A group of lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the app to remain available in the United States. The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” would prohibit US app stores and web hosting services from distributing TikTok unless it divested from parent company ByteDance.

The bill is the latest in a long line of attempts by lawmakers and other officials to ban or force a sale of the app. Former President Donald Trump attempted to force a sale of TikTok in 2020, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The Biden Administration has also pressured the company to divest. And a US District Court Judge recently blocked an attempt to ban the app in Montana.

The new bill, which comes from a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House, takes a different approach. It would give ByteDance a six-month window to sell TikTok before app store-level bans would come into effect. It would also require TikTok and other apps to “provide users with a copy of their data in a format that can be imported” into competing apps. And though TikTok is referenced several times in the text of the bill, the legislation would open the door for bans on other “foreign adversary-controlled” apps if the president deemed them to be a national security threat.

“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it,” TikTok said in a statement. “This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

TikTok CEO Shou Chew has maintained that a divestment would not fully address officials’ concerns about US user data. The company has spent years trying to address national security concerns about its service with an initiative called Project Texas. Under the plan, created as a result of years of negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), US users’ data would be separated into US-based servers and government officials would be able to oversee audits of TikTok’s source code and other aspects of its operations.

The Washington Post reported last year that TikTok’s negotiations with CFIUS had been recently “revived amid doubts the [Biden] administration has the authority to ban TikTok on its own.” If Congress was able to pass the new bill, it would clear up such questions and create a new process for forcing ByteDance's hand. 

Microsoft is pulling the plug on Android apps for Windows. The company said it’s ending support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), the underlying component behind the Amazon Appstore (and other Android apps) in Windows 11. Microsoft told Engadget it was responding to “evolving customer needs.”

Microsoft first said in 2021 that Windows 11 would be able to run Android apps. When it arrived the following year, users could install the Amazon Appstore, and some individual Android apps were found in the Microsoft Store. The rollout was viewed as an answer to the dual threats of Android apps on Chromebooks and iOS apps on Apple Silicon Macs.

A Microsoft spokesperson clarified to Engadget why it’s now terminating the feature. “As part of our commitment to meeting evolving customer needs, we periodically update our product offerings,” they said. “This involves introducing new technical innovations and retiring products. Microsoft remains dedicated to an open platform and ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing to bring the best experiences and apps to Windows.”

With Microsoft blazing full-tilt into all things AI, it may now see its past attempts at making Windows a dramatically better touch-focused platform as no longer worth the resources. Another possibility, as The Verge speculates, is that people hunting for Android apps on Windows expected the full Google Play Store experience — not Amazon’s variant, which has an inferior overall selection.

Microsoft says customers who installed the Amazon Appstore (or other apps and games using WSA) on their Windows 11 machines before Tuesday can keep using them until March 5, 2025. Meanwhile, Amazon clarified that its Appstore and associate apps will no longer be discoverable in the Microsoft Store beginning on Wednesday. In addition, developers can no longer submit new apps for the Amazon Appstore on Windows, but those with existing ones can continue to submit updates for them until this time next year.

As for what’s next for Microsoft, the company is rumored to launch new Surface devices on March 21. The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected, with the company possibly marketing them as its first AI PCs.

Microsoft will reveal the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on March 21, according to a report. This isn't likely to just be a matter of a hardware refresh, however. Microsoft is expected to call these systems its first AI PCs, as Windows Central notes.

The devices are set to be equipped with new Intel Core Ultra or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-based processors that feature the latest neural processing units to boost AI capabilities. They're said to approximately match the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro in terms of efficiency and performance.

The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected to be among the first machines to support upcoming AI features in Windows 11. Along with on-device Copilot support, these functions are expected to include real-time live captions and translations, upscaling for games, frame rate smoothing, upgraded Windows Studio Effects and something that (at least for the time being) is seemingly called AI Explorer.

