Business, Financial & Legal News - Page 1

HP will soon own HyperX, the maker of PC peripherals like mice, mousepads, keyboards, and headsets in a sweeping deal worth over $400 million.

Kingston has agreed to sell its HyperX peripherals division to HP for $425 million, the company today announced. Kingston will still own its DRAM and memory business, and HP will add the HyperX brand to its billion-dollar Personal Systems business, which pulled in $10.4 billion in revenue last quarter. HP expects the deal to close in the second quarter of 2021.

"HyperX is a leader in peripherals whose technology is trusted by gamers around the world and we're thrilled to welcome their outstanding team to the HP family," said Enrique Lores, President and CEO, HP Inc.

Congress is currently working away at finalizing a new COVID-19 relief package, and included in that package is stimulus checks for millions of Americans.

The current terms of the proposed COVID-19 relief package would give $1,400 stimulus checks to every individual earning up to $75,000 per year. Additionally, the legislation states that heads of household can qualify for a $1,400 stimulus check if they earn up to $112,500 per year and married couples who file jointly with up to $150,00 per year. If you fall in any of those previously mentioned categories, you will get a full payment.

Those people who exceed the per-year qualification will see their stimulus checks start to be phased out. Democrats have proposed that the checks that will be sent out should be based on either 2019 or 2020 tax returns. To get the most out of your stimulus check will depend on your income in 2019 versus your income in 2020, check out this link for more guidance on when to file. The proposed package is still subject to change as lawmakers come to an agreement, but it's expected to be finalized around early to mid-March.

As an Australian, I have just awoken to some world-changing news: Facebook and the Australian government are having a blue -- a fight, they're having a fight.

Australia's proposed new Media Bargaining law is swinging its 1984 powers around, with the federal government forcing social media companies to pay for news content -- Google buckled under pressure and coughed up the money, but Facebook didn't and now things are changing.

Facebook has now seen the end of Australian news publishers being able to post their stories on Facebook, while international news won't be seen on Australian users' walls nor will they be able to be shared by Aussies on Facebook. Across the pond, everyone else won't be able to read or share any Australian content on Facebook.

Intel is fresh with its new CEO Pat Gelsinger stepping into the role, sending out a note to Intel's vast 110,000+ employees telling them he's thirsty for the company to be the leader in every single category.

Gelsinger explains that Intel must "stay ahead of customer needs and become more agile in a very competitive market and prove the differentiated value of our products, our roadmap and our manufacturing capability". He adds that Intel needs to executive flawlessly to their commitments and push the envelope when it comes to innovation using their "unmatched IP, engineering talent and research into new next-generation computing architectures".

He also notes that there are 4 key superpowers with the world turning everything digital, with the new Intel CEO noting the cloud, mobility fueled by 5G, artificial intelligence and the intelligent edge. Gelsinger said: "Intel is the only semiconductor company that has the depth and breadth of intelligent silicon, platform, software, architecture, design, manufacturing and scale that our customers need to capitalize on these opportunities and fuel their next-generation innovations".

There are many Americans around the country that are struggling due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and soon there stimulus checks will be rolling out.

$1,400 stimulus checks are rolling out to Americans earning up to $75,000 a year and couples that are earning up to $150,000 per year. Kiplinger has suggested that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will likely be based on your most recent tax return, which means the timing that you file your tax return may change the amount of money you receive in your stimulus check.

If your income in 2020 was higher than 2019, if you had an unfortunate death in the family in 2020, got divorced (with an individual income of over $75,000), or if you now can't claim for a dependent, you should wait to file your 2020 tax returns. If your income was lower in 2020 than it was in 2019, if you had a child in 2020, if you got married (with combined incomes below $150,000), or if you could be claimed as a dependent on someones 2019 tax return, you should file your 2020 tax return early.

It won't be long before Congress passes President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that is aimed at assisting struggling Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new package contains $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals earning up to $75,000 per year, and couples who are earning up to $150,000 per year. However, as Kiplinger has pointed out, waiting or filing your most recent tax return may increase the amount of stimulus you receive, depending on your financial situation.

Kiplinger suggests that if your income was lower in 2020 than it was in 2019, if you had a child in 2020, if you got married (with combined incomes below $150,000), or if you could be claimed as a dependent on someones 2019 tax return, you should file your 2020 tax return early. However, if your income in 2020 was higher than 2019, if you had an unfortunate death in the family in 2020, got divorced (with an individual income of over $75,000), or if you now can't claim for a dependent, you should wait to claim your 2020 tax return.

It's not just Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (TSMC) that is setting up manufacturing fab plants in the USA, but it looks like Samsung is joining in on the fun, too.

Samsung Foundry has filed the appropriate documents with authorities in Arizona, New York, and Texas so that it can build a next-gen semiconductor manufacturing facility in the US, according to our friends at AnandTech. The new facility would cost over $17 billion, create over 1800 jobs, and would see it made somewhere near Austin, Texas.

We don't know what node Samsung would make at this new facility, but we should expect a next-gen 3nm node at the very least. Samsung Foundry already has a huge 640-acre site known as 'S2' in Austin, Texas with the plan submitted to the government of Texas would see the company building a 7 million square feet (650,000 square metres) facility next to their current S2 plant.

• Read more: TSMC is so ahead of the game, Samsung might not catch up until 2030

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has admitted to sending out these letters to more than 109,000 Americans.

The IRS has said that the letter that was sent out to thousands of Americans was a mistake, according to a clarification update on the Q&A section of its website. The letters that were sent out stated that either part or all of their stimulus check would be used to cover 2007 taxes. Instead, the letters were supposed to tell Americans that the IRS hasn't yet processed their 2019 tax return, which meant that the IRS couldn't send out their first COVID-19 stimulus check.

Here's what the IRS said, "This notice is not accurate for anyone who received it...We apologize for the confusion this may have caused." Additionally,the National Taxpayer Advocate blog post states, "The CP21C letter debacle presents yet another issue related to the IRS's administration of the two EIPs... I recognize the IRS faces many challenges in administering the two EIP programs. At the same time, I recognize that many taxpayers are facing even greater challenges as the pandemic continues to adversely affect us all".

In what should come to a surprise as most people but Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon, has just announced that he will be stepping down from his role as CEO of Amazon in Q3 2021.

Later this year Bezos will transition from his role as CEO to the Executive Chair of the Amazon Board, while the current CEO of Amazon Web Services -- Andy Jassy -- will become CEO of Amazon. Bezos wrote to his employees: "In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives".

Bezos continued: "Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have." From the letter, it sounds like Bezos intends to use the time he has outside of running Amazon's day-to-day operations to focus on other initiatives, including the "Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions".

Democrats have now taken control of the Senate, and one of President Biden's top priorities is to pass his COVID-19 relief package.

President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that includes direct payments consisting of $1,400 to Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As you can probably imagine, Democrats and Republicans are struggling to reach an agreement on the price of the package and its contents, but Democrats have said that if they are met with opposition to the plan, they will push it through anyway.

How? Well, it's called budget reconciliation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the press Thursday, "I hope we don't need it, but if needed, we will have it. We want it to be bipartisan always, but we can't surrender." Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also chimed in on the relief package process, saying, "Our preference is to make this important work bipartisan, to include input, ideas, and revisions from our Republican colleagues or bipartisan efforts to do the same."