Today on DT Daily: The Supreme Court rules against TV streaming service Aereo, a hearing aid you may want to wear, and if your going to the Glastonbury Music festival in the UK and need some wifi, just look for the cows.
In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in and TV streaming startup Aereo just got the short end of the stick.
In a 6-3 vote, the justices sided with broadcasters, saying Aereo’s business plan of renting users tiny HD antennas to scoop up over-the air broadcasts and then streaming them the content is illegal. Aereo argued that the TV broadcasts it sends to individual people’s devices are private performances, not public ones, which they claimed met the legal definition of a legit service. The TV networks disagreed with Aereo’s point of view, as did the Supreme Court.
Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia said in a statement that the decision was “a massive setback for the American consumer.” Primary Aereo backer and entertainment icon Barry Diller has said in the past that if the court ruled against Aereo, they might fold up the business. But on Wedensday, Kanojia said Aereo’s work “is not done,” so we’ll stay tuned and bring you updates on what comes next for Aereo.
For most people, getting hearing aides is a sign that they’re getting older, or that they just went to a few too many Van Halen concerts. But a new device called the Soundhawk Scoop may just be something you actually want to stick in your ear. The Scoop looks like a fairly stylish Bluetooth device, and it is, but it does much, much more than just enable hands-free phone calls.
Paired to a smart phone, the Scoop can be tuned to enhance certain frequencies and suppress others, creating a sort of bionic hearing ability. It also connects to a small wireless microphone you can place nearby to further concentrate its ability to isolate – or eavesdrop – on a conversation. So if you’re OK with a little bit of Uhura’s tech stuck in your ear, you can preorder your Scoop for 279 bucks.
Over 100,000 tickets to this year’s Glastonbury Music Festival in Britain sold out in just minutes, and if you scored a few passes, you’ll probably want to share some photos of the fun while you rock out to Metallica, Skrillex, the Pixies and Dolly Parton. Really, she’ll be there! UK Cell service provider EE is putting a bunch of wifi nodes around the grounds, all you need to do to find one is look for these colorful cows.
Each painted Bessie will also sport 4G connectivity as well. Use of the digital herd is free to concert goers and EE says connection speeds will be “udderly fast.” Really. They said that. Well, at least there won’t be any messy cleanup from these cows.
Your host today is Caleb Denison.
