the company reaching out to Linux developers for help in porting Edge. Now, as the cloud wars heat up, it appears Microsoft is taking that same all-embracing approach to competing cloud platforms. Azure Arc will not only help companies deploy their Azure programs, but also help them manage them regardless of where they are run from.

    “Azure Arc enables Azure services anywhere and extends Azure management to any infrastructure for unified management, governance and control across clouds, datacenters and edge. They look and feel just like Azure resources, and they provide unified auditing, compliance, and role-based access control across multiple environments and at scale.

    “As a result, customers can modernize any infrastructure with cloud management and security protection. With cloud practices that work anywhere, Microsoft is delivering these resources, from cloud to datacenter to edge, and enabling cloud security anywhere.

    “Millions of Azure resources are managed, governed, and secured daily by thousands of customers. With Azure Arc, customers can now take advantage of Azure’s robust cloud management experience for their own servers (Linux and Windows Server) and Kubernetes clusters by extending Azure management across environments. Customers can seamlessly inventory, organize, and govern their own resources at-scale through a consistent and unified experience through the Azure Portal.”

    On the heels of news that Microsoft beat out Amazon for a lucrative defense contract, the Azure Arc announcement is further evidence the company is firing on all cylinders in its execution of Nadella’s strategy.

  • Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Germany made headlines a few weeks ago when it released its ‘security catalog,’ a set of rules for 5G deployment. Despite the German government stating no telecommunications company was excluded, it now appears Huawei may not qualify after all, according to Reuters.

    Reuters is reporting that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern over Huawei’s dependence on the Chinese government, obligating it to pass on any sensitive information it may be privy to.

    According to the report, “Germany therefore wants to add a test of trustworthiness to the 5G security catalogue that so far had mainly envisaged an evaluation of technical criteria, Maas said.

    “In this test of trustworthiness, German authorities will examine if a company is forced by law in its home country to pass on information and data that actually should be protected, Maas said, adding: ‘That’s the case with Huawei.’”

    Despite Maas’ stance, nothing is certain. German operators have already warned the government that banning Huawei would add billions in cost and years of effort to a successful 5G rollout. It’s possible Germany may allow Huawei to participate, but limit the company’s access from more sensitive aspects of the technology’s deployment.

    Whatever happens, with the U.S. continuing to pressure allies and Britain voicing similar concern, Huawei still faces a long road to convincing world governments that it can be trusted.

  • CynergisTek Acquires Backbone Enterprises to Consolidate Its Position As a Leader In Cybersecurity

    CynergisTek Acquires Backbone Enterprises to Consolidate Its Position As a Leader In Cybersecurity

    CynergisTek, Inc. has announced its acquisition of Backbone Enterprises, Inc. (DBA Backbone Consultants), a leading provider of IT risk advisory services.

    CynergisTek is a cybersecurity company specializing in the healthcare industry. Since 2004, the company has helped hundreds of healthcare organizations meet security, privacy and regulatory compliance goals. Backbone Enterprises, on the other hand, has been a leader in IT risk advisory services.

    The acquisition will help round out CynergisTek’s portfolio. With Backbone’s services, CynergisTek will be able to offer its customers IT risk audit services, in addition to helping them comply with the EU’s GDPR.

    “Backbone Consultants’ suite of services will immediately complement our entire portfolio as well as provide additional IT risk audit services and GDPR readiness, and prepare us for the opportunity with the California Consumer Privacy Act,” said CynergisTek CEO and President Caleb Barlow.. “We will look to leverage CynergisTek’s existing client base to cross-sell our services, leverage our back office to bring more efficiency and support to the Backbone team, and look to convert Backbone’s annual audits into a managed service. We’re thrilled that Backbone is part of CynergisTek and are excited to support its continued growth, customers, and employees.”

