Net neutrality rules could return at state level under mixed US court decision

Repeal of Obama-era net neutrality protections upheld.

Internet providers could face a variety of state internet regulations after a US court ruled on Tuesday that the federal government cannot block states from passing their own net neutrality laws, while largely upholding the 2017 repeal of landmark rules barring providers from blocking or throttling traffic.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Federal Communications Commission erred when it declared that states cannot pass their own net neutrality laws and ordered the agency to review some key aspects of its 2017 repeal of rules set by the Obama administration. But it left open the possibility the FCC could seek to block state efforts on a case-by-case basis.

The decision could subject internet providers to a variety of state regulations on internet traffic. Verizon Communications said the ruling “underscores the need for Congress to adopt national legislation that provides protections for consumers while avoiding a disruptive, inconsistent patchwork of state Internet regulation.”

The court also found that the FCC acted properly when it overturned a 2015 decision that had classified broadband internet as a utility-style service that handed the FCC sweeping authority to regulate it and instead classified it as less regulated information service.

But the court also found the agency “failed to examine the implications of its decisions for public safety” and must also review how its decision will impact a government subsidy programme for low-income users.

The decision means the more than 10-year-old debate over net neutrality will continue to drag on for months or more likely years as Congress has refused to pass legislation that would end the debate.

The 2017 FCC decision handed internet providers sweeping powers to recast how Americans use the internet, as long as they disclose changes. The new rules took effect in June 2018, reversing rules adopted under former President Barack Obama in 2015 which barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritisation.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the decision affirmed the FCC’s “decision to repeal 1930s utility-style regulation of the internet. A free and open internet is what we have today. A free and open internet is what we’ll continue to have going forward.”

Pai added that the FCC would address “the narrow issues that the court identified.”

John Bergmayer, legal director at Public Knowledge, said the decision “leaves states with a clear path forward to enact state net neutrality laws to protect internet users and provide certainty for participants in the digital economy. States should move expeditiously to protect consumers where the FCC has refused to do so.”

A senior FCC official told reporters on a conference call that the decision is “not a green light” for states to pass any internet rules they want and said the FCC has not decided whether to appeal portions of the decision.

Championed by large tech companies and consumer groups, net neutrality was formally adopted by the FCC in 2015. Major telecommunications companies argued it limited their ability to offer new services to content providers, and under the Trump administration, the FCC overturned the policy.

California adopted sweeping state net neutrality protections in October 2018 but agreed not to enforce the measure pending the court challenge.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the decision was a “disappointing blow to the promise of a free and open internet” but she said “California’s leadership in enacting the strongest net neutrality protections in the country is a model that will ensure that the internet remains an engine of innovation, job creation and free speech for all Americans.”

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the decision “blocks the FCC’s effort to preempt state net neutrality laws through regulation.”

The court threw out the part of the order that barred all states from setting net neutrality rules.

“The commission lacked the legal authority to categorically abolish all 50 states statutorily conferred authority to regulate intrastate communications,” the court said.

The FCC could still make “provision-specific arguments” to seek to block individual aspects of state net neutrality rules.

Judge Stephen Williams wrote in his dissenting opinion that “On my colleagues’ view, state policy trumps federal; or, more precisely, the most draconian state policy trumps all else.”

The Internet Innovation Alliance, a group representing companies including AT&T, said the decision “allowing rules that differ among all 50 states could spell disaster for advancement of the internet.”

The Trump administration rules were a win for internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon but opposed by companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet Inc.

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Net neutrality rules could return at state level under mixed US court decision

Repeal of Obama-era net neutrality protections upheld.

Internet providers could face a variety of state internet regulations after a US court ruled on Tuesday that the federal government cannot block states from passing their own net neutrality laws, while largely upholding the 2017 repeal of landmark rules barring providers from blocking or throttling traffic.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Federal Communications Commission erred when it declared that states cannot pass their own net neutrality laws and ordered the agency to review some key aspects of its 2017 repeal of rules set by the Obama administration. But it left open the possibility the FCC could seek to block state efforts on a case-by-case basis.

The decision could subject internet providers to a variety of state regulations on internet traffic. Verizon Communications said the ruling “underscores the need for Congress to adopt national legislation that provides protections for consumers while avoiding a disruptive, inconsistent patchwork of state Internet regulation.”

The court also found that the FCC acted properly when it overturned a 2015 decision that had classified broadband internet as a utility-style service that handed the FCC sweeping authority to regulate it and instead classified it as less regulated information service.

