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Catching the ISS's fleeting pass between enormous sunspots
Astrophotography requires abundant patience and planning, but as Spanish photographer Dani Caxete has shown, you sometimes need quick reflexes, too. His entry in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 contest shows the International Space Station (ISS) superimposed on the sun, in between two large sunspots. He didn't have a lot of time to grab it -- traveling at 5 miles per second, the ISS took just 0.5 seconds to pass in front of our star.
Hey Google, Android actually does stifle competition
Sundar Pichai knows that the choice of mobile OS nowadays boils down to Android or iOS. He published a blog post yesterday in response to the European Commission's competition decision against Android, which opens saying, "If you buy an Android phone, you're choosing one of the world's two most popular mobile platforms." That's not very many options, but it's also not Google's fault.
Google fined $5.04 billion for forcing its apps onto Android phones
Europe has imposed a record-setting €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine on Google for antitrust violations around its Android smartphone operating system. In 2016, the EU Commission charged Google with forcing mobile network operators to install Chrome, search and other Google apps as the default or exclusive search service on most devices sold in Europe. With a market share of over 80 percent in many countries, that effectively locked others out of the search market, creating a near-monopoly for the search giant.
YouTube terminates accounts promoting Twitch streams
The fight between YouTube and Twitch just got a little uglier. Producers like Linus Tech Tips, Surny and Aztrosizt have complained that YouTube abruptly (though temporarily) terminated their accounts for using videos to promote their Twitch streams, such as LTT's The WAN Show. It's not that the videos weren't violating rules (the site has long forbidden videos that primarily "drive people off of YouTube"). Rather, it's that YouTube is only now enforcing the rules for videos promoting Twitch streams, and that it's being unusually aggressive -- it immediately terminated accounts instead of issuing strikes. This is oddly harsh when the company has been softer on channels that have done much worse, such as pushing false conspiracies that could lead to harassment and threats.
Apple alters its contracts to comply with Japan's antitrust laws
Japan's antitrust regulatory agency just wrapped up an investigation into Apple, and in order to ensure its compliance with the country's antitrust rules, the company will change the sales contracts it has with three of Japan's major mobile service providers. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) looked into four sales practices, but just one stuck out as potentially anticompetitive -- Apple's requirement for service providers to offer iPhone subsidies.
Google could face a massive EU Android competition fine in July
Judgement on Google's ongoing antitrust Android case could be passed as soon as next month, according to people familiar with the issue, and it seems that things aren't looking good for the company. The Financial Times and Politico report that while the size of the potential fine is unclear, it's likely to be higher than the $2.8 billion Google was hit with last year in a separate case, and could be as high as $11 billion, since the European Commission has the power to impose fines up to 10 percent of a business' global turnover.
A new generation of high school athletes will play eSports
At the college level eSports are set to explode as more school-supported programs sprout up every day. But officially sanctioned high school esports are essentially nonexistent. Many teachers (and parents) still see video games as a waste of time. Teens looking for competitive team play could previously only find it in the unsung volunteer efforts of online leagues. They've been making do on their own for years, but they can't offer meeting spaces to practice and connect, or validation from adults and authority figures.
EU launches anti-trust investigation into Apple’s purchase of Shazam
Late last year, Apple announced that it would be acquiring Shazam. Due to the size of the deal, Apple didn't have to get clearance from the European Commission (EC) itself, as it would have had to do if the proposed acquisition had been larger. But it did have to seek clearance from Austria. However, in February, the EC announced that upon request from Austria and six other European countries, it would, in fact, be assessing the deal and today the commission said that it's launching an in-depth investigation into the acquisition.
Lego League returns to space with two robotics kits for competitions
If you got excited for the Women of NASA and Saturn V rocket Lego sets, you'll dig this new offering from the building brick company from Denmark. Lego's education arm just announced two new robotic kits that can be used in the First Lego League series of robotics competitions, the Mission Moon and Into Orbit sets were designed in partnership with astronauts and space experts to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lego league itself.
Netflix’s ‘Nailed It!’ casts season two with a cookie selfie challenge
Netflix's cooking competition show Nailed It! is looking for bakers for its upcoming second season and it's going a rather interesting route to find them. Host Nicole Byer announced a competition through which aspiring Nailed It! contestants can earn a spot on the show -- bake some cookies and then decorate them in your likeness. The #bakeyourselfie challenge requires applicants to bake a batch of sugar cookies from a recipe the show has provided, which you can find here. Then decorate a cookie based on a selfie you've taken and post both on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Make sure to tag #bakeyourselfie and @nailedit.
