Apple may soon be facing a hefty fine from the EU over its App Store policies. It would be the first time the iPhone maker will be penalized under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Apple to be the first company penalized under the EU’s DMA for its App Store policies

Apple was declared guilty of enforcing “steering” policies on its App Store by the EU earlier this year. The European Commission also started a new investigation into Apple’s lackluster support for alternative iOS marketplaces in Europe.

The EU alleged Apple is undermining alternative iOS app stores. However, Apple is to face a hefty fine under the EU’s DMA, Blomberg has reported. This would make Apple the first company to face financial penalties under the DMA.

The Commission is gearing up to levy the penalty after it found that Apple’s “anti-steering” practices harmed competition on the App Store. Simply put, the EU concluded Apple does not wholly support the concept of allowing developers to guide or point users to cheaper purchases outside the App Store. EU deemed this behavior illegal under the DMA back in March.

How much fine Apple may have to pay the EU?

Incidentally, it is not just Apple that is facing heat or steep fines from the EU. Other tech giants such as Google and Meta are also under scrutiny, and they are facing some very hefty fines.

Back when Spotify had complained to the EU, the latter had slapped a €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) fine on Apple over its App Store policies. Incidentally, Spotify’s complaint about Apple’s anti-steering practices predates the DMA.

Currently, Apple is facing fresh proceedings into the company’s support for alternative iOS and iPadOS app stores. The EU has objected to Apple’s Core Technology Fee, its eligibility requirements for developers, and also its outlook towards third-party accessories. Additionally, the EU continues to allege Apple hasn’t made it easy for iPhone users to switch to third-party marketplaces.

The DMA rules state companies can be charged up to 10 percent of annual global revenue and up to 20 percent for repeat offenses. This reportedly translates to a $38 billion fine. Apple is yet to comment on the development. However, Apple would most likely contest whatever amount the EU decides.

Sony announced that it will stop selling the Airpeak S1 camera drone. Sales of the product will end on March 31, 2025. Sony will also stop selling most of the drone’s accessories next year, but replacement batteries and propellers will be available until March 31, 2026. Inspections, repairs and software maintenance will continue through March 31, 2030.

The Airpeak S1 was initially introduced during a virtual presentation at CES in 2021. The drone was intended to capture high-definition footage with Sony’s full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens Alpha cameras. It could fly for 12 minutes with a camera attached and achieved a max flight speed of 55.9mph. While the high-end drone would set buyers back about $9,000 even before buying accessories, it had middling to flat-out negative reviews.

Metavrse, a 3D creation platform for the spatial web, has named Julie Smithson as president and CEO.

The Toronto, Canada-based company started out as a kind of metaverse shopping mall, where people would shop virtually for digital or real-world things.

A husband-and-wife team, Alan and Julie Smithson, started working on the company in 2015 amid the virtual reality craze and incorporated the company in the spring of 2016. They assembled a team and built an engine to run the mall on the web in 2020 and kept working on it. Alan Smithson served as CEO and he announced TheMall in 2022 with the hope of filling 100 floors of virtual retailers.

Now the company describes itself as focused on 3D creation for the spatial web, with a focus on XR, 3D and the metaverse. And the Smithsons are changing roles.

“Our mission is to make the metaverse creation experience as intuitive as possible,” said Julie Smithson, CEO of Metavrse, in a statement. “We are thrilled to unveil the next chapter of Metavrse. By combining AI with spatial web technologies, we are creating a platform that empowers users — regardless of their technical skill level to build immersive virtual worlds and experiences effortlessly.”

Before now, Julie Smithson had served as COO and cofounder. Now the team has delivered more than 200 3D projects for companies such as Microsoft, T-Mobile, Samsung, Wipro, JP Morgan, Mars-
Wrigley, Mastercard and more. She was recently named “Top 100 Women of the Future, 2024.”

Julie Smithson said the mission is to make the metaverse creation experience as intuitive as
possible, inspiring innovation and creativity across sectors like education, training, marketing,
retail, and entertainment.

