MacRumors

As we've followed DirecTV Now's ongoing offer to get an Apple TV 4K at no extra cost when paying for three months of the live streaming TV service for $105, it's been somewhat unclear how long the deal would last. According to our affiliate, today's the last day to take advantage of the deal, as the three-month offer will expire later tonight.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with DirecTV Now. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Afterward, the deal will return back to prepaying for four months of DirecTV Now at $140 to get the Apple TV 4K at no cost, which will last only for a few days through Tuesday, June 12. After that date, the offer -- which kicked off seven months ago in November 2017 -- appears to be ending for good.

The deal continues to provide the best savings for a 32GB Apple TV 4K online (regularly $179), so if you haven't used it yet -- or if you want another Apple TV 4K in your house -- check out the steps on how to redeem it below:

• Visit DirecTVNow.com's landing page for the deal
• Click "Redeem & Stream"
• Select the "Live a Little" package to get the Apple TV at the lowest possible price
• Choose if you want to add another stream and premium channels, or click "Skip for now"
• Click "Add to plan" under the Apple TV 4K box in the Special offer section
• Click "Continue" and go through the account creation and checkout processes

Although some users keep their DirecTV Now subscription after the three month period ends, many also choose to cancel the service before they're charged again. Even if you cancel, the Apple TV 4K will be yours to keep once you go through with the sale. DirecTV Now promotes the offer as one for new subscribers only, but existing subscribers can claim it by using an alternative email address from their original account, or by setting up an iCloud email alias.

Head over to our full Deals Roundup for even more of the latest discounts going on this week, including our new and exclusive sale partnership with Twelve South on accessories that will help you declutter and organize your desk space.

Update: It appears AT&T is letting the three-month prepayment deal run just a bit longer than originally planned, so make sure to grab it before it's gone.

For this week's Friday giveaway, we've teamed up with Speck for something special. We're giving away a brand new 32GB sixth-generation iPad paired with one of Speck's iPad cases, the Balance Folio Clear.

Priced at $44.95, Speck's Balance Folio Clear is made from a clear, durable polycarbonate that keeps your iPad protected but visible, leaving the design and look of the iPad unobscured. The case has been drop tested and will keep the iPad safe from scratches, bumps, and short falls.

The Balance Folio Clear includes a built-in adjustable stand that can be positioned in several angles for typing, watching videos, and more, and when closed, there's a secure clasp that keeps everything shut tight for travel. Sleep/wake magnets are included so your iPad turns on or off when the cover is opened or closed.

For a folio-style case, the Balance Clear adds little bulk to the iPad with the clear rear shell and thin protective front cover in black or blue.

Speck is pairing the Balance Folio Clear with a 9.7-inch 32GB WiFi only sixth-generation iPad, which was released back in March and is the newest iPad Apple has available for purchase. It offers an upgraded processor and Apple Pencil support.

To enter to win the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

Senior vice president of Apple Retail, Angela Ahrendts, today tweeted out an announcement for a new "Today at Apple" session focused on app prototyping for aspiring developers. News of the session arrives as Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference comes to an end today, after first kicking off with a keynote in San Jose, California on Monday.

Ahrendts describes the new program as a way to help app makers get started with prototyping, which she describes as "one of the most important steps of the design process." The session itself is based on a popular talk from WWDC, and events for the prototyping lessons will begin at Apple retail locations later in June.

You can find Today at Apple sessions near you by visiting the company's website, although it appears to be too early for the new prototyping sessions to be listed.

Snapchat is expanding the use of its Bitmoji characters -- specifically "Friendmojis" -- for iOS users in the coming days. With the update, iPhone and iPad users will be able to send personalized Friendmojis, or Bitmoji stickers that include both you and your friend, directly in Apple's Messages app.

Currently, Bitmoji is available as a keyboard extension and a Messages app so users can send Bitmoji in Messages, but the new update marks the first time combo Friendmojis can be sent outside of the main Snapchat app. Anyone who has their Bitmoji and Snapchat accounts linked together will be able to send Friendmojis in Messages.

To send a Friendmoji, a new "Friend" icon will appear in the upper-right corner of the Bitmoji keyboard extension, which can be added to trusted keyboards in the iOS Settings app. From there users will see a list of Snapchat friends they can tap on to generate customized Friendmojis featuring their own Bitmoji and their friend's character.

