Big tech is taking over the world by establishing monopolies. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday that it acquires a new company every month.

The acquisition strategy is aimed at offering better services but tech companies are killing competition one sale at a time.

Many lawmakers in recent years have called for laws and regulations to rein in dominant&nbsp;tech&nbsp;companies such as Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc.

Turi inc. was once a promising artificial intelligence startup in Seattle. The company helped create software that uses machine learning. Its technology was so promising that Apple bought the company and paid&nbsp;a record $200 million for it.

While buying companies is not new for tech giants, the speed at which they are lapping up competitors is alarming.

Apple CEO&nbsp;Tim Cook revealed that they have acquired over 100 companies in nearly six&nbsp;years. This means buying one company every three&nbsp;to four&nbsp;weeks.

This includes the $3 billion takeover of headphone maker Beats and music recognition app Shazam.

Apple isn't the only company that does hostile takeovers. Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp when it threatened its popularity within a span of two years.

Big tech giants are on an acquisition spree. Many acquisitions never even make it to the headlines...

The idea is simple: Eliminate potential rivals, kill innovation and poach talent from smaller companies.

At the centre of this&nbsp;is a big tech monopoly. The last two&nbsp;decades have witnessed the rise of five&nbsp;major global tech giants. These include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.

Today, these tech giants wield too much power. Each of them monopolistic in their own domain. They exercise enormous power over our digital lives, controlling the way we navigate through the web.

Some are even trying to manipulate the way democracies run while others have taken the privacy of users for granted. The way to restore the power balance is to break up big tech.

Current US antitrust laws allow federal regulators to break up mergers, a&nbsp;move that could promote healthy competition in the market.

For global regulators, breaking up monopolies needs a new legal toolbox. Either way,&nbsp;the idea is to level the playing field and protect the future of the internet.

Big tech is taking over the world by establishing monopolies. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday that it acquires a new company every month. The acquisition strategy is aimed at offering better services but tech companies are killing competition one sale at a time.

Big tech is taking over the world by establishing monopolies. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday that it acquires a new company every month. The acquisition strategy is aimed at offering better services but tech companies are killing competition one sale at a time. Many lawmakers in recent years have called for laws and regulations to rein in dominant tech companies such as Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc. Turi inc. was once a promising artificial intelligence startup in Seattle. The company helped create software that uses machine learning. Its technology was so promising that Apple bought the company and paid a record $200 million for it. While buying companies is not new for tech giants, the speed at which they are lapping up competitors is alarming. Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that they have acquired over 100 companies in nearly six years. This means buying one company every three to four weeks. This includes the $3 billion takeover of headphone maker Beats and music recognition app Shazam. Apple isn't the only company that does hostile takeovers. Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp when it threatened its popularity within a span of two years. Big tech giants are on an acquisition spree. Many acquisitions never even make it to the headlines... The idea is simple: Eliminate potential rivals, kill innovation and poach talent from smaller companies. At the centre of this is a big tech monopoly. The last two decades have witnessed the rise of five major global tech giants. These include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. Today, these tech giants wield too much power. Each of them monopolistic in their own domain. They exercise enormous power over our digital lives, controlling the way we navigate through the web. Some are even trying to manipulate the way democracies run while others have taken the privacy of users for granted. The way to restore the power balance is to break up big tech. Current US antitrust laws allow federal regulators to break up mergers, a move that could promote healthy competition in the market. For global regulators, breaking up monopolies needs a new legal toolbox. Either way, the idea is to level the playing field and protect the future of the internet.

Tim Cook says Apple buys one company every month

Apple CEO Tim Cook & Facebook COE Mark Zuckerberg have publicly fired shots at each other over privacy concerns. In an event, without taking names Cook criticises digital platforms over privacy.

Apple CEO & Zuckerberg fires shots at each other

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Sunday that social networking app Parler, which is popular&nbsp;among conservatives,&nbsp;could return to its&nbsp;App Store if it changes how it moderates posts on the platform.

Apple suspended all downloads of the Parler app following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, citing postings on the platform that could incite further violence. Google and Amazon also cut ties with the company.

Cook justified suspending Parler, favored by supporters of President Donald Trump.

"We looked at the incitement to violence that was on there, and we don't consider that free speech and incitement to violence has an intersection," Cook said.

Why has&nbsp;Parler&nbsp;been taken offline?

The site effectively "went dark" after Amazon.com Inc suspended its web hosting service and will remain so unless it can find a replacement.

Suspensions by Apple Inc's App Store and Alphabet Inc's Google had already meant potential new users were unable to download the app.

The platforms said&nbsp;Parler&nbsp;was not doing enough to prevent the spread of posts inciting violence, following unrest at the US&nbsp;Capitol by Trump supporters last Wednesday after weeks of violent rhetoric on online sites.

Parler&nbsp;Chief Executive John Matze has said the company "does not condone or accept violence" on its platform. He has gone into hiding after receiving death threats.

According to Matze's lawyer, “Many Parler employees are suffering harassment, fear for their safety and that of their families, and in some cases have fled their home state to escape persecution.”

After Amazon.com Inc stopped hosting its business, effectively taking the upstart social media service offline,&nbsp;Parler&nbsp;is now fighting for survival.

Parler's policies ban certain types of content, including 'fighting words' or 'threats to harm' that include threats of violence against an individual or group, obscenity, and pornography. The guidelines advise users to "not purposefully share rumors about other users/people you know are false," but do not mention other policies against misinformation.

The chief executive of social media platform Parler, popular with American right-wing users but which virtually vanished after the US&nbsp;Capitol riot, posted a brief message on the company's website. Parler's app, however, remains offline.

"Hello world, is this thing on?," Matze asked in a message dated Saturday, posted above a note from the company saying the platform would be restored after challenges were resolved.

US&nbsp;right-wing social media users have flocked to&nbsp;Parler, along with other apps such as Telegram and social site Gab, citing the more aggressive policing of political comments on mainstream platforms such as Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc, which intensified after the January&nbsp;6 Capitol riot.

Parler&nbsp;has had about 10.8 million installs globally from across the App Store and Google Play, 8.7 million of those from the United States, according to Sensor Tower data. In January, it said it has over 12 million registered users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Sunday that social networking app Parler, which is popular among conservatives, could return to its App Store if it changes how it moderates posts on the platform.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Sunday that social networking app Parler, which is popular among conservatives, could return to its App Store if it changes how it moderates posts on the platform. Apple suspended all downloads of the Parler app following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, citing postings on the platform that could incite further violence. Google and Amazon also cut ties with the company. Cook justified suspending Parler, favored by supporters of President Donald Trump. "We looked at the incitement to violence that was on there, and we don't consider that free speech and incitement to violence has an intersection," Cook said. Why has Parler been taken offline? The site effectively "went dark" after Amazon.com Inc suspended its web hosting service and will remain so unless it can find a replacement. Suspensions by Apple Inc's App Store and Alphabet Inc's Google had already meant potential new users were unable to download the app. The platforms said Parler was not doing enough to prevent the spread of posts inciting violence, following unrest at the US Capitol by Trump supporters last Wednesday after weeks of violent rhetoric on online sites. Parler Chief Executive John Matze has said the company "does not condone or accept violence" on its platform. He has gone into hiding after receiving death threats. According to Matze's lawyer, “Many Parler employees are suffering harassment, fear for their safety and that of their families, and in some cases have fled their home state to escape persecution.” After Amazon.com Inc stopped hosting its business, effectively taking the upstart social media service offline, Parler is now fighting for survival. Parler's policies ban certain types of content, including 'fighting words' or 'threats to harm' that include threats of violence against an individual or group, obscenity, and pornography. The guidelines advise users to "not purposefully share rumors about other users/people you know are false," but do not mention other policies against misinformation. The chief executive of social media platform Parler, popular with American right-wing users but which virtually vanished after the US Capitol riot, posted a brief message on the company's website. Parler's app, however, remains offline. "Hello world, is this thing on?," Matze asked in a message dated Saturday, posted above a note from the company saying the platform would be restored after challenges were resolved. US right-wing social media users have flocked to Parler, along with other apps such as Telegram and social site Gab, citing the more aggressive policing of political comments on mainstream platforms such as Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc, which intensified after the January 6 Capitol riot. Parler has had about 10.8 million installs globally from across the App Store and Google Play, 8.7 million of those from the United States, according to Sensor Tower data. In January, it said it has over 12 million registered users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says Parler could return to App Store after 'moderation' in terms of service

Apple will pay $113 million (£85 million) to settle allegations from 33 US&nbsp;states and the District of Columbia that it slowed down iPhones to mask battery issues and get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday.

The deal with a coalition led by Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana is separate from a proposed settlement&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;reached in March to pay affected iPhone owners up to $500 million to stem a class action.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-to-reduce-its-app-store-fees-for-small-developers-343975" hreflang="en">Apple to reduce its App Store fees for small developers</a>

A large number of individuals were influenced when the models of iPhone 6 and 7 and SE were eased back down in 2016 out of an embarrassment that was named battery gate.&nbsp;

Apple declined to remark, in any case, it has recently said the telephones were eased back to safeguard maturing battery life.&nbsp;

The arrangement is discrete from a proposed settlement Apple came to in March to pay influenced iPhone proprietors up to $500m in a legal claim.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-launches-macbook-laptops-with-first-microprocessor-designed-in-house-342287" hreflang="en">Apple launches MacBook laptops with first microprocessor designed in-house</a>

In 2016 Apple refreshed programming on models of the iPhone 6, 7, and SE,&nbsp;which choked chip speeds on maturing telephones.&nbsp;

Unusual slowdowns

Apple recognized its update decreased force requests after specialists discovered unordinary log jams in 2017.&nbsp;

The states contended that Apple had acted misleadingly and ought to have supplanted batteries or revealed the issue.&nbsp;

As indicated by an Arizona documenting, a large number of clients were influenced by power shutoffs.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-puts-taiwanese-supplier-pegatron-on-probation-for-exploitation-of-students-342003" hreflang="en">Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of student</a>

Apple rejects that the stoppage was for monetary profit.&nbsp;

Yet, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wrote in a court report unveiled on Wednesday: "Numerous customers concluded that the best way to get improved execution was to buy a more up to date model iPhone from Apple.&nbsp;

"Apple, obviously, completely saw such consequences for deals."&nbsp;

Under the settlement, Apple didn't admit to any bad behavior or violating any law.&nbsp;

The tech titan likewise concurred for the following three years to give "honest data" about iPhone power the executives over its site, programming update notes, and iPhone settings.&nbsp;

The settlement comes after a progression of different claims against Apple.&nbsp;

It is presently secured a fight in court with Epic Games - in the midst of allegations the iPhone-producer utilizes its stranglehold over its App Store to unjustifiably charge engineers.

Apple will pay $113 million (£85 million) to settle allegations from 33 US states and the District of Columbia that it slowed down iPhones to mask battery issues and get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday.

Apple will pay $113 million (£85 million) to settle allegations from 33 US states and the District of Columbia that it slowed down iPhones to mask battery issues and get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday. The deal with a coalition led by Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana is separate from a proposed settlement Apple reached in March to pay affected iPhone owners up to $500 million to stem a class action. Also read: Apple to reduce its App Store fees for small developers A large number of individuals were influenced when the models of iPhone 6 and 7 and SE were eased back down in 2016 out of an embarrassment that was named battery gate. Apple declined to remark, in any case, it has recently said the telephones were eased back to safeguard maturing battery life. The arrangement is discrete from a proposed settlement Apple came to in March to pay influenced iPhone proprietors up to $500m in a legal claim. Also read: Apple launches MacBook laptops with first microprocessor designed in-house In 2016 Apple refreshed programming on models of the iPhone 6, 7, and SE, which choked chip speeds on maturing telephones. Unusual slowdowns Apple recognized its update decreased force requests after specialists discovered unordinary log jams in 2017. The states contended that Apple had acted misleadingly and ought to have supplanted batteries or revealed the issue. As indicated by an Arizona documenting, a large number of clients were influenced by power shutoffs. Also read: Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of student Apple rejects that the stoppage was for monetary profit. Yet, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wrote in a court report unveiled on Wednesday: "Numerous customers concluded that the best way to get improved execution was to buy a more up to date model iPhone from Apple. "Apple, obviously, completely saw such consequences for deals." Under the settlement, Apple didn't admit to any bad behavior or violating any law. The tech titan likewise concurred for the following three years to give "honest data" about iPhone power the executives over its site, programming update notes, and iPhone settings. The settlement comes after a progression of different claims against Apple. It is presently secured a fight in court with Epic Games - in the midst of allegations the iPhone-producer utilizes its stranglehold over its App Store to unjustifiably charge engineers.

Batterygate scandal: Apple to pay $113 million settlement on iPhone throttling

Apple Inc said on Wednesday it plans to start a program to lower its App Store commissions for software developers who make $1 million or less in proceeds each year from the store, but some of the company's critics called the move "window dressing."

Apple takes a 30 per cent cut of most purchases made on the App Store, although the commission drops to 15% for subscriptions that remain active for more than a year.

Apple said the "vast majority" of developers will benefit from its program launched to give companies a boost during the pandemic, which will become effective January 1.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-launches-macbook-laptops-with-first-microprocessor-designed-in-house-342287" hreflang="en">Apple launches MacBook laptops with first microprocessor designed in-house</a>

"Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the beating heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.&nbsp;

"We're launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store, and to build the kind of quality apps our customers love."

Apple's App Store fees and rules have come under fire from large firms such as Microsoft Corp, Spotify Technology SA, Match Group Inc and Epic Games as well as startups and smaller companies that allege the fees deprive consumers of choices and push up the price of apps.

In reply to its critics, the iPhone maker has previously said its rules apply evenly to developers and that the App Store provides an easy way to reach its huge base of users without having to set up payment systems in the 175 countries where it operates.

The move will affect a broad swath of developers who make up a small portion of Apple's App Store revenue. Based on the publishers it tracks, analytics firm Sensor Tower said 97.5 per cent&nbsp;of iOS developers generated less than $1 million per year in gross consumer spending. But those same developers contributed only 4.9&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;of the App Store's 2019 revenue.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-puts-taiwanese-supplier-pegatron-on-probation-for-exploitation-of-students-342003" hreflang="en">Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of student</a>

"It’s a symbolic gesture," said Sarah Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for App Fairness, a group of Apple's critics. "You have to apply to the program, and the vast majority of developers who generate livable revenue through their apps won't benefit from this change."

