The search giant's plight reveals the challenges inherent in trying to comply with a controversial and complex law.
Google
is having a tough time dealing with a new European law that requires it
to remove links to search results upon user request.
In a column published Thursday for The Guardian, Google chief legal officer David Drummond said that since May when the "right to be forgotten" ruling went into effect, the company has received more than 70,000 takedown requests
encompassing 250,000 individual webpages. In most cases, Google's team
is reviewing the requests from users who provide limited information and
not much context.
Could a 61-page children's book unlock clues about Amazon's plans for its mysterious launch event? Jessica Dolcourt read it to find out.
A children's book is certainly a unique way to welcome spectators to Amazon's event.
Beyond any hints contained within an invitation, companies don't often send journalists clues about product launches ahead of the event. And certainly not in the form of a children's book.
A note affixed to the book's front cover, tied off with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' printed signature, says it all:That jolt of confusion, followed by curiosity, and perhaps even delight is exactly what Amazon was going for in mailing "Mr. Pine's Purple House" to attendees of its June 18 product launch in Seattle, Wa. In fact, standing out among the crowd is the story's entire premise, and Amazon's strategy for dazzling mobile industry-watchers when it at last unveils its mystery device.
We're excited that you'll be joining us next week in Seattle. Enclosed is my favorite childhood book -- Mr. Pine's Purple House. I think you'll agree that the world is a better place when things are a little bit different. See you soon.
Bezos' note emphasized the penultimate sentence by coloring it the same shade of purple as the house that the titular Mr. Pine eventually paints in his quest to differentiate his domicile from the other homes on the same street.
Does this mean we're in for a purple smartphone? Probably not -- that would be too obvious, and bypasses the book's main point, which is one of individualism and expression, and of inspiring others by daring to be different.
Indulge me (and Bezos) with some choice passages. " 'A white house is fine,' said Mr. Pine, 'but there are FIFTY white houses all in a line on Vine Street. How can I tell which one is mine?' "
And later, after the deed is done: "Everybody on Vine Street came to look at Mr. Pine's purple house. No one had ever seen a purple house before."
Whatever it is, Amazon's device claims to stand out in the crowd.
Amazon's dangling carrot is clearly that its device has a wow factor that other cookie-cutter products lack. A teaser video depicts users declaring the device to be "awesome," "amazing," "very real life and uncomparable [sic], and "pretty damn intuitive."
Most rumors suggest that the mystery device in question is Amazon's smartphone at long last, and that its "flawless and seamless" feature that "moves" with you is a 3D experience, whatever that means. We do know that Amazon is working with sensors -- that was one detail the company asked about on its invitation request form for members of the public.
Whatever the jaw-dropping feature may be, you can bet that Amazon won't have it exclusively for long before rivals start integrating it into their own products. In fact, Amazon would do well to consider the cautionary scene contained within "Mr. Pine's" very (purple) pages:
"What a very pretty purple house," said Mrs. Green. "I will paint my house, too!"
"OH, NO! NO! NO!" said Mr. Pine. "Not FIFTY PURPLE HOUSES, all in a line on Vine Street!"
Good luck, Amazon. In this cutthroat, fast-reacting industry, 50 purple houses are exactly what you get.
Microsoft dedicated its Xbox One press conference to assuring players that it's not the company that trotted out a controversial console last year. This time, games come first.
LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft kicked off the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Monday with a simple message, one part confident boast and one part plea.
The takeaway: Trust us, we've listened and learned since last year -- the Xbox One entertainment vision is in the backseat, and it's now all about the games.
"You are shaping the future of Xbox and we are better for it," said Xbox head Phil Spencer, the first Microsoft executive to take the stage before the conference launched into its first demo, a gameplay showing of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. "We are dedicating our entire briefing to games," he added to strong applause.
So began a press conference where barely a sliver of time was dedicated to even acknowledging the existence of the Kinect camera and motion sensor, which was unbundled from the Xbox One last month, or any of Microsoft's original television programming or entertainment features.
For Xbox One, confirming what we already knew, with a few surprises
The slew of expected demos and trailers included Xbox One exclusives Sunset Overdrive -- which now has a release date of October 28 -- Forza Horizon, and Dead Rising 3, which Microsoft announced would be available starting today. The moral-focused fantasy role-playing game Fable was also given screen time for its new cooperative installment, Fable Legends.
Of course, Halo 5: Guardians was one of the central highlights of the conference, though its release date still remains ambiguous at sometime next year, with history telling us fall 2015. In place of any substantial new info, developer 343 Industries announced Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which will include a multiplayer beta for Guardians.
"On November 11, 2014, you can play the entire Master Chief saga on a single console with Xbox One," said Bonnie Ross, head of 343. Beyond the beta, the collection will include Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. The games will all run at 60 frames per second, 1080p, and the collection will retain the original Halo 2 multiplayer, a longtime jewel of the series' original Xbox roots that many players have clamored for since the franchise made the jump to Xbox 360 with Halo 3.
"Halo launched the original Xbox, Halo launched Xbox Live and Halo was a cornerstone of the Xbox 360," Spencer said after returning to the stage following 343.
