Sprint turns drones into mini cell towers

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Sprint is taking cell service airborne by mounting lightweight cellular radios to drones.

The wireless carrier said this week that it has successfully adapted its Magic Box signal boosting technology to fit on a drone and provide temporary cell coverage over as many as 10 square miles. The company tested the setup, which uses a lighter version of the mini cell tower and a drone from CyPhy Works, last week in Texas, 30 miles outside of Dallas.  Now Sprint has adapted the technology to use it on a drone and temporarily increase network capacity during special events, like a concert or a sports contest, or to restore cell phone service  following a disaster like a hurricane, said Günther Ottendorfer, COO of technology at Sprint. Wireless carriers often use cell towers on wheels and other temporary equipment to boost capacity at special events or to provide additional network coverage when permanent infrastructure has been damaged…

Read More from cnet.com Here

T-Mobile and Sprint are in active talks about a merge

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T-Mobile and Sprint are in active talks about a merger, according to people close to the situation. Both companies and their parents, Deutsche Telekom and Softbank, have been in frequent conversations about a stock-for-stock merger in which T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom would emerge as the majority owner.

People close to the situation stress that negotiators are still weeks away from finalizing a deal and believe the chances of reaching an agreement are not assured. The two sides have not yet set an exchange ratio for a deal, but are currently engaged in talks to hammer out a term sheet…

Read More from CNBC Here

Uber Updates Privacy Policy

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This policy describes the information Uber collects, how it is used and shared, and user controls regarding this information. There is also Uber’s Privacy FAQs, which highlight key points about the privacy practices.  Uber has provided more information about how users can control what is collected and how the location data is used, retention period, and an explanation of the latest products and services.

Read Uber’s Privacy Policy Here

Google stops challenging most US warrants for data on overseas servers

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Google has quietly stopped challenging most search warrants from US judges in which the data requested is stored on overseas servers, according to the Justice Department. The revelation, contained in a new court filing to the Supreme Court, comes as the administration of President Donald Trump is pressing the justices to declare that US search warrants served on the US tech sector extend to data stored on foreign servers.

Google and other services began challenging US warrants for overseas data after a federal appeals court sided with Microsoft last year in a first-of-its-kind challenge. Microsoft convinced the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals…

Read More from ARDTechnica Here

Police use of ‘StingRay’ cellphone tracker requires search warrant, appeals court rules

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A device that tricks cellphones into sending it their location information and has been used quietly by police and federal agents for years, requires a search warrant before it is turned on, an appeals court in Washington ruled Thursday. It is the fourth such ruling by either a state appeals court or federal district court, and may end up deciding the issue unless the government takes the case to the U.S. Supreme Court or persuades the city’s highest court to reverse the ruling.

The case against Prince Jones in 2013 involved D.C. police use of a “StingRay” cell-site simulator, which enables law enforcement to pinpoint the location of a cellphone more precisely than a phone company can when triangulating a signal between cell towers or using a phone’s GPS function…

 

Read more from the Washington Post Here