Weekly Wireless Report WEEK ENDING October 16, 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

THIS WEEK’S STORIES This Week’s Stories Gets Boost From London Court Ruling On Taxi Meters Uber Gets Boost From London October 16, 2015 Court Ruling On Taxi Meters Uber Technologies Inc. got a boost from a London judge who said smartphones used by its drivers AT&T Service Will Let Many aren’t the same as taxi meters and don’t require a license from the city’s transport authority. Devices Share One Phone Number Transport for London asked the judge to rule on the status of technology used by the ride-hailing service. Cab driver associations joined the case to argue that Uber should be subject to rules barring PRODUCTS & SERVICES private cars from using meters.

Skype Takes On Google The regulations don’t cover “a device that relies on GPS signal in the course of a journey and forwards Hangout With Shareable Chat GPS data to a server,” Judge Duncan Ouseley said. Links Uber is fighting legal battles around the world brought by taxi drivers who say the San Francisco-based New Yahoo Mail App company gets to avoid regulations that bind established competitors. London cabbies -- who require Eliminates Passwords, Links years of training to pass a licensing test -- have clogged roads and threatened criminal complaints To Other Inboxes against four Uber drivers.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY “This is great news for Londoners and a victory for common sense,” said Jo Bertram, a U.K. manager at Uber, in an e-mailed statement. “We hope Transport for London will think again on their bureaucratic Dropbox Announces Paper, A proposals for apps like Uber.” Google Docs Competitor The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, which represents the city’s famous black cabs, intends to NBC’s New Streaming appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court, according to a post on its Twitter account. The group called the Comedy Service Targets ruling “unbelievable.”’ Millennials Hailo, a company whose phone application hails black cabs, called for a level-playing field for drivers. MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Red Hat Is Buying IT “London’s rules are there for a reason --- to guarantee world-class standards, and to stop Automation Startup Ansible, discrimination,” its chief executive officer, Andrew Pinnington, said in a statement. Reportedly For Around $100M In September, TFL proposed new rules for taxi services. Under the proposals, drivers of private-hire minicabs face English-language and navigational tests, stricter insurance requirements and limits on Alibaba To Buy Out Chinese bookings. Site In $3.5 Billion Deal bloomberg.com

INDUSTRY REPORTS AT&T Service Will Let Many Devices Share One Phone Q3 Earnings: Number International Expansion Will October 15, 2015 Lead Future Subscriber

Growth Having numerous connected devices is supposed to simplify life, but too often it has the opposite Verizon Completes LTE effect. But AT&T said it has a way to make things easier by enabling someone to use the same Deployments For Rural phone number for all connected devices. The new service, called NumberSync, lets each subscriber America Program assign a primary phone number to wearables and other devices via AT&T’s network.

The new service should enable users to make and receive calls and text messages from all their devices, including tablets and smart watches -- even when they’re not within close range of the users' phones. That means those other devices can take the place of users' phones, for example, when they just want to wear smart watches and not have to carry their phones as well. Also, when users call family, friends, and colleagues, those people will recognize the users' phone numbers no matter what devices the callers are using.

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Great Feature?

We reached out to Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, who “The new service should told us the feature should help AT&T as well as users. enable users to make and "This feature, I think, could be something that accelerates the use of tablets and wearables on AT&T’s receive calls and text network," said Moorhead. "It enables a tablet or wearable to receive texts and calls from their primary messages from all their smartphone versus needing a separate number for the device. I’m really excited by this." devices, including tablets and By going beyond a legacy numbering system to help subscribers make use of the of Things, smart watches -- even when NumberSync could be useful in a variety of circumstances, such as when users forget their phones at they’re not within close range home but are carrying other devices. Also, not having to rely on Bluetooth pairing to make calls will of the users' phones. That likely prove beneficial to many users. means those other devices By having a single user identity Relevant Products/Services for all of a subscriber’s devices, can take the place of users' NumberSync could make essential services such as Short Message Service and cell calls easier to use phones, for example, when and less locked in to the devices making them. As part of an ongoing revamping of its services, AT&T is also expanding voice calls to Wi-Fi. they just want to wear smart watches and not have to Cell Signal Needed carry their phones as well.” A possible downside? NumberSync isn’t completely novel. Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger can perform many of the same functions over any Internet connection without the need for phone numbers. "It does require the smartphone to support VoLTE (Voice-Over LTE, the standard for communicating over 4G LTE networks)," Moorhead noted.

