Tech

Original title: Google gets to keep Chrome, judge rules in search antitrust case Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser in order to address its illegal monopoly in online search, DC District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled on Tuesday. Over a year ago, Judge Mehta found that the search giant had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act; his ruling now determines what Google must do in response. Mehta declined to grant some of the more ambitious proposals from the Justice Department to remedy Google’s behavior and restore competition to the market. Besides letting Google keep Chrome, he’ll also let the company continue to pay distribution partners for preloading or placement of its search or AI products. But he did order Google to share some valuable search information with rivals that could help jumpstart their ability to compete, and bar the search giant from making exclusive deals to distribute its search or AI assistant products in ways that might cut off distribution for rivals. It’s the most significant antitrust remedies ruling against a tech giant in about 25 ...

Original title: Amazon’s Lens Live AI shops for anything you can see is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Amazon will now let you shop for products by pointing your camera at them. On Thursday, the company announced Lens Live, a new feature that uses your camera to scan things in the environment around you, while surfacing matching product listings. This feature, which is only rolling out to the Amazon Shopping app on iOS for now, lets you pan your camera around a room or focus on a specific product. Amazon says Lens Live will use an object detection model to identify the products shown on your camera in real-time, and then compare them against the billions of products on its marketplace. Lens Live will show you a carousel of similar products. GIF: Amazon Once it finds similar items, Lens Live will display them in a swipeable carousel, where it will also sho ...

Original title: Google and Apple’s $20 billion search deal survives is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Google will be able to keep making search deals like its $20 billion agreement to be the default option in Apple’s Safari browser, a federal district court judge ruled in the US v. Google antitrust case on Tuesday. Executives from both Apple and Firefox-made Mozilla have defended their search deals with Google, with Mozilla’s CFO testifying that Firefox might be doomed without the deal in place. “Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products,” Judge Amit Mehta wrote. “Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial—in some cases, crippling—downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which c ...

Original title: The best deals on MacBooks right now Apple currently sells MacBooks equipped with its own M-series chips in a wide range of sizes and price points. It discontinued the M1 MacBook Air to make room for newer models, but some retailers are still selling the 2020 laptop starting at $599 ($50 off) at Walmart — a far cry from the $2,499 starting price of the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro. Purchasing a new MacBook can be a pricey endeavor, but finding a deal is surprisingly easy. Apple has recently shaken up the starting RAM for several models, creating more options than ever before and resulting in steeper discounts on older models. Although Macs may not get perpetual discounts, it’s not uncommon to see various models discounted by as much as $800. Alternatively, purchasing refurbished options directly from Apple is another way to save money without waiting for the changing deal winds to blow your way. It’s also the only option to find certain SKUs of older models as Apple continues to move forward on newer releases. A ...

Original title: US v. Google: all the news from the search antitrust showdown On August 5th, 2024, Judge Amit Mehta ruled in the case of United States of America v. Google, saying, “…the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.” Nearly a year later, the judge has followed that up with a ruling on remedies for Google’s search monopoly. While lawyers for the Department of Justice had argued that Google should be broken up and forced to split off products like Chrome, Search, and Android, Judge Mehta has ruled against the DOJ’s proposed remedies, banning exclusive deals but leaving others, like its massive search default deal with Apple, and allowing Google to keep Chrome. Of course, even that isn’t enough to end the biggest tech antitrust trial since the US took on Microsoft in the 1990s — possibly aside from the government’s antitrust case targeting Google’s ad business. Lawyers for Google and the Department of Justice will continue arguing ove ...

Original title: Beats Working on New Colors for Solo Buds, Studio Pro, and Solo 4 Apple’s Beats brand will soon come out with new color options for several of its products, according to information discovered by MacRumors. The Beats Studio Pro headphones are set to be released in colors that Apple is referring to as dark slate and pink internally. It is worth noting that we’ve previously seen mentions of unreleased Sand Gray and Soft Pink colors for the Studio Pro, and it’s possible these are same colors currently labeled by Apple as Dark Slate and Pink. Apple plans to debut the Beats Solo 4 with rose gold and champagne gold color options. The Beats Solo Buds will come in a new cream color that Apple calls “icing” internally. The Beats Studio Pro, priced at $350, can be purchased in Navy, Black, Sandstone, and Brown. The $200 Beats Solo 4 come in Matte Black, Slate Blue, Cloud Pink, and a special edition JENNIE Ruby Red. Apple’s $80 Solo Buds are currently available in Black, Storm Gray, Arctic Purple, and Transparent Red. Here’s your first look at 5 new upcoming Be ...

