The European Commission and UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have launched an antitrust investigation into the advertising deal between Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) codenamed "Jedi Blue." In particular, the organizations are looking into whether the tech giants colluded to hinder competition "in markets for online display advertising." The US Justice Department, backed by several states, is also investigating the deal between the two companies.

As the commission explains, Google provides an ad technology service that auctions off online display advertising space on websites and apps as part of its Open Bidding program. Meanwhile, Meta's Audience Network participates in those kinds of auctions for ad spaces facilitated by Google and rival services. CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said the organization is "concerned that Google may have teamed up with Meta to put obstacles in the way of competitors who provide important online display advertising services to publishers."

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, told The Financial Times that the commission suspects there may have been an agreement between the companies to "only to use Google services and not competing services." Vestager also told the publication, however, that the commission is investigating the possibility that Meta was unaware of the agreement's repercussions and that Google acted alone. "We have not concluded yet if it's a Google thing alone or if they were in it together. It's not a given that Meta was conscious of the effects of the deal and that's what we have to investigate," the commissioner said.

In addition to opening a probe into the Jedi Blue deal, the CMA is also scrutinizing Google's conduct as a whole in relation to ad bidding. The watchdog is investigating whether the tech giant abused its dominant position to gain an advantage over competitors offering bidding services. 

Google previously denied that it colluded with Meta in a court filing, and a spokesperson echoed that in a statement sent to Engadget:

"The allegations made about this agreement are false. This is a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement that enables Facebook Audience Network (FAN) to participate in our Open Bidding program, along with dozens of other companies. FAN's involvement is not exclusive and they don't receive advantages that help them win auctions. The goal of this program is to work with a range of ad networks and exchanges to increase demand for publishers’ ad space, which helps those publishers earn more revenue. Facebook’s participation helps that. We're happy to answer any questions the Commission or the CMA have."

A Meta spokesperson also told us that the deal with Google is non-exclusive: 

"Meta's non-exclusive bidding agreement with Google and the similar agreements we have with other bidding platforms, have helped to increase competition for ad placements. These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers and publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all. We will cooperate with both inquiries."

If the CMA finds that the companies had violated competition law, they could be slapped with fines equivalent to 10 percent of their global revenues. As The Financial Times notes, though, the process could take years to complete.

Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale game, will soon have a mobile version. In a tweet, the game’s publisher Activision announced it was hiring for a slate of new mobile roles. The upcoming Warzone will be the second CoD title adapted for mobile, following the release of Call of Duty: Mobile in 2019. Warzone fans are likely still enjoying Season 2, which was released last month. The release date of the new mobile game hasn’t been announced yet, though games journalist Tom Henderson did note the title has already been added to Playtest Cloud, a testing platform for mobile games.

Fans of mobile games should expect to see more from the Activision universe. A mobile version of Diablo Immortal is in the testing stages and is expected to be released later this year. Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard—expected to finalize in fiscal year 2023—would give it control of Activision’s enormously successful mobile gaming business.

The Santa Monica-based publisher will be drawing new recruits for the Warzone mobile game during a turbulent time for the company. Activision is facing lawsuits over allegations of sexual harassment and has fired or discliplined dozens of employees it deemed to be guilty. Meanwhile, QA testers at Raven Software—the Wisconsin-based Activision studio behind the original Warzone—recently unionized. Notably, most of the new mobile roles that Activision is hiring for are based at either Activision Mobile, its in-house mobile game studio in Santa Monica or Digital Legends, an Activision studio in Barcelona, Spain.

Chatting with an iPhone user has always been frustrating for Android device owners, because iMessage emojis appear as text on Google Messages. As it previewed last month in a beta, Google has started rolling out a feature for Messages that translates iMessaging "Tapbacks" as emojis. It will first arrive to Android devices set to English, "with additional languages to follow," Google wrote in a blog post. 