    Walter Zuniga, Managing Partner at Backbone Consultants, echoed Mr. Barlow’s optimism. “Our highly skilled security, IT audit, and data privacy professionals will be a perfect fit within CynergisTek where our customers and employees will see an immediate benefit from CynergisTek’s national presence. We look forward to continuing our success in the cybersecurity, IT audit, and privacy compliance market as we utilize the strengths of CynergisTek.”

    The merger of these two companies drives home the increasing challenges organizations face when it comes to protecting user data and privacy, not to mention the increasing regulatory requirements facing many industries.

  • Google Announces New Speed Report in Search Console

    Google Announces New Speed Report in Search Console

    Today Google announced the immediate availability of a new Speed report in Search Console.

    Originally previewed at Google I/O 2019, the new Speed report has been modified and improved based on feedback from beta testers. The report is designed to help webmasters and site owners identify and improve user experience issues, especially those related to how fast a site loads.

    The report classifies URLs by speed and the issue that causes any slowdowns. Drill down on a specific issue to see examples of slow URLs to help you prioritize performance improvements for them. To get a better sense of what type of optimization can be performed for a specific URL, the report links to the Page Speed Insight tool, which provides information on specific optimization opportunities.

    “You should use this report both for monitoring your performance over time and for tracking fixes you made to your website. If you fix an issue, use the report to track whether users experienced a performance improvement when browsing the fixed version of your website.

    “To help you understand how your site is performing, you can also see what types of URLs are doing better by checking the moderate and fast buckets.”

    The new report should be a welcome tool to help webmasters keep their sites responsive and competitive.

  • Microsoft Announces All-In-One Office App For Mobile Devices

    Microsoft Announces All-In-One Office App For Mobile Devices

    Microsoft just announced a major redesign of its Office apps for mobile devices, combining them into a single application.

    For decades, Microsoft Office has been the gold standard for productivity software and is one of the main applications that has helped the iPad become a staple in the corporate world. Now, Microsoft is redesigning its suite of programs to combine them into a single app, improving productivity and integration between the individual components.

    “The new Office mobile app represents our vision for what a productivity solution would look like if first built for mobile devices. In designing this new experience, we first considered how people’s expectations differ when using a phone versus a computer, so we set out to optimize for simplicity, efficiency, and common mobile needs. Next, we explored how to better incorporate the unique ways that people input data and create content on a mobile device – essentially turning the phone form factor from a liability for doing work into an asset. Finally, we needed to ensure that this app met the high expectations people already have for Office solutions. This solution should feel familiar to the people that know and rely on them today and instill a sense of confidence that they can accomplish their work with the high degree of quality and security that they have come to know.

    “We are excited to introduce to our solution to this endeavor. The Office app provides a simple, integrated experience that puts the tools you need for working on a mobile device at the forefront of the experience. We started by combining the existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps into a single app. Doing so brings all of your Office documents together in one place, reduces the need to switch between multiple apps, and significantly reduces the amount of space used on your phone compared to multiple installed apps. We then added new capabilities that harness the strengths of mobile devices, such as the camera, to enable you to create content in uniquely mobile ways. Finally, we added a new Actions Pane that helps you accomplish many of the common mobile tasks you need to do all from one place.

    “Whether using it for personal or professional reasons, Office is designed to be your go-to app for getting work done on a mobile device.”

    The new application is available as a public preview, for both Android and iOS. Initially, the preview will only work on phones, although full tablet support will be available in time. The legacy apps will continue to be supported, although Microsoft is obviously hopeful that individuals and corporations will switch to the new option.

  • AlphaStar, Google’s AI, Makes Appearance at BlizzCon 2019

    AlphaStar, Google’s AI, Makes Appearance at BlizzCon 2019

    Google’s DeepMind AI has already made headlines for its abilities. Now, StarCraft players can go head-to-head with AlphaStar, a DeepMind-powered program, at Blizzcon 2019.

