The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to adopt a new mechanism for distributing subsidies to rural broadband providers. But Democrats want to see better data from a new broadband mapping effort first. At the agency’s August meeting, the FCC voted on two related items that commissioners say will help close the digital divide. First, …

The fate of T-Mobile and Sprint’s $26.5 billion merger may hinge on whether a federal judge sees satellite TV provider Dish Network as a viable fourth competitor in the US wireless market. But there isn’t an easy answer — especially when you balance its history of ignoring its obligations to build a wireless network with its newfound ambitions sparked by the …

In the wake of Pokemon Go hitting a billion downloads and shiny Rayquaza coming to raids, developer Niantic is making Ralts the star of this Saturday’s August Community Day. The Psychic/Fairy-type will spawn like crazy in the augmented reality game between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in your time zone. You’ll also be able to catch a shiny Ralts that’s blue where …

It looks like a new e-scooter is coming to town. The Bird Two, set to arrive next week, will boast 50% more battery capacity, self-reporting damage sensors and enterprise level antitheft encryption sensors, according to a Thursday blog post from Bird. The Bird Two will be joining the company’s global fleet of electric vehicles, which also includes the mopedlike Bird …

Faze Clan is countersuing Turner “Tfue” Tenney, the esports company’s CEO confirmed Thursday. It alleges the pro Fortnite player made over $20 million from streaming the game, as well as from gaming endorsements and sponsorships, The Verge reported. Tenney, a 21-year-old pro gamer, originally filed a lawsuit against Faze Clan back in May, alleging the company restricted his business opportunities …

Verizon just announced four new 5G cities Thursday, but it’s still early days. In a new interview, CEO Hans Vestberg says that 2020 should be the big year for the new network technology.  “That, I think, is going to be next year,” Vestberg told CNBC when asked when he expects 50% of the population to have access to 5G. Although access …

Google will soon let you send information to 911 operators without speaking. The feature, available in the Phone app on Pixel phones and select Android devices later this year, lets you transfer crucial information to emergency responders via an automated voice service, Google said in a blog post Thursday. By tapping a Medical, Fire or Police button during an emergency …

In honor of fall previews — and because football season is fast approaching — we teamed up with CBS Sports, SportsLine and TV Guide to give away not one, but two 65-inch TVs. Here’s how our prizes break down. Our grand prize winner will take home an LG B8 OLED TV, which received a CNET Editors’ Choice award in October 2018 …

Users of social video app TikTok can now add GIFs to their posts, the company said Thursday. The update, part of a partnership with GIPHY, also makes TikTok memes available as GIPHY stickers. TikTok, a social media app that lets users record videos to popular music and share clips with friends, worked with GIPHY Studios to create new stickers for trends like #oddlysatisfying …

The Federal Trade Commission is encouraging people affected by the Equifax data breach to choose free credit monitoring over the $125 cash alternative. Why? Because you might end up getting “far less than $125.”  The FTC on Wednesday said the public response to the $700 million settlement it reached with Equifax has been “overwhelming.” The 2017 breach exposed 147 million consumers’ personal information, …