European Commission tells Meta that Facebook Marketplace is unfair to rivals

Europe has hit Facebook owner Meta with a complaint that its Marketplace classified service is unfair to competitors. By tying its main social media site to Marketplace, it has a “substantial distribution advantage” over rivals, the EU Commission wrote in a press release. 

“With its Facebook social network, Meta reaches globally billions of monthly users and millions active advertisers,” EU Antitrust Commissioner said in a statement. “Our preliminary concern is that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services called Facebook Marketplace. This means that users of Facebook automatically have access to Facebook Marketplace, whether they want it or not.”

In addition, the Commission found that Meta imposes imposes unfair trading conditions on competitors that advertise on Facebook or Instagram. That essentially allows it to use “ads-related data derived from competitors for the benefit of Facebook Marketplace,” it said. The practices, if confirmed, would infringe on EU rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position. The EU has the power to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of Meta’s annual revenue and prohibit the behavior. 

In a statement, Meta’s head of EMEA competition said the “claims made by the European Commission are without foundation” and that the company “will continue to work with regulatory authorities to demonstrate that our product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive.” 

Last year, the EU Commission launched an antitrust probe into Facebook’s classified advertising practices to determine if it broke competition rules by using advertiser data to its own benefit. The so-called Statement of Objects released today is a formal step in EU antitrust investigations, informing parties of complaints raised against them. Meta can now examine the documents, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their comments, according to the Commission. 

Elon Musk will find someone else to run Twitter, according to his poll

Yesterday Elon Musk launched another one of his famous Twitter policy polls, this time putting his own leadership on the line. “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,” he tweeted. The poll just ended and 57.5 percent of users voted “Yes,” compared to 42.5 percent who voted no (with 17,502,391 votes) — a decisive 15-point margin.

It remains to be seen if (and how, and when) Musk will abide by his poll, as he has yet to issue any comment about the results. Shortly after publishing the vote (and when it was already tilting toward “Yes”), he tweeted “as the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.” In a reply to another user on the same thread, he added that “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” During the poll, Musk was seen at the World Cup in Qatar with former White House adviser Jared Kushner, live-tweeting the final between France and Argentina.

The vote follows a flurry of activity on Twitter. Yesterday, the social media site announced a rule change prohibiting users from linking to competing platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter rival Mastodon. That resulted in the ban of multiple users including Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, an early supporter of Musk’s Twitter acquisition.  

A massive backlash ensued, prompting an apology from Musk, who also tweeted that “going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes.” Then, in yet another poll yesterday, @TwitterSafety asked users whether it should “have a policy preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms.” The “No” votes currently command a 87 percent share from 224,365 users with 14 hours remaining.

Google Search saw its highest traffic ever during the World Cup 2022 Final

Google Search recorded the highest traffic in its 25-year history during the FIFA World Cup yesterday, CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted. Google effectively became an information hub for the final, a strong contender for the best in FIFA men’s history. With records already smashed for group stage and Round of 16 matches, it’s also likely to be the most watched final in history once figures are released. 

With updated Search features released ahead of the World Cup, Google made it easier for users to keep up with the action. Searching “World Cup” showed a dedicated section at the top with a list of upcoming matches, for instance, including dates and local times. You could also set up notifications on mobile for specific teams by tapping the bell icon and choosing the squad you wanted to follow.

It was also aided by the nail-biting action and strong storylines. Those include Lionel Messi finally getting his World Cup, Kylian Mbappe’s legendary performance, France’s late second-half comeback, an incredible extra time with two goals scored and a nerve-wracking shootout. All of that was capped by the celebrations and outpouring of emotions by players and fans alike. 

Sonos filing hints that its next speakers will support WiFi 6

Sonos has never used WiFi 6 in its products, but a speaker with that feature has just passed through the FCC, Zatz Not Funny! has reported. Dubbed S39, it also offers full Bluetooth that could be used for audio streaming on top of Bluetooth LE normally used for WiFi pairing. Another product, the S41, reportedly appeared on a regulatory filing in Canada. 

The S39 model could be a successor to the Sonos One second-generation speaker released back in 2019. Both may also be the first products in a rumored “Optimo” lineup of high-end speakers reported by The Verge earlier this year. The Optimo 2 speaker (possibly a replacement for the Sonos Five) is supposed to support both WiFi and Bluetooth streaming, so that report lines up with the FCC filing. It could also have a USB-C wired line-in port, making it one of the few Sonos speakers with that feature. 

WiFi 6 and 6E could allow for more dependable streaming, particularly when using multiple speakers. Bluetooth, meanwhile, let you play music directly from a smartphone or other device. So far, Bluetooth streaming has only been present on Sonos’ portable speakers. It’s all still speculation until the products arrive, but given the FCC approvals, they should be coming soon. 

YouTube removes Pornhub channel over ‘multiple violations’

YouTube has removed PornHub’s official channel over what it called “multiple violations” of its community guidelines, Variety has reported. Pornhub’s YouTube channel first launched in 2014 and had 900,000 subscribers, but it no longer appears in YouTube search and its URL now shows a 404 error. 

YouTube said that Pornhub violated its policy against linking to sites that host content not allowed on YouTube. “Upon review, we terminated the channel Pornhub Official following multiple violations of our community guidelines,” a spokesperson said. “We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and channels that repeatedly violate or are dedicated to violative content are terminated.”

Pornhub’s parent MindGeek said that it “vehemently denied” YouTubes claims that it linked out to porn sites. “Pornhub maintains the absolute best trust and safety measures on the internet and takes special care to ensure it does not violate any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of discrimination against those in the adult industry.”

