Hints and tips:
...Epic said Google struck deals with mobile device manufacturers such as Samsung and LG under which they accepted a bundle of Google apps including the Play Store and agreed to give its store prime placement...
..., or programming “hooks”, to give developers extra access to its mobile platform....
...Epic claims Google struck restrictive deals with smartphone makers and mobile networks to ensure no serious rivals to its own store emerged....
...The long-running attempt by Epic Games to break open the mobile app stores that generate billions of dollars in profit for Apple and Google is set for another courtroom showdown on Monday, as its claims...
...The value of the mobile app market is estimated at more than $100bn. Google and Apple take a cut of payments made for digital goods and subscriptions within apps listed on their stores....
...Executives are looking forward to further growth this year, backed by the latest gadgets such as new models of mobile phones and TVs....
...The smaller Gemini Nano is matched against systems such as the smallest version of LLaMa 2, Facebook’s open-source model, making it capable of being run on a mobile device....
...In there too are Apple and Amazon, which investors assume will do well because developing AI requires huge resources and stores of data....
...Details provided to app developers for Google’s Android mobile system also show that lending apps will, for the first time, be restricted from requesting access to users’ precise location, phone numbers...
...The app store policies of Apple and Google may be violating Japanese antitrust law, says the Japan Fair Trade Commission....
...Apple follows a similar model on its app store....
...This includes its requirement that Android-enabled mobile phones pre-install Google-owned apps such as Google Maps, YouTube and the Google search widget....
...What do you make of their argument over the App Store and antitrust?...
...Bluesky said last year it had received $13mn in funding and it set up as an independent LLC, but it was unclear how it would be financed or monetised....
...Apple and Google “unilaterally determine” the “rules of the game” on mobile browsers and app stores, the CMA said, making it difficult for rivals to compete....
...The unit operates tens of thousands of mobile towers across 10 European countries including the UK, making it one of Europe’s largest and an important piece of communications infrastructure....
...Its Google Play store listing shows approximately 100,000 downloads and 1,240 reviews, 29 per cent of which are one-star....
...Last year, South Korea became the first country in the world to attack the lucrative commissions charged by Google and Apple’s app stores, after passing a law that allowed mobile phone users to pay software...
...JH: I remember doing mobile maps on the generation of smartphones before the iPhone — [when] they were just starting to add GPS to mobile phones. And it didn’t work very well....
...It underscores fears that more pain could be in store....
...Google’s decision to allow Spotify to use its own in-app payment system looks at first glance like an admission that the days of restrictive mobile app store domination and controversial high fees are coming...
...Short-term loans made through the iPhone maker’s new Apple Pay Later service, announced on Monday, will be made through a wholly owned subsidiary, Apple Financing LLC, the company said....
...their respective browsers and app stores that dominate mobile devices....
...The majority of these fees - $9.6bn - was from mobile games....
...South Korea has become the first country in the world to attack the lucrative commissions charged by Google and Apple’s app stores, after passing a law that will let mobile phone users pay software developers...
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