AT&T
AT&T confirms deal to combine its WarnerMedia subsidiary with Discovery Inc in ‘pure play’ $43B deal
Another major telco in the U.S. is making a big move away from being a full player in media services, and specifically content creation. Today AT&T said that it is…
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When the Earth is gone, at least the internet will still be working
The internet is now our nervous system. We are constantly streaming and buying and watching and liking, our brains locked into the global information matrix as one universal and coruscating emanation of thought and emotion. What happens when the machine stops though? It’s a question that E.M. Forster was intensely focused on more than a…
AT&T is turning DirecTV into a standalone company
AT&T just announced an agreement with private equity firm TPG that will turn DirecTV into a standalone company, albeit one that’s still majority owned by the telecom giant. Specifically, AT&T…
WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO Max is finally coming to Amazon’s Fire TV, nearly half a year after it launched. The service, which combines HBO content with an expanded selection from…
Joe Rogan, Alex Jones and Spotify’s illusion of neutrality
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have taken a messy beating from critics unhappy with how they handle questionable content on their platform, with some complaining they don’t do…
The DOJ is investigating Visa’s $5.3 billion bid for Plaid on antitrust grounds
It’s not just big tech that’s getting the antitrust treatment from the Department of Justice. Late Monday afternoon, the Department of Justice tipped its hand that it was investigating Visa’s…
Cloud9 adds the MAJKL Valorant roster to create Cloud9 White as its first women’s esports team
Cloud9 has brought on the all-women MAJKL Valorant squad to become its first women’s esports team. Moving forward, the team of Alexis “alexis” Guarrasi, Annie “Annie” Roberts, Jasmine “Jazzyk1ns” Manankil,…
HBO Max hits 28.7M subscribers in Q3, but few are over-the-top
AT&T painted a rosy picture of HBO Max adoption during the company’s earnings report on Thursday. Despite not being available on Roku, one of the top streaming platforms in the…
The OpenStack Foundation becomes the Open Infrastructure Foundation
This has been a long time coming, but the OpenStack Foundation today announced that it is changing its name to “Open Infrastructure Foundation,” starting in 2021. The announcement, which the…
Trump’s latest immigration restrictions are bad news for American workers
To shutter employment-based visa programs, even temporarily, is to shut out the innovation and entrepreneurialism our economy desperately needs.
Austin-based EmPath’s employee training and re-skilling service snags seed funding from B Capital
By the time Felix Ortiz III left the Army in 2006, the Brooklyn, New York native had spent time taking classes at the City University of New York and St.…
Amazon this morning announced it’s teaming up with AT&T on a new feature that will allow some AT&T customers to make and receive phone calls through their Alexa-enabled devices, like…
As it adds Jeremy Milken to the partnership, Watertower Ventures nears $50 million close for its new fund
Derek Norton and Jeremy Milken have known each other for twenty years. Over their longtime personal and professional relationship, the two Los Angeles-based serial entrepreneurs have invested in each other’s…
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Affirming the position of tech advocates, Supreme Court overturns Trump’s termination of DACA
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully ended the federal policy providing temporary legal status for immigrants who came to the country as children. The decision, issued Thursday, called the termination of the Obama-era policy known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “arbitrary and capricious.” As a…
HBO Max launches today; here’s what you need to know
HBO Max, the HBO-plus-other-stuff streaming service from WarnerMedia, is finally here. At $14.99 per month, the service — initially available to subscribers in the United States — is more expensive…
Alphabet’s Loon partners with AT&T to extend coverage globally in case of disasters
Alphabet-owned Loon, the company focused on providing connectivity via high-altitude, stratosphere skimming balloons that can act as on-demand, deployable cell towers, has signed a new agreement with AT&T. This partnership…
AT&T is getting a new boss, the first piece of Apple and Google’s COVID-19 contact tracing program should be available soon and Snap is looking to raise more debt. Here’s…
Randall Stephenson to step down as AT&T chief, succeeded by COO John Stankey
A big changing of the guard is underway at one of the world’s biggest and iconic names in telecoms and media: AT&T today announced that Randall Stephenson will be stepping…
AT&T loses 897K more pay TV subscribers in Q1 2020, adding pressure to HBO Max launch
AT&T gave a first look into how the pay TV business is faring amid the coronavirus pandemic…and it’s not great. The company reported today as a part of its Q1…
HBO Max debuts on May 27th with 10,000 hours of content, including a handful of originals
AT&T’s WarnerMedia announced last fall its plan was to launch the new streaming service HBO Max in May 2020 for $14.99 per month. Today, we have a solid launch date:…
With $8 million to consolidate Amazon’s top marketplace sellers, Perch makes its first deals
After raising $8 million in November to roll up top Amazon marketplace companies, the new Boston-based startup Perch has begun putting that money to work in its first few deals.…
Microsoft today announced the launch of Azure Edge Zones, which will allow Azure users to bring their applications to the company’s edge locations. The focus here is on enabling real-time…
Microsoft today announced that it has acquired Affirmed Networks, a company that specializes in fully virtualized, cloud-native networking solutions for telecom operators. With its focus on 5G and edge computing,…
Carriers introduce plans to keep consumers connected during COVID-19 pandemic
Earlier this month, the FCC issued a new measure aimed at easing some of the burdens on consumers as COVID-19 continues to have an increasingly profound impact on nearly every…
Following Disney+’s successful launch, AT&T positions HBO Max as family-friendly
AT&T’s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, is still on track for a May 2020 launch, said president and CEO John Stankey, speaking today at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and…
Data management company Datastax, one of the largest contributors to the Apache Cassandra project, today announced that it has acquired The Last Pickle (and no, I don’t know what’s up…
FCC proposes $208M in fines for wireless carriers that sold your location for years
The FCC has officially and finally determined that the major wireless carriers in the U.S. broke the law by secretly selling subscribers’ location data for years with almost no constraints…
HBO Max investment hits AT&T’s revenue in Q4 to the tune of $1.2B
AT&T’s revenue took a hit in the fourth quarter as the company gears up for the launch of WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, HBO Max, due to arrive this May. The…
Dating and fertility apps among those snitching to ‘out of control’ ad tech, report finds
The latest report to warn that surveillance capitalism is out of control — and “free” digital services can in fact be very costly to people’s privacy and rights — comes courtesy…
US patents hit record 333,530 granted in 2019; IBM, Samsung (not the FAANGs) lead the pack
We may have moved on from a nearly-daily cycle of news involving tech giants sparring in courts over intellectual property infringement, but patents continue to be a major cornerstone of…