    StarCraft has long been considered one of the most advanced, well-rounded and complicated real-time-strategy (RTS) games on the market. The game enjoys a large following and a professional eSports presence. For players to succeed, they must be able to master complex strategies, scout their opponent, manage an economy, choose the right builds and maintain enough actions per minute (APM) to control everything happening.

    AlphaStar has achieved the rank of Grandmaster for all three of the races in StarCraft II, making it better than 99.8% of all human players. To ensure the AI plays on equal terms, its mouse clicks are restricted to the same level that a human player can achieve and the AI can only see the portion of the map it has explored—unlike many games where the computer can see everything.

    Google hopes the advances made with AlphaStar will have applications far beyond RTS.

    “At DeepMind, we’re interested in understanding the potential – and limitations – of open-ended learning, which enables us to develop robust and flexible agents that can cope with complex, real-world domains. Games like StarCraft are an excellent training ground to advance these approaches, as players must use limited information to make dynamic and difficult decisions that have ramifications on multiple levels and timescales.

    “Open-ended learning systems that utilise learning-based agents and self-play have achieved impressive results in increasingly challenging domains. Thanks to advances in imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and the League, we were able to train AlphaStar Final, an agent that reached Grandmaster level at the full game of StarCraft II without any modifications, as shown in the above video. This agent played online anonymously, using the gaming platform Battle.net, and achieved a Grandmaster level using all three StarCraft II races. AlphaStar played using a camera interface, with similar information to what human players would have, and with restrictions on its action rate to make it comparable with human players. The interface and restrictions were approved by a professional player. Ultimately, these results provide strong evidence that general-purpose learning techniques can scale AI systems to work in complex, dynamic environments involving multiple actors. The techniques we used to develop AlphaStar will help further the safety and robustness of AI systems in general, and, we hope, may serve to advance our research in real-world domains.”

  • Apple Gearing Up For 5G iPhone Launch in 2020

    Apple Gearing Up For 5G iPhone Launch in 2020

    Citing multiple sources, Nikkei Asian Review said Apple is preparing to launch 5G iPhones in 2020.

    According to the report, while Apple has been slow to adopt 5G, it is hoping to leapfrog the competition with the new models. In combination with 5G connectivity, the iPhones will feature updated, more powerful processors and leading-edge screens. If the move is successful, it could help Apple edge out Huawei as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker.

    “It will be the first time Apple introduces 5G iPhones … There will be three of them and the company has set an aggressive sales target,” one of the sources told Nikkei.

    Given the popularity of the iPhone, Apple’s plans could also help spur faster adoption of 5G technology, especially in markets outside of China. China has recently made the news for its faster-than-expected 5G rollout. In contrast, many carriers in other parts of the world are lagging behind. With Apple planning multiple 5G iPhones next year, carriers will have to move rapidly to keep their customers happy and prevent them from switching to competitors who succeed in rolling out 5G faster.

    If Nikkei’s sources are to be believed, 2020 should be a good year for 5G and the customers looking forward to using it.

  • China Unveils 5G Network Faster Than Anticipated

    China Unveils 5G Network Faster Than Anticipated

    China has succeeded in beating estimates, rolling out one of the world’s largest 5G networks months ahead of schedule.

    Originally slated for a 2020 rollout, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile simultaneously announced immediate availability of 5G plans “with prices ranging from 128 yuan (about 18 U.S. dollars) to 599 yuan. Subscribers will be able to enjoy connections way faster than 4G and less expensive data per gigabyte.

    “For example, China Unicom’s 129-yuan service plan comes with a 30-gigabyte data cap, 500 minutes of voice talk and a 500-Mbps speed cap. Its 599-yuan plan allows 300 gigabytes of data and 3,000 minutes of voice talk, putting the speed limit at 1 Gbps.”

    The new service is available in 50 cities throughout the country. Because 5G uses high-frequency millimeter waves, rather than the low-frequency waves used by previous networks, the service must rely on a greater number of cell towers and base stations to achieve reliable coverage. In Shanghai alone, some 11,859 base stations were activated to provide coverage across the city.

