BlackBerry buys Good; AWS buys Elemental; and AT&T customers lose service in parts of California
5 things to know today …
1. BlackBerry is doubling down on mobile security by purchasing competitor Good Technology for $425 million. Good specializes in enterprise mobile security solutions and mobile device management. The company says that 100% of the Fortune 100 banks and aerospace/defense firms use its technology. The purchase gives BlackBerry a security offering that is not tied to BlackBerry devices.
2. Amazon Web Services is buying Elemental Video. The price was not disclosed, but some sources are saying the deal is worth half a billion dollars. Elemental’s customers use its software to convert live and on-demand video destined for tv networks to formats that work for mobile devices and personal computers. Amazon Web Services is a major provider of cloud-based services and operates data centers around the world.
3. AT&T says a fiber line that was cut in California’s Humboldt County is to blame for a service disruption there. Many customers lost phone, Internet and TV service, but apparently businesses with dedicated AT&T fiber lines have stayed online. Today’s news follows reports that fiber lines in Northern California were repeatedly cut this summer.
4. The U.S. Justice Department is making it harder for federal agents to use cell phone tracking devices. Devices that try to mimic cell towers can help agents find the location of suspects by tracking their phones, but they also end up collecting cell phone data from many other people at the same time. Now agents will need a warrant in most cases to use such a device, and they will have to delete information collected from people who are not targets.
5. More than three quarters of Americans now carry a smartphone, according to the latest report from ComScore. The firm said Facebook remains the most popular smartphone app, followed by Facebook Messenger, YouTube and Google Search. Just over one half of all U.S. smartphones are Android phones.
