Twitter recently signed a deal with the National Football League that might help social networks finally take on major broadcasters.

The mainstream media has long been concerned with the idea that major technology firms would take on TV companies in order to acquire the rights to premium content rather than relying on original material.

Software companies have so far strayed away from these plans, saying that they're platform companies that don't create original content.

Now, however, it's become clear that statements about not acquiring major content were just smoke and mirrors to hide the true motives of these companies.

Fandango has today announced its latest move in expanding beyond movie ticketing. The NBC Universal-owned company has taken control of the previously Warner Bros. Entertainment owned Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes has previously received many complaints from people concerned about its influence on general film criticism - a situation borne from its well-known role as a movie review aggregator.  Flixster; meanwhile, is popular with those wanting to educate themselves about particular movies. The acquisition does not include the Flixster Video streaming service meaning that that particular service will cease to exist shortly. However, the two acquired services will continue in their present guise as standalone apps/websites.

Rotten Tomatoes is no stranger to a change of ownership, having come under the control of Flixster in 2010 and subsequently Warner Bros. in 2011. Now it is the turn of Fandango to fall under the minority ownership of Warner Bros.

The new Youtube Music App is the latest development and release launched by YouTube's popular music video and entertainment platform.

Although aspiring musicians have always used the original platform as a way of creating exposure leading to fame, it has never been specifically targeted towards such musicians. But with the launching of YouTube Music for Android and iOS this has all changed. For a 14-day free trial period, musicians can experience and sample the full service before becoming fully-fledged subscribers and users for $9.99.

One of the best benefits of the YouTube Music app is in having easy access to your favorite videos. For example, a rare song that not many people have watched it.

This new app should not be seen as a replacement for Google Play Music, but one of its main aims is still to sell subscriptions and individual music tracks.

The dating website BeautifulPeople.com has been hacked and over one million users data leaked online according to Forbes. The site that was exclusive for only beautiful people has become the victim of a serious hack. This follows the other unfortunate hack of the cheating website AshleyMadison.com.

Not only were names leaked but addresses, sexual preferences, mobile phone numbers, appearance information and income was also a part of the data stolen. The leaked data has been verified to be actual accounts on the site. Those users should not be embarrassed the way dating site hacked accounts in the past were, but having all that personal information out there, can be a concern.

The highly popular app Waze has expanded its long list of features with a handy warning for drivers who go just a bit too fast. Starting out in only 20 countries, users of Waze will receive a warning if they start to exceed the speed limit. This could prove to be a life saver.

Once you've exceeded the speed limit, a visual warning will appear on your phone's screen displaying your current speed. Only until you slow down to legal speeds will the warning go away. Users can customize the warning to only display when going a certain amount over the speed limit, and it can be disabled entirely should you choose.

TurboTax has started a filing craze with their mobile tax filing app and they are seeing large numbers of users and revenue from it. The reasons are obvious. TurboTax is the smartest way to file your income taxes.

Filing your taxes without help from a professional tax service has become simpler with each tax year.  It began with filing online with your own computer and just a few short years later, everyone can do it themselves with their mobile phone.

Trying out new ideas can be worrisome, especially when it comes to taking chances with money owed or owed to you. But TurboTax has an app for that. The steps are not difficult. You can even provide your W2 just by taking a photo and uploading it. From there, you can answer questions and provide information you would have had to answer and provide to a tax service. Best of all, you do not have to pay $50 or more just to get it done.

Some cell phone plans are much better suited for seniors than others. Plans that allow senior citizens to get help when on the go and contact their loved ones at home are ideal. And the technology of the phone is not necessarily all that important if the price is discounted accordingly.

Great Call

Easy to use cell phones and plans is what Great Call offers. Some of their phones also include medical alert buttons, great for seniors. The plans often have a lot of call hours and not as much data, which is what senior citizens are looking for. Coverage is Verizon, so you know that you will be able to get a signal no matter where you are in America. Starter plans include 200 minutes for $14.99/month (2018).

Jitterbug

The Jitterbug 5 is a big seller for Jitterbug as the company provides phones that are really easy to use. The speaker volume is great and the screen is bright and easy to see. 5 Star Medical Alert is available for medical emergency issues. Jitterbug Touch is an option for Seniors that want something a little more complex. And for $40 a month, users can get 100 MB of data per month. If you only want calling, then their plans are similar to Great Calls, starting at $14.99.

Apple doesn’t want to let Big Brother (Government) into your iPhone through a backdoor in the phone security. The Obama administration is trying to force Apple to allow the government to access phones that have security features enabled. Apple CEO Tim Cook is going to appeal a court order to allow the government into the iPhone of a radical Islamist who shot dead a number of co-workers in San Bernardino California earlier this year.

UberEats will deliver the food you want ( On Demand Food Delivery) from local restaurants quickly using their vast number of their registered car drivers, in 5 to 15 minutes. The app takes your location and gives you options in your area. The app and delivery will not cost the customer anything either, how is that possible? According to the service, restaurants and customers love the service.

Microsoft is ending their support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 in the middle of January 2016, only providing technical support and updates to IE 11 and Edge. So if you are using one of the older versions of the browser, you could become infected by Malware/Spyware more easily than if you are running one of the newer editions. They are free, so there’s no reason to not upgrade unless your operating system will not support them. Then you really need to consider upgrade your whole system. Windows 7, 7.1 and 10 will all run Internet Explorer 11. Find the downloads on the TechNet Microsoft Internet Explorer page.

If you open an older version of the web browser this week you will receive a message telling you to upgrade. There will also be one last patch distributed to update all virus protection prior to ending support.