Governments around the world are disguising “techno-nationalist policies” as national security improvements, said a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report released Thursday. The policies artificially give competitive advantage to domestic companies, hurting the global economy, said the Chamber. It urged countries to embrace a globalized information and communications technology (ICT) sector and allow foreign competition. “A highly connected and global ICT sector is the backbone of innovation and has arguably been one the most powerful drivers of global economic welfare over decades,” said Executive Vice President Myron Brilliant in a statement. “Today’s digital economy demands a free flow of data and ideas to make modern commerce and trade possible. From banking to e-commerce to managing a global supply chain, nearly everything requires complex transactions cutting across hardware and software platforms, industries, and jurisdictions.” The report was written in consultation with Covington & Burling and the Rhodium Group, the Chamber said.
ViaSat and Finnair signed a deal for installation of an in-flight connectivity network on the air carrier's Airbus A320 short-haul fleet flying in Europe, with the equipment installation to be done by June 2018, ViaSat said in a news release Thursday. ViaSat said it partnered with Eutelsat to provide Europe-wide coverage of satellite-based broadband. It also said separately that its joint offering with Eutelsat is in customer trial stage with El Al Israel Airlines, with full retail service expected to begin before year's end.
Harman and Baidu announced a global partnership to deliver audio solutions to speech-enabled smart speakers enabled with Baidu’s artificial intelligence technology, at the Baidu World conference Thursday. Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal said Harman is focused on giving consumers “sophisticated functionalities, personalized user interfaces” and “seamless integration from home and work to the car and on the go.” The partnership expands on a 2015 collaboration for CarLife, which offers internet, entertainment and location-based services for the China market using Harman head units. Under the new partnership, consumers will be able to control sound and on-demand streaming services using Baidu’s speech recognition, natural language processing and speech synthesis technologies, said Baidu Chief Scientist Andrew Ng.
Harman is launching hardware even as it emphasizes connectivity at the IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin. “Software is replacing hardware” in the audio space, said Michael Mauser, president-lifestyle audio, who said demand is rapidly increasing for connected audio devices in the home, car and on-the-go. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are “replacing wires,” he said. New user interfaces, Mauser said, are replacing displays and remote controls. Harman announced Google Cast as its wireless multiroom audio solution and Siri and Google Now for voice control of some of its products. Jurjen Amsterdam, Harman senior category manager-home systems, Europe, Middle East and Africa, demo'd a smartphone connecting via Spotify app to the cloud and selecting music to play, and said he then “can switch off the phone, I can kill the app, I can play the game, I can leave the house."
Not all is bad in forecasts from the research firm GfK that 2016 sales in the global consumer electronics sector will decline 5 percent to 814 billion euros (about $908 billion), Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of the supervisory board of CE trade-show IFA organizer gfu, told the opening IFA news conference in Berlin Wednesday. GfK 2016 forecasts, according to Kamp, that wearables of all types will grow 58 percent to 122 million, while smartphones rise 5 percent to 1.4 billion.
French software company Oberthur Technologies launched the Flybuy series of wearables with mobile payment capability, it said in a Tuesday news release: It's a SIM-size contactless card with an antenna that can be inserted into a silicone or leather wristband, key chain or accessories for fitness trackers or watches.
Mozilla is pushing the EU to revamp copyright laws to reflect changes in the internet's development, launching a petition Wednesday asking the EU to use its planned update of its copyright legal framework to “bring copyright law into the 21st century.” The European Commission is to release its copyright law rewrite proposal this fall as part of its larger digital single market policy strategy (see 1606010011). “The current copyright legal framework is outdated,” said Mozilla Chief Innovation Officer Katharina Borchert in a blog post. “It stifles opportunity and prevents, and in many cases legally prohibits, artists, coders and everyone else creating and innovating online.” Borchert focused on the need for the inclusion of an EU-wide fair-use exception in any copyright law revision, saying “in some parts of the EU, making a meme is technically unlawful.” The EU needs to “update and harmonise the rules so we can tinker, create, share and learn on the internet,” Borchert said. “Education, parody, panorama, remix and analysis shouldn't be unlawful.” Some proposals for the EU's copyright law update would threaten innovation, including “licensing fees and restriction on internet companies for basic things like creating hyperlinks or uploading content,” Borchert said. “Others are calling for new laws that would establish gatekeepers and barriers to entry online, and would risk undermining the internet as a platform for economic growth and free expression.”
Federated Wireless joined the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), aimed at finding new approaches to deploying telecom networks in developing countries and the remote parts of developed countries, the company said Tuesday. Federated said it joined Facebook, Intel, Nokia and almost 200 other companies in the initiative. Federated is a provider of spectrum sharing technologies. “TIP is addressing some of the most pressing technology industry needs to rapidly connect the unconnected and underserved populations,” said TIP Executive Director Andrew Kurtzman in a news release. “Federated Wireless will join a dynamic membership that is working towards augmenting the development of powerful new technologies and approaches that will pave the way for better connectivity and richer services.”
British regulator Ofcom estimates 15 million U.K. internet users have embarked on “digital detox” self-help therapy “to strike a healthier balance between technology and life beyond the screen,” said a Thursday report. Ofcom canvassed 2,025 adults on their online habits and found that one in three adult internet users (34 percent), equivalent to 15 million people in the U.K., has “sought a period of time offline,” with one in 10 having done so in the previous week, it said. Of those “digital down-timers,” 25 percent spent up to a day internet-free, while 20 percent took up to a week off and 5 percent went internet-free for up to a whole month, Ofcom said. Respondents had mixed opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of their internet abstinence, it said. A third of those canvassed (33 percent) said they felt “more productive” as a result, and 27 percent found it “more liberating” to stay offline, Ofcom said. But 16 percent said they experienced the “fear of missing out,” 15 percent said they felt “lost,” and 14 percent “cut off,” it said. Ofcom estimates millions of U.K. consumers built their “digital detox” strategies into their vacation plans. Of U.K. adult internet users canvassed, 16 percent reported “purposely” visiting a vacation destination with no internet access, and 9 percent said they intentionally traveled “to a place with neither internet nor mobile phone coverage,” Ofcom said. The internet “has revolutionised our lives for the better,” said the agency. “But our love affair with the web isn’t always plain surfing, and many people admit to feeling hooked. So millions of us are taking a fresh look at the role of technology in our lives, and going on a digital detox to get a better tech-life balance.”
Recent negotiations between the U.S. and EU on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) included telecom and e-commerce language, said the European Commission in a report released Thursday. During the TTIP meetings in Brussels July 11-15, the two sides "covered all provisions put forward by the EU and the US for the E-commerce chapter and many of the provisions of both sides on telecommunications," said the EC. "On telecommunications, the discussion addressed in particular licensing requirements, the role of the regulatory authority and interconnection," it said. "Both sides agreed on a detailed list of follow-up action items in order to achieve further progress at the next Round." Within discussions on information and communications technology, the EU said it's pleased by a "textual proposal on cooperation on market surveillance activities which intends to improve cooperation between enforcement authorities for products subject to radio and electromagnetic compatibility requirements." Among other issues were "e-labelling for electronic products with an integrated screen," encryption and spam.