Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been a bumpy road for net neutrality in the US, and the latest word on the subject, of a partnership between Verizon and Google, could result in American internet freedom taking one step forward and two steps back. Last year, the two companies said together that they were all for net neutrality regardless of the source being a traditional or wireless ISP. Now, according to Bloomberg, they may have changed their tune somewhat, striking a deal that, up front, prevents Verizon from gimping traffic it doesn’t like on its DSL and FiOS networks.

That sounds good, but according to Politico the deal still allows Verizon to “prioritize certain traffic” — more or less defeating the whole purpose if true. More troublingly, Verizon is able to do whatever it wants when it comes to managing wireless broadband, through mobile hotspots or, indeed, the plethora of Android handsets it now offers. Mind you, neither company is coming forward to discuss these supposed plans (Google saying it has “nothing to announce at this point”) so this could all be much ado about nothing. We certainly hope it is, especially since we’re talking about two companies who last year pledged they wanted to “ensure the openness of the web around the world.”

Update: Phew… we think. Google’s Public Policy Twitter account just belted out a denial of these claims, straight-up saying that the New York Times “is wrong.” Here’s the full tweet, which certainly makes us feel a bit more at ease. For now. “@NYTimes is wrong. We’ve not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet.”

Update 2: Verizon’s now also issued a statement and, like Google, it’s denying the claims in the original New York Times report. It’s as follows:

“The New York Times article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect.”

Google and Verizon sign net neutrality agreement, begin the end of net neutrality? (update: Google, Verizon deny claims) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so maybe we’re only half-kidding about the prospective of having home health robots that can barely multitask, but we’re hoping that Intel and GE at least have the heart to equip any domicile servants with a Core i3 or stronger. If you haven’t heard, the two aforesaid companies have joined hands this week to create a 50/50 joint venture, one that’ll result in the creation of a new healthcare company “focused on telehealth and independent living.” Financial terms aren’t being disclosed, but the goal is pretty simple: “to use technology to bring more effective healthcare into millions of homes and to improve the lives of seniors and people with chronic conditions.” It’s a bit unclear at this point what all the duo will be creating, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see medical tablets, Core i7 980X-based “medical monitoring PCs” and Moorestown-powered “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” neck pieces surface in the near future.

Continue reading Intel and GE form healthcare joint venture, sluggish Atom-powered home servants on the way

Intel and GE form healthcare joint venture, sluggish Atom-powered home servants on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The more the merrier, right? Cutesy sayings aside, the world is gearing up to say “hello” to yet another player in the NAND flash memory market, as Japan’s own Elpida Memory (which currently specializes in DRAM) will be joining the fray in the coming months. Said outfit stated this week that it has entered into an alliance with Spansion (the former flash memory joint venture between Fujitsu and AMD), with Spansion licensing its NAND flash intellectual property to Elpida as part of the deal. If all goes to plan, Elpida will begin producing flash chips at its western Japan plant “as early as next year,” with some of the output being funneled directly to Spansion. ‘Course, with the explosion in smartphone popularity, it’s not shocking to see a DRAM stalwart looking for ways to dip its toes in that high-demand NAND stuff, and as consumers, you certainly won’t find us kvetching about the competition.

Continue reading Elpida and Spansion move from ‘it’s complicated’ to ‘engaged,’ look to conquer NAND universe

Elpida and Spansion move from ‘it’s complicated’ to ‘engaged,’ look to conquer NAND universe originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve talked about the desktop. Think mobile. Think about your phone. HP just acquired Palm. Think about how many legs something like this has. Feel free to speculate.

Of course, there isn’t much more than speculation about those possible mobile applications at the moment, with the official press release on the partnership (after the break) only confirming that one of the first uses of Vidyo’s technology will be an “executive desktop solution” running on an HP TouchSmart PC. Still, as the man says, feel free to speculate.

Continue reading HP partners with video conferencing firm Vidyo, drops hints at mobile applications

HP partners with video conferencing firm Vidyo, drops hints at mobile applications originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla’s still got a ways to go before it overtakes those conventional automakers, but darn if it’s not on the right track now. The company today announced a deal with Toyota — yeah, Toyota — in order to collaborate on the “development of electric vehicles, parts, and production system and engineering support.” Reportedly, the tandem will form a specialist team to further these efforts, with Toyota agreeing to purchase $50 million of Tesla‘s common stock issued in a private placement. In the short term, Tesla is purchasing the former NUMMI factory in Fremont, California in order to build the Model S sedan and other “future Tesla vehicles,” which should employ around 1,000 workers now to produce around 20,000 cars per year. For those unaware, the NUMMI facility was recently vacated, leaving 4,500 Toyota employees holding pink slips and ginormous frowns; Tesla CEO Elon Musk did confirm, however, that some of those have already been rehired. The good news here is that consumers should see lower prices due to Tesla having access to Toyota’s streamlined supply chain (not to mention those hugely leveraged bulk buy deals), but the bad news is that citizens of Downey, California — a town that was purportedly ready to sign a similar deal with Tesla “tomorrow” — now have to deal with an erupted bubble. You win some, you lose some, as they say.

Tesla lands sudden deal with Toyota, will build Model S sedan in Fremont NUMMI plant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 21:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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