The Morning After: Microsoft might be the latest company to violate antitrust laws
By bundling Teams software, it faces the wrath of the EU.
Nearly a year after the European Commission opened its investigation into Microsoft, the European Union’s executive body’s preliminary findings say the company violated antitrust laws by tying Microsoft Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 business suites. (Microsoft pulled Teams for users in the EU back in October.)
This all kicked off in 2020 when Slack — rival work chat software similar to Teams — filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, claiming it broke the EU’s competition rules in bundling Teams.
The European Commission said Microsoft “may have granted Teams a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice whether or not to acquire access to Teams when they subscribe to their SaaS productivity applications.”
If you think you’ve heard similar EU-versus-tech very recently, you’d be right: Apple could face a similar fine for its App Store. I wrote about that only yesterday.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
Julian Assange pleads guilty to espionage but defends himself in court
UE’s Everboom speaker is a smaller, floatable version of its Epicboom
Tesla’s Cybertruck has been recalled again
Samsung’s next Unpacked event is set for July 10
Get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
Motorola’s newest foldables are pretty reasonably priced
And look OK.
Just like last year, Motorola’s foldable Razr line has two devices: the flagship Razr+, which starts at $1,000, and a more affordable foldable from $700. Both feature a 6.9-inch flexible OLED interior display, with a 165Hz refresh rate for the Razr+ and a 120Hz panel on the cheaper version. Both have an expansive front screen with cut-out spaces for the cameras. Now, you can open basically any app on the Razrs’ front display, with the only exceptions being apps that require more pixels and space. Both the Razr and Razr+ will be available for pre-order from July 10, with official sales slated for July 24. Oh, and the company unveiled its own Bluetooth tracker too.
Epileptic teen receives first-ever seizure-controlling brain implant
It’s reduced the 13-year-old’s daytime seizures by 80 percent.
A 13-year-old boy with severe epilepsy has become the first person in the world to receive a brain implant that keeps seizures under control. In the United Kingdom, Oran Knowlson had a Picostim neurostimulator fitted into his brain to address Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare treatment-resistant form of epilepsy. Since receiving the implant, Oran’s daytime seizures have been reduced by 80 percent. Previously, his seizures were so severe he required constant care and, after some attacks, often needed resuscitating.
Watch this creepy AI-generated origin story made by Toys ‘R’ Us
To start with, dungarees don’t have fasteners on the back.
Toys ‘R’ Us’s current owner — the original company went bankrupt a few years ago — WHP Global, worked with the Emmy-nominated creative agency Native Foreign to create a short brand film called The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us using OpenAI’s text-to-video creator Sora. It hits the rough beats of an earnest child dreaming, while surrounded by bikes and a tiny toy giraffe. The film premiered at Cannes, somehow.