Windows Central suggests the latter will be the feature that sets AI PCs apart from regular computers. AI Explorer will apparently work across any app and let you search through documents, web pages, images and chats using natural language. It's believed that the feature will create a history of everything you do on your computer and make it searchable. The tool is said to be capable of understanding context and suggesting tasks based on what's on the screen. AI Explorer is also expected to support text-based image editing. According to the report, these AI features are likely to roll out as part of this fall's 24H2 update for Windows 11.

As for what else to expect from Microsoft's next laptops, both are said to have all-day battery life. The Surface Pro 10 is slated to include an anti-reflective, HDR-capable OLED screen. Rumors suggest it will have a front-facing ultrawide webcam and an NFC reader.

The Surface Laptop 6 is believed to have a more significant redesign compared with its predecessors. Along with thinner bezels and rounded corners, it's expected to have a haptic touchpad, a dedicated key for Copilot and a revamped group of ports. It's also slated to be the first Surface Laptop with an Arm variant. The report suggests that the Intel versions of each system will ship in April, with the Snapdragon variants to follow in June.

Amid complaints that its search results have declined in quality, Google is tweaking its algorithms to do a better job of weeding out spammy or automated content. The company says the ranking updates, arriving in May, will “keep the lowest-quality content out of search.” Of particular note, Google says its engine will be better at eradicating today’s automated (read: AI-generated) content that’s harder to spot.

Google says it’s taking what it learned from a 2022 algorithmic tuneup to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content” and applying it to the new update. The company says the changes will send more traffic to “helpful and high-quality sites.” When combined with the updates from two years ago, Google estimates the revision will reduce spammy, unoriginal search results by 40 percent.

“This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people,” Google product management director Elizabeth Tucker wrote. “This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries.”

Google sounds like it’s targeting AI-generated SEO spam with its notes about scaled content abuse. The company says it’s strengthening its approach to the growing problem of sites that generate garbage automated articles (as well as zeroing in on old-fashioned human-created spam).

“Today, scaled content creation methods are more sophisticated, and whether content is created purely through automation isn’t always as clear,” Tucker said. Google says the changes “will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”

AI-generated content farms shotgun-blasting content to game the system are an increasing problem, so Google’s changes — if they’re as effective as promised — will be welcome. Although sites spamming that content exclusively may be easier to spot, it will be interesting to see if scenarios where once-reputable outlets experimenting with AI-generated spam (CNET and Sports Illustrated are recent examples) will be affected.

Another change to the algorithm will tackle the practice of otherwise reputable sites hosting low-quality content from third parties designed to leech off the site’s good name. Google provides the example of an educational site hosting a third-party payday loan review. “We’ll now consider very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight of a website owner to be spam,” Tucker wrote.

Finally, Google’s updates will allegedly do better at rooting out expired domains bought by someone else and transformed into click mills. The search engine will begin treating those websites as spam.

You won’t see the improvements immediately as Google is giving site owners a two-month notice to adapt accordingly. The search engine changes will take effect on May 5.

Apple has rolled out updates for many of its operating systems and none are more impactful than the changes to iOS — at least in the European Union. With the arrival of iOS 17.4, Apple is adhering to strict new rules in the bloc when it comes to the App Store. Apple now officially supports third-party app stores on iPhones in the EU, while developers can offer third-party payment options. Web browser makers no longer need to base their apps on Apple's WebKit, while Apple is opening up the NFC chip to wireless payments that have nothing to do with Apple Pay.

While those game-changing updates are limited to the EU, iOS 17.4 does have some snazzy new features for folks elsewhere too. Apple Podcasts now offers automatic transcriptions in English, Spanish, French and German. The text will be highlighted in sync with the audio to make it easy to follow along. You'll be able to search the text and tap it to start playing the audio at a certain point. 

Elsewhere, there are a bunch of new emoji for you to enjoy. They include a mushroom, phoenix, lime, broken chain and shaking heads. Apple has also updated 18 people and body emoji so that you can face them in either direction.

Other updates concern features like battery health, Siri (with the ability to read received messages in any supported language), stolen device protection and virtual card numbers for Apple Cash. Thanks to a caller ID update, when am Apple-verified business calls, you'll see its name, logo and department title. There are a slew of bug fixes too.  

