Twitter "is poised to agree" to a sale to Elon Musk for $43B in cash, sources told Reuters. Twitter is expected to announce the transaction later today, once its board meets to recommend the deal to shareholders, the sources said. The deal could collapse at the last minute, they noted. More: - Bloomberg also reported that Twitter is in the final stage of negotiations about the sale, which it described as "one of the biggest-ever leveraged buyouts of a listed company."
- Musk met with the Twitter board on Sunday and the talks went through the night "into the early hours of Monday."
- The deal is expected to value Twitter at $54.20 per share, which Musk has described as his "best and final" offer.
- Musk is said to be securing partners for the deal and is still in talks with possible co-investors. An SEC filing published on Thursday showed Musk had secured $46.5B in financing for the deal, including $25.5B in debt.
This story is developing. REUTERS 
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European lawmakers reached a provisional agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA), a law that would force tech companies to police their content more aggressively. Under the proposed rules, platforms will be forced to remove illegal content more quickly and share information about their content-recommending algorithms and efforts to fight online misinformation. More: - The legislation's broad rules tackle several topics:
- The law seeks to prohibit online platforms from targeting children with ads.
- Platforms will no longer be allowed to rely on algorithms that use data to target users based on gender, race, and religion.
- The rules will compel platforms to remove illegal content, such as hate speech and child sexual abuse, more quickly.
- E-commerce marketplaces can no longer allow the sale of illegal goods.
Zoom-out: - Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenues. Meta, for example, could pay up to $7B based on its 2021 sales figures.
- The EU Council and European Parliament signed a provisional deal for the rules on Saturday. The law still needs to be formally approved by the two institutions but could take effect as early as 2024.
TECHCRUNCH
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 Images of Google's rumored Pixel Watch have leaked online, showing a circular watch design and a changeable band. Reports suggest Google could announce the device — a competitor to the Apple Watch — during next month's Google I/O conference. More: - The photos were shared with Android Central, which said the anonymous source found the prototype watch left behind at a restaurant.
- The images show the smartwatch with a rotating crown, a side button, and a side hole that's thought to be a microphone.
- Like the Apple Watch, it has a mechanism for users to switch watch bands.
- Google recently filed paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the name "Pixel Watch."
- Previous reports said the watch will likely run Wear OS 3 and have features, like a heart rate sensor, found in FitBit devices. Google acquired the fitness tracking company for $2.1B in 2021.
ANDROID CENTRAL
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Apple is telling developers that it will remove apps from the App Store that haven't been updated in two years. The tech giant has given affected developers 30 days to update the apps before it delists them. Several app makers have expressed concerns that they don't have time to make the updates amid other ongoing projects. More: - In an "App Improvement Notice," the company told developers that they can submit the update for review within 30 days.
- If it's approved, the app won't be delisted from the Store. Users who already downloaded the app can keep using it.
- On a support page, Apple says the rule is meant to make it easier for users to find apps and ensure that they are “functional and up-to-date.”
- However, some developers have argued that the policy is unfair for smaller indie developers who don't have as much time and resources as tech giants to make the updates.
- For example, Protopop Games designer Robert Kabwe tweeted: "This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale. This is an unfair barrier to indie devs."
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 Source: Bloomberg Activision Blizzard reported lower-than-expected financial results for the last quarter, driven by low demand for its most recent game “Call of Duty: Vanguard." The game publisher's quarterly adjusted sales were down 28% at $1.48B, missing analysts' estimates of $1.8B. More: - Overall revenue was down 22% YoY at $1.77B. The Activision business segment fell 49% to reach $453M.
- "Call of Duty Vanguard," released in November, has underperformed in part due to competing releases like "Halo Infinite" and "Battlefield," the company said. Activision has also experienced weaker engagement for “Call of Duty: Warzone."
- Activision Blizzard noted it will not be releasing a "Call of Duty" game in 2023.
- It will be the first time since 2004 that the franchise won't have a yearly mainline series release.
- To fill the gap, Activision will debut “a steady stream of additional content" for its 2022 Call of Duty title, which will be a sequel to 2019’s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare."
Zoom-out: - The delay is not related to Microsoft's planned $68.7B acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is the largest video game company in the U.S.
- Activision has scheduled a shareholder meeting on April 28 to vote on the deal, which isn't expected to close until next year.
BLOOMBERG
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Hawaiian Airlines is the first major airline to sign a deal with SpaceX's Starlink to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi on its passenger planes. The wireless internet is set to roll out on all Transpacific flights starting in 2023, Hawaiian said. More: - Hawaiian will equip its Airbus A330 and A321neo planes and an incoming fleet of Boeing 787-9s with Starlink technology.
- The internet service is expected to be fast enough to stream shows and play games.
- The service won't be available on Boeing 717s that travel between Hawaiian islands, the company noted.
- Monday's announcement comes only days after semi-private regional jet service JSX said it had inked a deal with Starlink, which is operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
- The charter airline, which operates smaller shorter flights, plans to equip 100 planes with Starlink and will offer the service for free.
- Its first plane with in-flight Wi-Fi will launch later this year.
- Meanwhile, Delta Airlines confirmed last week that it has conducted "exploratory tests" of Starlink's internet technology, but didn't elaborate.
CNBC
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- Apple is already working on an M3 version of the iMac desktop that could launch at the end of 2023 at the earliest, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
- Sony posted a job opening for a senior director of PC planning and strategy, suggesting a stronger push toward Playstation PC gaming.
- Smart home company Insteon cited the pandemic and supply chain issues as the reasons for its abrupt shutdown last week. The company turned off its servers without warning and is now said to be in bankruptcy proceedings.
- Google says its AI-enabled spam prevention system, SpamBrain, identified 6x more spam websites in 2021 than the year before.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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