AT&T says the DirecTV merger will save money… but not for you
AT&T has just given us the best reason yet to support its merger with DirecTV, and frankly it’s not all that great. Per Re/code, AT&T said in a regulatory filing this week that one reason to support its proposed DirecTV merger would be that AT&T would gain added leverage in negotiations with content providers to lower the prices that they charge for the rights to broadcast their shows.
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HERE WE GO! 5.5-inch iPhone 6 might be launching sooner than expected
When it comes to Apple, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White has a mixed track record. He was the first Apple watcher to reveal that the company planned to launch an iPad mini, though details were scarce at the time, and he also was the first with sources who pointed to an iPhone being made available in several new colors last year. White has also had some big misses though, and he famously suggested that Apple was working on an iTV controlled by an “iRing,” that would be worn on the user’s finger — which seems… unlikely.
With White’s recent hits and misses in mind, his latest note could go either way. According to the analyst, Apple’s larger 5.5-inch iPhone will launch sooner than expected this year.
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Apple’s ‘stolen product’: An exclusive interview with the founder of HealthKit
On Tuesday morning in Melbourne, Australia, HealthKit co-founder Alison Hardacre turned on her iPhone at 4:00 a.m. Like many entrepreneurs, she woke up thinking about her business and checked her email. To her astonishment, her email box was filling with excited questions. Had she cut a secret deal with Apple? Had Apple acquired her company?
Alison was gobsmacked.
She had founded HealthKit in early 2012 and registered HealthKit.com in the spring that same year. The site was the No. 1 search result for anyone who did a Google search for “healthkit.” How was it possible that Apple had just launched a very similar iOS 8 feature and taken her name?
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iOS 8 beta jailbreak efforts are off to a promising start
Now that Apple has released the first iOS 8 beta version, some developers have started work on jailbreaking the new mobile operating system, with well-known iOS hacker i0n1c having already revealed that an iOS 8 jailbreak may be possible.
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Hardcore Android fan lists 6 iOS 8 features he wants Google to steal
All of us are fans of different mobile platforms but it’s still healthy to take off our fanboy goggles and admit when a rival platform does certain things better than our OS of choice. Droid Life’s Kellex is just such an Android fan and he thinks that iOS 8 has six terrific features that he’d really like to see Google incorporate into future versions of Android.
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Forbes: Apple made a ‘massive mistake’ with iOS 8
Stepping back for a moment, Apple’s WWDC 2014 keynote was pretty bizarre compared to past years. Yes, Apple usually announces a new product or two, but it wasn’t that. Yes, the CEO usually gets more face time on stage, but it wasn’t that either. This year’s keynote was bizarre because of what happened after the show was over: for the most part, no one complained. No well-known pundits repeatedly howled about Apple being “doomed.” No widely read bloggers whined about missing features or wrote open letters telling Apple what it “needs to do.” Developers even seemed to adore the new “Swift” programming language Apple unveiled, which came as something of a surprise to many people.
For the most part, everyone seemed pretty content with the new software Apple showed off on stage this past Monday.
Not so fast — we can always count on Forbes.
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LEAKED IMAGES: Is this Samsung’s premium Galaxy F?
Samsung’s mythical premium Galaxy S5 handset, often referred to as Galaxy S5 Prime, is not yet ready to be unveiled. But images showing the device as well as more rumblings about its potential name have hit the web. Well-known leaker @evleaks has published two images of a Galaxy F handset, which could very well be the metal Galaxy S5 many buyers have been waiting for.
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DEAL ALERT: Save $100 on the already-affordable Moto X today and tomorrow only
Smartphone shoppers looking for affordable yet capable off-contract handsets have a surprising number of solid options these days. Now, what is likely one of the best options out there — Motorola’s customizable Moto X smartphone — is available for purchase at a big discount on Wednesday and Thursday only.
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Xbox One’s big June update brings highly anticipated new features
The highly anticipated Xbox One June update is here, Microsoft announced, bringing several interesting features to users, including external storage support and better access to apps. Users will now be able to connect their external hard drives to the console in order to supplement the limited (for some) storage available on the device, and access more games and media files. The company says that USB 3.0-ready hard drives that have at least 256GB of storage will be compatible with the Xbox One, which will recognize such an external drive as the default storage option for future downloads once it’s configured. Users will be able to connect up to two external drives simultaneously.
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Comparing clouds: What’s the cheapest cloud service you can get right now?
Apple’s iCloud is a major feature of both iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 Yosemite, with the iPhone maker having announced significant improvements for its cloud solution at WWDC 2014, including more affordable prices. However, that doesn’t mean Apple’s cloud is the cheapest one available. In the very competitive cloud business, other major players including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Dropbox and Box have their own affordable offers. CNET has put together a price comparison between these various offers.
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