Until now, a "thumbs up" to a text that says "see you in ten?" sent from an iPhone would be translated to "liked 'see you in ten?'", for example. With the new feature, Android users receive emojis instead, though they may not match exactly what was sent — a "heart" reaction yields the "face with the heart eyes," for instance. To make that clear to the user, they'll also see "translated from iOS."

Google

That's not the only feature that will make inter-device communication easier. Taking the opportunity to slam iOS's lack of RCS messaging, Google pointed out that photos and videos can look blurry when shared with Apple devices. However, it's sort of fixing that by bringing Google Photos into Messages. "You can send your videos as Google Photos links right inside the conversation, preserving their clarity," it said. A similar feature for photos is "coming soon."

Google also launched other features within Messages to help keep you on top of things. Organized Inbox sorts your messages into personal and business tabs, much as Gmail can do. It'll also automatically delete one-time password text messages after 24 hours to further reduce clutter, if you want. And if you forget to reply to a message, "gentle nudges can remind you to reply to messages you may have missed or need to follow up on," Google said. 

Other new features include birthday reminder nudges if you've saved someone's birthday in your contacts app. It also launched new emoji functions, letting you "create the perfect emoji if you have Gboard set as your keyboard in Messages." It added that Emoji Kitchen now has "over 2000 new emoji mashups available as stickers, letting you replace heart eyes with pretzels or rain disco balls," it cited as examples. And finally, Google revealed that YouTube videos will now appear directly in conversations if you send a link. 

The European Commission has sent Google a request to remove Russian state media results for searches performed in countries within the EU. As The Washington Post reports, Google has uploaded a letter from EU officials to a database of government requests. In it, the officials explain how the commission's official order to ban the broadcast of RT and Sputnik in the European Union also applies to search engines and internet companies in general.

If you'll recall, the commission issued a ban on the state media outlets a few days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said back then that by doing so, the outlets "will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war." While it wasn't quite clear how the order applies to internet companies, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok promptly restricted access to RT and Sputnik across Europe. Google also announced its own restrictions, but only for the outlets' YouTube channels.

In the letter Google has uploaded, officials explained that search engines play a major role in disseminating content and that if the company doesn't delist the outlets, it would facilitate the public's access to them. Part of the letter reads:

"The activity of search engines plays a decisive role in the overall dissemination of content in that it renders the latter accessible to any internet user making a search on the basis of the content indication or related terms, including to internet users who otherwise would not have found the web page on which that content is published...Consequently, if search engines such as Google did not delist RT and Sputnik, they would facilitate the public's access to the content of RT and Sputnik, or contribute to such access. 

It follows from the foregoing that by virtue of the Regulation, providers of Internet search services must make sure that i) any link to the Internet sites of RT and Sputnik and ii) any content of RT and Sputnik, including short textual descriptions, visual elements and links to the corresponding websites do not appear in the search results delivered to users located in the EU."

Google didn't return The Post's request for comment, but the publication says a search conducted within the EU didn't bring up links for "Russia Today." RT links still showed up for us, however, when we conducted searches using Google Austria and France. 

The letter also said that the order applies to "posts made by individuals that reproduce the content of RT and Sputnik" — for example, screenshots of articles from those outlets — and that social networks must delete those posts if they get published. That could create a deluge of additional work for social media websites already struggling to moderate content posted by their users. According to The Post, though, the actual sanctions law doesn't define the order in the way that's written in the letter, so the officials' interpretation could be challenged in court. 

Apple's new 27-inch 5K Studio Display — including its 12-megapixel webcam and fancy speakers — should work just fine with Windows PCs, Apple has told The Verge. However, certain features enabled by the monitor's built-in A13 Bionic processor will only function on Macs, Apple said.

There was never much doubt that the display itself would function on a PC, but the resolution may depend on your PC configuration. In effect, you'll need a graphics card with compatible Thunderbolt or USB-C ports and support for 5K or higher resolution (most modern GPUs have these features).