    Given the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, a war in which 5G has been a prominent battleground, it will be interesting to see how U.S. companies respond to China’s announcement.

  • Modified Malware Hijacking WiFi Routers, Killing Competing Malware

    Modified Malware Hijacking WiFi Routers, Killing Competing Malware

    Another day, another malware attack. ZDNet is reporting that a modified version of Gafgyt is targeting WiFi routers in a rather aggressive fashion.

    The malware in question has a long history of targeting known vulnerabilities in popular home and small-office routers. Once compromised, the routers become part of a botnet for use in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks-for-hire. The latest version of the malware has been updated to target three wireless routers: the Huawei HG532, Realtek RTL81XX and the Zyxel P660HN-T1A.

    Because Gafgyt’s purpose is to build a botnet powerful enough to generate income through paid attacks, the malware’s creators have programmed it to seek and destroy competing malware on any devices it infects.

    Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have been studying the malware and provided ZDNet with more information about how it works.

    “The authors of this malware want to make sure their strain is the only one controlling a compromised device and maximizing the device’s resources when launching attacks,” said Asher Davila, security researcher at the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 research division.

    “As a result, it is programmed to kill other botnet malware it finds, like JenX, on a given device so that it has the device’s full resources dedicated to its attack.”

    Because most of the vulnerable routers are relatively old—by technology standards—most trouble can be avoided by upgrading to a newer model or, at the very least, updating the router’s software.

    “In general, users can stay safe against botnets by getting in the habit of updating their routers, installing the latest patches and implementing strong, unguessable passwords,” Davila explained.

    “The more frequent the better, but perhaps for simplicity, considering timing router updates around daylight savings, so at least you’re updating twice a year.”

  • Particle Raises $40 Million in Funding to Empower IoT Adoption

    Particle Raises $40 Million in Funding to Empower IoT Adoption

    Particle, the IoT platform company focused on making the Internet of Things (IoT) easy, has raised $40 million in series C funding.

    Particle claims to be “the only all-in-one IoT platform on the market.” As such, they offer a competitive advantage for companies looking to bring their products and services online. This is especially critical for established companies looking to make the transition, companies who are at risk of being disrupted by smaller, more nimble competitors.

    “That’s because technology and innovation are not evenly distributed, and the decades-old manufacturers that lead traditional industries are more likely to be the disrupted than the disruptor,” wrote CEO Zach Supalla in the company’s announcement. “Particle is here to help to change this dynamic; we’re here to empower the next generation of IoT companies and bring the physical world online to fundamentally change how traditional industries operate.”

    Particle is already actively helping an impressive list of customers, including Opti, Jacuzzi, Shared Technologies, Korean-based Olulo and the Air National Guard. This latest round of funding will help Particle continue developing their IoT platform and supporting tools.

    “Particle will use the money raised in this round of funding to continue developing our enterprise IoT platform suite, as well as scale our engineering and product teams,” according to Supalla. “These new team hires will help bolster our professional engineering service (Particle Studios) and help our customers bring their products to market. We’ll also be expanding into new global markets while hiring in sales and marketing.”

  • German Commission Recommends Tighter Regulation of AI Development

    German Commission Recommends Tighter Regulation of AI Development

    Few technologies have sparked as much debate, held more promise or terrified more people than artificial intelligence (AI). Depending on who is talking, AI promises to usher in a new technological era or precipitate the demise of humanity.

    Notable individuals such as Mark Zuckerberg, Ray Kurzweil and Sam Altman have been strong proponents of AI development, even going so far as to believe the potential benefits create a moral imperative to pursue AI research. Others, such as Elon Musk, Clive Sinclair and the late Stephen Hawking, believe true AI may represent the greatest existential danger to the human race.

