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Monday, July 20, 2020

Microsoft President Met With U.S. Antitrust Committee Investigating Apple and Expressed Concerns Over App Store

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Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are all set to participate in an antitrust hearing next Monday held by the United States House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation on competition in digital markets.

Ahead of the hearing, the committee spoke with Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith, with The Information sharing details on the virtual meeting.

The committee wanted to talk with Smith so he could "provide Microsoft's perspective as a big tech company" formerly involved in antitrust regulation over Windows, but Smith also reportedly shared Microsoft's concerns with the way Apple operates the App Store.

Topics covered included Apple's arbitrary ‌App Store‌ approval processes, the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from app purchases and subscriptions, and requirements that developers use Apple's in-app purchase system.

At a Politico event in June, Smith expressed similar sentiments and said that it's time for regulators to take a look at app stores and the payment requirements.

"They impose requirements that increasingly say there is only one way to get on to our platform and that is to go through the gate that we ourselves have created. In some cases they create a very high price per toll - in some cases 30% of your revenue has to go to the toll keeper."

"The time has come - whether we are talking about D.C. or Brussels - for a much more focused conversation about the nature of app stores, the rules that are being put in place, the prices and the tolls that are being extracted and whether there is really a justification in antitrust law for everything that has been created."

Microsoft distributes multiple apps in Apple's ‌App Store‌, and is required to pay Apple 15 to 30 percent for any customers who subscribe to its Office 365 service through Apple's platform.

‌Tim Cook‌ and other tech CEOS will testify in the antitrust hearing on Monday, July 27 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and a livestream will be available on YouTube.

Tags: App Store, Microsoft, antitrust

This article, "Microsoft President Met With U.S. Antitrust Committee Investigating Apple and Expressed Concerns Over App Store" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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'Apollo' Reddit App Donating All of Today's Purchase Proceeds to Animal Shelter

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Christian Selig, developer of popular Reddit app Apollo, is today hosting a fundraiser that will see all Apollo in-app purchase proceeds from today donated to his local SPCA animal shelter.

Selig hosts a similar fundraiser each year, and last year, was able to raise $27,000 to help shelter animals in Nova Scotia, marking the largest donation the SPCA had ever received.

Apollo is a free Reddit app that can be used in a read only kind of capacity at no cost, but it offers "tip" options at $3.99, $6.99, or $9.99 to unlock Apollo Pro features like post submissions, multiple account support, auto dark mode, gesture customization, filtering, live comment updating, custom color themes, and more.

There's also an extra Apollo Ultra tier for $0.99 per month, $9.99 per year, or $24.99 for a lifetime unlock that provides realtime notifications, app theming, and a custom app icon every month. All Apollo proceeds from in-app upgrades will be donated today.

To celebrate the fundraiser and encourage donations, Selig has also released a new pet-themed SPCA Home Screen icon option created by artist David Lanham, which can be set as the icon on the iPhone or iPad's ‌Home Screen‌. The icon is an extra $4.99 purchase that also includes an Apollo Pets photo album and wallpapers.

Today 100% of Apollo's proceeds will be donated to the Nova Scotia SPCA Animal Shelter who are really in need of the help and is strained on resources. Check out an awesome Reddit app today!

I'll also donate $1 for every retweet this gets! https://t.co/oMlPqOAPOt
— Apollo App (@apolloreddit) July 20, 2020

Customers who have already upgraded to Apollo Pro or Ultra can purchase the extra icon package to donate to the SPCA.

Apollo for Reddit can be downloaded from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tags: Apollo, Reddit

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Belkin's HomeKit-Compatible Wemo WiFi Smart Plug Now Available for Purchase

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Belkin in January announced a new HomeKit-enabled Wemo WiFi Smart Plug, which is available for purchase starting today.

The Wemo WiFi Smart Plug is the smallest plug to date in the Wemo lineup, making it an appealing option for those who are looking for a slim HomeKit-compatible plug option.

