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Showing posts from October, 2023

Google and Match Group settle antitrust case before it goes to trial

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The antitrust lawsuit Epic Games and Match Group have filed against Google was supposed to go to trial on November 6 , but now it looks like the video game developer might go at it alone. Google and Match, the parent company of Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, have reached an agreement and have agreed to drop all claims against each other. According to Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal , Google has agreed to return the $40 million Match had place in escrow to cover the service fees it would supposedly owe the Alphabet unit while the dispute is ongoing. Match also announced in its earning report that its apps will be using Google's User Choice Billing program starting on March 31, 2024. Under the program, users will have the option to choose between Google's and the developer's billing systems when purchasing an app or paying for a subscription. If they choose to use Google's system, then Match will have to pay Google 15 percent for recurring subscriptions and 30 percen
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Tesla's Autopilot was not to blame for fatal 2019 Model 3 crash, jury finds

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A California jury has found that Tesla was not at fault for a fatal 2019 crash that allegedly involved its Autopilot system, in the first US trial yet for a case claiming its software directly caused a death. The lawsuit alleged Tesla knowingly shipped out cars with a defective Autopilot system, leading to a crash that killed a Model 3 owner and severely injured two passengers, Reuters reports. Per the lawsuit, 37-year-old Micah Lee was driving his Tesla Model 3 on a highway outside of Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour when it turned sharply off the road and slammed into a palm tree before catching fire. Lee died in the crash. The company was sued for $400 million plus punitive damages by Lee’s estate and the two surviving victims, including a boy who was 8 years old at the time and was disemboweled in the accident, according to an earlier report from Reuters . Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Tesla sold Lee defective, “experimental” software when he bought a Model 3 in 2019 t
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Google paid $26 billion in 2021 for default search engine status

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Vice president Prabhakar Raghavan testified Friday that Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 for the purpose of maintaining default search engine status and acquiring traffic, Bloomberg reports . It's likely the lion’s share of that sum went to Apple, which it has showered with exorbitant sums for many years in order to remain the default search option on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Raghavan, who was testifying as part of the DOJ's ongoing antitrust suit against the company, said Google’s search advertising made $146.4 billion in revenue in 2021, which puts the $26 billion it paid for default status in perspective. The executive clarified that default status was the most costly part of what it pays to acquire traffic. Raghavan didn’t mention how much of the $26.3 billion went to Apple. But CNBC reports that an estimate from private wealth management firm Bernstein ballparked that Google could pay Apple up to $19 billion this year for the default privilege. A slide shown in court
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Microsoft is rolling in dough, no thanks to Surface

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Microsoft's most recent Q1 2024 earnings report continues the company's upward trajectory thanks to the cloud. Microsoft's earnings reached $56.5 billion, up 13 percent from last year! Profits hit $22.3 billion, up 27 percent. Almost every aspect of Microsoft's business is a success — that is, except for its devices, which dropped 22 percent from last year. That segment, which includes its Surface hardware, HoloLens and accessories, has been in decline over the last two years. It fell from $7.2 billion in revenue in 2020 to $6.5 billion in 2021 and $5.4 billion in 2022. And there doesn't seem to be any sign of that stopping. (At the very least, its devices earnings drop was lower than the mid-30 percent decline the company estimated last quarter.) Ahead of Microsoft's most recent device event in New York City, it was obvious that its Surface PCs were in a rut . The arrival of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Laptop Go 3 , while welcome, likely won
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Snapchat grows to more than 400 million users

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Snapchat grew to more than 400 million users, Snap announced in its third-quarter earnings report. The app added nine million new users in the last quarter, bringing its total daily active users (DAUs) to 406 million, an increase of 12 percent from last year, the company said. The milestone comes a little more than a year after Snap laid off about 20 percent of its workforce in an effort to cut costs as advertising revenue slowed. Those cuts, along with new product features, are apparently starting to pay off. The company reported $1.19 billion in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 5 percent from last year and better than Wall Street analysts expected, according to CNBC . In a statement, Snap pointed to its subscription service, Snapchat+, as a key part of its strategy to grow its non-advertising sources of revenue. Snap announced last month that Snapchat+, which offers users exclusive and experimental features for $4 a month, had reached five million subscribers. Generati
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Nvidia is reportedly working on Arm-based processors for Windows PCs