Lawmakers call on US to extend conditions of Comcast-NBC merger
When Comcast acquired NBCUniversal back in 2011, the deal came with strings attached: among others, it had to abide by 2010-era net neutrality rules, provide affordable internet to low-income families and avoid discriminating against rivals. Well, all those conditions have lifted... and that's not making some officials happy. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Senator Richard Blumenthal have written an op-ed calling on the government to either extend those conditions or institute new rules relevant to the modern era. The communications giant has discovered ways of using its resources to "harm consumers and competition," the lawmakers argued, and some of those have violated the FCC's terms for the merger.
EU fines Qualcomm $1.23 billion for abusing Apple partnership
Things just get worse and worse for Qualcomm. The European Commission has fined the company €997 million ($1.23 billion) for "abusing its market dominance" in LTE baseband chipsets. According to the Commission, Qualcomm prevented rivals from competing in the market by making hefty payments to Apple on the condition it wouldn't buy from anywhere else, which is illegal under EU antitrust rules.
Google's $20 million Lunar Xprize will end without a winner
The Lunar Xprize is about to come to an anticlimactic end after more than a decade. Google has confirmed to CNBC that it doesn't plan to extend the $20 million competition past its March 31st deadline -- itself an extension well beyond the original 2014 end date. Given that all the finalists either don't have the funds to continue or don't expect to launch that quickly (the fastest, SpaceIL, might not launch before the end of 2018), the competition is effectively over with no winners. Not that Google minds, however.
Amazon picks 20 finalist cities for its next major HQ
After poring through 238 applications in the US, Canada and Mexico, Amazon has narrowed the list of cities for its next major headquarters to 20 candidates. Most of the centers picked by the Seattle-based company for its "HQ2," like Boston, New York City and Austin already have strong tech sectors. However, there were a few dark horse picks, including Columbus, OH, Raleigh, NC and Toronto, Canada.
Taxify takes on Uber in Paris with lower prices and commissions
Taxify is boldly entering the Paris ridesharing market that has proven to be such a pain for Uber and others. The company announced it will be able to compete with its main competition, UberX, thanks to 10 percent lower prices on average, and by taking a smaller cut from drivers -- 15 percent compared to Uber's 25 percent. "The prices will be lower for the customer and the drivers, better paid," Taxify told Le Parisien.
Boeing offers a $2 million prize for a working jetpack
It's 2017, and as the refrain goes, where are the flying cars? Boeing is more interested in "personal flying devices" -- aka, jetpacks or flying taxis -- and is partnering with new organization GoFly to post a $2 million bounty for working designs. Kind of like an X Prize competition, the partners are giving teams two years to develop their tech before whomever impresses the judges at a "final fly-off" takes home money from the GoFly Prize pool.
Intel escapes €1.06bn antitrust fine... for the time being
The highest court in the European Union has ordered a €1.06 billion ($1.4 billion) antitrust fine against Intel be re-examined, heralding a victory for other technology companies currently facing similar investigations from Europe. In 2009, the European Commission found that Intel had "harmed" its rivals by giving incentives to computer makers Dell, Lenovo and HP for using its microprocessor chips instead of those from rival AMD. Intel appealed, but the fine was upheld in 2014.
Kaspersky and Microsoft reach truce over antivirus software
Microsoft and Kaspersky Lab appear to have reached a truce over their ongoing antivirus (AV) software battle. The Moscow-based cyber security firm has agreed to withdraw antitrust complaints following Microsoft's announcement that it would change the way it delivers security updates to users. The dispute between the two companies began in 2016 when Kaspersky accused Microsoft of anti-competitiveness. The company argued that the US tech giant wasn't giving other developers enough notice of updates and new releases that would mess up third-party security software settings. As such, users' computers would either be left unprotected or would automatically default to Windows Defender.
Australian ‘budget bot’ wins Amazon robot challenge
An inexpensive robot has triumphed over its more sophisticated competition to win Amazon's annual Robotics Challenge. 'Cartman', a robot designed by the Australian Center for Robotic Vision (ACRV), was built from scratch for a fraction of the cost of other competing robots, and was even held together in places by cable ties. This year's winner -- which netted its creators the AU$80,000 ($63,770) cash prize -- stood out from the competition because of its gantry-like design. Instead of a robotic arm, Cartman functions via a sliding mechanism that picks products from above, moving on three axes. At its end is a rotating gripper, which uses a suction cup or two-finger grip to grab the item. The parts for the robot were cheap by the standards of typical industrial robots, costing under AU$30,000 ($23,913).
'Partner' Didi Chuxing is freezing Uber out of Southeast Asia
Part of Uber's sky-high $70 billion valuation was due to its optimism about expansion in China, India and other parts of Asia. However, its China adventure was a money bonfire that finished when it sold out to rival Didi Chuxing for $1 billion. Its plans for expansion to Thailand, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia also took a blow as its China "partner" Didi, along with Softbank, just invested $2 billion in regional arch-rival Grab.
