With the announcement of Google TV, we have yet another box to connect in the living room though it seems a bit half baked at the moment. Many have tried their hand at convergence of TV and Internet such as Microsoft with their media center PC or other various Linux based devices such as Boxee or Roku. Even the mighty Apple has had a difficult time carving out anything more than a niche in the TV market.

Two video codec experts have examined Google’s VP8 video compression codec and they don’t bode well for the new codec. VP8 is supposed to be at the heart of the new WebM open media project for squeezing video down to a much smaller size while minimizing the noticeable loss of quality.

Marguerite Reardon of CNET has this nice little interview with CTIA CEO Steve Largent and head of regulatory affairs Chris Guttman-McCabe. Reardon asked some important questions on wireless policies, Title II reclassification, and Net Neutrality.

The Open Internet Coalition (OIC) which has been lobbying hard for reclassification seems to have gotten their wish from the FCC chairman, but neither has offered a good explanation of what such a legally risky maneuver can actually accomplish even if it is successful. When asked about the parts of the Internet that would be regulated under Title II, the Open Internet Coalition dodged the question.

It was reported last month that Google was mapping MAC addresses (uniquely identifiable hardware ID) over Wi-Fi.  Google has now revealed that they were collecting web surfing traffic as well.  Google initially denied collecting this data but an audit from the German Data Protection Authority (DPA) forced Google to reexamine their own practices which lead [...]

When it comes to exploiting fabricated conspiracy theories to smear their enemies, the extreme Net Neutrality advocacy groups seems to have mastered every trick over the last 4 years.  From knowingly and falsely smearing phone companies of blocking earth quake relief efforts this year to wrongly accusing Cox Communications of blocking Craig’s List, they’re at [...]

FCC Commissioner Clyburn has accused AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon of misleading statements suggesting that the DC Circuit Comcast ruling stripped the FCC of its Title I ancillary authority. The only problem is that it was Free Press and the Open Internet Coalition that made those misleading claims.

Nate Anderson has a good summary on a new FCC report on the subsidies needed to bring broadband to underserved and unserved areas.  The FCC estimates that bringing a combination of 4 Mbps DSL (using 12,000 foot loop lengths) and 4G wireless to rural America would cost roughly 23.5 billion dollars in subsidies.  Going directly [...]

If we listened to all the stories of how far behind U.S. mobile Internet service is, this Engadget review of iPad service plans would come as a complete shock to us since Americans have a relatively good deal.  Customers in Japan who opt for a long-term contract have to pay ¥2,910/month ($31.2/month based on 5/11/2010 [...]

The Wi-Fi Alliance and Wireless Gigabit Alliance have agreed to cooperate in the “WiGig” standard which will allow short range wireless networking speeds of 6 Gbps using the unlicensed 60 GHz millimeter wave.  The range will be limited to ~30 feet and most likely within the same room since the propagation characteristics of 60 GHz [...]