Connect with us

Technologies

Google borrows Apple’s winning legal strategy in its Fortnite trial, arguing breach of contract

The search giant is battling Fortnite maker Epic Games in court over the way it manages its Google Play Store.

Last month, Apple was largely handed a major victory in its legal battles with Fortnite maker Epic Games. In a 185-page decision, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed that Epic had breached its developer contract with Apple when it activated code hidden within its hit Fortnite battle game for the iPhone and iPad that violated App Store rules. In a legal filing Monday, Google showed it’s a quick study.

In its 43-page filing, Google recounted how Epic had activated similarly hidden code within its app on the Google Play Store last year, which broke Epic’s «contractually agreed» rules and led to the app’s removal. Epic, Google said, then began a public relations campaign «intended to villainize and harm Google, while distracting from Epic’s breach.»

A Google spokesman further argued that Epic «entered into a legal agreement with Google with which it never intended to comply» and that its actions «have put its own users at risk, have harmed Google, and are deserving of relief from this Court.» Epic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: Apple scores legal win over Epic in Fortnite lawsuit: What you need to know

Google’s moves mark the latest escalation in the ongoing legal battles Epic’s waging against the two tech titans. Epic argues that both Apple and Google are too controlling of their respective app stores, putting restrictions on what type of apps can be offered up for sale and how they function. Both companies also collect fees from app developers through what are known as in-app payments, when people buy digital goods like a subscription or a new look for their character within their app. The companies charge up to 30% commissions for those purchases, a price they’ve defended against growing drumbeats of criticism, including from Epic.

Epic’s legal fights with Apple and Google began last year when it changed the way it charges people to buy items within its Fortnite game, circumventing each company’s in-app payment systems and the commissions they charge. In its legal filing, Google said Epic «schemed willfully to violate the terms» of its developer agreement «to avoid paying Google anything at all.» In the course of its trial with Apple, Epic admitted it had planned a public relations campaign to fight app store rules as part of its legal strategy.

Epic’s legal battle with Google was effectively on hold until after its lawsuit with Apple concluded. Both Apple and Epic have since filed their plans to appeal aspects of Rogers’ ruling in their suit.

Technologies

Is IRS Direct File Going Away? What the Trump-Backed Budget Means for the Free Service

Continue Reading

Technologies

Uber Introduces Its Own Version of Prime Day: Uber One Member Days

The industry-leading rideshare company is creating a new weeklong event full of deals, promotions and savings to coincide with Memorial Day sales.

If you’re an Uber One member, you’ll be able to take advantage of a massive new promo. The first Uber One Member Days event will run from Friday, May 16, to Friday, May 23, to coincide with Memorial Day sales on other tech shopping platforms. 

Uber One Member Days is structured very similarly to Amazon’s various Prime Day sales — paying members will have access to rotating benefits over the course of the event, timed with Memorial Day, compounded with the usual perks of an Uber One membership.

During each day of the Uber One Member Days promotion, you’ll have the chance to access new deals across Uber, Uber Eats and Uber-partnered brands. Uber is one of the best food delivery services, but it can be prohibitively expensive. These deals can help put delivery within reach, at least during Member Days.

While the full list of deals and promos won’t be available until Member Days begins, Uber has offered some insights into what the benefits will look like.

Uber One members will be able to knock 50% off the price of shared rides, 20% off Uber Black and 40% off the Comfort Electric during the Member Days week.

Uber One already offers a breadth of evergreen benefits to anyone who uses Uber and Uber Eats, including $0 food delivery, up to 10% off orders at participating locations, 6% money back on any rides taken and more. The newest benefit alongside Uber One Member Days is that you can get 10% of your Uber One credits back when you use Uber Rent or take Lime rides on Uber, sweetening the membership deal a little bit more.

If you aren’t an Uber One member but you want to take advantage of the exclusive Uber One Member Days deals, you can get a free one month membership by signing up here — just be sure to keep an eye on the payment details if you don’t plan to continue the subscription after your first month.

Continue Reading

Technologies

CNET’s Daily Tariff Price Tracker: Prices Steady as Forecast Remains Grim

Check out CNET’s tariff impact tracker is keeping tabs on price moves for several popular products, including the recent news for the Xbox brand.

The Trump administration eased up somewhat on its tariffs against China this week, dropping the overall rates from 145% to 30% for 90 days — till Aug. 10 — while deeper trade negotiations continue. While these moves will go some way to averting an economic war, the rates against China are still historically high and reports continue to emerge suggesting price hikes for everything from cars to PlayStations.

In this article, we’re closely tracking the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has either remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, especially with new reports emerging that Apple might be looking to make iPhones more expensive this year.

The agreement with China, much-hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against are biggest trading partner, the new 30% rate is only temporary and still historically high, it just looks better next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes in order to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes given its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

In April, Apple flew bulk shipments of iPhones into the US to get a stockpile here ahead of tariffs kicking in. In recent weeks, reports have indicated that the company is working on moving all manufacturing of US-bound iPhones out of China to India to evade the worst of Trump’s tariff agenda. However, it’s also been reported that the iPhone 19, planned for release in 2027, will need to stay in China, because of the level of complexity planned for its design, tied to the iPhone line’s 20th anniversary. On May 12, further reports emerged suggesting that Apple plans to raise the price of the iPhone with the forthcoming iPhone 17 line, but that it also plans to avoid attributing this to Trump’s tariffs.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if for any given household, they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. In recent days, this model has fluctuated from $400, where its been for most of the year so far, and $470, where it sits today. These fluctuations don’t seem to be influenced by tariffs, at least for the time being.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories were also affected, and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. The AirPods Pro 2 have hovered steadily around $200 on Amazon in 2025, but were on sale for $169 the first few days of May before jumping back up.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts, but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media