We’ve got a few big Pokemon games on the horizon, including a couple of remakes and a new spin-off called Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and it won’t be long before we find out more about them. The Pokemon Company announced today that it will be hosting a new Pokemon Presents presentation next week. On tap for this new Pokemon Presents is … Continue reading
Google confirmed this week that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 requires a Google-approved Android device to activate. More specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 must be “activated” with a device that runs Android and is equipped with Google Mobile Services. “That is the case for the Galaxy Watch4,” said a Google representative, but “we have nothing to share at this … Continue reading
A bipartisan bill that targets app store competition has been introduced in the House of Representatives. It’s the House version of a Senate bill that was introduced this week by a group of Republican and Democrat senators, and it would likely have a drastic impact on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store were it to come into effect.
“For far too long, companies like Google and Apple have had a stranglehold on app developers who are forced to take whatever terms these monopolists set in order to reach their customers,” Ken Buck, the ranking Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, wrote in a tweet. As Reuters notes, Buck introduced the bill alongside Democrat Hank Johnson.
Should the Open App Markets Act become law, it could level the playing field for third-party app stores and in-app payment services. Using a third-party app marketplace on an iPhone is difficult without jailbreaking the device. Google says Android 12 makes it easier for users to install apps from other stores, but it still requires developers to handle payments through the Play Store’s billing process.
Both Apple and Google take a 30 percent cut of in-app payments. That’s a key reason why the likes of Spotify and Netflix don’t allow users to sign up through mobile apps. They direct users to their mobile websites instead.
“Apple has used the iOS platform and its App Store policies to insulate itself from competition and disadvantage rivals for far too long,” Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s head of global affairs and chief legal officer, told Engadget in a statement. “By introducing the Open App Markets Act in both chambers of Congress, we’re one important step closer to curbing Apple’s anticompetitive behavior, leveling the playing field, and restoring competition for all.” The company has accused Apple of operating as a monopoly on iOS.
The bill would also allow developers to inform consumers about lower prices elsewhere, according to its sponsors. Epic Games’ legal battles with Apple and Google kicked off when it offered mobile Fortnite players a discount on virtual goods if they bypassed the iOS and Android payment systems. Apple and Google swiftly removed the game from their app stores and Epic responded quickly by filing lawsuits against both companies. A judge’s decision is pending in the Apple case.
Apple is ready to acknowledge the controversy over its child safety updates, but it sees this as a matter of poor messaging — not bad policy. Senior software engineering VP Craig Federighi told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that introducing both the scans for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on iCloud and opt-in local monitoring of iMessage sexual content was a “recipe for this kind of confusion.” People conflated the two and thought that Apple might spy on messages, Federighi claimed, adding that he wished Apple had “come out a little more clearly.”
The executive maintained that Apple was striking the right balance between child safety and privacy, and addressed some of the concerns that surfaced since the company announced its new measures in early August. He stressed that the scans of iCloud-destined photos would only flag existing images in a CSAM database, not any picture in your library. The system only sends an alert when you reach a threshold of 30 images, so false positives aren’t likely.
The system also has “multiple levels of auditability,” Federighi said. On-device scanning will reportedly make it easier for researchers to check if Apple ever misused the technology. Federighi also rejected the notion that the technique might be used to scan for other material, such as politics, noting that the database of images comes from multiple child safety groups, not just the agency that will receive any red-flag reports (the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).
The response won’t satisfy those who object to the very notion that Apple is scanning photos on their phones, even with privacy protections in place. It is, however, a recognition that it can be a challenge to properly address privacy issues — it doesn’t take much to prompt an uproar.
Every other edition of Monopoly exists, so why not one with a glass board? Monopoly Glass Edition from the WS Game Company features a 16″ x 16″ tempered glass game board along with diecast zinc game tokens and translucent houses and hotels. Fine, but I get to be banker, and I will be wildly misappropriating funds to my own benefit.
Glass is cool, but if they really wanted to get fancy, they should have made the board out of crystal. And all the game tokens and houses and hotels out of precious gemstones. I mean, what else are eccentric billionaires going to spend their money on – going to space for five minutes?
Of course, I imagine the real purpose of making a glass board is to add an extra element of surprise and danger when I flip the game after losing. Will I have to use one of my get-out-of-jail-free cards, so my wife doesn’t make me sleep on the sofa? You know there’s a reason I take them from every Monopoly game I come across.
With wildfires continuing to rage throughout the summer, Google is adding support for a new Air Quality Index badge to its line of Nest Hub smart displays to help you keep better tabs on smoke and other pollutants.
Marvel heroes like Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk enjoyed new levels of popularity during the late 70s as they became the stars of successful, live-action television series that aired on CBS. Though the characters were already comics mainstays at that point, there was something wild for audiences about the heroes’…
The tax deduction they’re considering would be more useful to union members than the one Republicans repealed in 2017.
“I’m sorry but how hot was Freud’s mom”
The former president’s question on so-called Reinstatement Day got the treatment on Twitter.
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