The status of the webcam was not very clear, though. According to Apple's Studio Display web page, "camera features and firmware updates require a connection to a Mac." However, an Apple spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the camera should work like a normal USB webcam when plugged into a PC. 

One "camera feature" that won't work on a PC though, is Center Stage. On a Mac, that feature uses digital zoom to keep the subject or subjects in the frame, even if they move around. Other features enabled by the A13 chip, like Spatial Audio and "Hey Siri," are also unavailable on Windows computers, the spokesperson said. 

At $1,600, the Studio display is pretty expensive for a 27-inch display, especially if you get it with the ridiculously overpriced height adjustment bracket. On the plus side, it does look nice and and the 12-megapixel webcam and high-end speakers add a lot of value. If that's not important, you could get a 32-inch 4K display with similar specs for far less money.

If you're on the market for a new pair of true wireless earbuds, Woot's latest electronics garage sale has a couple of compelling offers right now. The site knocked Apple's AirPods Pro with the MagSafe charging case down to $180 — not a record low, but a decent sale for this time of year — and discounted Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro to their record low of $105. As usual, be sure to check out Woot's return policy before making a purchase. Woot may be owned by Amazon, but it has a much different return policy than the online retail giant.

These are solid options for iPhone and Android users, respectively. The AirPods Pro remain Apple's best sounding earbuds, and chances are they'll fit your ears better than standard AirPods thanks to their interchangeable ear tips. We were impressed by the clarity in the sound quality, which can be attributed in part to Apple's Adaptive EQ feature, which automatically tunes more low- and mid-range frequencies to each user's ear. Active noise cancellation does a good job of blocking out environmental noise, and Transparency mode makes it easy to jump in and out of conversations when necessary. Battery life is decent, too: you can expect up to five hours of listening time and up to 24 hours total when you employ its charging case in between sessions.

Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro are a good alternative to the AirPods Pro for Android users. We gave them a score of 85 when they came out last year and called them the company's best sounding earbuds yet. They have a wider audio range than previous models along with solid active noise cancellation and improved calling features with three microphones and Wind Shield technology. We also liked their comfortable fit, five-hour battery life, wireless charging case and their IPX7-rated design, which should allow them to withstand sweaty workouts and accidental dunks in water.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Apple events can sometimes fizzle out. Besides the ceremony of a new iPhone series each year, it’s a little harder to get excited for Macs and iPads with slightly better chips and minor design tweaks. We saw a splash of color and some redesigns in the last year, but this March event was packed with devices for elements of the Apple audience that aren’t always catered for. For them, this might be an important Apple reveal.

I say this in hushed tones as a phone guy, but the Mac Studio could be the standout. It’s a pro-level desktop built to showcase Apple’s most powerful chip, the new M1 Ultra. The company says its new desktop runs up to 60 percent faster than a Mac Pro with its 28-core Intel processor. Also, counter to some of its laptops, it’s filled with ports. There are four Thunderbolt 4 connections, two USB-A ports, HDMI and 10Gbps Ethernet. Also! There’s an SD card slot and two additional USB-C connectors on the front of the computer. The bad news might be that it starts at $2,000, but it still isn’t quite the Mac Pro beast some creatives are waiting on. That's "for another day," according to Apple. Oh, and there’s a new display to go with it.

At the other end of the scale, the iPhone SE makes a return. And it’s still got a home button. This means it looks like its predecessor, mostly. However, it’s now got 5G (welcome to 2022) and an updated quad-core A15 Bionic processor — the same processor as Apple’s iPhone 13 series, but now in a phone that costs $429. Finally, Apple’s iPad Air also sticks to its 2020 redesign. It has a new front-facing camera sensor and, like the 2021 iPad Pro, features Apple’s M1 chip.

