Articles by Peter Suciu

HBO chief Richard Plepler on Wednesday issued a response toDish CEO Charlie Ergen's claim that the ongoing impasse between the companies was the result of a purely anticompetitive play on AT&T's part It was Dish that dropped HBO and Cinemax signals at midnight on Oct. 31, blacking out programming for subscribers, Plepler said....

User engagement with podcasts has been steadily increasing, and many listeners actually prefer longer-format content, based on results of Apple's Podcast Analytics reported this week. The service, which Apple launched late last year, gives podcasters a way to track performance metrics, including the number of listeners, total time listened, and time per device...

Netflix had a very good showing on Monday, winning 23 Emmy Awards and tying longtime Emmy-winning powerhouse HBO Netflix, an over-the-top streaming service, claimed 112 nominations this year, four more than its premium pay-TV channel rival HBO, which had dominated the Emmys for nearly two decades....

Google took on French lawyers at the European Union Court of Justice this week in an effort to fend off expansion of the EU's "right to be forgotten" judgment The EU's attempts to broaden the scope of that judgment would be "completely unenvisagable," and it could result in impositions on the values of different countries around the world, Google a...

As summer winds die down, here's hoping one of the season's most ridiculous and unnecessary fads goes with them Bird and Lime e-scooters -- the vehicles for the two rival companies' Mobility as a Service scheme -- are just the latest twist on the foot-powered Razor Scooters that took America by storm in 2000....

Leaders from Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic last week issued a dire warning that nations around the world haven't been doing enough to ban the development of autonomous weapons -- so-called "killer robots." The groups issued a joint report that calls for a complete ban on these systems before such weap...

There's a rumor in circulation that Amazon has been working on a DVR that would allow users to record live TV and then stream that content to a smartphone and other mobile devices Amazon aims to mount a direct challenge to DVR pioneer TiVo -- a company that was at the forefront of digital video recording 20 years ago -- according to a flurry of rep...

As a reporter, I cover a number of beats, including those related to advances in TV production and the technology that brings TV to our homes. In my lifetime, I've seen some of the most significant advances in television, and unlike many who take it for granted, I have a very deep respect for TV My actual birthday is in January, but Aug. 21 is a da...

A major "sporting event" aired on ESPN, Disney XD, and ABC last weekend. It wasn't the recently completed FIFA World Cup, the finale of the Tour de France, or the MLB All-Star Game. It was the Overwatch League Grand Finals -- the biggest e-sports championship to date Much of the competition was "broadcast" via the online service Twitch, but on July...

Governor Jerry Brown last month signed into law the California Consumer Privacy Act. The CCPA is the state's response to a growing concern that consumers need stronger means to protect their personal information The issue came to a head in part due to recent breaches that exposed the personal data of millions of American consumers. However, the CCP...

Photo-hosting service Photobucket in May quietly restored third-party hosting of photos, reversing its unpopular year-old policy that required users to pay nearly US$400 in subscription fees for hosting privileges Many irate users had reacted to the policy by claiming their photos were"taken hostage." Hosted photos on blogs, forums, and other sites...

TrueCommerce on Wednesday announced the integration of its unified commerce solutions with Shopify, a provider of a cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform Ottawa, Ontario-based Shopify powered more than 600,000 merchants across 175 countries as of last August....

Facebook and Google have manipulated users into sharing data using so-called "dark patterns," such as misleading wording and confusing interfaces, according to a report the Norwegian Consumer Council released Wednesday The practices nudged users toward accepting privacy options that favored the tech companies rather than themselves, the NCC found....

Facebook on Thursday announced new tactics to reduce the spread of fake news. Its efforts will include combining technology with human reviewers to identify and remove fake accounts, partnering with fact-checkers, and promoting news literacy Facebook will expand its fact-checking programs to new countries, scrutinize photos and videos more closely,...

Nintendo called in fan favorites, including Mario and Smash Bros., at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Super Mario Party will be heading to the Nintendo Switch this October, joined by Fire Emblem: Three Houses and the giant robot combat game Daemon x Machina However, it was Fortnite, the battle royale game that has become a...

Ninety-five percent of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45 percent of teens are almost constantly online -- but younger Internet users do not connect on Facebook as much as their older peers do, suggests a Pew Research Center study released Thursday. Although Facebook dominated social media across all age groups over the past decade, it has taken a backseat to YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat among today's teens...

The popular first-person shooter video game franchise Battlefield, which made its debut almost 16 years ago, will return to its World WarII roots this summer. Battlefield V was unveiled this week in an online presentation hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, who sat down with the game's development team and discussed what gamers can expect when the title arrives this fall...

Microsoft on Thursday introduced its new Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed specifically for gamers with disabilities. The new hardware can be used for gameplay with an Xbox One console or Windows 10 PC, and it offers Bluetooth plug-and-play compatibility It supports Xbox Wireless Controller features such as button remapping, and it connects to ext...

All 49 members of the Senate Democratic caucus have expressed support for a resolution to save Net neutrality, introduced Wednesday by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, under the Congressional Review Act. The CRA is a legislative tool that lets Congress reverse federal regulations via a simple majority vote For the resolution to become law, it also would nee...

Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence software built into Android handsets and the Google Home smart speaker system, now can control more than 5,000 smart devices, Google announced Thursday. That's up from just 1,500 products in January -- and the list of supported products includes everything from cameras and security systems to doorbells, locks, and lights, to dryers, dishwashers, and refrigerators...