The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has accused Apple of restricting competition in the mobile wallets market on iOS. The commission formally issued a statement of objections to Apple over the restrictions, saying the company unfairly prevents third-party services from accessing the iPhone's near-field communication capabilities. More: - Mobile wallets use near-field communication, or NFC, to communicate wirelessly with a seller's payment terminal.
- Apple is accused of closing off access to the technology and shielding its Apple Pay wallets from competitors.
- The EU has indications that Apple has "restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple's devices," EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
- The commission claims Apple has engaged in anti-competitive practices since 2015, when it first launched Apple Pay.
- The statement is only a preliminary finding. By law, the commission could choose to fine Apple as much as 10% of its global turnover, or $36.6B based on its 2021 revenue.
- Apple will be given a chance to review and respond to the allegations. In a statement, the company said it would "continue to engage with the commission to ensure European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment.”
THE GUARDIAN 
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Japanese gaming giant Square Enix has agreed to sell three of its studios to the Embracer Group. The Swedish game company will acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal, as well as IP for Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and other Square Enix franchises, for $300M in cash and debt. More: - The studios employ roughly 1,100 people at eight global locations.
- Square Enix said the deal will allow it to expand and launch new businesses through its investments in blockchain, AI, and the cloud.
- Last year, Embracer acquired 22 gaming companies, including its $1.3B purchase of "Borderlands" studio Gearbox.
- The acquisition will grow Embracer Group’s content pipeline to more than 230 games.
- Crystal Dynamics also announced that it’s developing a new Tomb Raider title built in Unreal Engine 5. It's also working on a new "Perfect Dark" game alongside developer The Initiative for Xbox Game Studios.
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Nintendo estimates that it will sell ~10% fewer Switch consoles in the current fiscal year compared to last year. The ongoing chip shortage and logistics network disruptions caused the company to lower its production forecast to 20 million consoles for 2022, down from 23 million in 2021. More: - The 20 million is also a 30% decrease from fiscal 2020, when Nintendo sold 28.83 million Switch units.
- It produced 23 million of the hybrid handhelds in fiscal 2021, a 20% plummet from 2020.
- To compensate for the loss, Nintendo has doubled down on software sales. The company plans to release a "Splatoon" game in September and a new Pokemon title by the end of 2022, among other titles.
- As of March, the Switch has sold more than 103 million units, outselling the Wii, Microsoft Xbox Series X, and Sony PlayStation 5.
- The company released its latest Switch model with a 7-inch OLED display in October.
NIKKEI ASIA
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India's Enforcement Directorate, the country's anti-money-laundering agency, has seized more than 55.5 billion rupees ($726M) from the local unit of Xiaomi Corp., claiming the Chinese tech company violated foreign-exchange laws. The smartphone maker is accused of making "illegal remittances" to foreign entities under the guise of royalty payments. More: - The funds were seized from the local bank accounts of Xiaomi Technology India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, according to the Enforcement Directorate.
- The company is accused of remitting the foreign currency to three foreign-based entities, including a Xiaomi group entity.
- Xiaomi started remitting money in 2015 after launching operations in India the year prior, according to the agency.
- Xiaomi refuted the accusations, saying its royalty payments and bank statements were "all legit and truthful" and it plans to work with the government to "clarify any misunderstandings."
- The company said its royalty payments were made for the "in-licensed technologies and IPs used in our India version products."
- The Enforcement Directorate had been investigating the business practices of Xiaomi, India's largest smartphone seller by shipment volumes, as well as several other Chinese tech firms.
TECHCRUNCH
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Wikimedia, the foundation behind Wikipedia, said it is no longer accepting cryptocurrency donations. The organization began accepting Bitcoin in 2014 but has decided to discontinue the practice based on feedback from donors and volunteers. More: - Wikimedia said it will close its account with crypto payment service provider Bitpay, effectively ending direct acceptance of all crypto including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum.
- In a poll, community members voted 234-94 in favor of ending the practice, citing concerns about crypto's environmental impact and the risk of scams.
- The foundation received only $130,100 worth of cryptocurrency donations last year, less than 1% of its total earnings.
- The World Wildlife Fund and the Mozilla Foundation have also stopped accepting blockchain donations and fundraising. Mozilla put them on pause pending a review of crypto's impact on its climate change commitments.
COINDESK
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Apple's upcoming Watch Series 8 could feature a body temperature sensor. The feature was supposed to be included in the Apple Watch Series 7 but was canceled when its algorithm failed to meet requirements before engineering validation testing. More: - Body temperature measurement may be included in the new watch provided that its algorithm can meet Apple's standards before entering mass production, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
- The challenge lies in the varying degrees of skin temperature that change due to the outside environment.
- A smartwatch requires an algorithm because it's incapable of supporting core temperature measurement through hardware alone, Kuo said.
- The watch is due out in the second half of 2022.
- Kuo said the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, also due out in 2H22, may not support body temperature measurements due to algorithmic limitations.
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- Qualcomm plans to release its Nuvia Arm processors, a competitor to Apple's M-series chips, in late 2023.
- Google expanded its Career Certificate program by offering U.S. businesses free online courses in data analytics and other tech skills.
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- AI safety company Anthropic raised $580M from FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and other investors.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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Controlling Complexity: a video featuring Simone Biles. Presented by Axonius. Watch now. | |
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