We go into finer detail below, or if you need a swift overview, we’ve pulled all the bullet points together right here.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Itch.io's $10 bundle with almost 1,000 games will benefit charities helping Ukraine

• Google is buying cybersecurity company Mandiant for $5.4 billion

• Apple discontinues the 27-inch iMac

• The new iPhone SE vs. the competition

• Apple's Mac Studio is a tiny pro-level desktop powered by M1 Ultra

• The new iPad Air gets a big performance boost with Apple’s M1 chip

• AMD vows to fix Ryzen chip stuttering issues on Windows with new update

The new iPhone SE adds 5G but keeps the home button

Apple's budget-friendly phone looks exactly like its predecessor.

Apple

As I mentioned in the intro, there are no major design shakeups here. The new iPhone SE is a more affordable version of the flagship range, now packing an A15 Bionic processor, some new camera tricks (despite the single lens) and a familiar home button. With the upgraded internals (including power efficiencies from iOS 15), Apple says we’ll see better battery life performance compared to the last model. The 4.7-inch screen is covered with what Apple calls the "toughest glass in a smartphone on both the front and back."

Continue reading.

Apple unveils its most powerful chip yet, the M1 Ultra

It's basically two M1 Max chips fused together.

Following the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max, Apple is adding a new member to the family: the M1 Ultra. The M1 Ultra is essentially two M1 Max chips put together, making it even better for intensive creative applications like video editing and 3D rendering. Apple says the M1 Max chips feature a die-to-die interconnect, dubbed UltraFusion, and its specs are basically what happens when you sandwich two M1 Max chips: the Ultra features a 20-core CPU (16 high-performance and 4 high-efficiency cores) and a 64-core GPU. Apple says it should offer up to eight times faster graphics than the original M1 chip.

Continue reading.

Apple announces the 27-inch 5K Studio Display for Mac Studio

It starts at $1,599.

Apple

As expected, Apple is adding a new display to its product lineup. The Apple Studio Display is a standalone monitor with a 5K retina panel with 14.7 million pixels, 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color gamut coverage. It’s more for work, less for gaming, topping out at a 60Hz refresh rate. We’re sure Apple thinks it’d go really nicely with a new Mac Studio desktop.

Continue reading.

Gogoro unveils the first swappable solid-state EV battery

Electric scooters could deliver more range without bigger batteries.

Some Apple respite. Gogoro, best known for its scooters and charging stations, has announced what it claims is the world's first swappable solid-state EV battery. Using solid-state batteries, the lithium ceramic prototype is compatible with Gogoro's current scooters but should deliver a much higher capacity — the two companies are targeting 2.5kWh versus the 1.7kWh of existing hardware. The end result is greater range and improved safety.

Continue reading.

Eargo 6 review: Tiny hearing aids that don't scrimp on features

It’s closing in on the incumbents.

Engadget

In the world of hearing aids, Eargo stands out. The company operates more like a technology company than a slow, plodding medical-device provider — it has a rapid annual release cycle more similar to Apple, Samsung and the rest. In version 6, it’s added customizable sound profiles, as well as sound adjustment features to help make the Eargo better fit with your own hearing levels and preferences.

Continue reading.

On Tuesday, Apple held its first event of 2022. What initially seemed like it would be a low-key affair turned into something a bit more exciting. Yes, Apple updated the iPhone SE and iPad Air, but it also had a new Mac to show off and a matching display. Here's everything the company announced at its Peek Performance keynote. 

iPhone SE

Apple

Apple opened the event with the announcement of the third-generation iPhone SE. Like its 2020 predecessor, the 2022 model looks like an iPhone 8 but features some of the company’s latest technologies, including its blazing fast A15 Bionic processor. The SE also includes a new modem that can connect to 5G networks. Additionally, Apple claims it features a “new” camera system that includes a handful of computational photography features found on the iPhone 13, including Smart HDR 4 and Deep Fusion for better low-light shots. At $429, it’s also $30 more expensive than its predecessor. Pre-orders for the iPhone SE open on March 11th, with general availability to follow on March 18th.

