Italy’s antitrust watchdog probes Apple over alleged app market abuse

Reuters

Italy’s antitrust agency AGCM said on Thursday it had opened a probe into U.S. technology giant Apple Inc (AAPL.O) for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market.

The watchdog said Apple penalised third-party app developers by imposing “a more restrictive privacy policy” than it applies to itself, from April 2021.

Furthermore, external app developers are disadvantaged “in terms of the quality of the data made available by Apple,” the AGCM said in its statement.

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Indians harassed by spam calls flood on WhatsApp

BBC

WhatsApp has asked users to block and report suspicious accounts after several Indians complained about receiving calls from unknown international numbers.

Indian WhatsApp users have been sharing screenshots of such audio and video calls on social media.

With 487 million users, India has WhatsApp’s largest userbase. A government spokesperson said “service providers have issued an advisory” about these spam calls.

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Mobile devices and AI in search engines: Google’s innovations

YNet

The Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit on Wednesday demonstrated or referenced at least 15 different AI products and features ranging from software solely for creating smartphone wallpaper to another for organizing personal files to yet another for photo editing.

Attendees of Google’s I/O conference could be forgiven for leaving the annual event with their heads spinning. Take one of Google’s press releases from the event: “Duet AI serves as your expert pair programmer and assists cloud users with contextual code completion, offering suggestions tuned to your code base, generating entire functions in real-time, and assisting you with code reviews and inspections.”

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It’s time social media platforms unfriended fraudsters

Financial Times

For every minute you spend reading this article, another £2,300 is lost to fraud in the UK. If you’re tricked into transferring money to a scammer, pleading with your bank to cover the losses is your only hope of obtaining redress. But if bank bosses had their way, social media sites, where they say the majority of such fraud attempts originate, would have to pick up a share of the tab.

Last year, £1.2bn of customers’ money was lost to scammers according to figures released this week, with nearly 3mn people falling victim. Marginally lower than 2021 levels, the banks deserve plaudits for detecting and preventing a further £1.2bn of fraud. But the cost of investigating and policing suspicious transactions is mounting.

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From Casual to Competitive: The Diversity of Mobile Gaming

Telemedia Online

Mobile gaming has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a casual pastime. Today, the mobile gaming industry is a massive, multi-billion-dollar industry that offers a diverse range of gaming experiences, from casual time-wasters to highly competitive titles.

Casual games are all the rage in the mobile gaming world, with a whopping 17,463.7 million downloads projected worldwide this year. These games are perfect for anyone who wants to play without a steep learning curve or a time commitment.

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Future of Virtual Banking in Rural India

CXO Today

The banking sector in India has witnessed a significant transformation over the last decade, with the introduction of digital banking. The use of digital technologies in banking has enabled the sector to offer more efficient, convenient, and cost-effective services to customers. However, the benefits of digital banking have primarily been enjoyed by customers in urban areas. Rural areas, which account for a significant portion of the Indian population, have been left behind due to a lack of infrastructure and awareness. Virtual banking, which is the provision of banking services through digital channels, has the potential to bridge this gap and revolutionize banking in rural India.

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Google Still Hasn’t Given Up on RCS

Dignited

Google has been working on RCS, the next generation of SMS, for years now. It’s a more modern, feature-rich messaging protocol that promises to replace the aging SMS standard. However, RCS has been slow to gain traction, and many people are wondering if Google has given up on it.

At Google I/O 2023, Google made some announcements and released statistics that suggest that the company is still committed to RCS and that the rollout is thriving.

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Hybrid-Casual Mobile Gaming to Take Over as In-App-Purchases Soar 37% on Android

Business2Community

Hyper-casual gaming has seen a 37% increase in in-app purchases (IAPs) across Android devices despite a drop in ad impressions.

According to a recent report by mobile marketing data platform Tenjin, hyper-casual gaming, which was once all the rage, has seen a decline in profitability due to a downward trend in ad revenue.

This can be attributed to several factors, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of App Tracking Transparency (ATT) on iOS.

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The Importance of Mobile Signal Strength for Universities in the IoT Age

Deeside

In today’s digital age, universities have become vibrant hubs of activity where students, faculty, staff, and facilities rely heavily on technology to interact and collaborate. The IoT has revolutionised this environment by introducing various connected devices and systems. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

To maintain the smooth functioning of this expanding ecosystem, robust mobile signals are crucial, forming the backbone of communication between devices. This is why reliable mobile coverage is a prerequisite for IoT to flourish and enhance university life, from learning to research and campus operations.

Today, we speak about the evolving role of retail media with a true expert in the space, Skai’s executive vice-president of strategy, Nich Weinheimer. Skai is a leading omnichannel marketing platform integrated with over 1000 retailers as part of its retail media solution, including Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Target/Roundel, and Instacart Ads.

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