For AT&T, NumberSync will probably be most useful when users out of Wi-Fi range must rely on cellular networks to connect. AT&T doesn’t charge subscribers to connect smart watches or in-car hands-free systems to phones over Bluetooth, but it does charge for connecting an additional device to its own network, even if it’s using the same phone number.

AT&T didn’t give a date for rolling out NumberSync, but the company did say it is working with manufacturers to have the service included in upcoming devices. More NumberSync products should be released near the holiday season, the carrier said.

mobile-tech-today.com

Products & Services New Yahoo Mail App Eliminates Passwords, Links To Other Inboxes October 15, 2015

The new mobile Mail app from Yahoo not only lets users integrate their inboxes with other e-mail “The company is offering an services but also gives them the option of eliminating the use of passwords to sign in. The company is offering an alternative method via Yahoo Account Key, which lets users tap a yes-or-no visual interface alternative method via Yahoo on their smartphones to log in to Mail. Account Key, which lets users Launched in a month that marks Yahoo's 18th birthday, the new Mail app is also designed to be faster, tap a yes-or-no visual more search-savvy and visually appealing. Rather than saddling profile-image-free users with bland interface on their pictures or a generic gray person icon, for instance, the app offers users a choice of "gorgeous" smartphones to log in to images depicting their initials.

Mail.” The new mobile Mail app is available today in iOS or Android via the Apple App Store or . Desktop support for integrated inboxes is also available today for users in the U.S., and will roll out soon for users elsewhere, Yahoo said.

'More Secure than a Traditional Password'

Yahoo's latest move to help users avoid the need for passwords builds on a service it launched in March, which lets users request access via one-time, on-demand passwords sent via SMS to their smartphones.

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"It was the first step toward a password-free future," vice president of product management Dylan Casey said in a blog post today. The new Yahoo Account Key takes another step in that direction, he added.

Users who activate the Yahoo Account Key option will receive a push notification on their smartphones that asks, "Are you trying to sign in?" with the choice of tapping either a "yes" or "no" button. With a tap of "yes," users are immediately taken to their Yahoo Mail inboxes.

Not only does Yahoo Account Key eliminate the need to remember an e-mail password or worry about password security Relevant Products/Services -- it also provides greater security, Casey said.

"It's also more secure than a traditional password because once you activate Account Key -- even if someone gets access to your account info -- they can't sign in," he said, adding that Yahoo also plans to roll out the Account Key option for other mobile apps later this year.

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Yahoo's "fully redesigned" Mail app also features a variety of improvements in design and usability, according to senior vice president of communication products Jeffrey Bonforte. Beyond giving the app a new look, "we've made a significant investment in the technology that powers the app, so it's fast and responsive," he said.

Other look-and-feel changes include contact cards that enable users to tap on any messages in their inboxes to get more details on any information that people have shared with them including names, companies, titles, recent tweets and more. The search function has also been improved to offer suggestions on the most likely contact after a user types in just a few letters of a person's name.

The updated Mail app also adds several new touch controls. Messages can be marked read or unread, for example, by swiping right, or they can be deleted by swiping left. Tapping and holding any one message also puts users into multi-select mode if they want to move or delete a number of messages at once.

Yahoo Mail users who install the new app will also be able to add other e-mail accounts such as Outlook.com, Hotmail and AOL Mail. This allows them to view and even search messages from all of their services at once via the Yahoo Mail interface.

"Mobile use requires a faster and smarter inbox," Bonforte said. "Both of these needs are at the center of our new app."

mobile-tech-today.com

Skype Takes On Google Hangout With Shareable Chat Links October 15, 2015

Skype has finally added the one feature that makes Google Hangouts so much easier to use: shareable chat links.