    With so much controversy, governments are getting drug into the middle of the debate, trying to navigate what role they should play in regulating AI, with Germany the latest to wade in on the topic. In 2018, the German government formed the Data Ethics Commission to “develop ethical benchmarks and guidelines as well as specific recommendations for action, aiming at protecting the individual, preserving social cohesion, and safeguarding and promoting prosperity in the information age.”

    Last week the commission released an opinion on AI development, recommending more regulation and government involvement.

    “The Data Ethics Commission holds the view that regulation is necessary, and cannot be replaced by ethical principles. This is particularly true for issues with heightened implications for fundamental rights that require the central decisions to be made by the democratically elected legislator. Regulation is also an essential basis for building a system where citizens, companies and institutions can trust that the transformation of society will be guided by ethical principles.”

    AI proponents and tech experts are already speaking about against the commission’s findings, voicing concern that the focus on regulation will stifle innovation.

    “Europe wants to be more competitive in the digital economy,” wrote Eline Chivot, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation in Brussels. “But it cannot substitute regulation for innovation. Rather than trying to achieve competitiveness in AI through policies designed to disadvantage foreign providers and promote European digital sovereignty, European policymakers should instead focus on developing an AI strategy that invests in people, data, and digital infrastructure, and creates a more innovation-friendly regulatory environment, so that European firms can better compete with China and the United States.”

    One thing is certain: The debate about AI, its future and the best way to safely develop the technology is far from over.

  • Quill Gets Backing From Slack Investor

    Quill Gets Backing From Slack Investor

    According to a report by TechCrunch, Index Ventures has backed Slack competitor Quill. While that may not seem unusual in and of itself, it’s notable due to Index Ventures being a Slack investor.

    Slack has taken the business world by storm, easily becoming one of the most popular office communication and collaboration platforms. At the same, it has faced criticism for being too “busy,” overloading users with notifications and direct messages.

    Led by Ludwig Pettersson, Quill offers a more streamlined experience, focusing on “meaningful conversations, without disturbing your team.” It’s designed to offer more focused conversations, with an emphasis on threads.

    Former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, who worked with Pettersson at OpenAI and led a previous $2 million round of funding, told TechCrunch: “It’s relentlessly focused on increasing the bandwidth and efficiency of communication. The product technically works super well–it surfaces the right information in the feed and it’s pretty intelligent about how it brings the right people into conversations.”

    Quill’s latest round of funding, a $12.5 million Series A funding at a $62.5 million valuation, was led by Sarah Cannon, an Index Ventures partner and former Slack board observer.

    Whatever Quill’s success, one thing is clear: Slack is facing increasing competition from all sides. Startups like Quill are rising up to improve on Slack’s perceived shortcomings, while established companies like Microsoft have competing tools backed by entire ecosystems of business software. Slack will have to continue to improve and evolve to maintain its position.

  • Uber Sues LA Department of Transportation Over Electric Scooter Data, Cites Privacy Concerns

    Uber Sues LA Department of Transportation Over Electric Scooter Data, Cites Privacy Concerns

    According to a report by The Verge, Uber has said it will not share real-time electric scooter data with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and is filing a lawsuit against the department.

    The suit revolves around LA’s use of Mobility Data Specification (MDS), a program LADOT developed to monitor dockless scooters that are becoming commonplace in many cities. The data provided by MDS can be used by city planners to evaluate traffic patterns, add needed bike lanes and more. The promise of data that has previously been unavailable has led cities across the country to adopt and contribute to MDS. LA, as well as Austin, Chattanooga, Columbus, Louisville, Omaha, San Jose and Seattle are all making MDS participation a condition for companies to receive the necessary permits to operate.

    Privacy advocates, however, are concerned that MDS gives cities unprecedented insight into people’s activity, since every part of a scooter’s route is tracked and recorded. Uber—who acquired scooter company Jump—along with Lyft and Bird have objected to MDS from the beginning and vowed to challenge the legality of the software. In particular, the company is hoping the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA), which became law in 2015, will provide it the legal teeth necessary to challenge LA’s position.

