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Justice Department Accuses Apple of Exploiting Green Bubbles in Monopoly Lawsuit against iPhone

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But one category in particular caught our attention as the DOJ spends quite a bit of time talking about “green bubbles” and “blue bubbles.”When an iPhone user sends a message to another iPhone user, by default that message is sent using Apple’s iMessage protocol. If an iPhone user texts an Android user — and vice versa — iOS falls back to the older, less secure but universal SMS protocol. “Apple makes third-party messaging apps on the iPhone worse generally and relative to Apple Messages, Apple’s own messaging app,” the DOJ wrote in its lawsuit. At this point, you might think: wasn’t the RCS protocol supposed to level up SMS messaging and alleviate these pain points? It feels a bit odd that the DOJ is front-loading its antitrust lawsuit against Apple with the much talked about “green bubbles” vs. “blue bubbles” debate as there are far more serious and substantive issues.

Possible rephrasing: Potential Impact of DOJ Lawsuit on Apple Watch

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The Apple Watch gets some face time in the filing, as well. The suit rightly notes that the Apple Watch is “only compatible with the iPhone” – a longstanding complaint among Android users interested in picking up what is far and away the market share leader. Apple is not, however, alone in ensuring that certain functionality only operates as stated with first-party hardware, however. The Apple Watch has historically been even more dominant in its respective category than the iPhone in the global market. Should the DOJ’s suit force the company to open Apple Watch functionality, it would not only limit watch-based iPhone sales, it would also potentially open the device up to Android users, which, in turn, could have a positive impact on sales.

Ex-Gaming Entrepreneurs Secure $2.5M in Funding for NFT Marketplace in Effort to Keep Users, Even During Non-Profitable Periods

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Former web3 gaming founders raise $2.5M for their NFT marketplace to retain users even when there ‘isn’t money to be made’Even though NFT sales volume is still down 88% from 2022 all time-highs (and down 38% year-to-date), Pallet Exchange is building a new type of NFT marketplace focused on user retention. “It’s cool if there’s a lot of financial innovations happening, but at the same time we saw there’s pain points from a user experience,” Li said. It’s using social media tactics like in-app messaging that lets people interested in the same NFT collections engage with each other on its marketplace. That’s when Seiyans, an Sei-based NFT collection fueled by meme culture, capitulated the new blockchain and marketplace into the talk of the crypto world. Down the line, Pallet plans to look into working with big partners in the art marketplace and create a separate marketplace for those creators.

“Roku Enforces Forced Arbitration: No Access to TVs or Streaming Devices Without User Consent”

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Roku users around the country turned on their TVs this week to find an unpleasant surprise: the company required them to consent to an arbitration agreement in order to access their device. Users (at least, this user) received an email the day before saying that “we have made changes to our Dispute Resolution Terms, which describe how you can resolve disputes with Roku. We encourage you to read the updated Dispute Resolution Terms. But there really is something rather despicable about totally disabling a user’s device until they agree, and having basically anything the user does count as agreement. Don’t delay or, when people sue them over how they held devices hostage in order to coerce them into consumer-hostile dispute resolution terms, you won’t be able to join in on the fun.

Google Reveals Privacy Updates, Choice Screens, and Data API Ahead of DMA Enforcement Date

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Google has trailed another bundle of product tweaks ahead of Thursday’s deadline for compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Google’s blog post further notes that users “may” see “new consent banners asking them whether they would like to link their Google services“. The adtech giant is the DMA gatekeeper with by far the largest number of regulated platforms — eight in total; namely: Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Google Ads, Chrome, Android, Google Search and YouTube. Elsewhere on data for ads, Google appear to be relying on its advertisers to keep a pipeline of targetable user data flowing through its ad engines. Some of what Google is trailing in today’s blog post also appears to be re-announcing changes previously announced and/or launched in recent weeks.

Removing the Creep Factor: Topsort’s Contribution to Subtle E-commerce Advertising

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The company raised $8 million in seed funding in 2022 to value the company at $110 million. Topsort develops retail media technology for small businesses to use auctions as a way to create effective advertising. When they start a campaign, customers can add items like sponsored listings, banner ads and video ads. They then control how the ads are shown, how to measure ad quality and relevance, and who can launch campaigns. Today, Topsort is used by marketplaces in 35 countries by the likes of Poshmark and Youtravel.me.

==== Researchers discover high vulnerability of commonly used video doorbells to hacking

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These doorbell cameras are, however, still available elsewhere. Consumer Reports says EKEN did not respond to their emails reporting these issues. Despite these flaws and Consumer Reports warning online marketplaces about them, the doorbells remain available for sale on Amazon, Sears, and Shein. But Consumer Reports claimed there are similar doorbells, likely whitelabels of EKEN doorbells, still available on Walmart. After TechCrunch shared five listings flagged by Consumer Reports with Walmart, Forrest said the company took down three of the five, while two had already been removed.

Is the Ring car camera destined to fail due to an undefined target audience?

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But the Ring Car Camera? You do have to know who your customers are, though, and that’s where the Ring Car Camera found itself straddling multiple domains without a clear foothold in any. Ring Car Camera did have some exciting innovations. Moreover, discontinuing the Ring Car Camera may prompt a reassessment of consumer expectations regarding dash cams and automotive security devices. The discontinuation of the Ring Car Camera is likely the final nail in the coffin of that project, too.

Bookmark Your Favorite Posts with Threads’ New Feature!

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While the bookmarking icon is within easy reach on X at the bottom of the post, the new feature on Threads is a bit more hidden. That’s because Instagram is rolling out new Threads features in phases over time, not to all of the Threads user base at once. Bookmarks aren’t the only new feature being spotted by Threads users. Another Threads user noticed they’ve now begun to receive notifications from Threads and Facebook in their Instagram notifications. In another effort to grow its app, Threads also began testing a cross-posting feature from Facebook to Threads, the company confirmed last week.