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| Welcome to the Inside Tech newsletter! Here are today's top headlines: - A new leak reveals key upgrades coming to the iPhone 15 series.
- Senators Warren and Graham have proposed a new agency to regulate tech giants.
- X, aka Twitter, has threatened to sue a non-profit that tracks hate speech.
Want to learn more? Join Inside's community site, read what others have written, and share your thoughts. We'd love to hear what you think. Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The news: Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 lineup is rumored to include updates such as titanium frames, sleeker bezels, and a USB-C port, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Details: The standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus may ditch the notch and embrace the Dynamic Island design, which houses camera hardware in a pill-shaped area, making them similar to the Pro models. Camera improvements and the A16 processor, already present in the iPhone 14 Pro, might also be part of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus updates. What else: Additionally, the higher-end iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will likely have a revamped top design, with low-injection pressure over-molding reducing the border size from 2.2 millimeters to 1.5 millimeters. The Pro models are also rumored to feature titanium edges instead of stainless steel and a cutting-edge 3-nanometer chip. As for the charging port, the iPhone 15 could finally shift from the traditional lightning charger to a USB-C — a likely response to the EU's requirement that all smartphones and tablets sold in the region must have the universal connector starting in 2024. Why it matters: With the upgrades, there could be a slight price hike for all models outside the U.S., and the Pro models may see increases within the U.S. The success of the phones is crucial for Apple, as they contribute over 50% of its revenue. 
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| 2 | | Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) jointly introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at overseeing Big Tech companies. The Digital Consumer Protection Commission (DCPC) Act aims to create a commission to regulate tech giants alongside the FTC and DOJ. More: - The new agency would have the power to sue platforms, and potentially shut them down, in response to harms such as anticompetitive practices, consumer privacy violations, and harmful online content.
- The goals are to promote fair competition, protect consumer privacy online, enforce privacy regulations, and safeguard national security.
- The legislation mandates licensing for "dominant platforms" and allows them to be revoked for repeated violations.
- Like the FTC, the new regulator would have five commissioners appointed by the President, but with five-year terms instead of seven.
Details: - The bill outlines several specific measures, including banning preferential treatment of a company's own products over competitors.
- It would require digital platforms to have "clear terms of service and content-moderation practices."
- Additionally, the legislation would grant individuals the right to access and be informed about the collection and processing of their personal data.
- "Dominant platforms" would have to be either owned by U.S. citizens or have a U.S. subsidiary.
Zoom out: - In a New York Times op-ed piece, the senators said the legislation would provide safeguards to protect Americans, especially children, from "sexual exploitation, cyberbullying, and deadly drugs."
- "Piecemeal efforts to stop abusive and dangerous practices have failed," they wrote. "Congress is too slow, it lacks the tech expertise, and the army of Big Tech lobbyists can pick off individual efforts easier than shooting fish in a barrel."
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| 3 | | Twitter, renamed X.com, is considering legal action against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a vocal critic of the platform. The CCDH, a nonprofit that studies social media misinformation and hate speech, claims that X has threatened to sue for allegedly making "false or misleading" claims and scaring away advertisers. More: - The conflict arose when the CCDH published research suggesting Twitter is "toxic" and has allowed racist and homophobic posts.
- One of its reports claims the platform failed to take action against 99% of hate tweets from Twitter Blue subscribers and has even algorithmically boosted toxic tweets.
- In response, X Corp. accused the CCDH of using poor methodology and suggested competitors or foreign governments funded the organization for ulterior motives.
- The CCDH denied the allegations and said it does "not accept any funding from tech companies, governments, or their affiliates."
Zoom out: - X's ad sales plunged by 59% from April 1 to early May. Owner Elon Musk has accused European and North American marketers of trying to bankrupt the firm, while employees believe advertisers were put off by the rise in hate speech and explicit content under Musk's ownership.
- The platform has also issued legal threats against Microsoft and Meta and has sued a law firm over alleged excessive payments during the company's handover to Musk.
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| 4 | | Nintendo is reportedly planning to launch its next-gen console in the second half of 2024. The yet-to-be-announced console would be portable, like the Switch. It may have an LCD screen instead of OLED to bring down costs. More: - Nintendo has reportedly already sent out development kits to partner studios ahead o the launch.
- The company recently confirmed that the highly anticipated Switch successor would not be released before April 2024.
- It's uncertain if the new console would have backwards compatibility.
Zoom out: - The Switch, launched on March 3, 2017, faces the challenge of maintaining sales momentum as it enters its sixth year.
- The console sold about 18 million units in the last financial year, down from 23 million and 28 million in the two years before. Nintendo projects sales of only about 15 million units for the next year.
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| 5 | | Apple has pledged to fix a bug affecting Screen Time restrictions for children on iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices. The bug in Apple's Family Sharing system prevents certain Screen Time limits from saving correctly on kids' devices. More: - Screen Time, introduced in 2018, allows parents to remotely manage their child's device and app usage.
- The bug affects Downtime, a feature allowing parents to remotely set device usage hours for kids.
- Parents have noticed that scheduled times on the feature have either reverted to old settings or disappeared entirely, allowing kids to freely use their devices.
- While Apple previously claimed to have fixed the issue in iOS 16.5, it still persists even with the iOS 17 public beta.
- Until a fix is released, parents are advised to regularly check if Screen Time restrictions are working properly.
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| 6 | | Adobe introduced "Generative Expand," an AI-powered Photoshop tool for users to expand an image beyond its borders. In the first few weeks of beta testing, the tool has been used over 900 million times. Mor - With the tool, Photoshop users can expand their images by dragging the crop tool beyond the original picture size.
- After clicking "Generate," the tool adds AI-generated content that blends with the original image.
- Generative Expand can add scenery, widen portraits, or add new context to real-world photos.
- To prevent inappropriate or toxic content, Adobe added filters to text prompts.
- Pricing details are yet to be revealed as the tool is due to exit beta testing later this year.
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- Kanye West's account on X, formerly Twitter, was reinstated following a ban. West, who legally goes by Ye, was barred from the platform twice before, once for posting a swastika and another for making offensive remarks about Jewish people.
- X has rebranded its iOS app with its new logo. Despite Apple's usual policy against single-character app names, an exception was apparently made for X Corp.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by NO ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EDITOR | |
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