The announcement, however, will have no effect on developers that generate huge amounts of cash from wildly popular apps from the likes of music giant Spotify and video game sensation Epic Games.

According to research firm Sensor Tower, the move by Apple affects apps generating less than five percent of its revenue from the App Store.

Apple says its marketplace has some 1.8 million apps, most of them free. The App Store in 2019 generated some $519 billion in commerce in 2019, with about 85 percent flowing to the developers, according to the company.

But Apple's policies have been coming under increasing scrutiny.

Apple and the developer of the blockbuster game Fortnite, Epic Games, are fighting in court over whether the California-based company's tight control of its App Store, and its 30 percent cut of revenue, counts as monopolistic behavior.&nbsp;

Apple pulled Fortnite from its store in August after Epic released an update that dodges revenue sharing. A trial to resolve the dispute is expected year.

Spotify meanwhile has filed a complaint with EU authorities alleging Apple has abused its dominant position to extract unfair fees from online services.

The Coalition for App Fairness, a newly formed association with includes Spotify, Fortnite, and several other app developers, expressed disappointment with Apple's move.

"Developers want a level playing field from Apple, NOT a symbolic gesture," the coalition said in a Twitter statement.

"Apple's announcement today is a calculated move and ignores fundamental flaws with the App Store, specifically."

The group said the $1 million thresholds is arbitrary and that Apple's policies are still hurting many app developers.

Apple Inc said on Wednesday it plans to start a program to lower its App Store commissions for software developers who make $1 million or less in proceeds each year from the store, but some of the company's critics called the move "window dressing.

Apple Inc said on Wednesday it plans to start a program to lower its App Store commissions for software developers who make $1 million or less in proceeds each year from the store, but some of the company's critics called the move "window dressing." Apple takes a 30 per cent cut of most purchases made on the App Store, although the commission drops to 15% for subscriptions that remain active for more than a year. Apple said the "vast majority" of developers will benefit from its program launched to give companies a boost during the pandemic, which will become effective January 1. Also read: Apple launches MacBook laptops with first microprocessor designed in-house "Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the beating heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said. "We're launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store, and to build the kind of quality apps our customers love." Apple's App Store fees and rules have come under fire from large firms such as Microsoft Corp, Spotify Technology SA, Match Group Inc and Epic Games as well as startups and smaller companies that allege the fees deprive consumers of choices and push up the price of apps. In reply to its critics, the iPhone maker has previously said its rules apply evenly to developers and that the App Store provides an easy way to reach its huge base of users without having to set up payment systems in the 175 countries where it operates. The move will affect a broad swath of developers who make up a small portion of Apple's App Store revenue. Based on the publishers it tracks, analytics firm Sensor Tower said 97.5 per cent of iOS developers generated less than $1 million per year in gross consumer spending. But those same developers contributed only 4.9 per cent of the App Store's 2019 revenue. Also read: Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of student "It’s a symbolic gesture," said Sarah Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for App Fairness, a group of Apple's critics. "You have to apply to the program, and the vast majority of developers who generate livable revenue through their apps won't benefit from this change." The announcement, however, will have no effect on developers that generate huge amounts of cash from wildly popular apps from the likes of music giant Spotify and video game sensation Epic Games. According to research firm Sensor Tower, the move by Apple affects apps generating less than five percent of its revenue from the App Store. Apple says its marketplace has some 1.8 million apps, most of them free. The App Store in 2019 generated some $519 billion in commerce in 2019, with about 85 percent flowing to the developers, according to the company. But Apple's policies have been coming under increasing scrutiny. Apple and the developer of the blockbuster game Fortnite, Epic Games, are fighting in court over whether the California-based company's tight control of its App Store, and its 30 percent cut of revenue, counts as monopolistic behavior. Apple pulled Fortnite from its store in August after Epic released an update that dodges revenue sharing. A trial to resolve the dispute is expected year. Spotify meanwhile has filed a complaint with EU authorities alleging Apple has abused its dominant position to extract unfair fees from online services. The Coalition for App Fairness, a newly formed association with includes Spotify, Fortnite, and several other app developers, expressed disappointment with Apple's move. "Developers want a level playing field from Apple, NOT a symbolic gesture," the coalition said in a Twitter statement. "Apple's announcement today is a calculated move and ignores fundamental flaws with the App Store, specifically." The group said the $1 million thresholds is arbitrary and that Apple's policies are still hurting many app developers.

Apple to reduce its App Store fees for small developers

An&nbsp;Austrian privacy activist called Max Schrems has&nbsp;filed a&nbsp;complaint against Apple for&nbsp;tracking iPhone users without consent.

Schrems’ campaign group, noyb, said the unique tracking code generated by each iPhone, called IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), lets Apple and all iPhone app developers see how users behave without their knowledge or agreement.

Noyb filed the complaint under the EU’s e-privacy directive, rather than the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As a result, the national data regulators could directly fine Apple without needing the co-operation of EU data protection authorities, if any unlawfulness is found.

Apple&nbsp;directly rebutted the claims&nbsp;saying they were "factually inaccurate and we look forward to making that clear to privacy regulators should they examine the complaint".

No&nbsp;access

Apple&nbsp;said in response that it "does not access or use the IDFA on a user's device for any purpose".

It said its aim was to protect the privacy of its users and that the latest release of its iOS 14 operating system gave users greater control over whether apps could link with third parties for the purposes of targeted advertising.

The Californian tech giant said in September it would delay plans to launch iOS 14 until early next year.

Apple&nbsp;accounts for one in every four smartphones sold in Europe, according to Counterpoint Research.

Prominent figure

Schrems is a prominent figure in Europe's digital rights movement that has resisted intrusive data-gathering by Silicon Valley's tech platforms. He has fought two cases against Facebook, winning landmark judgments that forced the social network to change how it handles user data.

Noyb's complaints were brought against&nbsp;Apple's use of a tracking code, known as the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), that is automatically generated on every iPhone when it is set up.

The code, stored on the device, makes it possible to track a user's online behaviour and consumption preferences - vital in allowing companies to send targeted adverts.

"Apple&nbsp;places codes that are comparable to a cookie in its phones without any consent by the user. This is a clear breach of European Union privacy laws," Noyb lawyer Stefano Rossetti said.

Schrems has already won one landmark case this year when the European Court of Justice in July passed judgment on the legal protections that previously allowed European data to be relatively freely transferred to the US.

Last week, the European Data Protection Board released updated guidance on data transfers. It emphasised that data exporters had to consider risks such as intelligence services’ access to data objectively — whether they could examine information, rather than whether they were likely to.&nbsp;

An Austrian privacy activist called Max Schrems has filed a complaint against Apple for tracking iPhone users without consent. Schrems’ campaign group, noyb, said the unique tracking code generated by each iPhone, called IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), lets Apple and all iPhone app developers see how users behave without their knowledge or agreement.

An Austrian privacy activist called Max Schrems has filed a complaint against Apple for tracking iPhone users without consent. Schrems’ campaign group, noyb, said the unique tracking code generated by each iPhone, called IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), lets Apple and all iPhone app developers see how users behave without their knowledge or agreement. Noyb filed the complaint under the EU’s e-privacy directive, rather than the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As a result, the national data regulators could directly fine Apple without needing the co-operation of EU data protection authorities, if any unlawfulness is found. Apple directly rebutted the claims saying they were "factually inaccurate and we look forward to making that clear to privacy regulators should they examine the complaint". No access Apple said in response that it "does not access or use the IDFA on a user's device for any purpose". It said its aim was to protect the privacy of its users and that the latest release of its iOS 14 operating system gave users greater control over whether apps could link with third parties for the purposes of targeted advertising. The Californian tech giant said in September it would delay plans to launch iOS 14 until early next year. Apple accounts for one in every four smartphones sold in Europe, according to Counterpoint Research. Prominent figure Schrems is a prominent figure in Europe's digital rights movement that has resisted intrusive data-gathering by Silicon Valley's tech platforms. He has fought two cases against Facebook, winning landmark judgments that forced the social network to change how it handles user data. Noyb's complaints were brought against Apple's use of a tracking code, known as the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), that is automatically generated on every iPhone when it is set up. The code, stored on the device, makes it possible to track a user's online behaviour and consumption preferences - vital in allowing companies to send targeted adverts. "Apple places codes that are comparable to a cookie in its phones without any consent by the user. This is a clear breach of European Union privacy laws," Noyb lawyer Stefano Rossetti said. Schrems has already won one landmark case this year when the European Court of Justice in July passed judgment on the legal protections that previously allowed European data to be relatively freely transferred to the US. Last week, the European Data Protection Board released updated guidance on data transfers. It emphasised that data exporters had to consider risks such as intelligence services’ access to data objectively — whether they could examine information, rather than whether they were likely to.

Apple accused of tracking iPhone users without consent

Apple on Tuesday introduced a MacBook Air notebook and other computers with the first microprocessor designed in-house&nbsp;which can allow the machines to operate more like its popular iPhones.

The new chip, called the M1, marks a shift away from Intel Corp technology that has driven the electronic brains of Mac computers for nearly 15 years.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-puts-taiwanese-supplier-pegatron-on-probation-for-exploitation-of-students-342003" hreflang="en">Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of students</a>

The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini will integrate Apple's new M1 chip which delivers improved battery life and allows the computers to run apps designed for mobile devices.

The M1 replaces Intel chips used on earlier versions of the Apple computers.

It is a boon for&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;computers, which are overshadowed by the company's iPhone but still rack up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year.&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;hopes developers now will create families of apps that work on both computers and phones.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/microsoft-launches-worlds-most-powerful-next-generation-xbox-gaming-console-342103" hreflang="en">Microsoft launches 'world's most powerful' next-generation Xbox gaming console</a>

The MacBook Air will start at $999, the same as its predecessor, and have up to twice the battery life,&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;said. The M1 will also power the MacBook Pro notebook, which starts at $1299, and its $699 Mac Mini computer, which comes without a monitor. They will be available from next week, executives said.

The Mini is targeted at engineers and scientists because of the artificial intelligence capabilities of the new chip that usually requires a graphics chip from Nvidia Corp or AMD.

Apple said in its release that "iPhone and iPad apps can now run directly on the Mac", although software developers will need to create compatible versions for the computers.

In June,&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;said it would begin outfitting Macs with its own chips, building on its decades-long history of designing processors for its iPhones, iPads and&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;Watches.

Apple&nbsp;executives made numerous performance claims against Windows-based laptops and prior generations of Macs, virtually all of which are based on Intel chips, though&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;did not directly name Intel.

The Cupertino-based company ended its presentation with a cameo by its "PC guy," a nerdy, suit-wearing man who portrays a bumbling PC struggling to keep up with&nbsp;Apple's more hip Mac advances.

&nbsp;

Apple on Tuesday introduced a MacBook Air notebook and other computers with the first microprocessor designed in-house which can allow the machines to operate more like its popular iPhones.

Apple on Tuesday introduced a MacBook Air notebook and other computers with the first microprocessor designed in-house which can allow the machines to operate more like its popular iPhones. The new chip, called the M1, marks a shift away from Intel Corp technology that has driven the electronic brains of Mac computers for nearly 15 years. Also read: Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of students The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini will integrate Apple's new M1 chip which delivers improved battery life and allows the computers to run apps designed for mobile devices. The M1 replaces Intel chips used on earlier versions of the Apple computers. It is a boon for Apple computers, which are overshadowed by the company's iPhone but still rack up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year. Apple hopes developers now will create families of apps that work on both computers and phones. Also read: Microsoft launches 'world's most powerful' next-generation Xbox gaming console The MacBook Air will start at $999, the same as its predecessor, and have up to twice the battery life, Apple said. The M1 will also power the MacBook Pro notebook, which starts at $1299, and its $699 Mac Mini computer, which comes without a monitor. They will be available from next week, executives said. The Mini is targeted at engineers and scientists because of the artificial intelligence capabilities of the new chip that usually requires a graphics chip from Nvidia Corp or AMD. Apple said in its release that "iPhone and iPad apps can now run directly on the Mac", although software developers will need to create compatible versions for the computers. In June, Apple said it would begin outfitting Macs with its own chips, building on its decades-long history of designing processors for its iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. Apple executives made numerous performance claims against Windows-based laptops and prior generations of Macs, virtually all of which are based on Intel chips, though Apple did not directly name Intel. The Cupertino-based company ended its presentation with a cameo by its "PC guy," a nerdy, suit-wearing man who portrays a bumbling PC struggling to keep up with Apple's more hip Mac advances.

Apple launches MacBook laptops with first microprocessor designed in-house

Apple has been ordered to face lawsuit by shareholders who accused CEO Tim Cook of concealing falling demand for iPhones in China, resulting in billions of dollars of investor losses.

World Business Watch: Apple to face lawsuit over CEO Tim Cook's 2018 China sales comments

When Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, the chief executives of Apple and Google, were photographed eating dinner together in 2017 at an upscale Vietnamese restaurant called Tamarine, the picture set off a tabloid-worthy frenzy about the relationship between the two most powerful companies in Silicon Valley.

As the two men sipped red wine at a window table inside the restaurant in Palo Alto, their companies were in tense negotiations to renew one of the most lucrative business deals in history: an agreement to feature Google’s search engine as the preselected choice on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. The updated deal was worth billions of dollars to both companies and cemented their status at the top of the tech industry’s pecking order.

Now the partnership is in jeopardy. Last Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit against Google — the U.S. government’s biggest antitrust case in two decades — and homed in on the alliance as a prime example of what prosecutors say are the company’s illegal tactics to protect its monopoly and choke off competition in web search.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebooks-zuckerberg-twitters-dorsey-to-testify-before-us-senate-panel-after-us-election-337677">Also read|&nbsp;Facebook's Zuckerberg, Twitter's Dorsey to testify before US Senate panel after US election</a>

The scrutiny of the pact, which was first inked 15 years ago and has rarely been discussed by either company, has highlighted the special relationship between Silicon Valley’s two most valuable companies — an unlikely union of rivals that regulators say is unfairly preventing smaller companies from flourishing.