But the court also found the agency “failed to examine the implications of its decisions for public safety” and must also review how its decision will impact a government subsidy programme for low-income users.

The decision means the more than 10-year-old debate over net neutrality will continue to drag on for months or more likely years as Congress has refused to pass legislation that would end the debate.

The 2017 FCC decision handed internet providers sweeping powers to recast how Americans use the internet, as long as they disclose changes. The new rules took effect in June 2018, reversing rules adopted under former President Barack Obama in 2015 which barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritisation.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the decision affirmed the FCC’s “decision to repeal 1930s utility-style regulation of the internet. A free and open internet is what we have today. A free and open internet is what we’ll continue to have going forward.”

Pai added that the FCC would address “the narrow issues that the court identified.”

John Bergmayer, legal director at Public Knowledge, said the decision “leaves states with a clear path forward to enact state net neutrality laws to protect internet users and provide certainty for participants in the digital economy. States should move expeditiously to protect consumers where the FCC has refused to do so.”

A senior FCC official told reporters on a conference call that the decision is “not a green light” for states to pass any internet rules they want and said the FCC has not decided whether to appeal portions of the decision.

Championed by large tech companies and consumer groups, net neutrality was formally adopted by the FCC in 2015. Major telecommunications companies argued it limited their ability to offer new services to content providers, and under the Trump administration, the FCC overturned the policy.

California adopted sweeping state net neutrality protections in October 2018 but agreed not to enforce the measure pending the court challenge.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the decision was a “disappointing blow to the promise of a free and open internet” but she said “California’s leadership in enacting the strongest net neutrality protections in the country is a model that will ensure that the internet remains an engine of innovation, job creation and free speech for all Americans.”

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the decision “blocks the FCC’s effort to preempt state net neutrality laws through regulation.”

The court threw out the part of the order that barred all states from setting net neutrality rules.

“The commission lacked the legal authority to categorically abolish all 50 states statutorily conferred authority to regulate intrastate communications,” the court said.

The FCC could still make “provision-specific arguments” to seek to block individual aspects of state net neutrality rules.

Judge Stephen Williams wrote in his dissenting opinion that “On my colleagues’ view, state policy trumps federal; or, more precisely, the most draconian state policy trumps all else.”

The Internet Innovation Alliance, a group representing companies including AT&T, said the decision “allowing rules that differ among all 50 states could spell disaster for advancement of the internet.”

The Trump administration rules were a win for internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon but opposed by companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet Inc.

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Samsung HMD Odyssey Windows 10 Mixed Reality Headset: First Impressions

For a while, virtual reality has seemed stuck in neutral for the non-gaming audience, with companies struggling to make VR appealing to everyone. But firms keep trying – and they’re starting to make a better case as prices continue to drop. Microsoft on Tuesday showed off a slew of new high-end virtual reality headsets for Windows 10 PCs from a number of partners to show off the breadth of its ecosystem, including a new $500 (roughly Rs. 32,500) set from Samsung.

I had around 10 minutes to try out Samsung’s HMD Odyssey which works on Windows 10 and is set to hit store shelves on Nov. 6.

And it’s pretty good. The graphics were immersive enough to activate my fear of heights in a demo set high in the mountains. The headset also has a design that curves snugly around the face. That makes the immersion feel pretty complete, even if the graphics aren’t quite as striking as what you’d see on a high-priced headset hooked up to an equally pricey gaming computer.

And, having tried out a few versions of virtual reality headsets over the past several years, I was surprised by how comfortable this one was. It weighs about a pound and a half – on the heavy side for a headset, but the weight is distributed well.

Above all, the price of the HMD Odyssey is notable, as it’s in line with the fast-descending price of virtual reality headsets. Both computer-based virtual reality headset makers, Oculus and HTC, slashed their prices this summer to $500 and $600 respectively – down from their original price tags of $700 and $800. Other previously announced sets from HP, Dell, Acer and Asus are launching for Windows 10 on October 17, and their prices go as low as $350 or so.

Those still aren’t quite impulse-level prices – at least for me. But at least the price of good VR is down significantly from when the hype first began.

Which is to say: this may be the beginning of the beginning of VR for the average person. Microsoft showed off some appealing applications, such as being able to watchvideo on the virtual equivalent of a 300-inch television or being able to easily teleconference. Outside of entertainment, the promise becomes murkier. The idea of editing a spreadsheet or writing an article using those VR controllers makes me queasier than any VR-related motion sickness.

