The ongoing kerfuffle between Mexico's Federal Competition Commission and Carlos Slim's America Movil (Telcel's parent company) took a drastic turn earlier today. According to the CFC, a deal has been reached with Slim's telecom outfit that, among other things, will revoke the 11,989,000,000 pesos fine (about $1 billion dollars) imposed back in 2011. That being said, the wealthiest man on the globe isn't completely off the hook, as America Movil's been given five new demands that must be adhered to. Among these are reducing the current per-minute interconnection rates from .95 to .36 pesos, sharing the Telcel waves with other companies in the country and routinely providing the CFC with extensive details to prove the aforementioned requirements are being followed. Should America Movil not live up to its end of the deal, the Mexican regulator could hit Carlos Slim & Co. with a fine of up to eight percent of Telcel's annual revenue -- which, needless to say, is a heck of a lot of cash.

CFC backtracks on Slim's near-billion dollar fine in Mexico, lays out other terms and conditions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 22:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While its parent company goes through a dramatic reinvention, Sony Music's scraped together $2.2 billion to lead a consortium that's just bought EMI's music publishing business. While it'll sell off the three Virgin and Famous Music labels to avoid competition concerns, the company will gain access to three million songs from artists like Frank Sinatra, Jay-Z and Adele. It won't affect the day-to-day running of EMI's record label, which is a separate entity, but it will make Sony the biggest music publisher in the world. It's hard not to envisage a future in which the company's influence in the way we buy and listen to music becomes even greater -- especially given that EMI led the charge in abandoning DRM all those years ago.

What crisis? Sony Music buys EMI's back catalogue for $2.2 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Y Combinator-funded Posterous had its time in the sun and now it's being absorbed by the biggest player in the microblogging market. The simple sharing service struck a chord with many of Silicon Valley's elite, but it never managed to make a major dent in a field already dominated by the likes of Tumblr and its now owner, Twitter. The teams from Posterous will simply shift over to products at its new parent company and let their creation die a slow and likely unspectacular death. There are no concrete plans to retire Posterous Spaces just yet but, should that day come, we've been promised plenty of warning and instructions for backing up your content. Now we'll just have to wait and see what "key initiatives" Twitter has in store for its new employees.

Twitter snatches up Posterous, microblogging field about to get a little bit smaller originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redbox announced this week that the company crossed the two billion mark for movie and video game rentals. It will celebrate the milestone by offering a free, one-night movie rental with the code “THANKS2Uâ€� for one day only on Thursday. Redbox has seen substantial growth over the past 18 months, with one billion additional rentals, a feat that previously took six years to accomplish. “We’ve always known how much America loves easy, affordable entertainment, and today we can prove it two billion times over,â€� said Scott Di Valerio, chief financial officer of Redbox parent company Coinstar. “Just 18 months ago, we rented our one billionth DVD and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this remarkable second rental milestone with our customers.â€� Read on for Redbox’s press release.

Redbox Celebrates Milestone by Giving America a Free Movie Night March 8

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – March 5, 2012 – Redbox achieved an entertainment milestone this weekend, crossing the two billion mark for movie and game rentals. The two billionth disc, Drive, was rented at a McDonald’s restaurant in Philomath, Ore. To thank America for making Redbox its destination for entertainment, Redbox invites everyone to enjoy a free, one-night movie rental on Thursday, March 8, by using a promotional code available on the Redbox® Facebook page.

“We’ve always known how much America loves easy, affordable entertainment, and today we can prove it two billion times over,â€� said Scott Di Valerio, chief financial officer of Coinstar, Inc. and interim president of Redbox. “Just 18 months ago, we rented our one billionth DVD and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this remarkable second rental milestone with our customers.â€�

Consumers can join in the celebration by visiting the Redbox Facebook page to share a promo code for a free, one-night DVD rental with friends and family. The promo code is valid on March 8 only. New-release titles now available include Hugo and In Time. Starting tomorrow, Footloose, Jack & Jill and Like Crazy will be available at kiosks nationwide.

