Weekly news round-up: Disney to pay £14 per share for Sky & Google tracks users locations

Regulator rules Disney bid for Sky
The Takeover Panel has confirmed that Disney would be forced to offer at least £14 a share to buy pay-TV company Sky if it completes the deal with buy 21st Century Fox’s TV and film assets, which also includes a 39% stake in Sky. According to the Telegraph, the price is designed to reflect the level of the offer Disney is making for Fox, and its holding for Sky. US media giant Comcast’s offer of £14.75 per Sky share, equivalent to £26bn, currently leads the bidding.

Google location tracking breach
Researchers at Princeton confirmed Google services on iPhone and Android devices track and store users location information despite the feature being turned off. The Associated Press investigation saw Google respond by changing its help page that explained the “Location History” setting as well as explicitly state the tracking will continue even if the feature is turned off. 

Facebook signs exclusive sports rights deal
The Spanish football La Liga games will be exclusively aired on Facebook to viewers in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, The Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. According to Reuters the terms of the new deal have not been disclosed, however, Sony paid $32 million for the right to broadcast La Liga between 2014 and 2018. 

AMPAS launches VFX Academy 
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has partnered with The Linux Foundation to start an Academy Software Foundation, aimed at providing a forum for open source software developers to share resources and collaborate on image creation, visual effects, animation and sound technologies. According to the Hollywood Reporter Disney, DreamWorks Animation and Weta are among the founding members.  

LG and Sprint to launch 5G smartphone
Sprint has announced it will work with LG to release a 5G smartphone for its next-generation network during the first half of 2019. Whilst there are no confirmed details, Sprint confirmed it will use Massive MIMO technology as part of its 5G strategy, reported The Verge. 

Verizon to incentivise 5G with YouTube & Apple
US communications giant Verizon has revealed it will offer leading video services with Apple TV 4K and YouTube TV part of a 5G residential broadband package in cities in the US including Houston and Los Angeles. Rapid TV News reported this will mean users will have the opportunity to access the likes of 4K HDR film and TV from Apple iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube TV. 

Foxtel launches first Australian UHD 4K TV 
In an Australian first, pay-TV company Foxtel has announced the first Ultra HD 4K channel to deliver live sports and entertainment to audiences nationally, reported the Australian. The 4K offering will launch in October and was announced by Foxtel Chief Executive Patrick Delany who described it as “TV like never before”.  

Motorola accused of copying iPhoneX
Smartphone manufacturer Motorola has been criticised after releasing its new Motorola P30 model, which has been described by critics as a “shameless” copy of Apple’s iPhone X. The BBC reported the similarities extend beyond the design, with Motorola even releasing a wallpaper that is said to be a clone of Apple’s default wallpaper. Motorola has not responded to the reviews.