News

Testing tech ideas in public? San Francisco says get permit

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tired of San Francisco streets being used as a testing ground for the latest delivery technology and transportation apps, city leaders are now requiring businesses to get permits before trying out new high-tech ideas in public. Supporters of the legislation, which the Board of Supervisors unanimously […]

Sanders announces $150B plan to expand broadband access

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is promising to invest $150 billion to bring high-speed internet to “every household in America” while breaking up and better regulating monopolies he says currently limit access to drive up their profits. The Vermont senator on Friday unveiled a plan providing that funding in infrastructure grants and […]

State AGs look to head off T-Mobile-Sprint deal in court

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A high-drama telecom deal is heading to court. T-Mobile, in its attempt to buy Sprint for $26.5 billion, has already notched approvals from key federal regulators. Now it must convince a federal judge that the 14 state attorneys general suing to stop the deal are […]

Huawei asks court to throw out US telecom funds ban

By SAM McNEIL Associated Press SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei is asking a U.S. federal court to throw out a rule that bars rural phone carriers from using government money to purchase its equipment on security grounds. The lawsuit announced Thursday is Huawei Technologies Ltd.’s second legal challenge this year to Trump […]

Google co-founders step aside as antitrust scrutiny heats up

By RACHEL LERMAN AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’s co-founders are relinquishing their executive positions just as state and federal regulators, not to mention the Department of Justice and Congress, are taking a keen interest in possible abuse of its privacy practices and market power. But their long foreshadowed successor, Sundar Pichai, has […]

Tech aims to predict problems on power lines before disaster

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — B. Don Russell wasn’t thinking about preventing a wildfire when he developed a tool to detect power line problems before they cause equipment failures, blackouts or even deadly accidents. The electrical engineering professor at Texas A&M University figured he might save a life if his creation […]

Motorola razr flips for its futuristic foldable phone

NEW YORK (AP) — Motorola razr is bracing for the future by returning to the past. The company is adapting its historical flip-phone design for a smartphone with a foldable screen. Samsung, Huawei and others have phones that fold like a book and offer a double-sized display when unfolded. Motorola razr phone, on the other […]

Trump campaign, GOP groups attack Google's new ad policy

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and other Republican election groups criticized tech giant Google on Tuesday for making it harder for political advertisers to target specific types of people. The GOP groups said the changes will lead directly to suppressing voter turnout and would “disproportionately” hurt Republican […]

US proposes rules to vet all telecoms-related purchases

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — The Department of Commerce has proposed requiring case-by-case approvals of all purchases of telecommunications equipment in a move likely to hit major Chinese suppliers like Huawei. The plan issued Tuesday follows President Donald Trump’s order in May declaring a national emergency and restricting purchases by U.S. […]

Iran internet slowly revives; US sanctions telecom minister

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The internet slowly trickled back on in Iran on Friday after a dayslong shutdown by authorities amid protests and unrest that followed government-set gasoline prices sharply rising, as the U.S. sanctioned the country’s prominent telecommunications minister over the outage. A week after the gasoline […]