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Whose Internet is it anyway? Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, says he's keeping that question in mind as he pitches the biggest regulatory shake-up to the telecommunications industry since 1996, when people still used noisy modems and referred to the "information superhighway" as a fun way to buy books or check the weather. Wheeler has not publicly released his plan yet, and might not for a few weeks. But he has suggested that Internet service has become as critical to people in the United States as water, electricity or phone service and should be regulated like any other public utility. Wheeler told reporters this past week that he wants "yardsticks in place to determine what is in the best interest of consumers as opposed to what is…

Amazon.com Inc. s fourth-quarter earnings roundly beat analyst expectations, sending the Seattle e-commerce giant's stock soaring 11 percent in premarket trading Friday. Here's a closer look at what investors applauded and hope continues. SMART SPENDING Operating expenses rose 15 percent to $28.74 billion but that was less than some analysts had expected Amazon would spend. Investors have long wanted Amazon to show some restraint as it invests in its business, and this metric seemed to be a sign that Amazon is willing to do that. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said the lower-than-expected costs were related to flat fulfillment expenses - what the company spends on its distribution centers and deliveries -during the holiday season even though Amazon shipped 100 million more free items. The company also spent less on…

Consumers may see improved networks after AT&T and Verizon, the two largest U.S. wireless companies, spent billions in the government's latest airwaves auction. The additional airwaves, or spectrum, will allow wireless companies to offer more capacity for mobile data services, helping ease congested networks. The auction, which ended Thursday, will raise $41.3 billion for the U.S. Treasury and various federal programs. AT&T Inc. bid $18.2 billion and Verizon Wireless $10.4 billion. T-Mobile US Inc. had $1.77 billion in winning bids. Sprint Corp. did not participate. AT&T plans to start using the new spectrum in 2017 or 2018 to improve performance and offer additional capacity for mobile data - particularly for video, which is one of the largest uses of data capacity. AT&T says it expects the new spectrum to be…

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Uber Technologies says that if you catch a ride with one of its drivers, your personal and financial data are safe - from Uber itself. The ride-booking company on Friday used a blog post to release the results of what it described as a thorough outside examination of its privacy and personal data policies. While popular with users and investors, the company has faced criticism that its employees inappropriately accessed customer data. That is just one problem that Uber is trying to overcome - another is that it does not properly screen drivers that connect with passengers through its app to ensure they have clean criminal records. In the blog post, Uber said attorneys from the law firm Hogan Lovells spent six weeks reviewing documentation and interviewing executives and concluded…

Two years ago, Andrew Mason faced an unexpected detour when he was ousted as CEO from the online discount site he founded, Groupon. Now the tech executive's back on the entrepreneurial path, with an !Phone app selling unconventional audio tours of major cities. It's called - you guessed it - Detour. Seven different San Francisco expeditions, released Tuesday, meander from the city's beatnik bars to the weathered docks of the bay while regaling listeners with colorful tales about local lore. Each excursion costs $5. If Detour follows the course Mason's charting, the audio tours will span the globe within the next five years and the app will become a standard accessory for vacationers or city dwellers just looking for a fun way to learn more about where they live. "Most…

Samsung lost the battle of the big phones last quarter as Apple's copycat large !Phone lured buyers in the crucial Chinese market. The South Korean company said Thursday its October-December profit sank, with an improvement in its semiconductor business insufficient to mask its mobile problems. It was in China, the world's largest market for smartphones, where Samsung's dramatic decline was most evident. Its weakness there is a key reason why Samsung's share of global smartphone sales dropped to about one quarter last year from a one-third share in 2013. Apple Inc. contributed to Samsung's latest reversal in fortune, launching !Phones with bigger screens that robbed Samsung's Galaxy phones of a key selling point. Samsung was already battling competition in low-end phones from upstart manufacturers such as China's Xiaomi. Samsung is…

Google has turned into a stock market laggard as the shift to mobile devices has lowered the Internet search leader's digital ad prices and the company's expensive investments in far-out technology has trimmed its profit margins. Those factors have left some investors wondering what Google might do to boost its stock price, especially after the company's latest financial report. The earnings released late Thursday missed analyst targets, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that has happened. That discouraging trend is one reason Google's stock price ended Thursday's trading session 8 percent below where it stood 13 months ago. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed by 9 percent during the same stretch. POTENTIAL CATALYSTS One way to lift the stock would be to slash expenses to boost earnings, something that…

