 |
|
|
|||||
Its always beautiful when two lonely corporations find one another. DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish Network, according to reporting by The New York Times. This would create a global behemoth in the satellite TV space. It would also provide some financial armor for the struggling Dish Network. The companys in debt to the tune of billions of dollars because, well, satellite TV isnt exactly a growth industry anymore. Stream, baby, stream. All told, Dish has $2 billion in debt thats due in November and only $500 million in available cash. That math dont add up to anything but bankruptcy. The specifics of the deal are pretty dang convoluted. Its a multi-step transaction with a few players. First, the private equity firm TPG will acquire a majority stake in DirectTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. Next, DirecTV will buy Dish Network for just a single dollar. However, itll also take on that $2 billion in debt. EchoStar, the parent company of Dish, will hold onto some parts of the business as part of the transaction, including over $30 billion in wireless spectrum investments. DirecTV will get the Sling TV video service as part of the deal. The acquisition would create a massive pay-TV provider, with a combined total of around 19 million subscribers. As a counterpoint, cable TV leader Comcast has 13.2 million subscribers. Netflix is creeping up on 300 million subscribers, to show the stark contrast between pay-TV and streaming. The companies say they expect the deal to close in the second half of 2025, though the whole thing is subject to regulatory approval. The Justice Department denied a similar merger back in 2002, but that was when the satellite TV industry was at its peak. More recently, the federal government side-eyed a potential merger between the two companies in 2020 on the grounds that it would deprive rural customers a viable alternative to Dish and DirecTV when looking to purchase 5G wireless service.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/directv-to-acquire-rival-dish-network-for-1-subject-to-regulatory-approval-152041300.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
There are bargains aplenty to be had in the lead up to the October edition of Prime Day. Many are even bringing the prices of certain products down to record lows. Case in point: the USB-C Apple Pencil is cheaper than its ever been right now. You can snap one up for $69, which is $10 off and matches the lowest price weve seen to date for it. Apple debuted this model last year as its most budget-friendly Apple Pencil so far, and this sale makes the peripheral even more wallet-friendly. However, Apple's long had a problem with making it clear to consumers which version of the stylus is compatible with their iPad. For the sake of clarity, here are all the iPad models with which the USB-C Apple Pencil works: iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later ) iPad Pro 11-inch (all models) iPad Air 13-inch (M2) iPad Air 11-inch (M2) iPad Air (4th generation and later) iPad (10th generation) iPad mini (6th generation) Although being able to charge the peripheral with a USB-C cable is handy, this version does lack some of the fancier features of the Apple Pencil Pro and second-gen Apple Pencil. While you can attach it to the side of iPads with magnetic holders for safekeeping and convenience, there's no support for magnetic charging. Pressure sensitivity isn't available and you can't use Apple's nifty double-tap feature. However, the company says the USB-C Apple Pencil does support pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency and tilt sensitivity. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-usb-c-apple-pencil-is-cheaper-than-ever-in-this-early-prime-day-deal-144636955.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Some users may know that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has had its own app store for a while now, the Epic Games Store. The company also won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last December that found Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Despite that win, it seems that Epics court war has only begun. Epic Games is now suing Google again, but it also named Samsung in the lawsuit as a defendant. This time, its sights are trained on Samsungs Auto Blocker feature. In the latest lawsuit, Epic Games is claiming that Samsungs Auto Blocker feature is making it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices. This is because Samsung now activates Auto Blocker, which only allows app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, by default and prevents third-party app installation unless you disable the function. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is even suggesting that Google and Samsung are working together, though he admits theres no concrete evidence for this claim. The Verges Sean Hollister put these claims to the test and discovered that his Samsung smartphone did prevent him from installing Epic Games Store, but it wasnt so simple. There were no instructions on how to deactivate Auto Blocker. He then searched turn off auto blocker in the search bar, which yielded results but required jumping through several screens. Besides winning against Google and legally proving that Google had a monopoly over Android app sharing, Epic Games also won a lawsuit against Apple. Apple had refused to let Epic Games launch its app store on iOS devices, but the EU forced Apples hand. However, Apple is still resisting and claims that its acceptance is only temporary. How Google and Samsung will respond remains to be seen, but its possible that both companies will resist and claim they arent making it difficult to install the Epic Games Store. Once again, well likely be waiting for the legal system to sort things out.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/epic-is-suing-google-and-samsung-for-making-it-too-hard-to-download-fortnite-142846819.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||