This means you can now use Skype to chat with anyone, not just the people in your contact list. To get started, download the new versions of Skype now: Windows and Mac. Skype for mobile devices currently doesn’t have the ability to start a conversation and share a link, though Microsoft is working on that.

Once you’ve updated, click the +New button, and invite anyone to join a Skype chat by sharing the unique link. Because it’s just a hyperlink, you can send it over email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Twitter, and so on.

By clicking on the link, anyone can join a conversation from Skype for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, or even Skype for Web. The only drawback is that links are only available in the U.S. and in the U.K., for now.

Anyone can join the chat as a guest from their computer, even if they don’t have Skype installed. Skype for Web supports instant messaging, voice, and video calls.

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A link is really all you need — no Skype account or app download required. That said, while the link initially takes you to Skype for Web, if you have Skype installed, the dedicated app will open on your computer or mobile device.

The biggest limitation is of course the gradual rollout, which is likely aligned with Skype for Web’s staggered debut. Microsoft says “the rest of the world” will be getting shareable links “over the next couple of weeks.”

That means that by the end of the year, Skype will finally be as easy to use as Google Hangouts is. You’ll no longer need to manually add contacts and then start a chat with them. Just create a link and send it to whoever you want to talk to.

We’re frankly surprised it took Skype this long to catch up.

venturebeat.com

Emerging Technology Dropbox Announces Paper, A Google Docs Competitor October 15, 2015

Dropbox is going head-to-head against a very popular web app, Google Docs. Dropbox Paper is a collaborative document editing platform in your browser. It lets you edit a document in real time with your Dropbox contacts. Here’s how it works.

Paper users can create a document and type text right away. Compared to Google Docs or Quip, it has very few rich-text editing features. If you want to format your document, you’ll have to use another word- processing app. In some ways, this is reminiscent of Etherpad.

What if you want to add images and ? You can browse your Dropbox and add a Dropbox link directly in the document. Paper will automatically change these links into images and videos. It also does the same with other web content, such as YouTube videos, SoundCloud songs and more.

You can write to-do lists, mention people in the document to notify them when you need someone else’s feedback and also leave comments next to a specific paragraph.

Our own Sarah Perez first reported the existence of Project Composer back in March. It’s the result of the acquisition of HackPad. Some ProductHunt users could even use an early version of the product.

I called Paper a Google Docs competitor, even though it seems quite different with the smart embeds and mostly plain text approach. It looks like a white board more than a document creation platform. But then again, many Google Docs users already use the service to quickly draft something.

So it’s unclear whether Google Docs users will switch to Paper to do something they can already do with Google Docs without the nice embeds. Paper isn’t available just yet. You have to sign up to a waiting list first.

techcrunch.com

NBC’s New Seeso Streaming Comedy Service Targets Millennials October 15, 2015

NBC has a new comedy channel, but don't expect to find it in your cable package.

The new service, called Seeso, is an ad-free subscription channel that's streamed over the internet to computers, iOS or Android phones and streaming boxes like Roku. The channel, which goes live in January 2016, will cost $3.99 per month. Users can opt to use Seeso for free but won't be able to access all of the content.

NBC is hoping that Seeso will help it better reach millennials who are increasingly streaming content to their phones or computers, as opposed to watching on a more traditional TV network.

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Comedy clips, in particular, are consumed online. "It's the most popular genre out there by a long stretch, by a Secretariat stretch," says Evan Shapiro, executive vice president of NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises at the press event announcing the service in New York.