“We have this sort of strange term in Silicon Valley: co-optation,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel from 2009 to 2017. “You have brutal competition, but at the same time, you have necessary cooperation.”

Apple and Google are joined at the hip, even though Cook has said internet advertising, Google’s bread and butter, engages in “surveillance” of consumers and even though Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, once promised “thermonuclear war” on his Silicon Valley neighbor when he learned it was working on a rival to the iPhone.

Apple and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, worth more than $3 trillion combined, do compete on plenty of fronts, like smartphones, digital maps and laptops. But they also know how to make nice when it suits their interests. And few deals have been nicer to both sides of the table than the iPhone search deal.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-loss-joe-biden-breaks-television-spending-record-week-before-us-election-2020-337663">Also read|&nbsp;Trump's loss: Joe Biden breaks television spending record week before US Election 2020</a>

Nearly half of Google’s search traffic now comes from Apple devices, according to the Justice Department, and the prospect of losing the Apple deal has been described as a “code red” scenario inside the company. When iPhone users search on Google, they see the search ads that drive Google’s business. They can also find their way to other Google products, like YouTube.

A former Google executive, who asked not to be identified because he was not permitted to talk about the deal, said the prospect of losing Apple’s traffic was “terrifying” to the company.

The Justice Department, which is asking for a court injunction preventing Google from entering into deals like the one it made with Apple, argues that the arrangement has unfairly helped make Google, which handles 92% of the world’s internet searches, the center of consumers’ online lives.

Online businesses like Yelp and Expedia as well as companies ranging from noodle shops to news organizations often complain that Google’s search domination enables it to charge advertising fees when people simply look up their names, as well as to steer consumers toward its own products, like Google Maps. Microsoft, which had its own antitrust battle two decades ago, has told British regulators that if it were the default option on iPhones and iPads, it would make more advertising money for every search on its rival search engine, Bing.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/selena-gomez-calls-out-mark-zuckerberg-asks-to-stop-spreading-misinformation-328628">Also read|&nbsp;Selena Gomez calls out Mark Zuckerberg, asks to stop spreading misinformation</a>

What’s more, competitors like DuckDuckGo, a small search engine that sells itself as a privacy-focused alternative to Google, could never match Google’s tab with Apple.

Apple now receives an estimated $8 billion to $12 billion in annual payments — up from $1 billion a year in 2014 — in exchange for building Google’s search engine into its products. It is probably the single biggest payment that Google makes to anyone and accounts for 14% to 21% of Apple’s annual profits. That’s not money Apple would be eager to walk away from.

In fact, Cook and Pichai met again in 2018 to discuss how they could increase revenue from search. After the meeting, a senior Apple employee wrote to a Google counterpart that “our vision is that we work as if we are one company,” according to the Justice Department’s complaint.

A forced breakup could mean the loss of easy money to Apple. But it would be a more significant threat to Google, which would have no obvious way to replace the lost traffic. It could also push Apple to acquire or build its own search engine. Within Google, people believe that Apple is one of the few companies in the world that could offer a formidable alternative, according to one former executive. Google has also worried that without the agreement, Apple could make it more difficult for iPhone users to get to the Google search engine.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/streaming-service-quibi-to-wind-down-operations-six-months-after-launch-337040">Also read|&nbsp;Streaming service Quibi to wind down operations six months after launch</a>

A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment on the partnership, while a Google spokesperson pointed to a blog post in which the company defended the relationship.

Even though its bill with Apple keeps going up, Google has said again and again that it dominates internet search because consumers prefer it, not because it is buying customers. The company argues that the Justice Department is painting an incomplete picture; its partnership with Apple, it says, is no different than Coca-Cola paying a supermarket for prominent shelf space.

Other search engines like Microsoft’s Bing also have revenue-sharing agreements with Apple to appear as secondary search options on iPhones, Google says in its defense. It adds that Apple allows people to change their default search engine from Google — though few probably do because people typically don’t tinker with such settings and many prefer Google anyway.

Apple has rarely, if ever, publicly acknowledged its deal with Google and, according to Bernstein Research, has mentioned its so-called licensing revenue in an earnings call for the first time this year.

According to a former senior executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality contracts, Apple’s leaders have made the same calculation about Google as much of the general public: The utility of its search engine is worth the cost of its invasive practices.

“Their search engine is the best,” Cook said when asked by Axios in late 2018 why he partnered with a company he also implicitly criticized. He added that Apple had also created ways to blunt Google’s collection of data, such as a private-browsing mode on Apple’s internet browser.

The deal is not limited to searches in Apple’s Safari browser; it extends to virtually all searches done on Apple devices, including with Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, and on Google’s iPhone app and Chrome browser.

The relationship between the companies has swung from friendly to contentious to today’s “co-optation.” In the early years of Google, the company’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, saw Jobs as a mentor, and they would take long walks with him to discuss the future of technology.

In 2005, Apple and Google inked what at the time seemed like a modest deal: Google would be the default search engine on Apple’s Safari browser on Mac computers.

Quickly, Cook, then still a deputy to Jobs, saw the arrangement’s lucrative potential, according to another former senior Apple executive who asked not to be named. Google’s payments were pure profit, and all Apple had to do was feature a search engine its users already wanted.

Apple expanded the deal for its big upcoming product: the iPhone. When Jobs unveiled the iPhone in 2007, he invited Eric Schmidt, Google’s then chief executive, to join him onstage for the first of Apple’s many famous iPhone events.

“If we just sort of merged the two companies, we could just call them AppleGoo,” joked Schmidt, who was also on Apple’s board of directors. With Google search on the iPhone, he added, “you can actually merge without merging.”

Then the relationship soured. Google had quietly been developing a competitor to the iPhone: smartphone software called Android that any phone-maker could use. Jobs was furious. In 2010, Apple sued a phone-maker that used Android. “I’m going to destroy Android,” Jobs told his biographer, Walter Isaacson. “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to.”

A year later, Apple introduced Siri. Instead of Google underpinning the virtual assistant, it was Microsoft’s Bing.

Yet the companies’ partnership on iPhones continued — too lucrative for either side to blow it up. Apple had arranged the deal to require periodic renegotiations, according to a former senior executive, and each time, it extracted more money from Google.

“You have to be able to maintain those relationships and not burn a bridge,” said Sewell, Apple’s former general counsel, who declined to discuss specifics of the deal. “At the same time, when you’re negotiating on behalf of your company and you’re trying to get the best deal, then, you know, the gloves come off.”

Around 2017, the deal was up for renewal. Google was facing a squeeze, with clicks on its mobile ads not growing fast enough. Apple was not satisfied with Bing’s performance for Siri. And Cook had just announced that Apple aimed to double its services revenue to $50 billion by 2020, an ambitious goal that would be possible only with Google’s payments.

By the fall of 2017, Apple announced that Google was now helping Siri answer questions, and Google disclosed that its payments for search traffic had jumped. The company offered an anodyne explanation to part of the reason it was suddenly paying some unnamed company hundreds of millions of dollars more: “changes in partner agreements.”

When Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, the chief executives of Apple and Google, were photographed eating dinner together in 2017 at an upscale Vietnamese restaurant called Tamarine, the picture set off a tabloid-worthy frenzy about the relationship between the two most powerful companies in Silicon Valley.

When Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, the chief executives of Apple and Google, were photographed eating dinner together in 2017 at an upscale Vietnamese restaurant called Tamarine, the picture set off a tabloid-worthy frenzy about the relationship between the two most powerful companies in Silicon Valley. As the two men sipped red wine at a window table inside the restaurant in Palo Alto, their companies were in tense negotiations to renew one of the most lucrative business deals in history: an agreement to feature Google’s search engine as the preselected choice on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. The updated deal was worth billions of dollars to both companies and cemented their status at the top of the tech industry’s pecking order. Now the partnership is in jeopardy. Last Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit against Google — the U.S. government’s biggest antitrust case in two decades — and homed in on the alliance as a prime example of what prosecutors say are the company’s illegal tactics to protect its monopoly and choke off competition in web search. Also read| Facebook's Zuckerberg, Twitter's Dorsey to testify before US Senate panel after US election The scrutiny of the pact, which was first inked 15 years ago and has rarely been discussed by either company, has highlighted the special relationship between Silicon Valley’s two most valuable companies — an unlikely union of rivals that regulators say is unfairly preventing smaller companies from flourishing. “We have this sort of strange term in Silicon Valley: co-optation,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel from 2009 to 2017. “You have brutal competition, but at the same time, you have necessary cooperation.” Apple and Google are joined at the hip, even though Cook has said internet advertising, Google’s bread and butter, engages in “surveillance” of consumers and even though Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, once promised “thermonuclear war” on his Silicon Valley neighbor when he learned it was working on a rival to the iPhone. Apple and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, worth more than $3 trillion combined, do compete on plenty of fronts, like smartphones, digital maps and laptops. But they also know how to make nice when it suits their interests. And few deals have been nicer to both sides of the table than the iPhone search deal. Also read| Trump's loss: Joe Biden breaks television spending record week before US Election 2020 Nearly half of Google’s search traffic now comes from Apple devices, according to the Justice Department, and the prospect of losing the Apple deal has been described as a “code red” scenario inside the company. When iPhone users search on Google, they see the search ads that drive Google’s business. They can also find their way to other Google products, like YouTube. A former Google executive, who asked not to be identified because he was not permitted to talk about the deal, said the prospect of losing Apple’s traffic was “terrifying” to the company. The Justice Department, which is asking for a court injunction preventing Google from entering into deals like the one it made with Apple, argues that the arrangement has unfairly helped make Google, which handles 92% of the world’s internet searches, the center of consumers’ online lives. Online businesses like Yelp and Expedia as well as companies ranging from noodle shops to news organizations often complain that Google’s search domination enables it to charge advertising fees when people simply look up their names, as well as to steer consumers toward its own products, like Google Maps. Microsoft, which had its own antitrust battle two decades ago, has told British regulators that if it were the default option on iPhones and iPads, it would make more advertising money for every search on its rival search engine, Bing. Also read| Selena Gomez calls out Mark Zuckerberg, asks to stop spreading misinformation What’s more, competitors like DuckDuckGo, a small search engine that sells itself as a privacy-focused alternative to Google, could never match Google’s tab with Apple. Apple now receives an estimated $8 billion to $12 billion in annual payments — up from $1 billion a year in 2014 — in exchange for building Google’s search engine into its products. It is probably the single biggest payment that Google makes to anyone and accounts for 14% to 21% of Apple’s annual profits. That’s not money Apple would be eager to walk away from. In fact, Cook and Pichai met again in 2018 to discuss how they could increase revenue from search. After the meeting, a senior Apple employee wrote to a Google counterpart that “our vision is that we work as if we are one company,” according to the Justice Department’s complaint. A forced breakup could mean the loss of easy money to Apple. But it would be a more significant threat to Google, which would have no obvious way to replace the lost traffic. It could also push Apple to acquire or build its own search engine. Within Google, people believe that Apple is one of the few companies in the world that could offer a formidable alternative, according to one former executive. Google has also worried that without the agreement, Apple could make it more difficult for iPhone users to get to the Google search engine. Also read| Streaming service Quibi to wind down operations six months after launch A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment on the partnership, while a Google spokesperson pointed to a blog post in which the company defended the relationship. Even though its bill with Apple keeps going up, Google has said again and again that it dominates internet search because consumers prefer it, not because it is buying customers. The company argues that the Justice Department is painting an incomplete picture; its partnership with Apple, it says, is no different than Coca-Cola paying a supermarket for prominent shelf space. Other search engines like Microsoft’s Bing also have revenue-sharing agreements with Apple to appear as secondary search options on iPhones, Google says in its defense. It adds that Apple allows people to change their default search engine from Google — though few probably do because people typically don’t tinker with such settings and many prefer Google anyway. Apple has rarely, if ever, publicly acknowledged its deal with Google and, according to Bernstein Research, has mentioned its so-called licensing revenue in an earnings call for the first time this year. According to a former senior executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality contracts, Apple’s leaders have made the same calculation about Google as much of the general public: The utility of its search engine is worth the cost of its invasive practices. “Their search engine is the best,” Cook said when asked by Axios in late 2018 why he partnered with a company he also implicitly criticized. He added that Apple had also created ways to blunt Google’s collection of data, such as a private-browsing mode on Apple’s internet browser. The deal is not limited to searches in Apple’s Safari browser; it extends to virtually all searches done on Apple devices, including with Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, and on Google’s iPhone app and Chrome browser. The relationship between the companies has swung from friendly to contentious to today’s “co-optation.” In the early years of Google, the company’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, saw Jobs as a mentor, and they would take long walks with him to discuss the future of technology. In 2005, Apple and Google inked what at the time seemed like a modest deal: Google would be the default search engine on Apple’s Safari browser on Mac computers. Quickly, Cook, then still a deputy to Jobs, saw the arrangement’s lucrative potential, according to another former senior Apple executive who asked not to be named. Google’s payments were pure profit, and all Apple had to do was feature a search engine its users already wanted. Apple expanded the deal for its big upcoming product: the iPhone. When Jobs unveiled the iPhone in 2007, he invited Eric Schmidt, Google’s then chief executive, to join him onstage for the first of Apple’s many famous iPhone events. “If we just sort of merged the two companies, we could just call them AppleGoo,” joked Schmidt, who was also on Apple’s board of directors. With Google search on the iPhone, he added, “you can actually merge without merging.” Then the relationship soured. Google had quietly been developing a competitor to the iPhone: smartphone software called Android that any phone-maker could use. Jobs was furious. In 2010, Apple sued a phone-maker that used Android. “I’m going to destroy Android,” Jobs told his biographer, Walter Isaacson. “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to.” A year later, Apple introduced Siri. Instead of Google underpinning the virtual assistant, it was Microsoft’s Bing. Yet the companies’ partnership on iPhones continued — too lucrative for either side to blow it up. Apple had arranged the deal to require periodic renegotiations, according to a former senior executive, and each time, it extracted more money from Google. “You have to be able to maintain those relationships and not burn a bridge,” said Sewell, Apple’s former general counsel, who declined to discuss specifics of the deal. “At the same time, when you’re negotiating on behalf of your company and you’re trying to get the best deal, then, you know, the gloves come off.” Around 2017, the deal was up for renewal. Google was facing a squeeze, with clicks on its mobile ads not growing fast enough. Apple was not satisfied with Bing’s performance for Siri. And Cook had just announced that Apple aimed to double its services revenue to $50 billion by 2020, an ambitious goal that would be possible only with Google’s payments. By the fall of 2017, Apple announced that Google was now helping Siri answer questions, and Google disclosed that its payments for search traffic had jumped. The company offered an anodyne explanation to part of the reason it was suddenly paying some unnamed company hundreds of millions of dollars more: “changes in partner agreements.”

