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☆ Japan to open up Apple- and Google-dominated phone apps to competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File PhotoTOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan plans to stoke competition in smartphone app payments, dominated by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google, by banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use the operators' own payment systems, a government panel said. Apple's iOS and Android from Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google roughly split Japan's mobile OS market. Apple allows users to download iPhone apps only through its own app store, while both Apple and Google require software developers to use proprietary payment systems that charge commissions of up to 30%. Members of the government panel include Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto.

Persons: Mike Segar, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Shigeyuki Goto, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Lincoln Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, stoke, Google, Asahi Shimbun, Industry, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City, TOKYO, Japan

☆ Apple hits record high one week after announcing Vision Pro VR headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple stock rose more than 1.5% Monday to close at $183.79 per share, which is the all-time-high share price for the company. The milestone comes a week after Apple's biggest product launch of the year. Last Monday, the company kicked off its developers conference, WWDC, and unveiled the Vision Pro headset, its first entirely new product line since 2014. In May, Apple CFO Luca Maestri suggested Apple's revenue may decline about 3% on an annual basis during the current quarter. Although Monday's stock price is a split adjusted all-time high, Apple's market capitalization isn't currently a record because the company has bought back some of its shares.

Persons: Luca Maestri Organizations: Apple, MacBook, Apple Watch

☆ Pornhub asks users, Big Tech for help as states adopt age verification laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington CNN —In the two-minute video, adult performer Cherie Deville stares into the camera and intones soberly to viewers, for the second time in a month, that policymakers are coming for their porn. It’s unclear how much Pornhub expects to achieve, as the laws have already been passed and signed. Pornhub’s simultaneous appeals to users and to Big Tech highlight the challenging position the company now finds itself in amid a wave of state legislation. Now, Pornhub’s fight could prove to be a bellwether for the growing push to enforce age verification for social media. Device-based age verification, Tiwari said, could have “very serious privacy connotations, because you now have the largest tech companies in the world having your government ID and all the information present in them linked to individual devices.

Persons: Cherie Deville, soberly, ” Deville, Pornhub, CNN it’s “, Pornhub —, —, ECP, Solomon Friedman, Friedman, ” Friedman, “, Porn, Pornhub’s, Josh Golin, ” Golin, India McKinney, ” McKinney, Udbhav Tiwari, Tiwari, ” Organizations: Washington CNN —, CNN, Ethical Capital Partners, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Big Tech, Android, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, Twitter, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Pornhub, Utah, Arkansas , Mississippi, Virginia, India

☆ Apple expected to reveal mixed-reality headset at developer conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CUPERTINO, California, June 5 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is expected to unveil a mixed-reality headset at its annual software developer conference on Monday, its first big move into a new product category since the introduction of the Apple Watch nine years ago. Like Meta's Quest Pro from last year and Quest 3 announced last week, Apple's device is likely to blend a video feed from the outside world with a virtual world displayed on screens inside the headset. Investors and tech fans alike will be focusing on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices. Investors will also look for updates on CarPlay, Apple's software for vehicles, which the company said last year would start to power more dashboard functions.

Persons: It's, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Nellis, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple Watch, Apple, Facebook, Meta, Meta's, Quest, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Apple Park, Thomson Locations: CUPERTINO , California, San Francisco

☆ Here's what Apple unveiled at WWDC: Vision Pro, 15-inch MacBook Air, OS updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Vision Pro sports 12 cameras and a digital crown similar to the Apple Watch to toggle between the AR and VR environments. M2 ULTRA CHIPApple unveiled M2 Ultra, its most-powerful processor so far, that comes to its desktop computers Mac Pro and Mac Studio. LARGER MACBOOK AIR, POWERFUL DESKTOPSApple launched a 15-inch MacBook Air featuring the M2 chip and an 18-hour battery life. The company beefed up its desktop computers, introducing a new version of its flagship Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra chip, starting at $6,999. WIDGETS FOR APPLE WATCH, OS UPGRADES, JOURNALING APPApple announced fresh versions of operating systems across its products.

