Tech Digest daily roundup: Lawsuit filed against Google for £3.4 billion in lost revenue
A lawsuit has been filed against Google to seek £3.4bn ($4.2bn) in compensation for publishers for lost revenue. The claim, by ex-Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur, alleges Google unlawfully used a dominant position in online adverts in a way that reduced what publishers could make from them. Google said it would fight the “speculative and opportunistic” action vigorously. It is the second such lawsuit, after a similar case was launched in November. That was brought by former Ofcom director Claudio Pollack, who is looking for up to £13.6bn in damages from the tech giant. BBC
E3, the video game industry’s biggest annual expo, has been cancelled. The show had been due to make a return after years of Covid-19 disruption this June in Los Angeles, but in a joint statement, the US’s Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and events company Reedpop announced it would no longer be going ahead. Known as “video game Christmas” by fans, E3 has been a fixture in the games industry calendar since 1995, and has traditionally been where game publishers and console manufacturers announce what’s next for players. The Guardian
The UK government has indicated it is getting cold feet about allowing plug-in hybrids – and, by extension, regular hybrids – to remain on sale in the country beyond 2030 after publishing evidence showing their CO2 output is much higher than initially claimed. Manufacturers had hoped that certain hybrids would be allowed to remain on sale for five years after the ban on petrol- and diesel-engined cars is due in 2030. Toyota has threatened to shut its plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, if regular hybrids aren’t included in the clause that allows combustion-engined vehicles with “significant zero-emission capability” (SZEC) to be sold up to the end of 2034. Autocar
A security researcher has claimed that he was able to hack into Microsoft’s Bing search engine in order to change the top results to whatever he chose. Hillai Ben-Sasson, who works as a researcher at cloud security firm Wiz, was also able to take over millions of Microsoft Office 365 accounts, which he claimed gave him access to users’ Outlook emails, calendars and MS Teams messages. “I hacked into a Bing CMS that allowed me to alter search results and take over millions of Office 365 accounts,” Mr Ben-Sasson wrote. Independent
It looks like Apple has suffered another setback with its mixed-reality headset, as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has chimed in, sharing that mass production for the product has been delayed. While it’s unclear whether this device will make an appearance at Apple’s upcoming WWDC set to take place on June 5, at the very least this new development will push back the release of the product by a few months. Kuo expects that the headset could release sometime in the third quarter of this year, but quantities of the product will be much lower. XDA Developers
Elon Musk is making plans to visit China as early as next month, according to reports, amid delays to plans to more than double production capacity at Tesla’s plant in Shanghai. The electric vehicle maker’s chief executive is also seeking a meeting with China’s Premier Li Qiang as he aims to shore up support in his company’s second largest market. It would be Mr Musk’s first visit to China since the pandemic. He last visited China in early 2020, when he set the internet abuzz by dancing on stage during an event at the Shanghai factory. Telegraph