Redbox is located where America shops with more than 35,400 kiosks nationwide across 29,000 convenient locations. Today, more than 68 percent of the U.S. population lives within a five minute drive of a Redbox kiosk. Finding the nearest Redbox location is simple on redbox.com, via the RedboxiPhone® and Android™ apps or by texting FIND to 727272.*

Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, Ltd., parent company of original device manufacturer Foxconn, reported huge revenue growth of nearly 50% for the month of January, Taiwan Economic News reports. The manufacturing giant enjoyed performance that beat forecasts last month, with revenue ballooning 47.9% year-on-year to NT$274.6 billion, or approximately $9.1 billion USD. Revenue was down 13.3% sequentially after a big December capped off a hot holiday quarter, but the seasonal decline was expected and well below the average 20% fall off Hon Hai typically sees between December and January. Hon Hai’s nearest competitor Quanta Computer saw revenue grow 2% to NT$78.3 billion in January, and rival Compal Electronics reported a dip of 22% to NT$43.7 billion in January.

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When Dr. Pepper sued Dr. Pepper, we joked that real life was imitating Coke Zero commercials, where a company sues itself as marketing humor. This deal with Dr. Pepper ain't no marketing joke. Dr. Pepper, the parent company, just killed off Dublin Dr. Pepper, the best version of Dr. Pepper there is. What the hell! More »

In a rather unexpected about-face, Rolling Stone's parent company, Wenner Media, has announced that the iconic music magazine will soon be available on the iPad. But first, it's porting The Beatles: The Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide to Apple's tablet—like this week. More »

In a rather unexpected about-face, Rolling Stone's parent company, Wenner Media, has announced that the iconic music magazine will soon be available on the iPad. But first, it's porting The Beatles: The Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide to Apple's tablet—like this week. More »

T-Mobile USA has been setting aside cash that it plans to use in an effort to keep its top employees on board should AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of the firm gain U.S. regulatory approval. The carrier has reportedly already recorded $64 million in merger-related employee costs during the past two quarters. A spokesperson for T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that T-Mobile USA is indeed saving money to keep “top employees on board” after the deal closes. AT&T originally said the deal would close by March 2012, however it recently pushed that date back after the U.S. government filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the acquisition.

Following parent company Coinstar’s third-quarter earnings report, Redbox announced that daily DVD rental fees have increased to $1.20 from $1. “The price change is based on an increase in operating costs, including higher debit card fees that went into effect October 1,” Redbox said in a statement on its website. “This is the first time in eight years Redbox has raised our daily DVD rental price.” Redbox will continue to charge $1 for the first day of each DVD rental during a promotional period from October 31st through November 30th, though additional days will be charged at the new rate of $1.20 per night. Rates for Blu-ray ($1.50 per day) rentals and video game rentals ($2 per day) are not affected by this change.

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Apple’s iPhone 5 will launch on Orange in Europe on October 15th according to comments from the CEO of the carrier’s parent company, France Telecom. FT chief executive Stéphane Richard, who has openly discussed Apple’s plans for the iPhone ahead of announcement in the past, told the French press that the iPhone 5 will launch on Orange in mid-October, TechRadar reports. “If we believe what we have been told, the iPhone 5 will be released on 15 October,” the CEO said without elaborating. Apple’s iPhone 5 has previously been rumored to be set for an October 7th release, which may still be the case in some markets. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 alongside an updated iPhone 4 model at a press event later this month or early in October.

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It popped up in private beta earlier this summer, but Slide's Photovine is now open to the public, available as a free download on Apple's iOS App Store. Surprisingly there's no Android app yet -- a curious move considering Google (Slide's parent company) isn't known to exclude its own mobile platform with new product rollouts. Huff Post went hands-on with the app, summing it up as "Instagram meets Piictu," also noting the bizarre exclusion of an option to add your Gmail contacts -- though you can import your friends from Twitter and Facebook. It's probably safe to say that an Android app will be coming soon -- or perhaps some other indication that Google and Slide do in fact share the same roof -- but for now, iPhone owners can slide on down to the source link to get their photo sharing fix.

Photovine grows out of private beta, begins sprouting on iPhones everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola hopes to rescue its tarnished MOTOBLUR UI with a name-change. We, however, think the rust runs deeper than that -- and it seems we're not alone. Virgin Mobile has decided to give its prepaid customers the "true Android experience" from now on, which means you'll find no proprietary shell whatsoever sitting atop its new Motorola Triumph handset. Aside from a few bits of Virgin bloatware, the Triumph escapes with a relatively standard install of Android 2.2. Meanwhile, MOTOBLUR will still be foisted on pay-monthly customers who buy a Photon 4G or XPRT from Sprint, Virgin Mobile's parent company. Some of them might like the shell and its add-ons, but others will be better off without such OS contamination.

