Category: Specials

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is set to wrap its case in the Google antitrust trial, after an eventful two weeks in the courtroom.

The tech giant is accused of engaging in monopolistic behavior by strategically acquiring certain companies and controlling the adtech industry’s most widely-used tools and exchanges. The lawsuit was filed in 2023 by the DoJ and a coalition of eight states seeking to “restore competition” on the web.

The trial began on September 9, and the DoJ has been laying out its case that Google has attempted to monopolize control of the ad network, server, and exchange, beginning with its acquisition of advertising company DoubleClick in 2008.

Lawyers for the government argued that the move made Google’s ad server the default choice and left publishers with few alternatives. By integrating its ad exchange and server, Google has an unfair edge in ad auctions, and it manipulates auction rules and drives up cost, the DoJ alleged. Advertisers taking the stand — including Gannett, NewsCorp, Index Exchange, The Trade Desk, Scope3 and others — have backed up these allegations, stating that they have felt trapped by Google’s tactics, and at the same time felt compelled to use the company’s products to remain competitive.

Notably, the DoJ obtained numerous seemingly damning internal Google emails and presentations suggesting that the company was fully aware of the advantage it would gain through the DoubleClick grab and how it would impact competitors.

For instance, in 2009, Google’s former president of global display advertising, David Rosenblatt, said in an email that Google’s control of the ad market would be akin to owning both Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange. “If we execute …we’ll be able to crush other networks, and that’s our goal,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, current and former Google executives and managers have been caught contradicting themselves when presented with such emails, brushing them off or attempting to talk their way around them.

For its part, Google argued that the government is focusing on just a narrow sliver of the advertising market (that is, banner ads at the top and sides of web pages). In an opening slide deck, it said that the ad technology industry is “intensely competitive, with new entrants all the time.” The company claimed that there is “no monopoly power,” and that its share in a “two-sided market” has decreased even as the company’s revenue has increased.

Further, Google is arguing that sellers and buyers are free to choose multiple ad tech tools (and do); that it makes its products interoperable with those of its rivals; and that it has sought to create value for advertisers, publishers and users. In 2024, “this is the commercial reality,” the company said.

Google, which will soon have to begin its defense, is said to have earned $200 billion in 2023 alone through ad placement and sales.

The case will ultimately be decided by a judge (what’s known as a “bench trial.”) Google avoided a jury trial by making a roughly $2.3 million payment to the DoJ. The $2,289,751 check covers a portion of the damages sought by the plaintiffs, and ensures that a judge will make the final decision in the case. Google’s team of lawyers described it as a strategic decision that will help ensure a quicker resolution.

This is the second antitrust trial faced by Google in the last two years. Earlier this year, the company lost a case centered around its search business; Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the company had engaged in anticompetitive behavior to maintain its dominance, calling Google a “monopolist.” The penalties attached to that ruling are as yet unannounced.

Beyond the Writing Tools coming in Apple Intelligence, significantly faster processors, and the luxurious look of the iPhone 16 Pro models, there was little of explicit interest for enterprise users at Apple’s Monday product launch. Sure, the new iPhones are better in a multitude of ways, but it’s the platform — in this case, iOS 18 — that remains the key selling point for business professionals.

Here’s a rundown of some of the ways iOS 18 will help users get more done.

For many, iPhone 16 is a software story

We now know Apple will introduce iOS 18, the software that runs Apple’s devices and supports iPhones, on Monday, Sept. 16. When it does, it will also ship an iOS 17.7 update for customers who don’t yet want to upgrade to the new mobile operating system. 

With interest in Apple Intelligence running high (even though it won’t arrive til later this fall), enterprise purchasers should note the products removed from sale as Apple introduced its new iPhones. These include the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 13. (The company still sells the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Plus.) It’s likely Apple will add additional models (such as the iPhone XR) to its vintage and discontinued products list in the coming months.

This is a fairly standard cadence, but it is important to note that only the iPhone 15 Pro devices and iPhone 16 range will run Apple Intelligence. Apple usually provides service and parts for five to seven years, but the move to Apple Intelligence means some users (including enterprise customers) will find they must invest in more recent devices to use it.

They might want to bite the hardware bullet. Apple Intelligence provides several useful business tools, including powerful writing tools and contextual intelligence applied in useful ways (in Mail or Calendar, for example) to help busy professionals stay on top of things. Some may choose to use these tools on other Apple devices, as they are just as useful on a Mac. 

Otherwise, iOS 18 provides a grab bag of enterprise-useful improvements that don’t require the latest hardware. As it usually does, Apple has tweaked a feast of items across its operating system, and published a PDF containing 250 of these improvements.

Better for calls

While many younger employees may prefer messaging, phone calls remain critical in business, and iOS 18 has a range of improvements that can help:

Available for the iPhone 12 or newer, live audio transcription makes it possible to record audio within Notes or during a Phone app call from within the app. When you record a call, a warning message will let others know you are doing so. The conversation will be automatically transcribed and made searchable.

You can also search call history, dial smarter, and switch SIM cards more easily. If you use AirPods Pro you’ll benefit from much improved voice isolation through advanced computational audio. Finally, if you use messages for business communications, you can now also schedule messages as well as emails for despatch at a certain time. And RCS is now supported.

Better for missed calls

It would be nice if operators would expedite support for Live Voicemail. When you miss a call, this generates a real-time transcription of the message someone is leaving you as they speak – you can physically see it on your iPhone screen. It helps you stay focused while remaining responsive to important communications.

With iOS 18, Live Voicemail will gain support for additional languages and countries, including English (UK, Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Puerto Rico), Spanish (US, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Mandarin (China, Taiwan, Macao), Cantonese (China, Hong Kong, Macao), and Portuguese (Brazil).

Cross-platform password management

The new Passwords app essentially revamps a service already available on iOS, surfacing it to make it easier. The app will sync and be made available across all your devices, including Windows systems. Combined with MDM tools, this facilitates provisioning, while maintaining the secure end-to-end encryption for which Apple is famous. The Passwords app makes it easy to search for the right account, while passwords will automatically be added to the app. Developers also gain an automatic passkey upgrade API to create a passkey when someone signs in to your app to let then know the passkey was saved.

Because some apps need to be secret

One feature that might be useful to some business users lets you lock and hide apps. A locked app gains an additional verification step that requires a passcode, FaceID or TouchID authorization before it can be opened. That’s good, but for enterprise app developers it’s important to note that information from a locked app cannot then be surfaced for use elsewhere on the system, including in search. You can also hide apps from view.

What time was I meant to be where?

While Apple Intelligence promises some excellent contextual AI features, Apple has also looked to the basics of its Calendar app. This now provides a redesigned month view to help you achieve a better overview of what’s coming up. Integration between Calendar and Reminders has also improved, so you can create Reminder app interactions from inside Calendar. This small but significant improvement should help dramatically reduce the number of missed appointments.   

A Lock Screen that works for you

While users might enjoy swapping out the flashlight or Camera app triggers from the Lock Screen for other apps, developers will want to tweak their apps for easier use from that screen using Apple’s new Controls API. App Intents will enable Siri to handle many more actions, so your enterprise warehousing app might end up being fully voice-controlled, for example, enabled by a single tap on that Lock Screen button.

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