MTS shareholders vote to approve $3.9 billion acquisition by Bell
BCE, parent company of Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier Bell Mobility, has now overcome at least one hurdle to acquiring Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), with the majority of MTS shareholders approving the deal.
In fact, the resolution received near-unanimous approval from shareholders, says MTS:
The Arrangement Resolution was approved by 99.66% of the 43,098,172 votes cast by Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the special meeting of Shareholders held earlier today.
Bell originally announced intentions to purchase MTS in May with a $3.9 billion deal that has seen a fair bit of skepticism from critics. Though the deal has now received shareholder approval from MTS, it’s still subject to approval from various regulatory agencies.
Huawei is making an all-new mobile OS, and it’s revamping EMUI
Huawei has a back-up plan in case things go south with Google.
According to The Information, Huawei, which is the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer and best-known for the Huawei 6P it made with Google, is developing a new mobile operating system in order to “hedge its bets against Google’s control of Android.” Although Huawei’s phones now run an Android skin called EMUI, it has a team of ex-Nokia engineers working on a different mobile OS in Scandinavia.
The operating system isn’t that far along, though it’s clear that Huawei wants to have an alternative ready should it need to cut ties with Google. Keep in mind Samsung has a similar strategy with its Linux-based Tizen OS, though that’s only been applied to some Gear wearables, as well as Samsung Z smartphones, NX-branded cameras, SmartTVs, and other IoT devices. Samsung’s Galaxy phones still run Android with overlays.
The Information also said that Huawei is working to improve EMUI, which has been criticised heavily by reviewers for its clunky design, dull colour schemes, and iOS-like feel. Huawei hired Abigail Brody, a former Apple designer, to overhaul the Android skin, which will likely be unveiled this autumn. The redesigned software might include an app drawer, fresh icons, and a colour palette that includes blues and whites.
Brody’s reportedly been inspired by the colour of jellyfish. She also told The Information that she’s eager to help Huawei become “the world’s No. 1, the most advanced and favorite ‘lifestyle-centric’ ecosystem, and without having to copy Apple at all, ever!”
Wirecutter’s best deals: Save $300 on a Whirlpool refrigerator
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
Whirlpool WRF535SMBM Refrigerator
Street price: $1,300 MSRP: $1,700 deal price: $1,000
This is the first time we’ve seen this fridge drop to $1,000 since we started tracking it, though it also dropped to this price range while our guide was being written. Home Depot appliance prices tend to have big drops of a few hundred dollars for a couple weeks, before returning to higher prices for a few months.
The Whirlpool WRF535SMBM is our pick for the best refrigerator. Liam McCabe wrote, “If we were buying a 36-inch wide refrigerator, it would be the Whirlpool WRF535SMBM. Mainly, that’s because it’s one of the most affordable French door fridges out there, yet there’s no obvious sacrifice in terms of reliability, useful features, noise, efficiency, or layout.”
In terms of features, “The features in the WRF535SMBM are basic but all useful. The icemaker in the freezer churns out cubes quickly (and seems to run pretty reliably). The glide-out, full-width shelf on the bottom of the fridge is a good spot either for meats and cheeses, or as a convenient eye-level spot for kids to get at pudding packs or Capri Sun or kale or whatever they eat these days. Other than those two, it’s just typical shelves and drawers, nothing fancy. It is a simple, sharp, and clean-looking design, too.”
Moto X Pure Edition 64GB + Moto 360 Sport Watch
Street price: $700; MSRP: $750; deal price: $400
This matches a similar deal we saw briefly at the start of June, but at the time, it sold out quickly. You add the Moto X Pure to your cart, select the 64GB option, then add the Moto 360 to your cart as well. At that point, the $400 price should show up. While that’s a significant savings, if you’re not interested in the watch, Best Buy has the 64GB phone on sale for $320.
