The Category5.TV Newsroom

Here are the stories we're following for the week of Wednesday November 8, 2017

Broadcom has confirmed a $130 BEEELLION buy-out offer for their rival, Qualcomm

Broadcom has confirmed its multibillion-dollar bid for Qualcomm; revealing more details of the $130bn, all-cash-and-shares offer, to buy out its rival chipmaker.

Both Qualcomm and Broadcom are specialists in system-on-chip products, putting ARM-compatible silicon into various items, such as smartphones, and the widely-drawn-world of the Internet of Things—which all chipmakers regard as the future of chip sales and manufacture.

Broadcom's offer comprises $70 per share, which we now know is a fact, and is made up of $60 in cash, and $10 in stocks.

Broadcom CFO, Thomas Krause, said, "We look forward to engaging immediately in discussions with Qualcomm so that we can sign a definitive agreement and complete this transaction expeditiously."

It's a bold move by Broadcom. Qualcomm on the otherhand, has sued Apple, attracted the interest of antitrust authorities in America, and earned the enmity of Intel. On the flip side, it's not only profitable, but is in the middle of its own multibillion-dollar buyout of a rival.

Source: www.theregister.co.uk

Sent to us by: Roy W. Nash

Some iPhone users are fuming over the new "Letter 'i' bug."

Some iPhone users have been left frustrated after an update to the iOS operating system curiously began to auto-correct the letter "i" to a capital "a" with a question mark.

The affected version of iOS, 11.1, is available on iPhones and iPads.

A technology reporter shared his frustration on Twitter, saying, "I have a $1,150 telephone that can't read the letter 'i'."

Apple has outlined a temporary fix for the problem on its website.

The fix involves editing the keyboard settings in iOS so that the right character, either an upper or lower case "i", is used.

Apple has said the issue will be fixed in a future software update.

Not all iOS 11.1 users have been affected.

Source: www.bbc.com

Sent to us by: Roy W. Nash

Tor has been leaking users' real IP addresses.

Mac and Linux versions of the Tor anonymity browser just received a temporary fix for a critical vulnerability that leaks users' IP addresses whenever they visit certain types of addresses.

TorMoil, as the flaw has been dubbed by its discoverer, is triggered when users click on links that begin with file:// rather than the more common https:// and http:// address prefixes. When the Tor browser for macOS and Linux is in the process of opening such an address, "the operating system may directly connect to the remote host, bypassing Tor Browser."

On Friday, members of the Tor Project issued a temporary work-around that plugs the IP leak. Until the final fix is in place, updated versions of the browser may not behave properly when navigating to file:// addresses. They said both the Windows versions of Tor and Tails (as well as the sandboxed Tor browser that's in alpha testing), aren't vulnerable.

Tor's statement Friday said there's no evidence that the flaw has been actively exploited on the Internet or darkweb to obtain the IP addresses of Tor users. Of course, the lack of evidence doesn't mean the flaw wasn't exploited by law enforcement officers, private investigators, or even stalkers for that matter. And now that a fix is available, it will be easy for adversaries who didn't know about the vulnerability before, to create working exploits. Anyone who relies on a Mac or Linux version of the Tor browser to shield their IP address should update as soon as possible—and be ready for the possibility, however remote, that their IP addresses have already been leaked.

Source: arstechnica.com

Sent to us by: Roy W. Nash

Australia's multimillion dollar broadband network is under attack - from cockatoos!

Australia's multimillion dollar broadband network is under attack - from cockatoos!

The National Broadband Network said it has spent tens of thousands of dollars so far fixing cables that have been chewed by the birds.

They also estimate the bill will rise sharply as more damage is uncovered.

In an attempt to improve Australia's internet speed—currently lagging behind many developed countries at 11.1 megabits per second—a national telecommunications infrastructure project has been instigated, and is due for completion in 2021.

But engineers returning to sites have been finding spare cables chewed and frayed.

The culprits are cockatoos, a type of parrot which normally eats fruit, nuts, wood and bark.

The company has had to replace power and fibre cables at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars each time. So far, they say, they have spent $80,000 of the local currency, which is roughly $61,500 USD.

The company says it is currently installing protective casing, which costs just $14 each, that will protect the wires from birds in future—and save their three billion dollar network.

Source: www.bbc.com

Sent to us by: Roy W. Nash