Items tagged with New York City
Is a website responsible for the actions of its users? A recent court case between online marketplace and homestay network Airbnb and New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will settle the question of whether or not a company such as Airbnb is responsible for a user’s illegal activities. The lawsuit alleges that some landlords illegally listed rentals for longer periods than is allowed by the law. In New York City, unless a property is deemed a hotel or hostel, renters become “permanent residents” after thirty days. It is not illegal, however, if the lessor also occupies the same apartment as the renter and if all parts of the apartment are available to the paying guest. These landlords...
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Late last month, we brought you news that New York City was in the process of installing the first of several thousand LinkNYC hubs that will eventually go up around the city. The LinkNYC hubs will replace the old and outdated phones booths that dot the cityscape and provide blazing fast encrypted 802.11ac Wi-Fi access (up to 100 times faster than traditional public Wi-Fi), two USB charging ports for juicing up your mobile devices (only power, no data delivery), and the ability to make free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. via a partnership with Vonage. All of this is paid for via advertisements that are displayed on two 55-inch touch screen displays. Manhattan residents will be happy to know...
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If you’re going to make grandiose promises on product rollouts, you had better follow through with them. Nobody likes paper launches and grandstanding, so it’s always nice when such actors get put in their place. Such is the case with Verizon, which promised in 2008 that it would make its FiOS network available to all households in the five New York City boroughs by June 30, 2014. Needless to say, Verizon failed to live up to its promises, and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is here to bust the company’s chops. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office delivered a blistering report outlining an audit of Verizon’s FiOS rollout, and needless to say, the telecom giant should be embarrassed by the results. Even though...
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On Monday, the New City Mayor’s office announced plans to turn old payphones into free municipal WiFi spots. The plan, called LinkNYC, is expected to start offering fast, public WiFi to resident’s by the end of next year. LinkNYC is a public-private partnership between the City and CityBridge, a New York City-based consortium comprised of Qualcomm, Titan, Transit Wireless, and others. The system is called Links, which are hubs that will provide up to gigabit speeds for users and offer services such as free 24/7 internet access, free phone calls within the US, and access to 911 and 311. Users will also have access to a touchscreen tablet interface that will provide access to city services...
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Mega online retailer Amazon is reportedly prepping its first brick-and-mortar shop, which will be located in the middle of New York City and open for business in time for the busy holiday shopping season. Having toyed with same-day shipping and free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members, operating a physical store that consumers can walk into is really the only way for Amazon to compete with the instant gratification that comes from traditional shopping. According to The Wall Street Journal and the "people familiar with the plans" that it spoke with, the store will reside at 7 West 34th St., across from the Empire State Building in Midtown and on the same street as Macy's flagship shop. It...
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New York City has grand aspirations of being the nation's leading digital city, and it's a getting a big boost from AT&T towards that goal. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson today announced a five-year initiative that will have AT&T providing free Wi-Fi service at 26 locations spread across 20 New York City parks in five boroughs. AT&T Wi-Fi is available free of charge to park-goers at Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem. By the end of the summer, AT&T will have added 23 more locations to the mix, allowing New...
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In the on-again, off-again rumors about Apple lining up retail space in Grand Central Terminal (often incorrectly dubbed "Station"), it appears its on again. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is indeed in discussions 15,000 sq. ft. space in the terminal, which would be a fairly large retail outlet, although not the Cupertino, CA company's largest. Reports of Apple seeking to put a retail store in Grand Central Terminal first surfaced in early February. There were some rumors indicating that the store could even be Apple's largest, but a few weeks later, info arose stating that Apple had reversed its plans. There's no certainty Apple would get the space. Grand Central Terminal openings...
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After three years of stalled progress, New York subway riders will soon be able to surf the Web via free Wi-Fi. Transit Wireless, a conglomerate of wireless and construction companies that was awarded a contract back in 2007 to embark on a Wi-Fi project with New York Transit, has come up with the money it needs to move forward with the project. Broadcast Australia will foot the bill that is expected to cost $200 million. As part of the deal, Broadcast Australia will take a majority stake in Transit Wireless. In 2007, Transit Wireless promised to complete the job in 10 years. Now, it will have two years to wire six subterranean stations near 14th Street on Manhattan’s West Side to transmit...
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Wall Street Journal is reporting something we've noticed recently, locally, at one location. However, they're reporting it's happening in New York City in a big way: coffee shops offering free wi-fi are starting to boot out the free (wi-fi) loaders. We noticed this locally at a Panera Bread store, which offers free wi-fi. But during lunch hours, they restrict the amount of time you can be connected to the service. What the WSJ is reporting is similar, with some coffee shops even going so far as to cover --- and lock --- their electric outlets. Yes, it's not just the fact that customers sitting in a coffee shop surfing the Web during the busiest times of the day might keep paying customers from...
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Colony collapse disorder (or CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. One might think the employees of this video game store in New York City were wishing CCD would happen outside their store. It was a GameStop store in New York City near Union Square. Workers were trapped inside when honeybees decided to swarm outside the store. Such a swarm isn't an uncommon event, but happening outside a store in a metropolis like New York City is rare. A sign in the store's window warned: "Look! ... closed due to bee infestation." Despite that, Edward Albers, a passerby, tried to help. Amazingly, dressed in regular street clothes, he managed...
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PC Expo 2001 New York Coverage! Big Technology In The Big Apple By, Dave Altavilla June 29, 2001 We here at HotHardware certainly don't get a chance to go to enough of the industry's major trade shows. That's why when one is actually held in our back yard, like this year's PC Expo, we show up there with bells on. Well, OK maybe sans the bells but you get the idea, we're all over it. Our first stop was a meeting with AMD in there top secret conference room in the lower level of the Javits Center. We spent about an hour or so with two Marketing Managers from their Commercial Systems Group. The AMD 760 Multi-Processing chipset and the Athlon MP processor,...
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