Experience tech

Today, the European Commission handed down a $5 billion fine to Google for anti-competitive behavior, the single biggest antitrust ruling the company has ever faced. The commission’s central complaint is that by requiring Chrome and Google search as default services on any device using the Google Play Store, Android is engaging in anti-competitive behavior. As part of the ruling, Google must stop forcing Chrome and Google search on manufacturers, and stop any efforts to block forked versions of Android. We still don’t know how Google will respond to the ruling — particularly whether it will end up directly charging phone makers for Android licenses — but it’s clearly a major blow to Google and the strategic value of Android as a platform.

Selena Email Account Hacked A 21-year-old New Jersey woman has been charged with hacking into the email accounts of pop star and actress Selena Gomez, stealing her personal photos, and then leaked them to the Internet. Susan Atrach of Ridgefield Park was charged Thursday with 11 felony counts—five counts of identity theft, five counts of accessing and using computer data to commit fraud or illegally obtain money, property or data, and one count of accessing computer data without permission. According to the prosecutors,

There's terrible news for Apple users in China. Apple's Chinese data center partner has transferred iCloud data, belonging to 130 million China-based users, to a cloud storage service managed by a state-owned mobile telecom provider—raising concerns about privacy. Back in February this year,  Apple moved the encryption keys  and data of its Chinese iCloud users from its US servers to local servers on Chinese soil to comply with the new  regulation of the Chinese government , despite concerns from human rights activists.

Famed astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered the first four moons of Jupiter way back in the early 1600s. More than 400 years later, astronomers are still finding moons orbiting the solar system’s largest planet. We’re not just talking about one or two stragglers, either. Astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science have spotted 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter, bringing the total to 79. The Carnegie Institution team, led by Scott Sheppard, didn’t set out to find even a single new Jovian moon. The team’s goal was to scan the sky for evidence of a massive ninth planet in the outer solar system. Many scientists are on the same quest, believing that a ghostly gas giant out past the orbit of Neptune could explain a number of orbital quirks in other objects. Sheppard realized last year that the team’s search zone for a ninth planet overlapped with Jupiter’s orbit. So hey, why not look for some more moons?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will create as many jobs in the UK as it will displace over the next 20 years, a report has said. The analysis, by accountancy giant PwC, found AI would boost economic growth, creating new roles as others fell away. But it warned there would be "winners and losers" by industry sector, with many jobs likely to change. Opinion is split over AI's potential impact, with some warning it could leave many out of work in future.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now worth $150bn (£113bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Jeff Bezos's net worth has increased by over $60bn in the last 12 months, which makes him the world's richest man. This places his worth higher than that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has previously topped the rich lists - even at his peak in 1999. Then Mr Gates was worth $100bn - which would be around $149bn today, when adjusted for inflation. Mr Gates is currently in second place with a worth of $95bn, having given away 700 million Microsoft shares and $2.9bn in cash since 1996. He gave the cash and assets to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg reports. Amazon websites crash on Prime Day Alexa, are you friends with our kids? Mr Bezos says he is selling about $1bn of Amazon stock every year to fund Blue Origin, the project he has founded to develop commercial space travel. It's not the first time Jeff Bezos has topped the worl...

Google Assistant is rolling out a new visual overview that will offer proactive suggestions and personalised information for your day. The fresh experience, which is designed to serve information in the form of "visual snapshot" - similar to cards on the dated Google Now, was announced at I/O 2018 back in early May. It is heading to Android and iOS devices in all languages supported by the Google Assistant. In other news, Google has announced a new look for its sign-in page that includes tweaks to the Google logo and centre alignment of all items on the screen. The new sign-in page was first announced last month, however, the search giant delayed its arrival due to "unforeseen delays" and is now rolling out its presence with some minor changes from the original overhaul. With the new visual experience, Google Assistant now provides you with information based on contexts such as the time of day, location, and recent interactions directly on your screen in a proacti...