Friendmojis have numerous themes and celebratory messages, from simple "Good Morning" messages to more specific stickers for birthdays, holidays, major events, apologies, and more. Snapchat acquired Bitmoji in the summer of 2016, heavily integrating the sticker characters into its app over the years. In 2018, Snapchat now uses Bitmojis as the main form of identifying friends in the app.

Since Bitmojis popularized the creation of personalized animated characters, many companies have now unveiled interest in the space, most recently Apple with its own "Memoji" coming in iOS 12 on iPhone X. With Memojis, users can create customized animated characters that look like themselves, and then use the iPhone X's TrueDepth camera system to replicate movements made by the mouth, eyes, eyebrows, and tongue.

Memoji messages can be sent through Messages as stickers and video clips, and can be attached to the user's face in a video clip. Memojis are an evolution of Animoji, which take traditional emoji characters and turn them into full 3D emojis that follow the face movements of the user. Of course, the main difference between Apple's efforts and Bitmoji is Bitmoji's focus on full-body customization, while Apple's animated characters are only floating heads.

Yahoo today announced that its Yahoo Messenger service will no longer be supported after July 17, 2018, encompassing the closure of apps for iOS and Android and any web browser clients (via TechCrunch). The service will function normally until then, and after that date users will no longer be able to access their chats and the Messenger service as a whole will be shut down.

The company promised that the discontinuation of Yahoo Messenger will not impact a user's Yahoo ID, so it will continue to work for products like Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Fantasy. As for a reason, Yahoo said that it is focusing on "building and introducing new, exciting communications tools" that will be a "better fit" for its customers.

We know we have many loyal fans who have used Yahoo Messenger since its beginning as one of the first chat apps of its kind. As the communications landscape continues to change over, we're focusing on building and introducing new, exciting communications tools that better fit consumer needs.

"There currently isn't a replacement" for Yahoo Messenger, however, so the company pointed users toward the invite-only group messaging app Yahoo Squirrel. Squirrel is still in the testing phase and allows groups to organize private chats with friends and family members in a style similar to Slack and Discord.

Yahoo originally debuted its Yahoo Messenger app on the iOS App Store [Direct Link] in April 2009, giving users the ability to instant message their contacts when away from their computer. In the years since, messaging apps like Apple's iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and others have surged in popularity and caused users to leave Yahoo's platform for ones more popular among their own friend groups. Today, Yahoo Messenger is #167 on the App Store's most-downloaded Social Networking app list.

Prior to its appearance on the App Store, Yahoo Messenger originally debuted in 1998 (dubbed "Yahoo Pager") as an instant messaging client that users could download for free to chat with friends. In 2018, Yahoo said that users will be able to download their chat history to a computer or other device for the next six months, and more information can be found in the FAQ section of the announcement page.

Yahoo Messenger's closure in 2018 follows the sunsetting of AOL Instant Messenger in December 2017, both of which are owned by parent company Oath and lasted for around 20 years online.

Apple Maps has gained indoor maps for an additional four international airports and one shopping mall around the world.

The recently enabled airports include Charlotte Douglas International in North Carolina, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and Québec City Jean Lesage International in Canada, and Taoyuan International in Taiwan.

When searching for those airports, Apple Maps users can tap "look inside" or simply zoom in to view terminals, boarding gates, security checkpoints, airline check-in desks, baggage claim carousels, information kiosks, restrooms, stores, restaurants, parking garages, and even escalators, elevators, and stairs.

An indoor map is also now available at the Trinity Leeds shopping center in England, according to Apple's iOS feature availability page.

Indoor maps at shopping malls make it easier to find the exact location of stores, restaurants, restrooms, escalators, elevators, and stairs on each floor. The feature enables users to filter stores by categories, such as clothes, shoes, accessories, beauty, food, and drinks, with detailed place cards for each.

When the feature launched with iOS 11, indoor maps were only available in a handful of airports and shopping malls around the world, but Apple has been steadily adding locations over the past year.

The list includes airports and shopping malls in select cities across North America and Europe, including Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, DC. The full list can be viewed here.

