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T-Mobile will acquire the majority of US Cellular in a deal worth approximately $4.4 billion. This means that T-Mobile will own all of US Cellular’s stores, some of its spectrum assets and some of its customers. The deal includes a combination of cash and up to $2 billion of assumed debt, according to a press release by US Cellular. The companies expect to finalize the purchase by mid-2025, though the deal must attain regulatory approval.

All told, T-Mobile will walk away with around 30 percent of US Cellular’s wireless spectrum, which it hopes to use to improve coverage in rural areas and offer better connectivity to current US Cellular customers throughout the country. Current customers will be able to keep their plans or switch to a similar T-Mobile contract.

US Cellular will retain 70 percent of its wireless spectrum and towers. Additionally, it will lease space on around 2,100 additional towers to T-Mobile. “The decisions we announced today are in the best interests of our customers and our shareholders. T-Mobile is the right partner for our wireless operations,” said Laurent Therivel, CEO of US Cellular.

This is just the latest consolidation move by T-Mobile. The company recently acquired the Ryan Reynolds-backed Mint Mobile, via the purchase of parent company Ka’ena Corporation for around $1.35 billion. T-Mobile also merged with Sprint back in 2020. It’s basically Pac-Man, but instead of dots it hoovers up smaller cellular carriers.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that T-Mobile had teamed up with frenemy Verizon to “carve up” US Cellular’s wireless spectrum, but it looks like that deal has either fallen through or will be significantly delayed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/t-mobile-to-acquire-majority-of-us-cellular-further-consolidating-carrier-market-152212548.html?src=rss 

Sony has revealed the lineup of games PlayStation Plus members can add to their library in June. For the first time, players will have access to PS VR2 titles through the Premium plan.

First up, subscribers on all tiers will be able to claim SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake, Streets of Rage 4 and the solid wrestling game AEW Fight Forever starting on June 4 and retain access as long as their PS Plus membership stays active. Those with a Premium plan and a PS VR2 headset will be able to play Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Walkabout Mini Golf, Synth Riders, Before Your Eyes and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapters 1 & 2 at no extra cost starting on June 6. Premium members can also dive into PS2 games Tomb Raider Legend, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus starting on June 11.

In addition, Sony will gradually bring more offerings to the PS Plus Catalog for Extra and Premium members over the coming weeks. Dredge, one of last year’s standout indies, will join the lineup on May 29. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (May 31), Cricket 24 (June 5) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (June 7) will also be available. More Game Catalog additions will be revealed soon.

Meanwhile, Sony’s Days of Play sale will start on May 29 and run for two weeks. It will include discounts on the PlayStation 5 and PS VR2 (with a year of Netflix Premium bundled in for PS Plus members who buy either), savings on PS Plus plans for newcomers and deals galore on digital games, including 24-hour flash sales.

One interesting thing to note is that Sony announced all of this on a Tuesday morning. It normally reveals PS Plus additions on Wednesdays. That could mean Sony has more PlayStation announcements up its sleeve for this week, such as details about a long-rumored showcase.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/junes-playstation-plus-offerings-include-ps-vr2-games-for-the-first-time-140040334.html?src=rss 

Apple’s 10th-gen iPad has become a much better value after a permanent $100 price cut earlier this month, and now a new discount has made it even more affordable. The 10.9-inch tablet is on sale for $300 at Amazon, which is the lowest price we’ve seen to date. Just note that you’ll need to clip an on-page coupon to see the full discount, and that the deal only applies to the blue and silver finishes as of this writing. For reference, Apple sells the slate for $349, though we previously saw it drop around $330 a couple weeks back. 

Be aware that this deal is for models with 64GB of storage; if you need more space, 256GB versions are also $49 off and down to a low of $450. Again, just clip the on-page coupon to get the final price. All of these offers are available at Costco as well, but only for subscribers to that retailer’s membership plan. (Amazon’s deals are likely price matches.) Costco’s listing says the sale will run through May 31.

We gave the 10th-gen iPad a review score of 85 back in October 2022, and it’s now the budget pick in our iPad buying guide. The latter is somewhat by default, since this is the only iPad available for less than $350. Still, it’s a great tablet for the money. It has a similar design as the more expensive iPad Air, with a crisp display, a clean aluminum frame, thin bezels, a Touch ID reader and a USB-C port. Its battery life is about the same at 10-ish hours, and its A14 Bionic chip remains plenty fast for the things most people do with an iPad, be it streaming Netflix, playing the occasional game or doing basic work. Like Apple’s pricier tablets, its front camera is located on its long edge, which is a more natural location for group FaceTime calls.

To be clear, if you can afford one of the new iPad Airs, we think it’s worth it. Those are available in 11- and 13-inch sizes and include a host of upgrades that add up to a more pleasing experience. Those include a faster and more futureproof M2 chip, double the RAM and default storage and a laminated display (which means there’s no visible “gap” between the front glass and the display itself). The Air is also compatible with better accessories, such as the new Pencil Pro stylus. Here, you’re limited to the cheaper USB-C Pencil, which lacks pressure sensitivity, or the old first-gen Pencil, which requires a mess of adapters to charge. If you can find a last-gen iPad Air for cheap before it goes fully out of stock, that should remain a better value as well. Still, if you just want a tablet for the essentials and are looking to spend as little as possible, the entry-level model gets you the core iPad experience at a good price. This deal only furthers that.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-10th-gen-ipad-falls-to-an-all-time-low-of-300-141556793.html?src=rss 

Just before Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said that it would take some time to bring the publisher’s titles to Game Pass. We’ve only seen one such addition so far in the form of Diablo IV, but the company has announced another, somewhat notable one. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day later this year.

