Thoughts Unboxed

Magenta carrier T-Mobile has recently implemented several changes to its service offerings, affecting various aspects of its accounts. One area that has been impacted is the auto-pay discount available to users. This discount provides credits for each line when users set up automatic bill payments. While the change was announced some time ago, it is now gradually rolling out to more users. Change Details Many users have begun receiving texts and emails requesting them to update their auto-pay method or risk losing their auto-pay discounts. Please refer to the attached screenshot for an example of the email notification.      New Requirements Moving forward, T-Mobile will only consider debit cards and bank accounts as valid payment methods for receiving auto-pay discounts. Any other payment method will void the auto-pay discount.  Concerns While T-Mobile claims that this change is intended to benefit customers, some speculate that it might be primarily aimed at avoid

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the Federal Trade Commission's petition seeking injunctive relief against Microsoft. This ruling paves the way for Microsoft to proceed with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the near future. Microsoft's President Brad Smith welcomed the swift decision. He said in a statement: We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews. While the court's ruling is a significant victory for Microsoft, a major obstacle remains in the form of the United Kingdom's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), which has already rejected the proposed merger. Citing concerns over potential unfair advantage in the emerging cloud gaming sector, the CMA has been engaged in negotiations with Microsoft to explore alternative terms for the merger. With a deadline of

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was unsuccessful in its attempt to obtain a temporary injunction blocking Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Federal judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the petition earlier this week , allowing Microsoft to proceed with the acquisition by July 18th. There was speculation that the FTC might drop its lawsuit entirely, but surprisingly enough, the FTC is appealing the federal judge's decision and has filed an opposition to the judge's ruling . The FTC has lodged its appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court and is once again seeking to halt the deal. In its appeal, the FTC has claimed the judge made several judgemental mistakes. Various objections raised by the FTC can be summarized as: Aplying an incorrect legal standard to the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. Making a legal mistake by finding that Microsoft was likely to impede competition in the market for multi-game subscription library servic

  The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) of the UK may be changing its position on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The authority has expressed openness to reconsidering its decision to block the merger if Microsoft can address the concerns raised in CMA's final report. CMA was the first antitrust authority to block the merger, citing concerns about the potential impact on the future of cloud gaming. Microsoft has challenged this decision, and a hearing is scheduled for July 28. However, Microsoft, Activision, and CMA have agreed to pause the litigation in the UK. This pause will allow the three parties to work on a satisfactory restructuring of the transaction. CMA's change in stance follows the FTC's loss of a motion for a preliminary injunction against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Brad Smith, Microsoft's representative, responded to the decision, saying: After today's court decision in the U.S., our focus now turns ba

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost its motion for a preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The case involved presentations from both parties over a span of five days, with the federal judge tasked with deciding whether to grant the FTC's request for an emergency injunction to prevent the deal from closing. While the FTC still has the option to file an appeal with the federal appellate court, it remains to be seen whether they will pursue that route or drop the lawsuit entirely. In her decision , Federal Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley stated: This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger i

Twitter has been facing challenges and declining user engagement for years. Recent developments, including its takeover by Elon Musk, have added to the woes of the embattled micro-blogging platform. Amidst this backdrop, new competitors are vying to seize a piece of Twitter's pie, with Meta's Instagram Threads emerging as a potential instant threat.   According to Apple's App Store Listing, Instagram Threads is set to launch on July 6th. An early listing on Google's Play Store was also discovered over the weekend. Interestingly, Meta has taken a cautious marketing approach, presenting the app as "Instagram Threads" rather than "Meta Threads," likely aiming to leverage Instagram's popularity while avoiding Facebook's negative publicity. A web portal, threads.net, displays a countdown timer for the app launch, scheduled for 9 AM CST on July 6th.   Instagram Threads could gain substantial traction given Twitter's ongoin

Sony's fierce opposition to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has been no secret since the announcement last year. The gaming giant has been lobbying extensively against the deal's approval. In an attempt to assuage Sony, Microsoft offered a guarantee of Call of Duty's availability on Sony's PlayStation platform. Recent developments have shed light on a twist in the tale. According to a Twitter post, Sony's CEO, Jim Ryan, purportedly made a counteroffer to Xbox Boss, Phil Spencer, as a condition to green-light the deal. The counterproposal laid out several demands, as follows: Ensure that all existing and future Activision Blizzard games are still available on PlayStation & have parity with Xbox. Don't make PlayStation Activision Blizzard games more expensive than Xbox. Treat all Activision Blizzard games equally on subscription services of Xbox and Playstation. Upon comp

