HeyWhatsNew: Samsung’s Second Galaxy Unpacked Event of the Year Takes Place & EU Has Closed Investigations into Apple Pay
HeyWhatsNew: Samsung’s Second Galaxy Unpacked Event of the Year Takes Place & EU Has Closed Investigations into Apple Pay
Welcome to HeyWhatsNew, where we bring you the latest headlines and breaking news from around the globe. This week, we’re diving into the most recent developments in technology, business, and space exploration. Let’s unpack what went down in the week beginning 08/07/2024.
Microsoft Notepad Is Officially Getting Spell Check
Microsoft is rolling out a new update that brings spellcheck and autocorrect to Notepad for all Windows 11 users. This significant update follows other major enhancements during the Windows 11 era, such as dark mode support, theme options, autosave, character count, and Copilot integration.
Spiceworks reports that misspelled words will now be underlined in red, making it easier to catch errors. This comes as Microsoft plans to discontinue WordPad with Windows 11.
Everything That Happened at Galaxy Unpacked July
Samsung recently hosted the second edition of the Galaxy Unpacked event for the year, and as expected, major announcements were made and the most anticipated releases of the year were debuted.
The most exciting reveal today was the Galaxy Ring, Samsung’s first finger-focused wearable. But that’s not all—Samsung updated all its wearables, including the new Galaxy Watch Ultra, which now leads the Galaxy Watch 7 line. Plus, they introduced the latest Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro earbuds.
Xbox Will Now Have a “Standard” Tier as Microsoft Raised the Price of Game Pass Ultimate
Microsoft is reshaping its Game Pass subscriptions with some key changes. GSMArena reports that the Ultimate and PC versions are getting pricier, while console players now have a new, cheaper Standard version. However, the Game Pass for Console is being discontinued.
Starting September 12, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will cost $20 a month, up from $17, offering downloads and cloud gaming on PC and Xbox. Note that the Standard Pass doesn’t support cloud gaming on mobile devices, nor the new streaming feature for Amazon Fire TV Stick (4K or 4K Max).
Google Is Adding iCloud Support to Make Transferring Files Easier
Apple and Google are introducing an easy way to transfer files from Google Photos to iCloud. As reported by 9to5Mac, Google will add iCloud support to its data transfer tool next week, allowing direct transfers without needing to download your photo library.
This move is part of a broader data portability initiative supported by several major tech companies. Google follows Meta, which introduced a similar tool in 2019 to transfer Facebook photos to other platforms. Stay tuned for more tech news and updates!
The EU Has Closed Investigations into Apple Pay
In response to accusations of limiting access to its mobile payment technology, Apple proposed in January to allow third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers access to its iOS contactless payment function. The European Union accepted this pledge on Thursday, resolving an antitrust case and avoiding a potentially hefty fine.
Violations of EU competition laws can result in fines up to 10% of a company’s annual global revenue, which for Apple could have been tens of billions of euros.
Google No Longer Claims Carbon Neutrality
Bloomberg Law recently reported that Google has stopped its mass purchase of cheap carbon offsets and no longer claims its operations are carbon neutral, as revealed in its latest environmental report. The company now aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Previously, Google’s carbon-neutral status was based on purchasing offsets to balance emissions from its buildings, data centers, and business travel. In its latest report, Google stated: “Starting in 2023, we’re no longer maintaining operational carbon neutrality.” The Alphabet Inc. unit had claimed carbon neutrality in its operations since 2007.
That’s all of this week’s top tech headlines on HeyWhatsNew. Stay tuned for more updates and in-depth coverage on the exciting changes in the tech world. Bye for now.
