The World Wide Web Consortium-backed Do Not Track talks moved toward the first deadline for closing out definitions -- “tracking” and “party” -- since creating a new timeline last week, according to interviews with participants and a public email forum. The new tracking preference expression-focused path forward has caused in-group tension, prompting the chairs to clarify their new strategy. But in the group’s weekly Wednesday call, dissention remained over the group’s new direction -- even over the decision to first close out a definition for “tracking,” which is supposed to be wrapped up by Nov. 20, said co-chairman Justin Brookman, director of Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Consumer Privacy.
The World Wide Web Consortium-backed Do Not Track talks moved toward the first deadline for closing out definitions -- “tracking” and “party” -- since creating a new timeline last week, according to interviews with participants and a public email forum. The new tracking preference expression-focused path forward has caused in-group tension, prompting the chairs to clarify their new strategy. But in the group’s weekly Wednesday call, dissention remained over the group’s new direction -- even over the decision to first close out a definition for “tracking,” which is supposed to be wrapped up by Nov. 20, said co-chairman Justin Brookman, director of Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Consumer Privacy.
Bang & Olufsen on Tuesday officially launched the BeoLab 17 compact speakers ($3,990 a pair) with Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) capability it previewed at CEDIA Expo last month, along with the BeoLab 19 geometric subwoofer ($3,395) and flagship BeoLab 18 speakers ($6,590). BeoLab 18, designed after the company’s iconic BeoLab 8000 speaker that debuted in 1992, adds a slatted wood grill option ($1,390) that brings a mixed-material strategy to the line combining aluminum and wood, said CEO Tue Mantoni. The speakers, sub-branded Immaculate Wireless Sound, will ship at the end of November, Mantoni said.
The federal government shutdown slowed the regulatory review of two major wireless transactions -- Verizon’s bid to buy Vodafone’s 45 percent of Verizon Wireless for $130 billion and AT&T’s $1.2 billion bid for Leap Wireless -- but in the end likely won’t prove a major hurdle, industry officials said this week. Verizon/Vodafone is the biggest telecom deal in U.S. history.
The Senate advanced FCC Republican nominee Michael O'Rielly out of the Commerce Committee Wednesday evening. But a block prevented the Senate from approving O'Rielly and FCC chairman nominee Tom Wheeler by unanimous consent, as some observers predicted possible. After 16 days of a government shutdown, the Senate has now taken a recess for the next week. Congress has begun rescheduling postponed events, and surveillance review remains a key priority in coming weeks, privacy advocates told us.
The Senate advanced FCC Republican nominee Michael O'Rielly out of the Commerce Committee Wednesday evening. But a block prevented the Senate from approving O'Rielly and FCC chairman nominee Tom Wheeler by unanimous consent, as some observers predicted possible. After 16 days of a government shutdown, the Senate has now taken a recess for the next week. Congress has begun rescheduling postponed events, and surveillance review remains a key priority in coming weeks, privacy advocates told us.
Sonos has quietly begun installing store within a store sections as part of a plan to have 20 locations throughout North America, Consumer Electronics Daily has learned. Several are already in place, including at an Abt’s Chicago-area location and a P.C. Richard & Son store in New York, a Sonos spokesman told us. Sonos is eying 20 stores nationwide to offer a way for “critical custom installation and specialty channels to have more presence with Sonos” and to showcase home theater and music solutions, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Sonos filled in the entry level of its amplified speaker lineup Monday with the $199 Play:1, a round, compact solution for “nooks and crannies where you want a bit of music,” the spokesman said. Sonos is under siege from a host of audio companies looking to grab a slice of a pie that Sonos has owned to date. In the past month, Bose, Samsung and Phorus have launched multi-room streaming audio products, and Lenbrook is on deck to unveil its Bluesound multi-room audio products Thursday. The timing is purely coincidental, the Sonos spokesman said. Play:1 has been in the works for two years and is the “smallest, most aggressive form factor possible” while maintaining the company’s sound quality standards, he said. “It just happens to be launching at a time when all the others are coming in,” he said, “and it validates what we've been doing all along.” The future is “wireless and streaming,” he said. Although the Play:1 resembles Bluetooth speakers on the market, it doesn’t need Bluetooth due to a software upgrade Sonos added in December that enables users to stream music from an iOS device or Android tablet to one Sonos speaker “or a whole house of speakers,” he said. New software features that launched with the Play:1 and Sonos 4.2 include the ability to use a speaker’s Mute button for play, pause or skip functions without the need to use a smartphone or tablet, according to the website, and social networking song tagging. Also with the new release, a Connect:Amp and Sonos speakers can be configured for use as left and right rear speakers in a Sonos surround-sound setup. The feature was designed for custom installers, Sonos said.
Ongoing FTC litigation might be delayed or dismissed and industries could be permanently altered if the government shutdown drags on beyond a month, said lawyers, advocates and a former FTC chief of staff in interviews this week. The unavailability of the agency’s website (WID Oct 2 p1) has already caused a commotion in the app developer community, said an industry representative. The shutdown has thus far caused difficulty for COPPA compliance and a judge has also denied an FTC stay request for an ongoing marketing fraud case.
Ongoing FTC litigation might be delayed or dismissed and industries could be permanently altered if the government shutdown drags on beyond a month, said lawyers, advocates and a former FTC chief of staff in interviews this week. The unavailability of the agency’s website (CD Oct 2 p8) has already caused a commotion in the app developer community, said an industry representative.
As World Trade Organization talks lurch forward in the lead-up to the WTO Bali ministerial summit in December, participant nations may deliver an Information Technology Agreement expansion deal that will eliminate ITA tariffs on a host of new information technology products, said industry officials. The Chinese aim to table a new product list that would fall under the agreement during the next ITA negotiation round in Geneva, the week of Oct. 21, said speakers at a National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) event Tuesday and an Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) official in a blog post that day. The agreement hasn’t expanded since its inception in 1996 despite many IT industry developments.