Apple, Google and a deal that controls the internet

In the recent legal war between Apple Inc and 'Fortnite' creator Epic Games, a federal judge has ruled against Apple's move to block Fortnite from Apple Store.

The ruling, that came out late on Monday, has safeguarded Epic Games' computer graphics software Unreal Engine, questioning Apple's commission fee.

“Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote in the ruling.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-says-fortnite-maker-wanted-side-letter-to-create-own-game-store-322405">Also read|&nbsp;Apple says 'Fortnite' maker wanted 'side letter' to create own game store</a>

The legal and social batlle started when Apple Inc blocked Fortnite from the App Store, and the distribution of Unreal Engine claiming accusing Epic Games of not following the regulations set by Apple regarding the in-game purchases. The gaming company was accused as it allegedly used its own method of&nbsp;in-game purchases in the new update of teh popular "Fortnite" game, instead of stickng to the Apple's system of charging commission, through which Apple charges 15-30 per cent.

Epic Games had asked Apple, through legal actions and social media campaigns,&nbsp;to reverse its actions and unblock the game and the Unreal Engine. Apple was accused of engaging in anticompetitive behaviour and abusing the tech giant's dominance in the market.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/one-bad-apple-freefortnite-tournament-takes-a-dig-at-apple-322317">Also read|&nbsp;'One bad apple': #FreeFortnite tournament takes a dig at Apple</a>

The federal judge, too, raised a similar question on the set commission fee. “The question is, without competition, where does the 30% (App Store commission) come from? Why isn’t it 10? 20? How is the consumer benefiting?” she asked.

However,&nbsp;Apple counsel Richard Doren used&nbsp;Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook's argument and explained that the consumers have a choice of buying an Android or an iOS phone and therefore it is “the competition is in the foremarket."

Rogers continued the argument stting that there was “plenty of economic theory” to show that switching brands imposed costs on consumers. However, Diren, who was at one point muted by the Judge, said he can prove that&nbsp;“people switch all the time”.

The two companies have been at each other's hit-list for the last few months now due to the commission war. Fortnite has appealed to its users through social media posts, YouTube videos and a champiosnhip with hashtag og #FreeFortnite.

In the recent legal war between Apple Inc and 'Fortnite' creator Epic Games, a federal judge has ruled against Apple's move to block Fortnite from Apple Store. The ruling, that came out late on Monday, has safeguarded Epic Games' computer graphics software Unreal Engine, questioning Apple's commission fee.

In the recent legal war between Apple Inc and 'Fortnite' creator Epic Games, a federal judge has ruled against Apple's move to block Fortnite from Apple Store. The ruling, that came out late on Monday, has safeguarded Epic Games' computer graphics software Unreal Engine, questioning Apple's commission fee. “Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote in the ruling. Also read| Apple says 'Fortnite' maker wanted 'side letter' to create own game store The legal and social batlle started when Apple Inc blocked Fortnite from the App Store, and the distribution of Unreal Engine claiming accusing Epic Games of not following the regulations set by Apple regarding the in-game purchases. The gaming company was accused as it allegedly used its own method of in-game purchases in the new update of teh popular "Fortnite" game, instead of stickng to the Apple's system of charging commission, through which Apple charges 15-30 per cent. Epic Games had asked Apple, through legal actions and social media campaigns, to reverse its actions and unblock the game and the Unreal Engine. Apple was accused of engaging in anticompetitive behaviour and abusing the tech giant's dominance in the market. Also read| 'One bad apple': #FreeFortnite tournament takes a dig at Apple The federal judge, too, raised a similar question on the set commission fee. “The question is, without competition, where does the 30% (App Store commission) come from? Why isn’t it 10? 20? How is the consumer benefiting?” she asked. However, Apple counsel Richard Doren used Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook's argument and explained that the consumers have a choice of buying an Android or an iOS phone and therefore it is “the competition is in the foremarket." Rogers continued the argument stting that there was “plenty of economic theory” to show that switching brands imposed costs on consumers. However, Diren, who was at one point muted by the Judge, said he can prove that “people switch all the time”. The two companies have been at each other's hit-list for the last few months now due to the commission war. Fortnite has appealed to its users through social media posts, YouTube videos and a champiosnhip with hashtag og #FreeFortnite.

Judge rules against Apple's decision to block Epic's Unreal Engine

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday.

Digital Content Next (DCN), which represents New York Times Co (NYT.N), the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publishers, posted the letter, addressed to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, on its website.

Apple, which usually takes a cut that ranges between 15% and 30% from news publishers for first-time subscriptions made through apps on the store, has a reduced rate for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/apple-becomes-first-us-firm-to-reach-2-trillion-market-cap-321948">Also watch: Apple becomes first U.S firm to reach $2 trillion market cap</a>

In a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Cook said the reduced rate was available to any developer who met certain conditions.

News publishers should qualify for the same terms offered to Amazon for its Prime Video app on Apple's app store, DCN Chief Executive Officer Jason Kint suggested in Thursday's letter to Cook.

“I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN’s member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/apple-helped-us-build-a-top-secret-ipod-claims-former-engineer-321806">Also read:&nbsp;Apple helped US build a 'top secret' iPod, claims former engineer</a>

The letter cited communication between Apple veteran Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos where the two companies agreed on a 15% revenue-sharing deal for new customer sign-ups for Prime Video through app store. The email emerged during the Committee hearing on July 29.

The latest missive comes days after Apple removed Epic Games’ “Fortnite” from its app store for violating in-app payment guidelines, prompting Epic to file federal lawsuits challenging the rule.

Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday.

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday. Digital Content Next (DCN), which represents New York Times Co (NYT.N), the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publishers, posted the letter, addressed to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, on its website. Apple, which usually takes a cut that ranges between 15% and 30% from news publishers for first-time subscriptions made through apps on the store, has a reduced rate for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). Also watch: Apple becomes first U.S firm to reach $2 trillion market cap In a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Cook said the reduced rate was available to any developer who met certain conditions. News publishers should qualify for the same terms offered to Amazon for its Prime Video app on Apple's app store, DCN Chief Executive Officer Jason Kint suggested in Thursday's letter to Cook. “I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN’s member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement.” Also read: Apple helped US build a 'top secret' iPod, claims former engineer The letter cited communication between Apple veteran Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos where the two companies agreed on a 15% revenue-sharing deal for new customer sign-ups for Prime Video through app store. The email emerged during the Committee hearing on July 29. The latest missive comes days after Apple removed Epic Games’ “Fortnite” from its app store for violating in-app payment guidelines, prompting Epic to file federal lawsuits challenging the rule. Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

News publishers push back against Apple over app store terms

Key moments of antitrust hearing: Bezos' snack, 'Put your mask on'

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July.

The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies&nbsp;will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to&nbsp;Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/french-anti-trust-regulators-fine-apple-123-billion-286882">French anti-trust regulators fine Apple $1.23 billion</a>

It has not yet been decide whether the executives will appear in person or virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although most of them have already appeared before the Congress, but this is the first time that the CEOs will do so regarding antitrust concerns. The hearing will be the first time Jeff Bezos will apear before the Congress.

The questions about other issues the executives are also likely to face include&nbsp;Amazon's treatment of its warehouse workers or the spread of hate speech on Facebook and YouTube.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/growing-tide-of-coronavirus-cases-hit-amazon-warehouses-288731">Growing tide of coronavirus cases hit Amazon warehouses</a>

All four companies are being investigated by state or federal departments over an array of issues. While, the Justice Department Prosecutors are preparing a possible antitrust case against Google this year, after an inquiry homed in on its control of advertising technology and the search engine market.

Meanwhile, Amazon's business and Facebook's acquisition of smaller companies are being&nbsp;investigated&nbsp;by the Federal Trade Commission.

Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft are the five biggest technology&nbsp;companies according to&nbsp;market value.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July. The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee.

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July. The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee. Also read: French anti-trust regulators fine Apple $1.23 billion It has not yet been decide whether the executives will appear in person or virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although most of them have already appeared before the Congress, but this is the first time that the CEOs will do so regarding antitrust concerns. The hearing will be the first time Jeff Bezos will apear before the Congress. The questions about other issues the executives are also likely to face include Amazon's treatment of its warehouse workers or the spread of hate speech on Facebook and YouTube. Also read: Growing tide of coronavirus cases hit Amazon warehouses All four companies are being investigated by state or federal departments over an array of issues. While, the Justice Department Prosecutors are preparing a possible antitrust case against Google this year, after an inquiry homed in on its control of advertising technology and the search engine market. Meanwhile, Amazon's business and Facebook's acquisition of smaller companies are being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft are the five biggest technology companies according to market value.

CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to testify in Congress over antitrust issues

Apple Inc&nbsp;said on Thursday it will increase spending with black-owned suppliers as part of a $100 million racial equity and justice initiative, while Google-owned&nbsp;YouTube said it will spend $100 million to fund black artists.

The efforts join a wave of actions by big companies, including banks and retailers, aiming to show support for the black community as recent protests in the United States and elsewhere call attention to longstanding discrimination against African Americans.

The protests followed the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, while detained by Minneapolis police.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/do-black-lives-matter-yes-say-siri-alexa-and-google-assistant-305068">Do black lives matter? Yes, say Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant</a>

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in a video posted to Twitter said the iPhone maker seeks to increase minority representation among the firms it does business with.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The unfinished work of racial justice and equality call us all to account. Things must change, and Apple's committed to being a force for that change. Today, I'm proud to announce Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, with a $100 million commitment. <a href="https://t.co/AoYafq2xlp">pic.twitter.com/AoYafq2xlp</a>
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1271113929754685441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Other moves will include programs to foster black application developers and new initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion within Apple, Cook said.

YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki said in a blog post the video service would spend $100 million over multiple years on "amplifying and developing the voices of black creators and artists and their stories."

The fund's first video project, "Bear Witness, Take Action," will premiere on YouTube at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, Wojcicki said.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it will increase spending with black-owned suppliers as part of a $100 million racial equity and justice initiative, while Google-owned YouTube said it will spend $100 million to fund black artists.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it will increase spending with black-owned suppliers as part of a $100 million racial equity and justice initiative, while Google-owned YouTube said it will spend $100 million to fund black artists. The efforts join a wave of actions by big companies, including banks and retailers, aiming to show support for the black community as recent protests in the United States and elsewhere call attention to longstanding discrimination against African Americans. The protests followed the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, while detained by Minneapolis police. Also read: Do black lives matter? Yes, say Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in a video posted to Twitter said the iPhone maker seeks to increase minority representation among the firms it does business with. The unfinished work of racial justice and equality call us all to account. Things must change, and Apple's committed to being a force for that change. Today, I'm proud to announce Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, with a $100 million commitment. pic.twitter.com/AoYafq2xlp — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 11, 2020 × Other moves will include programs to foster black application developers and new initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion within Apple, Cook said. YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki said in a blog post the video service would spend $100 million over multiple years on "amplifying and developing the voices of black creators and artists and their stories." The fund's first video project, "Bear Witness, Take Action," will premiere on YouTube at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, Wojcicki said.

Apple, YouTube unveil $100 million funds to support racial justice amid protests

Apple and Google have released a software tool that will make it possible for nations to release coronavirus contact-tracing apps.

Together, the tech giants rolled out a&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;exposure notification system, essentially a unified programming interface that will allow public&nbsp;health&nbsp;departments to create their own contact tracing applications.

Contact-tracing apps are designed to automatically log when two people come into proximity to each other for a significant amount of time.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science-tech/scientists-release-app-to-track-covid-19-symptoms-inform-users-about-hot-spots-296975" hreflang="en">Scientists release app to track COVID-19 symptoms, inform users about hot spots</a>

If one is later diagnosed with the coronavirus, the other can be given an alert, which might suggest they self-isolate and/or request a medical test of their own.

The software relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect when someone who downloaded the app has spent time near another app user who later tests positive for the virus.

It is much safer in comparison to other applications&nbsp;as it does not use&nbsp;Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.

"Starting today, our Exposure Notifications technology is available to public health agencies on both iOS and Android," Apple and Google said in a statement.

"Today, this technology is in the hands of public health agencies across the world who will take the lead and we will continue to support their efforts."

The companies had&nbsp;announced the unprecedented collaboration&nbsp;to leverage their technology to help trace and contain the spread of coronavirus last month, and say 22 countries and several US states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software.

Apple and Google have released a software tool that will make it possible for nations to release coronavirus contact-tracing apps. Together, the tech giants rolled out a COVID-19 exposure notification system, essentially a unified programming interface that will allow public health departments to create their own contact tracing applications.

Apple and Google have released a software tool that will make it possible for nations to release coronavirus contact-tracing apps. Together, the tech giants rolled out a COVID-19 exposure notification system, essentially a unified programming interface that will allow public health departments to create their own contact tracing applications. Contact-tracing apps are designed to automatically log when two people come into proximity to each other for a significant amount of time. Also read: Scientists release app to track COVID-19 symptoms, inform users about hot spots If one is later diagnosed with the coronavirus, the other can be given an alert, which might suggest they self-isolate and/or request a medical test of their own. The software relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect when someone who downloaded the app has spent time near another app user who later tests positive for the virus. It is much safer in comparison to other applications as it does not use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. "Starting today, our Exposure Notifications technology is available to public health agencies on both iOS and Android," Apple and Google said in a statement. "Today, this technology is in the hands of public health agencies across the world who will take the lead and we will continue to support their efforts." The companies had announced the unprecedented collaboration to leverage their technology to help trace and contain the spread of coronavirus last month, and say 22 countries and several US states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software.

Apple and Google launch digital COVID-19 contact tracing system

Tech behemoth Apple's is weighing to shift majority of its&nbsp;manufacturing from China to India.