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Nvidia is reportedly planning on making Arm-based chips for Windows PCs. According to Reuters, the company has “quietly begun” taking on Intel by designing processors compatible with Microsoft’s operating system. The report says Nvidia could begin selling the chips as early as 2025. The move is part of Microsoft’s broader goal of challenging Apple with Arm-based processors for Windows PCs. According to preliminary Q3 data from research firm IDC, the iPhone maker has nearly doubled its market share since launching the Arm-based Apple Silicon three years ago. The company’s in-house Mac chips balance performance (including on-chip AI tasks) and battery life to a degree that Intel’s processors have yet to match. When reached via email by Engadget, Nvidia spokesperson Hector Marinez said the company declined to comment. Nvidia has recent experience with Arm-based chips, but they’re designed for data centers . Nvidia announced plans to buy Arm Holdings in 2020 for $40 billion. Howeve
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The Morning After: North Korean workers got remote IT jobs to help finance weapons programs

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The United States Justice Department says North Korean nationals have been working remotely for US companies, using fake IDs. The money they make is apparently being funneled to fund weapons of mass destruction programs. At a news conference in St. Louis, Missouri, the FBI alleged that thousands of individuals have moved to countries such as Russia and China and posed as freelance IT workers living in the US. They used false information for emails, payment platforms and websites — sometimes even paying Americans to use their Wi-Fi and setting up proxy computers from those connections. The money being made here was substantial, too. The FBI has apparently collected around $1.5 million in money earned by these workers during previously sealed seizures in October 2022 and January 2023. – Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Instagram's latest test feature turns users' photos into stickers for Reels and Stories Twitch will allow simulcasting to competitor strea
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Tinder will let your family nag you and play virtual matchmaker

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Tinder has rolled out a new feature dubbed “Tinder Matchmaker” that will allow users’ family and friends to access the dating app and make recommendations for potential matches. The matchmakers do not need to have a Tinder profile to view or suggest possible pairings. Hypothetically, that means anyone from your grandmother to your ex-boyfriend could help you select a new profile to match with. A Tinder user will need to launch a “Tinder Matchmaker session” either directly from a profile card or within the app’s settings. If you see a potential match, you can share a unique link with up to 15 individuals in a 24-hour period. Once a matchmaker gets a link, they can log into Tinder or continue as a guest. A matchmaker will gain access to profiles they can “like” and if they do, it will appear as a recommendation for the original Tinder user to see. The matchmaker’s abilities are limited though. They can't send messages or actually swipe right on the profiles in question – ultimatel
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Instagram's latest test feature turns users' photos into stickers for Reels and Stories

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Instagram is testing a sticker creation feature that will let users make custom stickers from their own photos — and other users’, in some cases — and pop them into Reels or Stories. While Meta has been going all in on prompt-based, AI-generated stickers lately, this tool is something much simpler. It’ll just select the subject of a photo and remove the background, creating a free-floating sticker that can be placed over other content. Adam Mosseri/ Instagram Adam Mosseri gave a brief demonstration of how it’ll work in a video shared to his broadcast channel. He also said that, in addition to creating stickers from photos saved on your phone, users will be able to make them from “eligible images you see on Instagram.” Mosseri didn’t share any further details on that, but it suggests users will be able to opt in to making their pictures stickerable. It’s still just a test and hasn’t rolled out to all users, so we’ll see what that actually looks like in time. The platform last week
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Google ordered to pay $1 million to female exec who sued over pay discrimination

