Nick Statt | Vox Our world has too much noise and too little context. Vox helps you understand what matters. 2019-03-06T11:07:28+00:00 https://www.vox.com/authors/nick-statt-2/rss https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/vox_logo_rss_light_mode.png?w=150&h=100&crop=1 Nick Statt <![CDATA[Ellen Pao launches advocacy group to improve diversity in the tech industry]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/5/3/11634210/ellen-pao-advocacy-group-tech-diversity 2019-03-06T05:58:32-05:00 2016-05-03T12:51:17-04:00

Ellen Pao, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, today announced the launch of Project Include, an advocacy group aimed at improving diversity in the technology industry. The group was started by Pao and fellow female engineers and executives, including members of Slack, Pinterest, and other Bay Area VC firms. The initiative will focus on providing startups and established tech companies with information on making hiring more inclusive, improving retention and examining bias in the workplace.

“Project Include started as dinner brainstorming sessions on how to make tech meaningfully more diverse,” Pao said in a statement. “Today we’ve joined forces to provide CEOs with comprehensive tools — frameworks, research, metrics and recommendations — for diversity and inclusion. And the early feedback we’ve heard repeatedly from CEOs is, ‘I wish I had had this earlier.’”

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Verizon reportedly plans FiOS overhaul with new internet-based set-top box]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/4/16/11586176/verizon-reportedly-plans-fios-overhaul-with-new-internet-based-set 2019-03-06T05:36:47-05:00 2016-04-16T12:00:22-04:00

Verizon is planning on releasing a new set-top box model later this year that could substantially change how it delivers cable and Internet services to FiOS customers, according to a report from Variety today. The new device, codenamed “Mallard,” is said to incorporate technology from OnCue, an Intel Internet TV service sold off to Verizon in 2014. The phrase “video set-top box” and OnCue are both also mentioned in a series of FCC filings reported first by Light Reading earlier this week.

The box would deliver content from streaming services and online video from Verizon’s AOL subsidiary with an all-new interface distinct from the current FiOS one. (Verizon may even go so far as to drop the FiOS branding altogether, the report says.)

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Journalist Matthew Keys sentenced to 24 months for helping Anonymous]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/4/13/11586112/journalist-matthew-keys-sentenced-to-24-months-for-helping-anonymous 2019-03-06T05:14:33-05:00 2016-04-13T18:25:54-04:00

Matthew Keys, the former Reuters journalist who was convicted last year for aiding the hacker group Anonymous, was sentenced to 24 months in prison today. Keys faced up to a possible 25 years for three counts of hacking. His conviction has become yet another high-profile example of the often eager and heavy-handed use of dated federal laws used to turn online crimes from misdemeanors into felonies. Following his sentence, Keys will be on supervised release. He is set to surrender on June 15th.

Keys was found guilty in October 2015 for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by providing website login credentials to the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Media-owned newspaper.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[DraftKings and FanDuel Suspend All College Sports Contests in Deal With NCAA]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/3/31/11587420/draftkings-and-fanduel-suspend-all-college-sports-contests-in-deal 2019-03-06T05:16:40-05:00 2016-03-31T13:54:36-04:00

Daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel have voluntarily ceased college sports betting indefinitely in all U.S. states as part of a deal with the NCAA. The action takes effect following the conclusion of the NCAA March Madness tournament on April 4th, according to a report from ESPN today.

The decision should have little effect on either company’s business. For FanDuel, which alongside DraftKings controls around 90 percent of the daily fantasy market, college sports make up only about 3 percent of revenue. College sports nets DraftKings 10 to 20 times less revenue than bets on NFL games. Yet by agreeing to ban college betting, both companies may see a boost of goodwill in more contentious legal battlegrounds like New York, where they’ve ceased operating in hopes the state will legalize the activity.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Virginia Becomes First State to Formally Legalize Daily Fantasy Sports]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/3/8/11586768/virginia-becomes-first-state-to-formally-legalize-daily-fantasy-sports 2019-03-06T05:10:20-05:00 2016-03-08T00:40:18-05:00

Virginia today signed into law the “Fantasy Contests Act,” a bill outlining how daily fantasy sport sites like DraftKings and FanDuel can operate legally in the state. The law is the nation’s first formal recognition of the industry after months of heated legal activity in multiple states. Regulators and lawmakers around the country have sought bans on the websites on the grounds they constitute illegal online gambling.

