South Korea outlaws Google and Apple in-app payment systems August 31, 2021 South Korea’s National Assembly has approved legislation that bans app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems. South Korea is reportedly the first country in the world to pass such a bill, which becomes law when it is signed by the president, whose party has backed [...]
Big Tech vows to ramp up cybersecurity after White House summit August 26, 2021 Major US tech firms have pledged to ramp up their cybersecurity defences following a White House summit yesterday. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM were among the companies to make multi-billion-dollar commitments as President Joe Biden called on top chief executives to “raise the bar on cybersecurity”. During a meeting alongside his members of his Cabinet, [...]
South Korea set to crack down on Apple and Google over app charges August 24, 2021 South Korea is poised to block Apple and Google from charging commission on in-app purchases in what could be the first such move by regulators around the world. The parliament’s legislation and judiciary committee is today expected to approve legal changes that will ban app store operators with dominant market positions from forcing certain payment [...]
Apple postpones office return amid Delta fears August 20, 2021 Technology giant Apple has reportedly told its corporate employees that their return to the office will be delayed until January due to a surge in Covid-19 cases. The iPhone maker said in a memo to employees that it would confirm its reopening timeline around December, Bloomberg reported. The fresh delay comes just a month after [...]
Campaigners call on Apple to abandon surveillance plans August 19, 2021 An international coalition of more than 90 civil rights and policy groups is calling on Apple to scrap plans to surveil its US customers’ photos. Earlier this month, Apple announced plans to search people’s devices for child sex abuse material (CASM) using new “NeuralHash” technology to perform on device checks. The automated system will alert [...]
Apple child protection features spark concern among its own staff August 13, 2021 Apple employees have spoken out internally about privacy concerns over the firm’s move to scan US customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images as protests over the new feature intensify, it is reported. More than 800 messages were shared between Apple staff across several days on an internal Slack channel, sources told Reuters, [...]
Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images August 6, 2021 Apple has announced plans to search people’s iPhones for child sex abuse material (CSAM) using new technology raising privacy concerns. Overnight Apple confirmed that “NeuralHash” technology will allow them to detect known CSAM images stored in iCloud photos. The automated system will perform on-device checks of photos before they are uploaded to the iCloud. The [...]
Screenshot: Will the digital advertising boom ever end? July 30, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: You are what you tweet **Will the digital advertising boom ever end? **Esports: Britain’s next big thing? Media Moment of the Week: You are what you tweet You know the scenario: someone says something you don’t like on Twitter and you have an overwhelming urge to rise to [...]
Apple posts record quarterly revenue on China sales and iPhone demand July 27, 2021 Apple has beat analysts’ expectations and posted record quarterly revenue on surging demand for premium versions of its iPhones, subscription services, and strong China sales growth. Revenues grew by more than a third to $81.4bn this quarter, up 36 per cent from last year and driven by better-than-expected iPhone sales. This beat analyst expectations of [...]
Big Tech earnings: What to expect this week as tech titans report July 27, 2021 Wall Street is gearing up for a slew of Big Tech earnings this week with Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft all set to deliver figures for their latest quarter. Twitter and Snap kicked off proceedings by smashing expectations last week, raising hopes that a post-pandemic advertising rebound will boost other platforms. Tesla also shrugged [...]