Persons: Apple, Yuvraj Malik, Maju Samuel Organizations: Apple Inc, Meta, PlayStation VR, Sony Group, Apple Watch, Disney, Microsoft, Adobe Inc, Vision, Apple, Mac, Mac Pro, Max, APP Apple, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Apple WWDC 2023: What to expect at Apple's big developer event
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The highly anticipated release of an AR/VR headset would be Apple’s biggest hardware product launch since the debut of the Apple Watch in 2015. Here’s a closer look at what to expect:A ‘mixed reality’ headsetFor years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed interest in augmented reality. Apple’s new headset is expected to pack apps for gaming, fitness and meditation, and offer access to iOS apps such as Messages, FaceTime and Safari, according to Bloomberg. New MacBooksA mixed reality headset may not be the only piece of hardware to get stage time this year. New features for iPhone, iPad and Apple WatchConsidering WWDC is traditionally a software event, Apple executives will likely spend much of the time highlighting the changes and upgrades coming to its next-generation mobile operating systems, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

Persons: Tim Cook, it’s, Siri, Justin Sullivan, Apple Organizations: CNN, Apple, Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple Watch, YouTube, Bloomberg, VR, MacBook, Wall Street, Big Tech Locations: Cupertino , California, Silicon Valley

☆ What to Know About Limiting Your Child’s Screen Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Brian X. Chen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Attention, parents with “screenagers”: The U.S. government has issued a public warning that scrolling through apps like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat may pose serious risks to your child’s mental health. Social media also hurts exercise, sleep and other activities, he said. One is to explore potential options to limit children’s screen time. Google’s and Apple’s mobile operating systems offer free tools that can be effective for restricting screen time on smartphones and tablets. These tools allow parents to monitor and set limits on their children’s devices.

Persons: “ screenagers, Vivek H, Murthy, Let’s Organizations: U.S

☆ Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on their smartphones now that the U.S. public health emergency has ended. On Thursday, the organization said "the majority of states" stopped using the exposure notification system after the Biden administration ended the public health emergency on May 11. There is no clear tally of how many Americans activated the exposure notification feature on their phones or downloaded apps over the past three years. Despite these benefits, some Americans have been skeptical of the Covid exposure notification tools. State decisions to end Covid exposure notifications are part of a broader shift in how the country responds to the pandemic.

☆ GM hires ex-Apple exec to lead new software unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A sign with the General Motors quality mission statement stands in the lobby at the GM Warren Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. DETROIT – General Motors has hired former Apple executive Mike Abbott to lead a newly created software unit for the Detroit automaker. Abbott, former vice president of engineering for Apple's Cloud Services division, will join GM as executive vice president of software, effective May 22. Software, specifically monetizing it, is a major focus for automakers such as GM, as they eye reoccurring revenue opportunities such as subscriptions to boost profits. GM has a target to grow profit margins and double its revenue to about $280 billion by the end of this decade.

Circuit Court of Appeals said Corellium lawfully recreated Apple's system under the U.S. copyright doctrine of fair use, furthering scientific progress by aiding important security research. Apple sued Corellium for copyright infringement in South Florida federal court in 2019. Apple unsuccessfully tried to buy Corellium for nearly $23 million before filing the lawsuit, the appeals court said. The appeals court rejected Apple's arguments that Corellium simply repackaged iOS in a different format for profit, harming Apple's market for its operating system and its security-research programs. Corellium "opened the door for deeper security research into operating systems like iOS," the circuit court said.

☆ Google is replacing passwords with passkeys for more security — here's how they're different
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Unlike passwords, users don't have to remember passkeys, or worry so much about their accounts being hacked, Google said. With passkeys enabled, you'll only have to verify your identity on a trusted device to access an account. Unlike passwords, users won't have to come up with a passkey to access an account. If passkeys are enabled on their Google account, they can have a unique one created for any site that they log into. Passkeys are designed to work across most operating systems, so they are useful on an iPhone, Android, Macs, and Windows computers, according to Google.

