DCTech News and Views

AT&T Set to Acquire DirecTV for Almost $50 Billion

Seems most transactions these days are counted in the billions. Rumors of the DirecTV acquisition have been circulating for the past few weeks and AT&T has finally confirmed the details.

The deal came together at roughly $95 per share, which tots up to $48.5 billion dollars. Factor in the nearly $19 billion worth of debt that DirecTV is lumbered with and the deal sets AT&T back close to $67 billion in total.

DirecTV will continue to operate as a (mostly) independent company for at least a while, even after the deal closes. AT&T is pledging to offer stand-alone DirecTV service for at least 3 years.

Apple & Google Kiss & Make Up

In what is a huge turnaround for the two companies, Apple and Google announced last Friday that they will dismiss all current lawsuits against each other. It’s a major breakthrough in the long-running and often bitter war between Apple and Google over smartphone patents, with the two companies jointly announcing that they will now work together toward patent reform.

“Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies. Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform”

A source familiar with the litigation estimates the truce will see an end to about 20 lawsuits in the United States and Germany, including proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

It’s about time common sense entered these proceedings, now if only we can get Samsung interested in a little conciliation as well.

HP to Make Even Further Cuts to its Workforce

Two years ago HP announced plans to lay off a large number of workers between May 2012 and October 2014. Since that initial announcement, the company has increased its estimates twice, culminating recently with yet another announcement of a further 11,000 to 16,000 layoffs.

The new cuts were revealed as part of HP’s regular quarterly financial report. Two years ago, the company said it would eliminate 27,000 jobs, and later that same year announced that it would be cutting a further 2,000 , bringing the total number to 29,000. In December 2013, HP said that it would add yet another 5,000 workers into the mix, which brought the grand total at that time to 34,000. This recent news means that the company will lay off a total of between 45,000 and 50,000 workers between May 2012 and October 2014.

Minecraft Coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PS Vita Soon!

Mojang has recently announced that everyone’s favorite 8-bit video game is finally due to be released for Xbox One, PS4, and PS Vita.

“Apologies for the delay, but putting Minecraft on new consoles is a serious business,” Mojang’s Owen Hill wrote in a blog post. Minecraft for Xbox One, PS4, and PS Vita will go on sale in August for $19.99. Mr. Hill’s blog post outlines details for each console’s release, promising bigger worlds and greater draw distance than former versions, as well as more cross-platform opportunities.

• Check out the details here: https://mojang.com/2014/05/minecraft-on-xbox-one-ps4-and-ps-vita-soon/

Apple Pulls U.S. No.1 Game from the App Store

Apple has pulled the No.1 game in the U.S., called “Weed Firm”, from the App Store. The game, which has been described as something of a “Grand Theft Auto” for the marijuana-minded, allowed players to grow and sell weed, interact with gangsters, and earn lots of lovely dough through their drug-dealing activities.

According to a statement posted on the game developer’s website (http://manitobagames.net/), the removal of Weed Firm was “entirely Apple’s decision, not ours.”

Considering numerous other weed-based apps remain available, plus plenty of games based on other illegal activities, such as shooting people and crashing cars, it does appear to be a somewhat confusing decision on Apple’s part.

Samsung Leads the Way in Smartwatch Sales

While many other device makers are still struggling to release similar products, Samsung has reportedly captured a 71% share of the emerging smartwatch market.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics revealed that Samsung has already shipped 500,000 smartwatches across the world in the first quarter alone. To put things in perspective, only 1 million wearables were sold in the entire year of 2013.

I am usually one of the first in line to buy any new gadget, as our fearless leader is prone to say… “if it plugs in or takes a battery, I want one!” But seriously, this craze with wearable devices is just… well… crazy.

Google to Acquire ‘Twitch’ for $1 Billion?

Twitch.tv is a video streaming service targeting the video-game niche. Debuting in 2011 as a subsidiary of the the video streaming service Justin.tv, Twitch now boasts 43 million viewers every month and accounts for 44% of live streaming traffic in the US – no wonder Twitch has grabbed Google’s attention.

Apparently Google isn’t the only company showing interest in acquiring Twitch, with Microsoft being the other big player courting the comparatively tiny outfit. But Twitch says it wants to remain an open service that can be utilized on as many devices as possible, so a Microsoft deal wasn’t something they’d consider.

With the ball now firmly in Google’s court, it is rumored that the acquisition talks are quite advanced with an anticipated price in the vicinity of $1 billion, although it all remains unconfirmed at this stage.