Tile to testify against Apple in House Judiciary Committee antitrust hearing [updated with...
Tile has joined a number of smaller companies seeking to speak out against Apple's, Google's, Amazon's and FaceBook's alleged anti-competitive practices before the House Judiciary Committee.
Tile, a tracking device that helps users locate misplaced items, will meet with the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee to raise concerns about big tech's ability to push smaller companies out of the market..
For many years, Apple and Tile had an amicable relationship. Apple carried Tile in its stores and sold it on Apple.com. In 2018, Apple worked closely with one of Tile's engineers to help incorporate Siri into the Tile ecosystem.
However, as rumors of Apple developing its own item tracker began to surface, the relationship between Apple and Tile started to change. In June of 2019, Apple stopped selling Tile's products in their retail stores and on their website. Apple would then go on to hire one of Tile's engineers.
"After thoughtful consideration and months of bringing our concerns to Apple through regular ... channels, Tile has made the decision to continue raising concerns over Apple's anti-competitive practices," Tile general counsel Kirsten Daru told Reuters in an interview.
The story parallels that of LunaDisplay and Duet Display, who claimed that Apple had "Sherlocked" them in order to develop its Sidecar feature.
Apple Pay has also been placed under scrutiny in the EU, as Apple does not allow access to the iPhone's onboard NFC chip to third-party banking apps. Banks and rival payment services have claimed the same restrictions make alternative payment services less attractive due to using other methods, such as barcodes and QR codes.
Three other companies will join Tile in testifying before the Judiciary Committee in Colorado on Friday. They hope to spur Congress to look into how large tech companies can use their brand recognition and resources to hurt smaller rivals.
Other companies are subject to the probe, including Facebook, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google. In September of 2019, House lawmakers had begun asking companies to provide information on how their businesses have been hurt by anti-competitive behavior from major tech companies.
Update:
As reported by The Verge's Nilay Patel, Tile takes issue not only with iOS 13 restrictions, namely app management and access to "Find My," but also the fact that its devices are not granted access to iPhone 11's UWB radios. Daru also mentioned reports of Apple's as-yet-unreleased Tile competitor, which is expected to see integration with Find My.
Apple later in the day released a statement pertaining to the House Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, detailing its stance on the matter and noting it is working with developers interested in enabling "Always Allow" location tracking functionality to enable that feature. The full statement was published by CNBC's Kif Leswing on Twitter:
Tile, a tracking device that helps users locate misplaced items, will meet with the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee to raise concerns about big tech's ability to push smaller companies out of the market..
For many years, Apple and Tile had an amicable relationship. Apple carried Tile in its stores and sold it on Apple.com. In 2018, Apple worked closely with one of Tile's engineers to help incorporate Siri into the Tile ecosystem.
However, as rumors of Apple developing its own item tracker began to surface, the relationship between Apple and Tile started to change. In June of 2019, Apple stopped selling Tile's products in their retail stores and on their website. Apple would then go on to hire one of Tile's engineers.
"After thoughtful consideration and months of bringing our concerns to Apple through regular ... channels, Tile has made the decision to continue raising concerns over Apple's anti-competitive practices," Tile general counsel Kirsten Daru told Reuters in an interview.
The story parallels that of LunaDisplay and Duet Display, who claimed that Apple had "Sherlocked" them in order to develop its Sidecar feature.
Apple Pay has also been placed under scrutiny in the EU, as Apple does not allow access to the iPhone's onboard NFC chip to third-party banking apps. Banks and rival payment services have claimed the same restrictions make alternative payment services less attractive due to using other methods, such as barcodes and QR codes.
Three other companies will join Tile in testifying before the Judiciary Committee in Colorado on Friday. They hope to spur Congress to look into how large tech companies can use their brand recognition and resources to hurt smaller rivals.
Other companies are subject to the probe, including Facebook, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google. In September of 2019, House lawmakers had begun asking companies to provide information on how their businesses have been hurt by anti-competitive behavior from major tech companies.
Update:
As reported by The Verge's Nilay Patel, Tile takes issue not only with iOS 13 restrictions, namely app management and access to "Find My," but also the fact that its devices are not granted access to iPhone 11's UWB radios. Daru also mentioned reports of Apple's as-yet-unreleased Tile competitor, which is expected to see integration with Find My.
Apple later in the day released a statement pertaining to the House Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, detailing its stance on the matter and noting it is working with developers interested in enabling "Always Allow" location tracking functionality to enable that feature. The full statement was published by CNBC's Kif Leswing on Twitter:
Apple builds its hardware, software and system level apps to protect user privacy and provide the best products and ecosystem in the world. Apple has not built a business model around knowing a customer's location or the location of their device.
When setting up a new device users can choose to turn on Location Services to help find a lost or misplaced device with Find My iPhone, an app that users have come to rely on since 2010. Customers have control over their location data, including the location of their device. If user's don't want to enable these features, there's a clear, easy to understand setting where they can choose exactly which locations services they want enabled or disabled.
In regard to third-party apps, we created the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers. We continually work with developers and take their feedback on how to help protect user privacy while also providing the tools developers need to make the best app experiences.
We're currently working with developers interested in enabling the "Always Allow" functionality to enable that feature at the time of setup in a future software update.