☆ Microsoft opens up Bing access and adds chat history and export features
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft said Thursday that it's dispensing with the waiting list it has had in place for the past three months for its revamped Bing search engine, allowing anyone with a Microsoft account to use it. Kumar said the company will provide more details on how developers can build for the Bing chatbot at its Microsoft Build developer conference, which starts on May 23. That means Google has yet to allow people to use the Bing chatbot from Google's dominant Chrome browser. Microsoft includes Edge in its Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems, and the default search engine in Edge is Bing. may ruin Alphabet's only real business: Google Search, says CIC Wealth's Malcolm Ethridge

☆ Meet Citadel X: The team of engineers at Ken Griffin's $57 billion hedge fund giving it a competitive edge by streamlining and designing its tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Citadel X is a team of about 20 engineers that leads user-interface design on the fund's tech tools. Citadel X leader Kristofer Baxter walked Insider through the future of UI at Citadel. Citadel X works with various engineering and investment teams across the company with a goal of making sure the hedge fund's high-powered tools are easy to use. Some Citadel X engineers are now embedded onto desk teams to learn the ins and outs of the business and build new tech for them. Ross McKay, a front-end software developer within Citadel's equities business, put his team's 30 applications into the Citadel X platform.

☆ Tim Cook is bullish on India being the new China for Apple. These 3 charts show there's a long way to go.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This first store comes 14 years after Apple first opened in China, and Cook has sometimes compared the two markets. And so I'm very, very bullish and very, very optimistic about India," Cook told investors on an earnings call in 2017. In the same year, Apple only took 6% of the market share in India compared to Android's 94%. Apple has increased iOS device sales over the years to claim 17% market share from rivals, per Counterpoint Research's data. For Cook, India could offer similar tantalizing growth.

☆ General Motors will phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in future EVs, opting to introduce its own Google-supported system
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be phased out of future GM electric models. The manufacturer plans to replace CarPlay with its own Google-supported system. Instead of CarPlay, GM will offer its own Google-based software for drivers, including access to Google maps and Google Assistant. GM executives told Reuters the company intends to separate cars from cell phones by phasing out technology like CarPlay. Additionally, GM plans to implement a subscription model for services like Google Maps and Google Assistant several years down the line, Reuters reported.

Multiple experts identified the presence of malware on the Pinduoduo app that exploited vulnerabilities in Android operating systems. Evidence of sophisticated malware in the Pinduoduo app comes amid intense scrutiny of Chinese-developed apps like TikTok over concerns about data security. Pinduoduo has previously rejected “the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious.”CNN has contacted PDD multiple times over email and phone for comment, but has not received a response. Google Play is not available in China, and Android users in the country download their apps from local stores. Engineers also found their access to big data, data sheets and the log system revoked, the source said.

☆ Why cloud-based browser management is the missing piece of your business' IT strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Google Chrome Enterprise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cloud-based browser management, like Google's Chrome Browser Cloud Management, can help effectively manage these variables and offer insights into your organization's browsers across the enterprise and down to the user level. How enterprise browser management worksChrome Browser Cloud Management helps support crucial web-based business processes in different user environments by shoring up security, supporting worker productivity, and enforcing unified policies. Getting Started with Chrome Browser Cloud ManagementWith a unified view across devices and operating systems, Chrome Browser Cloud Management can help IT administrators reduce time spent on browser management. Those who are new to Chrome Browser Cloud Management can start the short and no-charge enrollment process here. See how Chrome Browser Cloud Management can help you manage your enterprise's IT operations.

☆ Microsoft's EU remedies target only cloud streaming rivals, sources says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) remedies to address European Union antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O) focus only on cloud gaming services, with no mention of rival Sony (6758.T), people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The U.S. software giant has been trying to allay the Commission's concerns that the deal may reduce competition for console and personal computers, PC operating systems and cloud game streaming services. However, the absence of a Sony solution suggests the Commission no longer has concerns about competition in the console market. The sources said Microsoft has offered 10-year licensing deals for cloud gaming services, citing Nvidia, Ukraine-based cloud gaming provider Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus as examples. Microsoft's EU offer is narrower than that to the UK competition agency, which includes licensing deals to cloud gaming services and a 10-year deal with parity on content and quality for Activision's Call of Duty franchise to critic and PlayStation owner Sony.

