It’s been a busy week in the technoworld, and the last 24 hours have been overheating. Google loses its appeal in the EU’s anti-trust case, Twitter shareholders approve Elon Musk’s takeover bid, and the former Queen of England makes this week’s news.
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EU SLAPS GOOGLE WITH RECORD ANTI-TRUST FINE
Yesterday, El Goog lost its appeal to being assessed a 4.125 billion, with a ‘B’ (that’s about $4 billion), euro fine by the EU General Court citing anti-trust activities the company took when forcing Android device manufacturers to use its Android operating system. The fine was levied in 2018. The EU accused Google of forcing Android phone manufacturers of favoring Google apps and browser instead of their own software or third-party apps. Google argues that it has created more choice for everyone and is disappointed with the court’s ruling. 4.125 billion euros sounds like a hefty sum, but is a drop in the bucket for Google.
TWITTER SHAREHOLDERS VOTE FOR MUSK DEAL LEADING TO COURT SHOWDOWN
A majority of Twitter shareholders have approved Elon Musk’s hostile takeover offer to buy Twitter for $44 billion. The approval came on Tuesday, one day after Twitter’s former security officer turned whistleblower, Peter Zatko, testified before Congress. Zatko said Twitter’s security is so lax that half the company can access user accounts. Twitter and Elon Musk are set to begin their 5-day trial on October 17th. Musk had sent Twitter a letter of termination as recently as Monday. He said, Twitter’s outgoing severance payment of $7 whole million violated the acquisition agreement.
QUEEN OF ENGLAND’S FLIGHT SETS ALL-TIME TRACKING RECORD
The Royal Air Force plane carrying the Queen of England’s coffin set a flight tracking record being the most tracked flight ever. Flightradar24 reports that almost 5 million people went online to follow the plane’s route from Edinborough to London. That number includes 4.79 million online and another 296 thousand people watching on YouTube. The previous record was held by Nancy Pelosi’s for her visit to Taiwan. 2.9 million tuned in to watch her fly.
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