According to 9to5Mac Apple is working on a new kind of iDevice connector-- the "Ultra Accessory Connector," (UAC) reportedly a new application for an old 8-pin plug.

Apparently released in developer preview form through the Made-for-iPhone (MFi) licensing program, the UAC connector is small connector measuring 2.05mm x 4.85mm, making it slightly thinner than USB-C and nearly half as wide as USB-C and Lightning. It is essentially identical to the ultra-mini USB connectors found in proprietary cables bundled with devices such as Nikon cameras (pictured).

But what use will be the use of UAC plugs? As an intermediary, mainly. The unnamed 9to5Mac sources say UAC is not be a Lightning replacement. Instead it provides cross-compatibility between multiple connector types. Thus, users can swap between Lightning-to-UAC and USB-to-UAC cables with the same pair of headphones, with UAC allowing device firmware to juggle between connectors on the fly.

The European Commission (EC) launches an investigation to determine whether Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer are manipulating online retail prices.

According to the press release, the companies are accused of breaking EU competition rules by stopping online retailers from setting own prices for "widely used" CE products such as notebooks, hi-fi products and household appliances. Making the situation worse is pricing software automatically adjusts retail prices to those of the leading competition, bringing a wider impact to overall online prices for CE products.

Philips says a preliminary probe has been going on since 2013, and it is "[continuing] to engage and cooperate fully with the European Commission."

Samsung details why the Galaxy Note 7 phablet shipped with the unfortunate tendency to catch fire-- an investigation explains the reason boils down to two distinct battery flaws, not a hardware or software issue.

According to the company the batteries had two major flaws. The first is a casing too small to actually fit the electrode assembly, leading to short circuits. Samsung suppliers realised the problem and replaced the batteries with a safer version, only in their haste they brought about welding defects that also lead to short circuits. Either way, the smartphones started overheating, and catching fire.

Samsung insists it built a stand-alone testing lab to look into all potential causes of overheating, including wired and wireless charging, the USB-C port and the iris-scanning functionality. TUV Rheinland was also hired to check if storage or transport processes affected the batteries.

Apple sets to rival the likes of Netflix and HBO, the Wall Street Journal reports-- the iPhone maker apparently plans to start producing original TV series and possibly even movies.

The WSJ adds such content will be available by end 2017 via Apple Music. As to the genres of such shows, unnamed sources point out HBO's Westworld and Netflix's Stranger Things as comparisons, and say they "don't have any particular relationship to music."

Mind, Apple already confirmed it is working on video content, mind-- last year it announced its music streaming service will be hosting a season of Carpool Karaoke and Vital Signs, a drama starring Beats co-founder turned Apple exec Dr. Dre.

Intel's CES keynote is all about virtual reality-- so much so the company handed attendees VR headsets to experience a series of pre-recorded and live experiences narrated by CEO Brian Krzanich.

The VR experiences featured 360-degree 4K video of scenes such as the inspection of a solar power plant in the Moapa River Indian Reservation, with footage sent live from a drone equipped with Orah 4i cameras and low-power, high-latency processing technology. Another demo had the first showing of a VOKE VR immersive live sports streaming.

The Intel all-in-one VR technology seen at the show, dubbed Project Alloy, includes collaboration with HypeVR, a computer vision company working on live action VR capture and playback with 6 degrees of freedom. Intel adds OEMs should start producing Project Alloy-based VR headsets by Q4 2017.

Fitbit confirms last week's rumours as it announces the acquisition of former Kickstarter darling Pebble. The deal does not include Pebble products, meaning the company's smartwatch story is officially dead.

Financial details are not available, but the grapevine put the price paid for Pebble to around $40 million, a fraction of its previous estimated worth. After all, in 2015 Citizen offered $740m for the company! As for why Fitbit acquired Pebble, the announcement press release cites an interest in "key personnel" and the software powering Pebble devices, a sentiment echoed by a post on the official Pebble blog.

“With basic wearables getting smarter and smartwatches adding health and fitness capabilities, we see an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category,” Fitbit adds. “With this acquisition, we’re well positioned to accelerate the expansion of our platform and ecosystem to make Fitbit a vital part of daily life for a wider set of consumers, as well as build the tools healthcare providers, insurers and employers need to more meaningfully integrate wearable technology into preventative and chronic care.”

Kickstarter darling Pebble is reportedly looking for a buyer-- according to The Information rival Fitbit is "near a deal" to acquire the little smartwatch maker that previously could.

Apparently Pebble is going through hard times, as declining sales have lead to a slashed workforce and growing debts. In fact, TechCrunch claims Pebble will go for $34-40 million, a "small mount" described as "barely covering their debts." To think just a year ago the smartwatch maker had reportedly received an offer worth $740 million by Japanese watch maker Citizen!

In the beginning Pebble was a crowdfunding success story-- on May 2012 its first smartwatch, the Pebble ePaper Watch, made over $10m on a Kickstarter campaign, the highest amount ever raised on the Platform. This year the company returned to Kickstarter to fund the Pebble Time Round, but at the time the company reportedly layed off 40 employees and started looking for investors in order to "stay afloat."

Broadcom sets to expand its chip making business with the $5.9 billion all-cash acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems, consolidating its position within the networking industry.

Formerly known as Avago Technologies, Singapore-based Broadcom is known for connectivity chips used in devices ranging from smartphones to servers. Meanwhile Broadcom makes networking switches, software and storage products. As such, the acquisition can be seen as a move by Broadcom to shift from reliance on smartphone market, especially following the declining sales faced by its biggest customer, Apple.

However Broadcom will not retain the entirety of Brocade-- Broadcom plans to sell the Brocade networking hardware business in order to avoid competition with its top customers, such as Cisco.