Seems like there are going to be challenges for the merger as President Donald Trump opposes it

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) had announced to acquire entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) for an amount of $85.4 billion. It has come into news that 13 senators have asked the telecommunication company how it managed to conclude that the merger is in te public’s interest.

The telecommunication giant had said earlier in a filing that it plans to go around the Federal Communication Commission in its acquisition. It is aiming to face only the review conducted by the Justice Department. In order to comply with the requirements of omitting the FCC review, AT&T will not acquire the Atlanta TV station which has a license of the FCC. If it acquires the TV station as well, it would become mandatory for the FCC to review the deal.

Democratic senators have, in a letter, asked both the companies to submit their replies to how their merger is in public interest by the 17th of next month. The letter states that the information should serve answers to the question: “detailing how you plan to ensure that the transaction benefits consumers, promotes competition, remedies all potential harms, and further serves the public interest.”

AT&T has said that it is open to answer all the questions related to the merger and will fulfil all the legal requirements. It further said that it will produce millions of documents as part of the Justice Department Hart-Scott-Rodino review process.

There can be challenges for both the companies as newly-elected President Donald Trump has opposed the merger. He has, in a recent interview, told the website Axios that there is no change in his stance and he wants to keep the competition.

AT&T shares gained 0.07% through the last session as they closed at $41.39. However, Time Warner stock lost 0.65% to closed down at $95.72.

Alphabet’s subsidiary has been fined yet again by another European country

Tech giant Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been fined $6.75 million in Russia reagarding an antitrust clause that lets smartphones manufacturers pre-install apps on their devices. Android devices are by far the most used devices in Russia and this led local search engine rival, Yandex, to file a complaint against Google for abusing its position.

The fine, however, is a small amount for Google, as Recode reports that the search engine giant makes more money than that in an hour. The decision by Russian authorities, on the other hand, shows that Google is still despised in most European countries as the search giant continues to try to establish a stronghold in the region.

Google has been under fire over the last few months from the European Union, which also has similar claims. The EU claims that one of the antitrust claims filed by the union speaks against how Google has abused its position and forced Android manufacturers to install the company’s services on their devices.

Google is still losing out to Yandex in Russia, as the local search giant has 60% of the total market. However, with users switching to mobile, Yandex is worried that it might just lose out in its race against the company.

Google isn’t the only company that is coming under fire from Russian authorities. Russian antitrust watchdog, the FSA recently stated that it is investigating Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as it is believed that the company is resposnbile for price-fixing for the company’s latest iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The claim states that the price for the new iPhone stayed the same for a long time through Apple and sixteen other retailers within the country. The agency was also quoted as saying: “The FAS believes that such a coincidence could be the result of a coordination of the pricing of Russian resellers by the Apple group of companies.”

Now you can finally root your Samsung SM – J700P

In the news, all you hear about are the newest and best flagships from all sorts of manufacturers, and mid-range phone like the Galaxy J7 get no love at all. In fact, actually phones like these sell the most. The most popular phone of this year as noted by GSM Arena was the Galaxy J7. The mid-range phone is a stellar and capable device, and with root access, you can unlock its true potential. 

Other variants of the device have had a root for a while but it was only this week that the root for the Boost/Virgin Mobile variant of the device was released. Today, we’re going to show you how to root the SM – J700P. 

What You Need 

A Samsung Galaxy J7 with an unlocked bootloader. You can unlock it by enabling OEM Unlocking in Developer Options  USB Debugging enabled on device  CF – Auto Root ZIP. Download here Odin. Download here  Samsung USB Drivers 

Step 1: Download and extract the ZIP file to your computer. Install Odin and launch it. 

Step 2: Next, you need to place your device into Download mode. To do it, first power off your phone. Press and hold Menu + Volume Down + Power Up until the device boots into download mode. 

Step 3: Connect your phone to the computer. In Odin, click on the AP button. You’ll be presented with a file selection prompt. Select the tar file extracted in Step 1. 

Step 4: Press Start. 

Odin will now flash the root file to your device and then reboot it. Once your phone reboots, it will be in a rooted state.

Next year is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and Apple seems to have big plans for it

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is tipped again today to launch an iPhone, for the first time, without its signature Home button in 2017. The Home button is as old as it gets for Apple’s mainstream signature touches to its products, but it looks like the Home button’s time might be up as Apple gears up to launch its first iPhone with Organic Light Emitted Diode (OLED) display technology next year. According to a latest report by the Bloomberg, Apple seeks to design the next iPhone so that it looks like a “sheet of glass” on the front.

The Home button would, of course, be an obstacle in the way of making the next iPhone look like a sheet of glass on the front, which is why Apple is rumored to be doing away with its long-standing Home button. However, as a consequence of this step, the fingerprint scanner would then have to be integrated into the display itself.

Some of the other changes tipped for next year’s major iPhone refresh are an OLED display, introduction of the magnetic Smart Connector, and for the first time, an iPhone with a curved display. An all-glass form-factor has also been spoken of in some rumors, further solidifying the case for Apple’s reported complete redesign of iPhone for 2017.

In other news, Bloomberg has also reported that Apple could include Sony’s FeLica chip in its next iPhone that would allow users to pay for their mass-transit fee using their iPhone.

Watson Element will be the first ‘MobileFirst for iOS’ education app in collaboration of Apple and International Business Machines

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) initiated a partnership in 2014 under the “MobileFirst for iOS” title. Ever since then, the companies have rolled out more than 30 apps useful in various different industries. However, this is the first time the tech giants are launching a collaborated app in the educational arena. This app will be called IBM Watson Element for Educators.

The app is designed especially for iPads and will track the academic performances of students. It will also oversee students’ interests, hobbies, accomplishments, and behavioral attributes. The teachers will be allowed to add notes to students’ profiles such as important soccer matches or recitals or any injury or allergy of the student. These notes will be available for other teachers to see so they can keep a better check on important events, health and traits of the specific student.

This app facilitates educators further by linking to IBM web app, Watson Enlighten, aimed at lesson planning. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recommend customized lessons to individual students according to their limitations or hobbies. For instance, it can customize a more visual approach to mathematics for a dyslexic student.

Watson Element is being used with Coppell Independent School District in Texas. Apple will assist in the complete acceptance of the app by encouraging it as a part of its school package. In 2014 when Apple and IBM joined hands, they had aimed to develop 100 apps and cloud services. After the partnership, IBM has started to distribute and support Mac for other organizations. Now, IBM has become the largest Mac deployment as IBM employees are offered Macs as an official part of their jobs. It is revealed that IBM is deploying 1,300 Macs per week and aims to hit the number to 10,000 by 2017.

This collaboration between tech rivals has certainly proved fruitful for Apple, IBM, and various industries for which Apple and IBM are developing apps. If tech giants come together as partners and not rivals, they can benefit themselves and the human race.