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After Google’s massive EU fine, could Apple be next?

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
This wouldn't be the first time the EU has handed Apple a giant bill.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Yesterday, the EU announced a massive $5 billion fine for Google due to its strategy of pushing Google search on Android devices.

However, according to a new op-ed published by Bloomberg, Apple deserves a big fine of its own. Here’s the argument behind that statement.

Microsoft may be building a ‘Movies & TV’ app for Android and iOS

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Watching a movie on iPad
Microsoft hopes it will boost Microsoft Store downloads.
Photo: Apple

Microsoft is developing a “Movies & TV” app for Android and iOS in an effort to boost downloads from the Microsoft Store, according to a new report.

Customers can enjoy content purchased from Microsoft only on Windows platforms for now. The company hopes that by supporting new platforms, it will encourage more people to use its store over competitors like iTunes.

Google admits third-party developers can read your emails

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Google-Chrome
Real human developers can read your Gmail messages. But only if you let them.
Photo: Google

Privacy is a hot-button issue in 2018, and the latest target is Google after it was revealed that developers of third-party apps can read your Gmail messages. 

The thing is, you gave the application permission to do that. You just don’t remember. Or weren’t paying attention.

Apple Park sparks huge rise in property values

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Apple Park
Apple's new "Spaceship" campus is contributing to soaring property values.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Innovation is great but having it as a neighbor can be a mixed blessing.

Silicon Valley counties are reporting soaring property values thanks to a tech sector boom led by Apple and Google, who have spent the last few years buying huge swaths of land to build new headquarters.

Android users still flocking to iPhone at an impressive rate

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iPhone with Samsung
They’re still running!
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Android owners are still ditching their handsets for an iPhone at an impressive rate.

New research reveals that up to 20 percent of iPhone buyers each quarter are switching from Google devices. The iPhone SE is one of the most popular models among former Android fans, but there’s a lot of love for larger Apple devices, too.

Apple meets with U.S. intelligence to talk fake news

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Apple News
Apple has already taken steps to fight fake news.
Photo: Apple

Apple is among the tech companies which recently met with members of the U.S. intelligence community to discuss the upcoming midterm elections.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter were approached because of continued concerns about the way that tech platforms were allegedly used for spreading fake news during the 2016 Presidential elections.

Apple, other tech titans cross swords on consumer privacy

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Apple takes privacy seriously
Apple takes consumer privacy seriously, but Google and Facebook don't. Can an industry trade group that includes all three company reach any kind of consensus?
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Information Technology Industry Council will meet on Wednesday. This trade group, made up of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and others, will discuss consumer privacy.

The proceedings are likely to be contentious, as these companies have very different views on the subject.

Apple lures away senior self-driving car engineer from Google’s Waymo

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Project Titan
One of Alphabet-subsidiary Weymo's senior engineers now works on Apple autonomous cars like this one.
Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter

Jaime Waydo is leaving Google’s Waymo for Apple. This should help silence anyone who doubts that Apple is serious about its autonomous car efforts.

Waydo describes her old job at this Alphabet subsidiary as “Helping make self driving cars a reality!” Presumably, that’s what she’ll be doing in her new position too.

Gmail for iOS just got a big notifications upgrade

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Gmail iOS
View all your messages individually if you prefer.
Photo: Google

Some of us need to have email notifications enabled, but we don’t want our iPhone to ping every time a spam message hits out inbox. Gmail just got a big notifications upgrade that solves this problem.

Its official iOS app now uses artificial intelligence to provide notifications for your most important emails only.

Neural networks make Google Translate app smarter, more accurate while offline

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Google Translate is now better, even offline
On-device learning should make the Google Translate app much better at its job.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Neural machine translation (NMT) has made the online version of Google Translate more accurate for years. Today, this AI feature was added to the iOS and Android apps so it can be used offline.

NTM allows the software to learn over time to create better, more natural translations. And this function is available while traveling without a local data plan.

Google again follows Apple’s lead, removes meat from salad emoji

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Salad emoji from various companies
At the urging of vegans, the egg is being removed from Google's salad emoji, pictured at right. Apple's, Samsung's, and other's versions are already meat-less.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google has bowed to pressure from vegans and taken the egg out of Android’s salad emoji.

This isn’t something iPhone users need concern themselves with, as Apple’s version is already meatless.

Valve makes controversial decision to ‘allow everything’ in Steam Store

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Valve Steam
Enjoy Remote Play Together today.
Photo: Valve

Valve is making a huge change that’s going to have a massive impact on the content you see in the Steam Store. The company is doing away with human curation and allowing everything to be sold through its platform.

Valve says it should be up to players to decide what kinds of games they play, while developers should have the freedom to choose what kinds of games they make. However, it will be creating new tools that give shoppers greater control over what appears in their Steam Store.

U.K. iPhone users want $4.3B from Google for privacy violations

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Google
Millions in Britain wants $1000 each because they claim Google invaded their privacy
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A group of 4.4 million Brits accuse Google of illegally collecting and selling their personal information. They want a court to award them  $1000 (£750) each in compensation.

The group, which calls itself Google You Owe Us, was in court today asking to be made a representative action, the British equivalent of a class action.

