October 2014

Subway stations in lower Manhattan will get mobile-phone coverage in 2015 as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority extends its plan to blanket its network with wireless service. All 277 underground stops are planned to be connected by 2017.

A report released by the US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) found that Americans are rapidly embracing mobile Internet devices such as smart phones and tablet computers for a wide range of activities beyond just voice communications, such as checking email and using social networks.

Americans are increasingly using their mobile devices to engage in applications that they might have previously done on a desktop or laptop computer or not at all. Between July 2011 and October 2012, there have been big increases in mobile phone users 25 and older who used their devices to download mobile applications (22 percent to 32 percent), browse the Web (33 percent to 42 percent), check their email (33 percent to 43 percent), and use social networks (22 percent to 30 percent). Mobile phones appear to be helping to narrow the digital divide, the gap between the technology haves and have nots, among traditionally disadvantaged groups. Mobile phone use among those with family incomes below $25,000 and among disabled Americans each increased by 4 percentage points, growing from 73 percent to 77 percent and from 68 percent to 72 percent, respectively. Similarly, mobile phone use among seniors 65 and older grew by 4 percentage points between 2011 and 2012, from 68 percent to 72 percent.

Both HBO and CBS are going to start offering a standalone Internet streaming service. The one-two punch already has some hopeful onlookers anticipating the end of the TV bundle, a business model that forces consumers to pay hefty monthly prices for a bundle of channels including those they couldn't care less about.

Although the announcements could speed up the forces behind TV unbundling, it will still be a while before the programming walls come crashing down. Here's why. Appointment television has largely been superseded by the ability to record premade shows, skip ads and binge-watch on streaming services on your own schedule. But live events are the exception. A lot of folks just won't find CBS All Access that compelling without sports. CBS All Access does include some live games -- but probably not the local ones that fans really want to watch, said Hal Singer, an economist who's helped litigate a number of cases involving programmers and cable distributors. As a result, the move by CBS to offer online streaming isn't quite the broadside against the cable bundle that consumers might hope it to be. The good news for viewers is that convincing other sports programmers to leap on the streaming bandwagon may not be that difficult. That's because many have been relegated by cable companies to special sports tiers beyond the basic bundle -- the worst punishment a cable company can bestow, according to Singer, because a channel placed there gets fewer eyeballs.

White House journalists are creating an alternative system for distributing their media “pool” reports in response to the Obama Administration’s involvement in approving and disapproving certain content in official reports. A small group of reporters initiated an online forum in which they shared “pool” information among themselves, without White House involvement.

The forum was set up by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which negotiates with the White House’s press staff over access for journalists. Some journalists are sharing their White House reporting using Google Groups -- the digital service that allows registered users to receive and send information within a closed circle. In an early test of the supplemental system, journalists shared pool information about President Obama’s trip to Chicago. The system has been used for “advisories,” such as where the pool is assembling, when another pool report will be issued or whether a correction is in the works.