Techmeme
January 25, 2024, 2:30 PM

Top News

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple announces support for alternative app marketplaces in the EU, charging a 0% commission and a €0.50 Core Technology Fee per install per account annually  —  Apple today announced major changes to its app ecosystem in the European Union, implementing updates that will allow iPhone …
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Apple begins allowing game streaming apps and services globally, meaning Xbox Cloud Streaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and others will be able to offer full apps  —  Starting today Apple is opening up its App Store to allow game streaming apps and services.  This means that services …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Apple plans to allow third-party default browsers and web engines, including Chrome, in the EU with iOS 17.4, prompting users on the first launch of Safari  —  Apple is making major changes to how web browsers can operate on iPhone for customers in the EU. iOS 17.4 will introduce the ability …
The Verge:
Apple plans to “notarize” iOS apps distributed via third-party marketplaces and the apps will need to meet basic requirements, like getting scanned for malware  —  The iPhone's app ecosystem is about to go through its biggest shake-up since the App Store launched in 2008.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple says anyone looking to develop an alternative app marketplace need to submit a €1M “letter of credit” to “guarantee support for developers and customers”  —  Apple today officially announced support for third-party app stores in the European Union, as part of iOS 17.4.
More: MacRumors
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Internal memo: Microsoft plans to lay off ~1,900 staff at Activision Blizzard and Xbox, or ~8% of its Microsoft Gaming workforce, this week  —  Microsoft is laying off around 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week.  While Microsoft is primarily laying off roles at Activision Blizzard …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
X is flooded with AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift; one post, live for 17 hours, had 45M+ views, hundreds of thousands of likes, and 24K reposts  —  Sexually explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift have been circulating on X (formerly Twitter) over the last day in the latest example …
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Google Research details Lumiere, an AI video tool that uses unique architecture to create videos in one smooth process instead of putting together smaller parts  —  Lumiere generates five-second videos that “portray realistic, diverse and coherent motion.”  —  On Tuesday, Google announced Lumiere …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft launches Mesh, its 3D meeting platform in Teams, out of preview, with custom environments, games, spatial audio, and only supporting Meta Quest for VR  —  Microsoft is launching its immersive 3D meetings inside Microsoft Teams today.  Microsoft Mesh, the company's mixed reality platform …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Meta rolls out DM limits on Facebook and Instagram to stop all users from messaging teens who don't follow them, on by default, and expands parental controls  —  Meta announced today that it is rolling out new DM restrictions on both Facebook and Instagram for teens that prevent anyone from messaging teens.
David McCabe / New York Times:
The FTC launches a review of investments by Microsoft in OpenAI and by Amazon and Google in Anthropic, to assess how the deals alter the competitive landscape  —  The agency plans to scrutinize Microsoft, Amazon and Google for their investments in the A.I. start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic.
Anton Shilov / AnandTech:
Intel begins production at its Fab 9 facility in New Mexico, to package chips for its Foveros tech; Fab 9 cost $3.5B, the most expensive such facility ever  —  Intel this week has started production at Fab 9, the company's latest and most advanced chip packaging plant.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
An investigation details a spy tool called Patternz, which can track billions of phone profiles via ads in hundreds of thousands of apps, including 9gag and Kik  —  Hundreds of thousands of ordinary apps, including popular ones such as 9gag, Kik, and a series of caller ID apps …

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IDC:
Sareen Habeshian / Axios: