The White House calls broadband “a core utility” in a new report. As arstechnica writes, the current administration notes that high-speed Internet service "has steadily shifted from an optional amenity to a core utility" and is now "taking its place alongside water, sewer, and electricity as essential infrastructure for communities.”

VentureBeat takes a look at Pingpad -- a new productivity app from the same minds that brought us enterprise social network Socialtext. “Simply put, it’s a tool that offers real-time messaging and chatting through the use of a Wiki-like product,” VB writes. “The company’s goal is to help with social productivity.”

Don’t call it an acquisition, but Google is hiring most of the team behind Oyster -- a startup that offers a Netflix-like book subscription service. In turn, Oyster’s service is officially shuttering, Re/code reports. Google, which previously invested $17 million into the company, is moving the staffers to Google Play Books, its online bookstore. 

Group is cutting 1,100 jobs -- mostly in sales and customer service -- and significantly reining in its international operations, TechCrunch reports. As such, the daily deal giant is ceasing operations in Morocco, Panama, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay. Groupon will take a pre-tax charge of $35 million in the process. 

Testing user loyalty, Skype is experiencing widespread service outages, Windows Central reports. “We have detected an issue with the status settings of Skype,” Microsoft tells users in an official statement. “Affected users will not be able to change their status, their contacts will all show as offline and they will be unable to start Skype calls to them.” 

How much are DraftKings and FanDuel spending to blanket the airwaves with ads? Since the beginning of August, DraftKings -- the bigger of the two online fantasy sports leagues -- has spent $81 million on ads that have aired more than 22,000 times, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing data from iSpot.tv. That’s compared to the $20 million FanDuel spent on 7,500 airings. 

Apple plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a federal judge’s finding that it conspired to fix ebook prices when it launched the iPad and iBook store in early 2010, Fortune reports. “This case . . . presents issues of surpassing importance to the United States economy,” the company argues in newly filed count papers. 

Periscope is rolling out Web profiles for the desktop. “Born in March as a mobile video live-streaming app, the Twitter-owned network has steadily added features for people stuck in the office or just partial to computers,” Marketing Land writes. “Today’s update should be a welcome one for streamers and viewers alike.” 

Apple execs have reported discussed plans for an “autonomous vehicle” with officials at California’s department of motor vehicles. “Mike Maletic, a senior legal counsel at Apple, had an hour-long meeting on 17 August with the department’s self-driving car experts Bernard Soriano, DMV deputy director, and Stephanie Dougherty, chief of strategic planning,” The Guardian reports, citing documents. 

Following last week’s media event, Apple’s stock sagged on concerns that its focus on fancier iPads would cut into its higher-profit laptop and desktop business. Sort of addressing those fears, this week, CEO Tim Cook tells Buzzfeed that Macs aren’t going anywhere. “I see the Mac being a key part of Apple for the long term, and I see growth in the Mac for the long term.” Yet, “I think that some people will never buy a computer,” Cook admits.