Alongside undergoing two independent audits every year, fantasy sport sites must pay a $50,000 fee to operate in Virginia, impose policies to ensure all players are 18 years or older and ban employees of fantasy sites from participating in public contests, among other consumer protection measures.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Google Testing Hands Free Payments App]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/3/2/11586640/google-testing-hands-free-payments-app 2019-03-06T05:15:26-05:00 2016-03-02T12:23:24-05:00

Google today released an experimental payments app called Hands Free, a service that lets you pay for items in stores without taking your phone out.

The iOS and Android app relies on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and location services to determine when you’re nearby a participating retailer or restaurant. When you get to the cashier, all you have to say is, “I’ll pay with Google,” and the clerk can confirm your identity with a photo on their end to complete the transaction. The service is only available in the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area right now, and participating stores include McDonald’s, Papa John’s and a handful of local retailers Google doesn’t list by name.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Hound Is a Digital Assistant That’s Smarter Than Siri, Google Now and Cortana]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11586592/hound-is-a-digital-assistant-thats-smarter-than-siri-google-now-and 2019-03-06T05:15:22-05:00 2016-03-01T10:13:35-05:00

Nearly every one of the world’s largest technology companies is trying to figure out how to let computers understand human speech, but a Santa Clara-based startup may have just cut its way to the top of the field. Hound, as its app is called, is a voice-powered digital assistant. You can talk to it, ask it questions and have it perform tasks for you. What sets Hound apart is that it’s faster and more capable than anything you’ve ever tried before. It’s available now on iOS and Android.

SoundHound, the company behind Hound, launched the app in beta for Android users last summer, and it’s spent the last eight months improving the service with the help of about 150,000 testers. The company is also launching partnerships with Yelp and Uber today to let Hound users get restaurant information and hail a ride from within the app. Those integrations are nice, but Hound has a tall order: it’s trying to usurp the likes of Apple and Google as the go-to voice interface for smartphones.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Microsoft Is Buying a Company That Is Key to Its Cross-Platform Future]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/2/24/11588212/microsoft-is-buying-a-company-that-is-key-to-its-cross-platform-future 2019-03-06T05:17:53-05:00 2016-02-24T16:05:48-05:00

Microsoft today says it’s acquiring mobile app development startup Xamarin for an undisclosed sum, giving the company a tool for building mobile apps that can work across iOS, Android, and Windows phones. Xamarin, which has 15,000 customers including large brand names like Coca-Cola and JetBlue, allows developers to code in a single programming language while designing an app to look native to each platform. Xamarin also offers a way for developers to test those apps using thousands of cloud-hosted devices. One of the four-year-old startup’s main products relies on Microsoft’s Visual Studio software, so this acquisition is a natural pairing.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[Watch This DARPA Drone Speed Around a Warehouse at 45 MPH]]> https://www.vox.com/2016/2/13/11587844/watch-this-darpa-drone-speed-around-a-warehouse-at-45-mph 2019-03-06T05:39:18-05:00 2016-02-13T11:33:34-05:00

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is testing autonomous drones that can maneuver around obstacles at up to 45 mph. The devices are part of DARPA’s FLA program, short for Fast Lightweight Autonomy, which is developing drones for disaster relief and military reconnaissance.

DARPA used a hodgepodge of different drone parts to create the UAVs, including a commercial DJI Flamewheel 450 frame and a 3D Robotics Pixhawk onboard autopilot system. In its first successful test, DARPA got its drones flying autonomously at the desired speed and also tested the drone’s ability to “see” obstacles using cameras, inertia measurement devices, and LIDAR and sonar sensors.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

]]> Nick Statt <![CDATA[First Look at New Foldable Google Glass for the Workplace]]> https://www.vox.com/2015/12/28/11621756/first-look-at-new-foldable-google-glass-for-the-workplace 2019-03-06T06:07:28-05:00 2015-12-28T14:33:34-05:00

The division of Google responsible for wearable technology, Project Aura, has been hard at work on numerous iterations based on the original Glass headset. Now we’ve got a glimpse at what one of those devices may look like.

In FCC filings published today, a version of Glass designed for the workplace shows a familiar-looking device with a glass prism, but equipped with a hinge so that it can be folded and placed in pockets like a standard pair of glasses.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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