The iPhone maker is considering producing up to $40 billion worth of smartphones over the next five years through manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, as per&nbsp;a government official. This is a fifth of its production capacity&nbsp;and can aid India's recovery.

The company is looking&nbsp;to take advantage of the country's improved policy regime.

The Indian government introduced a production-linked incentive scheme last month. A&nbsp;move aimed at encouraging electronics manufacturers to set shop on Indian soil.

This came after PM&nbsp;Modi met global phone-makers, including Apple&nbsp;in December last year.

Apple is likely to be one of the first to make the definitive move. The tech giant&nbsp;produces only a couple of models of the iPhone in India as of now.

These include the iPhone 7 and iPhone XR, which are made by contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron.

Apple's manufacturing in India is worth only half a billion dollars at the moment. However, that could all change the near future because Apple wants to scale up its production capacities in the country dramatically.

It is looking to use India as a base to manufacture smartphones that will be exported worldwide.

Apple has plans of exporting India-made products worth 40 billion dollars in the next five&nbsp;years. If the company is able to manage that then it would become India's largest exporter.

The company also keen on establishing a retail base in India. Its sales in India has grown to around 1.5 billion dollars.

The premium smartphone segment in India is dominated by iPhones with over 60 per cent&nbsp;marketshare.

However, there are&nbsp;Apple stores in India. Its&nbsp;products are sold only through authorised re-sellers.&nbsp;This can&nbsp;change in the next year. Apple has been enticed by India's policy relaxation.

India had eased local sourcing norms for foreign retailers late last year. Apple had thanked the Indian government then and said it looked forward to the company's first&nbsp;Indian&nbsp;store.

In February this year, Apple's CEO&nbsp;Tim Cook confirmed that retail operations in India will begin in 2021.

India is the next big focus for Apple in both&nbsp;manufacturing and&nbsp;marketing.

China's loss is seemingly India's gain. 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tech behemoth Apple's is weighing to shift majority of its manufacturing from China to India. The iPhone maker is considering producing up to $40 billion worth of smartphones over the next five years through manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, as per a government official.

Tech behemoth Apple's is weighing to shift majority of its manufacturing from China to India. The iPhone maker is considering producing up to $40 billion worth of smartphones over the next five years through manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, as per a government official. This is a fifth of its production capacity and can aid India's recovery. The company is looking to take advantage of the country's improved policy regime. The Indian government introduced a production-linked incentive scheme last month. A move aimed at encouraging electronics manufacturers to set shop on Indian soil. This came after PM Modi met global phone-makers, including Apple in December last year. Apple is likely to be one of the first to make the definitive move. The tech giant produces only a couple of models of the iPhone in India as of now. These include the iPhone 7 and iPhone XR, which are made by contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron. Apple's manufacturing in India is worth only half a billion dollars at the moment. However, that could all change the near future because Apple wants to scale up its production capacities in the country dramatically. It is looking to use India as a base to manufacture smartphones that will be exported worldwide. Apple has plans of exporting India-made products worth 40 billion dollars in the next five years. If the company is able to manage that then it would become India's largest exporter. The company also keen on establishing a retail base in India. Its sales in India has grown to around 1.5 billion dollars. The premium smartphone segment in India is dominated by iPhones with over 60 per cent marketshare. However, there are Apple stores in India. Its products are sold only through authorised re-sellers. This can change in the next year. Apple has been enticed by India's policy relaxation. India had eased local sourcing norms for foreign retailers late last year. Apple had thanked the Indian government then and said it looked forward to the company's first Indian store. In February this year, Apple's CEO Tim Cook confirmed that retail operations in India will begin in 2021. India is the next big focus for Apple in both manufacturing and marketing. China's loss is seemingly India's gain.

As Apple eyes shift to India from China, smartphone manufacturing to get major boost

Apple and Google are two of the world's most powerful tech companies. Both giants have decided to ban location tracking in their contact tracing apps. They made this announcement together and this is a major decision.

Apple and Google are two of the world's most powerful tech companies. Both giants have decided to ban location tracking in their contact tracing apps. They made this announcement together and this is a major decision. One that affects almost 99 per cent of smartphone users in the world. Also read: Tweet once again gets Elon Musk into trouble as Tesla loses $14 billion Apple and Google say they are protecting user privacy. This grandstanding is a little hard to digest. Considering the fact that major tech companies are responsible for some of the biggest privacy debacles? Also read: Twitter swings to loss as pandemic hits advertising Google says it cares about user privacy. But, it runs is business on an advertising model that depends on the collection of personal information. It was around 20 years ago that Google introduced a privacy statement. But, the company hardly stays on the right side of it. Several privacy controversies have plagued the country in the past. Personal information has been leaked. Google themselves has been caught storing user location data. The search engine giant has been unable to shake off the privacy concerns. What about Apple? A couple of years back, Apple CEO Tim Cook had defined privacy as a fundamental right. Apple wants the user to believe that it is the only tech company it can trust. The company has positioned itself as a protector of users. To give credit where its due, Apple's own platform has not been caught in any major privacy scandal. But, it can't say the same about apple's business partners. This is where the app store comes it. Apple has one of the biggest app directories. It is highly profitable too. But, Apple has allowed privacy violators to freely operate on it. Even the kids were not spared. A journalist from the Wall Street Journal put out a story. She wrote about curious George. Sounds like a harmless game. But, it was collecting her son's age, name -- and data of whatever he tapped. The journalist ended up testing 80 apps. Most of them were promoted in the app stores "apps we love" section. She found that 79 apps used third party trackers for marketing, ads or analytics. On average --- there were at least four trackers in every app. So, its a bit rich when apple and google ban GPS tracking on contract tracing apps in the name of privacy. Contact tracing is common now. Experts consider it a crucial tool in the fight against the coronavirus. Yes, there are legitimate concerns over how certain contract tracing apps operate and collect data. But --- when tech companies try to draw the line between right and wrong.

Apple and Google decide to ban location tracking in their contact tracing apps

Google and Apple have come together to help authorities track the coronavirus pandemic by using Bluetooth technology.

The two Silicon Valley giants will work on a platform to enable&nbsp;contact tracing, a measure that identifies people who have been exposed to the virus and who they have been in contact with.

Also read:&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-5g-waves-do-not-transmit-coronavirus-290786" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/no-5g-waves-do-not-transmit-coronavirus-290786&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjs6-a-leroAhXnwTgGHUW3AoYQFjAFegQIBRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw1BzEvUzb7iVByk_scusGwk" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-5g-waves-do-not-transmit-coronavirus-290786" target="_blank">No,&nbsp;5G&nbsp;waves do not transmit coronavirus!</a>

Initially, interfaces built on existing public health apps that can work on iOS or Android systems will be released by the companies&nbsp;in May.

This will be followed by a more comprehensive platform in the coming months to which users will be able to opt in.

Also read:&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/2021-no-new-emojis-to-be-launched-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-292197" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/2021-no-new-emojis-to-be-launched-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-292197&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjs6-a-leroAhXnwTgGHUW3AoYQFjACegQICBAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw0TdYx5x2DYcIZAfiTSBntV" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/2021-no-new-emojis-to-be-launched-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-292197" target="_blank">2021: No new emojis to be launched due to coronavirus pandemic</a>

According to press statement released by Google, smartphone user that tests positive for the coronavirus can input their result into an app from a public health authority, which will feed into an anonymous "identifier beacon".

This identifier will then be anonymously exchanged with anyone the user comes into contact with who also has the service enabled.

Users then upload their identifier records to the cloud, following which they will receive a notification if they have been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for the virus.

Authorities around the world are&nbsp;using technology to&nbsp;track exposure and enforce quarantines.

Last month, Facebook&nbsp;and&nbsp;Google had&nbsp;confirmed that&nbsp;they were looking into the use of&nbsp;cellphone location data&nbsp;to help track the spread of the virus.

Google and Apple have come together to help authorities track the coronavirus pandemic by using Bluetooth technology. The two Silicon Valley giants will work on a platform to enable contact tracing, a measure that identifies people who have been exposed to the virus and who they have been in contact with.

Google and Apple have come together to help authorities track the coronavirus pandemic by using Bluetooth technology. The two Silicon Valley giants will work on a platform to enable contact tracing, a measure that identifies people who have been exposed to the virus and who they have been in contact with. Also read: No, 5G waves do not transmit coronavirus! Initially, interfaces built on existing public health apps that can work on iOS or Android systems will be released by the companies in May. This will be followed by a more comprehensive platform in the coming months to which users will be able to opt in. Also read: 2021: No new emojis to be launched due to coronavirus pandemic According to press statement released by Google, smartphone user that tests positive for the coronavirus can input their result into an app from a public health authority, which will feed into an anonymous "identifier beacon". This identifier will then be anonymously exchanged with anyone the user comes into contact with who also has the service enabled. Users then upload their identifier records to the cloud, following which they will receive a notification if they have been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for the virus. Authorities around the world are using technology to track exposure and enforce quarantines. Last month, Facebook and Google had confirmed that they were looking into the use of cellphone location data to help track the spread of the virus.

Google and Apple collaborate to track coronavirus pandemic

Apple will open its maiden physical retail store in India in 2021, CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday.

Replying to a question from a shareholder at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in Cupertino, California about the tech giant's plans for India, Cook said Apple would start this year selling its products online in the country. He also added that the first Apple-branded store will be opened next year.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/third-party-apps-to-get-more-screen-time-on-apple-products-after-criticism-281993">Third-party apps to get more screen time on Apple products after criticism</a>

"We needed to get approval from the government to go in there ourselves" rather than with a domestic partner, Cook said.&nbsp;

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/apple-says-it-wont-be-able-to-meet-revenue-estimates-for-march-quarter-due-to-coronavirus-281242">Apple says it won't be able to meet revenue estimates for March quarter due to coronavirus&nbsp;</a>

"I don't want somebody else to run the brand for us."

Cook also said that the company has so far not got approval from the government, though he was hopeful that soon the government will give their nod.&nbsp;

Apple's announcement comes six months after the Indian government relaxed local sourcing norms for single-brand retailers in the country. These norms acted as a major obstruction for companies to set up stores in India.&nbsp;

The tech giant had earlier been in talks with the government for subsidies and cutting down import duties before launching its own stores in the country.&nbsp;

Earlier, Apple was expected to open its stores in India between January and March 2020, however, the company kept on delaying it citing logistic issues.&nbsp;

India has proved to be a key market for Cook, especially in the fourth quarter of 2019, when the tech giant witnessed 41 per cent year-on-year growth.

(with inputs from Reuters) 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Apple will open its maiden physical retail store in India in 2021, CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday. Replying to a question from a shareholder at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in Cupertino, California about the tech giant's plans for India, Cook said Apple would start this year selling its products online in the country.

Apple will open its maiden physical retail store in India in 2021, CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday. Replying to a question from a shareholder at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in Cupertino, California about the tech giant's plans for India, Cook said Apple would start this year selling its products online in the country. He also added that the first Apple-branded store will be opened next year. Also read: Third-party apps to get more screen time on Apple products after criticism "We needed to get approval from the government to go in there ourselves" rather than with a domestic partner, Cook said. Also read: Apple says it won't be able to meet revenue estimates for March quarter due to coronavirus "I don't want somebody else to run the brand for us." Cook also said that the company has so far not got approval from the government, though he was hopeful that soon the government will give their nod. Apple's announcement comes six months after the Indian government relaxed local sourcing norms for single-brand retailers in the country. These norms acted as a major obstruction for companies to set up stores in India. The tech giant had earlier been in talks with the government for subsidies and cutting down import duties before launching its own stores in the country. Earlier, Apple was expected to open its stores in India between January and March 2020, however, the company kept on delaying it citing logistic issues. India has proved to be a key market for Cook, especially in the fourth quarter of 2019, when the tech giant witnessed 41 per cent year-on-year growth. (with inputs from Reuters)

Apple to launch first retail store in India next year

Apple' Tim Cook sent a restraining order to an Indian-origin man after he was found stalking and harassing the smartphone manufacturer company's CEO.

According to several reports, the man identified as Rakesh Sharma stalked Cook to his residence and showed up with flowers and a bottle of champagne.

A month later as well, Sharma returned entered the Cook's property's gate without permission and rang the doorbell.

After those interactions, Apple filed a legal suit against the man requesting a restraining order.

On Friday, the California court gave restraining order against Sharma, who goes the name "Rocky".

He has been ordered to stay away from Cook's residence in Silicon Valley, the CEO's three security guards as well as the company's Apple Park headquarters.

The order lasts through March 3, when the next hearing is scheduled.

According to the court filings, a man named Rakesh Sharma has also made threats against Cook and Apple, including sending disturbing voice mails.

Sharma had also tagged the Apple executive on his Twitter account, which included sexualised and inappropriate photos of Sharma with reference to the Apple executive.

Apple' Tim Cook sent a restraining order to an Indian-origin man after he was found stalking and harassing the smartphone manufacturer company's CEO. According to several reports, the man identified as Rakesh Sharma stalked Cook to his residence and showed up with flowers and a bottle of champagne.

Apple' Tim Cook sent a restraining order to an Indian-origin man after he was found stalking and harassing the smartphone manufacturer company's CEO. According to several reports, the man identified as Rakesh Sharma stalked Cook to his residence and showed up with flowers and a bottle of champagne. A month later as well, Sharma returned entered the Cook's property's gate without permission and rang the doorbell. After those interactions, Apple filed a legal suit against the man requesting a restraining order. On Friday, the California court gave restraining order against Sharma, who goes the name "Rocky". He has been ordered to stay away from Cook's residence in Silicon Valley, the CEO's three security guards as well as the company's Apple Park headquarters. The order lasts through March 3, when the next hearing is scheduled. According to the court filings, a man named Rakesh Sharma has also made threats against Cook and Apple, including sending disturbing voice mails. Sharma had also tagged the Apple executive on his Twitter account, which included sexualised and inappropriate photos of Sharma with reference to the Apple executive.

Indian-origin man stalks Apple CEO Tim Cook; shows up at his house with champagne, flowers

US President&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/.../us-prez-donald-trump-holds-rally-in-wisconsin- 274347">Donald Trump</a> has joined the chorus for weakening device encryptions.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-backs-sanders-in-row-with-warren-over-prospect-of-female-us-president-274374">Trump backs Sanders in row with Warren over prospect of female US president</a>

And on his radar, this time is the technology giant Apple.