Virgin Mobile lets Android run Blur-free on the Motorola Triumph originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 04:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s more like a pre-prenuptial agreement, but you get the idea. T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telecom, has confirmed that it stands to receive a $6 billion settlement from AT&T should the companies’ proposed merger fall through. According to DT, a $3 billion cash payment would be made along with additional spectrum and a national roaming agreement. While the exact valuation of the spectrum and roaming agreement was not disclosed, Reuters appraises the two intangibles at close to $3 billion. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice are all scrutinizing the proposed deal, which would make AT&T the largest wireless provider in the United States. There are sure to be plenty of twists and turns along the way, but once thing is certain: a large sum of money is going to be debited from AT&T’s coffers no matter the regulatory outcome.

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It’s no wonder why Foxconn is considering moving some facilities outside Taiwan and China and into other countries like Brazil. Beyond the potential tax benefits for the manufacturer and its clients, China and Taiwan are finally beginning to address problems surrounding the working conditions its citizens have endured in recent history. Forced wage increases and other recent moves such as Taipei City’s decision on Tuesday to slash the maximum monthly working hours from 312 to 260 for some laborers threaten to spill over into other regions and industries. For Foxconn and parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. — which just revealed March revenue of NT$214.9 billion ($7.39 billion USD), up 41% over February — the financial impact of these moves on the bottom line could be massive. It will be interesting to see how Chinese President Hu Jintao receives Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as they discuss shifting billions of dollars out of China and into Brazil.

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Smart shows off Forspeed electric roadster concept originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BGR parent company MMC announced Friday the coming launch of its latest digital property, TVLine. The new website, which will focus on consumer TV news, is set to debut next month. Michael Ausiello is Editor-In-Chief and Founder of TVLine, and he joins MMC from his most recent roles as Columnist at Entertainment Weekly and Senior Writer at TV Guide. Matt Webb Mitovich will serve as Editor-At-Large. TVLine will be the most recent addition to MMC’s leading entertainment portfolio, which includes Deadline.com, led by Nikki Finke; HollywoodLife.com, led by Bonnie Fuller; and Movieline.com led by Charles Runnette. ”We are very excited to launch the TVLine property,” MMC founder and CEO Jay Penske said in a statement. “To announce this addition to our portfolio, and with such a strong editorial leadership team, positions us perfectly to redefine the breaking news TV category. TVLine will perfectly complement our existing editorial teams and leading entertainment properties.”

MMC Announces January 2011 Launch Of TVLine.com

Los Angeles, December 9, 2010– MMC, the media and publishing company founded by Chairman & CEO Jay Penske announced today TVLine as the name of its new consumer TV focused property launching in early January 2011. Michael Ausiello is Editor-In-Chief and Founder of the new website, with Matt Webb Mitovich serving as Editor-At-Large. MMC also owns the entertainment properties Deadline.com led by Nikki Finke, HollywoodLife.com led by Bonnie Fuller, and Movieline.com led by Charles Runnette.

MMC also announced that HBO is on board as the exclusive advertiser for the first two weeks of TVLine’s much anticipated launch.

Prior to going live in January, at www.TVLine.com, TVLine will announce the hiring of additional reporters to complement Ausiello, Mitovich and Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva (who will contribute to the new site while continuing TV industry coverage at Deadline.com). The focus of the editorial team is to fulfill MMC’s goal of creating a premiere news destination that offers exceptional and judicious coverage of television’s most popular and talked about scripted programs as well as reality-TV heavyweights such as American Idol and Dancing With The Stars.

“We are very excited to launch the TVLine property” said Jay Penske, MMC’s founder and CEO. “To announce this addition to our portfolio, and with such a strong editorial leadership team, positions us perfectly to redefine the breaking news TV category. TVLine will perfectly complement our existing editorial teams and leading entertainment properties.”

“Spearheading the creation of TVLine is a fantastic opportunity for me” said Editor-In-Chief Michael Ausiello, whose years of news reporting experience include Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide. “I’m incredibly excited to bring my vision for this property to fruition.”

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