France's AFP sues X in Paris, saying the company refused to discuss potential content distribution payments under a 2019 law; Elon Musk calls the move "bizarre" (Shubham Kalia/Reuters)

Shubham Kalia / Reuters:
France's AFP sues X in Paris, saying the company refused to discuss potential content distribution payments under a 2019 law; Elon Musk calls the move “bizarre”  —  said on Wednesday it filed a lawsuit in Paris against Elon Musk's X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter …

India cutting off internet in Manipur state on May 4 after ethnic conflict broke out did not quell the violence and provided cover for murders, rapes, and arson (Parth M.N./Wired)

Parth M.N. / Wired:
India cutting off internet in Manipur state on May 4 after ethnic conflict broke out did not quell the violence and provided cover for murders, rapes, and arson  —  Since May 4, the Indian government has shut off the internet in Manipur, giving cover to murders, rapes, and arson.

Vivo V29 5G goes official in Europe, might release in India soon

Vivo has confirmed the upcoming launch of the Vivo V29 5G smartphone in Europe. The device features an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 778G SoC, 8GB of RAM, and 50 MP cameras on the front and rear. The device will be available in Peaky Blue and Noble Black colors. The smartphone is expected to have a 3D curved screen with 1.5K resolution and 1.07 billion colors. The device will also feature Vivo's Ultra Large VC Bionic Cooling System, enabling better performance during gaming sessions. https://ift.tt/FTVv4I3

Galaxy S24+ may get ‘bigger’ battery than Galaxy S23: Report

Samsung is reportedly increasing the battery capacity of its Galaxy S24+ and S24 Ultra compared to the recently launched S23 series. Certificates issued by Dekra suggest the S24+ will have a battery capacity of 4755mAh, while the S24 Ultra will come with a 4855mAh capacity. That compares to a 4855mAh battery in the S23 Ultra and a reported 5000mAh typical battery in the S24 Ultra. It is not yet known whether the charging speed will be increased. The S24 range is expected to launch in January or February 2024. https://ift.tt/HYQIxW6

Amazon plans to roll out the biggest overhaul to its grocery business since buying Whole Foods in the coming weeks, including one cart for supermarket offerings (Matt Day/Bloomberg)

Matt Day / Bloomberg:
Amazon plans to roll out the biggest overhaul to its grocery business since buying Whole Foods in the coming weeks, including one cart for supermarket offerings  —  It's revamping stores, unifying online shopping carts and offering fresh-food delivery to customers who aren't Prime subscribers.

Microsoft rolls out spatial audio for Teams on Windows and macOS after a few months of testing; the audio of each person on a call now has a distinct position (Chris Welch/The Verge)

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Microsoft rolls out spatial audio for Teams on Windows and macOS after a few months of testing; the audio of each person on a call now has a distinct position  —  After a few months of testing the feature, Microsoft has widely rolled out spatial audio for its Teams desktop app on Windows and macOS.

X renames TweetDeck to XPro; the URL remains tweetdeck.twitter.com and much of the copy is unchanged, including the "Tweet like a pro" tagline (Abner Li/9to5Google)

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
X renames TweetDeck to XPro; the URL remains tweetdeck.twitter.com and much of the copy is unchanged, including the “Tweet like a pro” tagline  —  With the rename and rebrand complete on the web, Android, and iOS, X is now turning its attention to TweetDeck, which is now called “XPro.”

Internal Binance data and current and former employees say Chinese users traded ~$90B in crypto assets on the exchange in May 2023, despite China's crypto ban (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Internal Binance data and current and former employees say Chinese users traded ~$90B in crypto assets on the exchange in May 2023, despite China's crypto ban  —  Retaining its Chinese footprint will be crucial for Binance as it faces a global regulatory crackdown

Google gives the Fitbit app a Material You makeover

The Fitbit app has been redesigned for simplicity, personalisation, and motivation, with Google giving it a Material You style makeover on Android and iOS. The redesign features three tabs: Today, Coach, and You, providing access to metrics, workout and mindfulness sessions, and achievement badges. Fitbit Premium subscribers will have access to more content, including dance cardio classes. The app still tracks steps and exercises on your phone without a wearable and is set to launch in the autumn, with select users being invited to participate in a closed beta test and provide feedback. https://ift.tt/dkVl0r9

Binance announces an exchange in Japan that complies with local rules and offers 34 tokens, open for applications in mid-August before a December 1 launch (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Binance announces an exchange in Japan that complies with local rules and offers 34 tokens, open for applications in mid-August before a December 1 launch  —  - Local platform is intended to fully comply with Japanese rules  — Binance facing regulatory pressure in other parts of the world

Chandrayaan 3 completes its orbits around the Earth, what’s next

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has moved into its translunar orbit after completing two weeks in Earth's orbit. The Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for August 5, meaning the spacecraft will take four days to enter lunar orbit and will revolve around the Moon as it has the Earth. https://ift.tt/9eNEJ4o

Court filings: FTX Group details a draft plan to repay creditors, including settling claims in USD and wiping out FTT; seven classes of creditors can now vote (Jeremy Hill/Bloomberg)

Jeremy Hill / Bloomberg:
Court filings: FTX Group details a draft plan to repay creditors, including settling claims in USD and wiping out FTT; seven classes of creditors can now vote  —  - Customer claims to be valued in US dollars as of bankruptcy  — Company hasn't ruled out rebooting offshore exchange

Tether reports a $850M net profit in Q2, vs. $1.5B in Q1, with ~$3.3B in excess reserves, up from $2.44B in Q1, and $86.5B+ in total assets as of June 30 (Yogita Khatri/The Block)

Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Tether reports a $850M net profit in Q2, vs. $1.5B in Q1, with ~$3.3B in excess reserves, up from $2.44B in Q1, and $86.5B+ in total assets as of June 30  —  - In its latest attestation report, Tether said it had a net profit of $850 million in the second quarter.

Twitter/X threatens to sue Center for Countering Digital Hate, alleging the nonprofit made "troubling and baseless claims" to hurt Twitter and its ad business (New York Times)

New York Times:
Twitter/X threatens to sue Center for Countering Digital Hate, alleging the nonprofit made “troubling and baseless claims” to hurt Twitter and its ad business  —  The Center for Countering Digital Hate said it had received a letter from X, Twitter's parent company …

Italy's AGCM says it accepted Google's proposed commitments to end a case over the company's alleged abuse of its position in the user data portability market (Elvira Pollina/Reuters)

Elvira Pollina / Reuters:
Italy's AGCM says it accepted Google's proposed commitments to end a case over the company's alleged abuse of its position in the user data portability market  —  - Regulator probed Google over alleged abuse of its position  — Company pledged to update backup service, to launch new tool