The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, May 12

Verizon offers $4.4 billion for AOL

Verizon said Tuesday that it plans to spend $4.4 billion to buy AOL, which was once a leader in Internet connectivity but has struggled to find its way as a content provider and online advertising platform. AOL still has a subscription business—anecdotally, aged users who don’t know they can get email for free from Yahoo and Google—and also owns The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget and other media brands.

Public Wi-Fi set for speed boost as operators upgrade this year

Wireless hotspots that can deliver hundreds of megabits per second in real-world bandwidth should soon be easier to find as operators upgrade to 802.11ac, the fastest Wi-Fi technology yet, according to a survey by IHS. By this time next year, a noticeable number of hotspots will use it, says the research firm, which expects operator spending on Wi-Fi networks to increase by 88 percent in 2015.

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