Spotify files antitrust complaint in the EU over the ‘Apple tax’

Spotify thinks the heavily-criticized “Apple tax” is the company’s way of edging out its competition.  It has taken to filing an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Union. Spotify alleges that Apple is stifling innovation and limiting consumer choice with the rules it imposes on the App Store. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek zeroed in specifically on the 30 percent cut Apple imposes on subscriptions. According to Ek, this “tax” is designed to harm the streaming services that compete against Apple’s own service. Ek says it forces their company to “artificially inflate” prices “well above the price of Apple Music.” But if it doesn’t comply, then Apple applies “a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions” against Spotify, which makes the experience on its app an inferior one. Ek adds that Apple “routinely blocks our experience-enhancing upgrades” and locks them and other competitors from Apple products and services like Siri, Apple Watch, and HomePod. 

On top of launching the complaint, Spotify launched a press campaign that includes a dedicated website that focuses on Apple’s “unfair behaviour” as well as a YouTube video (which you can see above) that explained the company’s grievances. We’re not sure what would come out of the complaint but a spokesperson for the European Commission acknowledged that it had received the complaint and is “assessing [it] under our standard procedures.” 

Source: The Verge 

Windows 7 users will get notifications from Microsoft about end of support

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With Microsoft pulling support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020, the company plans to remind send out push notifications to its users warning them about this development. End of support means Windows 7 and Office 2010 users will no longer get security updates for their machines. The company wants its users to upgrade to Windows 10 PCs and Office 365. While the push notification won't mention upgrading to Windows 10, it'll remind users that support ends in January and they will be linked to microsoft.com/windows7. The link will encourage users to upgrade or buy a newer PC.

According to Matt Barlow, CVP of Windows, “Beginning next month, if you are a Windows 7 customer, you can expect to see a notification appear on your Windows 7 PC. This is a courtesy reminder that you can expect to see a handful of times in 2019.” When they say handful, we don't exactly know how many times. But it'll only stop once Windows 7 support ends in January. We don't know what the notification will look like yet but it'll be similar to the Windows 10 upgrade notifications.

Source: The Verge

Marvel rumoured to be working on animated 'What If' series of Disney+

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Marvel is reportedly working on an animated series based on the What If comics for the soon-to-be-launched Disney+ streaming service. The What If series are one-shot adventures that exist outside of the comics canon and ask questions like "What if Loki had found the hammer of Thor?" or "What if Spider-Man didn't become a crimefighter?" The series will operate under the same idea, giving different takes on what has happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon.

The series is reportedly being developed by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. And we could expect some of the bigger Marvel stars to come in and voice their characters. This show will join the already-announced Loki series and other rumoured Marvel shows that'll revolve around characters like Vision and Scarlet Witch and another with Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Source: The Verge

Spotify now offers option to disable 'Canvas' video snippets

If you're a Spotify user, you've seen the "Canvas" feature, which is looped video snippets some artists upload for some songs in place of album art. The company claims these only need to be streamed once and won't eat up data, even if they are played on loop. Some users aren't happy with the feature because it creates an inconsistent look when you're in a playlist with songs that don't have Canvases. It also slows down the experience when switching from one song to another.

Spotify is listening to users and is rolling out the option to disable this feature. You just need to head to settings to toggle it on or off. Our phones don't have the feature yet, so we're waiting for it to head our way. But you can check your device to see if it's made its way to you.

Source: Android Police