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Google will have to pay over $1 million to an executive who alleged the company discriminated against her based on her gender and later retaliated when she spoke up about it. Ulku Rowe, a Google Cloud engineering director, accused the company of hiring her at a lower level, lower paid position than men with less experience who were hired for similar roles at the same time, according to Bloomberg Law . She also claimed she was passed over for a promotion in favor of a less qualified male colleague. A New York jury on Friday decided that Google did commit gender-based discrimination, and now owes Rowe a combined $1.15 million for punitive damages and the pain and suffering it caused. Rowe had 23 years of experience when she started at Google in 2017, and the lawsuit claims she was lowballed at hiring to place her at a level that paid significantly less than what men were being offered. It comes nearly five years after some 20,000 Google employees organized a walkout to demand changes
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The Supreme Court will hear case on government’s contacts with social media companies

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As expected, the Supreme Court will weigh in on a controversial case attempting to limit contact between federal officials and social media companies. The case could have sweeping implications for how social media companies make policy and content moderation decisions. The case stems from a lawsuit, brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, that alleges Biden Administration officials, the CDC and FBI overreached in their dealings Meta, Google and Twitter as the companies responded to pandemic and election-related misinformation. A lower court previously issued an injunction that severely limited government officials’ ability to communicate with social media companies, though some restrictions were later relaxed. Now, with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the government’s appeal in the case, the entire lower court order remains on hold. As The New York Times notes , three justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, dissented, calling the decision
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Twitch will allow simulcasting to competitor streaming platforms

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Twitch will now allow its users to stream concurrently on other live video sites. The announcement was made at TwitchCon in Las Vegas, just as it dropped new simulcasting guidelines . The company emphasized that simulcasting is permitted as long as the “Twitch user experience is not compromised” on other platforms.  Back in August, Twitch relaxed its rules on cross-streaming, allowing channels to have their live content appear on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. In terms of what new competitor services are kosher now, Twitch’s language is broad — citing that “any service” is on the table. The lone exception appears to be channels which have signed exclusivity contracts with Twitch. We’ve announced that you can simulcast on ANY live streaming service! Check out our new guidelines and FAQ here: https://t.co/bTVF3hkpV9 #TwitchConVegas — Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) October 20, 2023 The new approach to simulcasting might seem to hurt the company’s bottom line. A
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Instagram will soon let you create polls in the comments section of your posts

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Instagram has started allowing some users to create polls in the comments on their posts, giving creators yet another way to milk their content for more engagement. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced the test to his broadcast channel, noting that polls can be added to the comments on both regular feed posts and Reels. It’s just a small test for now, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his own update that it will be “rolling out to everyone soon.” Polls in the comments section will look much like they do in Stories, where they’ve already been available to users for years in the form of a sticker. Per the screenshot shared by Mosseri, other users will be able to see how many people voted on a given poll. It’s unclear right now how long polls will remain open after they’re posted, or if users will have the option to choose from different time frames to continue receiving votes, like users on Twitter can. Instagram has been working on making its comment section more of an i
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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s $250 million NYC biohub will engineer disease-fighting cells

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The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is opening a research center in New York City dedicated to developing new techniques for early disease detection and treatment. CZ Biohub NY , as it’s being called, will work with Columbia, Rockefeller and Yale universities to learn how immune cells detect and attack specific diseases, and eventually use this insight to engineer cells that could do the job more precisely. The charitable organization headed by Priscilla Chan and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed $250 million to the effort, according to STAT , alongside investments of $10 million each from the State of New York and New York City. In a blog post announcing CZ Biohub NY, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said it will start by focusing on cancers and other diseases that often go undetected until they’ve advanced to the point of being difficult or impossible to treat. That includes “ovarian and pancreatic cancers; neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; as well as
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Tesla begins Cybertruck deliveries on November 30

