- Bowlers' graveyards: Pakistan's placid pitches under fresh fire
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Vietnam, China to expand rail links, cross-border payments
- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
Apple ready to open iPhone tap-to-pay to rivals -- in the EU
Apple is prepared to open the iPhone's ability to tap-to-pay to rivals -- in the EU -- after coming under fire for keeping users in its own ecosystem, the European Commission and the company said on Friday.
The commission, the European Union's market regulator, said it was weighing Apple's proposal, which was made after Brussels determined that the Cupertino company enjoys a dominant position in iOS mobile wallet transactions by shutting out competitors.
Such transactions rely on technology called Near-Field Communication (NFC) which allows users to tap a smartphone on a vendor's payment terminal instead of a credit card with a microchip.
An Apple spokeswoman told AFP: "We have offered commitments to provide third-party developers in the European Economic Area (EEA) with an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet."
This option would be made available in the 27 EU countries plus associated countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which together make up the EEA.
"Apple Pay will continue to be a broadly available option, and over 3,000 issuing banks across all EEA countries will still be able to offer the unparalleled privacy and security of Apple Pay, as well as its great user experience," the spokeswoman said.
The European Commission has invited companies in the contactless payments business to comment within a month on Apple's proposal to see if it addresses their competition concerns on getting access to tap-to-pay tech on iPhones and Apple watches.
- Europe only -
The commission said Apple was offering to make NFC on iOS devices available free of charge, and would create interfaces so that competitors could safely store personal payment details for use in their own apps.
Only users with an Apple ID registered in the EEA would be able to make use of these outside apps, though "Apple will not prevent the use of these apps for payments in stores outside the EEA," the commission said in a statement.
That raised a question about how consumers and regulators in non-EU markets, such as the United States, Britain and Australia might view the change, and whether they could push for similar treatment.
The commission noted that, up to now in Europe, "Apple's iPhones run exclusively on Apple's operating system (iOS), with which they form a ‘closed ecosystem'".
In May 2022, the EU executive accused Apple of anti-competitive behaviour by blocking access to NFC on its phones to other companies. That resulted from a probe launched two years earlier after complaints from EU banks.
Brussels has already forced Apple to make changes to its products by legislating for all smartphones in the EU to have USB-C ports.
That saw Apple last year ditch its slower Lightning port on new iPhone models going forward -- but that was a change rolled out worldwide, not just in the European market.
From March this year, Apple and five other tech giants -- Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDance -- will be required to abide by a new EU Digital Markets Act putting them up against anti-competitive scrutiny and tougher obligations.
O.Johnson--AMWN