Apple Antitrust Probes Heat up 2020 for the iPhone Giant as it Faces Scrutiny in the EU and US
Unpacking the scrutiny on Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay business practices that have caught the ire of regulators, lawmakers, and other tech companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Of note, a third vulnerability for Apple, and an angle that US courts will be perhaps more eager to tackle than the previous two, is whether or not Apple’s business practices can be shown to have led to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers. This is a core litmus test for antitrust cases in the US, and this point should have Apple attorneys at least a little worried.
Google $2.1 Billion Fitbit Acquisition Hits EU Snag
Fears about Google’s use of Fitbit data to potentially gain an unfair advertising advantage cause EU regulators to take a closer look at the potential anticompetitive effects of the deal. I don’t see much cause for alarm here, and here’s why.
Zoom Slides into the “Enterprise Renovation of the Home” Trend With Dedicated Teleconferencing Appliance
Given how much more utility a new laptop (on which Zoom will work just fine) will provide that worker, the question becomes obvious: why would any IT department spend $599 apiece for these standalone devices when similarly-priced laptops will run Zoom just as well?
ICYMI: Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon Wear 4100+ Brings Significant Performance Improvements to Android Smartwatches
Performance improvements aside, I can’t help but sense that the android smartwatch ecosystem is being somewhat hamstrung by a lack of interest, perhaps from Google, to really focus on beating Apple at its own game.
ICYMI: 3GPP’s 5G NR Release 16’s 9 Most Critical Improvements to 5G
What we see with Release 16, in addition to improvements to previous fundamental standards, is a shift towards the next market for 5G technologies: industrial networks and applications. That is why, MIMO and IAB improvements aside, private networks, unlicensed spectrum, multi-TRP architecture, high-precision device positioning, efficient new power-saving protocols, and even multicasting between vehicles, constitute the lion’s share of projects in this release.
Mobile Industry Snapshot: The True Value of Technology Licensing
The aggregated licensing revenue for the mobile industry in 2018 amounted to roughly $10 billion. That comes to less than 1% of the $1.2+ trillion in annual revenue from handsets, infrastructure, and operator revenue combined. Additionally, it constitutes a mere fraction of 1% when you also include the overall benefit and productivity gains from mobile technologies, which amounted to over $4 trillion in value that year.
German Court Ruling against Facebook Data Collection Practices a Possible Catalyst
Last year, Facebook had been ordered to stop collecting and combining data across its various platforms without explicit user consent. This latest ruling in Karlsruhe effectively negates the stay granted by the Dusseldorf court, and requires Facebook to once again comply with the original order. This could well trigger a domino effect of regulatory action against Facebook in the EU and the US.
IBM, Microsoft and Amazon Suspend Police Access to Facial Recognition Tech, Prompt US Lawmakers to Act
Earlier this month, Microsoft President Brad Smith explained that Microsoft would no longer “sell facial recognition technology to police departments in the United States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology.” This statement followed Amazon’s the previous day, in which it announced a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial Rekognition technology.
Qualcomm’s Robotics RB5 Platform Brings Powerful AI-enabled 5G Connectivity to Industrial Robots, Drones, and the IIOT
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ: QCOM) just announced its first-of-a-kind 5G Robotics RB5 platform. The natural successor to the successful (4G-based) Qualcomm® Robotics RB3 platform. As Qualcomm puts it, the Robotics RB5 platform aims to “empower developers and manufacturers to create the next generation of high-compute, low-power robots and drones for the consumer, enterprise, defense, industrial and professional service sectors.”
Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon 690 to Bring 5G Connectivity to Budget-friendly Phones
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 690 expands Qualcomm’s 5G mobile SOC footprint into mid-to-lower-priced tiers and comes on the heels of the high-tier Snapdragon 768G unveiled in May, as well as the Snapdragon 765/765G and premium-tier Snapdragon 865 unveiled back in December.
Reframing AI: From Cloud-based to the Edge, AI is Expanding its Reach – Futurum Tech Webcast
In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Futurum’s Daniel Newman and Olivier Blanchard discuss the reframing of AI, from the cloud to the edge and beyond, and how the reach of AI is expanding.
TSMC Plans to Bring Advanced Chip Manufacturing to the US
TSMC, the Taiwan-based microchip manufacturer, has agreed to build an advanced chip factory in the United States. This move could represent a new inflection point in US-China 5G rivalry.
