The Register reckons that UK's Competition and Markets Authority has uncovered that Google is giving Apple money for searches done in the iOS version of Chrome. They've paid Apple (and other browser developers) billions of dollars for searches made in Safari in return for being made the default search engine, but Google paying Apple for searches made in Google's own Chrome web browser on iOS is a new discovery. One theory is that Google pays Apple this bizarre fee to ensure Apple doesn't make its own search engine to compete with Google. Neither Apple or Google has confirmed any of this, but would anyone be surprised there would be such a cosy arrangement?
NBN briefly mentioned in a senate estimates hearing last week that they're gonna bump up speeds on fixed wireless connections. There will be two tiers - Home Fast (100/20) with speeds between 100-130MBps down and 8-20MBps up, plus Home Superfast that will be capable of 200-325Mbps down and the same piddling 8-20Mbps up. The download speeds are great and will be super useful for those in the fixed wireless footprint, but what is with NBN and their pathetic upload speeds?! Meanwhile, Starlink is testing a "Global Roaming" service that'll cost US$200/m and "allows your Starlink to connect from almost anywhere on land in the world".
One of the most batshit crazy aspects of the already batshit crazy metadata retention laws passed in 2015, was a loophole that allowed pissant government bodies like the Veterinary Surgeons Board of WA, Victorian Fisheries, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and every local council in the country also has access. After many years of potential abuse, the Mandatory Data Retention Regime is finally getting some love from the Attorney-General. Along with closing this huge loophole, some planned reforms also include forcing telcos to store the data they collect in Australia and further clarifying what is content and what is metadata.
People stop off a highway near a mobile phone antenna tower to try to get a signal after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Dorado, Puerto Rico, on September 25, 2017. The island's already-stressed electric grid was enormously damaged by the storm, and as of early December, two months later, only about 65 percent of the power has been restored, with authorities cautioning that it may take several more months to reach 95 percent. (Alvin Baez / Reuters)
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