BlackBerry “remains very bullish” on the IoT implications of QNX, the software operating system it bought from Harman International in 2010 (see 1004130093), CEO John Chen said on a Friday earnings call. “We're winning a lot of designs” with QNX, Chen said. “You will see a rollout of demonstrations of new technology as well as rollout of product at CES” using QNX, he said. BlackBerry booked exhibit space on the main CES floor in North Hall and also at the Tech West facility in the Sands Expo Center. By the end of February, the Priv, BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone (see Ref:[1509270001]), will be available in 31 countries, versus four at the end of Q3 ended Nov. 30, Chen said. The Priv launched Nov. 6 in North America, with AT&T having U.S. exclusivity in the U.S. market for 60 days, Chen said. “Although it's early, with less than a month of Priv sales in Q3, we're seeing positive feedback and good demand thus far,” he said. The early Priv sales have been “obviously dominated by BlackBerry customers, but we're seeing some other Android customers” adopt the device, as well as “a small percentage” of iPhone users, he said.

The law firm representing Retro Dreamer said the app developer, which settled with the FTC (see 1512170047) on alleged Children’s Online Privacy Protections Act (COPPA) rule violations, "never knowingly collected personal information from children." Morris Manning & Martin said in an emailed statement Thursday evening that third-party advertising networks used persistent identifiers across apps developed by a number of companies, including Retro Dreamer, to deliver tailored ads to users. While Los Angeles-based Retro Dreamer integrated third-party ad software development kits into its apps, it "never directly collected nor utilized persistent identifiers from its users," the law firm said. It said Retro Dreamer's apps are marketed to a general audience, not to children, as the FTC alleged. "Retro Dreamer no longer permits third-party advertisers to use persistent identifiers for customized ads in apps potentially identifiable as child-directed," said the statement. "It has also updated its privacy policy to maximize clarity for users concerning its information and data collection practices." The firm also said the settlement "does not constitute an admission" to violating COPPA.

Members of the ITU approved an international standard on cloud-based big data, the group said in a news release Friday. The standard "details the requirements, capabilities and use cases" of cloud-based big data and outlines how cloud computing systems "can be leveraged to provide big data services, assisting industry in the management of large datasets" that can't be transferred and analyzed by traditional data-management technologies, ITU said.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants a Washington state court to strike down a criminal cyberstalking statute that the privacy group said is too broad and "threatens its citizens with prosecution and incarceration for innocent online speech protected by the First Amendment." EFF said in a Wednesday blog post that it filed an amicus brief Dec. 7 in State of Washington v. John Andrew Boyajian, saying the law is "facially overbroad in violation of the First Amendment and vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment." EFF made the same assertion about the statute in a 2012 amicus brief filed in City of Vancouver v. Brandy L. Edwards, asking the same District Court of the State of Washington to dismiss charges against that defendant. In 2011, EFF filed an amicus brief with U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in U.S. v. William Lawrence Cassidy, arguing that the federal anti-stalking statute was vague and criminalized speech. In the Dec. 7 brief, which the group said was rejected by the trial judge, EFF said the Washington statute essentially bans any electronic communications -- emails, blogs, websites, social media, instant messages and others -- "with intent to embarrass (or harass, intimidate, or torment), if the communication is anonymous, repetitive, indecent, or threatening." EFF argued that the First Amendment protects an individual's "right to express messages that are intended to cause embarrassment, insult, and outrage." Among other arguments, it said key terms or phrases in the statute such as "repeated" as well as "harass, intimidate, torment, or embarrass" are vague. EFF said such statutes could penalize protected speech such as a newspaper running editorials that elected officials "should be embarrassed because of their misconduct."