With the Wemo app, Siri commands, or the Home app, Apple HomeKit users can wirelessly control lamps, heaters, fans, and more with Belkin's Smart Plug. It's also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

The Wemo WiFi Smart Plug can be purchased from the Belkin website for $24.99. A three pack is also available from Best Buy for $49.99.

Tags: HomeKit, Belkin, WeMo

This article, "Belkin's HomeKit-Compatible Wemo WiFi Smart Plug Now Available for Purchase" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's 'Close Your Rings' Employee Challenge Back On

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Apple in February typically hosts a company wide fitness challenge for employees at its corporate and retail offices around the world, tasking employees with closing all three of their Apple Watch Activity rings every day of the month.

The challenge normally takes place in February to coincide with Heart Month, but this year it was delayed amid the ongoing public health crisis that had people remaining in their homes for the early months of the year.

According to an Apple employee that spoke to MacRumors, Apple is reinstating the challenge this week, with the event expected to end on August 16. Employees who finish the challenge will be rewarded with a t-shirt that says "2020" in a logo with ‌Apple Watch‌ Activity-style rings.

Employees who complete the challenge each day will earn a "gold" ranking and will receive a gold pin along with their t-shirt, and there are also silver and bronze rewards accompanied by silver and bronze pins.

There have been no changes to the Activity Challenge, and it remains the same as before the delay. Apple has hosted similar challenges in 2018 and 2019, providing exclusive watch bands to employees.

Tag: Activity Challenge

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Apple's 2020 5G iPhones to Support Both Sub-6GHz and mmWave, But That Might Change in 2021

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Apple's 2020 iPhone lineup will feature 5G support for the first time, and several rumors have suggested that the new iPhones coming this year are expected to support both sub-6GHz and mmWave networks, which are two different 5G technologies that carriers are rolling out.

mmWave, the fastest 5G technology, will be used in dense urban areas like major cities, while sub-6GHz networks will be available more broadly in suburban and urban areas. Sub-6GHz technology is faster than 4G, but not as fast as mmWave and not responsible for some of the blazing fast speeds advertised when companies talk about 5G technology.

DigiTimes is out today with a new preliminary report that indicates all 2020 iPhones will feature support for mmWave and sub-6GHz networks, but suggests Apple will take a different approach in 2021.

Some of the 2021 ‌iPhone‌ models may feature single 5G band support, working on either mmWave or sub-6GHz networks, but not both.

Apple's 2020 series of iPhones will work on both sub-6GHz and millimeter wave 5G networks, and the vendor is considering introducing its iPhones supporting either mmWave or sub-6GHz for specific markets next year, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The iPhones with limited support would be introduced in specific markets where one technology is more predominantly used than the other. Some countries, for example, will not have support for mmWave networks, which makes the inclusion of mmWave support less important and could cut down on modem costs for future iPhones.

There have been some 2020 iPhone rumors, including from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that have suggested Apple's iPhone 12 lineup will also feature devices that may not have mmWave support enabled in some countries.

All of the 2020 iPhones are expected to have the same modem hardware that supports all 5G bands, but Apple could disable mmWave in countries where it is not operational or turn off 5G entirely in countries without 5G networks to reduce its production costs as antennas are required to work with the modem hardware.

DigiTimes' report suggests that the 2021 iPhones could perhaps have different hardware that only supports one network, rather than Apple disabling hardware, but we'll have to wait to see what happens with the 2020 iPhones to get a better picture of what we can expect for the 2021 ‌iPhone‌ lineup as the rumors about which iPhones will support which networks are somewhat confusing at this time.

DigiTimes' report today is a preliminary report and it will be updated with more information in the future, and if there's more detail to include, we'll update this article. For more on what to expect from the 2020 ‌iPhone‌ lineup, make sure to check out our iPhone 12 roundup.

Related Roundup: iPhone 12

Tags: digitimes.com, 5G, 5G iPhone

This article, "Apple's 2020 5G iPhones to Support Both Sub-6GHz and mmWave, But That Might Change in 2021" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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