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Facebook, Google, Microsoft Team Up To Support Apple Vs. Feds

Apple ( AAPL ) has attracted some powerful friends to support its fight against a federal court order to break its smartphone security for a criminal investigation. Facebook ( FB ), Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and about a dozen more Internet companies will file a joint legal brief Thursday asking a judge to rescind her order in the case, Reuters reported . The tech companies will outline their support for Apple’s position in an amicus brief to U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym, Reuters said . On Feb. 16, Pym ordered Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI to unlock an iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings on Dec. 2. Apple has protested the ruling, saying that it would create a “back door” to bypass its security protections and thus threaten the personal data of millions of iPhone users. Once available, the vulnerability could be exploited by cybercriminals, hackers and both foreign and domestic spies. Privacy advocacy groups Access Now, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Wickr Foundation filed briefs on Wednesday in support of Apple, Reuters said. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the court order sets a dangerous precedent. It would have Apple become an agent of the federal government, which would force Apple to write special software to crack its own privacy protections, he said. On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the iPhone case and smartphone encryption. Members of the congressional panel were split over supporting personal privacy vs. national security. RELATED: Apple-FBI Encryption Battle, Facebook Arrest Flash At RSA Federal Judge Sides With Apple In iPhone Encryption Case .  

Amazon Bets New Gear In Voice Control Fight Vs. Google, Apple

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is doubling down on its voice-control tech Alexa as it wages a prolonged battle against  Apple ( AAPL ), Google and others for a greater share of customer attention. The mighty, Seattle-based e-commerce firm announced Thursday that it was giving Alexa two new pieces of hardware that will beef up its roster of offerings. The voice-controlled household assistant will gain Amazon Tap  and the Echo Dot. Tap is a smaller, portable version of Amazon’s original Echo speaker, which works like other Wi-Fi speakers to play music but also serves as Alexa’s cyber ears and voice. Unlike the Echo, Tap doesn’t need an electric outlet — it runs on a rechargeable battery. Like its larger sibling, Tap connects to phones and the Internet via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Alexa-powered Tap requires people to press a button prior to commanding it to do things like order a ride via app-based car service Uber, read e-books and the news, and provide weather reports. Alexa can also operate, via voice commands, the growing number of “connected” home devices such as thermostats and lights, and perform dozens of other tasks. Tap will begin shipping at the end of March for $130. Amazon also announced the hockey-puck-like Echo Dot , which is basically a miniaturized version of its Echo without a large, high-quality speaker. It has a built-in smaller speaker along with a microphone and can connect to existing speaker systems via wire, or wirelessly by Bluetooth. Amazon is limiting Dot sales to existing Echo or Amazon Fire TV device owners; to get one, people will have to ask Alexa. Amazon’s stock was down a fraction to around 576 in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Amazon stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 80, where 99 is the highest. The stock more than doubled in 2015 but much like the rest of the market had a rocky start to 2016. But as the market has rebounded, Amazon stock has surged around 20% since Feb. 9. Executives have not disclosed to investors exactly how successful Amazon’s foray into voice-control tech is, but according to a Business Insider report , Echo vastly outsold the rest of the wireless speaker market in 2015. Amazon lists Echo as its #1 best seller in the home audio speakers section of its e-commerce site and notes that while Echo is available for orders now, it won’t actually be in stock again till March 12. The device debuted in 2014. Echo’s runaway success is not good news for other firms making voice-control plays. Apple, for example, has Siri — though unlike the Alexa-powered Echo, people must hit a button before activating Siri. Google has built a similar feature into its search engine and Android operating system. To activate the Google voice controller, people say, “O.K., Google” and proceed to command it to perform functions like setting appointments and timers. Google is a unit of Alphabet ( GOOGL ). Microsoft ( MSFT ) also has developed a virtual personal assistant called Cortana.

Google Fiber Bark Worse Than Market Bite For Comcast, AT&T: Report

Google Fiber had only 53,390 TV customers as of Dec. 31, said a MoffettNathanson report, which added that parent Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) public relations bounty from the service is “wildly out of all proportion” to its actual market share gains vs. AT&T ( T ) and other cable TV players. The Google unit sells high-speed Internet and TV services in four markets and has trumpeted expansion plans. Google Fiber bundles video and gigabit-per-second broadband service for $130 monthly and also sells stand-alone Internet for $70 monthly. Google Fiber is currently available in Austin, Texas; Provo, Utah; Kansas City, Mo., and neighboring Kansas City, Kan. Google announced plans early in 2015 to expand the service to San Antonio; Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Salt Lake City. It’s also deep in talks with other potential markets. Telecom companies have been alarmed over Alphabet-owned Google Fiber’s recent spate of announcements. AT&T in February sued Louisville, Ky., over a new law that would make it easier for companies like Google Fiber to install gigabit Internet networks using existing utility poles. Comcast ( CMCSA ) in early February stepped up its marketing in Atlanta in anticipation of Google Fiber’s arrival. MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett says Google Fiber likely has more broadband customers than TV subscribers, but the firm’s study didn’t track broadband. Still, he says that Google Fiber’s relatively few TV customers, based on data from the U.S. Copyright Office, raises questions over the media hype the service has garnered. “The addition of less than 12,000 subscribers over the span of six months for a service that has generated this kind of fanfare isn’t terribly impressive,” wrote Moffett. Alphabet hasn’t given any subscriber figures for Google Fiber, nor any financials. The business is grouped in its quarterly earnings into what Alphabet calls its “other bets” — basically including all businesses other than the core Google units. Google has been in talks with local governments in Portland, Ore., San Jose, Calif., and Phoenix to expand its service to those markets. In late 2015, Google Fiber said it might enter Chicago or Los Angeles. And in late February, Google Fiber said San Francisco was also on its expansion list. “Google has made a number of splashy announcements. Taken together, they have a rather provisional feel, as if the company is still experimenting,” Moffett wrote. “Each market is different, and seemingly intentionally so. The goal doesn’t seem to be how much ground they can cover. It seems to be how many different business models they can showcase.”