Quick news from around the Web.
Cricket to Sell ZTE Grand X: Cricket Wireless today announced the pending availability of the ZTE Grand X, a l... http://t.co/nYPBpDWhrI
— Phone Scoop (@phonescoop) August 1, 2014
> Security researchers say they have discovered two major security holes that could create backdoors into most of the world's smartphones. Article
> Telstra said it will shut down its 2G network in 2016. Article
> Apple has officially closed its acquisition of Beats. Article
> House Republicans have started an investigation into why the FCC gave Grain Management a waiver for the upcoming spectrum auction that will allow it to purchase licenses at a discount. Article
> Canada's three biggest telecom firms are expanding into areas including healthcare and banking in an effort to prop up finances. Article
> BlackBerry's BBM messaging service is now available for Windows Phone. Article
Telecom News
> Windstream is enhancing its bond with its managed service customer base by making Avaya's Aura Unified Communications (UC) solution as a cloud-based offering available on a national basis via its Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) product. Article
> Shentel reported that its wireline segment operating income was $3.8 million, down both sequentially and year-over-year from $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2014 and $4 million in the second quarter of 2013 due to expected legacy declines. Article
Cable News
> Arris Group reported second-quarter revenue of $1.43 billion, up 43 percent year over year, driven by an 8 percent volume rise over Q1 in video set-top/gateway sales and an 11 percent volume rise over the first quarter in sales of broadband devices. Article
European Wireless News
> UK regulator Ofcom scaled back plans to increase fees for 2G and 3G spectrum use, a move that was previously described by analysts as a tax of £4.5 billion (€5.6 billion/$7.5 billion) on the UK mobile industry over 20 years. Article
> Telefónica saw its first half net income fall 7.5 per cent year-on-year, but showed signs of improvement in the second quarter with a 4.9 per cent increase compared to the same quarter in 2013. Article
And finally… The so-called Google barge, a mysterious boat that some expected Google to use as a showroom, is going to be dismantled. Article