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Automotive startup Rivian unveils an electric truck and SUV
Electrified SUVs are popping up everywhere. So it's no surprise that automotive startup Rivian has unveiled one of its own, the R1S. More exciting is the company's electron-powered pickup truck, the R1T.
T-Mobile will launch a TV service in 2018
You'd think that telecoms would want to bail on conventional TV services given how many people are cutting the cord, but don't tell that to T-Mobile. The carrier has revealed that it's launching a TV service in 2018, and that it has acquired Layer3 TV (a company that integrates TV, streaming and social networking) to make this happen. It claims that it can "uncarrier" TV the way it did with wireless service, and has already targeted a few areas it thinks it can fix: it doesn't like the years-long contracts, bloated bundles, outdated tech and poor customer service that are staples of TV service in the US.
Comcast's nationwide outage was caused by a configuration error
Yesterday, folks across the country reported that Comcast internet was down -- an unusually large outage that lasted around 90 minutes. It turns out that the problem was caused by Level 3, an enterprise ISP that provides the backbone for other internet providers like Verizon, Comcast and RCN. "Our network experienced a service disruption affecting some of our customers," the firm said in a statement. "The disruption was caused by a configuration error."
You can’t buy a self-driving BMW until 2021 (and that’s a good thing)
At this point, if you're an automaker and you're not talking about autonomous cars, you might want to take a long, hard look at your product road map. During a briefing at its Mountain View research campus, BMW talked about how it plans to bring a Level 3 (autonomous driving in very specific circumstances where the driver should be ready to take over control) car to consumers in 2021 and deliver Level 4 and 5 ride-hail vehicles to urban pilot programs the same year. Right now, a lot of that strategy hinges on its partners while the automaker maintains the BMW brand.
Audi's flagship A8 has an overwhelming amount of tech
The 2019 Audi A8 is one of the most, if not the most technically advanced cars in the world, so when the company offered a test drive, how could we resist? While we didn't get to see the vaunted Level 3 self-driving, there were still a lot of cutting-edge features on display. If anything, the sheer quantity of technology was a little disconcerting when we drove the A8 through the hills of Valencia, Spain.
Audi takes its self-driving car where others dare not go
The self-driving future has a ratings scale. The classifications begin at zero, where you're constantly in charge of all the car's acceleration, steering and braking. Basically a car without cruise control. It ends with Level 5, where the car that doesn't even need a steering wheel or a driver. Currently, if drivers want semi-autonomous features they're getting a Level 2 experience. Like Tesla's Autopilot or Cadillac's Super Cruise, the car can drive itself in specific situations (usually on the highway) but require the human behind the wheel to pay attention and take over at a moment's notice.
Audi introduces its semi-autonomous A8
After a sneak peak of the vehicle parking itself and appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Audi A8 luxury sedan is finally being shown off in all its high-tech glory. With level-3 autonomy, active electronic suspension, a mild hybrid engine and brand new infotainment system, it's the future of the German automaker's vehicles.
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Robocall 'strike force' sets out to end unwanted calls
The Federal Communications Commission is just as fed up with robocalls as you are. After opening the door for telecoms to offer robocall blocking services last year, and urging those companies to make them available for free last month, members of the FCC convened a meeting of the Robocall Strike Force this morning to figure out what should happen next. (And yes, that's really what it's called.)
Fiber cut knocks out internet for some in the northeast
If your internet is or was out this evening and you live in the northeastern part of the US, you are not alone. Customers in New York City, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other nearby areas are seeing outages, which can apparently be traced back to what Time Warner Cable has said are "multiple fiber cuts" at a network provider. Customers from Comcast and Cox have also reported problems, and the network provider in question, Level 3, says it is working on restoring service. In a statement, the company attributed the outage to third-party construction and said technicians are onsite. Time Warner Cable just updated us that repairs are "well under way" and it has restored service for customers in NYC, which matches what we're seeing on outage tracking websites like DownDetector. Update: As of 8:30AM, Level 3 reported service was restored, although most users were back online well before that. Additionally, Comcast contacted Engadget to say that it did not see any effects as a result of this fiber cut.
Feds hunt for suspects in California internet backbone attack
A string of attacks in California on one of the core portions of the internet has the FBI searching for suspects. The latest disruption occurred yesterday morning when three fiber-optic cables were cut in Alameda county in the Bay Area. The interruption affected internet access for individuals and businesses throughout Northern California and was fixed early Wednesday morning. This is the 11th time in the past year that an individual or group of individuals have vandalized fiber optic cables in the Bay Area. The first such attack occurred on July 6, 2014 in Berkeley. FBI special agent Greg Wuthrich told Engadget, "The FBI is coordinating with local law enforcement partners as these cuts are happening in multiple cities and jurisdictions."
