bshank

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bshank
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  • Spotify may gain Siri voice commands soon, despite antitrust battle

    bshankbshank
    raulcristian said:

    "Spotify may gain Siri voice commands soon, despite antitrust battle" should read... "thanks to antitrust battle".  :)


    In any case, good news for everybody. I am an Apple fanboy but I love Spotify. I wasn't able to buy a HomePod just because of its lacking of Spotify support (I went with Sonos instead).

    And above all, I think it is the right thing for Apple to do, be a good sport and let Siri play Spotify and other music providers too.





    Apple slowly roles out these tools over time. This was happening DESPITE the antitrust concerns. Ultimately Spotify doesn’t want to pay anything for the work Apple does to create these tools or host one of if not the largest software platform in the world.
    watto_cobra

  • Key EU countries block draft of digital tax on tech corporations like Apple

    bshankbshank
    chandra said:
    US companies invent new technology. French live off the ingenuity of US companies by taxing them.
    Isn't that how international commerce works? But you missed a step where US companies earn revenue in France - on which they pay those taxes. If foreign companies try to avoid taxes on digital services then they of course will find the laws change.
    The problem is that France never charged taxes on these companies until the companies were known to be worth a lot of money. If they had to pay taxes all along it would be understandable and sound like an actual tax. Now it’s just a punitive tax, punishing success. Even worse the appearance is that France and other EU money grubbers are opportunistically scrambling to change the laws to capture this money they see innovative companies earning.
    watto_cobra

  • Apple's updates to iWork suite for iOS adds macOS functionality and increased Apple Pencil...

    bshankbshank
    The draw a path with finger or Apple Pencil to customize animations feature in Keynote is awesome!
    watto_cobra

  • Benchmarks for high-end iMac 5K show 75 percent speed gain over 2017 model

    bshankbshank
    cgWerks said:
    As I mentioned on the other new iMac article...

    If you do video encoding work, carefully consider that these don't have the T2 chip (where as the mini or MBP do). I didn't care much about the T2 when I bought my 2018 mini, but now I do! The HEVC/h.265 encoding is several times faster than even the six-core i7, AND it keeps things quiet as an added bonus.

    If that matters to you... I'd save up for the cheapest iMac Pro, or wait until a future iMac, or get a mini/MBP, etc.
    I’ve also read that the iMac has Quick Sync which is better for H.264, a feature iMac Pro doesn’t have. If true it may depend on what type of file, H.264 or H.265 one is using
    watto_cobra

  • Google up to $9.4 billion in total fines to EU, with latest $1.7 billion AdSense penalty

    bshankbshank
    cropr said:
    gatorguy said:
    The EU has different competition laws than the US. "Google's platform or OS or ad service and if you don't like it use someone else's" isn't a defense as far as they are concerned. 

    You could take that 3rd paragraph, substitute a different name, and perhaps end up with the same result IMHO.
    "(Blank) has cemented its dominance in (blank) and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party (blank)," she said. "This is illegal under EU antitrust rules."

    Note that the EU says "market dominance is not illegal under EU antitrust rules. However they have a “special responsibility” not to abuse their powerful market position by restricting direct competition."
    Indeed.  And this means Apple will most probably get a similar treatment with the complaint Spotify launched.  The EU commission does not mind that there is only one App Store for iOS applications, but It won' t like the contractual restrictions in the App Store Guidelines.  Apple cannot impose such restrictions on the app developers if there is only a single iOS App Store. 
    So the EU will force Apple to allow outgoing website links from apps in the App Store I take it... Have fun with a bunch of malicious phishing sites EU! 🤣
    tmaywilliamlondonwatto_cobra