Find out the week’s top mobile stories from around the world.
This week.. Facebook escalates feud with Apple over iOS privacy changes, Google committed “antitrust evils,” colluded with Facebook, new lawsuit says, “Evil mobile emulator farms” used to steal millions from US and EU banks and much more.
Facebook escalates feud with Apple over iOS privacy changes
Cnet
Facebook is doubling down on its criticism of Apple with another ad claiming that the iPhone maker’s upcoming privacy changes to its mobile operating system will harm consumers by making “the internet much more expensive.”
Apple announced several new privacy updates for iOS at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, including a feature called App Tracking Transparency that would require people to opt in to apps collecting their data rather than needing them to opt out.
Read more…
Google committed “antitrust evils,” colluded with Facebook, new lawsuit says
Ars Technica
Two separate coalitions of states have filed massive antitrust lawsuits against Google in the past 24 hours, alleging that the company abuses its extensive power to force would-be competitors out of the marketplace and harms consumers in the process.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton spearheaded the first suit, which nine other states also signed onto. The second suit is led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, and an additional 36 states and territories signed on.
Read more…
To Understand The Value Of TV Advertising, Try Using Mobile Data
Forbes
While Americans may not watch TV on their phones, they do watch it with their phones. In their hands or on the couch next to them, that is.
The phone is an easy way to IMDb an actor, google a reference on a show and, of course, look up and possibly buy a product you’ve just seen in an ad.
The problem, at least if you’re a brand, is that it’s been tough to get much in the way of actual data on what the people who saw your commercial on TV did on their phones once they’d seen it.
Read more…
“Evil mobile emulator farms” used to steal millions from US and EU banks
Ars Technica
Researchers from IBM Trusteer say they’ve uncovered a massive fraud operation that used a network of mobile device emulators to drain millions of dollars from online bank accounts in a matter of days.
The scale of the operation was unlike anything the researchers have seen before. In one case, crooks used about 20 emulators to mimic more than 16,000 phones belonging to customers whose mobile bank accounts had been compromised. In a separate case, a single emulator was able to spoof more than 8,100 devices, as shown in the following image:
Read more…
First space-based mobile network debuts on NASDAQ
ICLG
The world’s only space-based broadband network that can be accessed by mobile phones directly, AST & Science, has engaged Latham & Watkins on a merger transaction that will bring it public.
AST & Science will gain its public listing on the NASDAQ via a business merger with newly incorporated special purpose acquisition company New Providence Acquisition Corp, headquartered in Texas and set up last year.
The companies will have an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of USD 1.4 billion and at closing, the combined entity is expected to have an equity value of approximately USD 1.8 billion.
Read more…
Cybersecurity experts hail new IoT law
Tech Republic
President Donald Trump signed the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act into law this month, codifying what many cybersecurity experts have long begged for—increased security protection for the billions of IoT devices flooding homes and businesses.
In recent years, an array of items and household appliances have been turned into internet-connected devices, with some estimates predicting there will be 41.6 billion IoT devices in the field by 2025 and over $1 trillion spent on them by 2023.
Read more…
Forecasting Consumer Demands
WWD
The pandemic is reshaping the way people shop.
“We’re definitely seeing shoppers getting smarter,” said David Sykes, head of Klarna U.S., speaking about consumer demands for 2021 and beyond. “Smarter in what they’re buying, but also who they’re shopping from.”
Klarna — the Swedish banking company that allows shoppers to buy now and pay later and works with more than 200,000 retailers, including Coach, Ralph Lauren, Asos, Adidas, Sephora and Chanel — asked consumers about their shopping habits amid the pandemic, as well as which of those behaviors they think are most likely to stick in a post-COVID-19 world.
Read more…
WHO and Out There Impact use mobiles to curb spread of Covid-19
Vanilla Plus
Out There Impact, the impact division of mobile advertising and data monetisation company Out There Media, committed to using the power of mobile technology for the greater good, is collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch a global mobile education campaign looking to contain the ongoing spread of COVID-19.
The two organisations will work together to distribute messages to more than three hundred million global citizens by early 2021 via Out There Impact’s mobile engagement platform and its mobile operator partners.
Read more…
Five mobile games have made more than a billion dollars in 2020 so far
Pocket Gamer
PUBG Mobile has topped the list for the highest global revenue in 2020 so far at $2.6 billion, according to Sensor Tower.
The battle royale shooter from Tencent, which incorporates the Chinese localised version Game for Peace, has risen by 64.3 per cent year-over-year to storm to first spot across both the App Store and Google Play.
Tencent continued to make its mark as Honor of Kings from the company secured second spot at approximately $2.5 billion in player spending, representing a 42.8 per cent lift over 2019.
Read more…
Tencent-led consortium will lift stake in Universal Music to 20%
Tech Crunch
Tencent is further strengthening its ties with music giant Universal Music Group as it continues to dominate the Chinese music streaming market.
A consortium led by Tencent and comprising Tencent Music Entertainment, the internet giant’s music spinoff, is set to buy an additional 10% equity stake in UMG from French media conglomerate Vivendi SA, TME said on Friday.
The round values UMG at 30 billion euros, or $36.8 billion, and will increase the consortium’s stake in the music company to 20%. TME continues to hold a 10% equity interest in the consortium, of which other members are not disclosed.
Read more…
