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Ah, don't you just love computers with the plastic and the wiring and they got lights

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and stuff? I don't know, I just think they're cute.

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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney finally has his first big win after spending three years

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crusading against Apple and Google's app stores instead of making the Epic Game Store

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not suck so it wouldn't depend on exclusive games. Hey, but to each their own.

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On Monday, the jury in the Epic v. Google trial unanimously agreed with Epic's argument

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that Google illegally used monopoly power and anti-competitive business deals to ensure

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the Play Store remains dominant in the Android app distribution market, thereby crushing

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Epic's plans to bypass the Play Store tax. Now this may be confusing, given that Epic lost in court, making basically the same

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argument against Apple, who bears a much stronger resemblance to this guy.

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But Epic's case against Google was actually made easier, since Google does allow third

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party app stores on Android, while doing everything they can behind the scenes to ensure

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those all fail. Google was also hurt by the fact that its executives wrote things down, allowing incriminating

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documents to be obtained by Epic's covert task force of elite Fortnite hackers.

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This security system is mid, no cap. Bruh.

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If you want a full deep dive on this, I did a full deep dive in this tech clonker.

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I think it's pretty good. Now this development could fundamentally change the app store landscape for both Apple and

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Google. Of course, Google will appeal the ruling, and if it sticks, it'll be years before

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the changes affect end users. But Tim Sweeney is good at the long game.

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Fortnite has survived, and as evidenced by a recent launch of games within a game like

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Lego Fortnite, which is actually Minecraft, it's actually blossoming into a metaverse

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of its own, one that won't have to hand over a cut of its Android revenue to Google.

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So what's next? Well, according to Tim, he's taken the fight back to Cupertino so he can lose again.

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Speaking of antitrust and Apple, early next year, EU regulators are likely to serve Apple

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with a ban on app store rules that block music services from steering users away from the

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app store and towards other subscription options. It's also theoretically possible that the European Council could fine Apple up to 10%

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of annual sales as part of the decision, but a fine of that scale would be extremely

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unusual. After all, the mark of a good threat is that you never have to follow through.

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EU regulators are also investigating how Apple restricts access to mobile payment features

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on its devices, prompting Apple to offer opening up its tap and go system to Apple pay competitors.

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For some reason. Meanwhile, the right to repair movement is gaining traction in North America, and the

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European Parliament recently voted near-unanimously to pass new, aggressive right to repair legislation.

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Apple, by pure coincidence, is expanding its self-repair program to more devices, including

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the iPhone 15 and newer M2 MacBook models.

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M-DOO. It's also released a relatively sophisticated web-based diagnostic tool that will give users

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access to the same testing abilities as Apple authorized service providers.

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This diagnostic tool is currently available only in the US, but will be expanding to

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Europe next year… or else.

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The California Department of Motor Vehicles is accusing Tesla of false advertising regarding

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its so-called full self-driving feature, a feature that does not and cannot fully automate

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a car, but sure does sound like it can. In response, Tesla's lawyers are arguing that the DMV implicitly condoned its marketing,

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because Tesla started using the term autopilot in 2014 and full self-driving in 2016, and

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the DMV chose not to take action until 2021.

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Tesla also claims that California's false advertising rules for autonomous vehicles

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inappropriately restrict constitutionally protected speech that is truthful and non-misleading.

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That might be relevant if it weren't for the fact that unprotected speech that is dishonest

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and very misleading is exactly what they're currently accused of.

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Tesla recently escaped a class action lawsuit for alleged false advertisement, but that's

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largely due to a forced arbitration clause embedded in Tesla's terms and conditions.

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Today, Tesla also issued a recall of over 2 million cars, which is basically all of them

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in the US, for a partial defect in Tesla's autopilot controls, which the Highway Traffic

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Safety Administration found didn't sufficiently ensure that drivers were paying attention

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and then prevent them from using it under inappropriate conditions.

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Of course, by recall, regulators just mean an over-the-air patch to the infotainment system.

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In case you weren't already worried that automated safety regulators are dangerously

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behind the times. It was recently discovered that every quick bit emits low-level radiation.

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Don't worry, you folks at home are perfectly safe. I, however, have six months to live.

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I've been doing this a while. In response to a concerned post by a Chinese user, AMD has clarified that while yes, overclocking

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Horizon Threadripper 7000 does blow a hidden fuse to indicate that the chip has been used

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with overclocking, but that doesn't necessarily void its warranty.

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According to AMD's standard terms of sale, damage that directly results from overclocking

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may not qualify for repair under warranty, but an overclocked chip is still covered by

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warranty for replacement or repair for other issues.

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Nothing has changed, so overclockers can relax and keep overing those clocks.

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has hit Google subsidiary Fitbit with a 7.3

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million USD fine for making misleading claims to at least 58 customers about its warranties.

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While the fine is only 3.8% of Fitbit's $190 million net income last year, it's also over

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$120,000 per customer lied to.

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Fitbit representatives reportedly told several customers they only had 45 days to return

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a faulty device. They told another that they couldn't receive a refund because the device wasn't purchased

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directly from the Fitbit website. According to Australian law, goods sold in the country must hit a certain threshold of

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quality and fit to purpose, or the customer must be offered a repair, replacement, or

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refund. The FTC has released a warning advising citizens to be cautious when scanning QR codes, given

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their increased use in scams and distribution of malware.

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Pictures of QR codes embedded in phishing emails can easily bypass normal security checks,

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where a direct link to a malicious site would be quickly detected.

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You're also likely to find QR codes on restaurant tables, shop Windows, posters, and parking

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lot kiosks, which just makes it easy for a scam artist to just paste their own code

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over the authentic one. Also, why do we call them scam artists?

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This is like sandwich artists all over again. It's just mustard, dude.

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You're not Picasso. Valve has asked Steam Deck owners to please stop inhaling the device's exhaust fumes.

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A writer for Kotaku has elected to ignore the health and safety advice, because they

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can't stop, quote, smelling the hot, plastic-y, almost fruity scent.

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Apparently, a non-zero amount of people on Reddit feel strongly about the scent, with

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one commenter lamenting the day their deck stopped smelling.

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Or maybe his olfactory nerve finally died of deck poisoning.

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I'm so happy I had to write that. Why do we love what's bad for us?

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And an AI companion robot has been dividing New York's elderly community.

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What show is this? Is this local news? Alright, here we go.

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Early Q has been given out to hundreds of lonely seniors as part of an initiative by the New

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York State government's Office for the Aging. While many seniors seem to enjoy the company, others liken to the robot's reminders and

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prompts to nagging, and even call the device's tone rude.

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Man, if one of them says kids these days, I'll finally win elderly catchphrase bingo.

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And you'll win more tech news if you come back on Friday for another episode of TechLinked.

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Don't forget, this is me reminding you, better see you there, okay.