In addition to providing ad-free clips and next day reruns of NBC's late-night programming, such as The “In addition to providing ad- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Late Night with Seth Meyers and , the service will also let you stream episodes from other shows in the network's vast library including 30 free clips and next day reruns Rock, The Office and Saved by the Bell. of NBC's late-night programming, such as The Unlike NBC's other apps you cannot stream live NBC broadcasts to the app nor can you log into your existing cable or satellite subscription to unlock the full content available, though the latter may be Tonight Show Starring Jimmy added down the road. Fallon, the Late Night with Seth Meyers and Saturday While NBC assumes many will be initially coming in to see some of their more popular television shows, it's hoping folks stick around for Seeso's own original content which will include standup series, sketch Night Live, the service will and variety shows and scripted and semi-scripted programming including a live-action/animation hybrid also let you stream episodes show called "HarmonQuest" from Community creator and "The UCB Show," a variety from other shows in the show from Amy Poehler. network's vast library The service will also be offering movies like The Big Lebowski, Billy Madison and Monty Python's The including 30 Rock, The Office Meaning of Life. The service will cycle through which titles are available, generally offering 2-5 per and Saved by the Bell.” month.

NBC will be keeping their shows currently available on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon accessible on those respective platforms. "We are not taking any of the shows that are on (Seeso) off of any other platforms right now," Shapiro tells USA TODAY.

But conversations have been had with NBC about getting exclusive streaming rights to new network shows in the future, he said. Factors such as economics and whether a program is the right fit for Seeso will play into deciding what goes where, Shapiro said. "NBC is a big broadcast network. We're a niche thing."

Seeso will rely heavily on human curation to redirect viewers from one clip to another in an attempt, Shapiro says, to solve the problem of "hunting" for something new to watch that can plague other current streaming services. He describes this as a "chef's pick" from the Seeso staff, which will be making the endorsements alongside some of the service's producers and creators like Harmon. "There will be talent coming and curating and comedians coming in and curating all the time," he said.

Seeso will be available on a variety of platforms and devices including apps on iOS, Android, Roku and on computers in a web browser.

While the service won't go live until January, NBC will be launching a beta in December for those eager to check out the offering.

usatoday.com

Mergers and Acquisitions Alibaba To Buy Out Chinese Video Site Youku Tudou In $3.5 Billion Deal October 16, 2015

Alibaba, the -listed Chinese e-commerce giant, is getting into video in a major way, after it announced plans to buy out Youku Tudou, one of ’s top YouTube-like services, in an all cash deal. Alibaba previously spent $1.22 billion on an 18.3 percent stake in the video firm, which claims to serve 580 million users each month.

Youku’s market cap is $3.8 billion, and Alibaba intends to pay US$26.60 per share — a decent markup on the most recent closing share price of $20.43. Thus, the deal values Youku at around $5.1 billion. Alibaba confirmed on an analyst call that, taking into account the cash on Youku’s books, its total offering is worth around $3.5 billion.

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If the acquisition is success, Alibaba intends to take Youku private, according to a filing. Youku chairman and CEO will remain at the helm of the company.

To be clear, Alibaba is offering to buy the company and, while Koo and other founding shareholders have given their blessing to the proposed deal, it is still subject to shareholder approval.

Alibaba is intending to take full ownership of the company — which was created when rivals Youku and Tudou merged in 2012 — to supercharge its focus on digital entertainment.

Alibaba is best known for its e-commerce services — which include its marketplace and T-Mall site for brands — but it has also made big plays in content as part of a bid to be more present in Chinese Internet’s users’ daily lives. Aside from its investment in Youku, Alibaba owns a stake in microblogging site Sina Weibo (via a $586 million investment) and it has a burgeoning in content creation, including Wasu Media (a company backed by Alibaba founder ), and , a movie content firm.

More tangible evidence of Alibaba’s media ambition can be found in Box Office, a Netflix-like service that it recently launched in China, and its move into the living room with smart TVs and set-top boxes. These devices, which are made by third-party manufacturers, run on Alibaba’s own operating system and include a suite of its products — allowing device owners to shop, pay bills, and more right from their big screen.

Clearly, there are further synergies for Youku and Alibaba said it plans to use its e-commerce, media and advertising platforms to “significantly accelerate” Youku’s growth.

That’s important because, to date, the company has struggled financially despite its huge and very active user base. Youku and Tudou merged their to save on common costs and expenses, but the financial good times haven’t exactly rolled in. Revenue in Q2 2015 grew 57 percent year-on-year to reach $259.6 million, but the company posted a net loss of $55.2 million for the three-month period.

