auction
Latest
Aereo gets only $2 million from selling assets to TiVo and other companies
Aereo was expecting to sell its assets for at least $4 million (and up to $31 million) at a bankruptcy auction, following its loss in a protracted legal battle against broadcasters. Sadly, luck wasn't on its side yet again: the company has managed to raise a mere $2 million from the auction, which has only attracted 10 bidders. "We are very disappointed with the results of the auction. This has been a very difficult sales process and the results reflect that," one of Aereo's lawyer's, William Baldiga, said in a statement. The company has long planned to use the amount it will raise from the event to pay its creditors, and $2 million might not be enough.
The first ever 20th Anniversary Edition PS4 could be back up for grabs
We get it, the most desirable version of a limited edition PlayStation is up for grabs, and you really want it. Even better, your generous bid will go to charity, improving the lives of children. In the industry, that's referred to as a "win win." Except when it's not. The auction for that #00001 anniversary edition PS4 (that sold for around $127,000) has -- perhaps not unsurprisingly -- fallen through. Sony doesn't detail why, but it's not hard to imagine that a chronic case of buyer's remorse, or an inability to pay could have something to do with it. Sony's still coming good on its side of the deal though, and is making the promised donation (a match of the winning bid) to charity as planned. For those serious bidders that missed out, this could mean a second bite of the cherry. Sony's not saying exactly what it's doing with the console, but for now it's putting it on display at its Ginza location. PS4-fans without the deep pockets can swing by to take a look at it starting this Saturday.
Sky director teases BT following record Premier League TV rights auction
Earlier this week, the Premier League announced the winners of its latest TV rights auction. As expected, Sky and BT were the (only) big winners, paying a whopping £5.14 billion for coverage over the next three seasons. The following morning, Sky's shares took a hit, with investors seemingly unhappy at the fact the company paid almost £4.2 billion for 126 live games, 70 percent more than the previous auction. In comparison, BT paid £960 million, an increase of just 18 percent.
The original 1954 Gibson Les Paul 'Black Beauty' goes up for auction
If you're an avid collector of music history, you might want to consider emptying your piggy bank for this. On February 19th, the original 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom -- better known as "Black Beauty" --(left) will be auctioned off, giving someone with deep pockets the chance to own the prototype that became perhaps the most iconic guitar ever made. For the uninitiated, Paul, a musician and inventor, worked with Gibson to create a new electric guitar in the 1950s, with this first model being delivered to its namesake in 1954.
Sky and BT just spent a record £5.14 billion on Premier League TV rights
It's safe to say that there's a lot of money in Premier League football. Clubs are profitable businesses in their own right, but a large share of its revenue is provided by investments for live TV rights. Over the past week, Sky and BT, who have locked horns over high-profile competitions in the past, joined a number of other parties behind closed doors to bid on the TV rights for the three seasons from 2016-17. It took longer expected, but we now know where we'll be watching all 168 live matches next season and that the two main parties involved paid a record sum to secure them.
Verizon FiOS will be an East Coast exclusive as of 2016
If you're a customer of Verizon's TV, internet or phone services (fiber or otherwise) in California, Florida or Texas then sometime next year you won't be. That's because as part of a $10.54 billion deal, it's selling "wireline" businesses in those states to Frontier so it can focus on a group of Eastern states. It made a similar move dumping services across many states in 2009, and many of the customers we heard from afterward were not happy because while Frontier had different policies on how to run the service. In a separate deal, it's leasing or selling a majority of the cell towers it operates to American Tower Corporation for $5 billion. Why make all these moves? Other than kicking off a $5 billion share repurchasing program, word is this money will go to pay for some $10 billion in wireless spectrum Verizon won at auction last week.
Virgin Media fails to stop the Premier League's next TV rights auction
Virgin Media really doesn't like the way Premier League TV rights are auctioned in the UK. It's already filed a complaint with Ofcom, which argued that the skyrocketing bids from Sky and BT, coupled with the low number of televised fixtures, is having a knock-on effect for the consumer. In addition, it says it's restricting real competition in the TV market, which only exasperates the problem. Ofcom agreed to look into the matter, but was that good enough for Virgin Media? Not quite. You see, the Premier League is thought to be pushing ahead with its next TV rights auction, which means Ofcom probably won't make a decision until after it's all been tied up. The new bidding is for the 2016-19 seasons, so the concern was that any Ofcom ruling wouldn't take effect for four years. Virgin Media has therefore pushed the regulator to take "interim measures" that would put the auction on hold.
