Google Maps is getting a refresh this year, with upgrades to location capability, weather and routing models, blogged Dane Glasgow, Google Maps vice president-product. Live View is coming to indoor places that are tricky to navigate, including airports, transit stations and malls. Indoor navigation will be enabled by localization, which uses AI to scan “tens of billions” of Google Street View images to determine a user’s orientation, Glasgow wrote Tuesday. Advances “help us understand the precise altitude and placement of objects inside a building,” he said. Data comes from AirNow.gov, the Central Pollution Board, the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Lab and The Weather Co., and the app works with other companies' services.

Defining broadband as 100 Mbps symmetrical would be "arbitrary," with no data to justify it since applications for key services and streaming entertainment rely on much less, Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten blogged Monday. Only 42% of households have such service, he said. Too high a definitional bar could mean subsidies going to areas that don't need them, with people in unconnected areas remaining unconnected, he said: The FCC would be better off taking a weighted look at various factors, not just bandwidth. AT&T and NCTA have raised similar arguments (see 2103260035).

President Joe Biden should appoint a federal chief data officer, showing that open data policies and data capabilities are a priority, BSA|The Software Alliance wrote Friday in a letter with CTA and several other associations. The Center for Data Innovation, Information Technology Industry Council, Internet Association, R Street Institute, Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet and U.S. Chamber Technology Engagement Center signed. They asked Biden to fully implement the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary Government Data Act. The chief data officer should lead the federal chief data officer council, they said. The White House didn’t comment.

The U.S. and EU should forge a "pragmatic" digital alliance for data transfers because fully harmonized policies are unrealistic, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said Thursday. ITIF noted the "crisis" in digital relations and a "serious risk" of de facto data localization. It urged policymakers to create a successor to the Privacy Shield, annulled by the European Court of Justice in July 2020 (see 2007160002), as part of a broader framework that also includes new general data protection regulation-compliant personal data transfer mechanisms and better law enforcement cooperation on accessing electronic evidence. Such a cooperative agenda based on shared values would be a "strategic counterweight to authoritarian digital powers" like Russia and China, the group said: An alliance based on "digital realpolitik” is needed "now more than ever." The U.S. and EU are talking about PS (see 2103250023).

A stock analyst slammed AT&T's chief and the cable industry, partly over streaming. Warner Bros' decision to release its 2021 film slate simultaneously to theaters and its HBO Max subscription VOD service was an “overcommitment,” Wedbush's Michael Pachter told a virtual Digital Entertainment Group Expo Wednesday. “AT&T bit off way more than they could chew when they bought Time-Warner.” Pachter said the media company is “trying to package HBO Max and sell it and maybe later sell the studio.” AT&T is trying to shore up the value of HBO Max “because they think they’re going to get a Netflix multiple on that,” he said. The company is making "bad decisions for the creatives,” he said, trying to maximize profit for the content "by shoving it onto HBO Max.” Taking a swipe at AT&T CEO John Stankey, Pachter said, "It’s hard to get in the head of somebody who actually doesn’t know what they’re doing,” saying the former WarnerMedia CEO is “in way over his head.” Stankey didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday. Studios have fallen into “lockstep pursuit down the subscription streaming dream,” another executive told the conference (see 2103250067).

The FCC warned Congress of “limits to the feasibility” of giving the public unrestricted access to 911 over Wi-Fi or unlicensed spectrum. “Existing Wi-Fi and unlicensed infrastructure typically are not engineered to provide the resiliency and reliability needed to support communications in a major emergency and are likely to be affected by many of the same conditions that impair mobile networks” then, said the report in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Opening the platforms for 911 “would require modifying or disabling authentication protocols and other safeguards, which could result in increased vulnerability,” the FCC said. It backed “further study of the technical and policy challenges.” The document was required in Ray Baum's Act.

Global e-commerce generated $4 trillion in 2020 revenue, up nearly 27% year on year, BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz told a Bank of America virtual investor conference. “Not only are we ordering more and more online, we want our deliveries to arrive faster than ever” and in a manner that doesn’t worsen traffic congestion or emissions, he said Monday. General Motors launched BrightDrop in January as “a true ecosystem of all-electric, first-to-last-mile solutions,” he said. Though e-commerce demand is soaring, “consumers are increasingly saying they want their packages delivered without harming the environment,” said Katz, a former Trip.com and News Corp. executive. "Global package alone is expected to be a $300 billion market this year.”

Consumers who do primary grocery shopping in store vs. online inched up to 71.5% from 71.2% a month ago, Resonate reported Tuesday of a survey fielded Feb. 22-March 10, after 107 million COVID-19 vaccines were administered. The in-store grocery portion rose from 68.6% in December and 61.9% in June. Just over 24% of respondents would buy electronics in store vs. online, up from 18.8% in August. Some 55% aren't going to crowded activities such as movie theaters or concerts until the coronavirus is under control.

Proposed European Commission plans to update cybersecurity rules are overbroad and need clarification, ICANN said Friday. The revisions to the network and information security directive (NIS2), part of a package aimed at tightening rules for online platforms, will affect ICANN (see 2101290006). Responding to an EC consultation, ICANN said NIS2 could have "far-reaching impacts" on the domain name system: The directive captures all DNS service providers. It urged the EC to consider distinguishing between providers of authoritative domain name resolution services (the "publication" side of domain name resolution) and providers of recursive domain resolution services (the name resolving side). Entities that operate a resolver service, often now otherwise classified as essential or important, are within the scope of the draft because they host a domain name or operate a recursive resolver, ICANN said. Providers of authoritative domain name resolution services should qualify as essential only if they serve domains of such important entities, it said. NIS2 requires EU governments to ensure that top-level domain registries and registrars collect and maintain accurate and complete domain name registration data in a "dedicated database facility with due diligence" subject to EU data protection law. ICANN said no entity can guarantee the integrity and availability of domain name registration data. The European Internet Services Providers Association noted only two years have passed since the effective date of the directive, meaning EU countries have had little time for assessment. NIS2 will raise costs for affected providers and should be future-proofed, said EuroISPA. The Information Technology Industry Council urged the EC to ensure reporting requirements are harmonized across the EU. The Internet Systems Consortium, which runs an ICANN authoritative root server, recommended NIS2 not include root name servers, saying doing so could destabilize the unitary DNS system. Verisign encouraged the EC to turn to ICANN's multistakeholder community for details on how EU governments can implement NIS2 consistently.

Walmart and Amazon are expanding major connected health initiatives, with Walmart trying to bring more customers into stores through its COVID-19 vaccine program (2103170065) and Amazon expanding Amazon Care, a healthcare service with telehealth and in-person components. Amazon Care launched in Washington state 18 months ago for company employees and their families and made it available last week to other Washington-based companies. Amazon plans to launch the telehealth service across the U.S. this summer to give “millions” of Americans access to “high-quality medical care” and advice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it said. Amazon will expand its virtual care to companies and Amazon employees in all 50 states this summer, while the in-person service expands to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, “and other cities” in coming months. Walmart is making COVID-19 vaccination records of vaccines given through its pharmacies available to customers digitally using the open, interoperable Smart Health Cards standard being developed under the Vaccination Credential Initiative.