02/09, 10:17am
French ISPs have 24 hours to block content following government request
The French government is now able to order Internet service providers to block websites relating to terrorism and child pornography. The new law, brought into effect following its publication in an official journal and in development since mid-2014, forces ISPs to prevent access to specific content discovered by government officials within 24 hours of a request.
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02/08, 9:58pm
News from the gaming industry for the week of February 1
Every Sunday, Electronista and MacNN compile some notable news items from the world of gaming in a bumper post. In this week's edition of Weekly Game Replay, Nintendo's YouTube policy woes, a TV show based on Zelda, and some notable offline game items are overshadowed by the loss of one of the games industry's major news sources.
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01/28, 11:05am
Draft law in France would force Google, Facebook to act on hosted terror content
French lawmakers want to hold tech companies accountable for online hate speech. A proposed law, which will apparently be presented next month, will make Google, Facebook, and any company that offers online services to the public "accomplices" to hate-speech crimes, in an attempt to coerce them to monitor their services more closely, and force the removal of terror-related content.
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01/28, 9:40am
Defunct Mini model briefly returns to online Apple store
Apple's official online shipping times for the iPod shuffle have improved in the UK, France, Germany, and several other European countries, reports say. Earlier this month, shipping times deteriorated to between seven to 10 days worldwide, prompting fears that Apple might be discontinuing the product. Sources claimed that Apple was just going through component supplier changes, however, and this may be borne out by the European Apple online stores, which is now seeing the media player ship in five to seven days. Delays have yet to improve in the US or Canada, but may follow suit in the near future.
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12/05, 4:28pm
Australia, France, Germany among new countries with movies
Apple has added a collection of new locations to its Flyover feature in Maps, and new countries to the list that can access movie listings through Siri. In the former category are Avignon, Biarritz, and Perpignan in France; the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater in Arizona; Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Dunedin in New Zealand, Royal Gorge in Arkansas, and finally Visby in Sweden. Apple has been slowly updating the number of areas with Flyover support since iOS 6 was released in 2012.
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10/31, 10:01am
Store could be intended to attract Belgian shoppers
Apple is preparing a new store in Lille, France which, barring unusual delays, should open in November, reports say. A black construction facade with the company's logo has been spotted on Rue Faidherbe; such barricades usually go up in the last few weeks before a store opening. The shop should span two floors, and take up slightly over 15,000 square feet.
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10/21, 3:56pm
Social media changes mark first official move away from Nokia banner to Microsoft Lumia
Microsoft is making the shift away from the Nokia brand name official, as it's confirmed that the company is shifting to Microsoft Lumia for future devices. The change in names was first brought up back in September as part of an alleged leak of an internal document that dropped the Nokia name, along with mentions of Windows Phone from devices.
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10/13, 8:35am
BPCE, Twitter preparing to launch money transfers via tweets
Twitter users in France will soon be able to send money to other users by tweeting, according to a report. Groupe BPCE, the second-largest bank in France based on customer numbers, will apparently start providing simple person-to-person transfers of funds within the country, with the sender able to pass funds along to other people without knowing any of the recipient's bank information.
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09/30, 10:49am
Jonathan Ive, Marc Newson among celebrities present
Today's Apple Watch event at Colette mostly involved units running on demo loop behind locked glass, visitors say. Members of the press are being allowed to wear the product, but even then, the hardware is still running on loop. Apple is also declining to provide any more information on specifications, pricing, or a launch date.
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09/29, 12:48pm
Could involve public hands-on
Apple and a Parisian fashion boutique, Colette, are planning a "one day only experience" on September 30, according to the latter's website. The event will run from 11AM to 7PM local time at Colette's storefront on Rue Saint-Honoré. Although neither company has said so explicitly, it appears to involve the Apple Watch, since Apple has adopted a fashion angle to marketing the product and the logo for the event resembles the Watch's homescreen.
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08/06, 10:56am
New stats may be attempt to sway local governments
Apple has posted a new promotional page, touting the company's alleged benefits to the European economy. It claims to have "created or supported" 629,000 jobs on the continent, with over 500,000 of those being linked to the "app economy." Of the over $20 billion it has paid out to developers, about $6.5 billion is said to have gone to European outfits. Among Apple's 280,500 registered developers, 52,000 are in Germany alone, and 30,000 are in France. The local iOS app economy is said to have about 20,000 open positions.
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07/24, 3:02pm
Anti-Uber law proposal demands headquarter visits by drivers
French legislators are continuing to work against app-based driver services, by proposing a new law changing the way they operate. The proposal from the French Senate would require drivers for car-service companies to return to their headquarters, or in the case of a driver using Uber or a similar service, a parking garage or their home, between clients.