AT&T and Dish were the big spenders in the FCC's wireless auction
There's no doubt that companies spent a ton of money in the FCC's latest wireless auction -- $44.9 billion of it, to be precise. But who was it that was so eager to part with their cash? You don't have to wonder for much longer. The FCC has revealed the winning bidders, and there's little doubt as to who the frontrunners are. AT&T was by far the biggest spender. It shelled out almost $18.2 billion for 251 licenses to use that coveted AWS-3 spectrum, or nearly three times what it spent on 700MHz frequencies back in 2008. Dish, meanwhile, made its broadband ambitions pretty clear by snapping up a sizable $13.3 billion in airwaves.
Government raked in $44.9 billion from wireless auction
The FCC's latest wireless auction brought in far more money than anyone expected. The Chairman, Tom Wheeler, set a goal of raising $10.6 billion by selling off 1,600 licenses to blocks of wireless spectrum. In the end, the government not only blew past its goal, but also its previous record of raising $19.1 billion in 2008, when it auctioned off significant pieces of the 700Mhz band that delivers LTE for a number of carriers. This auction ended with the government raising $44.9 billion, which surprised many observers, especially since even smaller markets like Portland, ME received sizable bids worth tens of millions of dollars.
Diddy Kong amiibo has no mouth, and he must scream
The craze for defective amiibo reached a fever pitch last month, when bids for a legless Princess Peach amiibo exceeded $25,000. Prior to that absurdly-pricey posting, bids on a Samus amiibo with two arm cannons closed at $2,500. Now however, the dust is settling, and defective amiibo no longer seem to fetch quadruple-digit or higher prices. Case in point: this jawless Diddy Kong amiibo, which closed out bidding at $471.99 Canadian (approx. $403.03 USD) earlier this week. Diddy's high price now seems to be the exception rather than the rule, as a cursory glance through defective amiibo on eBay reveals far more inactive listings than active ones. (It also reveals a very liberal interpretation of the word "defect," as many of the so-called "defective" toys have simply come loose inside their packaging). Of course, just because an item's auction has closed doesn't mean that a bidder will be true to their word - a deal's not done until money has exchanged hands. Still, this is fun reminder that one man's trash is another man's treasure. [Image: Nintendo/bam_fan101]
Aereo auctioning its web TV tech under broadcasters' watchful eyes
A US bankruptcy judge has declared that Aereo can sell off its technology to the highest bidder, but with a few large exceptions, according to Reuters. First off, the broadcasters who forced the streaming service off the air and into Chapter 11 can oppose any sale they don't like. They'll also be allowed to analyze Aereo's customer records before they're deleted to determine possible damages in further court proceedings. Interest is actually high in Aereo's tech -- despite all the legal problems, there are 17 potential bidders for the auction. However, that presents a dilemma for CBS, NBC, FOX and other broadcasters.
Steam auction on hold after users find exploit, pilfer online currency (updated)
Valve's Steam Holiday Auction was supposed to bring users together to swap community items and bid on games, but things seem to have gone horribly wrong. The idea was to acquire Steam "gems" by trading cards and other objects then use them to bid on nearly 2,000 games. Unfortunately, some Reddit users noticed that certain accounts were showing billions of gems (worth thousands of dollars of auction value) in a very short time, possibly obtained by exploiting a site glitch. That prompted Valve to shut down the site and post a notice saying "there have been some issues with Gems and the Steam Holiday Auction is temporarily closed."
