Google and parent company Alphabet continue to earn the ire of European Union regulators, who are contemplated a second record fine for the company after recently smacking down the company for favoring results from its own shopping service over others.
This week came the news that the EU has put together a panel of experts to consult on its next Google-related anti-trust case: whether the company is holding mobile device OEMs hostage to Google search and other apps.
A couple of contexual tidbits and analysis: globally, Android absolutely dominates the smartphone operating system market, as seen below:
Global market share held by leading #smartphone operating systems? 86.1% running #Android, 3.7% on #iOS, 0.2% all other. #mobileapps pic.twitter.com/L3XCwh4oJi
— Mike Quindazzi ✨ (@MikeQuindazzi) July 6, 2017
Other thinkpieces explore the changing dynamics of regulation in a market where one company essentially IS the market …
The EU tells Google that with great market share comes great responsibility https://t.co/vlGzOy4cz3
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 1, 2017
… but maybe this means a deterioration in customer experience?
Why the EU fining Google is bad news for customer experience https://t.co/NahpNKKV1y
— Florent Diverchy (@Thefrenchflo) July 7, 2017
Google, for its part, basically says, “Hey, what about Amazon and eBay?!?!” and might appeal the $2.7 billion fine levied by the EU in the shopping case.
https://twitter.com/NorthernBeaconS/status/883332676740165633
Elsewhere in the Twitterverse, EE achieved near-gigabit LTE speeds at Wembley Stadium in the U.K. in a demo this week using a Sony Xperia XZ Premium with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset.
Gigabit LTE in Europe today. Powered by @EE @Qualcomm @sonyxperia It's here. It's now. It's faster than ever! Live today in the U.K.! pic.twitter.com/5KWqJBJ5HE
— Bassil Elkadi (@bassilelkadi) July 5, 2017
Exciting news in UK as @EE showcases #GigabitLTE (Cat 16). Speeds peaking at 600 to 700Mbps @Qualcomm @Sony @SonyXperia pic.twitter.com/U0YVo3jifX
— Ben Wood (@benwood) July 5, 2017
For a little bit of blow-your-mind, Stanford University researchers (led by Andrew Ng, formerly chief scientist at Chinese tech company Baidu) found that an artificial intelligence algorithm can detect heart arrhythmia better than a panel of experts.
It might not be long before algorithms routinely save lives. https://t.co/EsYmYSnN9S
— MIT Technology Review (@techreview) July 7, 2017
Meanwhile, in India, a social start-up called No Food Waste is using a mobile app to facilitate redistribution of extra food from weddings and restaurants to hungry people:
Food for all: how #mobile tech is combatting hunger in #India #SDG2 #ICT4SDG #ZeroHunger https://t.co/QC09K3tc8n
— Int’l #Telecommunication Union 🇺🇳 #connect2030 (@ITU) July 6, 2017
Boost Mobile has turned rapper Biz Markie into “Bizilla”, terrorizing a city while boasting about the screen size on a ZTE Max XL (with HPUE, apparently). It’s a little … biz-arre.
https://twitter.com/boostmobile/status/883035287437193216
While July 4th was the big holiday this week, apparently July 5th was National Bikini Day. T-Mobile US CEO John Legere celebrated … sort of. You cannot un-see this tweet.
It’s #NationalBikiniDay and this is the best I can do! Be sure to check out this #SlowCookerSunday for the whole show! 😉 pic.twitter.com/mPyBE39Lc9
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) July 5, 2017
After all that, you deserve some Friday fun. Here’s Big Bird starring in a mash-up of the Beastie Boy’s Sabotage.
Beastie Boys meets Sesame Street: Watch the "Sabotage" video, remade with Big Bird and company. https://t.co/X6kXMVAo61 pic.twitter.com/yX0zFrpXhU
— NPR Music (@nprmusic) July 7, 2017