In what can only be described as a dream season for corporate attorneys, FTX has stepped into the legal arena by filing a lawsuit against its former compliance officer, Daniel Friedberg. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Friedberg's actions were the catalyst behind the misappropriation of billions of customer funds by individuals such as Sam Bankman-Fried and others. FTX suffered a major setback towards the end of last year when the excitement of the crypto boom came crashing down, and life slowly returned to normal in the post-COVID era. Here are the allegations as laid out in the lawsuit: Friedberg and others facilitated the routing of billions of dollars in purported profits of the FTX Group to the FTX Insiders, and their families, friends, and other acquaintances through purported personal ‘loans,’ bonuses, ‘investments,’ and all other means of transfer, including real estate purchases and hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable and

Day 1 - June 22nd, 2023 Highlights The first day of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing sparked a heated battle between two gaming giants: PlayStation and Xbox. As the case unfolded, it became apparent that the FTC, seemingly donning the mantle of Sony, the unrivaled leader in the gaming world, was pitted against Microsoft's Xbox, a brand still striving to recover from the infamous Xbox One fiasco nearly a decade ago. FTC's Opening Statement According to James Weingarten, the counsel for the FTC, Activision is responsible for developing some of the most significant video games in the United States, including popular titles like Call of Duty, Diablo, and Overwatch. Weingarten emphasizes that both Microsoft and its competitors require high-quality content, referred to as triple-A, for their gaming consoles. As a result, they not only license Activision's content but also pay a premium for it. Weingarten further asserts that the evidence to be presented by the FTC in the coming days

In the cutthroat world of business, companies often aim to strike their rivals where it hurts the most. As Microsoft faces challenges in gaining approval for its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Google saw an opportune moment to deliver a potential knockout punch to Microsoft's Azure division, a direct competitor to its own Google Cloud division. Background In March 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) called for businesses to provide input on the business practices of major cloud providers such as Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon AWS. Recently, Google responded to this call by leveling accusations against Microsoft and Oracle, alleging unfair practices in the cloud industry, CNBC reports. Google's Complaint Against Microsoft Within its complaint, Google specifically targeted Microsoft, claiming that the company, through its dominant Windows Server and Microsoft Office products, creates barriers for clients to explore alternatives to its Azure cloud infrastruct

Microsoft finds itself entangled in multiple legal battles, proving that its fight knows no rest. While the tech giant prepares to challenge the block on its proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in both the UK and the United States, it also faces a smaller yet significant side battle—a lawsuit brought forth by a group of gamers. The lawyers representing the gamers recently unveiled an alleged internal email exchange between Matt Booty, the Head of Microsoft Xbox Game Studios, and Tim Stuart, Microsoft's CFO for Xbox. Although the exact contents of the email remain redacted, it is said to contain "uncontroverted evidence" that Microsoft aimed to eliminate its main competitor, Sony PlayStation, from the market. Microsoft has countered the claims by stating that the email was sent in 2019 and is unrelated to the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in early 2022. However, when approached by Axios , the company refused to disclose the c

The post-COVID aftershocks are still in full swing. This time, the victim is Google Domains. It is always like walking on eggshells to cling on to anything Google that is not Search or Android. Google Domains used to be a quick way for anyone to not only purchase a domain but also build a website using various options, including Blogger and Google Sites. In a surprise announcement on Friday, June 16th, Squarespace announced the takeover of Google Domains, including approximately 10 million domains. The transaction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2023. Squarespace also commits to honor existing customer pricing for at least 12 months. While this may not seem like a significant announcement considering a domain is typically registered for at least a year, it aims to ensure a seamless transfer of domains by leveraging Google's infrastructure. The purchase will also see Squarespace becoming the exclusive partner for anyone looking to purchase a domain alongside Goog

The Reddit Saga continues to generate attention in the blogosphere, but unfortunately, not for positive reasons. In what can only be described as a devastating blow to Reddit moderators, the CEO has unleashed a formidable weapon in an attempt to quell the protest against API policies — forced eviction . In an interview with NBC News, the Reddit CEO stated his intention to implement changes that would enable users of a Reddit community to vote out the moderators, effectively weaponizing the very communities these moderators have dedicated countless hours to build and maintain.   Reddit clarified its stance in a fact sheet released on Thursday , stating that it is "not shutting down discussions or unilaterally reopening communities." The admin account u/ModCodeOfConduct also commented on the moderator removal policy, stating: If a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep t

