EU Music Streaming Firm Wants European Commission to Deny Apple’s Proposal
- Written by Shipra Sanganeria Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
Digital Music Europe (DME), a group representing major music streaming platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud, has asked the European Commission to dismiss Apple’s proposed solutions in regards to pricing transparency and allowing third-party app downloads outside its App Store . The group’s formal May 7 plea to the Commission cites the measures proposed as inconcrete and ineffective.
The measures, which were created to comply with the European regulatory’s March order, propose to create a more transparent environment for audio streaming platforms operating within the European Economic Area.
According to Apple’s proposal , the measures would simplify the process for audio streaming platforms to notify users about alternative methods for purchasing digital subscriptions. The apps on the App Stores would be allowed to add links to their websites and Apple, in turn, would levy a 27% commission on any transaction made through these links.
Additionally, it would allow the digital music providers to inform customers of the prices available on their respective websites, via emails as well.
Digital Music Europe, in the submitted letter, expressed apprehensions, claiming that Apple’s latest initiative in music streaming services is a “discriminatory program” that will compel competitor platforms to participate in a new system controlled by Apple, according to a Reuters report.
Earlier in March, the European Commission levied a fine of €1.8 billion (approximately $1.9 billion) on Apple over its “abusive” App Stores practices. EU regulators stated that for nearly a decade, Apple’s policies restricted music streaming providers from informing users about alternative pricing options, leading users to pay higher subscription fees than necessary.
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, said in the press release , “For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store. They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem.”
Even though Apple has introduced new policies in an effort to adhere to the EU mandate, its refusal of Spotify’s latest iOS version highlights its determination to uphold the current state of app distribution and payment processing protocols within the iOS ecosystem.
OpenAI Launches New, Advanced GPT-4o Model: Soon Available For Everyone
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by
OpenAI revealed a new, more advanced ChatGPT model called GPT-4o during the live OpenAI Spring Update event Monday night. The new GPT-4o is faster than GPT-4 and can simultaneously process text, audio, and images—it essentially can “see” through a device’s camera.
During the 26-minute-long live stream, OpenAI’s team showed in real-time the new features and capabilities of the new model. They also shared details about coming updates for previous versions, like the new desktop app.
“The big news today is that we are launching our new flagship model and we are calling it ChatGPT-4o,” said Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI.
Murati explained that the new model and the new features for previous versions will be soon available for free and for everyone, including non-registered users. “We’ll be rolling them out over the next few weeks,” said Murati.
During the first demonstration, OpenAI’s team showed how GPT-4o can hold conversations using a female voice, be interrupted, answer fast and creatively—with a sense of humor—and even recognize emotions and give advice.
Later, the team presented different scenarios where GPT-4o can be used. They show how it can use the “vision” feature to help solve linear equations written on paper, understand code and graphics by sharing the screen through the desktop version, and assist in simultaneous translations in real-life conversations. GPT-4o can speak in multiple languages and different tones and styles of voice.
Finally, the experts showed how it can recognize human emotions, and also make mistakes. Throughout the demos, GPT-4o glitched a few times, confusing one of the presenters with a wood image and believing that the math problem was already handled when the team member hadn’t shown anything yet.
But GPT-4o quickly apologized and charmed the audience with its responses. “Oh, stop it, you are making me blush!” it replied when one of the research leaders, Barret Zoph, told GPT-4o how much they admired it.
Response To GPT-4o
OpenAI shared multiple short videos on X to demonstrate the different functions of the new GPT-4o model.
Several people on X associated it with the movie Her , where the protagonist Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falls in love with an AI virtual assistant voiced by Scarlett Johanson. “This is insane, when I saw these clips, I immediately remembered this movie!” commented one user. “This is literally Scarlett Johansson. How?!” wrote another.
While most users were impressed by the new features, others shared a few criticisms and concerns. “Dear @openai, your demo was super impressive and scary but the Italian accent was terrible :),” posted Massimo Banzi, co-founder of the robotic automation Arduino project.
“Really excellent but I would say that I think you may lose a lot of paid users if it’s only the limit cap that is different to the free version,” said another user .
In the following days, the new model and updates will be available to more people to test and experience the technology first hand.
