Tag Archives: watchdog

France fines Google $167 million over unpredictable advertising rules

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After a four-year investigation, France's competition watchdog is fining Google €150 million ($167 million) for opaque and unpredictable advertising rules, Reuters reports. The investigation began after French company Gibmedia accused Google of...

Google ordered by French regulators to revamp privacy policy or face fines

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Google ordered by French regulators to revamp privacy policies or face fines

Google has been under the gun in the EU for a while now about its privacy policies, particularly in France, which is fairly hardcore about such matters. In fact, the nation's CNIL computer watchdog has just ordered Mountain View to change its practices or face an initial maximum fine of €150,000 (around $200,000), followed by a penalty of up to €300,000 for further non-compliance. Google has just three months to fall in line, and the French regulator's ruling could just be the beginning; it investigated the search giant at the EU parliament's behest, meaning nations like Italy, Spain and the UK could follow suit. For its part, Google -- which is no doubt very sensitive to such matters at the moment thanks to the NSA saga -- said it "respects European law" and will continue to work with French and EU authorities on the matter.

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Source: Reuters

Samsung responds to GS4 storage complaints, might free up space through ‘further software optimization’

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After being taken to task by the BBC's consumer rights show, Watchdog, Samsung says it's looking into reducing the memory footprint of its TouchWiz features on its flagship Galaxy S 4. A spokesperson told CNET UK that Samsung, "appreciate(s) this issue being raised," and that it is "reviewing the possibility [of] securing more memory space through further software optimization." The 16GB GS4 offers only 9.5GB of space for users to fill, but at least we know it's a possibility: Google announced yesterday that Samsung's Galaxy S 4 will arrive in an entirely vanilla Android guise this June. We've got the full statement from Samsung after the break.

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Source: CNET UK

Samsung Galaxy S 4’s storage to be investigated by BBC Watchdog

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We've seen Microsoft's Surface RT face similar accusations, but this time it's the turn of Samsung's Galaxy S 4 and how much space you'll actually get from that advertised 16GB of storage. The BBC's consumer rights show, Watchdog, will be focusing on the smartphone in next week's episode, and the fact that almost half of the phone's memory is already occupied by Samsung's own software and apps. According to UK retailer Clove, there's just 9.5GB of storage left for customers to fill. It's not the only Android phone with storage space less than advertised -- visit our More Coverage link to see how the Droid RAZR Maxx's 16GB of storage magically transforms into 8GB of usable space. While the smartphone maker argues that the phone does offer an expansion option in the form of a microSD card slot (up to 64GB, no less), some apps still seem to prefer to reside on built-in storage over anything removable -- Amazon's Cloud Player comes to mind.

Host Anne Robinson hints at the end of this week's episode: "It [Samsung] claims that its brand new Galaxy phone has an extra-large memory, but what did it forget to mention?" Although we might have spoiled that question for you already, check the teaser after the break. Brits can tune in for the show at 8PM GMT next Wednesday.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: Videolan (YouTube), Gavin's Gadgets