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After slogging through years of delays and redesigns , the Tesla Cybertruck can finally be seen on public roads this holiday season, the company announced . Deliveries of the long-awaited luxury EV SUV will begin to select customers starting November 30, before the vehicle enters full production next year at its Texas Gigafactory.   Q3 Shareholder Update → https://t.co/sXBSeLibSL — Highlights Cybertruck production remains on track for later this year, with first deliveries scheduled for November 30th at Giga Texas. Production of our higher density 4680 cell is progressing as planned & we continue building… pic.twitter.com/FqpseLujaA — Tesla (@Tesla) October 18, 2023 At the same time, the vehicle's electrical architecture is reportedly now being redesigned to accomodate an 800-volt standard, up from the 400V its existing Tesla lineup. A lot of luxury, performance and heavy duty EV models — from the Audi e-Tron to the GMC Hummer — utilize the 800V architecture, thou
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Apple may cut EyeSight display and Mac chip for its cheaper Vision Pro

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If Apple does release a cheaper Vision Pro headset, it’s likely to be a stripped-down version with fewer external cameras, no EyeSight feature and an iPhone chip in place of the current Mac chip. Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that the company is looking at these options as ways to bring the cost down to between $1,500 and $2,500 for a lower-end model. Apple Vision Pro , which is set to begin shipping in early 2024, currently starts at an eye-watering $3,500. In an earlier report, Gurman said the cheaper Vision Pro would also use lower resolution displays inside the headset. The big indication now is that it may drop the external display that enables its signature EyeSight feature, according to Gurman. EyeSight projects the wearer’s eyes onto an outward-facing OLED display so anyone who approaches can see where their attention is focused. It was one of major selling points in Apple's Vision Pro announcement, though it isn’t exactly mission critical.
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You can now buy a Ferrari with crypto in the US, if that's your thing

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Anyone sitting on a mountain of cryptocurrency can now use it to buy a Ferrari in the US. According to Reuters , the luxury carmaker is working with the crypto payment processor BitPay to accept bitcoin, ether and USDC for purchases stateside, which customers were apparently begging for. Europe is expected to get the same treatment in early 2024, with other regions to follow. There won’t be any upcharges for those paying with crypto, Ferrari’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera told Reuters , and BitPay will convert those payments to traditional currency at the time of the transaction to avoid any issues of volatility. Galliera said the move will help the company reach “people who are not necessarily our clients but might afford a Ferrari.” Just last year, Ferrari announced a commitment to more sustainable operations, including reducing its environmental footprint, and embracing the notoriously energy-intensive cryptocurrencies would seem to go against that. But
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Valve warns that AMD’s anti-lag feature can lead to Counter-Strike 2 bans

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Valve has warned Counter-Strike 2 players that AMD’s latest graphics driver could get them banned. The problem lies in AMD’s Anti-Lag+ feature, which triggers the Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system , duping it into mistaking the driver’s low-latency mode for cheating. The problem lies in Anti-Lag+ intercepting and redirecting Dynamic Link Library (DLL) functions. VAC views DLL reroutes as cheats (in other cases, they often are), which could lead to getting booted from Counter-Strike 2 . A Reddit thread about the issue claims “many players” have reported receiving VAC bans from using the latest AMD driver (23.10.1). “It seems that VAC is banning everyone BUT the cheaters,” quipped u/Volfong in the thread. “Can confirm I got banned today and Anti-Lag+ was turned on,” wrote u/trkemrasr. “They better reverse this shit quickly.” Valve plans to do just that. “Once AMD ships an update we can do the work of identifying affected users and reversing their ban,” the publisher posted on X (forme
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The EPA won't force water utilities to inspect their cyber defenses

