Apple Store employees in Towson, Maryland became the company's first retail location to vote to unionize. Employees at the store voted 65-33 to officially join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers as they seek improved pay and working conditions. More: - The National Labor Relations Board still must verify the votes before Apple can begin bargaining with the union. That process is expected to take about a week.
- The group, which goes by the title "Apple Coalition of Organized Retail Employees," said the decision to unionize is about "workers gaining access to rights that we do not currently have."
- Apple Stores in New York, Louisville, and Nashville are also in the process of organizing. Last month, employees at an Apple retail store in Atlanta withdrew plans to hold a union vote, claiming a "systemic, sophisticated campaign" on the part of Apple to intimidate workers.
- In its response, Apple said it offers "strong compensation" and benefits including health care and paid parental leave to full-time and part-time employees. It has not commented on the union-busting claims.
- Apple has 65,000 retail employees and 250 retail stores in the U.S.
THE NEW YORK TIMES 
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Crypto lender Celsius Network said it will require more time to stabilize its liquidity and operations after choosing to pause all customer withdrawals and swaps last week. Its decision to freeze withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on June 12 has made an impact on the broader crypto market. Bitcoin fell below the $18,000 mark over the weekend but was trading back above $20,000 as of Monday morning PT. More: - The lending firm cited "extreme market conditions" in its decision to implement the freeze, which has been compared to the fall of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and the Bitconnect Ponzi scheme.
- On Monday, Celsius asked its customers for additional time and said it plans to "continue working with regulators and officials" to find a solution.
- The company said it will also pause all Twitter Spaces and Ask Me Anything, or AMAs, “to focus on navigating these unprecedented challenges and seeking to fulfill our responsibilities to our community.”
- On Friday, Celsius abruptly canceled a YouTube AMA with its CEO Alex Mashinsky, ending the possibility of direct communication with its customers. Instead, it put out a 13-second video clip on its YouTube channel.
- Celsius launched in 2017 and offers customers a high yield for crypto deposits by lending to other crypto firms. As of May, the firm had about $12B in customer assets across 1.7 million users.
CNBC
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Three Democratic U.S. Senators have asked the Commerce Department to require phone manufacturers to adopt a common charger. In an open letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts specifically cited a newly adopted EU policy that will require Apple's iPhone and other smartphones to have USB-C ports by fall 2024. More: - The trio argued that the EU policy would significantly cut down on e-waste and help consumers who are "tired of having to rummage through junk drawers full of tangled chargers" to find a compatible charger or buy a new one.
- According to the senators, an estimated 11,000 tons of the 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste generated in 2019 were thrown-away chargers. “This waste is driving consumers up the wall, and it’s driving our planet deeper into a climate crisis," they wrote.
- They are urging the U.S. to adopt a measure similar to the EU one, which also covers tablets, digital cameras, e-readers, handheld game consoles, and headphones
- Such a proposal could have the biggest impact on Apple, whose iPhones are charged with a Lightning port. However, a recent report notes that Apple is now testing iPhones with USB-C ports. Apple could make the switch as early as 2023, according to analysts.
PC MAG
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Tencent Holdings, China's most valuable tech company, has formed an extended reality (XR) unit to focus on the metaverse. The social media and gaming giant will pursue both software and hardware for XR, a term that encompasses technologies related to augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR). More: - Tencent formed the division earlier this year but has kept it a secret. Sources told Reuters that it's a part of Tencent's Interactive Entertainment business group and is being led by Tencent Games Global's CTO Li Shen.
- The unit is reportedly a "passion project" of Tencent CEO and founder Pony Ma, who first referred to the metaverse as an “all-real internet” back in 2020.
- Tencent has been cutting back elsewhere in the company. On June 7, it shut down its Penguin Esports game streaming platform due to increased competition and regulatory pressure on the Chinese video game industry.
- Last year, China's State Administration for Market Regulation blocked Tencent's attempt to merge its game live streaming services Douyu and Huya, further issuing a blow to its gaming plans.
- Citi forecasts that the metaverse and related technologies could be an $8 trillion to $13 trillion total addressable market by 2030.
REUTERS
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A former Amazon software engineer was found guilty of seven federal crimes for stealing the data of millions of Capital One customers. Paige Thompson is accused of carrying out the March 2019 hack — one of the largest security breaches in U.S. history — and compromising the social security numbers and other data of more than 100 million people. More: - On Friday, a Seattle jury convicted Thompson on five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, wire fraud, and damaging a protected computer.
- According to the Justice Department, Thompson programmed software in 2019 in order to scan AWS for misconfigured accounts and then infiltrated Capital One's cloud servers.
- She also planted software on servers and used it to mine cryptocurrencies that went into her own online wallet, the DOJ said.
- Capital One later agreed to pay $190M to settle a class-action lawsuit in connection with the breach. It was also fined $80M for failing to properly secure user data.
- The jury found Thompson not guilty of aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. She faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to five years on the other charges.
THE VERGE
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Privacy-focused messaging app Telegram announced plans to offer a paid subscription tier with features such as 4 GB file uploads and faster downloads. In a recent interview, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said he believes the app and service "should be funded primarily by its users, not advertisers." He stressed that all existing features of the app will remain free. More: - Pricing for the paid tier appears to range from $4.99 to $6 per month.
- Telegram says this will unlock doubled limits, exclusive stickers, improved chat management, ad-free browsing, animated profile pictures, and voice-to-text capabilities.
- Premium users will be able to follow 1,000 channels, create up to 20 chat folders with 200 chats each, pin 10 chats, and add a fourth account to their apps.
- In addition, Telegram unveiled verification badges for public figures and organizations, improved bots, improved external sharing on iOS, and more.
- It is now among the most downloaded apps worldwide and claims 700 million monthly active users.
TECHCRUNCH
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QUICK HITS - Learn why many SMEs are pivoting away from perimeter-based security to a Zero Trust model.*
- Mark Zuckerberg unveiled four new prototypes of Meta's virtual reality headsets.
- WhatsApp has added the ability to mute and message other users during group calls.
- Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup Klarna has held talks to raise at least $500M at a $15B valuation.
- Elon Musk was sued by an investor over Tesla's alleged toxic workplace. The company faces discrimination and harassment accusations.
- Ferrari executives have re-stated their belief that their cars will not be self-driving, and that a part of the charm of their product is being able to drive the car yourself.
- California-based Miso Robotics announced a partnership to bring its robotic fry cook to a restaurant overseas for the first time.
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*This is a sponsored post.
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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. | |
Incognia is a privacy-first location identity company that provides frictionless mobile authentication for reduced fraud. | |
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