Youku isn’t alone in battling it out for the attention of Chinese Internet users, either. ’s iQiyi, and all compete in the video space, with Baidu and Tencent able to lean on their and mobile messaging empires, respectively, to pull in viewers. Recent research suggested that there’s little to separate Youku and iQiyi (Tudou remains a separate site to Youku) as the largest video platforms in China.

Challenges aside, Youku is getting close to seeing half of advertising revenue come from mobile, but it looks like it might find a better fit as a private subsidiary of Alibaba, rather than a public listing, independent business. Well, that’s what going to happen anyway.

techcrunch.com

Red Hat Is Buying IT Automation Startup Ansible, Reportedly For Around $100M October 16, 2015

Open source giant Red Hat is making another acquisition to build out its enterprise IT portfolio: today the company announced that it would buy Ansible, an IT automation solutions specialist that helps companies build and manage hybrid IT deployments across the cloud and on-premise solutions.

The acquisition had been rumored to be in the works for a price of over $100 million. Officially, however, Red Hat tells TechCrunch that it is declining to disclose the price of the deal, which should close this month.

Ansible, based out of Santa Barbara and founded in 2013, had raised a mere $6 million from Menlo Ventures and e.ventures.

Ansible has made a name for itself as a specialist in OpenStack clouds — earlier this year it spearheaded a partnership with Cisco, HP, CSC and RackSpace in aid of this. Red Hat’s acquisition of Ansible is the company’s signal of how it hopes to expand further into OpenStack itself, as part of its wider ambitions in hybrid cloud management, OpenStack and containers.

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“Ansible is a clear leader in IT automation and DevOps, and helps Red Hat take a significant step forward in our goal of creating frictionless IT,” said Joe Fitzgerald, VP at Red Hat, in a statement.

“We’re thrilled that Red Hat, a global leader in open source, has chosen Ansible to tackle the future of IT automation and systems management. This is a strong validation that Ansible’s simplicity, enterprise customer base and robust community is winning in enterprise IT automation, from compute to networking to cloud to containers,” said Saïd Ziouani, co-founder and CEO, Ansible, in a statement.

You can read more about Red Hat’s acquisition rationale here. But as our own Frederic Lardinois has pointed out, OpenStack is complex and what Anisble is trying to bring is a simplified approach to the architecture.

“Unlike competing solutions [Ansible] does not require any special coding skills, removing some of the most significant barriers to automation across IT,” Red Hat noted in its announcement of the acquisition.

Areas covered by Ansible’s tech include the ability to deploy and manage applications across private and public clouds; speed service delivery through DevOps initiatives; streamline OpenStack installations and upgrades; and accelerate container adoption by simplifying orchestration and configuration, Red Hat said.

Red Hat today also provided a brief update to its earnings as part of the news. It says the acquisition is expected to have no material impact to Red Hat’s revenue for the third and fourth quarters of its fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating expenses for fiscal 2016 will be increased by $2 million, or ($0.01) per share, in Q3 and $4.0 million, or ($0.02) per share, in Q4 as a result of the transaction.

Red Hat went public back in 1999 and this is its 14th acquisition.

techcrunch.com

Industry Reports Netflix Q3 Earnings: International Expansion Will Lead Future Subscriber Growth October 16, 2015