Microsoft consumers should expect to hear way more about this type of experience in the years to come. Microsoft’s Alex Kipman, who invented its Hololens and is its chief presenter on all things augmented and virtual reality, said that the experience lets us “renegotiate our very contract with reality.

That’s no small claim. To accomplish it, though, there is still a lot of work to be done.

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Dell Updates XPS 13 With 8th-Gen Intel Processors; Reveals Visor Mixed Reality Headset Price

Highlights Updated XPS 13 laptops will feature same design as original laptop Dell has also updated Inspiron series laptops Visor mixed-reality headset has been priced at $349.99

Dell has now its XPS 13, Inspiron 5000, and Inspiron 7000 series laptops with Intel’s latest eighth generation Kaby Lake processors. The Dell XPS 13 laptop, which still features the impressive design of the original and the the new Intel Core i7 chip, will be made available starting September 12 at $1,399.99 (roughly Rs. 89,600) but the company says that additional configurations will be made available from October.

Moving on to the Inspiron 5000 series laptops, the 13-inch and 15-inch variants of the 2-in-1 laptop will be receiving the new eighth generation Intel Core processors. In the Inspiron 7000 series of laptops, the standard variant and the Inspiron 7000 2-in-1will be receiving the updated processors. Also, the 17-inch variant of the Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 portable will get the new generation chips.

Separately, Dell has now announced that its Visor mixed-reality headset, which has been made specifically for Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform, will be made available from October at a price of $349.99 (roughly Rs. 22,400). Customers can also choose to buy a bundle with the headset and two controllers for $449.99 (roughly Rs. 28,800). While the company has described Visor as a mixed-reality headset, it has notably shown only the VR capabilities of the wearable as of now, as pointed out in a separate report by The Verge.

To recall, Microsoft started taking pre-orders for the mixed-reality headsets from Acer and HP in May this year. Engadget points out that just like the headsets from Acer and HP, the wearable from the Dell will also come with 1440×1440 LCD panels and feature sufficient padding that would allow users to wear it comfortably for longer periods as well.

“Dell Visor takes advantage of the same technology used in the Microsoft HoloLens, including inside-out tracking cameras, with a 360 degree panoramic view. The headset itself is able to scan surroundings instead of satellite emitters positioned inside the room,” the company said in its release. The Dell Visor will be made available at Microsoft and select Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com in the coming months.

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Tags: Dell XPS 13 8th Generation Intel Processors, Dell Inspiron 5000 8th Generation Intel Processors, Dell Inspiron 7000 8th Generation Intel Processors, Laptops, Dell, Intel 8th Generation Processors, Home Entertainment, Wearables, Dell Visor Mixed Reality Headset

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Asus at IFA 2017: New ZenBook, VivoBook Laptops, Mixed Reality Headset, and More

Highlights Asus has just announced a range of laptops The company says it has a laptop for everyone in store It also announced its mixed reality headset

If you’re in the market for a laptop, Asus has a plethora of new models to show. The Taiwanese electronics company on Wednesday refreshed its Flip series and ZenBook series of Windows 10 laptops – ZenBook Flip 14, ZenBook Flip 15, ZenBook ViboBook S14, ZenBook 3 Deluxe, and ZenBook 13 models at the IFA 2017 trade show. If that wasn’t enough, the company has also announced the ROG Strix gaming lineup of laptops, and threw a mixed reality headset into the mix. For now, no pricing or availability has been revealed.

ZenBook Flip 14
Starting with the Asus ZenBook Flip 14, which the company is touting as the “world’s thinnest 2-in-1 laptop with high-performance discrete graphics,” sports a 14-inch “NanoEdge” full-HD (1080p) touchscreen display, which can be flipped to a complete 360 degrees. It will come in handy if you’re planning to use the device as a tablet, and keeping that in mind, Asus has also announced support for Asus Pen.

The company is not compromising on performance, it says, providing you’re not a heavy gamer. The ZenBook Flip 14, which weighs just 1.4kg in a 13.9mm thick package, is powered by 8th-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, coupled with entry-level Nvidia GeForce MX150, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB PCIe x4 SSD. Completing what appears to be an exciting package are a Harman Kardon audio system, fingerprint scanner, support for Windows 10’s signature Windows 10 Hello feature, and a promise of 13-hour battery life on a single charge. It comes in Icicle Gold and Slate Grey colour variants.