The Moto X Pure Edition is our customizable phablet pick in our best Android phones guide. Ryan Whitwam said, “Motorola’s latest flagship phone offers a great Android 6.0 software experience with customization options that other phones simply can’t match. You can choose from different colors and materials for the back, pick a metallic accent color, and even customize the startup message. It’s more comfortable to hold than other phablets despite its big, 5.7-inch LCD, plus it has a slot for a microSD card. If you take a lot of selfies, we have still more good news: This phone has a front-facing flash paired with a wide-angle 5-megapixel camera.”
He also wrote, “The Moto X has a metal frame, but you can choose the back materials using the Moto Maker online tool. There you’ll find various soft-touch plastics, woods, and leathers, and you can also customize the color of the front panel and metal rim.”
Kryptonite KryptoLok Series 2 Bicycle U-Lock
Street price: $40; MSRP: $48; deal price: $30 with code BIKEMORE
Use the code BIKEMORE to get this price. This is $2 above the best price we’ve seen on this bike lock, but a decent discount below the usual price we see on Buydig and Amazon.
The KryptoLok Series 2 is the top pick in our guide on the best bike lock. Eric Hansen said, “This isn’t an exciting, novel pick for the best U-lock but it is savvy. Experts, users, and the bike thieves that we interviewed agree that the Series 2 U-lock is strong enough to foil all foilable thieves. It’s also light and comes with a stable, easy-to-mount carrying bracket that fits on virtually all bikes.”
He added, “Kryptonite’s accompanying ‘insurance’—costing $20 for three years—is the easiest to purchase, thanks to their rare online form. And it pays okay, too. In the event that some jerk destroys the U-lock and makes off with a bike, then Kryptonite pays the homeowners’ or renter’s insurance deductible or the replacement cost of the bike.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Chicago allows Airbnb to operate under restrictions
Alternate housing fans touring the Windy City, rejoice. Chicago’s city council passed two measures yesterday to allow short-term rentals, permitting users to post their spaces on Airbnb so long as they play by new rules. Only so many living areas can be listed at one time in multi-unit residences, so get ready to ask your neighbors who’s scheduled to rent out their apartment on which days.
The restrictions are an attempt to give Chicago citizens a greater say in how residences are used by requiring short-term renters to register every listed unit with the city. The exact limits they have to abide by depend on the size of the building. Those with five units or less can only list one at a time, while larger complexes can only list six apartments or 35 percent of the total, whichever is less. Areas with single-family homes can petition to ban short-term rentals outright in their area or restrict it to the “primary residences” of the listed properties. Naturally, that petition can be petitioned.
Each company like Airbnb will have to pay fees to the city including a $10,000 annual license to operate, along with a $60 charge for each Chicago address listed on sites. The city will also take a 4 percent tax on every rental which goes to homeless services. The measure’s proponents, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, maintain that the incoming funds will make up for the inconvenience, but that will all depend on how well they follow up with regulation.
Via: Consumerist
Source: Chicago Tribune
CBS and Paramount release ‘Star Trek’ fan film guidelines
While Paramount and CBS’s lawsuit against Axanar Productions is still ongoing, the two studios have finally produced a set of guidelines meant to govern fan-made Star Trek productions in the future. While the guidelines might be a good start, and a sign that studios could be warming up to community input, they are still extremely limiting.
“[W]e want to show out appreciation by bringing fan films back to their roots,” the two studios wrote in an announcement. “The heart of these fan films has always been about expressing one’s love and passion for Star Trek. They have been about fan creativity and sharing unique stories with other fans to show admiration for the TV shows and movies. These films are a labor of love for any fan with desire, imagination and a camera.”
However, according to the guidelines themselves, Paramount and CBS would like those fans to keep their creativity limited to “less than 15 minutes for a self-contained story” or no more 30 minutes for a truly epic two-parter. Also: no sequels or additional seasons are allowed, so aspiring Trek writers will have to be careful about reusing their own original characters. Also, the material “must be family friendly” and cannot include “profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity,” or basically anything else that might hurt the brand. (Which makes one wonder how “The Naked Now” ever got the green light at CBS.)
