Monthly Archives: July 2022

Google has offered to pay out $90 million to small app developers to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the companys Play store policies violated federal antitrust laws.

The suit claimed that Google maintained polices that effectively forced developers to use its Google Play billing system which for many years had a default 30 percent charge on all transactions. In July 2021, in a concession to smaller developers and in response to this suit, Google cut this fee to 15 percent for the first $1 million earned through any app.

According to Hagens Berman, the law firm representing the plaintiffs in this class-action, some 48,000 small app developers in the US will be able to claim a payment from the $90 million fund. Hagens Berman says some claimants could receive as much as $200,000 while the minimum payment is $250.

Today, nearly 48,000 hardworking app developers are receiving the just payment they deserve for their work product something Google sought to profit from, hand over fist, said Hages Berman managing partner Steve Berman in a press statement. With this settlement, developers will have more room to grow and more money in their pockets to promote their hard efforts.

In addition to the $90 million fund, Google is offering a number of small concessions to developers. Its creating a new Indie Apps Corner to showcase independent and small startup developers building unique high-quality apps in its Play store app, and clarifying language in its Developer Distribution Agreement that makes it clearer that developers can contact users to tell them about out-of-app subscription offers and the like.

The settlement from Google (which will need to be approved by the court) follows a similar $100 million fund offered by Apple to developers over parallel issues with its App Store. That suit, which was also bought by Hagens Berman, included similar concessions allowing developers to contact users and tell them about payment options of Apples platform.

Although both settlements are certainly a win for small developers, they fail to substantially change the policies which have led critics to accuse Google and Apple of anti-competitive behavior. Bigger changes could soon be forced on both companies in the US and EU through pending legislation, though.

US politicians are currently considering a bill, the Open App Markets Act, which would force Apple and Google to allow users to sideload apps, or install them without app stores. (Google says it already allows this.) In the EU, the Digital Markets Act, could also make sideloading mandatory, if its given final approval by the European Parliament for 2023.

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Google offers small app developers $90 million to settle antitrust allegations - The Verge

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt appears to be among the Americans who roll their eyes and scratch their heads when imagining the metaverse.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, this week, Schmidt conveyed indifference and a bit of confusion when asked how the metaverse might affect global relations. "There's not an agreement on what the metaverse is, even though one company has changed its name in anticipation of defining it," Schmidt said on Tuesday, alluding to Facebook's name change to Meta in October 2021.

The tech billionaire, who currently has a net worth of $19.3 billion, according to Forbes, said he's unsure how the future collection of digital worlds which, in theory, could enable people to virtually play, travel, work and shop together will actually affect regular people's lives day-to-day.

It's a commonly shared perception: Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a recent Axios survey said they weren't exactly sure what the metaverse even was, and 58% of respondents said they were neither scared nor excited about the concept.

That hasn't stopped global players like Disney, J.P. Morgan, Coca-Cola and Gucci from jumping on the metaverse train, with some shelling out billions of dollars for virtual reality and gaming concepts. In January, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, saying that buying the makers of video games like "Call of Duty" and "Warcraft" would "provide building blocks for the metaverse."

In March, global investment bank Citi estimated the metaverse in whatever capacity it takes shape could be worth between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030. In anticipation, a mix of companies and investors spent more than $500 million on metaverse real estate sales last year, a number that could potentially double this year.

"There are big risks, but potentially big rewards," Janine Yorio, CEO of metaverse real estate investor and advisory firm Republic Realm, told CNBC in February.

But Schmidt isn't sold by the concept of buying up virtual land for some unknown future use especially, he said, because he suspects the first iterations of the metaverse will revolve around gaming and digital currency. The billionaire didn't expand on what exactly that would look like but he's previously said he's uncertain Meta will be the company to launch it.

On Tuesday, Schmidt suggested that if people, companies or governments ever do need to own virtual land, it'll be far into the future.

"I'm not worried about buying large swaths of private real estate in the metaverse myself," he said. "It's not a concern I have every day."

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Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt: Despite Facebook's big plans, there isnt an agreement on what the metaverse is' yet - CNBC

It has been intriguing to track the shift to Wear OS 3 for smart wearables, and with each fresh piece of information, we can slowly see how Wear OS will develop in the long run. The most recent data is provided by Fossil, a well-known Wear OS wearable OEM.

According to a Reddit post, a Fossil representative gave an update on the condition of the company's smartwatches, mentioning recent changes to the user interface and the debut of a companion app. There is also a statement regarding the shift to new devices arriving with the Wear OS 3 software and some smartwatches receiving an update, as per GSM Arena.

The timeline for H2 2022, which was provided almost a year ago, is in line with the announcement of Wear OS 3 coming to Fossil watches later this year.

The new app was created primarily to make it simpler to discontinue outdated functionality and incorporate fresh user feedback. The new app offers a freshly designed user interface (UI) with a more user-friendly layout, and it gets smartwatches from the brands ready to support Wear OS 3 on existing and future wearables.

The Fossil employee reveals that in order to enable the new wearables software, Google is working on a new Fossil app. Instead of relying on the Wear OS app, OEMs will be able to manage the experience with their own companion apps.

According to GSM Arena, the Google Pixel Watch is anticipated to have its own app, according to a recent leak, while Montblanc's Summit 3 is anticipated to have its own companion app as well. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 has a Samsung companion app.

Given how long this transition has been going on, OEMs and smartwatch manufacturers have found it to be a significant challenge. However, the payoff will be that Wear OS will be a more competitive alternative to the Apple Watch and that the default smartwatch experience for Android will be that much more similar to how the Apple Watch functions with iPhone.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Fossil collaborates with Google to make its new companion app compatible - Business Standard

Google Maps has a very handy feature called Save Parking Location that lets you quickly drop a marker on the spot where you left your car, bike or any other vehicle, and navigate back to it from pretty much anywhere. This saves you from having to find your vehicle manually in case you forgot where exactly you parked it.

Heres how you can use the feature easily and save yourself a lot of time the next time youre at a mall or anywhere with a large parking area.

When you have reached your destination and parked your vehicle, simply open Google Maps, make sure it has the necessary location permissions (Precise, not Approximate, in case youre on Android 12) and follow the below instructions.

Got to the Google Maps main page and click on the My location button on the right. This is the button that is shaped like a crosshair and shows you your own precise location when its pressed. The app will then bring you to the current location, which will be indicated by a blue dot.

Tap on this blue dot to reveal some more options that will pop up on the screen from below. Under the Your Location section, find the Save Parking button. This will be on the left of the Share Location and Calibrate buttons.

Tap on the Save Parking button once and you will see a small box showing you that your parking location has been mapped. You can now navigate back to this location any time with ease.

When you have dropped a parking location on the map using the steps above, you also get access to some advanced features that let you do things like share this location with someone else, add additional parking details (like a pillar number or parking floor number) and even set a parking timer to remind you when your parking time limit is about to expire.

Tap on your parking location to reveal a small box on the bottom of the screen. Swipe up on this box to reveal these additional options.

If you have strayed far away from your parking location (denoted by a tiny, yellow flag on the map), you can still find it by zooming out on the map. When youve zoomed out enough, finer details like restaurants and smaller roads around you should be cleared, but you will still be able to see your yellow parking flag.

Tap on it and from the options that pop up below, tap on Directions to begin navigating. Based on how far you are from the parked location, Maps may suggest a walking route or a road route, but you can change this as you normally would by simply tapping on the desired mode of transportation tab.

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ExpressBasics: How to save your parking location on Google Maps - The Indian Express