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The EPA is withdrawing its plan to require states to assess the cybersecurity and integrity of public water system programs. While the agency says it continues to believe cybersecurity protective measures are essential for the public water industry, the decision was made after GOP-led states sued the agency for proposing the rule. In a memo that accompanied the new rules in March, the EPA said that cybersecurity attacks on water and wastewater systems “have the potential to disable or contaminate the delivery of drinking water to consumers and other essential facilities like hospitals.” Despite the EPA’s willingness to provide training and technical support to help states and public water system organizations implement cybersecurity surveys, the move garnered opposition from both GOP state attorneys and trade groups. Republican state attorneys that were against the new proposed policies said that the call for new inspections could overwhelm state regulators. The attorney generals
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Starlink's satellite cell service is set to launch in 2024, but only for SMS

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The launch of Starlink's much-anticipated satellite cellular service, Direct-to-Cell, will reportedly begin rolling out for SMS in 2024, according to a newly published promotional site by the company . Eventually the system will "enable ubiquitous access to texting, calling, and browsing wherever you may be on land, lakes, or coastal waters," and connect to IoT devices through the LTE standard. Starlink has partnered with T-Mobile on the project, which was originally announced last August at the "Coverage and Above and Beyond" event. The collaboration sees T-Mobile setting aside a bit of its 5G spectrum for use by Starlink's second-generation satellites; Starlink in turn will allow T-Mobile phones to access the satellite network giving the cell service provider " near complete coverage " of the United States.  During the event last August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that "Starlink V2" would launch this year on select mobile phones,
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The EU is probing X's response to Israel-Hamas misinformation

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The European Union (EU) has opened an investigation into X (formerly Twitter) for lackluster moderation of illegal content and disinformation in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. The move, via Financial Times , comes two days after EU Commissioner Thierry Breton sent an “urgent” letter to X owner Elon Musk asking the billionaire about the company’s handling of misinformation. The formal probe is the first under the newly minted Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires platforms operating in Europe to police harmful content — and can levy fines significant enough to give it teeth. EU officials sent a series of questions to X that the company has until October 18 to answer. The commission says it will determine its next steps “based on the assessment of X replies.” The DSA, which passed into law in 2022, requires social companies to proactively moderate and remove illegal content. Failing to do so could lead to periodic fines or penalties that, in X’s case, could total up to “five
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EU official gives Mark Zuckerberg 24 hours to respond to Israel misinformation concerns

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Elon Musk isn’t the only billionaire CEO receiving stern letters this week from Thierry Breton, the European Union’s regulatory commissioner. Following a similar one to Elon Musk , Breton posted a single-page correspondence ( via CNBC ) he penned to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today, giving the Facebook founder 24 hours to respond. The letter acknowledges areas where Meta’s content moderation has improved but raises concerns about misinformation (including deepfakes) on the company’s social platforms as the bloody Israel-Hamas war continues. “In light of a number of serious recent developments, let me recall the precise obligations regarding content moderation under the EU Digital Services Act,” Breton wrote in the letter. “Firstly, following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we are seeing a surge of illegal content and disinformation being disseminated in the EU via certain platforms,” Breton wrote. “I would ask you to be very vigilant to ensure strict compl
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Meris MercuryX is a modular reverb pedal for the sonically adventerous

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Last year Meris took its digital effects prowess and built a ludicrously powerful guitar pedal, the LVX . Now the company is back with another modular creation, the MercuryX , but instead of delay it's all about epic reverbs. Like the LVX the MercuryX is built around a "advanced ARM processor" of unspecified origin and a 24-bit AD/DA converter with a 32 bit floating point DSP. It also inherits the LVX's large LCD for navigating the interface and the basic scheme of combining structures, types, and processing elements to create a unique reverb effect.  In Meris' lexicon "structures" are the core reverb effects. There are eight different options: Ultraplate, Cathedra, 78 Room, 78 Plate, 78 Hall, Spring, Prism and Gravity. Those first two are borrowed Meris' popular Mercury7 pedal, the middle three from the company's collaboration with Chase Bliss on the CXM 1978 , while the last three are completely new creations for the MercuryX. Type determine
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