Aside from those creative restrictions, the new guidelines also limit fundraising to $50,000 and require indie filmmakers to use only officially licensed merchandise “and not bootleg items or imitations” as props and set pieces. Any fan films that make it through those production hoops will also have to distance themselves from the official productions with an obligatory disclaimer.
The guidelines, which have already been called “onerous” and “super uncool”, would obviously kill a production like Axanar, which pulled in $1 million in funding from a kickstarter campaign. But the production team remains unfazed. Today, the group fired back with another teaser trailer that flies in the face of these restrictions:
‘Upfront’ Uber pricing replaces estimates with guarantees
Soon, when you open up Uber and request a ride you’ll see the pricing in a different way. Instead of its current method of displaying the rate (and multiplier, if surge pricing is in effect), with a fare estimate in a second screen, it will just display a guaranteed price to take you to your destination. Of course, that doesn’t mean surge pricing is going away, just that it will already be figured in to the price you’re quoted (with a “Fares are higher due to increased demand” note.)
Of course, if you need to make a change during the ride, either you or the driver can update it with a new destination, and immediately see what the new price will be. Also, the quoted price will still be in effect even if your driver gets lost or takes a different route. UberPool riders already see pricing this way, and Uber says it’s been flipping the switch in some cities since April with hundreds of thousands of trips taken so far.
Miami, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Seattle are the first US cities where it’s rolling out, and other areas should see it in the next few months. The only question now is if seeing the actual price up front will make riders more likely to use the service.
Source: Uber Newsroom
Adele’s ’25’ heads to streaming services now that you bought it
Chances are you’ve already purchased Adele’s 25 if you really wanted to hear it or obtained it through other means. Now that the artist has enjoyed seven months of albums sales, the collection of songs will debut on streaming services tonight at midnight ET. According to Billboard, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, Spotify and Tidal confirmed that the album will be available in their respective libraries this evening. Mashable reports that Google Play is a landing spot for the singer’s latest work as well.
The popular British singer decided to skip streaming services entirely when her album debuted last November. In a Time cover story in December, Adele explained that she looks at streaming as a “disposable” way to listen to music. “I know that streaming music is the future, but it’s not the only way to consume music,” she said in the interview. “I can’t pledge allegiance to something that I don’t know how I feel about yet.” 25 spent 10 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, and now that streaming is factored into those rankings, it stands to get a boost at the end of the week.
Via: Mashable
Source: Billboard
Apple Discontinues Thunderbolt Display
Apple today told several news sites that it plans to discontinue it Thunderbolt Display, which has been available for purchase online and in Apple retail stores since it was first introduced in the summer of 2011.
“We’re discontinuing the Apple Thunderbolt Display. It will be available through Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last. There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users,” said an Apple spokesperson.
Apple will continue to sell existing Thunderbolt Display stock so long as it remains available, but once stock is exhausted, the Thunderbolt Display will no longer be available as production is ceasing. It is not clear why Apple has decided to make an announcement concerning the discontinuation of the display and if it means a new 4K or 5K display is on the horizon.
Stock shortages ahead of WWDC sparked rumors that Apple might be planning to introduce a new display at the event, but no new hardware appeared and Apple instead focused on software for iOS devices, Macs, Apple TVs, and Apple Watch devices.
Rumors have suggested Apple is still working on a 5K display set to launch later in 2016, which could feature a resolution of 5120 x 2880 pixels, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 peripherals, and a design that mimics the latest iMacs. Speculation suggests it could come equipped with a built-in GPU or use a DisplayPort 1.2 Multi-Stream Transport setup to stitch two halves of a display together to make one seamless display.
If a new Thunderbolt Display is in the works, it could launch alongside next-generation Skylake Retina MacBook Pros, which are rumored to be in the works for late fall.
Related Roundup: Thunderbolt Display
Buyer’s Guide: Displays (Don’t Buy)
Discuss this article in our forums
Acer Chromebook 14 review – CNET
The Good The inexpensive Acer Chromebook 14’s aluminum body is much nicer than the plastic competition. The matte-finish, 14-inch full HD IPS display is a great size for work and play, but still keeps this laptop’s footprint small enough for commuting.
