France's data regulator CNIL has fined Google €150 million ($170 million) and Meta/Facebook €60 million ($68 million) for violating EU privacy rules. Both companies failed to allow French users to easily reject cookie tracking technology as required by EU privacy rules, according to CNIL's news release.  

The fines were specifically levied against Google's US and Irish operations (€90 million and €60 million respectively) and against Facebook's Irish arm. Both companies face daily fines of €100,000 if they don't change their practices within three months of CNIL's official decision. 

In addition to the fines, the restricted committee ordered the companies to provide Internet users located in France with a means of refusing cookies as simple as the existing means of accepting them, in order to guarantee their freedom of consent, within three months. If they fail to do so, the companies will have to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros per day of delay.

"​​We are reviewing the authority's decision and remain committed to working with relevant authorities," a Meta spokesperson told Politico. "Our cookie consent controls provide people with greater control over their data, including a new settings menu on Facebook and Instagram where people can revisit and manage their decisions at any time, and we continue to develop and improve these controls."

"People trust us to respect their right to privacy and keep them safe. We understand our responsibility to protect that trust and are committing to further changes and active work with the CNIL in light of this decision under the ePrivacy Directive," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

CNIL said it has issued 100 orders and sanctions related to non-compliance with cookie legislation since it went into force on March 31, 2021. The regulator previously fined Google €100 million for cookie violations under European e-Privacy rules and €50 million for GDPR violations. 

Google is still fighting the €100 million fine before France's highest court. It's expected to fight the latest sanction as well, according Politico. At the same time, the fines against Google and Meta's Irish operations point to major tension between the EU and Ireland. Europe sees Ireland's actions as too friendly toward tech giants headquartered there, and hostile toward user privacy. 

Nikola Tesla may have been pleased that both of his names were employed by electric car companies, but perhaps less so that Nikola sued Tesla, and vice-versa. Now, Nikola Corp. is reportedly dropping its $2 billion patent infringement lawsuit against Tesla Inc. as Nikola company founder Trevor Milton faces a criminal indictment on fraud charges, Bloomberg has reported. 

According to a filing in a San Francisco court, both companies have agreed to withdraw all claims and counter-claims against each other. Nikola accused Tesla of copying several patented designs for a windshield design, fuselage and side door. Tesla denied all the claims and countersued. 

Nikola unveiled the hydrogen-powered Nikola One semi-truck in 2016 with the promise of an 800-1,200 mile range with no pollution. However, it was accused by the SEC of deceiving investors, in one instance via a video that appeared to show the truck moving under power when it was simply rolling down a hill. CEO Trevor Milton was subsequently charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud by a federal grand jury. He has denied the claims.

Back in June 2020, Lululemon got into the flourishing home gym market in the midst of the pandemic by purchasing home fitness startup Mirror for $500 million. Now, Nike has filed a lawsuit against the company over Mirror, accusing it of patent infringement. According to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, Nike's lawsuit allege that Mirror — a full-size interactive mirror that brings a live fitness instructor into the user's home — and its apps use technologies that it invented and patented. 

The sports apparel giant specifically mentioned that it filed a patent application in 1983 for a device that can prompt users to exercise, monitor their heart rate, determine their speed while running and the calories they burned. Nike also has a number of mobile apps for fitness, including the Nike Run Club and Nike Training Club. 

Nike sent Lululemon a list of patents it allegedly infringed on back on November 3rd. As you'd expect, the company more known for making yoga pants and other types of gym clothes disagreed with Nike's assessment. A spokesperson told the publications in a statement that the patents "in question are overly broad and invalid." They also said that Lululemon is confident in its position and "look forward to defending it in court."

Mirror operates as a standalone company within Lululemon, putting the workout clothes-maker in direct competition with the likes of Peloton and Tonal. Lululemon CEO Clavin McDonald previously said that the purchase was all about connecting with consumers, because they're bound to spend more the more they engage with the brand. Last month, however, the company halved its sales forecast for the device, calling 2021 "a challenging year for digital fitness." 

This isn't the only patent-related legal battle Lululemon is embroiled in. Last year, it filed a patent infringement lawsuit of its own against Peloton, alleging that the design the other company used for a new line of leggings and sports bras infringe on its intellectual property.