Microsoft also threw in a short stint on independent games, highlighted by the reveal of a new exclusive from Limbo developers Playdead Studios. Developers of the indie variety have been an increasingly important focus for Microsoft in 2014. After the company was forced to play catch-up against Sony -- which brought indie developers onstage way back at the February 2013 unveiling of the PS4 -- Microsoft has been making a more substantial effort with its ID@Xbox publishing program, courting small developers like Asher Vollmer of mobile sensation Threes, which is coming to Xbox One later this year. That said, Microsoft didn't spend too long on indies, and fans didn't get refreshed glimpses of any of the confirmed higher-profile Xbox One exclusives like Capybara Games' Below, let alone see an indie developer onstage.
When it comes to other large, third-party properties slated for late 2014 and 2015, Microsoft showed off a gameplay demo of CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. And ahead of publisher Ubisoft's press conference later today, fans even got gameplay demos of the next title in the revisionist history series Assassin's Creed -- titled Unity and set during the French Revolution -- and Tom Clancy's The Division. Both are high-profile, multi-platform Ubisoft games, with the latter delayed until 2015. Assassin's Creed Unity is on track for its now-standard annual fall release.
Previously unannounced titles were in short supply, peppered throughout the conference with nothing but short videos and the flash of a title screen. Microsoft showed off a trailer for the sequel to last year's successful Tomb Raider reboot from Square Enix, and there was also a reveal of a fighting title called Phantom Dust. Trailers for a dragon-focused Xbox One exclusive action game, Scalebound, from Bayonetta-creator Platinum Games and the much-anticipated sequel to the open-world, crime-fighting game Crackdown made appearances as well to finish off the game announcements.
This year, a different Xbox One
Last summer marked a trying time for Microsoft as the company headed into E3 only a month after unveiling the Xbox One at a dedicated event in May 2013. It was then -- as well as the days and weeks after E3 in June -- that Microsoft began stumbling on its corporate messaging, with executives unable to state clearly which elements of its next-gen console would be more restrictive than the last.
The backlash was immediate. Microsoft soon began walking back its policy shifts, including the requirement that players connect to the Internet once every 24 hours and keep the Kinect motion camera and sensor peripheral plugged in and powered on to use the console. In the wake, Don Mattrick, now CEO of social games company Zygna, left his role as president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment department. Spencer, once solely responsible for Microsoft's game development arm, has since assumed that role in the form of Xbox division head.
Microsoft's Xbox One vision one year later is starkly different. While the Kinect remains intact, its importance has been scaled down drastically since the console's launch. Xbox One now sells as a standalone unit for $399 after the bold Kinect unbundling shift in May that put the console in price parity with Sony's competing PlayStation 4. That choice, while consumer friendly, undermined the original Xbox One vision for a motion and controlled living-room experience that moved beyond games.
Still, Microsoft seems content with that pivot, having lost serious ground in worldwide sales to the PS4 with its options few and far between. Sony's last sales figures put its console at 7 million units sold to consumers globally, while Microsoft has only announced that it's sold to retailers 5 million units. Since the unbundling of the Kinect, sales figures have yet to be released.
"We will continue to listen to you -- our community -- and continue to make Xbox for you. That's not just my personal commitment but the commitment of the entire Xbox team," Spencer said, taking the stage to close out the 90-minute event.
"Thank you for making your voice heard and thank you for helping us shape the future of the new Xbox."
Nest's modus operandi is to reimagine the boring, annoying, or dysfunctional white-label products around your house. Two years ago, the startup sucessfully tackled the thermostat and upended the industry with a model that programs itself by tracking your family's patterns. Today, Nest intends to replace the obnoxious, ugly, batteries-constantly-dying, wall-wart smoke detectors with a model that talks to other smoke detectors, communicates with your thermostat, and avoids blaring a siren unless the situation is truly dire.
The good:The easy-to-use D-Link DIR-868L offers fast data speeds, solid Wi-Fi coverage, and cloud-enabled features with mobile apps.
The bad:The router can't work as a media bridge or a standalone access point, and its mobile apps are limited both in features and functionality.
The bottom line:The D-Link DIR-868L delivers as an advanced 802.11ac-enabled home router despite its underwhelming mobile apps and usage inflexibility.
The good:The Sony Xperia Z boasts a thin, attractive design that’s also dust- and water-resistant. It’s equipped with a big, bright screen and 4G LTE, takes great pictures, and has sharp call quality.
The bad:The Sony Xperia Z’s battery life is short, its camera is slow, and its processor is not as peppy as those found in other flagship phones. Its glossy chassis attracts fingerprints easily.
The bottom line:The Sony Xperia Z makes sense if a water-resistant design and excellent photos are a priority, but skip it if you demand blazingly fast performance and long battery life.
Google has shaken up the world of streaming video with its new (and hard to get) Chromecast. The $35 unit effectively turns any "dumb" HDTV into a smart TV with Netflix and YouTube, and uses any iPhone, Android phone, or tablet as a remote.
Some pundits were quick to declare the ultra-affordable Chromecast the new top dog of the streaming media world ("Google's miracle device"), suggesting that it would leave current market leaders Apple TV and Roku as roadkill. While some of them made these declarations before actually using the product, there was no doubt from the level of general Web enthusiasm that Google was making consumers sit up and take notice.
