Tech Roundup: Apple Intelligence, Japan Third-Party App Store Law & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Personal photos belonging to Brazilian children have been used in data sets like LAION-5B to create AI tools without their knowledge or consent, according to a new report from the Human Rights Watch, underscoring the need for bolstering data protection laws to safeguard children's data privacy.
• The U.S. state of New York a passes legislation called Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act to ban social media platforms from using "addictive" recommendation algorithms for users under 18 unless they obtain parental consent.
• Meta's WhatsApp tests changes that allows users to pin up to two Channels and choose between all or specific contacts before sharing Status updates; faces criticism in the U.S. for failing to moderate content related to voter interference, threats of violence and election misinformation that's shared on WhatsApp Channels that are used to broadcast messages
• Apple plays catch-up in the AI race as it infuses its next generation of software – iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia – with Apple Intelligence (internally referred to as project Graymatter) to bring generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities by integrating Siri with OpenAI ChatGPT; debuts more personalisation options to the home screen (including removing app labels!) and control centre, a dedicated Passwords app, support for RCS and AI-generated emojis (aka genmojis) in Messages, live audio transcription for phone calls, an Image Playground app for creating AI-generated images in Animation, Illustration or Sketch styles, a redesigned Photos app with the ability to remove unwanted objects, improved Mail with on-device categorisation, an overhauled Calculator app with currency conversion, and options to switch or remove controls at the bottom of the Lock Screen, lock specific apps behind biometrics or passcode, solve mathematical equations in Notes, view tasks from Reminders in the Calendar app, mirror the iPhone on a Mac, and sign into iCloud using macOS on a virtual machine.
• Did I tell you the Calculator app is finally available for the iPad after 14 years since launch? Also, with the launch a new Passwords app and an improved Calculator, Apple appears to be sherlocking password managers and apps like Soulver. Last year, it was the Journal.
  
• Apple has also said it plans to incorporate models from other AI developers in the future, including Google Gemini. That said, OpenAI's partnership with Apple has the potential to normalise generative AI (GenAI) for late and skeptical adopters, turning the iPhone into a Trojan horse giving the AI company a big boost in exposure. It's also reminiscent of Apple's deal with Google to make the latter's search engine the default on Safari.
• With Apple's professed stance on privacy, Apple aims for users to entrust it with their personal information, and, by extension, leverage that data for GenAI purposes locally, and strengthen the ecosystem.
• A crucial caveat here is that Apple Intelligence will be only available in beta on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with Siri and device language set to U.S. English, as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia later this year. Will AI be the thing that drives iPhone upgrades?
  
• Apple rebrands Apple ID to Apple Account "for a consistent sign-in experience across Apple services"; expands Vision Pro availability to new regions, including China mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the U.K. by the end of the month.
• Apple details two Apple Intelligence models, a 3 billion parameter on-device language model and a larger server-based model available with Private Cloud Compute, to "perform specialised tasks efficiently, accurately and responsibly."
• Apple debuts a new commerce API for third-party app developers to highlight special offers and increase their app revenues; to surface recent searches and suggest personalised recommendations in the App Store and allow customers to use Apple Pay on "any third-party web browser and computer by simply scanning a code on their iPhone to securely complete the payment."

• Privacy watchdogs in the U.K. and Canada launch a joint investigation into a data breach at genetic testing company 23andMe last year to determine "the scope of information that was exposed by the breach" and if the firm "had adequate safeguards to protect the highly sensitive information within its control."
• Adobe overhauls the terms customers must agree to when using its apps and services to explicitly state that it does not train generative AI on customer content.
• Music streamer Spotify adds a new "My Spotify" featur with "home page banners and personalised messages in-app revealing [listeners'] unique My Spotify listening habits"; launches an in-house agency called Creative Lab to help brands create custom marketing campaigns and serve AI-powered ads.
• Microsoft removes Custom GPT Builder from the consumer version of Copilot Pro on July 10, just three months after launching the feature.
• The U.S. states of Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington join the U.S. Justice Department's lawsuit against Apple alleging the iPhone maker is monopolising smartphone markets.
• Google brings Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 and 8a, updated HDR+ support to the Pixel 6 and up, and car crash detection on the Pixel Watch 2; launches a new advertising network that serves targeted ads to Google TV-powered streaming boxes and smart TVs.
• Japan enacts a new law dubbed "Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software" that prohibits Apple and Google from limiting the sale of third-party apps and services that compete with native iOS and Android offerings in an attempt to promote competition; to also prohibit the tech giants from giving priority to their own services in internet search results.
• Stability AI releases its Stable Diffusion 3 Medium text-to-image open model that delivers photorealistic images, comprehends long and complex prompts and achieves improved text quality with fewer errors.
• Google says "ChromeOS will soon be developed on large portions of the Android stack" with an aim to bring Google AI, innovations" and features faster to users.
• Meta's WhatsApp increases the limit for video call participants to 32 people, enhances screen sharing by adding audio support, and introduces a speaker spotlight tool.
• Yahoo launches a revamped version of its Yahoo News app, powered by Artifact's AI tech, after acquiring the Instagram co-founders' news app in April 2024.
• South Korea's media regulation agency, the Korea Communications Commission, fines a total of 188 firms, including Apple and Google, for allegedly collecting location data without consent.
• Samsung unveils Galaxy Watch FE in a single 40mm size with a 1.2" OLED display, Exynos W920 chip, NFC, GPS and 16GB of storage for US$ 199 (Bluetooth-only)/US$ 249 (LTE).
• The Mozilla Foundation, the entity behind the web browser Firefox, faces criticism for blocking various censorship circumvention add-ons such as Censor Tracker, Runet Censorship Bypass, Planet VPN and FastProxy within Russia following a request from the federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, according to The Intercept.
• Microsoft-owned LinkedIn unveils new AI features for Premium subscribers to navigate job opportunities, review application and get assistance with cover letters.
• Nokia demos a new technology called 3GPP Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec that improves the quality of a call with three-dimensional sound, making interactions more lifelike.
• Google's YouTube pilots a new Google Lens search feature that allows users to search for videos by pointing their camera at a subject; confirms it's testing server-side ad injections into video streams, as it continues its assault on ad blockers.
• The Turkish competition authority imposes a penalty of around 482 million lira on Google over its failure to address the competition board's concerns over fair competition with other local search engines for hotel searches.
• Web browser maker Brave integrates its built-in AI assistant Leo with with Brave Search to "incorporate search-augmented responses into its answers."
• ByteDance-owned TikTok pilots the ability for users to take or upload a photo to find similar products in TikTok Shop; comes as the company shut down three domestic channels in its Chinese sister app Douyin that provide mini dramas amid growing competition and regulatory pressure.
• Sonos faces a backlash after removing a line from its U.S. privacy policy that said the company "does not and will not sell personal information about our customers."
• Google rolls out a new option called "Listen to this page" that can read a webpage out loud from within the Android Chrome browser.