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    Verizon May Seek Changes or Exit Yahoo Deal

    The huge data breach that compromised as many as 500,000 user accounts was bad news on a number of fronts for Yahoo. The aggravation stemming from the hack continues as Verizon suggests that it may back out of or seek changes to the $4.8 billion deal to buy Yahoo.

    Yesterday, Verizon General Counsel Craig Silliman said that the hack could have “material impact” on the deal and give it reason to exit or restructure the transaction, according to Computerworld. Yahoo stands by the value of the company, while Verizon is seeking to reduce the acquisition price by $1 billion.

    Best of Frien-emies: Google

    Google has declared itself a “frien-emy” of the established carriers. Light Reading reports that Google says that its broadband networking activities make it a competitor to telephone companies in only a minority of cases. Indeed, Mike Blanche, the head of Strategic Relationships for Google, told an audience at the Ovum Digital Futures conference that Google considers itself to be 80 percent partner, 5 percent competitor, and 10 percent supplier to telcos.

    Blanche’s comments, says the article, which are similar to those he has made in the past, are intended to assuage telco concerns. The concerns have existed since Google Fiber was created in 2012.

    Transportation Department: $65M in Grants

    Though it may seem a bit contradictory, one of the biggest drivers of innovation is the same government that is often accused of being bloated and lethargic. This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $65 million in grants through initiatives from the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program and Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox program.  The programs are run by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), respectively.

    The grants will be leveraged to total almost $170 million in public and private investment, the press release says. The ATCMTD program will use the funding to help communities use technology to enhance mobility. The projects will increase the efficiency of the highway system.

    The MOD program is part of the U.S. DOT’s effort to explore the “potential of integrating public and private transportation choices,” the press release says.

    The Galaxy Note 7 Has Come to This: Fireproof Boxes

    The depth of the disaster that the Galaxy Note 7 has proven to be for Samsung can be summed up by one fact: Samsung, according to Reuters, is sending out fireproof boxes for returns of Note 7 devices.

    The bad news keeps coming. The faulty Note 7s will cost Samsung billions of dollars, and harder to quantify humiliation. Reuters reports that the carrier is taking no chances with the devices, which were released two months ago. The boxes come after some of those phones – and some replacements – went up in smoke.

    Indeed, this is not the type of paragraph that marketing departments enjoy reading:

    A YouTube video by Android developer news site XDA Developers on Tuesday showed a “return kit,” including a fireproof box with a “forbidden for transport by aircraft” warning and blue gloves to handle the device.

    It remains to be seen whether the incident will damage the company’s reputation in the long haul. Chances are pretty good, however, that the story will remain “hot” for quite some time.

    Gartner: 3D Printer Shipments on the Fast Track

    Gartner found that 3D printer shipments will total 455,772 this year. That is a 108 percent increase compared to last year’s 219,168 units that shipped in 2015. Gartner predicts that 6.7 million units will ship in 2020.

    Datamation suggests that shipments of enterprise-graded 3D printers will grow 44 percent this year. Among the drivers are manufacturers’ increasing use of the devices for prototyping and as-needed production.

    Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at cweinsch@optonline.net and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.

     

    Carl Weinschenk
    Carl Weinschenk
    Carl Weinschenk Carl Weinschenk Carl Weinschenk is a long-time IT and telecom journalist. His coverage areas include the IoT, artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence, drones, 3D printing LTE and 5G, SDN, NFV, net neutrality, municipal broadband, unified communications and business continuity/disaster recovery. Weinschenk has written about wireless and phone companies, cable operators and their vendor ecosystems. He also has written about alternative energy and runs a website, The Daily Music Break, as a hobby.

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