Netflix released its Q3 2015 earnings report recently. While international subscribers increased at a “Netflix’s overall subscriber rapid pace, growth in the domestic subscriber base was relatively weak. Our take on Netflix is that its overall subscriber base will continue to grow in the coming years but the rate of growth in domestic base will continue to grow in subscribers is likely to continue its downward trend due to increased competition and potential market the coming years but the rate saturation. On the other hand, International subscriber growth will remain robust in the near future as of growth in domestic the company rapidly expands into various new territories with the aim of having a global presence by the end of 2016. However, the same rapid expansion will continue to hurt international margins, which subscribers is likely to will remain negative in the near term. We expect the company’s international segment to start breaking continue its downward trend even by 2017 and have positive contribution margin from 2018 onward. due to increased competition International Growth Will Offset Slowdown In Domestic Market and potential market saturation.” Netflix’s international subscriber growth has been robust so far, and we believe that it will continue to remain so in the near future as the company expands into various new territories with the aim of having a global presence by the end of 2016. The company delivered a stellar performance in the international segment this quarter and the subscriber base grew by a record 2.74 million customers. The number the previous best of 2.60 million additions set two quarters ago. The company expects the growth in subscribers to continue and hopes to add 3.5 million subscribers globally for Q4 2015, much higher than the 2.43 million it added during the same quarter last year. Netflix has been targeting Asia in a big way and the company entered its first Asian market when it launched into Japan last month. Netflix is also working towards an early 2016 launch into South Korea, Singapore, and . Additionally, the company is also exploring options for entry into densely populated countries and lucrative markets such as China and India. (Related – China Makes Sense For Netflix, But It Won’t Be Easy) Netflix’s international subscriber base has grown from 1.9 million customers in 2011 to just shy of 26 million by the end of Q3 2015. Taking a long term perspective, we believe that Netflix can cross 68 million international subscribers by the end of our forecast period if it continues on its current expansion plans.

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Netflix has benefitted immensely from the cord-cutting trend in the US. It had a considerable first mover advantage as it was one of the first online streaming platforms to pique the interest of the masses. However, the current online streaming landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. Many content providers such as Dish Network, Sony, Apple, HBO, CBS, Comcast etc., have thrown their hat into the streaming ring and incumbent players such as Hulu and Amazon Prime are ramping up investment in order to improve the quality of their content. In light of the increased competition, Netflix will find it increasingly difficult to add new subscribers at a rapid pace. The company missed its guidance for the quarter, adding 0.88 million new subscribers while it had earlier forecasted 1.15 million new users. We believe that Netflix will continue to add new users throughout our forecast period on the strength of its original content and repository qualities, which allow for binge watching. The streaming service also has a tendency of being viewed as a complementary service rather than a competing service to the various other options available for consuming content, whether it be traditional pay-TV or the more recent online options. However, the rate of growth in domestic subscribers is likely to come down compared to earlier years as the US market slowly moves towards the point of saturation.

forbes.com

Verizon Completes LTE Deployments For Rural America Program October 15, 2015

Five years after the initiation of its LTE in Rural America Program (LRA), Verizon has announced that all 21 program partners have completed their network deployments.

According to Verizon, the LRA program provides program participants with access to its 700 MHz spectrum in 169 rural counties from coast to coast, covering 225,000 square miles in 15 states. As part of the effort, Verizon has activated more than 1,000 4G LTE cell sites to distribute signal to more than 50 certified wireless devices, including smartphones and tablets.

"The LRA program has positively impacted the lives of Americans from Maine to Alaska, and we're very proud to be a part of that," said Verizon’s executive director of strategic alliances and LRA program leader Philip Junker. "Verizon has always been a responsible steward of spectrum resources. We had a vision of partnering with the rural carrier community, we put our resources behind that vision and we delivered what we promised for our customers."

Verizon said program participants are helping those in the covered areas optimize their lives and businesses through the implementation of new technology facilitated by LTE access. Notable undertakings include the introduction of the Heartland Mobile Health unit at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital to reach remote residents in Iowa, offering live streaming of high school sports for relatives who can’t make the game and providing access to KMA Broadcasting’s weather reports in Iowa to help farmers during growing season.

The 21 LRA participants currently include Bluegrass Cellular, Cross Telephone, Pioneer Cellular, Cellcom, Thumb Cellular, Strata Networks, S and R Communications, Carolina West, Custer Telephone Cooperative, KPU Telecommunications, Chariton Valley Communication Corporation, Appalachian Wireless, Northwest Missouri Cellular, Chat Mobility, Matanuska Telephone Association, Wireless Partners, Triangle Communications, Nemont, Mid-Rivers Communications and Copper Valley Telecom.

wirelessweek.com

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