D11: All the news from All Things D’s 2013 conference – The Verge

Former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski: ‘people have the right to send and receive information over the internet, period’

2013-06-05T08:30:05-04:00

julius genachowskit

It's been just over two weeks since Julius Genachowski stepped down as chairman of the FCC after four years in charge of the nation's communications policy, and he looks extremely relaxed. You would too: in the past four years Genachowski's FCC has dealt with everything from the rise of LTE networks and the explosion of mobile devices to the net neutrality debate and the government's coordinated opposition to the AT&T / T-Mobile merger. And significant challenges and changes remain. Someone will eventually buy Sprint, demand for spectrum continues to rise, and the TV industry feels ripe for disruption. Obama appointee Tom Wheeler will have p …

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Sony Xperia Z to launch on US carrier in ‘coming weeks’

2013-05-30T16:49:50-04:00

xperia z, stock

Sony's selling an unlocked version of its Xperia ZL in the United States, but it hasn't yet gotten a carrier deal for the flagship phones it launched at CES. That's about to change, Sony's Kaz Hirai and Phil Molyneux told reporters today at the D11 conference. "We will make an announcement about the Xperia Z with a carrier very shortly," said Hirai, with Molyneux later saying it would be within the coming weeks. Neither would reveal which carrier, but Sony has a long history with AT&T and the ZL already works on AT&T's LTE network, so that would be a natural fit.

Asked how Sony would differentiate the glass-backed waterproof Z in the hyperc …

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Kaz Hirai says the PS4 is ‘first and foremost’ a game console, more features to be revealed

2013-05-30T16:35:01-04:00

ps4 revealed

Sony and Microsoft launched their next-gen consoles in very different ways: the Xbox One was pitched as a complete living room device, while the PS4 event was a nonstop series of game demos. That's important, Kaz Hirai told reporters at the D11 conference today. "The most important thing we need to do is agree and understand that the PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers," he said. "If we miss that part, I don't think we get the initial establishment of the console. That formula has worked for us with all our consoles, including the PS3."

"The PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers."

Hirai did …

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HTC One with stock Android hands-on

2013-05-30T15:07:02-04:00

htc one stock

Google and HTC made a lot of dreams come true this morning when Android head Sundar Pichai announced a version of the HTC One with stock Android at the D11 conference. Google's Hugo Barra happened to have a stock One in his pocket, and he gave me a quick look. Just as with the stock Samsung GS4, it's exactly what you'd expect: both the hardware and software are familiar, but it's great to see them paired with support from Google and HTC. You'll still have to deal with HTC's weirdo button layout, though: the home button is on the right, not the middle, and it's a long press for Google Now and a double-tap for recent apps.

Beats won't put an i …

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Fan TV revealed: is this the set-top box we’ve been waiting for?

2013-05-30T14:10:04-04:00

fantv

In June 2011, a Silicon Valley startup released a well received iOS app named Fanhattan to serve as a central place for finding streaming video. More recently, Fanhattan brought its service to the web. But it turns out the apps were something of a feint - for its entire existence the company has been secretly working on its own media-streaming device, and after two years Fanhattan is showing it to the world.

Today on stage at the D11 conference, Fanhattan co-founder and CEO Gilles BianRosa is unveiling Fan TV, an Yves Behar-designed entertainment system that combines the functions of cable set-top boxes and streaming devices like Apple TV a …

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Windows Phone doesn’t have the ‘reach’ for Google to build a YouTube app, says Android chief

2013-05-30T12:20:09-04:00

sundar pichai

Google didn't build its own YouTube app for Windows Phone because the platform doesn't have "a critical mass of users," Android chief Sundar Pichai said today at the D11 conference. "It's simply a function of reach," he said, before recommending that Windows Phone users try the mobile web version of YouTube. "YouTube has a great HTML5 experience," he said.

Pichai's comments come in the wake of a public spat with Microsoft over YouTube on Windows Phone. Microsoft built its own version of the app, but it did not include ads, leading Google to demand that the company remove it from its app store. Last week Microsoft updated the app to address …

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Elon Musk teases June news on Hyperloop, his rapid transit system for the future

2013-05-29T23:51:14-04:00

via d35lb3dl296zwu.cloudfront.net

Following his announcement of Tesla's dramatic Supercharger station expansion, CEO Elon Musk touched on another pet project: Hyperloop. The rapid transit system would connect downtown Los Angeles with San Francisco, 380 miles away. Musk told the crowd that more details for the project would be available on June 20th.

"Even if I'm wrong about the economic assumptions, it would be a really fun ride."

Musk denigrated California's current high speed rail plans, pointing out that the bullet train currently under consideration will be both the slowest in the world and most expensive per mile - "not the superlatives you're looking for." In contrast …

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Tesla Supercharger expansion will enable electric vehicle rides from LA to NY

2013-05-29T23:11:19-04:00

musk d11

Tesla founder Elon Musk took the stage at D today to talk about his company's plans, but didn't expect to get egged into making an early announcement: the company is going to triple the size of its Supercharger charging station network by the end of June, for the first time letting drivers make it from Los Angeles to New York in one of its electric vehicles. Also, according to Musk, the Supercharger network will cover most of the major areas of the US and Canada by the end of the year. Short range and a lack of fast charging stations have been among the biggest criticisms of electric vehicles, and the dramatic expansion could be a boon for a …

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Motorola shows off insane electronic tattoo and ‘vitamin authentication’ prototype wearables

2013-05-29T19:33:36-04:00

Proteus Prototype authentication pill

At the D11 conference today, Regina Dugan, SVP for advanced technology and projects at Motorola, showed off some advanced projects. The first was a prototype electronic tattoo on her arm from MC10, about which she quipped "teenagers might not want to wear a watch, but you can be sure they'll wear a tattoo just to piss off their parents."

The second technology was even wilder: a pill from Proteus Digital Health that you can swallow and which is then powered by the acid in your stomach. Once ingested, it creates an 18-bit signal in your body - and thereby makes your entire person an "authentication token." Dugan called it "vitamin authenticat …

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The Moto X phone will be made in the US and is coming this summer, says Motorola (update)

2013-05-29T19:12:53-04:00

woodside d11

At D11, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside has just confirmed that the company is working on a flagship phone, and that it is indeed called the Moto X. The phone will be made in the US, it will have an OLED screen, and Woodside has said that "we know when it's in your pocket, we know when it's in your hand, it's going to know when you want to take a picture and fire up the cameras." It'll know when you're in the car, for instance, and promote different interactions.

It's going to be built in Texas, in a 480,000-square-foot facility previously used to manufacture Nokia phones. Woodside says Moto X will be the first smartphone built in the United S …

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