EU fines Google €4.3 billion
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| EU fines Google €4.3 billion | |
| Number | 548 |
| Broadcast Date | JULY 18, 2018 |
| Episode Length | 3:55 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Twitter beats expectations, announces layoffs; Qualcomm moves into automotive, Apple delays AirPod.
Headlines
- Macrumors obtained an internal Apple service document for the new MacBook Pros, which includes this line "The keyboard has a membrane under the keycaps to prevent debris from entering the butterfly mechanism." Now Apple has already described the membrane as making the keys quieter. Earlier gen MacBook keyboards had problems with sticky keys, and Apple now offers free repairs of 2016 and 2017 MacBook pro keyboards, but not as replacement keyboards on older models.
- Comcast withdrew its offer to purchase most of 21st Century Fox, which puts Disney in position to acquire everything except the broadcasting network, Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, FS2 and the Big Ten Network which will be spun off into their own company. Disney also previously agreed with regulators to sell off the Fox Sports Regional Networks it will acquire as part of the deal. Meanwhile Comcast will focus on acquiring Sky which is 39% owned by Fox.
- Corning unveiled Gorilla Glass 6 which it says can survive an average of 15 drops of a about a meter, twice as good as Gorilla Glass 5. Corning also said it will survive drops for higher heights as well. It has the same scratch resistance as version 5. Gorilla Glass 6 is in production now and available to smartphone makers. It’s expected to show up on shipping phones in the next several months.
- Sources tell Bloomberg Google's Project Fuchsia OS is designed to work better with voice interaction, frequent security updates and look the same across devices, from internet of things sensors to laptops. Fuchsia also uses the Zircon kernel, rather than Linux. Google started posting Fuchsia code online in 2016 sort of it open source. Sources say the plan is to put Fuchsia on connected home devices within three years, then move on to larger machines, with a goal to replace Android within the next five years. Executives have reportedly not signed off on the plan officially, but support it.
- Alphabet's Loon said Thursday it has reached its first commercial deal with Telkom Kenya. Loon will deploy its balloons to broadcast 4G internet service over rural and suburban areas in Kenya starting next year. Telkom Kenya is the country's third largest carrier behind Safaricom and Bharti Airtel.
- Siri cofounder Tom Gruber and search chief Vipul Ved Prakash have left the company., The Information reports. John Giannandrea is taking over as Apple’s chief of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Gruber was the last of three Siri cofounders to remain at Apple, while his co-founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer previously left to start Siri competitor Viv. Prakash was previously CEO of search engine and analytics firm Topsy, which was purchased by Apple in 2013.
- EU regulators charged Qualcomm with a new violation over accusations of selling UMTS baseband chipsets below cost in order to undermine competitors Nvidia and Icera. In 2015, the EU also accused Qualcomm of abusing its market power against Icera between 2009 and 2011. It was also fined in January for paying Apple to use Qualcomm chips over Intel.
- Facebook and Instagram are tightening the way its moderators shut down accounts from users under the age of 13. The company's former policy was to only investigate accounts if they were reported specifically for being potentially underage. Now moderators will lock the accounts of any underage user they come across, even if they the account was reported for something else. If an account is locked Facebook will require a government-issued photo ID for proof of age.
- DC announced at San Diego Comic-Con, DC that its streaming service DC Universe will launch this fall as a hub for all things DC, with content, comics, an encyclopedia, and a social platform for fans. DC Universe will cost $7.99 a month or $74.99 for an annual subscription. Subscribers who preorder will get an additional three months for free. DC will bring five original shows to the platform in conjunction with Warner Brothers, in addition to existing live-action and animated works.
Links
| Preceded by: "Netflix Misses Subscriber Target" |
EU fines Google €4.3 billion |
Followed by: "Google's Project Fuschia OS May Replace Android in 5 Years" |