    The state’s Legislative Council has ruled that MDS may run afoul of CalECPA, specifically as the law prohibits local governments from requiring real-time data in exchange for an operating permit. The only exception is if a specific rider waves their right to privacy, although it must be waved by the rider, not by the ride-sharing company acting as an intermediary.

    Uber and Lyft are trying to get a temporary restraining order prohibiting LA from revoking their licenses. In the long-term, however, the legal battle over MDS will have far-reaching repercussions for privacy-minded individuals and corporations.

  • Google Sued by Australian Consumer Watchdog Over Location Data

    Google Sued by Australian Consumer Watchdog Over Location Data

    The International Business Times (IBT) is reporting that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has filed suit against Google claiming the tech giant misleads consumers about how it collects and uses their data.

    The ACCC claims Google used “highly sensitive and valuable personal information” without properly informing consumers and giving them the opportunity to make a choice. According to the ACCC, Google used misleading on-screen prompts and labels regarding what information was being collected. The tech giant claimed that customers’ data would only be used for personal purposes and to make sure Google’s services worked properly when, in fact, the collected was used elsewhere.

    According to the complaint, between 2017 and 2018, users who did not turn off the “location history” and “web & app activity” settings had their data collected and used.

    ACCC chairman Adam Sims said: “We’re also alleging that some of the behaviour is continuing. We want declarations that the current behaviour should not continue.”

    Mr. Sims said the ACCC was seeking “significant penalties,” as well as an admission from Google that its behavior was “inappropriate.” The case will likely be watched closely by similar agencies around the world, as Google and Facebook are already under scrutiny for their handling of consumer data.

  • Trump Administration May Blacklist Chinese Companies That Steal Intellectual Property

    Trump Administration May Blacklist Chinese Companies That Steal Intellectual Property

    The Trump administration has been involved in a protracted and costly trade war with China. Among the casualties have been telecommunications companies such as Huawei and ZTE, both of whom have found themselves on U.S. blacklists.

    Now, according to a report in The Washington Post, the administration is considering blacklisting Chinese companies that repeatedly steal intellectual property. Companies that repeatedly violate U.S. patent and copyright laws could be placed on the Commerce Department’s “entity list,” meaning they would not be able to do business within the U.S. without a special license. This extreme measure is usually reserved for companies that pose a military or terrorist threat.

    Peter Navarro, the Trump advisor reportedly investigating what recourse the administration has, has long been a proponent of cracking down on Chinese companies. With the administration repeatedly making the case that economic security makes up a significant part of national security as a whole, it seems likely it is moving forward despite repeated claims to the contrary.

    While few argue that something needs to be done to address intellectual property theft by Chinese companies, not everyone is happy with this possible solution. Mark Cohen, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology told The Washington Post: “Everybody wants to put companies on the entity list now. This is Pandora’s box. In my opinion, this is hopelessly stupid. When did Peter Navarro become a federal judge?”

    Should the entity list be used as the latest weapon in the trade war, it will be interesting to see if it has the desired effect, or backfires and costs consumers even more.

  • AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Join Forces to Take Messaging to the Next Level

    AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Join Forces to Take Messaging to the Next Level

    iPhone users have long-enjoyed iMessage, an iOS-only alternative to SMS that has far more features than basic messaging. WhatsApp offers a similar approach, adding features and abilities in a cross-platform app.

    Today the four major wireless carriers announced the Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI), aimed at delivering iMessage or WhatsApp-like messaging to customers and businesses alike. The service will be based on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol.

    The goal is to roll out the service to Android first, sometime in 2020. The CCMI service will:

    • Drive a robust business-to-consumer messaging ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of Rich Communications Services (RCS)
    • Enable an enhanced experience to privately send individual or group chats across carriers with high quality pictures and videos
    • Provide consumers with the ability to chat with their favorite brands, order a rideshare, pay bills or schedule appointments, and more
    • Create a single seamless, interoperable RCS experience across carriers, both in the U.S. and globally

    “People love text messaging for a reason. Texting is trusted, reliable and readily available—which is why we’re using it to build the foundation of a simple, immersive messaging experience,” said David Christopher, executive vice president and general manager, AT&T Mobility. “This service will power new and innovative ways for customers to engage with each other and their favorite brands.”

