According to Bloomberg, the two tech giants are in active talks about Google Gemini potentially featuring on Apple’s upcoming iOS 18 update.

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However, despite Apple building its own AI models, which are focused on features that operate on its devices rather than on the cloud, the partnership will allow Apple to tap Google’s Gemini for GenAI functions, which includes creating images and writing paragraphs based on user prompts.

Meanwhile, according to reports Apple has also held similar talks with OpenAI.

If a deal between the technology giants is confirmed, Apple will be following rival Samsung in tapping Google’s AI tool, as the company announced Gemini was powering its latest Galaxy devices which were unveiled in January this year.

Meanwhile, the news comes as Google UK&I Vice President and Managing Director, Debbie Weinstein, recently admitted the rise of AI has generated “both excitement and fear about jobs”.

Speaking at the 2024 LEAD conference in London last month Weinstein said: “Yes, it is true that some jobs will disappear, many jobs will be changed and more jobs will be created that we can’t even imagine today.”

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Distad, who most recently served as an executive at Apple for a decade following six years at Hulu, will head up all aspects of the joint venture, including overall strategy, distribution, marketing and sales.

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At Apple, Distad was responsible for the business, operations and global distribution of Video, Sports and Apple TV+. Meanwhile, during his time at the technology giant, he launched the new Apple TV in 2015 and later led teams that launched and scaled the Apple TV app, Apple TV+, and MLS Season Pass.

Before Apple, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Distribution at Hulu.

He was also part of the original launch team of the streaming platform, overseeing customer acquisition and retention, distribution and marketing.

Prior to Hulu, Distad worked in various technology and management consulting roles, including at McKinsey & Company, Calence (now Insight) and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Commenting on his appointment, Distad said: “This is an incredible opportunity to build and grow a differentiated product that will serve passionate sports fans in the US outside of the traditional pay TV bundle.

“I’m excited to be able to pull together the industry-leading sports content portfolios from these three companies to deliver a new best-in-class service.”

The sports streaming offering is scheduled to launch in the autumn of this year and will be made available directly to consumers via a new app.

The platform would aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans.

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery added the following joint statement: “Pete is an accomplished innovator and leader who has extensive experience with launching and growing new video services. We are confident he and his team will build an extremely compelling, fan-focused product for our target market.”

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The comments made by Epic Games Director of Public Policy, Leo Rees, follows Apple blocking the parent company of Fortnite, from launching a rival app store on iOS devices in Europe.

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He said: “Consumers should be able to download apps from where they want, just like on every other computing device.”

In a blog post, Epic Games shared several exchanges with Apple in which it outlined plans for its developer account, which included creating an Epic Games Store iOS app and a Fortnite native app for distribution via that store.

It said: “In terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is taking out one of the largest potential competitors to the Apple App Store. They are undermining our ability to be a viable competitor and they are showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or are critical of their unfair practices.

“If Apple maintains its power to kick a third party marketplace off iOS at its sole discretion, no reasonable developer would be willing to utilise a third party app store, because they could be permanently separated from their audience at any time.”

However, according to the technology giant, one of the reasons they terminated Epic’s developer account within a few weeks of approval was because its CEO, Tim Sweeney publicly criticised its proposed DMA compliance plan, in an X (formerly Twitter) post.

Apple leadership faces some massive decisions in the coming weeks as the contradictions between their stated principles and the intended and actual consequences of their present policies are reckoned with: the app store monopoly, the digital goods payments monopoly, the tax, the… pic.twitter.com/mUxV5ypwcd

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024

Epic Games added: “Apple also claims that Epic is a threat to their ecosystem, but this is an entirely unjustified excuse to terminate one of our accounts.”

Meanwhile, Apple responded, claiming Epic’s “egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate ‘any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games’ control at any time and at Apple’s sole discretion.’”

It added: “In light of Epic’s past and ongoing behaviour, Apple chose to exercise that right.”