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07/11, 9:38pm
French free delivery book ban circumvented with extremely-low Amazon delivery cost
Amazon is countering a law in France banning free shipping, by charging customers a single euro cent ($0.01) for orders. The law, put in place by the French government in an attempt to protect smaller bookstores from being squeezed out of the marketplace by the online retailer, is being circumvented by the technicality, with French lawmakers seemingly unable to hamper Amazon's sales efforts.
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06/17, 9:18am
Includes separate iMovie, iBooks workshops
Apple has opened registration for the 2014 edition of its annual Apple Camps. The program is aimed at teaching creative projects to kids aged 8 to 12 while simultaneously promoting Apple products. This year, two sets of three-day workshops are available: one is dedicated to creating a short film using iMovie and the iPad version of GarageBand, while the other involves producing an interactive book using iBooks Author and illustrations done on an iPad.
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05/23, 2:34am
Online code education platform announces new partnerships in five countries
Codecademy, an educational startup aiming to provide accessible learning of programming code, has announced expansion into five more markets -- the UK, France, Brazil, Estonia and Argentina. Agreements with educational and government groups have allowed Codecademy to be available on a localized level, with partnerships including work on customized programs, and non-English language content. Presently, Codecademy courses remain free.
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05/19, 1:02pm
Current-generation iPads still excluded
Apple has expanded its iPad Reuse & Recycling program to France and Germany, local reports say. When the initiative first launched on Earth Day -- April 22nd -- it was restricted to Canada and the US. Given Apple's history with the iPhone version of the program, the UK is likely next in expansion efforts.
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05/15, 10:46am
US, other regions still at 2-3 weeks
Apple's official shipping times for the 2013 Mac Pro have shrunk to one to two weeks in several European nations including the UK, France, Spain, and Germany, checks show. Other online storefronts -- including the US -- are still showing times in the two- to three-week range. If historical trends persist, times in the US should improve in short order.
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04/04, 7:48pm
Google's new Night Walk offers immersive tour through Cours Julien neighbourhood in France
Google's Street View has been taken to a new level with its release of Google Night Walk, an audio-based tour through a French neighbourhood. Leading those accessing the tour though Cours Julien, a neighbourhood of Marseille, France, narrators Julie and Christophe lead users across the city, highlighting locations of note. A mini-map displays one's progress though the city, and certain hotspots initiate YouTube clips, Wikipedia segments and photo galleries, and more.
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03/13, 6:22am
LeBron James reveals phone issue in Samsung Twitter mistake
Despite Samsung recently enjoying success with marketing on Twitter as part of the Oscars, the company has suffered a social media misstep. Brand ambassador and Basketball star LeBron James posted a message claiming his phone, a Galaxy Note, "just erased everything it had in it and rebooted," and though Apple Insider notes the tweet was subsequently deleted, it was not removed before a contingent of the star's near-12 million followers retweeted the message. The Twitter account has since claimed data has been restored on the device, but did not detail if there was any intervention by Samsung.
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03/03, 10:24am
Canadian expansion still in the wings
The iPhone Reuse and Recycle program has been extended into France, Apple has confirmed. The program lets people trade in an older iPhone towards the purchase of a new one. It debuted in the US last year, and has since spread to the UK and (in modified form) India. French iPhone owners are promised "up to €215" ($296) for trade-ins.
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02/20, 12:25pm
Supporting regions still under a dozen
Apple has brought its two-step verification process to several more countries, the company's support pages show. Until today, only the US, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand were supported. Now however the list also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain.
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02/07, 7:28am
CNIL fine, 48-hour warning to users contested in court
Google is returning to court in France, to contest a fine and notification over its unified privacy policy. The €150,000 ($204,000) fine from France's National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) is being appealed by the search company, with an order to place a prominent notice to warn users about the ruling on Google.fr also being fought.
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01/14, 5:16am
European Moto X launches 6 months after United States version
Motorola has launched the Moto X in Europe, at its launch event in London today. The flagship Motorola smartphone, originally launched in the United States in August, makes its way across the Atlantic to join the Moto G, though unlike the American version, the European model will not offer any Moto Maker customization options, instead offering just the standard black and white-backed models.
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01/13, 2:52pm
Testing of hands-free Beacon system expands
Transaction service PayPal has started testing a new web feature called In-Context Checkout, reports say. Normally, web-based PayPal transactions have to be completed at paypal.com. With the in-context code in place, choosing PayPal checkout at a retailer's website will simply conjure a pop-up, where billing and shipping information can be entered. At the moment only a handful of retailers have the option, but PayPal is promising that more vendors will adopt it in the first half of 2014.
