Technology News: Bits & Bytes: The Biggest Things Happening in Tech This Week

Apple to Switch to OLED Displays on All iPhones

As reported by the Japanese daily Nikkei, citing anonymous sources, Apple intends to use OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays in all iPhone models sold from 2025, completely abandoning liquid crystal displays (LCD).

TV and smartphone makers are opting for OLED displays over LCDs because the former offer more vibrant colors and sharper contrast, which is ideal for high-definition video. However, the planned move would squeeze Japanese companies Sharp and Japan Display out of Apple’s mobile phone business, Nikkei said. The two companies had a combined 70% stake in iPhone displays about a decade ago, but only supplied LCDs and do not mass produce OLEDs.

According to a report by Nikkei, Apple has begun placing orders for OLED displays with Chinese company BOE Technology and South Korean company LG.

US antitrust case concerns Google’s digital advertising business

Google will go on trial next week in a second antitrust case in which the U.S. Justice Department will challenge how the search giant makes money from advertising through a system that prosecutors say hurts news publishers.

The case comes just a month after a judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized online search. While that focused on Google’s ubiquitous search engine, the upcoming trial will focus on a less visible technology that connects website publishers and advertisers. Those tools have contributed more than 75% of Google’s $307.4 billion in ad revenue.

Regulators accuse Google of dominating ad tech markets on websites by bundling its tools for publishers and advertisers, giving it a “privileged middleman position.” Google has denied the allegations, saying it does not have to share technological advantages with rivals and that its products are interoperable with those of its competitors.

Internet Archive loses support over online lending library

When libraries across the United States were temporarily closed due to the pandemic, the Internet Archive, an organization that digitizes and archives websites and music, came up with the idea of ​​making its library of scanned books available for free reading in an online database.

The legality of this activity turned into a long saga that finally ended when a court ruled that the Internet Archive was violating copyright laws by distributing books without a licensing agreement.
The decision is a victory for major book publishers that filed the lawsuit in 2020, and could set a precedent for the legality of broader digital archives.

A final appeal could potentially go to the Supreme Court. In a statement, the Internet Archive said it was “considering the court’s opinion.” Before the pandemic, the library used a system called “digital lending,” which allowed users to read scanned books one at a time. The Internet Archive lifted viewing limits during the pandemic.

TikTok Expands Its ‘How to Vote’ Resources Ahead of US Elections

TikTok is trying to improve coverage of the upcoming U.S. presidential election with new videos about media literacy and increased security requirements for verified accounts of politicians and governments. Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and their running mate all have TikTok accounts, a sharp turnaround from last year, when the vast majority of U.S. politicians shunned the app.

The efforts come as TikTok cautiously acknowledges that it has become a much larger news source for millions of Americans. It joins other major tech companies like Meta, Google and X that have had to regularly grapple with how their platforms handle election-related content.

However, TikTok faces additional scrutiny because it is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and is at risk of being banned on national security grounds.