Along with iOS 17.4, Apple has also released iPadOS 17.4, which has many of the same changes including the App Store updates to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act. The company is also expected to roll out visionOS 1.1 (for Apple Vision Pro), macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4 and HomePod 17.4 imminently.

Samsung’s 32-inch M80C smart monitor is on sale for $400, down from $700. This $300 discount represents a savings of 43 percent and ties the lowest price ever recorded for the display.

The M80C is both a regular 4K computer monitor and a standalone streaming box, with native support for apps like Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, among others. It also provides access to Samsung’s proprietary TV Plus service, with its selection of free live and on-demand programming.

Samsung’s monitor integrates with some of the biggest on-demand gaming platforms, including Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now. The 60Hz refresh rate won’t break any speed records, but should allow for fairly smooth gameplay. 

Beyond entertainment, the M80C offers some built-in productivity tools. There’s standalone access to Microsoft Office 365 and a tool that remotely connects to a PC or a Samsung mobile device, with no cables required. The integrated camera can even handle work meetings and the like. The line between computer monitor and entry-level PC continues to blur.

All of the above features can be controlled via the included remote or by using Alexa-assisted voice commands. This deal is for the white model and is available from both Amazon and Samsung. 

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Google’s Waze is adding some quality-of-life navigation features in the coming weeks and months. New options can help you find parking garages (and learn how much they’ll cost), alert you when the speed limit is about to decrease and guide you through roundabouts.

Partnering with the Flash parking app, Waze will soon provide information about nearby parking garages. It can show you prices, whether it’s covered or open-air, wheelchair accessibility options, valet services and EV charging stations. Waze says you can also reserve a parking space from the app. The feature will roll out “in the coming weeks.”

The Flash app only averages 1.5 out of 5 stars on the App Store and 2.2 out of 5 on the Play Store. (Many customers complained about its bugginess and unreliable scanning at parking kiosks.) Hopefully, Waze’s integration won’t replicate the apparent rough spots from its new partner’s app.

The Waze app will also let you know when the speed limit is about to drop. After the feature rolls out this month, the navigation screen will show a speed limit sign at the spot in the road where it’s about to slow down, giving you time to prepare. An alert at the screen’s bottom will count down how many feet away the speed reduction is. (The app won’t show when speed limits are about to increase, presumably to avoid encouraging people to punch it and get a head start.)

Waze

Waze will soon give you more information about your favorite routes to places you often travel to, like home, work or go-to coffee shops. Starting this month, when you start navigation, the app will compare your favorite routes with the fastest ones. It will use live traffic updates to contrast ETA estimates and help you decide if your favorite pathway is too backed up to be worth it.

Making your way through roundabouts will be easier, too. When you approach a traffic circle, Waze will help you figure out where to enter, which lanes to use and where to exit. The feature arrives on Android this month, but iPhone owners will have to wait until “later this year.”

Building on the app’s community-sourced approach, another new feature will alert you to upcoming hazards. These include sharp curves, speed bumps and toll booths. This “navigate like a local” feature will land on Android and iOS this month.

Finally, Waze now notifies you when emergency vehicles are stopped ahead. When navigating, an emergency icon will sit on the virtual road ahead alongside an alert and countdown (measured in feet) as you approach it. This is the only new feature Waze says is available now (in the US, Canada, France, Mexico and France) on Android and iOS. The feature will support more countries soon.

The deadline for compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is this Thursday and Google just dropped a document outlining exactly what changes it has made (or will make) to keep up with the law. These 20+ adjustments vary in scope, and impact search users, advertisers and third-party app developers.

One of the big search changes will be the inclusion of price comparison results from external aggregators when looking up things like flights or hotels. For example, searching Google for a one-way to Paris typically pulls up a module called the Google Flights unit — that's the company's own internal pricing aggregator. Competitor aggregators, like Kayak and Tripadvisor have been vocally displeased to have Google stomping around in their backyard for over a decade. In the EU at least, starting Thursday, these sorts of results will now show some results from these aggregators alongside Google's own Flights results.

