Tech News 2Night 148 (Transcripts)

[Top TN2 Animation ] Tonight! Google want to build a Trans-Pacific cable to Japan, the White House launches the U.S. Digital Service, and Microsoft announces a big event in September (could that be the "selfie" phone?) Tech News 2Night is Next! [TWiT Open] [Main TN2 Open] This is Tech News 2Night Episode #148, for Monday August 11, 2014 This episode of Tech News 2Night is brought to you by NatureBox. Order great-tasting, healthy snacks delivered right to your door. Forget the vending machine, and get in shape with healthy, delicious treats like Maple Habanero Pretzel Pops! To get 50% off your first box go to naturebox.com/twit. I'm Sarah Lane, Let's get right to the Tech Feed! Google has announced it's backed a plan to both build and operate a new high-speed internet Trans-Pacific cable system, dubbed “FASTER”, by the second quarter of 2016. FASTER, a $300 million project, will feature high-quality 6-fiber-pair cable and optical transmission technologies. Capacity is expected to start at 60-Tb/s (100Gb/s x 100 wavelengths x 6 fiber-pairs), and connect the US with two locations in Japan: Chikura and Shima. FASTER will also feature connectivity to neighboring cable systems and extend the capacity beyond Japan to other Asian countries. Connections in the US will extend the system to major West Coast hubs like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. FASTER will also be managed by China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI, and SingTel. NEC will be the system supplier. / Today The White House announced it's formally launching a new U.S. Digital Service, and has hired Mikey Dickerson to lead it. Dickerson is a former Dickerson, a former site reliability manager for Google and engineer credited for his work salvaging HealthCare.gov after its initial mess of a launch. The White House has dubbed the project USDS. In testimony before the Senate's Homeland Security Committee back in May, federal Chief Information Officer Steve VanRoekel called it a "centralized, world-class capability...made up of our country’s brightest digital talent," and "charged with removing barriers to exceptional Government service delivery and remaking the digital experiences that citizens and businesses have with their Government." His ambition, he said, is to "delight the customer." / CBS CEO Les Moonves said in the company's most recent earnings call that CBS Studios is currently developing original TV series with streaming video services in mind. Moonves didn’t go ito details regarding which services CBS might be collaborating with, but he did say that the network plans to produce “more and more shows for more and more outlets." CBS already has a licensing agreement with Amazon which allows the retailer to stream new episodes of the CBS's sci-fi show Extant four days after its initial broadcast debut on CBS. But the new developments ndicate the network will be producing shows that will air solely on the chosen streaming services, rather than TV first, streaming second. / Microsoft will address nine bugs, two that are critical, in this month's Patch Tuesday. The first critical vulnerability involves IE versions 6 to 11, and the other involves a graphics-related exploit in Windows that could allow an attacker to trick a user into opening a malicious file. Windows 8.1 users will not receive the fixes unless they've installed Windows 8.1 Update, and then will receive the first update under the company's new policy - instead of releasing new features every few years in large updates, it will increasingly launch new Windows capabilities via monthly updates, like it does for security patches. Microsoft is rumored to be readying the next version of Windows, which is codenamed "Threshold" and might be called "Windows 9" when it hits the market. Speaking of Windows, remember the Mac vs. PC wars? Microsoft is bringing it back with a round of new ads pitting the Surface Pro 3 against Apple's Macbook Air. There’s three 30-second spots in total, each centering on the touchscreen and pen benefits of the Surface Pro 3 over the MacBook Air. Microsoft’s original Surface Pro 3 ads focused on the features of Microsoft’s latest tablet / laptop hybrid, with a tagline of "the tablet that can replace your laptop." The Surface Pro 3 is launching in 25 new countries on August 28th. / In a weakening PC market, tablet chips are still big business, which is why the delay of Intel's new Broadwell chip architecture and the company's new 14nm manufacturing process has been tough for industry giants—from Microsoft to Dell to Apple—which depend on Intel’s progress for their own products. Broadwellchips are finally expected later this year and into early 2015. Intel isn’t giving out specific performance or power consumption numbers for its new processors just yet, but the company says they can deliver twice the performance-per-watt in 14nm Broadwell Core M chips as it could with 22nm Haswell Y-series chips. This gives PC OEMs more flexibility with performance and size, and increases battery life options. / Coming up.. what happens when great white shark attacks an autonomous underwater vehicle? Up next I'll caht with Ina Fried from Re/code about Microsoft's just announced September event and what they might unveil. [AD] I’m going to say something that’s going to surprise you -- You should be snacking more! I’ve discovered Nature Box. Nature Box snacks have ZERO trans fats, ZERO high fructose corn syrup -- and NOTHING artificial. Nature Box sends great tasting snacks right to your door with free shipping anywhere in the U.S. Here’s how it works: Click on the “Continue” button to choose between 3 subscription options. Then place your order. You can select by dietary needs: Vegan, Soy Free, Gluten Conscious, Lactose Free, Nut Free and Non GMO. The next time you get hungry and are ready to eat anything, remember Nature Box. Snack guilt free on PB&J Granola, Bruschetta Pretzel Pops and over 100 more healthy snacks! [[Offer/ Call to Action]] To get 50% off your first box go to naturebox.com/twit. And we thank Nature Box for their support of Tech News 2Night. [Segment #2] Ina Fried, Senior Editor at Re/code Ina, you received a media invite to the September 4th event in Berlin. Speculation is the Lumia 730 “Selfie” phone will debut. Then there’s Apple’s event a few days later on the 9th with possible new iPhone(s) also, Motorola Moto G2, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 (might have a different name). - How is the Fall shaping up for smartphones? - What can we expect as far as similarities with any these phones? -Today Microsoft announced a $25 Nokia phone- with no internet. What is the plan with this device? [Kicker!] It's Shark Week, which some people seem to take really seriously. On Sunday, August 10th, the Discovery Channel and Massachusetts’ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution published a video showing the Institution’s SharkCam, a REMUS-100 autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with six cameras, being attacked by great white sharks. With its six cameras facing to the front, rear, left, right, front up, and front down, the SharkCam is capable of capturing the sharks at any direction, making it possible for scientists to study their behavior in great detail.The SharkCam had been designed to withstand collisions with boats as well as scratches using a screwdriver and blunt force, but when the SharkCam was recovered, it had severe bite marks in its paint after being attacked multiple times. How cute. [good bye] That's it for this edition of Tech News 2Night. Subscribe to this show at Twit.tv/tn2, and write us at tn2@twit.tv Don't miss our morning news program, Tech News Today, tomorrow and every weekday at 10am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. I'm Sarah Lane, thanks for watching.