Apple is facing a complaint in the U.K. that accuses the company of misleading consumers about updates that purposefully slowed down the performance of older iPhones. In the lawsuit, consumer rights campaigner Justin Gutmann argues that Apple told users that updates released in 2017 would improve battery life and performance. Instead, he claims the company quietly throttled the phones without disclosing it at the time. More: - Gutmann argues that Apple intentionally misled users and abused its dominant market position by concealing the tool in software updates, which he said slowed its phones "by up to 58 percent."
- The complaint covers iPhone models from the 6 through to the X.
- Through the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Gutmann is seeking collective action on behalf of U.K. iPhone users, which could potentially cover 25 million people.
- He estimates total compensation of up to £768M ($927M).
- In response, Apple said: “We have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."
- Earlier this year, Apple agreed to pay some iPhone 4S owners in New York and New Jersey to settle a lawsuit accusing it of throttling the phone's performance.
BBC 
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Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok have signed the European Union's newly updated code, committing to take more action against disinformation on their platforms. The tech giants are among the 30+ signatories that agreed to the EU's overhauled Code of Practice on Disinformation, which aims to crack down on fake accounts, deepfakes, and political advertising online. More: - The rules were revised to cover prior shortcomings. They now address "manipulative behaviors," including deepfake videos and bots, according to European commissioners.
- Under the plans, tech companies would be forced to share more data about their efforts, hire fact-checkers, and provide tools to help users better recognize disinformation, among other actions.
- Signatories have six months to show that they're complying with the new code. They've agreed to present progress reports in early 2023.
- Fines will be up to 6% of a company's global revenue.
- Though still voluntary, the updated code could serve as a foundation for new content moderation rules under the EU's Digital Services Act, which aims to combat the spread of illegal content online.
SEARCH ENGINE JOURNAL
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 A message from THE WEB3 FOUNDATION Polkadot Decoded is back for its third edition on June 29th and 30th, 2022, with a fully hybrid experience of online and in-person events. Attend our live conferences in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hangzhou, and New York, or visit our community-led events worldwide. All talks in the official locations are live-streamed, meaning you can watch them as they’re happening from wherever you are. In the spirit of decentralization, the community has helped curate the Polkadot Decoded main program by voting on submitted presentation proposals. The full program can be viewed here. Location-based invites are limited, so be sure to register ASAP. Polkadot empowers builders and developers to lead the way to Web3. Register Here
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Apple's latest M2 chip shows a 19.5% improvement in multi-core performance over the M1 chip, according to leaked benchmarks from Geekbench. The benchmark results cover the M2 chip found in Apple's upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro, which opens up for pre-orders tomorrow, June 17. More: - At WWDC this month, Apple said its M2 chip delivers an 18% faster CPU, 35% more powerful GPU, and 50% more memory bandwidth than the previous generation M1.
- The new benchmarks appear to corroborate Apple's claims:
- The M2 runs at 3.49GHz versus the M1's 3.2GHz.
- Its single-core performance is about 11.5% faster than the M1.
- Multi-core performance is up nearly 20%.
Zoom-out: - Apple's upcoming MacBook Air will also include the M2 processor. The base model is expected to go on sale in July.
- In a tweet yesterday, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple could release a 15-inch MacBook in Q2 2023, which would have two CPU options, the M2 chip or the M2 Pro chip.
9TO5MAC
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Amazon's annual Prime Day will take place on July 12 and 13 and include deals on Bose, Sony, iRobot, and other technology products, the company said. Early deals for Prime members kick off on June 21 and will include an "up to 55%" discount on Amazon's own tech devices. More: - Amazon said it will offer discounts on the fourth-generation Echo Dot, Echo Show 5, the Halo fitness band, Fire TV, Kindle Paperwhite, and other products.
- As part of the event, Prime members will also be able to claim 30+ free games through Prime Gaming, it said.
- Titles include Mass Effect Legendary Edition and GRID Legends.
- Members will be able to freeload 25+ indie games starting on June 21, Amazon said.
- From June 21 through July 31, the company is also offering Prime users a free Audible Premium Plus membership for the first three months.
- In February, Amazon increased its annual Prime membership for new members from $119 to $139. The monthly fee rose from $12.99 to $14.99.
CNBC
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The city of Las Vegas approved the Boring Company's plans to expand its underground tunnel system, the Vegas Loop, to the city limits. The system, which currently consists of 1.7 miles of tunnel beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, relies on human-driven Teslas to transport passengers between three stations. More: - Elon Musk's Boring Co. was previously granted approval for an eventual 29-mile tunnel network connecting 51 stations across downtown Las Vegas.
- The latest plans expand that to 34 miles and 55 stations, including stops at Allegiant Stadium and the Harry Reid International Airport.
- Tunneling with machines could start in 2023, Boring Co. President Steve Davis said. He estimates that a ride from Fremont Street to the airport could cost $12 and take up to nine minutes.
- During this year's CES, the tunnel system transported up to 17,000 passengers a day, though it did experience traffic backups.
ENGADGET
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Microsoft is testing casual games within Teams that allow users to play against each other during video calls, sources tell The Verge. The internal testing includes games like Solitaire, Connect 4, and Wordament. There's no word on if Microsoft could roll out the feature more widely to consumers and businesses. More: - The company is said to be focused on social experiences to help employees adjust to hybrid work as they return to the office.
- The games are a part of Microsoft's legacy Casual Games offering, which includes Mahjong by Microsoft, Jewel, Sudoku, and others.
- As part of its broader metaverse plans, the company is eyeing virtual spaces within Teams where colleagues could socialize and network using games.
- Similarly, Microsoft's Mesh for Teams is focused on mixed-reality work experiences. The virtual collaborative platform, now in preview mode, supports animated avatars in 3D virtual environments.
- Zoom recently introduced an avatar feature that lets users replace themselves with a virtual character, starting with animals.
THE VERGE
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QUICK HITS - Trying to deliver on big expectations with a small team or budget? Use this worksheet to learn how you can do more with less.*
- Microsoft officially retired Internet Explorer on Wednesday and will begin redirecting its users to its Edge browser through a prompt.
- Tesla has once again raised the prices of all its electric vehicle models by up to $6,000.
- A new iOS update fixes a bug that caused Instagram Stories to reappear after they were already watched.
- Charging tech company EV Safe Charge revealed its latest product, a mobile robot EV charging stall that can be summoned by an electric vehicle via an app or infotainment system.
- Brad Porter, the former head of Amazon's robotics unit, raised $10M to launch Collaborative Robotics, a startup developing robots for industrial settings.
- Facebook's parent company Meta is experimenting with photorealistic avatars.
*This is sponsored content.
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- June 29 - June 30 - Polkadot Decoded: The Biggest Polkadot Event of the Year (Register Here) *
- June 30 - HR Strategies to Retain Remote Employees (Register Here)
- July 20 - Need To Know NoCoder - Yassine Tahi (Kinetix) (Register Here)
- July 20 - The Rise of Metaverse Gaming (Register Here)
- August 17 - Investments To Make In Down Markets (Register Here)
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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 the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. 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. | |
Polkadot empowers builders and developers to lead the way to Web3. Learn more at Polkadot Decoded. | |
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