An 'internet middleman' calls out six ISPs for letting connections slow down
This week's update on the battle between Netflix, internet service providers (ISPs) and the companies that often carry internet traffic between them comes from the third group. Level 3 VP Mark Taylor's "Observations of an Internet Middleman" shows what it looks like from his end of the network cable while being squeezed out by ISPs seeking the direct connection deals Netflix has signed with Comcast and Verizon. Without naming the ISPs in question -- Level 3 waged a war with Comcast over Netflix traffic in 2010 before cutting a direct connection deal of its own last year -- he points out that among the company's many connected network peers, only a dozen are suffering congestion. While half of those are in the process of being upgraded, the other six are regularly overloaded, dropping packets and delaying traffic.
Turkish ISPs make getting to YouTube a little easier, but haven't unblocked it yet
Even after the unbanning of Twitter and a court ruling in Google's favor, YouTube is still blocked in Turkey. Accessing the video streaming site did get a little easier today however, as the Wall Street Journal has confirmed residents can once again use DNS servers from Google, Level3 and OpenDNS that will route them around the block. More easily implemented than using a VPN, it finally reopens access via those servers after they were blocked ten days ago. There's no public statement available from the ISPs or the Turkish government, but hopefully unrestricted access to the best YouTube has to offer is coming soon.
The Gathering 2012 to bring world's fastest internet to Norway, leave Swedish laundry out to dry
Dreamhack's record breaking 120Gbps connection was fast enough to replace a certain household appliance, but next to what's Norway's cooking up it looks almost antiquated. The Gathering, Norway's annual week-long LAN party, plans to set a new world record for the "fastest internet access in the universe" with a 200Gbps connection. "No way we would let the Swedes keep the lead on this," says Gathering head of information Simon Eriksen Valvik, "we didn't just raise the bar a little, we moved it a story up." The connection is reportedly faster than the combined bandwidth of Thailand, and will be capable of downloading 5,120 songs a second. Don't bee too envious though, the ludicrously quick network is only temporary. Representatives from Altibox, the Norwegian network that's partnering with The Gathering to break the record, say that Norway simply doesn't have the capacity to support these kinds of speeds on a day to day basis. The gap is being filled with foreign internet capacity, piped in by Level 3. Tickets for the event are already sold out, so speed freaks desperate for the fastest internet in the universe will just have to settle for the fastest internet in the neighborhood. At least until next year.
Netflix passes 20 million subscribers; focuses on ISP disputes, HBO, Facebook in Q4 results
Netflix just released its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2010 and of no surprise to anyone who was paying attention last year it did quite well by passing 20 million subscribers, more than double its base at the start of 2009. However, per Biggie's Law mo money = mo problems, and it took the opportunity to respond, surprisingly sharply, to potential threats from its Hollywood content providers and the ISPs its Watch Instantly service streams over. News of note going into 2011? A huge focus on personalization including new integration with Facebook and a mention that Apple TV has already surpassed the iPad in viewing hours. It also showed off the one-click Netflix button on an unspecified (looks like Toshiba to us) remote and compared the "consternation" over its success to the rise of Fox as a broadcast network two decades ago. We'll hop on the earnings call in a few minutes for more details, check after the break for more of the details.
Google buys gigantic former NYC Port Authority building, takes a chunk out of Chelsea
Growing companies need growing workspaces, and Google just bought one of the biggest possible in NYC. It's the former Port Authority Building at 111 Eighth Avenue, a massive brick establishment that, according to Wired Epicenter, set the company back an equally massive $1.9 billion. There's a helipad on top, perfect for quick getaways in the company's ROFLcopter, but more importantly a major fiber line runs through the building, giving the Googs priority access to bits flowing through the city. Google already has a presence within those crimson walls, which also houses offices of communications companies like Verizon and Level 3, companies who might just need to be finding new spaces when their current leases expire, because Google is "hiring across the board," apparently hoping to fill that thing to the brim.
