Tech News 2Night 76 (Transcript)

[Top TN2 Animation ] Tonight, the FCC Chairman on net neutrality- take two, Twitter's stock plunges, loads of wearables, and is drone-footage of tornado damage legal? Tech News 2Night is Next! [TWiT Open] [Main TN2 Open] This is Tech News 2Night Episode 76, for Tuesday April 29, 2014 I'm Sarah Lane, Let's get right to the Tech Feed! FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has pubished new blog post titled "Finding the Best Path Forward to Protect the Open Internet", in response to last week'suproar regarding net neutrality. Wheeler addresses many of the concerns about the proposed rules, as well as lack of competition between broadband providers and interconnect deals between streaming services like Netflix and ISPs. Wheeler claims "all options" are on the table -- including reclassifying internet providers so they can be regulated like phone companies. The FCC goes in front of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications on May 20th. / Twitter's earnings report did not please the market. although revenue of $250 million beat expectation, the company's stock fell as much as 11% in after hours trading. Monthly active users climbed to 255 million, up from 241 million the previous quarter. But analysts were looking for 257 million amidst worries of slowing growth. CEO Dick Costolo said on the earnings call he was "really happy" with engagement in Q1. Favorites and retweets were up 26% in the quarter, and Costolo said new users were just as engaged as older users. He also pointed to MoPub, Twitter's mobile ad network, that reaches 1 billion users across iOS and Android devices. / Apple updated its MacBook Air lineup this morning with updated Intel Haswell processors and price cuts of $100 on all models. The 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air models have been bumped up to a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with 4GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256gb of storage, plus Improved battery life. Baseline 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air are priced at $899 and $999..high end base configurations sit at $1,099 and $1,199. All models are available today in retail locations and on Apple’s online store with expected shipping availability within 24 hours. But hey who needs laptops when you have an iWatch! Which we do not, but it's in production, according to sources speaking with the China Times. The wearable is said to take advantage of a manufacturing process called System-in-Package - like a System-on-Chip processor, except for the whole device. The so-called iWatch could ship about 2.5-3 million units in the second quarter of 2014, according to supply chain sources, and ship up to 15 million units by the end of Q3 2014. / We're on a wearables roll now...at a press conference in new york, Acer showed off the Liquid Leap, a 17mm-thick smartband that's both a fitness tracker and a smartwatch, that offers text and call notifications. The band may also be bundled with the upcoming Liquid Jade smartphone, and should gete around 5 days of use from the band's battery. Acer expects units to ship in late July/August. / A new wearable ring called Nod is available for pre-order starting today, and bills itself as a Bluetooth gesture controller for everything. It supports Mac and Windows desktops, iOS and Android devices, Nest Thermostats, Hue lighting systems, even Google Glass. If your device doesn't have Bluetooth, Nod will connect to your smartphone and then connect to that Bluetooth-less device via Wi-Fi. Nod's flat underside has a capacitive touch panel and small buttons. Program specific functions for these controls, then use them with third-party apps. Nod acts like a cursor and respond to your gestures, movements, and physical commands. Sound like your kind of ring? That'll be $149, please. The Nod should ship this fall. Amazon hasn't launched it's own wearable device yet, but it did just launch a web storefront dedicated to smartwatches, activity cameras, wearable cameras, and other wearable technology. The store includes products Samsung, GoPro, Jawbone, and smaller emerging brands including Misfit and Narrative. No Google Glass though. / The Information is reporting that Google does have a so-called “Silver” program in the works, reported originally in early April by Android Police. Silver is about gaining more control over the Android ecosystem, and building a Nexus-style program with the potential to reach a wider number of the buying public through incentive-driven partnerships with carriers and OEMs.The Information reports that incentives include indirect payments, with up to $1 billion in spending on promoting Silver devices through ad campaigns and through in-store displays and kiosks with employees trained by Google. Silver devices will also get more timely Android updates, like Nexus hardware. Coming up, MIT students want to hand out Bitcoins to all undergrads... but first [Segment #2] I am joined by Eric Mack, Contributor CNET, Forbes, and GizMag your article on CNET ""Get a drone's-eye-view of Arkansas tornado aftermath"" highlighting footage shot from a drone just minutes after a tornado touched down in Mayflower, Arkansas. A cameraman and storm-chaser shot it, we can see emergency vehicles, rescues look still underway with rescue workers, flashlights, and debris. Now the FAA is investigating and it raises questions about the first amendment. The rules on drones are sketchy at best and still being worked out. You've covered other stories on drones as well. The FAA could chose to fine these photographers up to $10,000. Of course this would open up more legal battles. What do you think will happen? This also goes beyond journalism into commerce. Amazon has talked about using delivery drones, Google wants to use them for WiFi, the list goes on. Where are we in all of this? /Thanks Eric, where can people catch up with you online? [Kicker!] Finally, two MIT students, Jeremy Rubin and Dan Elitzer, have successfully raised more than half a million dollars in order to give all 4,528 undergraduate students on campus $100 worth of Bitcoin. The two say the intention is to establish a genuine ecosystem for digital currencies at the university. The cash has been raised from around 25 donors, according to MIT publication ‘The Tech’, although half of that figure will reportedly come from Alexander Morcos, co-founder of Hudson River Trading. The aim of the project is to study how Bitcoins are used by students, and there will be no limitations on what students can do with them. [good bye] That's it for this edition of Tech News 2Night. Subscribe to this show at Twit.tv/tn2, and write us at tn2@twit.tv Don't miss our morning news program, Tech News Today, tomorrow and every weekday at 10am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. I'm Sarah Lane, thanks for watching. [Close, Cache Fly BB, Credits] [Bandwidth Billboard]