Mitchel Broussard

After months of scrutiny in an ongoing antitrust case, the United States Department of Justice today granted The Walt Disney Company approval to acquire 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets for $71.3 billion, on one new condition: Disney must divest 22 regional sports networks owned by Fox to an "acceptable" buyer. Removing these networks from the acquisition "would resolve the competitive...

Snapchat is looking to build its own "internal app store" of gaming titles, according to a new report out today from The Information. The platform is set for a tentative launch sometime this fall, and will allow outside developers to build games that Snapchat then distributes for users to play within the Snapchat app. People familiar with the company's plans claim that Snapchat has already ...

Elgato Systems today announced that it will shift its focus "exclusively" to its line of HomeKit-connected Eve devices, in the process rebranding itself to "Eve Systems." At the same time, it confirmed plans to sell its streaming accessory division Elgato Gaming to peripheral company Corsair to continue life as a separate brand. Under its new name, the company said that Eve Systems will...

Seattle-based startup Play Impossible has inked a retail deal with Apple for its smart inflatable "Gameball" that encourages people to play both single player and multiplayer games through a connected iOS and tvOS app (via GeekWire). The Gameball connects to iPhone, iPod, iPad, or Apple TV through Bluetooth, and games emphasize hand-eye coordination, agility, and creative thinking, according to...

Facebook has confirmed to TechCrunch that it's testing an ability for its users to "snooze" certain keywords in their News Feed and groups for 30 days. The text-based snooze follows an update from late last year that introduced a way for users to snooze people, pages, and groups for 30 days. In order to start snoozing keywords, users will first have to come across a post that includes the...

Parallels today announced a series of individual "Toolbox Packs" that aim to help users cut down the time-consuming tasks on their Mac or PC, including a Presentation Pack, a Screen and Video Pack, and a Disk and System Pack. Parallels president Jack Zubarev explained that each pack features a "comprehensive suite of single-purpose tools" that will help simplify workflows. For example, in the...

B&H Photo this week launched a sale on a collection of Apple's MacBooks, with savings that reach up to $200 off the Mid 2017 refreshes of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The 13-inch MacBook Air (1.8 GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) has the lowest price in the sale, running for $799.00, down from $999.00. If you want to beef up the hard drive you can opt for the 256GB SSD that's priced at $999.00, down...

Apple has confirmed that its new retail location at the open air University Village mall in Seattle will open to the public at 9:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 30. Apple University Village will replace the current Apple retail store in University Village, which it has occupied since 2003. The new location is a standalone structure and will include all of the highlights and amenities of ...

Apple has begun commercial production on the iPhone 6s in India as of last week, according to a new report by The Economic Times, following local manufacturing for the iPhone SE that kicked off in India last year. Production on the 6s started at the Wistron facility in Bangalore, and the model was chosen due to its "sales potential," two senior industry executives reportedly said. Due to the ...

Most recent Android owners who switch to the iPhone ecosystem tend to opt for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, according to a new report sent to MacRumors today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The data was gathered during the fiscal quarter that ended March 31, 2018 and is based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. Apple customers who purchased an iPhone during that time. In a given quarter, ...

In the latest company rankings, Brand Finance has detailed the 500 Most Valuable Brands in the United States for 2018 [PDF], with Apple earning 2nd place this year and not moving spots from last year. A lot has shifted around the company, however, with Google dropping from 1st place last year to 3rd place this year, and Amazon rising from 3rd to become Brand Finance's #1 most valuable U.S. brand...

Members of the Information Technology Industry Council plan to meet this Wednesday, June 27 in San Francisco to discuss "how to tackle growing questions and concerns about consumer privacy online." The news comes from Axios, and members of ITI in attendance will reportedly include Apple, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, Dropbox, and more -- although specific attendees have...

Monument Valley 2 creators Ustwo Games today posted a new story on Medium (via The Verge) that highlights the first-year numbers and growth of the popular mobile sequel. Although there are numerous points of data to look at, one notable standout is that Monument Valley 2 earned $10.4 million in the one year period that began on June 5, 2017 (the game's launch day) through June 4, 2018. In...

Facebook is working on its own in-house time usage insight dashboard, following in the footsteps of Apple's iOS 12 keynote at WWDC, which included the announcement of a "Screen Time" digital health feature. Discovered by Jane Manchun Wong (via TechCrunch), "Your Time on Facebook" shows a list of of how long you've spent on the Facebook app over the last week. This includes the average time you ...

Apple's audio device strategy has been highlighted today in a new report by Bloomberg, which looked forward to 2019 and the launch of the "higher-end" third-generation AirPods, next HomePod, and previously rumored over-ear headphones from Apple. For the AirPods, next year's model is believed to be water resistant "to protect against rain and perspiration," which Bloomberg previously reported ...

The United States Supreme Court today ruled that the government "is required" to obtain a warrant if it wants to gain access to data found on a civilian's smartphone, but only when it's related to the user's location data (via The New York Times). Image via Wikimedia Commons The decision is expected to have major implications for digital privacy moving forward as it pertains to legal cases,...

Alongside a major version 3.0 update that rolled out to its iOS app [Direct Link] earlier this week, Turner Classic Movies has also expanded support for its "Watch TCM" app to tvOS devices. Now the app can be downloaded to the fourth-generation Apple TV and fifth-generation Apple TV 4K, with thousands of classic films available on demand. You'll need to have TCM already on your current cable ...

Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has begun commercial production of chips manufactured using its advanced 7-nanometer process (via DigiTimes). One of the major customers for chips built with the technology will be Apple and the A12 processor, which is expected to be found in all three upcoming 2018 iPhones. The announcement comes from newly appointed TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, ...

eBay today launched its latest sitewide coupon code, offering customers the chance to save $15 on orders that reach or exceed $75. The code isn't as enticing as eBay's previous sitewide sales, but could still give shoppers the chance to save money on a variety of items, excluding video game consoles, laptops and netbooks, coins and paper money, gift cards and coupons, and real estate. Note:...

Movie subscription service MoviePass today confirmed that it will soon introduce surge pricing into its business model, charging customers from $2 and up for films that the company deems popular. The news comes from MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe, who confirmed to Business Insider that surge pricing will affect monthly subscribers while annual subscribers will be exempt from what he describes as...