    “The CCMI will bring a consistent, engaging experience that makes it easy for consumers and businesses to interact in an environment they can trust,” said Michel Combes, President & CEO of Sprint. “As we have seen in Asia, messaging is poised to become the next significant digital platform. CCMI will make it easy for consumers to navigate their lives from a smartphone.”

    “At the Un-carrier, customers drive everything we do, and that’s no different here,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “Efforts like CCMI help move the entire industry forward so we can give customers more of what they want and roll out new messaging capabilities that work the same across providers and even across countries.”

    “At Verizon, our customers depend on reliable text messaging to easily connect them to the people they care about most. Yet, we can deliver even more working together as an industry,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group. “CCMI will create the foundation for an innovative digital platform that not only connects consumers with friends and family, but also offers a seamless experience for consumers to connect with businesses in a compelling and trusted environment.”

    With all four of the major carriers on board, the CCMI will hopefully usher in the next generation of messaging, bringing welcome improvements to one of the most heavily used phone services.

  • Google Hires Former VP of Microsoft’s Office Product Group

    Google Hires Former VP of Microsoft’s Office Product Group

    Business Insider is reporting that Google has hired Javier Soltero, a former head of strategy for Microsoft Office. Soltero had left Microsoft in late 2018 amid internal reorganization.

    In his new role with Google, Soltero will take over as Vice President of G Suite. Google’s suite of programs includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drive and more. The company has made inroads in the productivity market dominated by Microsoft. While G Suite is available for free, a more robust version is offered to business customers for a monthly subscription. As of Q4 2018, Google reported having some five million paying G Suite customers.

    Soltero brings much to the table for Google. After several years at VMware, he joined Microsoft when the company bought his startup Acompli, turning it into Outlook Mobile. He spent his first year at Microsoft as Corporate Vice President of Outlook, followed by two years as Corporate Vice President of the Office Product Group. His final role was as Corporate Vice President of Cortana.

    Google has been hiring a string of executives as it tries to compete with Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud industry. At Google, Soltero will report directly to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian.

  • DISH Network Moving Forward With 5G Plans

    DISH Network Moving Forward With 5G Plans

    DISH Network has announced another Request for Proposal (RFP) as it prepares to build the nation’s first standalone 5G network.

    RFPs are a standard part of the process of building out a new network and this is the third RFP DISH has requested. The Deployment Services RFP, for end-to-end deployment services vendors, is expected the week of October 28.

    “We’re building a first-of-its kind standalone 5G network and want to employ a diversity of expertise from partners large and small,” said DISH Executive Vice President of Wireless Operations, Jeff McSchooler. “We’ll build upon the existing relationships we have with deployment vendors from our NB-IoT buildout, while seeking local, regional and national vendors that can apply their strengths to increase the speed and efficiency of our 5G network deployment.”

    DISH has previously committed to building out a 5G broadband network that will reach approximately 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023. This latest RFP is another major step in that direction.

    “An Executive Summary of the Deployment Services RFP is available here.

    “Vendors interested in receiving the Deployment Services RFP when it is released can contact DISH Wireless at [email protected] before Oct. 28, 2019.”

  • FCC Approves T-Mobile and Sprint Merger But Opposition Remains

    FCC Approves T-Mobile and Sprint Merger But Opposition Remains

    CNBC is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to approve the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. While the deal had earlier received approval from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FCC’s approval is one of the final steps needed before the merger is finalized.

    The FCC’s commissioners voted along party lines to approve the deal. Chairman Ajit Pai voted with the two Republican commissioners in favor of the deal, with the two Democratic commissioners voting against.

    Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the Democratic commissioners, released a statement voicing her objections.

    “We’ve all seen what happens when markets become more concentrated after a merger like this one,” Rosenworcel said, using airline baggage fees and pharmaceutical drug prices as a point of comparison. “There’s no reason to think this time will be different. Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that the T-Mobile-Sprint merger will reduce competition, raise prices, lower quality, and slow innovation.”

    Despite the two agencies signing off on the deal, there is still substantial opposition. Nearly 20 states joined in filing a lawsuit to prevent the deal from going forward, arguing that consolidating the wireless industry around three main players will result in higher prices and less choices for consumers. T-Mobile, on the other hand, has said that combining with Sprint will give it a much better chance of competing with Verizon and AT&T, each of whom have nearly double the number of subscribers as T-Mobile. The combined company would be much closer in size, and have significantly more bandwidth to use for 5G rollout.

    T-Mobile has already made substantial concessions in order to gain support for the merger, resulting in Mississippi withdrawing from the lawsuit once their concerns were met. If T-Mobile is able to continue addressing concerns, there’s a real possibility that remaining opposition may melt away in the wake of the FCC’s decision.

  • OPPO Plans to Release the First Dual-Mode 5G Phone

    OPPO Plans to Release the First Dual-Mode 5G Phone

    OPPO has announced plans to release the world’s first dual-mode 5G phone before year’s end. The phone was announced at the Qualcomm 5G Summit 2019 in Barcelona, a fitting location as it will be powered by Qualcomm’s chipset.

    Dual-mode phones will be compatible with both SA and NSA networks. SA stands for standalone mode, where only 5G is used for data and signaling. NSA, in contrast, stands for non-standalone and uses LTE for some of the process, such as cell tower communication.

    In making the announcement, Henry Tang, OPPO’s Chief 5G Scientist said:

    “The unrelenting efforts from OPPO and other industry peers have paved the way for the rapid adoption of 5G, with users in select countries and regions already becoming early adopters of OPPO’s 5G smartphones. We hope our next-generation dual-mode 5G offerings will deliver a superior experience to more consumers in more markets globally, making 5G readily available to a wider consumer base worldwide.”

    According to Tang, OPPO is working with over a dozen global operators to accelerate 5G commercialization worldwide. The company plans to consistently introduce more 5G products globally.

  • Cisco CEO Says 5G Networks Could Be Active In 2 to 3 Years

    Cisco CEO Says 5G Networks Could Be Active In 2 to 3 Years

    “The carriers today are building the consumer 5G networks, and they don’t require a massive backbone upgrade when you just increase bandwidth to lots of mobile phones.”

    Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins stopped by Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria to discuss 5G, intellectual property and reports of China bullying companies.

    “When they begin to build out enterprise 5G services, then that will require them to build a dedicated, next generation, high-performance backbone because of all the traffic that will be generated and…that will be over the next two to three years. So right now, they are focused on the radios needed for the consumer side.

    “If you think about the speeds that are going to be supported at the edge, and the number of those connections, it’s only logical that you’re going to have to update…your infrastructure to accommodate all the bandwidth that’s going to be…given out around the world. So we would expect to ultimately be a beneficiary of that when it happens.”

    Mr. Robbins goes on to discuss the challenges the world is facing economically, emphasizing his belief that the economic slowdown is a global one, not isolated to the U.S.

    While highlighting that intellectual property theft is by no means unique to the Chinese market, Mr. Robbins was adamant that respect for intellectual property needs to be a fundamental aspect of doing business.

    “The lack of theft should be a core principle in every country around the world….I think that’s a broad issue that should just be a basic premise of doing business around the world, is that your intellectual property should be respected.”

    He also discussed recent reports of companies being bullied by the Chinese government. While he said Cisco has never been able to reach the level of business they would like to within the country, they had never felt bullied by China.

    https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6094650754001/