Tim Bradshaw

Apple will allow iPhone apps to be downloaded directly from their developers’ websites for the first time, a major concession to European regulators that marks the third time this year the big tech group has been forced to change its plan to comply with landmark EU rules. The move to allow so-called sideloading in Europe, which will come into effect later this spring, comes after pressure from developers to be able to distribute their software outside the App Store and threatens a core component of Apple’s $85 billion-a-year global services business. As part of the changes, developers launc

A study of more than 2 million people’s internet use found no “smoking gun” for widespread harm to mental health from online activities such as browsing social media and gaming, despite widely claimed concerns that mobile apps can cause depression and anxiety. Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, who said their study was the largest of its kind, said they found no evidence to support “popular ideas that certain groups are more at risk” from the technology.

Elon Musk and more than 1,000 tech researchers and executives have called for a six-month “pause” on the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems such as OpenAI’s GPT to halt what they call a “dangerous” arms race.  An open letter by the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit campaign group, had been signed by more than 1,100 individuals from across academia and the tech industry within hours of its publication. “Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can u

European Union judges have quashed a European Commission order for Apple to pay back €14.3 billion in taxes to Ireland in a landmark ruling that deals a big blow to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s efforts to crack down on low-tax regimes in the bloc.  The ruling hands a big legal victory to Apple and reduces the prospect of opening up other low-tax arrangements for multinationals around the EU to state aid scrutiny by Brussels.  The EU’s second-highest court said that Brussels did not succeed in “showing to the requisite legal standard” that the tech giant had received an ille

As many as 2 billion mobile phone owners around the world will be unable to use the smartphone-based system proposed by Apple and Google to track whether they have come into contact with people infected with the coronavirus, industry researchers estimate. The figure includes many poorer and older people — who are also among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 — demonstrating a “digital divide” within a system that the two tech firms have designed to reach the largest possible number of people while also protecting individuals’ privacy.

The four largest US wireless carriers are signing up new mobile phone customers at their slowest rate in more than 15 years as consumers put off switching networks and upgrading their smartphones.

Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile US and Sprint recruited 7.1 million of the most lucrative “postpaid” mobile phone customers in the second quarter. Analysts are divided on the reason for the phenomenon, with some blaming pent-up demand for the Apple iPhone 7 and a paucity of new smartphone features. Others argue that efforts by the networks to stop customers leaving have started to bear fruit, resulting in a smaller pool of switchers for their rivals to pick off.