Google will stop serving political ads in the EU

Google will stop serving political ads in the EU, due to the upcoming Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising which "introduces significant new operational challenges and legal uncertainties for political advertisers and platforms."

The company criticized the upcoming rule's broad definition of political ads and that technical guidance may not be given until close to October 2025.

In addition to stopping these ads in the EU, Google will also stop showing political ads on YouTube.

🔗 Engadget
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Tencent brings Android games to Microsoft Store on Windows 11 [CHINA ONLY]

Microsoft has partnered with Tencent to bring Android apps and games to Windows 11 in China, bringing 1000+ mobile apps to PC. Tencent App Store has been integrated into the Microsoft Store, allowing Chinese Windows Insiders to download popular games and apps like PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings.

To access, you need to be a member of the Windows Insider Program and your PC must be running Canary or Dev Channel builds, with the PC's region set to China.

Unfortunately for anyone outside of China, the partnership between Microsoft and Tencent will not keep Android apps and games on Windows 11. Windows Subsystem for Android is still set to be deprecated on March 5, 2025.

🔗 Microsoft
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

CSS has got a new Official Logo

The CSS-Next GitHub community decided on a new official CSS logo by voting. The design of the new logo aligns with the design style of other web technologies like JavaScript, TypeScript and WebAssembly.

The logo uses the rebeccapurple color (#663399), which has a meaningful history as the color was added to CSS specification in 2014 to honor Rebecca Meyer, daughter of Eric Meyer, who passed away from brain cancer at age six.

🌐 logo.css
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Microsoft will soon let you clone your voice for Teams meetings

Microsoft announced "Interpreter in Teams" at Ignite 2024 — a real-time speech-to-speech translation tool that simulates users' voices in nine languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. This will launch in early 2025.

Available to Microsoft 365 subscribers, the feature replicates voices for a personalized experience, however, it doesn't store biometric data or add sentiments.

A consent is required to enable the feature. Microsoft has yet to detail safeguards against potential abuse.

🔗 TechCrunch
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

US prosecutors demand Google divest Chrome to end search monopoly

U.S. prosecutors have urged a judge to mandate Google to divest its Chrome browser and possibly its Android OS to address its online search monopoly to a buyer approved by the U.S. government.

Proposed measures include prohibiting Google from owning a browser or investing in search-related technologies for five years after divestiture of Chrome.

Google should be prohibited from making payments to third parties to make Google the default general search engine.

Google shouldn't enter exclusive content deals with publishers or use its assets to favor its own search engine, ads, or AI products.

Google may also be required to share search results and user data with competitors at minimal cost.

🔗 Reuters
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

OpenAI considers taking on Google with browser

OpenAI is reportedly exploring the development of a web browser integrated with its chatbot. However, the browser project is still in early stages, with no imminent launch.

The company is also working on deals to power AI-driven search features with partners like Conde Nast, Redfin and Eventbrite. Additionally, OpenAI has discussed integrating its AI technology into Samsung devices.

🔗 Reuters
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Google removes 1.1.1.1 and Other VPNs at India's Request

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs made a removal request to Google, which targets links to VPNs including Chrome extensions, Android apps and direct download links.

The removed VPNs include the well-known:
• 1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare (Android)
• Hide.me (Android)
• X-VPN (Android, Extension)

Other VPNs include:

Thunder VPN, SuperVPN Free, Touch VPN, PrivadoVPN, Potato VPN, Neo VPN, Fast VPN, FreeVPN Planet.

The reason is unspecified, but it's likely related to regulatory or security concerns. Google has acknowledged the request, but there are no documents yet.

If you use 1.1.1.1 on Android, you can:
• Migrate to Cloudflare One Agent
• Install the APK manually

🔗 Lumen
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Microsoft may train its AI on everything you type in Word and Excel

Microsoft Office has a Connected Experiences feature which reportedly allows the company to use user-created content in Word and Excel to train AI models, which means that Office may analyze articles, artwork and documents by default, without asking for user consent.

Along with that, according to Microsoft's Services Agreement, by using their products, you grant Microsoft a global, royalty-free license to use your content for providing services, ensuring security, and improving their products, including storing, sharing, and displaying it.

However, Microsoft denied the accusations:

In the M365 apps, we do not use customer data to train LLMs. This setting only enables features requiring internet access like co-authoring a document.

🔗 Winaero
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Apple ordered to open up in-app purchases in Brazil.

Brazil's antitrust regulator, Cade, has ruled that Apple must lift restrictions on payment methods for in-app purchases, following a complaint from MercadoLibre. The complaint, filed in 2022, accused Apple of forcing developers to use its payment system and banning third-party digital goods.

Cade determined that Apple should allow developers to add links to external websites for purchases and offer alternative in-app payment options. Apple will have 20 days to comply with the measures, and if It fails, it will be fined 250,000 reais (~$43,000) per day.

🔗 Reuters
🧑‍💻 @agamtechtricks