EU Fines Apple & Meta, New Color Discovery, and Google Fi Updates on DTNS

EU Digital Markets Act Fines

• 🇪🇺 The European Commission has fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
• 🍎 Apple was fined for its overly strict terms regarding developers linking to external payment options and for its implementation of third-party app downloads and app stores, which the EC deemed too restrictive and costly.
• 📱 Apple also faces a preliminary finding regarding its browser choice rules, but this investigation was closed as sufficient.
• 📈 Meta was fined for its subscription model that offered users a choice between paying a fee or receiving targeted ads, which the EC stated was not an equivalent free service.
• ⚠️ Meta has since changed its policy to offer a free, less personalized ad option, but the EC is still evaluating its compliance.

New Color Discovery: "OLO"

• 🔬 Scientists have reported the discovery of a new color, named OLO, by stimulating individual cone cells in the retina using a technique called Oz (Optical Scanning Ophthalmoscopy).
• 💡 This technique uses precise lasers to optically stimulate specific photo receptors, allowing the brain to potentially perceive colors beyond the known human color gamut.
• 🔵 OLO was described by volunteers as a bluish-green teal color with unprecedented saturation, requiring significant desaturation and added white to match existing known colors.
• ❓ There is debate among researchers whether OLO is a truly new color or a refined version of an existing one, due to individual variations in cone sensitivity.
• 👁️‍🗨️ The research team is investigating applications for colorblind individuals, aiming to adapt the stimulus to help them distinguish between colors.

Google Fi and Search Index Updates

• 📶 Google Fi is expanding its offerings with an unlimited essentials plan for $35/month and now supports data-only SIMs for secondary devices, including iPads.
• 📱 Google Fi is also integrating with iOS to allow voicemail listening within the phone app and support for RCS messages.
• ⚖️ In a separate legal development, OpenAI's CEO testified in a DOJ case against Google, speculating about OpenAI's interest in acquiring Google Chrome if Google were ordered to divest it, though this is considered unlikely.
• 🔍 The DOJ is also seeking to compel Google to open its search index to competitors, a more plausible remedy than Chrome divestment.
• 🍪 Google has decided not to implement a prompt requiring users to agree to third-party cookies in Chrome, effectively ending its plans to enhance Chrome's privacy features in this regard.

Other Tech News Briefs

• 📺 YouTube celebrated its 20th anniversary, announcing new features like four times playback for Premium subscribers and side-by-side video for non-sports channels on YouTube TV.
• 🎮 Nintendo is struggling to meet pre-order demand for the Nintendo Switch 2 in Japan, with 2.2 million applications for a limited number of consoles.
• 🔋 Lenovo is incorporating Ambient Photonix's solar cells into a keyboard, aiming to replace batteries with solar power for smaller devices.
• 📊 SK Hynix has reportedly surpassed Samsung to become the world's largest supplier of DRAM, specializing in high bandwidth memory for data centers.
• 👓 Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are rolling out live translation, and Threads is now open to advertisers worldwide.