Comments
Companies like Apple are another example of profits over foresight. Jobs was replaced by a production chain expert, Jon Ive left and it is "design by committee" in his place, expect the same old, dulled down industrial design going forward.
I think some of you feel this in your gut but are not willing to admit it. Apple is not that exciting as it use to be, it's products and services are not that distinctive. An Apple diehard customer since 1994.
B.S......
As for distinctive products, you’re nuts. My 2019 iMac 5K is a joy to use and head & shoulders over HP, Dell, etc. The new MP and monitor is nothing if not distinctive. My iPhone 11 Pro is the best phone i’ve owned, AirPods are the new target of countless ripoffs, AirPods Pro are kickass, etc etc.
You sound like just another “everything sucks now” debbie downer, expecting your computing gear to provide you with dopamine hits to breakup the dull drums of life.
“Oh but I’ve been an Apple fan since 1977!”
I don't know what you and some others are afraid of? Was it the years of the "beleaguered" label which still haunts you? Don't worry Apple is like every other mega corporation in the world, a money machine that will squash the little guy either by buying them out or suing the shit out of them until they disappear. Trust me I'm not nostalgic at all and always have been an early adapter when I feel something better has arrived. I still prefer Apple's product over the other but its products are no longer inspired or inspiring. Apple corporate weight has crushed its creative soul. I'm sure saying this on a fan site will find few that agree, but I bet I'm not the only one thinks this but maybe one of the few with enough balls to say so.
Sir Jony had a great run, but it’s time for his mentees to move Apple forward.
Given Apple’s mantra is about simplifying and making the user experience better, the more integration with systems that years ago would seem peripheral to a targeted system or experience are now being brought into the fold.
Is Apple gargantuan? Yes, but the customer experience has grown because of it and now demands more, whether the customer realizes it or not.
The Late 2009 iMac design is part of the legacy of Steve Jobs. With the Late 2009 iMac, Apple engineers accomplished the impossible: create an all-in-one desktop computer for the general public that was both elegant and not lacking any of the main features of a desktop computer.
Can the Late 2009 iMac ever be modified ? Yes, but only if it is an improvement over the previous generation of iMac. The problem with the "thin at the edges" iMac 2014-2019 design is that it is built with the same compromises as a "thin and light" mobile computer like the iPad, the iPhone, and every portable MacBook. The iMac is a no compromise desktop computer, not a "thin and light" mobile computer.
The Late 2009 iMac had a thickness of one inch around the edges of the computer. Can it be any thinner, say 3/4 of an inch thick, possibly 5/16 of an inch ? Maybe, but only if you don't sacrifice the exceptional sound quality made possible by the empty space at the back of the monitor. And only if you don't sacrifice the quality of construction and ease of repairs made possible by the empty space at the back of the monitor. And only if you can evacuate the heat generated by current and future desktop components where power is synonym with heat.
To come back to the lack of creativity at Apple, Apple was never an innovator. It always copied and improved upon what others initiated. Apple didn't create the computer, the personal computer, the computer operating system, the portable music player, the cell phone, the watch (or the car, if that initiative ever comes to bear fruit... ).
Apple customer since 1988. Now shareholder through my Technology mutual fund.
Sure, Tim Cook is a chain supply guy more than a Steve Jobs visionary. But he had enough vision to create several, “boring” multi-billion dollar Apple subsidiaries - AirPods, Apple Watch, and Services - to not only give what customers wanted, but answered the amateur predictions that Apple is going to tank because of the “saturated” iPhone market. Cook was already working on that problem before the pundits even brought it up.
Also, the Apple Watch has saved lives. That’s “exciting” enough for me. And when they come out with continuous glucose monitoring, saving even more lives, I’ll celebrate this boring announcement too.
But meanwhile we will nag your customers to turn off always on GPS that your company relies on for its very existence. Oh sure we used to have "Always Allow" functionality but it has been several months now and we have totally forgotten how to do it. All the best. Your $trillion friend.
”Concentration of wealth means concentration of all industries.”
Two different things being concatenated doesn’t make it so.
”Designers, visionaries within those original brands are gone and its all about profit and keeping cost down to please investors. Does this sound familiar to any of you?”
Not if you’re specifically referring to Apple, no. Other than Jony Ive, do you have an proof of this?
”Companies like Apple are another example of profits over foresight.”
That’s clearly an opinion, and one I don’t share. In the first place, there are no ”companies like Apple”. It’s unique. Second, you sound like all those who think Apple = Bad simply because they’re making a ton of money. In fact, the money is a mere byproduct of Apple’s amazing “foresight”, as you put it. We’ll know when Apple’s foresight is waning, because so will it’s profit.
”...expect the same old, dulled down industrial design going forward.”
Again, an opinion with nothing to support it. And again, I don’t share it.
”Apple is not that exciting as it use to be, it's products and services are not that distinctive.”
Again, you’re entitled to your own opinion, just not to your own facts. Where’s your support for this contention?
I’d also point out that Apple clearly differentiates itself from other companies’ products and services. They’re “distinctive” enough.
”An Apple diehard customer since 1994.”
I bought my first Apple product, a Mac, in 1984.