☆ Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones - Kommersant newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - Russia's presidential administration has told officials to stop using Apple (AAPL.O) iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday. At a Kremlin-organised seminar for officials involved in domestic politics, Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy head of the presidential administration, told officials to change their phones by April 1, Kommersant said, citing unidentified sources. The Kremlin may provide other devices with different operating systems to replace the iPhones, Kommersant said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not confirm the report, but that smartphones could not be used for official purposes anyway. President Vladimir Putin has always said he has no smartphone, though Peskov has said Putin does use the Internet from time to time.

☆ GM explores using ChatGPT in vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 10 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) is exploring uses for ChatGPT as part of its broader collaboration with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), a company executive told Reuters. "ChatGPT is going to be in everything," GM Vice President Scott Miller said in an interview last week. GM in 2021 partnered with Microsoft to accelerate the commercialization of driverless vehicles. Shares of GM were down about 2% on Friday amid a broader drop. Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru and Joseph White in Detroit; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A startup raised $79 million for its open smart-locker network. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Maybrit Martschin | Nathan Rennolds | Business Insider Deutschland | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Myflexbox is an Austrian startup that offers a smart-locker network. The company uses an open API to connect operating systems from different delivery providers. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck it used to raise 75 million euros. To help them achieve this, the founders recently secured 75 million euros, or about $79 million, in new funding. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck it used to raise the funds.

☆ Why Apple, Google, Microsoft passkeys should soon replace your own passwords
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Barbara Collins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"Passkeys are an example of what security should be: seamless and invisible to the end user," said Moriarty. Avoiding human error, and hackersFrom a safety standpoint, passkeys are much more secure than passwords for a number of reasons. Even worse, choosing simple passwords (think "abc123" or "password") creates the perfect target for hackers to easily access individuals' accounts. Google began rolling out passkey support for Chrome on Android, Windows and macOS in December 2022. The only potential disadvantage to using passkeys happens if a user loses the secondary device they use to gain access to their accounts.

☆ AMD wins nearly a third of processor market, Arm's climb slows, analyst report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) has captured nearly a third of the market for central processor units while British chip technology firm Arm Ltd's rise in the PC market slowed in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to an analyst report. In the fourth quarter, Intel had 68.7% market share for x86 processors versus AMD's 31.3%, which was up from 28.5% a year earlier, according to Mercury Research. But the PC sales slump has also affected Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) Mac computer lineup, which is the leading source of sales for Arm-based PC chips. Mercury said Arm PC chips, led by Apple's in-house chips but also joined by Qualcomm Inc's (QCOM.O) recent PC chips for Windows machines, now have 13.3% share of the market PC chips, down from 14.6% a quarter earlier but still up from 10.3% share a year ago. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Apple and Google’s app stores wield ‘gatekeeper’ power and should be reined in, Commerce Department says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —The Biden administration on Wednesday took its biggest swipe yet at app stores run by Apple and Google, with a new report accusing the two tech giants of exercising “gatekeeper” power that has led to “suboptimal” levels of competition in digital markets. In a statement, Apple said its app store has benefited developers and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. In the past, Apple has argued that its control over iOS app distribution helps promote users’ privacy and security. Many of the report’s recommendations echo provisions in federal legislation that received bipartisan support last Congress, but that failed to become law. The findings had been informed by public comments submitted to the Department in the months leading up to the report.

☆ Microsoft quarterly profit falls 12% but cloud computing business shows strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The tech giant reported revenue of $52.7 billion for the quarter, a modest 2% increase from the year prior but slightly less than analysts had expected. The earnings results come at a turbulent moment for Microsoft, and the tech industry as a whole. Microsoft said last week that it plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures. On Tuesday, Microsoft reported revenue declines from its Windows OEM operations and from its Xbox content and services lines. Revenue from its cloud computing division, a key area of focus for Microsoft in recent years, increased 22% from the prior year.

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