As part of this transformation, Metavrse will soon relaunch its flagship platform, making it easier than ever for creators to develop and deploy immersive content entirely within their browsers. This shift eliminates the need for specialized hardware or software, offering users from all backgrounds the opportunity to shape the future of the spatial internet.

“As we drive technological innovation, our core focus is to empower creators to build and deliver
transformative experiences that reshape entire processes and industries,” she said. “At Metavrse, we are excited to unveil new opportunities for creators, educators, and marketers to explore the limitless potential of 3D creation.”

EV startup Canoo has lost its chief financial officer and its head lawyer, the latest in a string of executive departures as the company continues to struggle to find mass adoption of its electric work vans.

CFO Greg Ethridge and general counsel Hector Ruiz both resigned from Canoo on October 31, the company announced Tuesday in a regulatory filing. Ethridge and Ruiz did not respond to requests for comment.

Canoo also announced it has furloughed 30 workers in Oklahoma for 12 weeks “as part of a broader realignment of its North American operations.”

Ethridge has been replaced by former investment banker Kunal Bhalla, who has been chief of staff to CEO Tony Aquila. Bhalla will make a base salary of $300,000. Associate general counsel Sean Yan will replace Ruiz.

The departures come just a few weeks after Canoo closed its original headquarters in Los Angeles, California in order to prioritize its operations in Texas and Oklahoma. The last remaining co-founder left the company around the same time, as did Canoo’s chief technology officer.

Canoo has been struggling financially as of late. The company reported around $19 million in total cash as of June 30, 2024, $4.5 million of which was unrestricted. In October, Canoo revealed in a regulatory filing that a fund connected to Aquila loaned the startup around $1.2 million at an 11% interest rate. On Tuesday, the company announced in the same regulatory filing that it has borrowed another $2.7 million from Aquila’s fund. Canoo has also entered into a revolving credit facility with Aquila’s fund.

Canoo is also facing multiple lawsuits from suppliers alleging unpaid bills, as TechCrunch previously reported. Another supplier, Kistler Instrument Corporation, has since filed a lawsuit against Canoo as well in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking $56,000 in damages.

Nintendo hasn’t announced its Switch successor yet, but we do know one thing for sure: it will be able to play current Switch games and have carryover for your Nintendo Switch Online services and account. The news was announced during Nintendo’s midyear policy briefing, with further information promised “at a later date.”

Nintendo also talked about numbers for the current Switch (PDF), noting that it sold 4.72 million units in the past three months, a drop of 31 percent compared to the same period last year but well above previous consoles eight years after they launched.

That adds up to 146 million Switch units sold and a new record for software sales on a Nintendo platform, which reached 1.3 billion units as of September 30th, 2024. It also noted that Switch Online subscriptions dropped slightly from last year to about 34 million members. At the same time, the number of people opting for the pricier version with the Expansion Pack library of games continues to increase.

According to the presentation, “More software has been played on Nintendo Switch than on any other Nintendo hardware.”

All three of the major console manufacturers have had spotty records with backward compatibility. Both the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are mostly backward-compatible. But since the transition from the Wii U involved going from discs to cartridges, the Switch is not. Playing a game from previous Nintendo consoles at the moment is a function of optimism, involving the hope that either Nintendo releases a remastered Switch port or brings the game to its Switch Online library, but that won’t be the case this time around.

According to Nintendo, the Switch 2 (or whatever it’s actually called) is still on schedule to be revealed during this fiscal year, which runs until the end of March 2025, without interrupting Nintendo’s existing connection with over 100 million annual Switch players.

The conversation about backward compatibility isn’t just about player satisfaction but also video game preservation. A report from the Video Game History Foundation found that over 87 percent of games released before 2010 are “critically endangered” or unavailable for purchase. While Nintendo has brought some of its back catalog to the Switch, there are still a lot of inaccessible games. Nintendo also directly contributed to the increasing scarcity of older games by shutting down the Wii U / 3DS e-shop last year.

Update, November 5th, 2024: Added additional details.

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.