Alongside the SE, Apple announced it would offer the iPhone 13 in two new green colors. Those too go on sale on March 18th.

iPad Air

Apple

After its glow-up in 2020, the iPad Air became one of the most compelling products in Apple’s lineup. At its Peek Performance event, Apple announced a minor refresh of the tablet that adds a couple of handy upgrades. Likely the most impactful is the inclusion of a new front-facing camera sensor that supports the company’s Center Stage feature for ensuring that you’re in the center of the frame during FaceTime calls. Internally, the 2022 iPad Air, like the 2021 iPad Pro, features Apple’s M1 chip. The company claims that should make its tablet about twice as fast as a similarly priced Windows laptop. Apple will also offer the iPad Air with optional 5G connectivity.

The iPad Air starts at $599. It will be available to pre-order starting March 11th, with general availability to follow on March 18th.

Mac Studio and Studio Display

Apple

Thankfully, Apple’s Peek Performance event didn’t only consist of refreshes to existing products. The company also had something fresh to show in the Mac Studio, a pro-level desktop that features its new M1 Ultra. Thanks to its most powerful chip to date, Apple claims the Mac Studio is up to 60 percent faster than a Mac Pro with a 28-core Intel processor in CPU tasks. Outside of performance, a highlight of Mac Studio is all the I/O it includes. On the back of the computer, you’ll find four Thunderbolt 4 connections, two USB-A ports, HDMI and 10Gbps Ethernet. Meanwhile, there’s an SD card slot and two additional USB-C connectors on the front of the computer.

Of course, power and versatility come at a cost, and the Mac Studio is no exception. It starts at $2,000 before you include upgrades and optional accessories. All in, you’re looking to pay as much as $7,999 when you include peripherals and a matching display.

Speaking of that matching display. Alongside Mac Studio, Apple announced its new Studio Display, a 27-inch monitor that features a 5K Retina panel capable of 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color gamut coverage. It also features a built A13 processor, six-speaker sound system and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with Center Stage. The Studio Display starts at $1,599. If you want a height-adjustable stand, that’s an extra $400. Like everything else Apple announced today, both the Mac Studio and Studio Display will ship on March 18th.

Friday Night Baseball

Apple

Provided MLB owners and the players association can agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the 2022 season is canceled, Apple will offer two weekly doubleheader baseball games through its TV+ streaming service. Those games will be available to watch in eight countries and won’t be subject to local broadcasting restrictions.

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!

Apple has confirmed it will roll out iOS 15.4 next week. One especially useful feature that'll hit iPhones in the coming days is another way to unlock your device with Face ID while wearing a mask. You'll no longer need an Apple Watch to unlock your phone without removing your mask or punching in your passcode.

Apple has been testing the feature in public betas since January. You'll need to activate it manually in the Face ID & Passcode section of Settings. There's one key caveat: it doesn't work with sunglasses.

Other features expected to arrive as part of iOS 14.5 include an anti-stalking warning for AirTags, a less-gendered voice option for Siri, PS5 DualSense controller adaptive trigger support, a way to add notes to iCloud Keychain passwords and dozens more emoji.

In addition, macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 will be released next week. Those updates will include the long-awaited Universal Control feature, which will allow you to control multiple Macs and iPads with one keyboard and trackpad or mouse. Apple announced Universal Control at WWDC in June, but delayed it from the fall until this spring.

As expected, Apple is adding a new display to its product lineup. On Tuesday, the company announced the Apple Studio Display during its Peek Performance event. The standalone monitor features a 5K retina panel with 14.7 million pixels, 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color gamut coverage. It also includes Apple's TrueTone technology.

Before today, Apple's most recently announced monitor was the 2019 Pro Display XDR. That's a screen that famously starts at $5,000 before you even include an optional $1,000 stand. The last time the company offered a consumer-level monitor was 2016, the year it discontinued the 2011 Thunderbolt Display.         

Developing...

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!