Comcast’s next-generation xFi Pod, available Thursday, delivers twice the Wi-Fi speed of its predecessor, said the company. The Pod, $119 for one or $199 for two at Xfinity stores and xfinity.com/xfipods, has a tri-band radio and works with the xFi gateway to extend Wi-Fi coverage via a mesh network. Users can add the device to a network using the Xfinity mobile app; they can also view connection status and monitor and pause Wi-Fi devices, it said. It has two Ethernet ports. Since March, Comcast has seen demand for Pods double as households increase their Wi-Fi use, said Dana Strong, president-Xfinity Consumer Services.

Photoshop inventor Adobe is promoting its “content authenticity initiative” as an open, voluntary standard to thwart content manipulation for nefarious or criminal purposes, said Dana Rao, Adobe general counsel. “You can make videos and images that could be very lifelike” and difficult to differentiate between truth and fake, he told an Axios webinar Wednesday. “Everyone should be concerned," he said. “The basis of a democracy is a shared understanding of facts. If we can’t agree on what the facts are, we can’t do anything about policies like climate change.” It’s easy to edit videos and images “and create a fiction from a fact,” said Rao. “The problem with images and video is that people believe them. They believe them more than the written word.” People “can’t always trust what they see,” he said. “Years ago, you might have gotten an email from a bank. It asked you for your Social Security number, and you may have just typed it in and sent it away. You know better now. You know that some of these emails are fake, even if they have beautiful letterheads. People need to think that way about online content.”

DOD, DOJ and five other departments must better implement OMB-mandated activities aimed at “preventing, identifying, and reducing duplicative” IT contracts, GAO reported Wednesday. Six of the seven “fully implemented” requirements to identify a senior accountable official and train workforces on IT contracting, GAO said. “Almost half the agencies had fully implemented the activity associated with sharing contract information.” Until “agencies fully implement the activities in OMB’s category management initiative, and make greater use of spend analyses to inform their efforts to identify and reduce duplicative contracts, they will be at increased risk of wasteful spending,” GAO said. “Agencies will miss opportunities to identify and realize savings of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.” The seven agencies, which also include Agriculture and State, concurred with recommendations.

DOD released an interim rule Tuesday for a framework for verifying contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements. Comments are due Nov. 30, when the interim rule becomes effective. It would amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement DOD assessment methodology and cybersecurity maturity model certification.

Twenty-six percent of American adults get news from YouTube, the Pew Research Center reported Monday. The survey of 12,638 adults, done Jan. 6-20, found 66% of YouTube news consumers said the platform’s videos help them “better understand current events,” and 73% “expect them to be largely accurate.” More than half (51%) of YouTube news consumers said “they are primarily looking for opinions and commentary,” Pew said.

China opposes the Trump administration's "unjustified suppression and bullying" of non-U.S. companies under the "weakest pretext of national security," said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Monday. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction Sunday against implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to ban Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores (see 2009180051). U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols issued the order (in Pacer). TikTok showed the prohibitions “likely exceed the lawful bounds proscribed” by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Nichols wrote in the accompanying memorandum opinion (in Pacer), which was unsealed Monday. He cited IEEPA’s limitations in regulating “informational” materials. "We hope the U.S. can earnestly respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, observe international trade rules, and foster an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for foreign companies operating and investing in the U.S.,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said. The Commerce Department said the government will comply with the injunction but “intends to vigorously defend the E.O. and the Secretary’s implementation efforts from legal challenges.” The EO “is fully consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests,” Commerce said. TikTok said it “will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees" and continue its dialogue with the federal government.

Streaming is a “self-exploration process” for Gen Z, who use content to “help define who they are and what they stand for,” reported Hulu Friday. Gen Z's “see themselves in the complexities of characters’ identities, push for cultural connectedness and seek content that deepens their niche interests,” said the streaming service. Content that grapples with “big issues facing society” resonates most, it said. They seek entertainment “that spans all corners of culture,” it said. Hulu canvassed 2,500 Gen Z's online in April, finding 74% want “lots of choice” in their content offering, it said: “They prefer to be their own ‘content curator.’” Six in 10 identify as straddling “multiple races, cultures or languages,” said Hulu.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’ top issue is "internet inequality," he told the “Black Is Tech” virtual conference in a speech posted Friday. According to Pew data, “34% of Black people in America do not have a home broadband connection, a disproportionately higher percentage than their white counterparts,” Starks said: “That is why we need to solve the issue of affordability and expand the Commission's Lifeline and E-Rate programs that are designed to meet the connectivity needs of low-income households and students across the nation.”

The “big brands” that formed the Coalition for App Fairness purportedly to promote fair competition in digital app stores “do not speak for the thousands of small business app developers we represent,” said ACT|The App Association President Morgan Reed. The coalition represents “a few large app companies with global brand reach,” said Reed in Friday's statement. “Years ago, as start-ups, these companies enjoyed all the advantages of the services provided by the app stores. Now that they are well-known brands or in some cases providers of stores themselves, they openly question [that] environment.” Policy-mandated changes to app stores’ business models “will force our members to change their business models -- something not all can afford to weather.” said Reed. “All app developers must be able to continue to compete.” The coalition didn’t respond to questions.

About three-quarters of Americans think online search, social media and e-commerce platforms wield too much power, fearing it’s a “major or moderate” threat to competition, a Consumer Reports survey found. CR canvassed 3,200 adults online July 7-22, finding 52% think paid placement of search results is “fair only if it is disclosed.” Nearly a quarter think it's unfair regardless. Nearly half of Americans have trouble differentiating a paid ad from an “objective search result,” said CR. Fifty-eight percent aren't “confident that they are getting objective and unbiased search results when using an online platform to shop or search for information,” it said. Nearly eight in 10 worry that big tech mergers and acquisitions can “undermine competition and limit consumer choice,” it said. Six of 10 “support more government regulation” to curb the growing power of large online platforms that may be harming consumers, said CR. The Internet Association didn't comment.