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: Ousted Democratic FTC commissioner can return (again) for now is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner fired by President Donald Trump without cause, can at least temporarily return to work while her legal case plays out. This happened once before when Slaughter briefly returned to her office months after Trump claimed to fire her, when US District Court Judge Loren AliKhan found her dismissal unlawful. Trump broke with decades of Supreme Court precedent known as Humphrey’s Executor, preventing presidents from firing independent commissioners without cause. But her return was short-lived — a few days later the appeals court temporarily paused the order reinstating Slaughter. This latest order, approved 2-1 by a panel of a ...

Original title: Google critics think the search remedies ruling is a total whiff Today’s ruling is a reminder of Google’s sweeping power over the online economy, but the limited remedies ordered by the court demonstrate why we need additional rules of the road for Big Tech. That’s why we must pass my bipartisan American Innovation and Choice Online Act to stop dominant platforms like Google from continuing to unfairly preference their own products over competitors’ — which hurts consumers and entrepreneurs, and stifles innovation. Through three administrations, our antitrust enforcers have proven that Google’s tactics endanger the future of a free and open internet and risk choking off innovation in critical areas like artificial intelligence. I will continue to work across the aisle to ensure even the most powerful tech companies have to play by the rules. ...

Original title: Disney will pay $10 million to settle FTC claim it used cartoons to collect YouTube data on kids is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. Disney has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that it violated federal law by misleadingly labeling cartoons on YouTube so it could illegally collect children’s personal data. The FTC alleges that Disney failed to label some videos of its popular kids cartoons it uploaded to YouTube as “Made for Kids” — a designation that makes such videos ineligible for certain features, like the collection of personal information. It’s a way YouTube makes it harder to target kids with personalized ads. But rather than mark individual videos as either “Made for Kids” or “Not Made for Kids,” the FTC alleges, Disney left the default designation at the channel level, so any video uploaded to a “Not Made for Kids” channel would bear that “Not Mad ...

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 ...

Original title: How to Make Light Roast Espresso, According to Chemists (2025) “You need to realize you’ve already rejected tradition by not getting a dark roast coffee. You’ve embraced modernism,” Hedrick says. “And if you’re going to embrace modernism and reject traditionalism, you must always also reject traditional shot parameters.” But terrific light roast is possible. There are two ways to go. You can go traditional—changing your dose and ratios a bit but aiming for a cup with intensity and balance. That’s what I’ve been honing for the past year. But there’s also a wilder, weirder path: The turbo shot, also called a gusher. Hedrick, following the results of new scientific research from University of Oregon biochemistry professor Christopher Hendon and others, has gone all in on throwing out the entire traditional espresso rulebook in his pursuit of light roast espresso that’s neither sour nor bitter. Here are two ways of making light roast espresso, and the results. How to Make a “Traditional” Light Espresso Shot AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron So ...