Meta's in-house staff won't have to return to the office for months, but some of its contracted workers are only now getting a similar reprieve. BuzzFeed News has learned subcontractor Accenture has scrapped a requirement that hundreds of Facebook moderators return to in-person work in Mountain View, California on January 24th. The original plan, provided to moderators in late December, would have forced roughly 400 people to work in close proximity while COVID-19's highly infectious Omicron variant is likely to still be rampant.

The announcement led to public and private protests over the decision, including "nearly a dozen" threats to resign, BuzzFeed said. The moderators said it was impossible to maintain Accenture's social distancing requirements given tightly packed offices, closed stairwells, and poor enforcement, and that the company didn't provide exemptions for immunocompromised workers or vulnerable family members.

An Accenture spokesperson confirmed that moderators working from home "should continue to do so" based on COVID-19 health data, and claimed the company worked "collaboratively" to accommodate individuals in compliance with the law. Meta, meanwhile, said it would "continue to prioritize" the health and safety of all workers. Meta's own employees can defer returns to the office to as late as June.

These concerns aren't strictly new. Moderators accused Meta (then Facebook) in 2020 of putting lives at risk by asking some contractors to work from the office even when family members were highly vulnerable. Meta disputed some of the claims at the time, but not all. This also comes after a $52 million settlement with moderators who said they developed PTSD and other mental health issues while screening harmful material. However, this latest incident suggests Meta still hasn't shaken concerns about the welfare of its moderation teams.

Samsung is best known for its QLED TVs but at CES 2022, after years of building up hype, the company’s Display subsidiary unveiled its new QD-OLED technology and it promises to take on the best OLED TVs from LG. The tech is different from your standard OLED in that it only uses blue organic light-emitting diodes. Those diodes then shine the light they produce through a series of quantum dots, allowing the panel to produce the full spectrum of color visible to the human eye. The approach has multiple advantages.

The most notable, particularly compared to current OLED displays, is that the panel can get a lot brighter. In a demo FlatspanelsHD saw at CES, one display produced more than 1,000 nits of peak brightness across a 10 percent window. For comparison, some of the more recent TVs from LG can produce between 700 nits and 1,000 nits of brightness across the same area. Brightness is something LG has consistently tried to address with its WOLD panels. In December, the company’s display subsidiary unveiled its “OLED EX” tech, claiming it would enhance brightness by up to 30 percent compared to conventional OLED displays.

Another advantage of the technology is better color performance. The panels Samsung Display showed off at CES 2022 covered 90 percent of the Rec. 2020 color gamut. LG’s WOLED panels, which people consistently praise for their accurate and vibrant colors, hit about 70 percent of the Rec. 2020 standard. Lastly, viewing angles are improved. In addition to TVs, the technology will make its way to gaming monitors, with Samsung and Dell planning to use the tech in 34-inch displays.

We’ll have to see how the panels perform in the real world, but at least on paper, QD-OLED could easily become the new standard for high-end consumer TVs. One of the first companies set to release a TV with a QD-OLED panel is Sony with its A95K sets. Unfortunately, Sony has yet to announce how much those TVs will cost, and we won’t know until closer to release sometime this spring.

GM had a lot to show off during its virtual CES 2022 keynote, including the Chevrolet Silverado, which is built on the company's Ultium battery platform. The automaker offered an early look at two other Chevy EVs, which are electric versions of the Blazer and Equinox SUVs. 

On top of that, GM discussed BrightDrop's Ultium-based electric vans, the Cruise Origin vehicle and autonomous Cadillac concepts called InnerSpace and OpenSpace. Catch up on all of the key news from the event with our 10-minute supercut.

The Sundance Film Festival was gearing up for an ambitious hybrid event later this month, but those plans are now squashed thanks to the Omicron COVID-19 surge. Sundance is instead planning for a completely virtual event starting on January 20th, along with a handful of screenings in local markets. While disappointing, the festival's investment in a better digital platform last year puts it in a better position than other major events. (Looking at you, CES.) And of course, you'll still be able to check out the Sundance New Frontiers experiences in VR. Based on our experience last year, it'll be well worth it.

"While it is a deep loss to not have the in-person experience in Utah, we do not believe it is safe nor feasible to gather thousands of artists, audiences, employees, volunteers, and partners from around the world, for an eleven-day festival while overwhelmed communities are already struggling to provide essential services," Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson wrote in an e-mail to attendees.

