California Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed into law the strictest set of net neutrality protections ever seen in the US — and the Trump administration immediately said it’d challenge the state’s authority in court. Up against a midnight deadline, Brown, a Democrat, signed a bill that uses Obama-era net neutrality protections as the basis …

The Trump administration is all in on 5G and wants policy makers to do what they can to unleash private investment in the next-generation networks.  The White House on Friday hosted a 5G summit, its first major event around 5G, to bring together industry executives, government agency heads, lawmakers and President Trump’s advisors to discuss policies to ensure faster deployment …

The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to limit how much local governments can charge wireless companies to attach small radios to utility poles when deploying next-generation 5G service. The three Republicans on the FCC said the plan will streamline the process for installing 5G gear and save wireless providers an estimated $2 billion, which can be used to build networks …

Amazon is adding smarts to its voice assistant Alexa to help make life a little easier for busy parents. On Thursday the company said it’s giving Alexa, which powers its Echo line of products, two new features specifically geared toward families with small children. First it’s added a “whisper” mode, in which Alexa will respond to commands in a whisper …

With the largest hurricane of the season barreling toward the southeastern US, the nation’s major wireless providers say their networks are ready. Florence, downgraded on Thursday from a category 4 to category 2 storm, is already producing tropical strength winds and heavy rains along the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts. Officials from the National Hurricane Center say the strong …

Apple will be the first company to allow consumers to give themselves an electrocardiogram, a medical test used to detect heart disease.  On Wednesday, the company announced the new feature on the Apple Watch Series 4 during Apple’s fall product introduction at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. Now playing: Watch this: Apple adds EKG monitoring to new Watch 4 3:13 …

Verizon says its “5G Ultra Wideband” service, which uses super high-frequency wireless spectrum, will give it an edge over competitors. In a blog post Tuesday, Kyle Malady, the company’s CTO, made the case for why the company’s 5G network is different from all the rest. “There’s 5G, then there’s Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband,” Malady writes. Specifically, he outlined three major …

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, during his second day of Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday, defended his dissent in a federal court decision that upheld the controversial Obama-era net neutrality rules. When pressed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, to explain why he disagreed with the rest of his colleagues on the US Court of Appeals for the DC …

A Senate hearing on Wednesday was supposed to put Facebook and Twitter under the microscope, but Chinese device makers Huawei and ZTE ended up catching some of the flak, too. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg came to Capitol Hill to offer insight about how foreign governments are using their sites to spread misinformation on social media …

Do big tech companies need more government oversight? That’s the question Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai pondered in a blog post Tuesday, just as Congress prepares to grill executives from Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday. Specifically, Pai said companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter need to be more transparent about how they operate their social media platforms. “Currently, the FCC …