Original title: Apple Releases Sixth Public Betas of iOS 26 and More Apple today released the sixth public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and tvOS 26, allowing the public to test the updates ahead of their September launch. The sixth public betas come a week after the fifth public betas, and the updates correspond with the ninth developer betas that were released earlier today. Public beta testers that have registered on Apple’s website can download the latest ‌iOS 26‌, ‌iPadOS 26‌, and macOS 26 public betas by opening the Settings or System Settings app, going to the General section, tapping on Software Update, and choosing the ‌iOS 26‌, ‌iPadOS 26‌, or macOS 26 Public Beta options. ‌iOS 26‌ and ‌iPadOS 26‌ feature Apple’s Liquid Glass design, with a visual aesthetic that focuses on transparency. Icons, menu buttons, navigation bars, and more reflect and refract light with subtle animations. There are pop-out menus in some areas, tab bars shrink down, and everything has a more rounded look. There are new Apple Intelligence features like Visual I ...

Original title: iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Prices Estimated Ahead of Apple Event Next Week Just one week before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series, an analyst has shared new price estimates for the devices. Here are J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee’s price estimates for the iPhone 17 series in the United States, according to 9to5Mac: Model Starting Price Model Starting Price Change iPhone 16 $799 iPhone 17 $799 — iPhone 16 Plus $899 iPhone 17 Air $899-$949 $0 to +$50 iPhone 16 Pro $999 iPhone 17 Pro $1,099 +$100 iPhone 16 Pro Max $1,199 iPhone 17 Pro Max $1,199 — If these estimates prove to be accurate, the iPhone 17 Pro’s starting price would increase by $100 compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. However, previous rumors have indicated that the iPhone 17 Pro will start with 256GB of storage, whereas the iPhone 16 Pro starts at 128GB. So, the starting price would only be increasing because of Apple eliminating a SKU. Still, it would break an 8-year streak of the Pro model or equivalent starting at $999. The good news is that the standard iPhone 17 and the highest- ...

Original title: Court Allows Google-Apple Search Deal to Continue With Conditions Google will not be barred from entering into search agreements with companies like Apple, the judge presiding over the antitrust case between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice said today (via Bloomberg). Google is not allowed to enter into exclusive contracts for search engine distribution, but it is still allowed to pay to Apple to be a search engine option on iPhone. Apple earns around $20 billion annually from Google, and there was a risk that the two companies could be banned from entering into search engine agreements. “Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial – in some cases, crippling – downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban,” said the judge. Google is specifically allowed to make payments and offer “other consideration” to distribution partners for the preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, and Gemini. Google will not have to sell its Chrome brows ...

Original title: One Week Until iPhone 17: Here’s What We Know Apple will introduce four new iPhones next week, and the standard iPhone 17 will arguably be the least interesting of the bunch. It’s not going to get the super slim design like the iPhone 17 Air, nor will it have the upgraded camera setup like the 17 Pro. There are still a handful of features to look forward to, though, which we’ve outlined below. This guide is limited to the standard ‌iPhone 17‌, which will be Apple’s most affordable ‌iPhone 17‌ model. We’ve done similar rumor roundups for the iPhone 17 Air and the iPhone 17 Pro if you want to check those out. Size and Design There are usually two standard ‌iPhone 17‌ models, but this year, we’re limited to one. Apple is eliminating the “Plus” model and replacing it with the ultra thin iPhone. The ‌iPhone 17‌ will look a lot like the iPhone 16, but Apple is expected to increase the display size. Instead of 6.1 inches, it’ll be 6.3 inches, similar to the iPhone 16 Pro. There will be a single 6.3-inch standard ‌iPhone 17‌ this year. Wh ...