This disagreement is the latest in nearly five years of issues between the two firms, which started in 2020 when a Fortnite update allowed gamers to purchase digital coins via a direct payment feature, going around Apple’s rule that iOS games use in-app purchases.

As a result, Epic sued the tech giant, with California’s Ninth Circuit Court ruling in favour of the game developer.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court declined to take up the case, in which both companies appealed the ruling, with Epic Games claiming there were “legal errors” and that Apple had violated federal antitrust laws.

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The 19-minute mini-movie series, “Midnight”, centres around a taxi driver who finds himself coming to the aid of a young female truck driver fleeing from a local gang, led by evil boss played by actor Yukiyoshi Ozawa.

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The film, shot entirely on the iPhone 15 Pro, partners live-action sequences filmed on the streets of Tokyo with illustrations from the original manga, showcasing the powerful cinematic capabilities of the device.

The campaign was launched in Tokyo last night [6 March 2024] and is now available to stream on YouTube.

Meanwhile, select taxis in Tokyo will feature the full film and behind-the-scenes footage after 10 PM until morning, alongside the March 2024 issue of the original manga magazine will feature characters from the film on its cover.

READ MORE: WATCH: Apple unveils Chinese New Year ‘Shot on iPhone’ campaign

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According to the Commission, Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about cheaper alternative subscription services outside the app.

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Illegal under the EU antitrust rules, the move comes as rival streaming service, Spotify, launched a formal complaint against the streaming giant, which dates back almost a decade, which Apple said it will appeal.

As a result of the fine, Apple will have to remove terms to prevent developers from informing subscribers about alternative subscription platforms.

The European Commission said Apple’s conduct may have resulted in many iOS users paying higher prices for streaming subscriptions due to the “high commission fee imposed by Apple on developers and passed on to consumers in the form of higher subscription prices for the same service on the Apple App Store”.

The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said: “For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store.

“They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules, so today we have fined Apple over €1.8 billion.”

However, Apple released a statement claiming that the biggest beneficiary of the ruling, Spotify, “has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation”.

“The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast,” Apple stated.

“That’s because Spotify – like many developers on the App Store – made a choice. Instead of selling subscriptions in their app, they sell them on their website and Apple doesn’t collect a commission on those purchases.”

“All told, the Spotify app has been downloaded, re-downloaded, or updated more than 119 billion times on Apple devices. It’s available on the App Store in over 160 countries spanning the globe. And there are many more ways Apple creates value for Spotify, at no cost to their company.”

“It takes continuous effort and a lot of investment for Apple to make the tools, the technology, and the marketplace that Spotify uses every day. We’ve even flown our engineers to Stockholm to help Spotify’s teams in person. The result is that when a user opens the Spotify app, listens to music on their commute, or asks Siri to play a song from their library, everything just works. And again — Spotify pays Apple nothing.”

Meanwhile, Spotify added that Apple’s “behaviour limiting communications to consumers is unlawful”.

In a statement, the streaming giant said: “This decision sends a powerful message – no company, not even a monopoly like Apple, can wield power abusively to control how other companies interact with their customers.

“Apple’s rules muzzled Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing with our users directly in our app about various benefits – denying us the ability to communicate with them about how to upgrade and the price of subscriptions, promotions, discounts, or numerous other perks.

“Of course, Apple Music, a competitor to these apps, is not barred from the same behaviour. By requiring Apple to stop its illegal conduct in the EU, the EC is putting consumers first. It is a basic concept of free markets – customers should know what options they have, and customers, not Apple, should decide what to buy, and where, when and how,” it concluded.

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Spotify has launched a new campaign that showcases the restrictions that Apple places on developers.

Some of these restrictions prevent users from being able to easily learn about new deals and promotions which could improve their digital experience and cut costs.

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As a result, the streaming platforms “Censored” campaign leverages the platform’s 3MF Premium offer for all eligible Free tier or new users in the UK, with the advert being plastered in key locations in London including Leicester Square and Westminister.

The ad, part of Spotify’s ‘Time to Play Fair’ campaign, which has seen the platform call Apple “outrageous” for trying to charge a 27% fee for transactions outside the App Store.

