California utility regulators told communications providers to step up preparations for widespread power outages or other emergencies that could hamper first responders and residents.

Hulu is again raising prices for its online TV bundle, as other streaming-TV providers do the same. Hulu’s service, like AT&T TV Now, Dish’s Sling and YouTube TV, are a replica of traditional TV but on the internet. They were once vaunted as a successor to traditional cable. But the market has lost steam as prices rise. One early entrant,...

Hector Acosta-Ojeda, the North Texas man found guilty of capital murder in the fatal shootings and mutilations of his roommate and his roommate’s girlfriend has been sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court seems likely to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of an African-American media mogul and comedian who’s suing cable giant Comcast for racial discrimination. The justices appeared to be in broad agreement Wednesday that an appeals court applied the wrong legal standard in allowing business owner Byron Allen’s suit against Comcast to go forward. Allen has...

If you woke up to a weird text that seemed totally out of place, you aren’t alone. A mysterious wave of missives swept America’s phones overnight, delivering confusing messages from friends, family and the occasional ex. Friends who hadn’t talked to each other in months were jolted into chatting. Others briefly panicked. A telecom vendor called Syniverse said a server...

AT&T will pay $60 million to settle the government’s allegation that it misled customers of unlimited-data plans by slowing down service for heavy users. The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that AT&T will automatically provide partial refunds to customers who signed up for unlimited wireless plans before 2011.

If you make it free, will they come? Apple, Disney and AT&T’s WarnerMedia want to jump-start their challenges to Netflix by offering freebies and deep discounts on emerging streaming plans. That includes a free year of Apple TV Plus for customers of new Apple devices and a free year of Disney Plus to higher-tier Verizon customers. Some existing HBO subscribers...

AT&T said Tuesday that its HBO Max streaming service will launch in May for $15 a month, joining a crowded field. The company has said HBO Max will become the “workhorse” for its video business as cord-cutting of traditional TV expands. It hopes to migrate people who pay for HBO in different ways today to the new platform. The service...

AT&T said Tuesday that its HBO Max streaming service will launch in May for $15 a month, joining a crowded field. The company has said HBO Max will become the “workhorse” for its video business as cord-cutting of traditional TV expands. It hopes to migrate people who pay for HBO in different ways today to the new platform. The service...

Samsung’s folding phone is finally hitting the U.S. Samsung will start selling the Galaxy Fold, a phone with a screen that folds together like a book, on Friday. There will be an AT&T version as well as an unlocked version sold at Best Buy and Samsung stores. The South Korean tech giant had put the Galaxy Fold’s launch on hold...

NBCUniversal’s new streaming service will be named “Peacock,” the company announced Tuesday. The ad and subscription-supported service will roll out in April with 15,000 hours of content including “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” The Comcast-owned company said it would announce pricing details closer to the launch.

Dozens of people have died and tens of thousands of Californians have been forced from their homes as huge wildfires continue to rage in the northern and southern ends of the state. The Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County has become the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in recorded state history. The Woolsey Fire north of Los Angeles, meanwhile,...

U.S. regulators have approved T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion takeover of rival Sprint, despite fears of higher prices and job cuts, in a deal that would leave just three major cellphone companies in the country. Friday’s approval from the Justice Department and five state attorneys general comes after Sprint and T-Mobile agreed to conditions that would set up satellite-TV provider Dish as...

The San Francisco Giants are hosting their first-ever public movie night Saturday at the newly-named Oracle Park. The team will show a sing-along version of Bohemian Rhapsody, a 2018 movie about Queen and the band’s lead singer Freddie Mercury, on its $10 million, 4K-resolution scoreboard. The screen is the largest video board in the state, according to the team.

AT&T said this week that it will soon block spam calls or alert customers of suspected spammers. The blocking will first activate for new lines and will then be applied to all existing accounts, the carrier said on Tuesday. The feature will be on by default but can be turned off by users who don’t want it, per rules set...

AT&T is pulling “Friends” from Netflix to beef up its own upcoming streaming service.
The wireless company, which owns the WarnerMedia entertainment business, said Tuesday that its service will be called HBO Max. It will launch widely in spring of 2020.

AT&T is pulling “Friends” from Netflix to beef up its own upcoming streaming service.
The wireless company, which owns the WarnerMedia entertainment business, said Tuesday that its service will be called HBO Max. It will launch widely in spring of 2020.

The Federal Trade Commission announced last week a crackdown on robocallers, giving one of the clearest pictures yet of the people and organizations behind the avalanche of nuisance phone calls to consumers. The actions are important because they draw the connection between robocalls, which may seem like mere annoyances, to the fraudulent organizations or illegal mass-calling schemes behind them. “We...