FCC could require phone companies to authenticate calls

Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed new rules that would require phone companies to adopt the STIR/SHAKEN protocol, an increasingly popular method for caller ID authentication. The rules are meant to combat robocalls, specifically those that spoof...

Twitter will fund development of an open social media standard

Twitter is funding a team to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media. CEO Jack Dorsey announced the effort, called Bluesky, today. In a series of tweets, Dorsey said Twitter will fund a "small independent team" of up to five open...

BYU researchers extend WiFi range by 200 feet with a software upgrade

As we fill our homes with connected devices, we'll need WiFi to reach around every corner. One solution is hardware like Amazon's Eero routers and Google's Nest WiFi, physical devices that give your primary WiFi signal a boost. But researchers think...

Phone companies and state attorneys general join forces to fight robocalls

US consumers receive as many as 350,000 unwanted calls every three minutes, according to the FCC. Despite multiple efforts to end the onslaught, an estimated 4.7 billion robocalls hit American phones in July alone. Now, attorneys general from all 50...

USB-C could soon offer protection against nefarious devices

USB chargers and devices are universally accessible and easy to use, but they come with a host of potential security risks, namely the spread of malware from infected devices, and data leakage should a device fall into the wrong hands. Now, the USB I...

Technicolor’s Qeo software aims to let connected devices speak the same lingo

DNP Technicolor's Qeo software aims to let connected devices speak the same lingo

The idea of the "internet of things" is fine and well, but when was the last time your smartphone had a chat with the fridge? Technicolor is aiming to solve those communication breakdowns with Qeo, a software system to bridge connected devices of all types and brands. While you may be thinking, "Technicolor? That company at the end of the movie credits?" it turns out that the post-production outfit also does items like set-top boxes and DSLR routers through its acquisition of Thomson. Qeo will allow those types of devices, along with smartphones, computers, tablets and even "dumb" systems like intercoms or appliances to all communicate, regardless of the OS or protocol used by each. That'll create scenarios where your doorbell can notify your smartphone that someone's waiting to be let in, or allow you to switch a video call from your Android tablet to a Qeo-enabled TV screen, according to Technicolor -- providing the right manufacturers, software developers or network operators are using the protocol, of course. Fortunately, the company claims that it's already signed up a bevy of companies in all those categories, meaning a device-agnostic connected home may be soon within your grasp. Check the PR after the break to see all the details in glorious, er, Technicolor.

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WiFi alliance begins Tunneled Direct Link Setup certification, hopes to improve media streaming

WiFi alliance begins Tunneled Direct Link Setup certification, hopes to improve media streaming

You can thank the WiFi alliance for a number of things, and soon you can add TDLS to that list. That's Tunneled Direct Link Setup, if you were wondering, and it's a standard for creating direct links between devices. If this sounds familiar, that's understandable, but TDLS has its own tricks, like working in the background of a network to optimize performance, and it can even work over a WiFi Direct connection. For example two compliant devices can measure the signal strength on the network, and determine if a direct link would be better or not. TDLS also allows devices to communicate at the fastest standard available (802.11b / g / n etc.) even if this is superior to that available on the rest of your hardware. As this is a client-based protocol, you won't need to upgrade your access point either. If this hasn't got implications for better media streaming written all over it, we don't know what has. Especially as the certification is available to TVs, tablets, phones, cameras and gaming devices. There's only a handful of test products sporting the official approval at this time, but with names such as Broadcom, Marvell and Realtek in the mix, it shouldn't be long before it starts finding its way into front rooms and pockets proper.

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WiFi alliance begins Tunneled Direct Link Setup certification, hopes to improve media streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTTP standards group looks to SPDY protocol to influence HTTP/2.0

Google's SPDY protocol is already gaining traction among web browsing heavyweights such as Chrome and Firefox, but its next step may be its biggest showing to date -- albeit in a different form. According to Mark Nottingham, the chairperson of the committee behind the HTTP protocol, a decision was made to focus on SPDY as the starting point for HTTP/2.0 discussion. Now, in case you couldn't tell, this is far from a sure thing, and as is, the HTTPBIS Working Group is currently targeting 2014 for the new specification's release. The decision is important, however, as the group seems intent to not reinvent the wheel with HTTP/2.0.

While Nottingham made it clear that SPDY wouldn't serve as an outright replacement for HTTP -- for example, the "methods, status codes, and most of the headers" will remain the same -- there's now a high likelihood that SPDY will heavily influence the new protocol. Up next, Nottingham will open the discussion to the group's mailing list, and after that, approval will be sought from the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Once those steps are out of the way, however, we can expect work to begin in earnest toward the development of HTTP/2.0, and hopefully, a lot of speedy influences.

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HTTP standards group looks to SPDY protocol to influence HTTP/2.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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24 wireless operators agree on data roaming alert mechanisms, do nothing about actual roaming rates

24 global wireless operators agree on data roaming alert mechanisms, do nothing about actual roaming rates

GSMA, also known as the entity that produces Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo each year, seems to be onto something. And by "something," we mean "getting 24 carriers around the globe to agree on a single point." That's no easy feat, mind you, and the latest release from Shanghai asserts that 24 operator groups have agreed to implement new measures in order to better inform jetsetters about data roaming rates when they land. America Movil, AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom-Orange, Hutchison 3 Group, SoftBank Mobile Corp., Verizon Communications, VimpelCom and Vodafone Group (among others) are all onboard, with the following measures to go into effect by the end of 2012. For one, texts will be sent to remind customers of their data roaming tariffs when they arrive in another country, and there will also be a monthly data roaming spending limit paired with the ability to "temporarily suspend" one's data when usage exceeds said threshold. Of course, alerting users to how they're about to be hosed only seems like part of the issue. Till that's addressed, we'll keep carrying an Xcom Global MiFi or hunting for a local SIM upon arrival.

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24 wireless operators agree on data roaming alert mechanisms, do nothing about actual roaming rates originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor

Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor

If there's anything that Google doesn't like, it's things that collect dust. The company is famous for its annual spring cleaning efforts, in which the firm rids itself of redundant and dead-end projects, along with more bullish moves, such as its push to overhaul the internet's DNS system. Now it's looking to replace HTTP with a new protocol known as SPDY, and to that end, it's demonstrating the potential speed gains that one might expect on a mobile network. According to the company's benchmarks, mean page load times on the Galaxy Nexus are 23 percent faster with the new system, and it hypothesizes that further optimizations can be made for 3G and 4G networks. To its credit, Google has already implemented SPDY in Chrome, and the same is true for Firefox and Amazon Silk. Even Microsoft appears to be on-board. As a means to transition, the company proposes an Apache 2.2 module known as mod_spdy, which allows web servers to take advantage of features such as stream multiplexing and header compression. As for HTTP, it's no doubt been a reliable companion, but it seems that it'll need to work a bit harder to earn its keep. Stay weird, Google, the internet wouldn't be the same without you.

Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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