Tech Roundup: Apple E.U. Setback, Ecosia-Qwant Partnership & More

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

• Tajikistan imposes a ban on distributing popular video games Counter-Strike and Grand Theft Auto (GTA), labelling them as violent and immoral; says "young people and teenagers who regularly play these games come under their negative influence and commit various crimes."
• The Canadian government orders ByteDance-owned TikTok to shutter its operations in the country, citing national security risks.
• The European Commission accuses Apple of violating anti-geo-blocking regulations across App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts; says the services "unlawfully discriminate European consumers based on their place of residence," including preventing app downloads and having restrictive, region-specific interfaces, giving the company a month to respond.
• Polish radio station OFF Radio Krakow ends an "experiment" that involved using AI-generated "presenters" instead of real journalists after the move sparked an outcry.
• North Korean citizens are required to submit face biometrics to subscribe to mobile services through the official apps of North Korean mobile carriers, according to a new report from Daily North Korea, offering a rare look into how people in the country avail cellular services.
• Google brings AI Overviews in Google Search available to more than 1 billion users in over 100 countries amid the company's efforts to shift from being a search origination point to the destination; experiments with a new AI tool Learn About that aims to serve as a "conversational learning companion that adapts to your unique curiosity and learning goals," and brings Gemini capabilities to Google Earth to help allow urban planners to access deeper, city-level insights.
• Apple officially brings Apple Intelligence features to its devices with iOS/iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1; confirms it intends to bring it to the European Union for iPhone and iPad users in April 2025 and adds a "daily limit" for free access to "advanced" ChatGPT via Siri and an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus in Settings in the second developer beta of iOS 18.2.
• Apple updates the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad with USB-C, marking a switch from its proprietary Lighting port since 2015; refreshes the 24" iMac with an M4 chip, Thunderbolt 4, 16GB+ of RAM, a nano-texture screen option and a 12MP webcam for a starting price of US$ 1,299.
• Apple debuts Vision Pro in South Korea and the United Arab Emirates; announces the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips alongside new MacBook Pro models, updates the Mac mini with a smaller design, five USB-C ports and up to 64GB of RAM, and says the MacBook Air with M2 or M3 chips will now come with 16GB of RAM as standard, up from 8GB.
• Movie streamer Netflix adds a Moments feature on iOS, letting users save, rewatch and share scenes across Instagram, Snapchat, and others, with plans for an Android launch soon.
• Instagram alternative Pixelfed creates Loops, a fediverse TikTok competitor that integrates with ActivityPub and lets users share up to 60 seconds of video.
• Meta is reportedly working on an AI-powered search engine that provides search summaries of current events within the Meta AI chatbot in an attempt to decrease its dependence on Google and Microsoft, according to The Information.
• Dropbox says it has 18.22 million paying users as of Q2 2024, as it adds 63,000 new users during the time period.
• Apple says users in the E.U. will be able to set default apps for navigation and translation apps starting with the release of iOS 18.4.; faces a lawsuit in China over allegations from developer Bodyreader that the tech giant unfairly removed its children's posture correction app from the App Store in 2020 and asks the court to force Apple to allow third-party app stores and authorise external links.
• Google tests new feature that allows users to temporarily pause Play Protect, Android's built-in security scanner, instead of turning them off completely; updates Contacts app for Android to add reminders for birthdays and support for monograms or emojis as contact pictures.
• Apple warns investors that its new and future products might never be as profitable as the iPhone, as the company pursues newer technologies like artificial intelligence and mixed-reality headsets.
• Google's YouTube gets new playback slider for Android that offers more precise control in .05 second increments for a tailored viewing experience; tests a new feature that will let creators use AI to restyle licensed songs made available by select music partners for their shorts.
• AI company Anthropic announces a partnership with Palantir and Amazon Web Services to bring its Claude AI models to unspecified U.S. intelligence and defence agencies, prompting critics to question its AI safety claims. (With AI tools already signalling the death of conventional search as we know it, the defence partnership opens a new ethical minefield that puts the company at odds with its claims that it prioritises safety above all else.)
• Amazon is reportedly shutting down Amazon Today, a service that offers same-day delivery from mall and brick-and-mortar retailers, effective December 2, 2024, with select retail partners having the ability to fulfil orders through January 24, 2025; also reportedly discontinues a secretive effort to develop an at-home fertility tracker as part of a project codenamed Encore; comes amid the company's broader cost-cutting measures.
• Google's DeepMind unit open-sources AlphaFold 3, an AI model that can predict the structure of proteins and nucleic acids, for academic use, marking a significant advance that could accelerate scientific discovery and drug development.
• European search engine services Ecosia and Qwant announce a partnership to build a European search index and reduce their dependence on U.S. Big Tech firms as part of a new joint venture called the European Search Perspective or EUSP.
• Encrypted messaging app Signal rolls out call links to set up group calls without having to create a group.
• Apple debuts a new feature in iOS 18.2 called Share Item Location that allows users to share the location of a lost AirTag with other people in the form of a secure link that automatically expires after seven days.
• Microsoft confirms it's testing a new feature in Edge browser that allows users to "bring over your data from other browsers regularly," as part of its continued efforts to switch users from rival web browsers.
• Artificial intelligence companies including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic are facing "diminishing returns" from their costly efforts to build newer AI models, as it becomes "increasingly difficult to find new, untapped sources of high-quality, human-made training data that can be used to build more advanced AI systems," per a new report from Bloomberg.
• Google releases a dedicated Gemini app for iPhone and adds Gemini integration with Calendar in Gmail to "perform calendar related actions or answer questions about their calendars"; tests the ability for certain customers to import and convert sensitive Microsoft Word files into Google Docs with client-side encryption, and rolls out a Gemini-powered AI image generator directly in Google Docs that lets users "create unique inline images and full bleed cover images."
• Google adds Scam Detection in its Phone app for Android to tackle scams and fraud, and Google Play Protect live threat detection with real-time alerts to protect users from malware and dangerous apps.
• AI chatbot platform Character.AI issues a new "roadmap" promising a safer user experience following revelations that the service allows users to create a range of disturbing chatbots that violate the company's own terms of service, including those related to suicide and child sexual abuse roleplay.
• Google updates Maps with smart shopping tools, immersive route views, live updates for road conditions and transit lines, and trailer-friendly route planning; also lets users search for specific products like home goods, clothing and electronics, and check if a nearby store has them in stock.
• Google broadly releases an updated version of Authenticator for Android with a Material You redesign and support for search, dynamic theming and improved security options.