A new Father's Day-themed Apple Pay Promo is providing customers who spend at least $100 in the Nike app with a $20 gift code, according to emails Apple sent out to Apple Pay customers this afternoon.

The offer is valid from June 7 to June 11 and requires customers to make a $100 purchase using Apple Pay in Nike's app. The $20 code is not provided at the time of purchase, but will be delivered within two weeks of purchase.

The $20 promo code must be redeemed by August 25 on a separate Nike app purchase. Apple is also promoting the Apple Store, StubHub, and Newegg as recommendations for Father's Day.

Apple regularly sends out Apple Pay promotional emails to customers with discounts on a range of products. Recent deals have included $15 off flowers for Mother's Day and 10 percent off furniture from Hayneedle.

Following the release of iOS 11.4 on May 29, Apple has stopped signing iOS 11.3.1, the previous version of iOS that was available to consumers.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 11.4 will no longer be able to downgrade to earlier versions of iOS.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

iOS 11.4 is now the only version of iOS 11 that can be installed on iOS devices by the general public, but developers can download iOS 12, the next-generation version of iOS that's in beta testing ahead of a fall release.

We've teamed up with Pad & Quill for a special series of WWDC-themed giveaways this week to celebrate Apple's big June event, and our third and final giveaway takes place today.

Pad & Quill, for those unfamiliar with it, is a company that's well-known for making high-quality hand-crafted leather accessories for iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and more.

For our last WWDC giveaway, we're offering MacRumors readers a chance to win a Cartella Slim Case for the MacBook or MacBook Pro, a TechFolio Cord Organizer, and a Lowry Leather Cuff for the Apple Watch.

The Cartella Slim, priced at $100 to $110 depending on size, is available for the 12-inch MacBook, the 2016/2017 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 2016/2017 15-inch MacBook Pro. It's a book-style case, made in a bindery in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a thin front and back cover wrapped in charcoal, cranberry, or gray linen.

All ports, vents, and fans are accessible with the Cartella Slim, and the MacBook attaches to the case using adhesive technology. Because there's no solid frame, the Cartella Slim adds little bulk, but still protects your Mac from bumps, scratches, and minor drops. An elastic band closure completes the book-style look and keeps everything in place when your machine is closed.

The $90 TechFolio Cord Organizer, which can hold all of your MacBook's accessories, is designed to keep all of your cords neatly organized in one easy-to-access place. Like all Pad & Quill products, the TechFolio is handmade from leather and able to hold a ton.

It has three cord organizer pockets, an Apple Pencil slot, a larger zipper pocket for a MacBook charger, two smaller pockets for accessories, and slots for keys or SD cards. All of this folds down into a small package that secures with a rivet closure.

Pad & Quill's Lowry Leather Cuff for the Apple Watch fits the 42mm models and is made from a soft, vegetable-tanned leather with a comfortable suede interior. Priced at $130, it comes in American Tan, Galloper Black or Chestnut, and while it is a cuff design, it leaves the heart rate sensor accessible through a cutout at the back.

The Lowry Leather Cuff fits wrists sized 125 to 215mm, with lugs available to match all of the Apple Watch models.

Today's prize pack includes one Cartella Slim for the MacBook or MacBook Pro, a TechFolio, and the Lowry Leather Cuff. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

As part of its antitrust examination into the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the US Department of Justice is looking at how the two firms combining would affect smaller wireless carriers that frequently buy network access on larger networks to resell to "pre-paid or price-conscious consumers" according to a report from Reuters.

There are concerns, the report claims, that because Sprint and T-Mobile are more popular for smaller mobile virtual network operator or MVNO carriers looking to resell cellular service to users, a combined firm may result in higher costs for those MVNOs and their customers because of decreased competition.

The Justice Department, which is evaluating T-Mobile’s $26 billion deal to buy Sprint, has been speaking with small wireless operators that buy access to the major wireless networks at wholesale rates, and is seeking their opinions about the merger.

There's no indication yet that this part of the antitrust investigation could cause any issues for the merger, but it does illustrate how complicated these large telecom mergers can be and how many different issues they can affect.

Back in April, Sprint and T-Mobile — the third- and fourth-largest mobile carriers in the US - agreed to combine into a giant carrier with more customers than AT&T. The companies hope to complete the merger by the first half of next year, but have to get approval from antitrust regulators first.