A dark theme is making its way to Google Maps as some users are reporting. Google is rolling out an app-wide dark mode to Google Maps as of version 10.51.1 running on Android 11.

It seems the change is gradually rolling out on the server-side as updating to the latest version of Google Maps is not enough to see the option appear in the app’s settings menu.

The appearance setting in the app will let you force the dark theme indefinitely or match the Android phone universal system theme setting.

There has always been an automatic night-mode that switches on during navigation when the sun goes down if the user is navigating through a tunnel, but it was never applied when browsing maps or menus.

Is anyone else seeing this update on their end? I have not yet seen the change reflect on my OnePlus 8 Pro running the Oxygen OS 11 Open Beta 2. In a Reddit post, at least one person claims to have received Google Maps dark theme and they posted screenshots for proof. You can see it below, where they now have an “Appearance” option in settings that lets them force light or dark themes, or they can let Google Maps listen to whatever the system theme is set at.

source: gsmarena

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Apple and Google dropped the popular game Fortnite from their app stores after the game’s developer introduced a direct payment plan that bypasses their platforms.

Apple and Google both take a 30% cut from in-app revenue purchases in games, which has long been a sore spot with developers.

Fortnite is free, but users can pay for in game accoutrements like weapons and skins. Its developer, Epic Games, said in a blog post Thursday that it was introducing Epic Direct payments, a direct payment plan for Apple’s iOS and Google Play. Epic said the system is the same payment system it already uses to process payments on PC and Mac computers and Android phones.

Apple and Google said the service violates their guidelines.

“Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services,” Apple said in statement.

Google said Fortnite will remain available on Android, just not through its app store. Android users can download the app from other app stores, although that’s generally not an option for iPhone users.

Epic Games did not immediately return a request for comment. Epic’s Fortnite Twitter account said the company would debut a new short film called “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” a seeming parody of Apple’s iconic “1984” commercial that introduced the Macintosh computer. It has also filed a complaint against Apple in the U.S. District Court in Northern California for dropping Fortnite.

Source:AP

 

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 The author of proposed Australian laws to make Facebook and Google pay for journalism said Thursday his draft legislation will be altered to allay some of the digital giants’ concerns, but remain fundamentally unchanged.

Australia’s fair trade regulator Rod Sims, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said he would give his final draft of the laws to make Facebook and Google pay Australian media companies for the news content they use by early October.

Facebook has warned it might block Australian news content rather than pay for it.

Google has said the proposed laws would result in “dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube,” put free services at risk and could lead to users’ data “being handed over to big news businesses.”

Sims said he is discussing the draft of his bill with the U.S. social media platforms. It could be introduced into Parliament in late October.

“Google has got concerns about it, some of it is that they just don’t like it, others are things that we’re happily going to engage with them on,” Sims told a webinar hosted by The Australia Institute, an independent think-tank.

“We’ll make changes to address some of those issues -- not all, but some,” Sims said.

Among the concerns is a fear that under the so-called News Media Bargaining Code, news businesses “will be able to somehow control their algorithms,” Sims said.

“We’ll engage with them and clarify that so that there’s no way that the news media businesses can interfere with the algorithms of Google or Facebook,” Sims said.

He said he would also clarify that the platforms would not have to disclose more data about users than they already share.

“There’s nothing in the code that forces Google or Facebook to share the data from individuals,” Sims said.

Sims was not prepared to negotiate the “core” of the code, which he described as the “bits of glue that hold the code together, that make it workable.”

These included an arbitrator to address the bargaining imbalance between the tech giants and news businesses. If a platform and a news outlet can’t reach an agreement on price, an arbitrator would be appointed to make a binding decision.

Another core aspect was a non-discrimination clause to prevent the platforms from prioritizing Australia’s state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Special Broadcasting Service, whose news content will remain free.

Sims said he did not know whether Facebook would act on its threat and block Australian news, but he suspected that to do so would “weaken” the platform.

Spain and France and have both failed to make Facebook and Google pay for news through copyright law. Sims said he has spoken about Australia’s approach through fair trading laws to regulators in the United States and Europe.

“They’re all wrestling with the same problem,” Sims said.

Source:AP

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The Justice Department is expected to bring an antitrust action against Google in the coming weeks, focusing on its dominance in online search and whether it was used to stifle competition and hurt consumers, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press Thursday.

The department also is examining Google’s online advertising practices, said the person, who could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Antitrust officials at the department briefed state attorneys general Thursday on the planned action against Google, seeking support from states across the country that share concerns about Google’s conduct.

The anticipated lawsuit against Google could be the government’s biggest legal offensive to protect competition since the groundbreaking case against Microsoft almost 20 years ago.

Lawmakers and consumer advocates accuse Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits.

Spokespeople for Google, whose parent company is Alphabet Inc., and headquarters is in Mountain View, California, declined comment Thursday.

Google has maintained that although its businesses are large, they are useful and beneficial to consumers. The company says its services face ample competition and have unleashed innovations that help people manage their lives. Most of its services are offered for free in exchange for personal information that helps Google sell its ads.

For over a year, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have pursued sweeping antitrust investigations of big tech companies, looking at whether Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple have hurt competition, stifled innovation or otherwise harmed consumers. And a bipartisan coalition of 50 U.S. states and territories, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced a year ago on the steps of the Supreme Court that they were investigating Google’s business practices. They cited “potential monopolistic behavior.”

Now with 40 days to the presidential election, the Justice Department is approaching legal action against Google and soliciting the support of state attorneys general on an issue of rare bipartisan agreement. Support from the states would bolster the Justice Department’s case against Google.

The Trump administration has long had Google in its sights. A top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said two years ago that the White House was considering whether Google searches should be subject to government regulation. Trump himself has often criticized Google, recycling unfounded claims by conservatives that the search giant is biased against conservatives and suppresses their viewpoints, interferes with U.S. elections and prefers working with the Chinese military over the Pentagon.

The company has denied the claims and insists that it never ranks search results to manipulate political views.

Antitrust regulators in Europe have cracked down on Google in recent years by imposing multibillion-dollar fines and ordering changes to its practices. Among other things, the regulators found that Google forced smartphone makers to install Google apps, thereby expanding its reach. Google has since allowed more options for alternative browsers and search apps to European Android phones.

Google controls about 90% of global web searches. Its dominance in online search and advertising enables it to target millions of consumers for their personal data. Google dwarfs other search competitors such as Microsoft’s Bing and Yelp and has faced harsh criticism in the past for favoring its own products over competitors at the top of search results.

Google also owns the leading web browser in Chrome, the world’s largest mobile operating system in Android, the top video site in YouTube and the most popular digital mapping system.

source: AP

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