Apple's new fees for app developers have come under fresh scrutiny from the European Union's antitrust regulators on concerns it could inflate costs for software makers, Bloomberg news reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Regulators are checking whether the re-jigged levies could be passed on to consumers, or if developers may have to tweak their own business models due to Apple's new fee structure, the report said.
They also asked whether the firm's prediction that the new system will help reduce costs for developers is accurate or not.
The European Commission is reevaluating its probes into tech giants including Apple, Meta and Alphabet's Google, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
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The review could lead to Brussels reducing or changing the range of the probes, and will cover all cases launched since March 2024 under the European Union's landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA), the report said, citing sources.
There are no new iPhone threats to have emerged, as of yet, from this groundbreaking USB-C controller hacking research, so no new mitigations to be employed. However, as far as the broader threat from rogue USB attack methodologies such as the aforementioned juice-jacking, the mitigation advice is straightforward enough: if you are in the least bit concerned about this threat model, then make sure you use your own charging kit wherever you go.
Apple recently addressed a macOS vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass System Integrity Protection (SIP) and install malicious kernel drivers by loading third-party kernel extensions.
Parallels has released version 20.2 of its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software. The update launches an early technology preview for importing and running x86_64 virtual machines initially created on Intel-based Macs on Apple silicon Macs (be aware of the preview’s significant limitations—Parallels says, “It is slow, really slow.”).
I won’t hold up this one experience as a sign that the web is dying, but it sure seems to be languishing, especially for mobile devices. And the notion that mobile web apps are closing the gap with native apps is laughable. The gulf between them is widening, not narrowing.
In October, Sonos tried to get a handle on the situation, which by then had spiraled into a full-on PR disaster, by outlining a turnaround plan. The company vowed to strengthen product development principles, increase transparency internally, and take other steps that it said would prevent any mistake of this magnitude from ever happening again. I can also report for the first time that Sonos hired a crisis management public relations firm to help navigate the ordeal.
But three months later, Sonos’ board of directors and Spence have concluded that those steps weren’t enough: the app debacle has officially cost Spence his job. No other changes are being made today, however.
Always have plan B, that's what I say. Sonos, it seems, didn't have plan B.
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Thanks for reading.