The Bad It has no SD or microSD card slot for expanding its 32GB of storage. The keyboard isn’t backlit and shallow. Power users will want to step up to the Work version of this Chromebook or look elsewhere.
The Bottom Line The Acer Chromebook 14 stands out for its stylish design and big screen at an affordable price. If you’re looking for a classier Chromebook, this is it.
Chromebooks — laptops running on Google’s Chrome operating system — are more known for being small and cheap than for stylish design. The majority of them have 11.6- or 13.3-inch screens and are plastic, which keeps the prices low. That’s what makes the Acer Chromebook 14 all the more remarkable: Not only does it have a 14-inch screen, but it’s thin and clad in aluminum and sells for less than $300.
The Acer Chromebook 14 has a starting price of $280 (£250, AU$450) with different configurations featuring:
- 14-inch screen with either HD (1,366×768) or full HD (1,920×1,080) resolution
- Intel Celeron processor, either quad-core N3160 or dual-core N3060
- Either 2GB or 4GB of onboard memory
- Either 16GB or 32GB of storage (eMMC)
Standard for all configurations are:
- Intel integrated HD Graphics 400
- 720p forward-facing camera
- 3.4 pounds (1.6kg) and 0.67 inch (17mm) thick
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2
- HDMI-out, headphone/mic jack and two USB 3.1 ports
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Acer’s all-aluminum Chromebook 14 sports a thin profile.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Reviewed here is the CB3-431-C5FM, a $300 configuration with a full HD IPS display, Intel Celeron N3160 quad-core processor, 4GB of memory and 32GB of storage. (Note: Pricing and configuration availability varies by region and this particular configuration was not available in the UK or Australia.) These aren’t powerful components, but it’s enough for the Chrome OS and web apps. It should also be enough to run Android apps when support is added later this year, but I won’t know for sure until then.
Under what I would consider a normal load — six to 10 open tabs while streaming music or video — the Chromebook 14 was reasonably quick and responsive. Pushing it beyond this by working in more than a dozen tabs and leaving a couple web apps running in the background while streaming music from Spotify caused the music to frequently stutter or there’d be some lag when switching and loading tabs.
Basically, power users will need more power, which Acer does offer with its Chromebook 14 for Work that has Core i-series processors, better graphics and more memory as well as a sturdier case and spill-resistant keyboard.
Acer claims a battery life up to 12 hours for this configuration (14 hours for versions with an HD screen). We hit 9.5 hours with our streaming video test, which is in line with what Acer told us to expect using wireless to rundown the battery. Playing video on the laptop, you should be able get to that 12-hour mark, but it’s safe to say you’ll get about 10 hours with mixed use.
Steam’s summer sale: All the best game deals and hardware discounts
Summer is here!
You know what that means? It’s time to sit inside all day and play Steam.
Steam has announced that 12,845 games are now on sale as part of its annual summer sale, which is called the Steam Summer Picnic Sale this year. It went live at 10 am PST on 23 June and will last until 4 July. You’ll find lots of great deals on some of the most popular PC games today, and you’ll even notice steep discounts on Steam hardware.
We’ve rounded up the most notable sales and listed them all below.
Steam’s summer sale: Game deals
NBA 2K16 – $11.99 (80 per cent off)
Call of Duty – 50 to 67 per cent off every game and bundle in franchise
Assassin’s Creed – 35 to 75 per cent off every game
Fallout 4 – $29.99 (50 per cent off)
Doom – $35.99 (40 per cent off)
Dark Souls 3 – $44.99 (25 per cent off)
Deus Ex – 75 per cent off every game
Hotline Miami 2 – $3.74 (75 percent off)
Steam’s summer sale: Hardware discounts
Steam Link – $34.99 (30 per cent off)
Steam Controller – $34.99 (30 per cent off)
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