T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. agreed to new terms for their pending merger that take account of the slide in Sprint shares since the transaction was first agreed, putting the industry-altering deal a step closer to completion.
T-Mobile owners will get roughly 11 shares of Sprint for each of their stock, the companies said Thursday. That’s an increase from a ratio of 9.75 previously and is more favorable for T-Mobile’s German owner Deutsche Telekom AG.
The equity value of the amended deal is about $37 billion compared with the original agreement of $26.5 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Erhan Gurses. The higher valuation partly reflects the 62% gain in T-Mobile shares since the all-stock transaction was announced almost two years ago, despite the deterioration in Sprint’s business.
When I think about who might be responsible for nearly two million attacks on websites and services costing companies millions of dollars, I’m not sure who I picture. But it’s not Adam Mudd, the teen responsible for 1.7 million attacks on services like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. According to The Guardian, Mudd has been sentenced to two years in prison for his hacking-related crimes.
The rumors were true. Comcast announced Thursday that its NBCUniversal division will acquire DreamWorks animation, a studio known for hits such as Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda,Antz and other movies and TV shows. Comcast said it will bring DreamWorks into its Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
Apple may have eliminated “bendgate,” but does its new iPhone 6s have an overheating issue? Some users report that their handsets are getting too warm during use — so much so that the device will not allow the LED flash to activate when taking pictures.
Earlier on Tuesday, we ran a report that quoted comments made by Spotify suggesting it is ready to address Apple Music’s family plan pricing, which is cheaper and allows up to six people to share a $14.99 monthly subscription. At that price, just two Spotify users could share a subscription, and the price increased as more users were added, up to a max of five people.
The Oculus Rift headset doesn’t even have a vague release date right now, but that’s just fine with me when they still appear to be adding major features to the device.
If PlayStation 4′s upcoming The Order: 1886 is on your radar as a must-play title in 2015, you might want to grab a snack and enjoy 15 minutes of leaked b-roll footage. That’s what we have here today.
A number of Bose products have returned to the Apple Online Store after being removed almost two months ago. The company’s popular SoundLink Bluetooth speaker is one of three devices that are now available ahead of the lucrative holiday shopping season.
Apple, one of the most valuable companies on earth, got its start in a garage. At least that’s the story we all know, and the one that’s likely inspired hundreds of other companies to launch their first products. The truth isn’t quite as simple, though, at least according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
By now it’s pretty common knowledge that you don’t use the word “Password” as your password. Or 1234, etc. And, unless you’re not very well versed in Internet culture, you already know not to use information that’s readily available through your LiveJournal profile as a password to get into your bank account. But, low and behold, people continue to do so, because, wow, thinking of an actual password is just too hard.
So says Google, which we all know to be a respected voice when it comes to password security.
The search giant allegedly conducted a study of 2,000 people recently in the hopes of learning how it is they come up with passwords. The findings revealed pretty much what we expect: people often choose passwords based on information that’s accessible to most anyone who uses the Internet, like your pet’s name (number one), or a family member’s name (number three), or your favorite holiday (number 7).Halloween1234hehe.
Google provides ten of the most common passwords, and surprisingly the word password is number ten. Maybe people have learned a little. Or maybe they use the word password ironically as their password in an attempt to trick thieves. In any case, Google’s data also revealed nearly 50 percent of people freely tell others what their password is. Like,Howdy, stranger, here is my password. Three percent have no basic concept of security and merely write their password down on a post it and stick it to their monitor.
Passwords are tricky, sure, and remembering all your different logins can be a challenge. But that’s why services such as 1Password exist—something you should take advantage of now if you haven’t already. The ten most common passwords are below. If any of yours are on the no-no list, I suggest you change it immediately.
All those nagging questions about the Xbox One aside, I knew I was in once they showed the Forza Motorsport 5 trailer. The Forzaseries has been a favorite of mine since the first iteration on the original Xbox console. Each Forza has been better than the last, with the last couple able to easily stand with Gran Turismo‘s best work while welcoming in players rather than shutting out the less-than-hardcore.
There’s no question that Turn 10’s video, posted yesterday at GameSpot, is PR candy. Let’s just get that out of the way right now.
At the same time, the video is a great historical retrospective of a single game developer from the developer itself. Clips of Forza Motorsport and its successors are cut with short clips of Turn 10 staff talking about their past work and the endeavor they’re coming up against the tail end of in the next few months, the release of Forza Motorsport 5 as an Xbox One launch game. Fans of Turn 10’s work and anyone interested in peeking behind the scenes of game developers should be watching this.
While there isn’t anything new in the way of Forza 5 footage, a few tidbits come out of the interviews.
The company is definitely proud of this game and doesn’t feel like it’s just a first iteration on new hardware the way Forza 2 might be perceived as, or the way each console generation’s first Madden game is looked at. They also state explicitly that the game will run at 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.
The devil is in the details, and so are many of the improvements in Forza 5. Creative director Dan Greenwalt mentions the 0-60 time in Nissan’s GT-R and all the computers that make that happen:
“[The GT-R] doesn’t break the laws of physics, but we don’t always simulate all the laws of physics that make that possible in a last generation game, so we’re nowhere near tapped out there.”
Much of the work in Forza has been with regard to how the tire interacts with the asphalt. Between Forza Horizon‘s much wider variety of surfaces and the specs of the Xbox One, the team should have ample room to expand the simulation to make an even more realistic effort for those that want it. The team even talks about an effect called orange peeling that can occur on a car’s paint job and how they’re able to incorporate that, capitalizing on the imperfections of cars as a way to increase fidelity further.
PR fluff or not, the video has me more excited than ever for Forza Motosport 5. It might be enough to make the Xbox One a day one purchase.
If nothing else, there’s tons of awesome beard action going on in this video.