And the Reddit Saga continues ... In an unprecedented CEOh moment, Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman, referred to the ongoing protests as " noise ", and expressed his belief that the protests would eventually subside, allowing things to return to normal. Huffman's comments were made in an internal memo - as obtained by TheVerge -  addressing the protest-oriented blackout of over 8,000 subreddits on June 12. This blackout was a direct response to the controversial API pricing policies implemented by Reddit that would force most of the third-paty apps to close shop. The contentious API policy, designed to monetize Reddit's data for training artificial intelligence tools, dealt a heavy blow to many third-party apps, rendering them unable to function under the new pricing model. Despite the backlash, Steve Huffman remained optimistic, suggesting that the " noise " would eventually fade away. He expressed confidenc

On Monday, Reddit experienced an outage coinciding with a protest by thousands of subreddits against the site's new API pricing terms. Reddit attributed the issues to a significant number of subreddits going private, causing expected stability problems. The blackout was resolved by 12:28 PM CT.  The problems began in the morning, affecting Reddit's desktop and mobile sites as well as its native mobile apps. Although some subreddits were accessible during the outage, Reddit.com failed to load. Downdetector recorded around 43,000 user reports of issues at the peak, but the reports have since decreased. A Twitch stream tracking the number of subreddits going private in protest was also affected but has returned to normal. Over 7,900 subreddits have gone private or read-only in response to the API pricing changes, leading apps like Apollo for Reddit to announce their shutdown by the end of the month. The new pricing structure would b

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The FTC has filed a lawsuit to block the merger in December 2022, expressing concerns about the potential negative impact on competition in the gaming industry. FTC fears Microsoft could manipulate Activision's gaming products, such as by restricting availability or increasing prices on other platforms, which would harm competitors like Sony. FTC argues in the complaint: Both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction are necessary because Microsoft and Activision have represented that they may consummate the proposed acquisition at any time. The FTC's temporary injunction attempt aims to prevent Microsoft and Activision from proceeding with the acquisition until the case is fully reviewed. This development comes as the July 18th deadline for the deal appro

Twitter's new CEO, Linda Yaccarino , has officially entered the arena!. In her first memo titled "Building Twitter 2.0 Together," she emphasizes the need to transform Twitter into a "global town square," aligning with Elon Musk's vision for the company. Yaccarino recognizes the successful transformations led by Musk in industries such as space exploration and electric vehicles, and she highlights that Twitter's global town square also requires a similar level of transformation. Her memo emphasizes the importance of facilitating unfiltered information exchange and open dialogue on topics that matter most for driving civilization forward. Here is the complete memo: Building Twitter 2.0 Together     Hello Twitter! People keep asking me: Why Twitter? So, I’ll tell you. From space exploration to electric vehicles, Elon knew these industries needed transformation, so he did it. More recently it has become

During WWDC 2023, Apple finally unveils it's vision of augmented reality by introducting Vision Pro Handset. The input model for spatial computing by solely relying on hands, eyes and voice Tap fingers to select, flick to scroll. Voice input is done when on a search field. The digital crown is used to dictate the immersiveness level. When someone is nearby, the Handset would reveal eyes to the visitor. From the demo, this definitely look like an iPhone moment of Mixed Reality.

  During the recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled its latest addition to the MacBook lineup - a new 15-inch MacBook Air, which the company proudly claims to be the world's best in its category. This new model is just 11.5mm, making it the thinnest 15-inch laptop globally. Additionally, it weighs slightly over three pounds, making it highly portable. The display is 15.3 inch diagonally, spots a slimmer 5mm bezel, offers peak brightness of 500 nits, a Full HD Webcam and 6-speaker system supporting spatial audio. Apple promises 18-Hours of battery life. However, the laptop features only two USB-C Thunderbolt ports, a MagSafe charging connector, a headphone jack which means a return to dongle life! Another surprise is M2 chip. There were expectations of M3 chip for the new MacBook Air considering how underwhelming M2 chip was compared to M1. The new MacBook Air 15 will start at $1299 ($1199 for Education) and hit the shelves next week. This also bring down the cost of

Apple's highly anticipated WWDC event is just around the corner, and the excitement is mounting as the company unveils the finalists for the prestigious Apple Design Awards 2023. This annual event, which originally started as the Human Interface Design Excellence Award (HIDE) in 1997, aims to honor the most groundbreaking apps and games designed specifically for Apple products. The diverse range of apps and games that have made it to the finals are organized into distinct categories, highlighting their unique qualities and contributions. Let's take a closer look at each category and its respective finalists:   Inclusivity Finalists in this category provide a great experience for all by supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, and languages.    Anne    Universe — Website Builder    Passenger Assistance    stich.    Ancient Board Game Collection    Finding Hannah   Delight and Fun Finalists in this category provide memorable, engaging, and satisfying exper