Meta received a slap on the wrist on Friday to the tune of 91 million euros ($102 million) for breaking Europe's strict privacy rules. The company hadn't put enough protections in place to secure people's social media passwords, and realized it was accidentally storing them in plain text.The Irish Data Protection Commissioner, which is in charge of ensuring Meta abides by Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, issued the fine following a five-year investigation, stretching back to 2019. It was looking ...

Qualcomm has approached fellow US chipmaker Intel in recent days about a possible takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Intel has suffered a string of setbacks in recent years, and a Qualcomm acquisition would be a big deal for the global chip market. The report cited people familiar with the matter, who cautioned that a takeover is far from certain at this point. The magnitude of the deal would likely be scrutinized by antitrust regulators, as it would mean fewer competitors in the PC chip spac ...

It's taken some time, but T-Mobile finally seems set to expand its home internet offering. At its analyst day in 2021, it stated that it aimed to have 7-8 million customers on its then-new home broadband service by 2025. Today it is at 5.6 million users and now seems set to grow. At its 2024 investor-focused "Capital Markets Day" in San Francisco, the carrier revealed its new 5G home internet goal: Get 12 million users by 2028. "Basically we're going faster than expected on implementing the most advanced te ...

Core Viewpoint - Keurig Dr Pepper has settled an SEC complaint regarding misleading statements about the recyclability of K-Cup pods, agreeing to pay $1.5 million and commit to accurate reporting in future statements [1]. Company Overview - Keurig Dr Pepper is a leading player in the single-serve coffee market, with approximately 40 million American households owning a Keurig brewer and billions of K-Cups consumed annually [4]. SEC Settlement Details - The SEC's complaint highlighted that Keurig's 1999 and 2000 annual reports overstated the recyclability of K-Cup pods, failing to disclose concerns from major recycling companies about the feasibility of curbside recycling [1]. - The company has agreed to adhere to accurate reporting rules in its future annual reports [1]. Recycling Claims and Changes - Keurig claims that its K-Cup pods are made from recyclable polypropylene plastic (5 plastic), which is accepted in many curbside recycling systems across North America [2]. - Since late 2020, Keurig has stated that K-Cups are "100% recyclable," but they are still not accepted by some curbside recycling programs due to their small size [3]. Future Initiatives - The company plans to introduce new plant-based K-Rounds in 2025, which will address the plastic recycling issue but will require consumers to purchase new coffee makers as they will not be compatible with existing brewers [4].

Europe's top court issued bad news to both Apple and Google in a single day on Tuesday. The Silicon Valley tech giants have been appealing against fines issued by the EU, and the court ruled against both companies, meaning that they must cough up to the tune of 13 billion euros ($14.4B) for Apple and 2.4 billion euros ($2.7B) for Google.It's particularly bad news for Apple, which only the day prior celebrated the launch of the iPhone 16, as well as updating its Apple Watch and AirPod lineups during its annu ...

A Meta Reality Labs project to create a premium headset to compete with Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro has been canceled, according to The Information. The publication reports that the project was codenamed La Jolla and that the product would have ultimately launched in 2027 with similar micro-OLED display technology to that Apple uses in its headset. When asked for comment, a representative for Meta referenced a Threads post in which the company noted that not all projects come to fruition."We have many prototy ...

A Meta Reality Labs project to create a premium headset to compete with Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro has been canceled, according to The Information. The publication reports that the project was codenamed La Jolla and that the product would have ultimately launched in 2027 with similar micro-OLED display technology to that Apple uses in its headset. When asked for comment, a representative for Meta referenced a Threads post in which the company noted that not all projects come to fruition."We have many prototy ...

Google is facing criticism after influencers were asked to agree to prefer the new Pixel mobile devices over rival gadgets when creating content for followers, as reported earlier Friday by 9to5Google. Content creators, who took screenshots of the demand and posted them to social media on Thursday night, were warned their relationship with the brand would be terminated otherwise. "By opting into this program, do you acknowledge that you are expected to feature the Google Pixel device in place of any competi ...

After launching Hulu on Disney Plus in March for US subscribers, the ESPN hub addition is landing on the streaming service in December, the company shared in its third-quarter executive summary on Wednesday. CEO Bob Iger initially announced the news about adding ESPN content to Disney Plus during Walt Disney Co.'s second-quarter earnings call in May."By the end of this calendar year, we will be adding an ESPN tile to Disney Plus, giving all US subscribers access to select live games and studio programming w ...

Waymo is expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service into the San Francisco Peninsula, as well as more parts of Los Angeles, the company said Tuesday. It's adding 10 square miles around San Francisco and 16 square miles around LA. Riders in Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma can start hailing rides through Waymo starting Tuesday, and riders in Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista and more areas of Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood will have access starting Wednesday. Waymo, which is owned by Google's parent ...