Broadcom’s offer to buy chipmaker Qualcomm would nearly double the record for biggest tech acquisition, Samsung is taking shots at Apple fans in its new ad, and you really shouldn’t drop your iPhone X.
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From Google Trends – If the Broadcom deal to buy fellow chipmaker Qualcomm goes through, it would make it the biggest tech deal ever at $130 billion dollars, dwarfing the Dell and EMC merger of $67 billion in 2015. You probably recognize Qualcomm from its Snapdragon chips that are in popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy 8 and Note 8, LG V30, Google Pixel 2, HTC U11, and much more. The deal would make Broadcom the third largest chipmaker in the world, following Intel and Samsung. The offer comes after a rough 2017 for Qualcomm that has seen two separate antitrust lawsuits from Apple and the United States FTC, the second of which has been joined by Intel and Samsung. This has lead to speculation that Apple could be dropping Qualcomm from its devices moving forward, while Apple and Broadcom’s relationship remains strong, with Apple accounting for one of Broadcom’s largest customers.
From YouTube – Samsung’s latest ad for its Galaxy Note 8 device takes shots at Apple – and it isn’t subtle at all. The ad, titled ‘Grow Up’, follows 10 years of iPhone criticisms while hyping up its own devices. This really is some next level marketing shade for a company that is promoting a device that was exploding just a year before. In other Samsung versus Apple news, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Samsung, upholding a verdict made last December that Samsung had infringed on Apple’s patents for several features on the iPhone such as slide-to-unlock and autocorrect. This stems from an original verdict made by a California judge in 2014 ordering Samsung to pay $119 million for using the Apple features without permission.
And from Twitter – If you just picked up an iPhone X for over a thousand dollars, you may want to go put a case on it right now. Seriously, right now. I’ll wait. The latest iPhone may look like a stunner with its bezel-less display, glass back, and stainless steel frame, but oh boy is it fragile. Many users are reporting that it took just one drop for significant cracks to appear on either side of the device, and if this happens to you, it will be costly. If you haven’t paid the $200 dollars USD for AppleCare+ to ensure your device, Apple will charge you $550 dollars USD to replace the glass back. 550 dollars! Seriously! Go put a case on.
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.