On Friday, the anti-pornography group National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) wrote on its blog that it had flagged content that it believed violated YouTube policies. “After review, YouTube alerted NCOSE that they had terminated the channel for violations of their Community Guidelines.” MindGeek, meanwhile, said that performers and sex workers are marginalized groups and called YouTube’s “haphazard and arbitrary enforcement… dangerous and harmful.” 

Mastercard and Visa cut off payments to Pornhub in 2020, with Mastercard saying at the time that it found illegal content on the site. A federal judge refused to remove Visa from a lawsuit alleging that it aided MindGeek in monetizing child pornography. In September, Instagram banned Pornhub permanently, also citing violations of community guidelines. 

Fujifilm X-H2 review: A perfect blend of speed, resolution and video power

Fujifilm recently launched the best, albeit most-expensive, APS-C camera yet – the X-H2S. But it wasn’t done. Today, we’re looking at its stablemate, the 40-megapixel X-H2. It’s the highest-resolution APS-C camera ever released and boasts impressive vi…

Bose headphones and speakers are at all-time lows in Amazon sale

If you’ve been waiting for deals on Bose’s popular headphones, earbuds, Bluetooth speakers and more, now’s the time to act thanks to a sale at Amazon. You can pick up Bose’s popular QuietComfort 45 wireless ANC headphones at an all-time low price of $2…

‘Hitman’ players can soon port their Stadia saves to other platforms

With Stadia set to be shut down next month, players have been understandably worried about losing game progress on the platform. Now, developer IO Interactive has announced that Stadia Hitman – World of Assassination players will be able to import save data into all other platforms including PC, Xbox and PlayStation. 

IOI said it will release a transfer tool a week before the Stadia shutdown, set for January 18th. If you play the game on Stadia, you can start to prepare in advance by linking your IOI account to your Stadia account. This needs to be done before the Stadia shutdown, or you’ll lose your save data. Once the accounts are linked, though, you’ll have an extra month (until February 17th) to complete the transfer. 

The developer said the “majority” of your Stadia achievements will be carried over, including your “player profile, XP, suits, items and mastery levels.” IOI noted that there are “compatibility issues” between Stadia and other achievement systems, so it’s focusing on achievements related to progression as a priority. Unfortunately, “your leaderboard positions, save games and created contracts will NOT be carried over during the Stadia progression carryover,” it added.

IOI joins other developers offering one-time progress transfers. Last month, CD Projekt Red wrote that Cyberpunk 2077 Stadia players could transfer game saves over to PC, and Bethesda announced something similar for Elder Scrolls Online. In September, Ubisoft said that Stadia users could transfer all their purchases to PC, but didn’t confirm if game progress would carry over. 

Tokyo will require new housing projects to install solar panels starting in 2025

Many new homes built in Tokyo will require solar panels to be installed starting in April 2025, Kyodo News has reported. The local assembly passed new regulations requiring major construction companies to equip homes smaller than 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet) with solar panels or other renewable power sources. The measure is the first of its kind in Japan and aims to cut the city’s carbon emissions in half. 

The government estimates that the 980,000 yen ($7,200) price of a 4kW installation can be recouped in about six years based on utility bill savings and an existing 100,000 yen ($728) per kW grant. Leasing costs will also be reduced through other subsidies, according to an information-packed slide deck (PDF). 

The measure applies only to around 50 builders who supply over 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) to the market, so it’s not clear what percentage of new homes will fall under the new rules. The measure should have a major effect, though, as the Tokyo government estimates that half of existing buildings (70 percent of which are homes) will be replaced with new construction by 2050. 

New construction starts in Japan averaged around 800,000-900,000 per year from 2012 to 2021, and a handful of major contractors called Super Zenecon dominate the construction sector, according to Statista. 

Japan is the world’s fifth largest producer of carbon emissions, but has promised to be carbon neutral by 2050. It’s not the only country mandating solar installations. In France, lawmakers recently approved a bill requiring parking lots with a minimum of 80 spaces to be covered by solar panels. The French government said the plan, aimed primarily at parking lots off freeways and major routes, could generate up to 11 gigawatts — the equivalent of 10 nuclear reactors.

‘Resident Evil Village VR’ will be available on PSVR2 launch day

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was a key game for the PlayStation VR launch back in 2016, and the franchise is set to play a role for Sony’s upcoming VR headset as well. Resident Evil Village VR will arrive at the same time as PlayStation VR2 on February 22, 2023 as free DLC for the standard PS5 game, Capcom and Sony announced. That means anyone with the standard game (no Gold Edition required) will get some instant PSVR2 content for free.

Developer Capcom teased a PSVR2 edition of Resident Evil: Village earlier this summer (below), nothng at the time that it would feature the entire PS5 version of the game. “The VR Mode supports the entire campaign and lifts the award-winning experience to new heights,” it said in the latest press release. “A deeper and more captivating adventure awaits with PlayStation VR2… VR Mode utilizes the 4K HDR display, eye tracking, and 3D audio to make Resident Evil Village more realistic and intense than ever.”

At the same time, Capcom’s promising that the PSVR2 Sense controllers will allow players to interact with their surroundings in new ways. “With one controller in each hand, you can feel the vibration, recoil, and resistance as you interact with objects in the world and fire weapons,” according to Sony’s PR.

For instance, players can hold up their arms to guard against enemies that get too close, while weapons will feel “tangibly more realistic in VR mode,” Capcom said. You’ll also see new gameplay elements like dual wielding and natural motion controls for reloading firearms and fighting with knives. 

As mentioned, the Resident Evil Village VR DLC will arrive when the $550 PSVR2 launches on February 22, 2023. To play it, you’ll need the PS5 version of Resident Evil Village or Resident Evil Village Gold Edition to play. Sony said that up to 20 games will be available for PlayStation VR2 upon launch, including Horizon Call of the Mountain and Among Us VR.