Also see-&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/democratic-debate-in-iowa-274401">Democratic Debate in Iowa</a>

Trump asked Apple to help the federal agencies unlock phones that are used by criminals something that Apple has refused to do.

He said that his government had consistently helped apple in trade matters and so it was time for Apple to reciprocate.

The US president in his tweet, said:&nbsp;"We are helping Apple all of the time on trade&nbsp;and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, Now! Make America great again."

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We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1217228960964038658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump's latest comments came after attorney general William Barr said that Apple "refused to cooperate"&nbsp;in the Florida shooting case involving a Saudi gunman.

Apple says that they offered all the necessary data to the FBI, including cloud data and back-ups.

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But they have consistently denied easing encryption levels for law enforcement agencies.&nbsp;In a statement issued on Monday, the company said there would be no backdoor entry for the good guys.

This is the latest instance in a long stand-off between Apple and the American government.&nbsp;Back in 2015, a terrorist attack in San Bernardino claimed the lives of 14 people.&nbsp;The FBI obtained a court order asking Apple to unlock the attacker's I-phone.

But Apple did not comply, and the FBI ended up using a private company to bypass the encryption.

Apple had a stand-off with the Obama administration over the same problem, and now it has spilt over to the Trump regime.

Tech companies like Apple and Google argue that weaker encryption will jeopardize billions of devices across the world.

But US Senate in December warned that if tech companies do not cooperate with law enforcement, they would introduce laws to regulate encryption.

Even in India, the government is fighting a battle with tech giants over encryption.

The Indian government argued that a terrorist cannot have privacy in India, and so phones belonging to criminals must be decrypted by the parent companies.

The disputes reached the Supreme Court, where Facebook argued that it was not legally bound to share data with the Indian government.

The company said it was open to the government decrypting messages by itself, but not to wilfully sharing user data.&nbsp;The case is a reminder of an earlier row between Facebook and the Indian government&nbsp;over WhatsApp decryption row.

US President Donald Trump has joined the chorus for weakening device encryptions. Also read: Trump backs Sanders in row with Warren over prospect of female US president And on his radar, this time is the technology giant Apple.

US President Donald Trump has joined the chorus for weakening device encryptions. Also read: Trump backs Sanders in row with Warren over prospect of female US president And on his radar, this time is the technology giant Apple. Also see- Democratic Debate in Iowa Trump asked Apple to help the federal agencies unlock phones that are used by criminals something that Apple has refused to do. He said that his government had consistently helped apple in trade matters and so it was time for Apple to reciprocate. The US president in his tweet, said: "We are helping Apple all of the time on trade and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, Now! Make America great again." We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2020 × Trump's latest comments came after attorney general William Barr said that Apple "refused to cooperate" in the Florida shooting case involving a Saudi gunman. Apple says that they offered all the necessary data to the FBI, including cloud data and back-ups. × But they have consistently denied easing encryption levels for law enforcement agencies. In a statement issued on Monday, the company said there would be no backdoor entry for the good guys. This is the latest instance in a long stand-off between Apple and the American government. Back in 2015, a terrorist attack in San Bernardino claimed the lives of 14 people. The FBI obtained a court order asking Apple to unlock the attacker's I-phone. But Apple did not comply, and the FBI ended up using a private company to bypass the encryption. Apple had a stand-off with the Obama administration over the same problem, and now it has spilt over to the Trump regime. Tech companies like Apple and Google argue that weaker encryption will jeopardize billions of devices across the world. But US Senate in December warned that if tech companies do not cooperate with law enforcement, they would introduce laws to regulate encryption. Even in India, the government is fighting a battle with tech giants over encryption. The Indian government argued that a terrorist cannot have privacy in India, and so phones belonging to criminals must be decrypted by the parent companies. The disputes reached the Supreme Court, where Facebook argued that it was not legally bound to share data with the Indian government. The company said it was open to the government decrypting messages by itself, but not to wilfully sharing user data. The case is a reminder of an earlier row between Facebook and the Indian government over WhatsApp decryption row.

We help Apple on trade, yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers: Trump

Sales of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/apple-taking-a-deeper-look-at-map-policies-after-calling-crimea-part-of-russia-265344">Apple</a> Inc's iPhone in China in December jumped more than 18 per cent&nbsp;year on year, government data showed on Thursday.

China is gearing up for the Lunar New Year in late January, a major gift-giving holiday.

Apple shipped roughly 3.2 million phones in China in December, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Reuters calculations showed.

That was up from 2.7 million a year earlier.

After a peak period in 2015, iPhone sales in China stagnated due to factors including longer upgrade cycles and competition from Chinese rivals.

Sales of phones from China's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/some-huawei-suppliers-get-us-approval-to-restart-sales-to-blacklisted-firm-263525">Huawei Technologies</a> Co Ltd have boomed while overseas the company has faced political pressure from Washington over its technology.

In the third quarter of 2019, Huawei accounted for 42 per cent of new phone shipments in China, according to research firm IDC.

Throughout 2019, Apple offered discounts and financing schemes aimed at boosting sales in China.

In the company's last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook suggested that such initiatives were successful in attracting more Chinese consumers.

Apple is scheduled to release its next quarterly financial report in late January.

Sales of Apple Inc's iPhone in China in December jumped more than 18 per cent year on year, government data showed on Thursday. China is gearing up for the Lunar New Year in late January, a major gift-giving holiday.

Sales of Apple Inc's iPhone in China in December jumped more than 18 per cent year on year, government data showed on Thursday. China is gearing up for the Lunar New Year in late January, a major gift-giving holiday. Apple shipped roughly 3.2 million phones in China in December, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Reuters calculations showed. That was up from 2.7 million a year earlier. After a peak period in 2015, iPhone sales in China stagnated due to factors including longer upgrade cycles and competition from Chinese rivals. Sales of phones from China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd have boomed while overseas the company has faced political pressure from Washington over its technology. In the third quarter of 2019, Huawei accounted for 42 per cent of new phone shipments in China, according to research firm IDC. Throughout 2019, Apple offered discounts and financing schemes aimed at boosting sales in China. In the company's last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook suggested that such initiatives were successful in attracting more Chinese consumers. Apple is scheduled to release its next quarterly financial report in late January.

Apple's iPhone sales in China up 18 per cent in December: Report

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-ordered-ukraine-deal-to-probe-biden-us-diplomat-sondland-263493">Ukraine</a> has lashed out at Apple for showing the annexed Crimea peninsula as part of Russia, saying the US tech giant did not "give a damn" about the pain of the Ukrainian people.

Russian lawmakers said on Wednesday that Apple had complied with a demand from Moscow for Crimea to appear as Russian territory on its maps and weather apps.

"Let me explain in your terms, @Apple," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko wrote on Twitter in response to the news.

"Imagine you're crying out that your design &amp; ideas, years of work &amp; piece of your heart are stolen by your worst enemy but then smb ignorant doesn't give a damn about your pain. That's how it feels when you call #Crimea a (Russian) land," he said.

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Let me explain in your terms, <a href="https://twitter.com/Apple?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Apple</a>. Imagine you're crying out that your design &amp; ideas, years of work &amp; piece of your heart are stolen by your worst enemy but then smb ignorant doesn't give a damn about your pain. That's how it feels when you call <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Crimea?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Crimea</a> a 🇷🇺 land.
— Vadym Prystaiko (@VPrystaiko) <a href="https://twitter.com/VPrystaiko/status/1199727752468930562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"@Apple, please, please, stick to high-tech and entertainment. Global politics is not your strong side."

The Ukrainian Embassy in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-to-cut-spending-on-nato-budget-germany-to-pay-more-265077">United States</a> tweeted: "We guess Ukrainians (are) not giving any thanks to @Apple this #Thanksgiving!"

As of Wednesday, the Black Sea peninsula and its largest cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol were being displayed as Russian territory on Apple's apps when used in Russia.

Moscow has put pressure on foreign companies to recognise the peninsula as an integral part of its territory.

Some Ukrainians responded by calling for a boycott of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/apple-intel-file-antitrust-case-against-softbank-owned-firm-over-patent-practices-263533">Apple</a> devices.

"Let's take our gadgets onto the square, pile them up and burn them," wrote Igor Kravchuk from Kharkiv on Facebook.

Another, Yevgen Petrov from Zhytomyr, said: "Let's boycott Apple and support Android, a creator of gadgets that don't cave in to the Kremlin!"

Google does not identify Crimea as belonging to either <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/olympic-chief-says-will-do-everything-to-ensure-russia-at-2020-games-265073">Russia</a> or Ukraine on its maps.

However, when used in Russia, it writes Crimean placenames in Russian and shows a line along the de facto border with Ukraine.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move condemned by most of the global community. The seizure of the peninsula helped spark a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

EU member Lithuania backed Ukraine, with its foreign minister Linas Linkevicius tweeting: "We call on Apple to revert this ignorant standpoint as status quo has not changed in Crimea: it's still occupied by #Russia."

Russian lawmakers backed Apple's actions, however.

An MP representing Crimea in Russia's parliament, Mikhail Sheremet, told RIA Novosti news agency that Apple "doesn't want to lose the highly profitable and promising Russian market".

US President Donald Trump "should follow Apple's example and take the only correct and lawful decision to recognise Crimea's status as Russian," a lawmaker in Crimea's parliament, Alexei Chernyak, told RIA Novosti.

Russia and Apple had been in talks over the last few months, with the US giant initially trying to show Crimea as undefined territory and removing any mention of Ukraine.

Russia in November passed a law that requires phones and computers to be sold with Russian software pre-installed, although it does not enter force until June next year.

Apple has threatened to leave the Russian market over the law, since it does not sell phones with other companies' software.

Russian experts have warned that it may become impossible to buy Apple products in stores in the country.

This could mean "farewell to iPhones", warned the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Ukraine has lashed out at Apple for showing the annexed Crimea peninsula as part of Russia, saying the US tech giant did not "give a damn" about the pain of the Ukrainian people.

Ukraine has lashed out at Apple for showing the annexed Crimea peninsula as part of Russia, saying the US tech giant did not "give a damn" about the pain of the Ukrainian people. Russian lawmakers said on Wednesday that Apple had complied with a demand from Moscow for Crimea to appear as Russian territory on its maps and weather apps. "Let me explain in your terms, @Apple," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko wrote on Twitter in response to the news. "Imagine you're crying out that your design & ideas, years of work & piece of your heart are stolen by your worst enemy but then smb ignorant doesn't give a damn about your pain. That's how it feels when you call #Crimea a (Russian) land," he said. Let me explain in your terms, @Apple. Imagine you're crying out that your design & ideas, years of work & piece of your heart are stolen by your worst enemy but then smb ignorant doesn't give a damn about your pain. That's how it feels when you call #Crimea a 🇷🇺 land. — Vadym Prystaiko (@VPrystaiko) November 27, 2019 × "@Apple, please, please, stick to high-tech and entertainment. Global politics is not your strong side." The Ukrainian Embassy in the United States tweeted: "We guess Ukrainians (are) not giving any thanks to @Apple this #Thanksgiving!" As of Wednesday, the Black Sea peninsula and its largest cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol were being displayed as Russian territory on Apple's apps when used in Russia. Moscow has put pressure on foreign companies to recognise the peninsula as an integral part of its territory. Some Ukrainians responded by calling for a boycott of Apple devices. "Let's take our gadgets onto the square, pile them up and burn them," wrote Igor Kravchuk from Kharkiv on Facebook. Another, Yevgen Petrov from Zhytomyr, said: "Let's boycott Apple and support Android, a creator of gadgets that don't cave in to the Kremlin!" Google does not identify Crimea as belonging to either Russia or Ukraine on its maps. However, when used in Russia, it writes Crimean placenames in Russian and shows a line along the de facto border with Ukraine. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move condemned by most of the global community. The seizure of the peninsula helped spark a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. EU member Lithuania backed Ukraine, with its foreign minister Linas Linkevicius tweeting: "We call on Apple to revert this ignorant standpoint as status quo has not changed in Crimea: it's still occupied by #Russia." Russian lawmakers backed Apple's actions, however. An MP representing Crimea in Russia's parliament, Mikhail Sheremet, told RIA Novosti news agency that Apple "doesn't want to lose the highly profitable and promising Russian market". US President Donald Trump "should follow Apple's example and take the only correct and lawful decision to recognise Crimea's status as Russian," a lawmaker in Crimea's parliament, Alexei Chernyak, told RIA Novosti. Russia and Apple had been in talks over the last few months, with the US giant initially trying to show Crimea as undefined territory and removing any mention of Ukraine. Russia in November passed a law that requires phones and computers to be sold with Russian software pre-installed, although it does not enter force until June next year. Apple has threatened to leave the Russian market over the law, since it does not sell phones with other companies' software. Russian experts have warned that it may become impossible to buy Apple products in stores in the country. This could mean "farewell to iPhones", warned the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Ukraine slams Apple for calling Crimea part of Russia

Trump-Cook bonhomie on display as both visit Apple facility

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-cook-meeting-culminates-with-visit-to-apple-factory-263332">President Donald Trump toured Apple's Texas</a> manufacturing plant Wednesday in a visit marking a brief truce in the White House war on Silicon Valley and an unlikely "bromance" with chief executive Tim Cook.

"He is a very special person as far as this country is concerned," Trump said of Cook as they stood side-by-side, adding that he's done a "great job."

The visit gave Trump a chance to hail American manufacturing and step back, at least temporarily, from his tirade against big technology firms, including Apple, which he criticizes for manufacturing its products abroad.

Trump praised what he said was an "incredible product that is made right here."

"When you build in the United States you don't have to worry about tariffs," he said, referring to those waged by China.

Apple announced in September it would keep making its Mac Pro computer in the United States, after obtaining tariff exemptions for some components in the high-end computers.

The developments show an unusual Trump-Cook relationship in sharp contrast with the president's attacks on other tech giants.

"On the face of it, it's an unlikely relationship," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates who follows the sector.

Cook, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, has been able to sidestep much of Trump's anger by being "very diplomatic," Kay said.

"He's not saying 'I love Trump,' but he's not saying 'I hate Trump,'" said Kay.

"He hasn't made any disparaging public comments. By not ruffling Trump's feathers he's gotten quite a lot out of it."

