Good morning. It’s a new week, and it’s time to get into the tech news. Bit of a gaming-heavy one today.
1. Apple v Epic heads to court: Australia edition
Epic’s legal battle against Apple has come down under, and is among four cases against the tech giant, alleging that the company has an unfair and illegal monopoly on the iOS ecosystem that prevents competition, kicking off today in Melbourne. The legal action dates back to 2020, when Fortnite was banned from the Apple App Store for not following the rules, by introducing a transaction method that avoided Apple’s 30 per cent cut. Epic is looking to fight the walled garden Apple has set up and claims that it is on the side of developers, while Apple is defensive of the cut for the service it provides.
2. SpaceX reportedly building spy satellite network for US government
Reuters reports that SpaceX is building hundreds of spy satellites under a $US1.8 billion classified contract with the U.S. government from 2021. The network is supposedly being built by the company’s ‘Starshield’ business, and a spokesperson for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office said “The [office] is developing the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen,” though did not comment on SpaceX’s involvement.
3. PS5 Pro tipped for end of 2024
Sony’s mid-life upgrade for the PlayStation 5 may arrive at the end of 2024, The Verge reports. The new console supposedly includes a GPU up to three times as powerful as the one in the standard PS5, with technical documents reportedly posted to Sony’s developer portal. There’s also mention of “PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR)” which could be the console’s answer to super scaling tech from companies like AMD and Nvidia. Developers are rumoured to have been testing the tech since September.
4. FTC launches inquiry into Reddit AI deal
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry into Reddit’s sale of user posts to organisations, including Google, to train AI models, AP reports. “Given the novel nature of these technologies and commercial arrangements, we are not surprised that the FTC has expressed interest in this area,” Reddit said in the FTC’s filing. “We do not believe that we have engaged in any unfair or deceptive trade practice.”
5. LinkedIn adds a feature you’ll probably never use
Ending things on a lighter note, and Microsoft-owned social network for jobs and workers LinkedIn is adding on-site games. TechCrunch reports that the site is experimenting with gaming to boost engagement on the platform, including games in the same vein as Wordle. Companies may be ranked on LinkedIn depending on the scores of their workers. “We’re playing with adding puzzle-based games within the LinkedIn experience to unlock a bit of fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully spark the opportunity for conversations,” a spokesperson said to TechCrunch.
BONUS ITEM: I look forward to the Australian government’s inquiry into the March 15 McDonald’s outage.
McDonalds is unable to serve customers across the country this evening as an IT outage has crashed all internal systems. pic.twitter.com/1tv57vvpb3
— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 15, 2024
Have a lovely day.
Image: Epic Games