Android users are getting an easier way to switch out the search engine or browser, so as to not prioritize Google's products above others. These choice screens appear when you set up the device for the first time, in the settings and at various intervals during use. The company's already been doing this since 2021, but now there will be more choice screens to choose from. Google says this option is also coming to desktop Chrome users and iOS users in the near future.

Digital consent for advertising is a major part of the DMA. Google users will now have to opt into sharing data across the company’s various services for the purpose of personalized advertising. This is done via the settings page. Additionally, users may encounter consent banners while browsing, which will ask if they want to link data across Google services.

The DMA requires app stores to offer alternative billing systems for in-app purchases. To comply, Google recently launched user-choice billing (UCB) as an option for developers to offer their own billing systems. This program is expanding to game developers this week. Of course, Android devices could always run third-party apps with their own billing systems, but now they'll be easier to implement.

Google has said that as part of its DMA compliance it will begin to provide advertisers with "some additional data, which is shared in a way that protects user privacy and customers’ commercially-sensitive information." We've reached out to the company for any information on what that data might be. On Thursday, the company will also be launching its Data Portability API so that users can move their data off Google's products more easily.

Of course, Google couldn’t help but drop a bit of shade in its compliance announcement, telling users that “some of the features that we have developed to help people get things done quickly and securely online — like providing recommendations across different products — won't work in the same way anymore.” Daddy corporation knows best.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) plans to join Netflix and Disney in preventing Max users from sharing their passwords with friends and family who don't live in the primary household. According to The Wrap, the company's CEO and president of global streaming and games JB Perrette said at a conference that the account sharing crackdown will start later this year ahead of a more widespread effort in 2025.

The aim, of course, is to improve Max's bottom line. WBD doesn't make any money when a user lets someone else use their Max account. As of the end of 2023, WBD had 97.7 million subscribers across Max, Discovery+ and HBO on cable. That was an increase of 1.8 million from the previous quarter.

It's unclear how WBD plans to implement the password sharing crackdown. Last year, Netflix started making users who shared their account with people outside of the main household pay extra to do so. The initiative had a positive impact on Netflix's financial results. Disney+ then followed suit with its own password restrictions, which it first introduced in Canada. Disney says users in the US will have to stop sharing passwords by March 14.

The Marshall Middleton Bluetooth speaker has a list price of $300, but right now Amazon is selling it for $236. That's a 21 percent discount and the lowest price we've tracked since it's launch last March, beating the former low of $260 it hit last December. It's also on sale for $250 at B&H Photo. We named the Middleton one of the best mid-range ($200 to $400) Bluetooth speakers you can buy in our guide. It combines good sound quality with a IP67 rating, meaning it's dust-tight and can survive a dip in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes. Plus there's a handy carry strap to drag it around.   

Marshall markets the Middleton as their flagship Bluetooth speaker — and the company's largest portable with a waterproof rating. At four pounds, it's still small enough to toss in a backpack, but large enough to house three battery cells adding up to 9,600mAh of charge to enable a 20-hour run time. You can even siphon off some of that juice to charge a phone thorough the USB-C port. 

It puts out 360-degree sound from two 15-watt woofers, two 10-watt tweeters and a pair of passive radiators. We found the output to be respectable, handling low frequencies well. Marshall's sound tends to have a good dynamic range combined with significant depth, and that's what you get here. 

The Middleton is also the biggest model to support Stack Mode which lets you pair up with another Middleton or the smaller Emberton II or Willen. Pairing happens using the app and double pressing the speakers' Bluetooth buttons.  

Speaking of other music boxes, the Emberton II speaker, which we named one of the best picks under $200 in that same speaker guide, is also on sale. It's 21 percent off and down to $134, which isn't an all-time low — it went for $14 less last Black Friday. It's not the loudest speaker in it's size range, but the sound is pleasantly balanced and a good accompaniment to small gatherings. 

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