Bidding tops $25,000 on Peach amiibo with missing legs
The only thing Nintendo fans love more than the highly collectible amiibo are amiibo with massive factory defects. For proof, look no further than eBay, where a Peach amiibo with no legs recently attracted bids as high as $25,100. Described as "factory sealed and in mint condition," the amiibo features the same flowing dress found on normal Peach figures, but in this apparently valuable defect, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom appears to have misplaced her legs within all of that pink fabric. Despite the aesthetic oddity, this defect has no effect on the NFC chip that allows the amiibo to transfer data to and from Wii U games. While all eBay auctions are suspect until money actually changes hands, this is not the first time an oddly constructed amiibo has drawn huge bids on the auction site. Earlier this month, we reported on the auction of a Samus amiibo equipped with an extra arm cannon that reached $2,500. [Image: Nintendo/usmik_72rcplxb]
Phones4u's old inventory is being auctioned off on the cheap
When Phones4u collapsed, it didn't take long for its administrators to sell off a large number of its high street stores. But what happened to the products stocked within those shops? Well, they also need to be shifted, and it just so happens that you might be able to grab yourself a nice pre-Christmas bargain. In a bid to find more cash to pay off the costs associated with Phones4u's insolvency, its administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has drafted in an auction house to put up all of the retailer's stock for sale.
Deep Silver is auctioning off the real-life Saints Row Genki Mobile
Saints Row publisher Deep Silver is auctioning off a truck based on one of the franchise's vehicles for charity. The studio's 1956 Ford F-100 available for bidding on eBay starts at $7,500 and has just over 80,000 miles on it. The truck is decorated to look strikingly similar to the Genki Manapult truck offered as a pre-order bonus and DLC for Saints Row: The Third. The real-life Genki Manapult vehicle is complete with its trademark cannon, which shoots t-shirts as opposed to people. As of this writing, the auction does not have any bidders. All proceeds for the auction will go to Wings for Life, a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation that funds "world-class scientific research and clinical trials around the globe aimed at healing the injured spinal cord." The auction is slated to end on Saturday, December 13. [Image: Deep Silver]
US Marshals will auction 50,000 Bitcoins seized from Silk Road
Want a virtual piece of law enforcement history? You're about to get your chance. The US Marshal's Service is holding an auction on December 4th that will sell off 50,000 Bitcoins from Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), the alleged founder of the black market website Silk Road. You'll need plenty of real-world cash to get your hands on this digital currency, though. The feds are selling the digital currency in batches of 2,000 to 3,000 coins, and you'll need to place a minimum $100,000 deposit by December 1st to claim one of them. Not exactly an impulse purchase, then. At least this isn't the last auction you'll see -- police seized a total of 144,000 Bitcoins in the Silk Road bust last year, and roughly half of them have yet to go on sale. [Image credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer]
Samsung made a 78-inch curved TV and decided to cover the back in gold
Do you want to see the TV or do you want to see the gold?
Ofcom to expand 4G in the UK with new spectrum auction next year
The UK's four main carriers may steadily be building up their 4G coverage, but regulators don't want to leave the future of Britain's superfast networks to chance. UK communications regulator Ofcom today announced that it intends to auction more 4G spectrum late next year (or early 2016), giving operators to opportunity to expand their LTE networks with more high data capacity spectrum. It expects to raise between £50 and £70 million from the sale, which will then line the pockets of the government.
Atari 'E.T.' cartridges unearthed in landfill go up for auction on eBay
Normally we'd advise you to avoid terrible games, but here's one you might want to get your (gloved) hands on. E.T., the game that killed Atari and was famously unearthed in April at a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, is now up for auction. To remind you, the existence of the ditched cartridges had been an Atari urban legend until a Microsoft-sponsored dig project proved the rumors true. Alamogordo's Tularosa Basin Historical Society, which arranged the excavation and owns the cartridges, put 99 of them up on eBay, each with a certificate of authenticity.
Burger King is selling mutton Whoppers on eBay
You haven't misread that headline. As it gears up to open its first-ever restaurant in the country, Burger King India is turning to eBay to help drive sales. The world's second-largest burger outlet is hoping to persuade potential customers to pre-order burgers through the popular auction site. For the promotional price of 128 rupees (roughly $2.08), locals can purchase a voucher for one of Burger King's mutton-based Whopper burgers. Due to the large percentage of Indians that don't eat beef, the chain has localized its signature burger by offering mutton-, chicken- and vegetable-based alternatives.