ZenBook Flip 15
If you’re inching for a somewhat more powerful machine, the company says ZenBook Flip 15 might be the way to go forward. It retains the 2-in-1 versatility and 360-degree rotatable display. But here how it gets better: It has a 15.6-inch full-HD display (the company is also offering a 4K screen, if that’s your thing), and powering the laptop is the eighth generation Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM (which the company says is considerably faster from older generation), “gaming-grade” Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics, and up to a 2TB HDD and 512GB SSD for your storage needs.

The laptop houses USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 (how many, it won’t tell), as well as a Harman Kardon audio system. The ZenBook Flip 15 is available in Smoky Grey and Pure Silver colour options.

The ZenBook Flip S
And for those who’re not looking for a powerhouse machine, but care crave for thin laptops, there’s the ZenBook Flip S. It weighs just 1.1kg in a 10.9mm thin package, so no wonder the company describes it as one of the “world’s thinnest and one of the lightest convertible laptops” in such form factor. And it does those things while maintaining the 360-degree flippable display. The Windows 10-powered machine is powered by up to an eighth generation Intel Core i7-8550U processor with 1TB PCIe SSD. The company is offering two kinds of displays: full-HD (1080p) and 4K.

The ZenBook 13
There’s also the ZenBook 13, which as its name suggests isn’t “flippable.” Instead, however, it boasts of a 13-inch slim-bezel 4K display, Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU, eighth generation Intel Core i7 processor (which one can boost to 3.7GHz when needed), 16GB RAM, and a 1TB PCIe SSD. It does all of that while only weighing 1.12kg and keeping the waistline under 14mm.

The ZenBook 3 Deluxe

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Lenovo at IFA 2017: Yoga 920, Yoga 720, Miix 520, Explorer Mixed Reality Headset, Home Assistant Pack Launched

Highlights Lenovo has launched two new Yoga 2-in-1 convertibles Pricing for Lenovo’s Mixed Reality headset was also revealed Home Assistant Pack is an Amazon Alexa-driven speaker

At IFA 2017 in Berlin, Lenovo took to stage on Thursday to launch a slew of products in its Yoga and Miix range of convertibles, apart from unveiling its mixed reality headset and a smart speaker. The Chinese company launched Yoga 920 and Yoga 720 2-in-1 convertible laptops, the Miix 520 detachable 2-in-1, Lenovo Explorer Mixed Reality headset, and an Amazon Echo-like smart speaker called the Home Assistant Pack, an Alexa-powered device that’s meant to augment the Tab 4 series of tablets from the company

Lenovo Yoga 920 price, availability, specifications

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Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Mixed Reality Headsets to Launch on October 17

Highlights Microsoft will roll out Windows 10 Fall Creators Update on October 17 The company announced the major Windows 10 update earlier this year Microsoft also shared update on Windows Mixed Reality Headsets

At its keynote hour at IFA 2017 trade show, Microsoft said Friday it will start rolling out Windows 10 Fall Creators Update on October 17, delivering the third major update at no charge since the company moved its operating system to a service model.

Announced earlier this year at the developer BUILD conference, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brings several new functionalities to the desktop operating system including Timeline, Clipboard, and improvements to how OneDrive works on Windows 10 PCs.

Timeline, an improvement for the Task View feature, brings what one can say “memory” to list apps and workspaces that a user was using previously on. The company says this will enable customers to quickly recall what they were working on not just the device, but other connected devices and get through the work.

In line Timeline is a feature called Pick Up Where You Left Off, which will let people resume sessions on multiple devices, Microsoft said. This feature can especially come in handy for users who keep switching between their phone and computer all day.

The company is also introducing what it calls “Fluent Design” language, which brings uniformity across its apps in how they look and function. The other interesting feature Microsoft is delivering with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is OneDrive Files On-Demand, which will enable users to download select files from OneDrive without syncing the entire folders, a functional flaw many have complained about over the years.

On stage on Friday, Microsoft executives also announced that the company’s OEM partners will be releasing the first batch of Windows Mixed Reality headsets starting October 17 to consumers. Acer’s Mixed Reality headset starts at $299, while the one from HP is going to cost a user $329. Dell and Lenovo have also announced their Windows Mixed Reality headsets and both will retail at $349.

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Tags: Windows, Windows 10, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update General Availability, Microsoft, Windows Mixed Reality Headsets, IFA, IFA 2017

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