The campaign also features an email to all eligible iOS users with information about the offer redacted in the OOH displays.

Spotify Head of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, April Boyd, said: “For far too long, Apple’s anti-competitive practices have kept UK consumers in the dark about ways to save money.

“We want to show consumers what a fairer digital market should look like, with greater transparency, increased convenience, and new promotions. This is why Spotify supports a strong DMCC Bill that creates a level playing field, ensuring the UK remains a leading market for digital innovation.”

The news comes as the company has urged the UK government to pass a strong Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill that brings consumers an expanded tech sector. 

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Technology giant Apple has launched its seventh annual Shot on iPhone campaign celebrating Chinese New Year.

The 15-minute film, ‘Little Garlic’, is created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab Shanghai with Marc Webb as director and tells the story through the lens of an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The campaign welcomes the year of the Dragon with the story of a young girl battling her insecurities about her nose, which her grandad lovingly calls her “garlic nose”. Despite her grandad saying the family nose brings luck and fortune, the little girl is still not happy with it, which eventually leads to a series of magical transformations.

The film which will appear on broadcast, digital and social media, features on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, including 5x optical zoom, Action mode, and Cinematic mode, which were all utilised in the production to bring the campaign to life.

This comes as Apple recently launched two new adverts adding to its ‘Relax, its iPhone’ campaign.

The latest campaign by the tech giant showcases the relief that parents can experience thanks to new updates added to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus and iOS 17.

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Apple has launched two new adverts adding to its ‘Relax, its iPhone’ campaign.

The latest campaign by the tech giant showcases the relief that parents can experience thanks to new updates added to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus and iOS 17.

The campaign has been created by Apple’s in-house team and directed by Biscuit Filmworks’ Andreas Nilsson, featuring soundtracks – ‘Goodbye’ by Nathan Yell and ‘How Many Times’ by JJ & The Mood.

The first campaign, ‘New Driver’, showcases the Check-In feature for iOS 17 that automatically sends a notification when the user reaches their destination.

It also highlights Apple’s Check-In feature, which shares the user’s real-time location, battery level and more information with a desired contact.

Alongside this, the second advert highlights the iPhone 15 Plus’ all-day battery life, where an uncle spends the whole day filming his nephew – a young martial artist who intends on karate chopping through wooden boards – and having his uncle film the whole process.

The adverts are set to air during the College Football Playoffs, as well as being live on YouTube.

The campaign follows Apple’s recent ad which promoted its new software update, showcasing voice-preservation technology which allows users to recreate their voice to ensure that it’s” never lost”.

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Apple has picked up an Emmy Award for outstanding commercial at the 2023 Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony in Los Angeles.

The technology giant’s “The Greatest” advert, which was directed by Kim Gehrig raises awareness of seven people going about their lives, who are living with living with vision, mobility, or cognitive impairments.

As a result, the two-minute film showcases how Apple products make life easier for people across the world every day.

The commercials track, “I Am the Greatest,” used lyrics from the speeches of boxer Muhammad Ali, who became an advocate for disability late in life following his Parkinson’s diagnosis

The lyrics were also remixed by DJ and producer Cola Boyy, alongside jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker.

The win comes as Apple recently released a new advert to promote its new software update, showcasing voice-preservation technology which allows users to recreate their voice to ensure that it’s” never lost”.

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Technology giants Apple and Google have been asked by The European Commission to clarify their risk management regarding their online platforms for purchasing apps.

Under the new regulation, Digital Services Act (DSA), tech firms across the globe are facing legal scrutiny amid the introduction of DSA, which came into force this year.

As a result, Apple and Google have been given a 15 January 2024 deadline to reply.

This includes new responsibilities aimed at addressing illegal content, online security risks, and transparency concerns related to online advertisements and recommender systems.

In a statement, the EU executive said: “The Commission is requesting the providers of these services to provide more information on how they have diligently identified any systemic risks concerning the App Store and Google Play.”

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