Two app developers agreed to pay a combined $360,000 to settle FTC allegations they violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule. Commissioners voted 4-0 to refer the complaints to the Justice Department and approve the proposed stipulated civil penalty orders, which have the force of law when signed by a district court judge, the commission said in a news release Thursday. It said DOJ filed the complaints and orders on behalf of the commission with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. "These cases are the first in which the FTC alleged that companies allowed advertisers to use persistent identifiers to serve advertising to children," said the commission. It described persistent identifiers as "pieces of data that are tied to a particular user or device." In its complaint against Retro Dreamer, which will pay a $300,000 civil penalty, the FTC alleged the company and principals Craig Sharpe and Gavin Bowman allowed third-party advertisers to collect children's personal information through a number of apps. "One advertising network over the course of 2013 and 2014 specifically warned the defendants about the obligations of the revised COPPA Rule, and also told the defendants that certain of their apps appeared to be targeted to children under the age of 13," said the FTC. The commission filed a similar complaint against LAI Systems, which will pay a $60,000 civil penalty. The developer "failed to inform the ad networks that the apps were directed to children and did not provide notice or get consent from children’s parents for collecting and using the information," said the FTC. Both Retro Dreamer and LAI Systems did not comment at press time.

The Center for Democracy & Technology posted on its website a revised draft of voluntary best practices for the private use of drones -- both commercial and noncommercial -- including principles for privacy, transparency and accountability. Harley Geiger, CDT advocacy director and senior counsel, wrote in a Thursday blog post a "meaningful set" of such practices can help address the "strong distrust" that the public has about drones. "Our proposed best practices incorporate extensive input from commercial drone operators and civil society groups, resulting in significant changes from our original draft. CDT does not presume our model is flawless and is open to additional constructive feedback," he wrote about the revised draft. CDT presented a prior draft nearly a month ago during an NTIA multistakeholder process that considered drafts from two other groups (see 1511200050). However, the participants in that meeting were unable to agree on a set of best practices and are currently working on potentially combining CDT's draft with one issued by Hogan Lovells.

Ford stepped up software efforts through a partnership with Pivotal Labs to improve the connected vehicle experience via Ford’s Sync technology, it said. The three-year partnership is designed to fast-track the digital transition for enterprises through development of mobile experiences, said Ford; customers will be able to get updates via a smartphone app via the Sync modem. “Typically, it took Ford months to develop software,” said Bill Cook, Pivotal chief operating officer, saying Wednesday that the time was shaved to “mere days.” Software development expertise is “critical to delivering at the speed consumers expect,” said Marcy Klevorn, Ford chief information officer. “Customers today are used to frequent software updates on their mobile devices, and expect them with all technology.”

Global average connection speed increased slightly to 5.1 Mbps from the second quarter, and increased 14 percent from the previous year, said a report released by Akamai Wednesday. The Third Quarter State of the Internet Report said South Korea had the top average connection speed of 20.5 Mbps, and the global average peak connection speed declined by nearly 1 percent to 32.2 Mbps in the third quarter. In the U.S., 10 states had 10 percent or more of unique IP addresses connected to Akamai at average speeds of at least 25 Mbps, while the District of Columbia held the top spot with 22 percent unique IP addresses connected to Akamai, the report said.

Harman began producing connected car and audio systems for Hyundai’s Genesis G90, the first vehicle in the Korean carmaker’s new luxury brand, Harman said Tuesday. The embedded infotainment system includes 2D and 3D navigation, high-definition mapping, voice commands, Bluetooth, rich multimedia support and a 200 GB hard drive, Harman said. The interface, a 12-inch HD screen with touch control, is in the center console for control of entertainment, apps, media and phone information, navigation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and vehicle system data, said Harman. The vehicle is also outfitted with dual 9-inch rear seat monitors for connectivity and entertainment. High-speed embedded connectivity is provided through an integrated 4G/LTE modem. It has software that’s designed to rebuild details lost in compressed audio files. The Korean version also is the first mass-produced car with partially autonomous driving, Harman said.

Facebook began testing tools to update aspects of its name verification and reporting processes, it said in a news release Tuesday. The tools are meant to address the goals of reducing the number of people asked to verify that their Facebook profile name is the one people know them by, and making it easier for users to confirm their names if necessary. Facebook said it's adding additional steps to the names reporting process, which will "help our review teams better understand why someone is reporting a name, giving more information about a specific situation." The company is also testing a tool allowing those asked to verify their names to provide more information about their specific situation. Early next year, Facebook said, it will begin looking at other ways to reduce the number of people who go through the ID verification experience, while "preserving the safety of other people on the site." The new tools are being tested on a limited basis across mobile and desktop platforms in the U.S., Facebook said.