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01/08, 3:08pm
Company will be forced to show web notice explaining decision
France's National Commission on Computing and Freedom has fined Google €150,000 -- or about $204,000 -- for violating local privacy laws, reports say. The fine is half the amount the Commission was considering in September, but Google will also have to display a notice on Google.fr for two days, explaining the government's ruling. France was upset with Google's blanket approach to privacy, and asked it to define retention periods and individual purposes for data collection, and get consent from the public before storing cookies.
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12/30, 3:24pm
French taxi driver anger forces change in transport law
Start-ups offering app-based driver services in France will have to wait for 15 minutes before picking up a customer from January onwards, according to a new bill by the French government. The bill, which affects Uber, LeCab, SnapCar, and other similar services, is an attempt by the government to appease taxi drivers in the country, those who stand to lose heavily from the start-ups.
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12/05, 4:32pm
Apps were previously English-only
Google has updated its Android and iOS Search apps with voice support for French, German, and Japanese. The upgrades let people both speak commands and hear responses in the new languages. Previously, non-English speakers had to type in any search requests.
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12/02, 9:39am
Most countries participating
Most of Apple's online storefronts for Europe have announced zero-percent financing deals, available today through January 10th. Some participating countries include the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The deals are only eligible on hardware purchases worth over €400, or £449, but let shoppers spread costs over time without incurring the interest Apple normally charges. Depending on the country, payments can be spread over 10 or 12 months.
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10/17, 10:30am
Company may be shifting tax burden to shoppers
Apple has silently raised prices for the iPhone 5s and 5c in France, reports note. 16, 32, and 64GB versions of the 5s previously cost €699, €799, and €899. Now, however, they cost €709, €811, and €911, making even the cheapest 5s worth about $968. French iPhones are sold unlocked, but in the US, an unlocked 5s still starts at just $649.
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09/27, 1:43pm
Company fails to comply with demands
France's data-privacy watchdog, the CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés), has moved forward with plans to sanction Google over the company's privacy policies. The agency in June ordered the company to implement a number of changes to comply with the French Data Protection Act, however the company reportedly failed to adjust its policies within a three-month deadline.
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09/25, 10:49am
Probe believed to be separate from antitrust investigations
France's finance ministry is investigating contract terms between Apple and local carriers selling the iPhone, according to reports. The initiative is believed to be part of a broader look at contracts between carriers and phone makers. It's separate, however, from a European Commission investigation into Apple's contract dealings.
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09/10, 3:32pm
Leaves North America for first time
As anticipated, Apple has brought AppleCare+ plans to Europe for the first time. Initially, however, the option is only being sold in the UK, France, and Italy. In the UK, the fee to replace an accidentally-damaged iPad under the two-year plan is £39; replacing an iPhone is £55. Defective units should be swapped out at no extra cost.
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08/30, 3:31pm
Apple partnering with AIG
Apple's rumored European expansion of AppleCare+ will initially reach just six countries, sources say. A launch is reportedly "imminent" in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK, although no exact dates are available. Apple is said to be partnering with AIG on the service; local AppleCare and Genius Bar workers started training for AppleCare+ earlier this week.
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08/28, 2:31pm
Apple makes heavy international push
Details have emerged on several new international Apple Stores. Aside from a new Tokyo location, Apple is reportedly working on another Parisian outlet, this time around Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It's not clear when Apple will move in, but the target building's current tenants are said to have staggered leave dates ranging from next month to the end of March 2014.
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08/12, 4:54pm
New countries to join August 16th
Apple is extending the number of eligible countries in its USB adapter takeback program. The program began in China August 9th, and is coming to the US on August 16th. Now also joining on the 16th will be Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK.
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07/01, 3:53pm
Google, Amazon app stores also under scrutiny
The French government's investigation of the iOS App Store is part of a broader probe into customers' inability to easily switch platforms, a spokesperson says. L’autorité de la concurrence -- France's competition regulation agency -- is targeting not just the App Store, but also other storefronts like Google Play and the Amazon Appstore.
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07/01, 9:42am
Company unfairly favoring own stores over retail partners, complaints say
Apple's French headquarters was recently raided in the course of an antitrust investigation by the country's competition regulators, local reports say. Government authorities seized documents related to a complaint by Apple reseller eBizcuss, which went bankrupt last year. Following the bankruptcy, eBizcuss complained that Apple was engaging in unfair competition, making sure its own stores are well-stocked with new products while limiting what resellers have access to.
