September 2014

Google Fiber has a new boss, the latest sign that the search giant is serious about delivering high-speed Internet service. Former Qualcomm executive Dennis Kish replaced Milo Medin, a key visionary behind the project.

Medin remains a Google vice president for access services and adviser to the Google Fiber team, a spokeswoman said, while working on other, unspecified Internet-access projects for the company. Kish was brought in for his operational expertise and will lead Google Fiber as the high-speed Internet and television service expands to new cities. Kish reports to Craig Barratt, Google’s senior vice president, access and energy. Chief Executive Larry Page recently added Barratt to his top circle of advisers, known internally as “L Team,” joining the executives that run other key Google divisions like search, advertising, Android and YouTube.

A handful of House Democrats introduced a bill to protect people who write reviews on Yelp or similar online review websites. The Consumer Review Freedom Act would prohibit companies from including clauses in their contracts that prevented people from writing critical reviews about them online, a tactic that some businesses have used to avoid online negative publicity. “No country that values free speech would allow customers to be penalized for writing an honest review,” said Rep Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who wrote the bill along with Rep Brad Sherman (D-CA). “I introduced this legislation to put a stop to this egregious behavior so people can share honest reviews without fear of litigation.” Reps Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) are co-sponsoring the bill.

Yelp is an online service where people can read and create reviews about businesses and connect with others online and at local events. Many users post profiles with photos and detailed information about themselves. Yelp's "check in" feature lets users announce their presence at a certain business. Yelp introduced its apps in 2009 so people can access those services from their mobile devices. Before that, people had to register through the company’s website, which had a screening mechanism that prohibited users under 13 from signing up. Why that age? Because COPPA applies to operators of general audience websites or online services – including apps – with actual knowledge they’re collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from kids under 13. (Of course, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) also applies to kid-directed sites and services without regard to that “actual knowledge” standard.

The FTC’s just-announced settlement with TinyCo deals with that aspect of the Rule.) The problem with Yelp apps was how that age-screening mechanism worked – or more accurately, didn’t work. People who registered on the app were asked for a date of birth, but regardless of what they entered, the Yelp app allowed them to sign up and gave them full access to all features.

T-Mobile is making Wi-Fi calling more accessible for all of its customers. Part of that strategy involves selling only phones that are capable of making Wi-Fi calls from here out (existing customers are eligible for an early Jump upgrade to get a new phone if they wish) -- but the other piece of the strategy is a humble wireless router.

Don’t let the name fool you -- the Asus-built T-Mobile Personal CellSpot has nothing to do with the company’s cellular network. It’s not a FemtoCell, but a dual-band, 802.11ac router (it also works with the older b/g/n protocols) that the carrier is giving away to any customer who wants it and puts down a $25 deposit. Plug it in, and you can make Wi-Fi calls that promise to sound better, without having to worry about how good your T-Mobile cell signal is. The new device is not a requirement for using T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi calling features. In fact, as long as your phone supports it, any Wi-Fi signal will work just fine. But T-Mobile says its CellSpot is better than most Wi-Fi routers out there, and that it’ll be a piece of cake to set up.