The Morning After: Samsung’s secret war on repair
Plus, Ticketmaster gets DOJed.
Manufacturers may hate independent repair stores, but Samsung and Apple appeared to accept the direction the political wind was blowing in. Sadly, Samsung’s warm-hearted embrace of third party repair may not have been as loving as had originally been suggested. Details of the contract the Korean giant asks repair stores to sign include some pretty user-unfriendly rules.
That includes sending your details and device identification to HQ, including all of the details of your repair issue. And, if your phone is found to be using an aftermarket, or non-Samsung part, the store has to instantly disassemble it and raise the alarm. That’s quite problematic, and also probably in violation of US laws around the right to use third-party parts for repair.
The repair gurus at iFixit announced that it was ending its partnership with Samsung around the same time. iFixit said there were irreconcilable differences between the pair’s philosophies, like the high price of replacement parts and the mostly-unrepairable nature of Samsung’s phones.
— Dan Cooper
The biggest stories you might have missed
OpenAI scraps controversial nondisparagement agreement with employees
Meta and Google want to make AI deals with Hollywood studios
Netflix’s cozy take on Animal Crossing hits Android and iOS in June
Robocaller behind AI Biden deepfake faces charges and hefty FCC fine
Google plans to run a fiber optic cable from Kenya to Australia
Atari just bought Intellivision, putting an end to the very first console war
The next Call of Duty is Black Ops 6
Leica takes on Fujifilm with the compact D-Lux 8
Microsoft's Azure AI Speech lets Truecaller users create an AI assistant with their own voice
You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
Ticketmaster owner sued by DOJ and 30 attorneys general over alleged monopoly
Its alleged control of the live ticket marketplace harms consumers.
The Justice Department and 30 state and district attorneys general have slapped a big pile of legal documents down on Ticketmaster owner Live Nation’s desk. They allege the company has the live entertainment industry in a chokehold, harming fans, promoters and artists. And, if this lawsuit really was prompted by the issues people faced while trying to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s Era’s tour, then we all know who to thank if Live Nation gets broken up.
Spotify’s Car Thing will soon transform into Spotify’s Car Brick
Gee, thanks guys.
Spotify’s Car Thing, a hardware product bringing streaming audio to less well-equipped cars, will soon be no more. The company announced that the product will stop working on December 9, as an attempt to “streamline” its offerings. If you bought a Car Thing, for the admittedly cheap price of $90, before they were discontinued in 2022, there’s not much you can do about it.
Kobo Clara Colour review: Judging books by their covers is now more fun
It’s sure to provoke envious glances from Kindle users.
Color e-readers aren’t new, but Kobo has managed to beat Amazon to the punch with its Clara Color. We’ve put this model through its paces and found that it beats the socks off any of its rivals with fast processing and a great display. Unfortunately, the downside is the same as always: It’s not a Kindle, and so you’re losing out on the vastness of Amazon’s library.