Cook and Trump remain far apart on a number of issues including trade and immigration, with Apple opposing the White House plan to end protection for so-called "dreamers" who came to the US as children.

While Apple has acknowledged it has paid some tariffs imposed by Trump on goods imported from China, the iPhone maker has so far avoided a major impact from the trade friction.

Watch: Donald Trump calls Apple CEO Tim Cook as Tim Apple

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/donald-trump-calls-apple-ceo-tim-cooks-as-tim-apple-201910/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Sidestepping Trump tirades

Trump, who has called Google and social media firms "biased" and been especially critical of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos,&nbsp;accusing him of using his personal investment in The Washington Post for politics, has had mostly praise for the Apple CEO.

"Other companies hire very expensive consultants," Trump said in August. "But the only one who calls me is Tim Cook. He calls me whenever there's a problem."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-impeachment-inquiry-us-president-says-does-not-know-sondland-very-well-263475">Trump, who once referred to the CEO as "Tim Apple"</a>, appears to be forging a friendly relationship with Cook even when he offers criticism.

In one tweet, he seemed to fret over the design of the latest iPhones which no longer have a home button.

"To Tim: The Button on the iPhone was FAR better than the Swipe!" Trump wrote.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Cook has quietly cultivated his relationship with Trump through the president's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both of whom advise the president.

Trump appears to have softened some of his positions on tariffs after hearing Cook's argument that punishing Apple would help foreign rivals such as Samsung.

"Tim Cook has gone out of his way it seems to develop a relationship with President Trump because he was concerned I'm sure of the potential impact on the business" from Trump's policies, said Bob O'Donnell of Technalysis Research.

Because most of Apple products are manufactured in China, "there was a potentially large impact on profitability," O'Donnell said.

"Tim Cook is trying to be pragmatic and trying to address the issue by tackling it head-on."

Apple, which benefited from legislation signed by Trump that reduced taxes on repatriated profits from 35 to 15 percent, has responded to White House efforts by pledging to invest $350 billion in the US economy by 2023 through its own manufacturing and from suppliers.

O'Donnell said that Cook's efforts to forge a relationship with Trump has some risks as well in Silicon Valley, where the president is unpopular.

"I think some people who are Apple fans and don't like Trump find it a little disconcerting," O'Donnell said.

Kay said however that Apple employees and customers understand the needs of the business, and that Cook's efforts might even ease some of the tensions between the White House and the tech industry.

"Maybe Tim can create&nbsp;a rosier halo around Silicon Valley," Kay said.

"If he puts a human face on Silicon Valley, it could give Trump a slightly different view."

President Donald Trump toured Apple's Texas manufacturing plant Wednesday in a visit marking a brief truce in the White House war on Silicon Valley and an unlikely "bromance" with chief executive Tim Cook.

President Donald Trump toured Apple's Texas manufacturing plant Wednesday in a visit marking a brief truce in the White House war on Silicon Valley and an unlikely "bromance" with chief executive Tim Cook. "He is a very special person as far as this country is concerned," Trump said of Cook as they stood side-by-side, adding that he's done a "great job." The visit gave Trump a chance to hail American manufacturing and step back, at least temporarily, from his tirade against big technology firms, including Apple, which he criticizes for manufacturing its products abroad. Trump praised what he said was an "incredible product that is made right here." "When you build in the United States you don't have to worry about tariffs," he said, referring to those waged by China. Apple announced in September it would keep making its Mac Pro computer in the United States, after obtaining tariff exemptions for some components in the high-end computers. The developments show an unusual Trump-Cook relationship in sharp contrast with the president's attacks on other tech giants. "On the face of it, it's an unlikely relationship," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates who follows the sector. Cook, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, has been able to sidestep much of Trump's anger by being "very diplomatic," Kay said. "He's not saying 'I love Trump,' but he's not saying 'I hate Trump,'" said Kay. "He hasn't made any disparaging public comments. By not ruffling Trump's feathers he's gotten quite a lot out of it." Cook and Trump remain far apart on a number of issues including trade and immigration, with Apple opposing the White House plan to end protection for so-called "dreamers" who came to the US as children. While Apple has acknowledged it has paid some tariffs imposed by Trump on goods imported from China, the iPhone maker has so far avoided a major impact from the trade friction. Watch: Donald Trump calls Apple CEO Tim Cook as Tim Apple Sidestepping Trump tirades Trump, who has called Google and social media firms "biased" and been especially critical of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, accusing him of using his personal investment in The Washington Post for politics, has had mostly praise for the Apple CEO. "Other companies hire very expensive consultants," Trump said in August. "But the only one who calls me is Tim Cook. He calls me whenever there's a problem." Trump, who once referred to the CEO as "Tim Apple", appears to be forging a friendly relationship with Cook even when he offers criticism. In one tweet, he seemed to fret over the design of the latest iPhones which no longer have a home button. "To Tim: The Button on the iPhone was FAR better than the Swipe!" Trump wrote. According to The Wall Street Journal, Cook has quietly cultivated his relationship with Trump through the president's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both of whom advise the president. Trump appears to have softened some of his positions on tariffs after hearing Cook's argument that punishing Apple would help foreign rivals such as Samsung. "Tim Cook has gone out of his way it seems to develop a relationship with President Trump because he was concerned I'm sure of the potential impact on the business" from Trump's policies, said Bob O'Donnell of Technalysis Research. Because most of Apple products are manufactured in China, "there was a potentially large impact on profitability," O'Donnell said. "Tim Cook is trying to be pragmatic and trying to address the issue by tackling it head-on." Apple, which benefited from legislation signed by Trump that reduced taxes on repatriated profits from 35 to 15 percent, has responded to White House efforts by pledging to invest $350 billion in the US economy by 2023 through its own manufacturing and from suppliers. O'Donnell said that Cook's efforts to forge a relationship with Trump has some risks as well in Silicon Valley, where the president is unpopular. "I think some people who are Apple fans and don't like Trump find it a little disconcerting," O'Donnell said. Kay said however that Apple employees and customers understand the needs of the business, and that Cook's efforts might even ease some of the tensions between the White House and the tech industry. "Maybe Tim can create a rosier halo around Silicon Valley," Kay said. "If he puts a human face on Silicon Valley, it could give Trump a slightly different view."

US President Donald Trump praises Apple chief Tim Cook for 'great job' in Austin after tirade against technology firms

Apple TV+, the iPhone maker's entry into the crowded streaming TV market, debuts on Friday as the first "all-original" subscription video service, according to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/apple-beats-profit-forecasts-amid-growth-in-services-wearables-258969">Apple Inc</a> Chief Executive Tim Cook.

All of the programming is original because, unlike Netflix Inc and the forthcoming Disney+ from Walt Disney Co, Apple does not have rights to a back catalogue of TV shows and movies.

That makes Apple's offering relatively slim compared to other online video services. It is also cheaper than competitors at $4.99 per month. And anyone who has purchased an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV device, iPod touch or Mac after Sept. 10 can get a free subscription for one year.

Cook, in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, said he welcomes the wide range of competition in streaming video because he believes it will encourage more people to drop cable television and seek digital entertainment options.

"That really advantages not only Apple, but everyone in the streaming field," Cook said.

Launching in more than 100 countries and territories, Apple TV+ will debut with four TV series for adults, an episode of "Oprah's Book Club," a nature documentary, and three children's series. Additional programming will be added each month.

Here is what to expect on day one.

The Morning Show: One of Apple's most heavily promoted programs, the drama series stars Jennifer Aniston in her first TV role since "Friends," alongside Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. The series, set behind the scenes of a morning news show, explores power dynamics between men and women in the workplace, ethics in the news business and ageism.

Reaction from TV critics has been mixed, with a 59 percent positive rating as of Thursday on the Rotten Tomatoes website, which aggregates reviews.

The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg said the show started with "a brutally dull pilot and a meandering second episode" before picking up steam in later episodes.

Judy Berman of Time magazine called the series "a sophisticated drama with A-list stars that capitalizes on hot topics and hot gossip."

The first three episodes of a planned 10-episode season debut on Friday. A new episode will be released each Friday thereafter.&nbsp;

For All Mankind: This 10-episode science-fiction drama series imagines a world where the Soviet Union wins the space race. That sets the stage for an alternate history with sweeping ripple effects on everything from women's rights and the environment to the Vietnam War.

Among reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website, 73 percent were positive as of Thursday.

"The sprawling, yet precisely calibrated alt history is Tim Cook and Apple's first total touchdown," wrote Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood.

As with "The Morning Show," the first three episodes debut on Friday, and a new episode will be released each Friday thereafter.

Dickinson: Set in the 19th Century, the series is a half-hour dark comedy that reimagines poet Emily Dickinson, played by Hailee Steinfeld, as a rebellious teenager.

It had a 76 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday. All 10 episodes launch on Friday.

See: Starring "Aquaman" and "Game of Thrones" actor Jason Momoa, the epic drama takes place 600 years in the future after a virus has decimated most of humankind. Those who have survived are blind and must adapt while fighting to protect themselves from a powerful queen. Alfre Woodard co-stars.

"See" scored the lowest among TV critics, earning a 43 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Although the show creates a ruthless world - the action is brutal and visceral, and the story advances quickly - it's not inventive enough to overcome the stilted dialogue and stock characters," wrote Brian Lowry of CNN.com.

The first three of eight episodes debut on Friday, and a new one will be released every Friday thereafter.

Oprah's Book Club: In the first episode, Oprah Winfrey discusses the novel "The Water Dancer" with author Ta-Nehisi Coates. The book tells the story of a young man who was born into slavery and later joins the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad.

Apple TV+, the iPhone maker's entry into the crowded streaming TV market, debuts on Friday as the first "all-original" subscription video service, according to Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook.

Apple TV+, the iPhone maker's entry into the crowded streaming TV market, debuts on Friday as the first "all-original" subscription video service, according to Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook. All of the programming is original because, unlike Netflix Inc and the forthcoming Disney+ from Walt Disney Co, Apple does not have rights to a back catalogue of TV shows and movies. That makes Apple's offering relatively slim compared to other online video services. It is also cheaper than competitors at $4.99 per month. And anyone who has purchased an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV device, iPod touch or Mac after Sept. 10 can get a free subscription for one year. Cook, in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, said he welcomes the wide range of competition in streaming video because he believes it will encourage more people to drop cable television and seek digital entertainment options. "That really advantages not only Apple, but everyone in the streaming field," Cook said. Launching in more than 100 countries and territories, Apple TV+ will debut with four TV series for adults, an episode of "Oprah's Book Club," a nature documentary, and three children's series. Additional programming will be added each month. Here is what to expect on day one. The Morning Show: One of Apple's most heavily promoted programs, the drama series stars Jennifer Aniston in her first TV role since "Friends," alongside Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. The series, set behind the scenes of a morning news show, explores power dynamics between men and women in the workplace, ethics in the news business and ageism. Reaction from TV critics has been mixed, with a 59 percent positive rating as of Thursday on the Rotten Tomatoes website, which aggregates reviews. The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg said the show started with "a brutally dull pilot and a meandering second episode" before picking up steam in later episodes. Judy Berman of Time magazine called the series "a sophisticated drama with A-list stars that capitalizes on hot topics and hot gossip." The first three episodes of a planned 10-episode season debut on Friday. A new episode will be released each Friday thereafter. For All Mankind: This 10-episode science-fiction drama series imagines a world where the Soviet Union wins the space race. That sets the stage for an alternate history with sweeping ripple effects on everything from women's rights and the environment to the Vietnam War. Among reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website, 73 percent were positive as of Thursday. "The sprawling, yet precisely calibrated alt history is Tim Cook and Apple's first total touchdown," wrote Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood. As with "The Morning Show," the first three episodes debut on Friday, and a new episode will be released each Friday thereafter. Dickinson: Set in the 19th Century, the series is a half-hour dark comedy that reimagines poet Emily Dickinson, played by Hailee Steinfeld, as a rebellious teenager. It had a 76 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday. All 10 episodes launch on Friday. See: Starring "Aquaman" and "Game of Thrones" actor Jason Momoa, the epic drama takes place 600 years in the future after a virus has decimated most of humankind. Those who have survived are blind and must adapt while fighting to protect themselves from a powerful queen. Alfre Woodard co-stars. "See" scored the lowest among TV critics, earning a 43 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. "Although the show creates a ruthless world - the action is brutal and visceral, and the story advances quickly - it's not inventive enough to overcome the stilted dialogue and stock characters," wrote Brian Lowry of CNN.com. The first three of eight episodes debut on Friday, and a new one will be released every Friday thereafter. Oprah's Book Club: In the first episode, Oprah Winfrey discusses the novel "The Water Dancer" with author Ta-Nehisi Coates. The book tells the story of a young man who was born into slavery and later joins the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad.

AppleTV+ debuts streaming TV service with Oprah and Aniston

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/apple-starts-selling-locally-assembled-iphone-xr-in-india-257374">Apple</a> on Wednesday reported stronger-than-expected profits for the past quarter, fueled by growth in digital services and wearables that helped offset slower iPhone sales.

Profit in the quarter ending in September dipped four per cent from a year ago to $13.7 billion while revenues edged up two per cent to $64 billion.

Apple, set to launch a new <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/jennifer-aniston-apple-explore-messy-world-of-tv-news-after-metoo-256491">streaming television service</a> this week, saw strong revenue gains in its services segment, which includes music, digital payments and software, and in its segment for wearables and accessories that includes its Home Pod, Apple Watch and ear buds.

Chief executive Tim Cook said Apple saw its best-ever revenue gains for the fiscal fourth quarter period.

"There were no blemishes in the quarter with Cook &amp; Co. delivering a masterpiece quarter despite its back against the wall with the company the poster child of the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-states-wants-china-trade-deal-in-same-time-frame-despite-apec-summit-cancellation-258895">US/China trade battle</a>," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.

Apple shares rose some two percent in after-hours trade following the release.

Cook hailed the results as "the conclusion of a remarkable fiscal 2019 for Apple," and said the company "established new all-time highs for multiple services categories."

Apple, which has ceased reporting unit sales of iPhones, said revenue from its smartphones fell nine percent in the quarter to $33.4 billion.

