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Apple Fined 1.8 Billion EUR by EU
In a shocking turn of events, Apple has been fined 1.8 billion EUR by the European Union after Spotify complained about the company’s anti-competitive App Store practices. The fine, which is almost $2 billion, is almost four times larger than expected and has caused Apple to lose $80 billion in market value.
The European Commission found that Apple bans music streaming app developers from informing iOS users about cheaper subscription services outside their apps and also bans them from providing any instructions on how to subscribe to these cheaper options. These practices are illegal under EU law, and Apple has been ordered to stop.
While Spotify is pleased with the decision, Apple plans to appeal, claiming that the commission failed to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm. It seems like the love story between Apple and anti-competition is far from over.
Intel’s Aerol Lake Processors
Intel is shaking things up with their upcoming Aerol Lake processors, as reported by a reputable Chinese leaker, Golden Pig Upgrade. According to the leak, Aerol Lake is unlikely to be named 15th gen but will instead be part of the Core Ultra Processor Series 2. This new lineup will see significant changes, including the removal of low-power e-cores and hyperthreading.
Despite Intel’s focus on their 20A process, the leaks suggest that most of Aerol Lake will use TSMC nodes, with only mid-range processors utilizing Intel’s 20A nodes. These are unverified claims, but they could impact Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s image.
Meta Stops Paying Australian News Publishers
Meta has decided to end its payments to Australian news publishers after the current deal expires. The decision comes after the country’s news media bargaining code took effect, allowing the government to designate digital platforms like Facebook as subject to certain obligations.
The Australian government is looking to take action against Meta, claiming that the company has deprioritized news content on its platform. Meta, on the other hand, states that the decision was made to better align their investments with services that people value the most.
Overall, the relationship between tech giants and news publishers continues to be a contentious issue, with both sides fighting for control and fair compensation.
Quick Bits:
- Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged anti-competitive behavior in the cloud storage market
- AMD teases AI-powered FSR for gaming devices in 2024
- Google plans to add a satellite SOS feature to Pixel phones
- Meta rejects partnership with Google for Android XR platform
- China to expand video surveillance network to the Moon
Stay tuned for more updates on the latest tech news in our next TechLink episode on Wednesday! Don’t miss out on lightning-fast updates and tech gossip.
And don’t forget to check out Serto Software for top-notch protection against mobile threats, including spyware. Get 20% off Serto today and keep your devices safe and secure!
Thank God… wait no… thank EU
The consumer harm is manifested by them repressing choice and inhibiting a free market model. They will try to wriggle out of it but it is clear what Apple has done.
God i hate apple
Im sure Apple will kick Certo off the app store soon citing they do a better job at protecting you.
China never fails to be extremely dystopian
I was confused how Quick Bits were like chocolates, until you said you "eat them with your ears". Thanks James!
Apple can appeal after breaking the law because they claim there is no victim, funny because Democrats a party funded by Tim Cook Apple convicted Trump for taking a loan and paying it back, there was also no victim or damages yet Trump is not even allowed an appeal so EU should punish Apple with you pay all the fine and after that you appeal, to give a taste to Democrats and Apple how it feels
Well yuzu got shut down.
I bet Certo installs spyware.
Much like right to repair talks are banned.
Apple really should withdraw business from EU completely and let EU administrator, user, and business suffer.
Isn’t Gelsinger the Diablo 3 subclass that Elon Musk was trying to use to defeat the queen of all evil?
It would be cool if Apple would let people save PDF’s on ios devices without having to use the books app, which puts them all in the cloud. Books app like many Apple implementations is just a few key features shy of being good.
It would be interesting to see which key employees at Apple have informed which buthead decisions, as the ethos of Apple is both pro-consumer in some ways and anti-consumer in others. Calling out these individual influencers within the organization can be quite impactful as that awareness slowly disseminates into the minds of the voting shareholders and board members who can voice their opinions about the company’s direction under certain leadership. Which I feel would be a bit more impactful than throwing the whole baby out with the bathwater when criticizing a company.