FCC looking into Comcast / Netflix blocking threat, Level 3 responds as analysts chime in
News that Comcast had threatened to block internet backbone Level 3, which is one of the companies delivering Watch Instantly streams, sent shockwaves through the industry yesterday. Net neutrality advocates geared up for battle, Comcast insisted it was only enforcing the same arrangements other networks abide by while Roger Ebert and the rest of us fretted over Netflix access. Today, Level 3 issued a response to Comcast, claiming it is "distracting from the fundamental issue" which is free use of all content on the internet for its customers. Meanwhile, Multichannel News points out industry analysts say Level 3's claims of traffic discrimination "appear unfounded" while VideoNuze editor Will Richmond supposes Level 3 may have "bid too aggressively for the Netflix business and is now trying to recover." Most damaging to Level 3's argument are its own words from a dispute where it sought financial compensation from Cogent for using too much of its network's bandwidth: "For example, Cogent was sending far more traffic to the Level 3 network than Level 3 was sending to Cogent's network. It is important to keep in mind that traffic received by Level 3 in a peering relationship must be moved across Level 3's network at considerable expense. Simply put, this means that, without paying, Cogent was using far more of Level 3's network, far more of the time, than the reverse. Following our review, we decided that it was unfair for us to be subsidizing Cogent's business." Beyond analyst opinions and posturing the question of whether or not Comcast has the power to set pricing for access to its network, creating the toll road Level 3 is accusing it of being, is still at issue. That will certainly come into play at the FCC, where chairman Julius Genachowski mentioned at today's meeting that the agency is looking into Level 3's claims at the same time it continues to review the joining of Comcast and NBC. As far as your Netflix streams? Safe for now, though the company isn't commenting, Level 3 isn't the only provider it relies on for access and how any deal it might reach with Comcast could affect the service is still unclear. Update: Comcast has issued its own salvo of PR, including a video meant to breakdown exactly what internet peering is and what it wants to charge Level 3 for, 10 of its own facts about what it is, and is not doing, and a copy of the letter it's sent to the FCC about the issue. You can them all out in full after the break.
Comcast, Level 3 Communications square off over video streaming, network neutrality principles
According to networking company Level 3 Communications, Comcast just couldn't wait for its NBC deal to go through before getting all jerky with the access to online video, telling Level 3 on November 19th that it would need to pay a fee to deliver video to Comcast customers. Level 3 delivers videos from many companies over its networks, but the timing is particularly notable since on November 11th it signed up bandwidth-chewing Netflix as a major customer. While this sounds like exactly the kind of anti-net neutrality nonsense that makes us want to crank some OK Go, Comcast has responded saying it's doing no such thing, and it's actually Level 3 seeking a competitive advantage by suddenly sending far more information onto Comcast's network than it accepts. The cable company goes on to claim this situation is no different than its existing deals with Level 3's competitors, and that as long as traffic remains in balance it is willing to allow access settlement free, but if they want to push their growth (read: Netflix) onto Comcast's pipes, they'll have to pay up. We'll wait and see if this is all just a simple negotiating ploy or a true strike in the battle over net neutrality, but you may still want to get a refresher course on exactly what net neutrality is all about from our friend Tim Wu just in case.
Google, Verizon, Comcast, and more band together to form tech (and policy) advisory group
BITAG doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, as far as spoken acronyms go, but the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (also goes by TAG, for short) is looking to make (radio) waves. Facilitated by former FCC Chief Technologist (and University of Colorado at Boulder Adjunct Professor) Dale Hatfield, the group aims to "develop consensus on broadband network management practices and other related technical issues that can affect users' experience," which largely leads to addressing technical issues and making suggestions to policymakers. The group runs the gamut of major players in the broadband industry, including AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, DISH, EchoStar, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon. Naturally, the aforementioned companies already on board are lauding the move, and for its part the NCTA is happy to see a forum for tech and engineering experts to openly discuss issues and policies. Providing the counterargument would be the folks at DSL Reports, who show reserve that this may end up being nothing more than "policy dog and pony show" to avoid stricter government regulations on network neutrality. At this point that remains to be seen, as this organization doesn't seem to have even hit infancy yet. Expect more in the coming weeks as it continues to form and attempts to organize. We submit for your perusal the press release, just after the break.
Level 3 to deliver uncompressed HD broadcast from Super Bowl XLIV
We're still not sure if this has any noticeable result on picture quality, but Level 3 has announced its going to assist in delivering Super Bowl XLIV's feed uncompressed from the site back to CBS headquarters in New York. Instead of being compressed onsite in a production truck then sent to the studio and stations where it's compressed again, this could help CBS bring a more high quality signal home. If you've been watching Denver Broncos home games, you've seen Level 3's Vyvx broadcast network at work, we'll see how beautiful it keeps things looking in Miami on Sunday.
Level 3 delivering end to end uncompressed video from Broncos home games
Possible more notable than the Broncos 5-0 start (okay, not really, did anyone see this coming after that seemingly terrible offseason?) is the announcement from Level 3 Communications that its home games at Invesco Field are the first to have their video sent back to the broadcaster completely uncompressed. Thanks to its fiber connection laid in preparation for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the company sends a 1.5 Gbps stream directly to the broadcaster's home studio, as an alternative to the usual (and still in place while this new delivery is evaluated) method of compressing at the site on a production truck. VP Mark Taylor claims this allows them to get the absolute highest quality signal possible, but we'll wait until it's installed at more than one professional stadium to proclaim end to end uncompressed video delivery as the way of the future.
