Germany

Germany's Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office or FCO) antitrust authority today announced that Apple is subject to "extended abuse control" under the German Competition Act, which means that German regulators can prevent the company from engaging in "anti-competitive practices." FCO president Andreas Mundt said that Apple's economic position is not adequately controlled by competition,...

Apple has announced an additional 1 billion euros investment in German engineering over the next six years as part of its Silicon Design Center expansion in central Munich. Apple says the investment will go towards the design and construction of a "state-of-the-art research facility" at Seidlstrasse, where Apple's R&D teams can "come together in new ways, enhancing collaboration and...

Apple today announced the expansion of Emergency SOS via Satellite and Find My via satellite functionality to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ireland. iPhone 14 users can now connect with emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi coverage are not available, and calls from the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will be routed to local emergency services facilities. Apple's...

The iPhone 14 lineup's Emergency SOS via satellite and Find My via satellite features will launch in four additional countries next month, Apple today announced. In its press release announcing that Emergency SOS and ‌Find My‌ via satellite for the ‌iPhone 14‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models will roll out later today, Apple mentioned that the feature will be coming to France, Germany, Ireland,...

Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, has initiated proceedings against Apple to investigate whether its tracking rules and anti-tracking technology are anti-competitive and self-serving, according to a press release. The proceeding announced today will review under competition law Apple's tracking rules and specifically its App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATT) in order ...

Smartphone makers like Apple and Google should be required to provide security updates and spare parts for their mobile devices for at least seven years, according to new environmental responsibility proposals from the German government to the European Union (via Heise Online). The European Commission recently proposed that mobile device manufacturers should provide software updates and...

Member of the German parliament, Manuel Höferlin, who serves as the chairman of the Digital Agenda committee in Germany, has penned a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, pleading Apple to abandon its plan to scan iPhone users' photo libraries for CSAM (child sexual abuse material) images later this year. In the two-page letter (via iFun), Höferlin said that he first applauds Apple's efforts to...

Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, today initiated proceedings against Apple on the claims of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store, its products, and other services, according to a press release. The proceeding against Apple announced today will determine whether the Cupertino tech giant holds a "paramount significance across markets" and whether, through...

Regulators in Germany are seeking to bar Facebook from collecting user data from its subsidiary, WhatsApp (via Bloomberg). The Hamburg regulator is looking to achieve an "immediately enforceable order" against Facebook by May 15, due to concerns that WhatsApp's privacy policy changes could lead to the unlawful use of user data for marketing and advertising purposes. Data Commissioner...

While the German cities of Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, and Frankfurt have more than one Apple Store, the capital Berlin has only one – Apple Kurfürstendamm, which opened in 2013. That looks set to change soon, however. Render of 43-45 Rosenthaler Straße by project developer Values Real Estate Speculation that Apple could settle in the eastern part of Germany's largest city has been around for...

Apple will make Munich its European Silicon Design Center, the company announced today. Work already being undertaken by Apple in Bavaria's capital is contributing to its custom Apple silicon designs, while the expansion, together with additional investment in R&D, will exceed 1 billion euros in the next three years. Apple says the new state-of-the-art facility will bring hundreds of new...

The Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE may give incorrect altitude readings in unusual weather conditions, as noted by iphone-ticker.de. The Apple Watch Series 6 and ‌Apple Watch SE‌ feature a next-generation always-on altimeter to provide real-time elevation information. Apple says that its updated altimeter cross-references information from GPS and nearby Wi-Fi networks to detect...

Germany's largest TV provider Vodafone has announced that its GigaTV service is now available bundled with an Apple TV 4K, which is on loan to customers for the duration of their contractual period (via Macerkopf.de). Both new and existing Vodafone Deutschland customers will receive the ‌Apple TV‌ 4K, and Apple's single sign-on process for GigaTV extends to iPhone and iPad, allowing users to ...

Apple and Amazon are set to face antitrust scrutiny in Germany over a policy that forbids independent sellers from retailing Apple products on Amazon, Bloomberg reports. Germany's antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, has launched a probe into Apple and Amazon over the policy of "brandgating." The policy allows the makers of branded products, such as the iPhone, to have...

Apple Pay support came to Sparkasse's Giro card in Germany today. First spotted by iphone-ticker.de, the debit card, known as the "Sparkassen-Card," can now be stored in Apple's digital Wallet app, just like the bank's credit cards. This means that savings account customers can use the "most popular card in Germany" with ‌Apple Pay‌. Für Birnen und für Eier. Und zwar für alle. Sparkasse ...

Apple has started reopening its retail stores worldwide, and is taking multiple measures to make sure customers and staff continue to stay safe during the global health crisis. One of these measures includes temperature checks for customers before they're allowed to enter one of Apple's stores using a non-contact forehead thermometer. A data protection agency in the German state of Hesse is...

Apple appears to have updated the speaking voice of Siri on devices in Germany, based on reports compiled by iphone-ticker.de (via ifun.de). According to the website, several readers have reported ‌Siri‌'s German speech comes across as more natural and melodic than before, especially on HomePod, although the changes are subtle, with better pronunciation and different inflection depending on...

Germany said on Sunday it will use Apple and Google's decentralized contact tracing API, reversing course on its original intention to use its own solution to track the spread of coronavirus. Last week, the German government said it would use its own home-grown technology for smartphone-based tracing of infections, based on a design that would hold personal data on a central server....

Apple has been offering certified refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro models in the United States for a couple of weeks now, but today it started selling refurb 16-inch models through its international online stores for the first time since the notebook was released in November 2019. All of the refurbished configurations are discounted by 15 percent compared to the equivalent brand new models....

Apple Pay came to two additional big banks in Germany today, bringing the digital payment platform to millions more people in the country just over a year since it launched there. As of this morning, customers of both Sparkasse and Commerzbank can add their Visa and Mastercard credit cards to the Wallet app. The Sparkassen-Karte Basis debit card is also compatible, but support for the...