Never mind cars that coddle drivers — BMW wants to give rear seat passengers the deluxe treatment. It's previewing a 31-inch, 8K "Theatre Screen" passenger option based on Fire TV for cars. Cue it up and the 32:9 screen will extend from the headliner, complete with 5G data and Bowers & Wilkins surround sound. You'll even watch the sunblinds close and listen to an opening theme from soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer.

Content from Amazon's platform will 'only' play in 4K, and few videos will make full use of the ultrawide 32:9 aspect ratio. You can tilt the screen for an ideal view, though, and two rear passengers can control the volume and the rest of the entertainment system.

BMW didn't say which vehicles would include Theatre Screen beyond "future" models, but you'll access it as part of the My Modes feature that debuted in the iX. The price and availability also weren't available, although you can presume this will get expensive. Not that cost is necessarily a concern for the target audience — this may be as much for chauffeured customers as it is parents hoping to spoil their kids during road trips.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

A supermajority of customer service representatives for Google Fiber, operating out of a store in Kansas City, Missouri, have signed union cards in the hopes of bargaining their first contract with their bosses. They're organizing under the auspices of the Alphabet Workers Union, a year-old division of the Communication Workers of America which is seeking to represent employees and contractors at all level of Google's parent company. 

The 11 workers — 10 of whom have signed cards since the union drive began in October — are jointly employed by Google and a staffing agency called BDS Connected Solutions. That's not out of the ordinary, as staffing arrangements with Alphabet go: a 2019 story in the New York Times found temps and contractors made up the majority of the tech giant's workforce, while a Recodereport that same year indicated that this second class of laborers earned significantly less than Google's own full-time employees. According to two BDS workers who spoke to Engadget, customer representatives had been feeling left out of key conversations about staffing and safety protocols, and communication with management has deteriorated. 

"We started off by just asking, 'Hey, how do you feel about this idea? Do you feel like you have enough say, in the conditions that you work in?' We basically received a unanimous 'No, I don't feel like we do,'" Emrys Adair told Engadget. "It hasn't always been like this," Mike Knox, who has been a Google Fiber representative for several years, said "the general relationship between management and the workers. It used to be closer." Kansas City was the very first market Google Fiber launched in, nearly a decade ago.

What makes this push to form a bargaining unit somewhat unusual, however, has been the decision to skip straight to petitioning the National Labor Relations Board. Typically, this is the longer, more arduous option when an employer refuses to voluntarily recognize a union. But, according to Adair, Alphabet and BDS have neither attempted to quash the union drive, nor expressed a willingness to recognize it."There's been no acknowledgement, no pushback. no response at all yet," they said. Google and BDS have not responded to requests for comment from Engadget.

Like many workplaces in recent years, these service representatives have cycled through closures, reduced hours and the occasional need to isolate and work remotely when a colleague tests positive for COVID-19. While they weren't keen to give too many specifics as to what they'd hope to secure in a first contract, one of the benefits they're seeking to obtain is hazard pay. "As far as the actual COVID precautions go, they've done a pretty alright, job," Adair said. "Our main concern is just that we're still working in the store in person in a pandemic, which in and of itself, no matter how you do that is a risk."

It may be months or years before the NLRB makes a ruling on these workers' right to form a bargaining unit. In the meantime, Knox hopes it might spur action from others within Google Fiber. "We're really hoping that this inspires in that regard," he said. "We're hoping that's a flashpoint where other people can see that and decide to push for more input."

Are you a Google employee, TVC or contractor? I'd like to hear from you. Download Signal messenger for iOS or Android and text me confidentially at 646 983 9846.

Even though it feels like we were watching skateboarders tear it up at the Summer Games in Tokyo only a few weeks ago, the Winter Olympics are almost upon us. Watching all of the events often requires hopping between several channels and platforms, but this time around, you'll be able to check out everything in one place. Peacock Premium members can stream all of NBCUniversal's Winter Olympics coverage.

The platform will host live streams of every event from all 15 sports, including those aired on broadcast and cable, as well as full replays. You'll also be able to catch the opening and closing ceremonies, NBC's daily primetime show, studio programing, documentaries and more. Competition coverage starts on February 2nd and the Opening Ceremony takes place in Beijing two days later. The Winter Olympics conclude on February 20th.

Peacock Premium typically costs $5 per month, though Comcast subscribers get an ad-supported version at no extra cost. Peacock users can stream other live sports, including Premier League soccer games.