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06/12, 2:53pm
Extends coverage to two-year period demanded by EU law
Apple has updated its default warranties in Belgium, France, and Germany to reflect European Union law, reports say. EU regulations require covering the sort of goods Apple sells for two years. Until now, though, Apple only marketed its warranties as covering one year in the above countries, drawing criticism from governments and consumer groups. The company was only giving two-year warranties to people paying for extended AppleCare packages.
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06/03, 12:49pm
France's SACEM agency is asking Apple to pay 5 million euros, or about $6.5 million, for taxes still owed on 2011 iPad sales, reports say. The tax is one common across Europe, collecting money off sales of digital devices that can access copyrighted material. The money is then distributed to artists such as authors and actors.
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05/13, 12:20pm
May heighten tensions over tax avoidance in EU countries
French President Francoise Hollande is considering a new tax on tech products, the money from which would fund cultural projects. The move, which would be decided this summer and has been described as "minimal and widely distributed," may increase tensions between tech companies and the government of France -- along with other EU countries, many of which have complained that firms such as Apple and Google are gaming the system in order to avoid paying taxes that would normally be due.
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05/09, 11:15am
Other regions might also have new 3D terrain
Apple has extended Flyover coverage in iOS 6 Maps to Paris and several surrounding areas, reports say. Aside from Paris, other new detail regions include Versailles, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Disneyland Paris, and L'Haÿ-les-Roses. Flyover renders scenery in a rough 3D state, clarifying maps and giving a better sense for what an environment will look like in person.
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04/11, 5:55pm
French developer admitted to breaking Apple's guidelines
Calling Apple's decision to pull AppGratis out of the App Store for its violation of the rules "extremely brutal and unilateral," a junior minister for the digital economy in France has said she plans to ask the European Commission to investigate "Internet companies" for "repeated abusive behavior" and called for tighter regulation of digital platforms, search engines and social media. The thinly-veiled attack on Apple, Google and social services like Twitter and Facebook comes on the heels of Apple's pulling of the France-based iMediapp's program.
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03/13, 9:24am
Practice violates French law
Apple France must pay labor unions €10,000 ($13,000) in fines for regularly forcing retail employees to work after 9PM, a Parisian court has ruled. Agence France-Presse adds that for every subsequent violation, Apple will have to pay 50,000 euros ($65,000). Under French law, demanding work between 9PM and 6AM is reserved for exceptional cases, and requires special justification.
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02/27, 10:00am
Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands seeing access
(Updated with complete list of countries) Access to movies and TV shows via iTunes in the Cloud is rolling out across several more European countries, reports say. The one confirmed country is France, where the feature has been tested with both iTunes and the Apple TV. Various people on Twitter, however, are claiming that the option is now also available in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
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02/19, 3:01pm
UK store still stuck at 1-3 business days
The iPad mini is now officially "in stock" at Apple's online store in many countries. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and the US have all made the change. Some notable exceptions include places like the UK, Germany, and France, where the tablet is listed as shipping in one to three business days.
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02/19, 6:06am
Stylistic S01 includes simplified menus, call assists
Fujitsu and Orange have agreed to offer Fujitsu smartphones to customers in France, with initial handsets being targeted at senior users. The first offering will be the Stylistic S01, a mid-ranged 4-inch Android 4.0 smartphone based heavily on the Fujitsu Raku Raku, one that is focused on helping elderly users communicate.
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02/01, 3:13pm
$82 million payment into fund mirrors Belgian settlement
Google has come to terms with the French government regarding the search engine's indexing of media in the country. Google has agreed today to pay 60 million euros ($82 million) into a fund to help French media expand and develop exposure on the Internet. Despite publishers in the country lobbying to the contrary, Google will not pay for posting links to French publishers' content.
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01/20, 8:57pm
Orange France claims half data traffic from Google properties
French telecommunications provider Orange has imposed a deal on Google, forcing the search giant to pay for traffic sent through its data networks. The agreement, terms of which remain undisclosed, sees Google compensate the carrier for its sites taking up roughly 50 percent of all traffic on Orange's networks.
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01/02, 4:24pm
Thieves assault store workers
Robbers stole an estimated $1.32 million in Apple products from the Paris Opera Apple Store on New Year's Eve, Dow Jones reports. A group of armed men in masks came in through the service entrance three hours after the store closed, at about 1700 GMT. At the time, only a cleaner and a single security guard were present. The robbers nevertheless assaulted them, inflicting slight injuries in one case.
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12/18, 11:46am
Lawsuits still being pursued, Samsung says
Samsung has dropped patent injunction applications against Apple in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, a senior executive tells the Wall Street Journal. All of the injunctions were related to wireless communications. Samsung notes that despite the withdrawal of the applications -- which is said to have been voluntary -- lawsuits accusing Apple of patent infringement remain ongoing.
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