Google nearly scrubs ‘Don’t be evil’ from its code of conduct

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'Don't be evil' went from the first sentence of the Google code of conduct to the very last.
'Don't be evil' went from the first sentence of the Google code of conduct to the very last.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google’s founders tried to define their corporate philosophy with a single phrase: “Don’t be evil.” Now that phrase has all but disappeared from the company’s official code of conduct.

But there are questions about whether Google could be anything but evil, given that its entire business model is violating the privacy of its users.

Processor update might make Google’s Wear OS a better Apple Watch competitor

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Qualcomm's upcoming processor might make Google's Wear OS more competitive.
Qualcomm's upcoming processor might make Google's Wear OS more competitive.
Photo: Google

One of the reasons Apple Watch has no problems fending off competition running Google’s Wear OS is that they all use a two-year-old processor. Qualcomm is finally readying a new smartwatch chip for release this fall.

In addition, the next version of Watch OS will make greater use of Google Assistant, the company’s artificial intelligence powered system for voice control.

Google borrows iPhone X navigation system for Android

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Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Graphic: Google

Anyone who’s used an iPhone X already knows how to navigate around in the next version of Google’s mobile operating system. The company showed off Android P at its developer conference today, and it includes a touch bar at the bottom of the screen, just like Apple’s flagship phone.

Android P also natively supports screen cutouts, so device makers will be able to easily produce iPhone X clones.

All the important stuff revealed at Google I/O

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Google I/O 2018 was full of AI surprises.
Google I/O 2018 was full of AI surprises.
Photo: Google

Google just took the wraps off its big software lineup for 2018. If Apple executives were watching, there’s a lot they should be worried about.

Artificial intelligence has always been one of Google’s strengths over Apple. But in 2018, the search company is going all out, putting AI in everything. Pretty much every app the company has is getting some new machine-learning tricks in the next few weeks that make certain iOS features look ancient.

Check out the biggest announcements from this morning’s Google I/O keynote.

How to search Google using Apple Pencil and handwriting

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google handwriting apple pencil
Pencils
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Did you ever open up Google on your iPad, and wish that, instead of just typing your query using the always-accessible keyboard, you could write it anywhere on the Google home page using a finger, or an Apple Pencil? No, me neither. But that doesn’t make the possibility any less real. Now, with a simple settings tweak, you need never type a Google query ever again.

Live blog: Google I/O 2018 delivers the future of Android and more

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Sundar Pichai at Google IO
What does Google have in store for us this year?
Photo: Google

Google I/O 2018 kicks off in less than an hour.

There’s loads to look forward to this year, including an update on Android P, and previews of what’s to come for Chrome, the Google Assistant, Android Auto, and more. The recently-rebranded Wear OS may also get some much-needed attention.

Google is live-streaming its big keynote, which kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific. If you can’t tune in, follow our live blog below to stay up to date with everything that’s happening in Mountain View.

Gmail gets Snooze and Google Pay support on iOS

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gmail
Get your hands on the latest Gmail update now.
Photo: Google

Google has begun rolling out a big Gmail update for iPhone and iPad, adding the ability to snooze emails and send money via Google Pay.

The release comes less than a week after Google confirmed it is bringing Google Pay to Mac and iOS through Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Google’s search payments to Apple could diminish this year

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Apple's Google cash is an easy source of money.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The money that Google pays Apple to be the default iOS search engine is poised to become a much smaller part of Apple’s Services revenue.

In its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple singled out licensing as one of the main factors for its 31 percent increase in Services revenue over the past quarter. But Google parent company Alphabet told investors that the money paid to distribution partners — including Apple — will slow down this year.

Google makes iPhones extremely secure

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Apple requests DMCA removal of iPhone security tweet. Then changes its mind
Apple requests DMCA removal of iPhone security tweet. Then changes its mind
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google’s service making its accounts uncommonly secure has been extended to iOS native apps. This is only for people who carry around really sensitive information and who therefore expect their iPhone or iPad to come under sophisticated attack.

Starting today, the Advanced Protection Program supports Apple Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. Naturally, this is only for those who connect these iOS apps to Google accounts.

Google gamifies machine learning with Emoji Scavenger Hunt

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Emoji game Scavenger Hunt turns powerful machine learning and image recognition technology into a game for your phone.
Emoji Scavenger Hunt turns powerful machine learning and image recognition technology into a game for your phone.
Screenshot: Google

Emoji are many things to many people. Depending who you ask, they’re fun, flirty, confusing, a whole new language, or the demise of language itself.

Google’s Emoji Scavenger Hunt adds one more to the many meanings of emoji: a way to play with machine learning.

Google Pay makes its way to Mac and iOS

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Google Pay browser
Can’t use Apple Pay? Use Google Pay instead.
Photo: Google

Google Pay is gearing up to do battle with Apple Pay in its own backyard.

The payments service has started rolling out on Mac and iOS, and you don’t need a dedicated app to use it.

Fitbit and Google work together to beat Apple Watch

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Fitbit Versa
Data from your Fitbit smart watch could be sent straight to your electronic medical record thanks to a collaboration between Fitbit and Google.
Photo: Fitbit

Fitbit wants Google’s help to turn its fitness trackers into health monitors. The wearables maker will use Google’s cloud solutions to tie directly to users’ electronic medical records.

The real goal, of course, is to help Fitbit be more competitive with arch-rival Apple Watch.