Deadline reports: “Dish Network’s stock dropped more than 11% to a two-month low Monday after the satellite company announced it would acquire broadcast satellite assets from EchoStar in an all-stock deal valued at $800 million.”
The Verge reports: “Facebook is certainly a high-tech company, but it’s not one you would necessarily associate with robots. However, as the firm revealed today, that’s exactly where its researchers are looking next — trying to see how experiments in robotics can further its work in AI.”
VentureBeat reports: “Huawei’s fortunes have gone from bad to worse, as news emerged last night that Google will stop providing the company with support for Android and Google services. The move was made in response to a U.S. order restricting companies’ ability to trade with Huawei due to security concerns.”
Variety reports: “Disney-backed immersive media startup Tyffon has raised a new $7.8 million Series A round of funding. The company wants to use the new cash infusion for an international expansion that includes the opening of a Santa Monica, Calif.-based virtual reality (VR) center.”
VentureBeat reports: “The Venture Reality Fund said it is tracking over 550 companies on the virtual reality landscape. The major growth areas for investment in VR were gaming, location-based entertainment (LBE), next-generation reality capture, enterprise, and health care.”
The Verge reports: “Microsoft and Sony unveiled a surprising partnership last week that will see the companies collaborate to develop future cloud solutions for game and content-streaming services. While both companies have spent more than 15 years battling it out over PlayStation and Xbox sales, Sony is now looking to Microsoft’s vast cloud experience to help power its existing and future streaming services, and Microsoft is teaming with a rival to fend off far larger gaming threats.”
TechCrunch reports: “Fan reaction to Game of Thrones‘ final season may be mixed, but the show has been undeniably good for HBO’s network — and for its over-the-top streaming service, HBO NOW.”
Hypebot reports: “Two copies of a PledgeMusic presentation apparently designed to attract investors show that the crowdfunder lost nearly $11 million dollars between 2016 and 2018, despite generating more than $77 million in revenue during the same period.”
Forbes reports: “Factions of the media and advertising world have been presaging the end of the television advertising upfronts for decades. It hasn’t happened and it isn’t happening soon – it’s a market that still works for buyers and sellers. But what about the fancy schmancy upfront presentations?”
The Verge reports: “Spotify is beginning to roll out a new design for its mobile app that puts a much larger emphasis on podcasts. The redesign, which the company is rolling out to a limited number of users and was first reported last week by Bloomberg, is proof that Spotify is all-in on podcasts.”
