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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - Google to pay out $700M in antitrust settlement.
- Apple working on fix to avoid pause in Apple Watch sales.
- Xfinity says a recent data breach compromised 35.8 million accounts.
Thanks for reading! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Google announced it will pay $700M and make changes to its Play Store as part of an antitrust settlement with states reached in September. Google will pay $630M into a fund to be distributed to 102 million consumers across the U.S. Another $70M will go into a fund for states to resolve claims. More: - In September, the company reached a preliminary settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by U.S. states and consumers.
- The settlement resolves claims by the plaintiffs that Google's app store, Google Play, acted as an illegal monopoly.
- Terms of the agreement were revealed on Monday. Eligible consumers will get at least $2 or more, depending on their spending in the Google Play Store between Aug. 16, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2023
- An estimated 70% of the consumers, or 71.4 million people, will receive automatic payments without needing to file claims.
Zoom out: - In addition to the payout to consumers, Google has agreed to expand its user choice billing pilot program in the U.S.
- The program allows users to select between Google's own billing system or a third-party payment channel for in-app purchases.
- Developers using a third-party billing system receive a small discount on Google's fees.
- Google has also pledged to help simplify the sideloading process, when consumers download apps directly from developers' websites.
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| 2 | | Apple engineers are working to update the Apple Watch's blood oxygen sensor algorithms to avoid an import ban on the devices, according to Bloomberg. On Monday, Apple said it will halt sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. starting on Dec. 21 due to a patent dispute. An update could fix the issue and allow sales to resume. More: - The International Trade Commission (ITC) recently found Apple guilty of patent infringement in the smartwatch's blood oxygen sensor and ordered a ban on Apple Watch imports.
- While the ban hasn't taken effect, Apple decided to stop selling the flagship Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the U.S. later this month as a pre-emptive measure.
- In the meantime, Apple said it's "pursuing a range of legal and technical options" to be able to resume sales.
- According to Bloomberg, engineers are working to modify oxygen saturation measurement and data delivery methods, which would remove the technology that's allegedly violating the patents.
- The changes could occur in a software update, though it's unlikely to be deployed before Apple halts online sales of the two watch models on Dec. 21 and pauses them in retail locations on Dec. 24.
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| 3 | | Comcast's Xfinity, a provider of video, internet, and phone services, experienced a data breach affecting an estimated 35.8 million accounts. The breach exposed usernames and hashed passwords and, for some customers, names, contact details, the last four digits of their social security numbers, secret questions and answers, and birth dates. More: - The intrusion occurred between Oct. 16 and 19, following a vulnerability disclosure in Citrix software, which Xfinity swiftly patched.
- In a filing with Maine's attorney general's office, Comcast revealed that the breach impacted 35,879,455 individuals, with more than 50,000 in Maine alone.
- Customers are being notified to change passwords and turn on two-factor authentication
Zoom out: - The vulnerability, called "CitrixBleed," has affected other major organizations like Boeing, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Allen & Overy. Citrix released patches in early October, though some organizations failed to apply them quickly enough.
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| 4 | | Meta made a mistake in removing two videos related to the Israel-Hamas conflict from Facebook and Instagram, the company's Oversight Board said on Tuesday. The independent body, which reviews content decisions on Meta platforms, said the videos were important to help understand human suffering during the conflict. More: - One video, posted on Facebook, showed an Israeli woman pleading with her kidnappers during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
- The other video, shared on Instagram, showed the aftermath of an airstrike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
- After the videos were taken down, the Oversight Board selected them for review.
- The board then ruled that Meta should undo its decision to remove the content, which Meta had already done.
- In a statement, the board urged Meta to "respond more quickly to changing circumstances on the ground, which affect the balance between the values of voice and safety."
Zoom out: - Facebook has removed less violent and graphic content following a peak in Q2 2022, when it removed 45.9 million images, videos, and other content "pieces."
- In Q3 2023, Facebook removed 9 million violent and graphic content items, down from 13.8 million in the prior quarter.
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| 5 | | Samsung is adding its Galaxy foldable phones to its self-repair program. Samsung partnered with iFixit last year to give users access to genuine parts, repair tools, and step-by-step repair guides. More: - Samsung says the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 are now eligible for DIY repairs under the program
- The company will also add seven more devices, including the Galaxy S23 series, Tab S9 series, and the Galaxy Book2 Pro series, to the program during December.
- Also today, Samsung said it's expanding the program's coverage to 30 more countries in Europe, including Greece, Hungary, and Portugal.
Zoom Out: - Apple's self-repair program first launched in the U.S. in 2022 for iPhones and iPads, and was later extended to include Macbooks.
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| 6 | | Airbnb said it will use AI to find and block rental bookings that are a higher risk for parties on New Year's Eve. This is Airbnb's latest effort to curb disruptive parties in neighborhoods. Last year, the company formalized a global ban on all parties and events in Airbnb listings. More: - Airbnb today announced new "proprietary" AI and machine learning technology to crack down on unauthorized parties.
- The technology will specifically identify and block one- to three-night reservations for homes that are flagged as "potentially higher risk for a party incident."
- According to Airbnb, its AI analyzes "hundreds of signals" to spot high-risk bookings, such as trip duration, listing type, and last-minute reservations.
- The measures will apply in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.
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- Apple is internally testing an iOS 17.2.1 update for iPhones, which is expected to have the usual bug fixes. The update could also resolve an issue causing the Messages app to vanish while rearranging icons on the Home Screen, though that hasn't been confirmed.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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