Briefcase

TVision joins streamer crowd

Yet another service provider is jumping into the TV streaming wars. This time it’s T-Mobile and its TVision service with live news, entertainment and sports channels, starting at $10 a month.

T-Mobile says it’s aiming to offer a simpler and cheaper service for people dissatisfied with cable. But it’s entering a crowded field. And most similar streaming services have found it difficult to sustain low prices over time.

TVision will offer three branches of its service. TVision Live will have live news, entertainment and sports channels at three tiers priced at $40, $50 and $60, depending on how many sports channels you want. The $40 option offers around 30 channels including ABC, NBC, Fox, CNN, Fox News, ESPN, and Fox Sports Networks.

Then there’s TVision Vibe, which is $10 a month and includes about 30 channels from AMC, Discovery and Viacom – but no sports. And TVision Channels, which lets you sign up for individual channel streaming services, starting with just three: Starz, Showtime and Epix.

Consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity in the U.S., so a decline in confidence gets a lot of attention from economists, especially as the U.S. heads into the crucial holiday shopping season.

Advanced Micro buys Xilinx

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Advanced Micro Devices is buying Xilinx for $35 billion in an all-stock deal that will combine the two Silicon Valley chip makers and accelerate an already rapid-fire pace of mergers and buyouts in the industry.

The deal announced Tuesday puts AMD in a place it wants to be; competing more fiercely with Intel at a time when a global pandemic is driving demand for tech ever higher.

Xilinx stockholders will receive 1.7234 shares of AMD stock for each Xilinx share they hold, or approximately $143 per share of Xilinx stock.

AMD stockholders will own about 74% of the combined company, with Xilinx stockholders owning about 26%.

Consumer confidence down

U.S. consumer confidence dipped slightly in October as a new wave of coronavirus cases appeared in the country.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 100.9, from 101.8 in September, ands still remains well below pre-pandemic levels. This month’s moderate decline follows a sharp rise in September.

From wire reports