Heyaa awesome people, 👋

We are back with the Left, Right, and Center of the Tech World. Every Tuesday, we bring you a deep dive into the tech industry. Enjoy! 

Apple’s facing a €500M fine in the Spotify case

Starting from where we left off yesterday,

The EU authorities have charged Apple a €500 million ($539 million) fine in the Spotify case. The authority investigated Apple’s alleged attempts to downscale and silence its music-streaming rivals on its platform. The allegations were proved true.  

Apple’s being a bully

The 2019 Spotify complaint says Apple’s policies prevent iPhone apps from informing users about cheaper alternatives to Apple’s music service. The policies were made in a way to mute all competition against Apple Music. 

Apple's argument against the complaint was the “App Store has helped Spotify become the top music streaming service across Europe.”

FYI, Apple had earlier refused to let developers link out their own subscription sign-ups within their apps. Apple changed this policy in 2022 after regulatory pressure from Japan. 

Read what Christopher Plowman, CEO at Insight Timer, says in his post about Apple’s unfair policies. 

The backstory:

In this case, the EU's actual fine was $40 billion. That’s 10% of Apple’s annual global turnover! The objections were updated later on. 

Apple was charged with a $1.2 billion fine in 2020 by French authorities. This fine was later revised to $366 million after Apple appealed. 

We know what you’re thinking…

Is the fine justified? 

EU authorities have made it their core objective to remove Big Tech’s dominance from their bloc. They use fines and regulatory actions to prevent such monopolistic tendencies. 

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager had earlier fined Google’s parent company Alphabet with  €8 billion. She had also ordered Apple to repay €13 billion in alleged unfair tax breaks from Ireland.

Final words: Apple eventually loosened its grip on external sign-ups, proving even tech giants can adapt (sometimes with a nudge).

^{Sponsored by Pipedrive} 

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$35.3 billion deal combines two of the largest credit card companies in the U.S.

Capital One is all set to acquire Discover Financial in an all-stock deal worth $35.3 billion. 

The $35.3 billion deal between Capital One and Discover Financial Services will form a global payments giant that will compete with the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.   

Who’s Who?

Capital One is a Warren Buffett-backed US consumer Bank with a market value of $52 billion. 

Discover Financial Services is a credit card issuer with a market value of $28 billion. It has a network that spans 200 countries and territories. However, it is still smaller than credit card behemoths like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.  

The deal will form the sixth-largest US bank by assets and consumer credit card company competing with rivals like Mastercard, Visa, Citibank, and JPMorgan. 

The deal is also likely to receive intense antitrust scrutiny. 

What’s the deal about? 

Under the deal, Discover shareholders will receive 1.0192 Capital One shares for each Discover share. 

The shares will be at a premium of 26.6%. This means each Capital One share will be valued at $140, while Discover shares closed at $110.49 on Friday. 

What can you expect? 

Neither Capital One nor Discover Financial are bank-first companies. They are two of the largest credit card companies serving a similar customer base. The deal will place the two higher up the ladder. 

The deal will give Discover, a credit card partner, and Capital One a singular opportunity ‘to bring together two very successful companies with complementary capabilities and franchises, and to build a payments network that can compete with the largest payments networks and payments companies.’

Eager to know more? Read the full story here. 

MIT researchers are taking 3D printing to the next level 

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are killing it with 3D printing. MIT researchers are using a new additive manufacturing technique called LMP (Liquid Metal Printing) to print furniture 10 times faster than a comparable metal additive manufacturing process. 

What’s the technique? 

LMP involves depositing molten aluminum along a predefined path into a bed of tiny 100-micron glass beads. The molten aluminum hardens into a 3D structure. 

The method is faster and more efficient but does not achieve high resolutions. The LMP components can be used with high-resolution processes and additional materials to create functional furniture.

Furniture is not all that LMP can build

The 3D printing technique is also being used to produce self-heating devices for disease detection. The technique can be used to produce low-cost, accurate devices such as microfluidics. 

Microfluidics, miniaturized machines that manipulate fluids and facilitate chemical reactions, can be used to detect disease in small samples of blood or fluids.

Self-test Covid-19 kits are a good example of devices that contain such microfluidics. 

The researchers are also using the technique to print plasma sensors, such as retarding potential analyzers (RPAs), for satellites like CubeSats. The team found that the 3D printed sensors performed equivalent to state-of-the-art semiconductor plasma sensors manufactured in a cleanroom.

Also, read how MIT researchers created a tag to determine the authenticity of any items. 

^{Sponsored by Pipedrive} 

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More Tech-ila shorts 

• Google Rolls Out Android 15’s First Version: Google has rolled out the first version of Android 15 mobile OS to developers. The new version promises to improve user privacy and security, enhance the photography experience, and boost performance.  

• Person With Neuralink Implant Makes Full Recovery: Elon Musk announced that the person implanted with the first Neuralink chip has made full recovery. The person can control a mouse only using their thoughts. 

• EV Sales Are Dropping in California: California’s booming EV market may be showing signs of a slump after years. The main customers' concerns around high vehicle prices, unreliable charging networks, etc., have dampened consumer interest in these zero-emission vehicles. 

• Apple Vision Pro’s 13 Brilliant Use Cases: Users are finding brilliant use cases for the newly launched Vision Pro. This tweet shows 13 use cases, including real-time surgery, working with files, playing with 3D models, and more.

Tech throwback: February 20

Every day of the year is filled with one of the greatest events in tech history.

On this day, in 1872. Cyrus W. Baldwin got the patent for his invention of the Hydraulic electric elevator.

It has gone through many iterations today but this is why you don’t have to climb up five stairs of flight while carrying groceries. 

They're cost-effective, space-saving, and perfect for low-rise buildings, making them the everyday heroes of vertical transportation!

Some more shots…

• Why are people returning Apple Vision Pro

• Is China trying to insert malicious software code in critical American infrastructure? 

• Why are climate experts getting alarmed over thriving plant life in Greenland

See you next Monday for a bite-sized Tech Creator edition! 👋