Microsoft is banking on the debut of a new Call of Duty title on its subscription service leading to a significant bump in the number of Game Pass members. It’s a bit of a gamble, as for nearly every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is likely to see lower direct sales of Black Ops 6 on Xbox and PC, though it will still generate revenue from Game Pass and the PlayStation version (and perhaps even a Nintendo Switch release), as well as through microtransactions.

Meanwhile, Microsoft released a live-action trailer for Black Ops 6. It features depictions of Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, George H. W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, lending credence to rumors that the next Call of Duty game will be set during the Gulf War. We’ll find out much more about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 during a showcase that take place immediately after a broader Xbox event on June 9.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-is-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-on-its-release-day-142823681.html?src=rss 

Google just announced a slew of new features coming to ChromeOS, many of them coming to the more premium Chromebook Plus models that were announced last fall. But today’s news isn’t just about the software — Google’s hardware partners have a bunch of new laptops ready to take advantage of these features. Here’s a quick run-down of what’s coming. 

Acer

Acer has two updates to existing models, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 and Chromebook Plus 516 GE. These were already two of my favorite Chromebooks, and they’ve now been updated with new Intel chips. The Spin 714 starts with an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U processor, while the 516 GE has the Core 5 120U processor. Both of these laptops already had solid performance, but it’s good to get them with some of the newest chips Intel is offering. 

The Spin 714 keeps its lovely 14-inch touchscreen with a 360-degree hinge and a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution; it also includes up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The 516 GE is one of the game-focused Chromebooks you can buy — as such, it has features like a large 16-inch screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. It also has customizable RGB keyboard lights and anti-ghosting technology, an ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E. You can get up to 2TB of storage and 16GB of RAM on this machine. Despite the gaming focus, I’ve found it to be the best performance-oriented large-screen Chromebook you can buy, regardless of what you want to do with it. The Spin 714 starts at $700 and the 516 GE starts at $650; both are available at Best Buy for starters. 

ASUS

Probably the most interesting new device from ASUS is the ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, a high-end laptop that should compete with Acer’s Spin 714. Given its highfalutin name, it’s not surprising that you can get the ExpertBook CX54 with up to Intel’s Core 7 processor, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The display also sounds like a standout: the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, significantly more pixel-dense than the Spin 714. It also has an 8-megapixel front camera as well as two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and an HDMI port — that’ll enable you to hook up three external monitors. Finally there are two USB-A ports and a microSD slot, making this laptop a good option if you need to hook up a lot of devices. ASUS hasn’t yet said when this device will be available, or how much it’ll cost.

The company is also updating its Chromebook Plus CX34 model with a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, though that extra power will cost you — it’s selling for $499 at Best Buy, compared to the $399 you can get it for at Target with a 12th-gen i3 chip. 

ASUS also has a new 2-in-1 Chromebook, the CM30. There have been a few Chromebooks like this over the years, but they’ve never really caught on. Regardless, the CM30 has a 10.5-inch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution plus 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $299. It includes a MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, so this won’t be a performance beast. But if you want a small device for your kid to bang away on this could be a decent option. 

HP

Confusingly, HP has two new models, both of which come as “Plus” and “non-Plus” options for lack of a better descriptor. The HP Chromebook 14-inch and HP Chromebook x360 14-inch both come with Intel’s N100 or N200 processors, both of which only have four cores. The Plus models, meanwhile, come with a Core i3-N305 chip, which offers eight cores. Both chips were introduced in early 2023, so they’re not the most current, but of the two options I think it’s safe to say you should opt for the i3 options. 

The two models are actually pretty similar, with the main difference being the x360’s hinge that lets you flip the laptop all the way around, a gimmick many Chromebooks have offered for years that I don’t fine useful. But your milage may vary. Both laptops have 1080p displays (the HP Chromebook Plus 14 offers touch and non-touch options), and the x360 has thinner bezels. Both have two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, and come with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. If you want the lightest option, x360 weighs just over 3 pounds, while the standard model weighs 3.2 pounds.

The HP Chromebook 14-inch starts at $249 at Walmart — while its processor may not be the fastest, that’s not bad for a budget option. You can get the Plus model for $449 at CostCo. As for the Chromebook Plus x360, that’ll set you back $429 at Walmart. 

What to buy?

While Google has made things consistent by using the Plus labeling to assure people they’re getting a certain level of performance, there are still a ton of options on the market to sort through. HP’s $429 x360 Plus sounds like a solid option, while both of Acer’s new laptops should be good for people who are OK spending more money for a more premium experience. That said, my favorite Chromebook is still probably Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus IdeaPad Flex 5i — but I’ll dig into these laptops soon and see if any of them offer a better value.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-asus-and-hp-all-have-new-chromebook-plus-laptops-with-googles-built-in-ai-features-130029246.html?src=rss