E-commerce giant Alibaba pledged Friday to do more to fight online sales of counterfeit goods, quickly settling a public dispute with a Chinese regulator after the value of its U.S-traded shares plunged. Alibaba founder Jack Ma and the director of the Cabinet's State Administration of Industry and Commerce met and pledged to cooperate more closely to combat sales of fakes, the agency said in a statement. A report Wednesday by the SAIC accused Alibaba of lax oversight and allowing sales of counterfeit goods on its popular Taobao e-commerce platform. Alibaba said it was not to blame and, in a break with the usual deferential tone of Chinese companies toward regulators, took the unusual step of publicly accusing the agency and one of its officials of misconduct and bias. But the…

Big Hero 6 The latest Disney animated classic sees the brilliant 14-year old robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter) put together a team of first-time crime-fighting superheroes on a mission against a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the high-tech city of San Fransokyo. Hiro is helped in his efforts by his close companion, the blow-up health care provider Baymax (Scott Adsit). FIVE FACTS: 1. Big Hero 6 is the 54th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. 2. It is inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. 3. It is also the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters. 4. Other voice talents represented in the movie include Daniel Henney, T. J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans, Jr. and Maya…

A NASA satellite lifted off early Saturday with the hope it will transmit data that will help the world do a better job of preparing for floods and droughts. The satellite is on a three-year mission to track the amount of water locked in soil, which may help residents in low-lying regions brace for floods or farmers get ready for drought conditions. The Delta 2 rocket carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive - or SMAP - satellite launched shortly before sunrise from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast. As the rocket zoomed skyward, it gave off an orange glow. About an hour later, the satellite successfully separated from the rocket and began unfurling its solar panels to start generating power. NASA launch manager Tim Dunn said there were…

'SECRET SCREENING' DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS It should be no great surprise to see the considerable number of column inches devoted to the latest cinematic creation of sibling directorial duo Lana and Andy Wachowski, otherwise known as the Wachowskis. After all, these two have quite the history as directors, screenwriters and producers, particularly for The Matrix. However, much of the talk surrounding their next epic - Jupiter Ascending - seems to have been decidedly negative. Given the praise that has already been forthcoming from critics as the film is released in North America today (February 6), that certainly is a surprise... at least, if you aren't aware of the back-story. You see, in a unusual move for a movie bidding to be a Hollywood blockbuster, Jupiter Ascending - which boasts such…

REACTION TO ASTONISHING REVENUE AND EARNINGS FIGURES The news on January 30 that - following the release three days earlier of Apple's latest quarterly earnings report - the Cupertino firm's stock had topped $120 after the opening bell, amid talk of shares potentially reaching $160, goes some way to showing the immense market optimism that surrounds the company at the minute. Indeed, the Californian giant enjoyed stellar profits in the holiday quarter. However, that word "stellar" could never explain just how stellar the figures actually were, so let's quote some of them. For the fiscal 2015 first quarter ending December 27, 2014, Apple posted records for both quarterly revenue and quarterly net profit, of $74.6 billion and $18 billion respectively, equating to $3.06 per diluted share. Such figures compare to…

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Reflection (Deluxe) Fifth Harmony The girl group formerly known as LYLAS - and then 1432 - may have come to our attentions back on the second season of The X Factor in 2012, but it’s taken until now for them to release their debut album - and judging by the promising first two singles “Boss” and “Sledgehammer”, the wait has been a worthwhile one. FIVE FACTS: 1. The band’s members are Ally Brooke Hernandez, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane Hansen, Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui. 2. The album follows the group’s debut EP, Better Together, in 2013. 3. Hernandez has spoke of Reflection being “laid back” and “less pop” than Better Together. 4. Jauregui added back in March: “We have shifted the lane a bit and made it a more mature…

A study released Tuesday shows Silicon Valley s tech economy is continuing to boom, with 58,000 new jobs and 42,000 new residents last year and all indications the record growth will continue. The annual Silicon Valley Index released by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, representing businesses, government and the broader community, also shows record venture capital investment in technology. "The world's hottest regional economy keeps getting hotter," said Joint Venture President Russell Hancock, pointing to the highest growth rate since 2000. And unlike 15 years ago when the tech sector spiked and then crashed, this time economists say there's a solid economic base. "It's not bubblicious, we have grown into this and we've done this incrementally," said Hancock. Silicon Valley, home to Google, Apple, Facebook and many other tech firms, was…