Services accounted for 20 per cent of revenues, according to chief financial officer Luca Maestri, with 18 per cent growth in the segment to $12.5 billion.

The wearables and accessories category produced revenue growth of 54 percent to $6.5 billion, led by gains in sales of Apple Watch and the wearable Air Pods.

Apple saw modest sales declines in its "greater China" region and in Europe and Japan, but this was offset by gains in North America and elsewhere in Asia.

"Importantly on the iPhone front, China came in well above our and Street expectations and is on the path to showing growth in the region," Ives said.

Apple has been seeking to shift its revenue mix amid a slumping smartphone market and growing competition in the segment.

The company, which recently launched a lineup of iPhone 11 handsets, said it would allow customers to purchase the devices interest-free with its Apple Card and pay over 24 months.

"It's early but the trends look very good" for the iPhone, Cook said, when asked about sales of the new devices. "We're bullish."

Apple said it ended the quarter with some $260 billion cash on hand.

The report comes two days ahead of the launch of Apple TV+, a new streaming service which could challenge Netflix and will compete against an array of others including Disney+ and HBO Max.

Ives said Apple "has a compelling list of new shows coming out as we believe it has committed $6 billion annually to the original shows and movies to beef up its streaming content ambitions."

Apple has an opportunity to win users with its aggressive pricing of $5 monthly and some 900 million iPhone users worldwide, and is offering a year of Apple TV+ for free with new device purchases.

"We're really proud of the content, we'd like as many people as possible to view it," Cook told analysts.

The streaming television war is set to enter a new phase as titans Apple and Disney take direct aim at market leader &nbsp;Netflix, vying for consumers abandoning their cable TV bundles for on-demand services.

Apple on Wednesday reported stronger-than-expected profits for the past quarter, fueled by growth in digital services and wearables that helped offset slower iPhone sales.

Apple on Wednesday reported stronger-than-expected profits for the past quarter, fueled by growth in digital services and wearables that helped offset slower iPhone sales. Profit in the quarter ending in September dipped four per cent from a year ago to $13.7 billion while revenues edged up two per cent to $64 billion. Apple, set to launch a new streaming television service this week, saw strong revenue gains in its services segment, which includes music, digital payments and software, and in its segment for wearables and accessories that includes its Home Pod, Apple Watch and ear buds. Chief executive Tim Cook said Apple saw its best-ever revenue gains for the fiscal fourth quarter period. "There were no blemishes in the quarter with Cook & Co. delivering a masterpiece quarter despite its back against the wall with the company the poster child of the US/China trade battle," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors. Apple shares rose some two percent in after-hours trade following the release. Cook hailed the results as "the conclusion of a remarkable fiscal 2019 for Apple," and said the company "established new all-time highs for multiple services categories." Apple, which has ceased reporting unit sales of iPhones, said revenue from its smartphones fell nine percent in the quarter to $33.4 billion. Services accounted for 20 per cent of revenues, according to chief financial officer Luca Maestri, with 18 per cent growth in the segment to $12.5 billion. The wearables and accessories category produced revenue growth of 54 percent to $6.5 billion, led by gains in sales of Apple Watch and the wearable Air Pods. Apple saw modest sales declines in its "greater China" region and in Europe and Japan, but this was offset by gains in North America and elsewhere in Asia. "Importantly on the iPhone front, China came in well above our and Street expectations and is on the path to showing growth in the region," Ives said. Apple has been seeking to shift its revenue mix amid a slumping smartphone market and growing competition in the segment. The company, which recently launched a lineup of iPhone 11 handsets, said it would allow customers to purchase the devices interest-free with its Apple Card and pay over 24 months. "It's early but the trends look very good" for the iPhone, Cook said, when asked about sales of the new devices. "We're bullish." Apple said it ended the quarter with some $260 billion cash on hand. The report comes two days ahead of the launch of Apple TV+, a new streaming service which could challenge Netflix and will compete against an array of others including Disney+ and HBO Max. Ives said Apple "has a compelling list of new shows coming out as we believe it has committed $6 billion annually to the original shows and movies to beef up its streaming content ambitions." Apple has an opportunity to win users with its aggressive pricing of $5 monthly and some 900 million iPhone users worldwide, and is offering a year of Apple TV+ for free with new device purchases. "We're really proud of the content, we'd like as many people as possible to view it," Cook told analysts. The streaming television war is set to enter a new phase as titans Apple and Disney take direct aim at market leader Netflix, vying for consumers abandoning their cable TV bundles for on-demand services.

Apple beats profit forecasts amid growth in services, wearables

President Donald Trump took a swipe at Apple chief Tim Cook with a Tweet lamenting the removal of the iPhone home button. "To Tim: The Button on the IPhone was FAR better than the Swipe!

President Donald Trump took a swipe at Apple chief Tim Cook with a Tweet lamenting the removal of the iPhone home button. "To Tim: The Button on the IPhone was FAR better than the Swipe!" he tweeted Friday. Trump switched from an Android mobile to an iPhone in March 2017, the same year Apple dropped the physical home button from its top models. This earlier shift seemed to be the target of presidential ire, rather Apple's latest iPhone 11 release in September. It is not the first time Trump has cast a critical eye over the tech giant's design choices. "I cannot believe that Apple didn't come out with a larger screen IPhone. Samsung is stealing their business. STEVE JOBS IS SPINNING IN GRAVE," he tweeted in September 2013. It also comes after a gaffe in March when he referred to Cook as "Tim Apple". Trump later claimed the naming was deliberate and a "time saving" measure.

Trump takes swipe at Apple for ditching iPhone home button

Apple chief Tim Cook on Thursday <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/apple-removes-police-tracking-app-used-in-hong-kong-protests-from-its-app-store-254882">defended the decision to pull an app</a> used by protesters in Hong Kong to track police, according to a leaked email to employees obtained by a tech news site.

Apple removed the HKmap.live mobile application from the App Store after criticism by Beijing, which is stepping up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be providing support to the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-shopping-malls-metro-close-early-as-more-protests-planned-254952">pro-democracy movement</a>.

Critics blasted the tech giant's move as putting its business interests in China above human rights.

The app allowed for crowd-sourced reporting and mapping of police checkpoints, protest hotspots, and other information which, on its own, is "benign" information, Cook said in a copy of an email to Apple employees shared online at Pastebin and posted at tech news website The Verge.

"Over the past several days we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimise individuals and property where no police are present," the email read.

Gravitas: Hong Kong Protests: Biggest Political Crisis In Xi Jinping's Career

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-hong-kong-protests-biggest-political-crisis-in-xi-jinpings-career-254353/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law. Similarly, widespread abuse clearly violates our App Store guidelines barring personal harm."

Apple did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.

The makers of HKmap.live have countered that the app gathers information from users, social networks and news outlets to show where police have gathered, not where they aren't.

They have denied their app encouraged criminal activity, and lashed out at Apple's removal as "censorship" and "clearly a political decision to suppress freedom."

Chinese state media this week tore into the app, charging that it was helping "rioters."

Communist Party mouthpiece The People's Daily said by stocking the app, Apple was "mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts."

On Thursday the app was no longer available on Apple's Hong Kong App Store.

Hong Kong has been rocked by four months of increasingly violent protests, initially against a now-shelved extradition law, but whose focus has now shifted to broader pro-democracy aims.

Apple chief Tim Cook on Thursday defended the decision to pull an app used by protesters in Hong Kong to track police, according to a leaked email to employees obtained by a tech news site.

Apple chief Tim Cook on Thursday defended the decision to pull an app used by protesters in Hong Kong to track police, according to a leaked email to employees obtained by a tech news site. Apple removed the HKmap.live mobile application from the App Store after criticism by Beijing, which is stepping up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be providing support to the pro-democracy movement. Critics blasted the tech giant's move as putting its business interests in China above human rights. The app allowed for crowd-sourced reporting and mapping of police checkpoints, protest hotspots, and other information which, on its own, is "benign" information, Cook said in a copy of an email to Apple employees shared online at Pastebin and posted at tech news website The Verge. "Over the past several days we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimise individuals and property where no police are present," the email read. Gravitas: Hong Kong Protests: Biggest Political Crisis In Xi Jinping's Career "This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law. Similarly, widespread abuse clearly violates our App Store guidelines barring personal harm." Apple did not respond to a request for comment from AFP. The makers of HKmap.live have countered that the app gathers information from users, social networks and news outlets to show where police have gathered, not where they aren't. They have denied their app encouraged criminal activity, and lashed out at Apple's removal as "censorship" and "clearly a political decision to suppress freedom." Chinese state media this week tore into the app, charging that it was helping "rioters." Communist Party mouthpiece The People's Daily said by stocking the app, Apple was "mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts." On Thursday the app was no longer available on Apple's Hong Kong App Store. Hong Kong has been rocked by four months of increasingly violent protests, initially against a now-shelved extradition law, but whose focus has now shifted to broader pro-democracy aims.

Apple chief Tim Cook defends pulling app used by Hong Kong protesters

Apple Inc said on Friday that Walt Disney Co-Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger had resigned from the company's board of directors on September 10 as the two companies prepare to compete head-to-head in the streaming television business.

Iger departed Apple's board the same day the company revealed new details about Apple TV+, a $4.99-per-month service that will launch on November 1.

&nbsp;Apple is spending billions in Hollywood to secure original programming for the service.

The monthly subscription price for Apple TV+ undercuts Disney, which earlier this year announced its own streaming service that will feature its iconic children's content and cost $6.99 per month. The Disney+ service will debut on November 12.

Apple and Disney have long had a unique relationship among major American companies, dating back to when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs became a Disney director and major shareholder when the entertainment giant bought Pixar, the digital animation studio majority-owned by Jobs. Iger became an Apple director shortly after Jobs' death in 2011.

"While we will greatly miss his contributions as a board member, we respect his decision and we have every expectation that our relationship with both Bob and Disney will continue far into the future," Apple said in a statement.

Iger said it was "an extraordinary privilege" to have served on Apple's board for eight years.

"I have the utmost respect for Tim Cook, his team at Apple, and for my fellow board members," Iger said in a statement. "Apple is one of the world's most admired companies, known for the quality and integrity of its products and its people."

Apple Inc said on Friday that Walt Disney Co-Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger had resigned from the company's board of directors on September 10 as the two companies prepare to compete head-to-head in the streaming television business.

Apple Inc said on Friday that Walt Disney Co-Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger had resigned from the company's board of directors on September 10 as the two companies prepare to compete head-to-head in the streaming television business. Iger departed Apple's board the same day the company revealed new details about Apple TV+, a $4.99-per-month service that will launch on November 1. Apple is spending billions in Hollywood to secure original programming for the service. The monthly subscription price for Apple TV+ undercuts Disney, which earlier this year announced its own streaming service that will feature its iconic children's content and cost $6.99 per month. The Disney+ service will debut on November 12. Apple and Disney have long had a unique relationship among major American companies, dating back to when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs became a Disney director and major shareholder when the entertainment giant bought Pixar, the digital animation studio majority-owned by Jobs. Iger became an Apple director shortly after Jobs' death in 2011. "While we will greatly miss his contributions as a board member, we respect his decision and we have every expectation that our relationship with both Bob and Disney will continue far into the future," Apple said in a statement. Iger said it was "an extraordinary privilege" to have served on Apple's board for eight years. "I have the utmost respect for Tim Cook, his team at Apple, and for my fellow board members," Iger said in a statement. "Apple is one of the world's most admired companies, known for the quality and integrity of its products and its people."

Disney CEO Bob Iger resigns from Apple board as TV battle looms

A US House of Representatives panel on Friday demanded internal emails, detailed financial information and other company records from Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, and Alphabet Inc's Google as its antitrust probe of Big Tech widens.

The committees' letters seek by October 14 internal emails over the last decade from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebooks-libra-has-to-build-anti-money-laundering-anti-terror-financing-design-us-treasury-248861">Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg</a> and Alphabet CEO Larry Page, among others, about acquisitions.

Apple shares fell about 1.8% after the market opened. While Apple had been mentioned as a potential target, the House letter offered the first concrete evidence of a wide-ranging antitrust investigation of the company.

Apple has faced criticism that its policies and algorithms in its App Store support its own products and stifle third-party applications.

The letters come days after the Texas attorney general led a group of 50 attorneys general from US states and territories in a probe of whether Google abuses its market power in advertising.

Apple and Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Amazon did not immediately comment. Google referred to a blog post issued this week that said its services "create choice for consumers."

The committee requested information from the companies' executives on market share, competitors, their largest customers for specific products and documents from other investigations.

It asked Apple for information on the company's decision to remove some parental control apps from its App Store and its policy regarding whether iPhone users can set non-Apple apps as defaults, among other concerns about its App Store.

The US Justice Department said in July it is investigating "whether and how" large tech companies in "search, social media, and some retail services online" are engaging in anticompetitive behaviour, an apparent reference to the same companies named by the House panel on Friday.

A US House of Representatives panel on Friday demanded internal emails, detailed financial information and other company records from Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, and Alphabet Inc's Google as its antitrust probe of Big Tech widens.

A US House of Representatives panel on Friday demanded internal emails, detailed financial information and other company records from Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, and Alphabet Inc's Google as its antitrust probe of Big Tech widens. The committees' letters seek by October 14 internal emails over the last decade from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Larry Page, among others, about acquisitions. Apple shares fell about 1.8% after the market opened. While Apple had been mentioned as a potential target, the House letter offered the first concrete evidence of a wide-ranging antitrust investigation of the company. Apple has faced criticism that its policies and algorithms in its App Store support its own products and stifle third-party applications. The letters come days after the Texas attorney general led a group of 50 attorneys general from US states and territories in a probe of whether Google abuses its market power in advertising. Apple and Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Amazon did not immediately comment. Google referred to a blog post issued this week that said its services "create choice for consumers." The committee requested information from the companies' executives on market share, competitors, their largest customers for specific products and documents from other investigations. It asked Apple for information on the company's decision to remove some parental control apps from its App Store and its policy regarding whether iPhone users can set non-Apple apps as defaults, among other concerns about its App Store. The US Justice Department said in July it is investigating "whether and how" large tech companies in "search, social media, and some retail services online" are engaging in anticompetitive behaviour, an apparent reference to the same companies named by the House panel on Friday.

US House panel demands tech company emails in antitrust investigation

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