I personally feel the Bauhaus school of esthetic minimalism pushed by Johnny Ive got so minimal that it harmed core functionality, customization, and hardware thermal performance.
Likewise the Apple Airport express was a great product that expanded the Apple ecosystem at a very low cost, enabling an airplay endpoint. The designer now works at Eufy and they have an Express router that is almost identical to the Airport Express.
Companies are made of people, and people can take accountability and resonate with a fanbase as a hero or villain the way that the parent brand cannot, being perpetually given excuses by it’s acolytes. Which is how most Gel Singers get their start.
yo James.
I would love if Apple got sued for only letting us backup our phones to iCloud. I want to backup to Nextcloud darn it!
I hate the EU
This is better than the Yuzu news I guess.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but isn’t FSR already ai upscaling?
In space, no one can hear…. your alarm
i guess the old fines where apple paid to people to reduce its fines are gone now? hope EU keep up fining more like 10% of its value max so apple have to think of dodging laws
At this point these EU Fines are bound to simply be called business expenses
This is 2.01% of Apples net income for all of 2023!
It’s also big enough that it’s upset share holders, so I believe it will have an impact.
Should been reasonable A
Ai for retro games seems huge to me. If it can learn how to make the crt qualitys look like an actual crt. I think ai thumbnails for old games could be fun too if it can keep the og boxart esthetic. Lastly theres a lot of asia specific titles without any real or accurate translation
Even at 80 billion. Ha!
LOL, the EU requires companies to advertise their competitors?… I predict a future, where people in the EU have to import everything they want from companies outside of europe… Dont worry, all the idiots that make these laws, will be happy to give themselves a raise, when the rest of the government collapses without revenue gathered from the companies that no longer exist in the EU… I mean, they cant just print money out of thin air, they arent AMERICA…
Where’s Riley?
get rekt crapple.
Spotify can’t compete, decides to do lawsuit
The popular idea among the young is that Soviet Russia is fun. What’s yours is ours.
It make sense that the EU and the young are so against Apple not wanting to give anything for free because businesses have expenses or some shit.
So iCloud is one of Apple's most profitable products eh? Have they thought about that? Do they realize it's also their cheapest product/service?
It's annoying that iOS is now full of ads that promote Apple subscriptions in the settings app. I think this is as bad as the appstore promoting gambling games to minors.
You joke, but Apple users must be sadomasochists to keep being Apple users at this point.
Its both hilarious and dystopian af that the EU is the one hitting Apple again and again, while the US government couldn't care.
slap on the wrist
Funny how behind the European Union is when it comes to technology, so that they basically have to sponge off of American technology by fining them
People will disagree with this. But this is like me listing a product on eBay, and eBay removing the listing because I mention that you can get the same product on my website for 10% less. And then the eu suing eBay for breaking competition rules.
Apple should be fined by the US as well as that is a violation under Anti-Trust laws.
Apple is a walled garden aproace to everything. Only in-house soft and accessories, as well as restricted file use. This extent of walled garden falls under violation of ' rent-seeking ' under anti-trust.
EU Megachad
Am waiting for you to cover the Bill gates x Tea guy 😂
Life is like a box of quick bits.. you ever know what you're going to get.
The only reason I hang on to a single Apple product like an iPad is just so I can join a class action lawsuit at some point in time.
EU is our last hope at standing up to these Dracula-ass companies
U.S. Congress will never be willing to pull an E.U. on Apple as long as the politicians have children working at Apple.
Did riley watch dune part 2 ? 😂
Thanks EU!
Spotify rips off artist apple pays artist more… when you think Spotify has 65% of music streaming business who is the real monopolist. Apple only has 15%
Good job EU. James you need to work on your Schwarzenegger. Your Richard Nixon was right on. 😂
China casually militarizing the moon, tsk tsk
The fine is larger then Nintendos ENTIRE NETWORTH!