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Google Pixel Buds have a translation feature, and a bunch of other "Gemini AI" gimmicks, available in the EU. Apple managed to get approvals for medical device

by pornel 1y ago

Google Pixel Buds have a translation feature, and a bunch of other "Gemini AI" gimmicks, available in the EU. Apple managed to get approvals for medical devices and studies (highly regulated everywhere), custom radios and satellite communication (highly regulated everywhere). Apple already has machine translation, voice recognition, voice recording, and dictation features shipped in the EU. But when EU hurt Apple's ego by daring to demand to give users freedom to run software they want on devices they bought (that could break them out of a very lucrative duopoly), Apple suddenly is a helpless baby who cannot find a way to make a new UI available in the EU.

shuckles 1y ago
The EU has not declared that Android gatekeeps headphone technology, so the comparison to Pixel Buds is totally irrelevant. There is no interop requirement placed on them.
- isodev 1y ago
  So Apple is welcome to divest AirPods into a separate company and problem solved. Who knows, "AirPods Inc" may discover there are a great many phone brands out there that could use a nice integration and extra features. Win for consumers.
  - littlecranky67 1y ago
    I agree, the Beats takeover should have never happened. The US is basically allowing everything to be swallowed by big-tech.
    - ch4s3 1y ago
      > the Beats takeover should have never happened. I agree from a business perspective, those headphones were all brand and a bad fit for apple from a quality perspective. Do we really need regulators deciding when businesses are wasting their money?
  - tomalbrc 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - davemp 1y ago
    Or you know Linux/Windows PCs that would definitely be a big win.
  - numpad0 1y ago
    That's literally the Boeing model
  - nisegami 1y ago
    I wish this would happen. I loved my AirPods Pros 2 but the Android/Windows support was so abysmal that I eventually ditched them.
  - wtcactus 1y ago
    So, the problem is indeed the EU.
    - melesian 1y ago
      On the contrary, the EU is the solution.
  - ch4s3 1y ago
    The integration works so well because airpods and apple phones use a protocol that isn't bluetooth, their "Magic protocol". You have to own the whole stack to make it work so well.
- alextingle 1y ago
  So all Apple needs to do is stop gatekeeping headphone technology.
  - Thorrez 1y ago
    What is the definition of gatekeeping technology?
    - Y-bar 1y ago
      In Apple’s case it mostly means that the API:s Apple use for the AirPods use should be available for others to also use. Apple is not allowed to deny or punish headphones from other manufacturers that want to use those API:s.
      - bilbo0s 1y ago
        This is not quite the problem. There are multiple issues at play. The two main issues are: 1 - Sometimes processing is done in private cloud servers for complex translations. Apple is not allowed to do that for EU users. Full Stop. Even if it were not prohibited by EU law, you still have issue 2. 2 - It's unclear whether or not Apple can charge. If another dev uses the APIs, and it triggers a call to the cloud, who pays for the inference? Until Apple gains clarity on that, charging could be considered "punish"-ing a dev for using their APIs. My own opinion? Issue 2 they will get worked out, but it won't matter because I don't think the EU will move at all on issue 1. I think they see data privacy as serving a twofold purpose. One, protecting their citizens from US surveillance. ie-National Security. And two, part of their long term strategy to decrease the influence of US tech firms in the EU. Both of which I think European policymakers and European common people feel are critical to Europe.
        legacynl 1y ago
        They can design the API in such a way that you can provide your own interference solution, or just disable the cloud interference. This is purely a business decision.
        1y ago
theshrike79 1y ago
EU isn't forcing Google to let random 3rd parties replace Gemini AI with TotallyHonestAndNotStealingYourData Corp's AI.
- epolanski 1y ago
  You can replace Gemini with Perplexity or whatever you want on your Android phone, that includes the main system-wide assistant.
- benoau 1y ago
  Google is a designated gatekeeper carrying all the same DMA obligations for: Google Search, YouTube, Chrome, Shopping, Maps, Ads, the Play Store, and Android. https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/gatekeepers_en https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/gatekeepers_en
- outadoc 1y ago
  You already can replace the default assistant app with any app that declares itself as an assistant on Android, and have always been able to.
dktp 1y ago
Half of the new Google Pixel AI features are not enabled in EU. Magic cue, text image editing... These are on-device features too, so really not sure why I'm a disappointed Pixel 10 owner living in Germany
weberer 1y ago
Instead of these conspiracy theories, the more likely answer is that it takes time to get through these additional regulations, and they didn't want that to hold back their US rollout. Its a pattern that we've seen plenty of times already in the tech industry.
- epolanski 1y ago
  So Samsung could nail the regulation part with their earbuds, but Apple with Airpods can't.
  - rafram 1y ago
    Samsung isn’t a “gatekeeper” under the DMA. The regulations in question here don’t apply to them.
eagleal 1y ago
Most probably as you say they can't ship the capability yet, so they're blaming the regulations. Or really the headphones actively register and send data outside of the EU. There's been some pushback recently on this front (ie. recent MSFT case [1]) since it's a known fact in the field that the approved 2023 EU-US DPF is basically BS, as it doesn't really address the core issues for which US companies were deamed not-compatible with GDPR. [1] https://www.senat.fr/compte-rendu-commissions/20250609/ce_commande_publique.html https://www.senat.fr/compte-rendu-commissions/20250609/ce_co...
- no-reply 1y ago
  In my quest to check if deamed was the correct spelling, I stumbled upon an interesting read https://reginajeffers.blog/2024/03/04/damned-or-deemed-or-deamed/ https://reginajeffers.blog/2024/03/04/damned-or-deemed-or-de...
  - eagleal 1y ago
    Indeed. But in my case it’s quite easy as it was a typo. Deemed is the correct one
elAhmo 1y ago
So many other features, such as iPhone mirroring also don't work. Quite ridiculous.
- betaby 1y ago
  Vote with your wallet?
  - elAhmo 1y ago
    Easier said than done, but this relatively small annoyance is not a dealbreaker to change the phone. I had it before this feature was announced :D
tiahura 1y ago
It's almost like you can only shakedown your victims so many times before they say no mas.
- baxuz 1y ago
  Did you just describe Apple as a victim?

by pornel 1y ago

shuckles 1y ago

The EU has not declared that Android gatekeeps headphone technology, so the comparison to Pixel Buds is totally irrelevant. There is no interop requirement placed on them.

isodev 1y ago
So Apple is welcome to divest AirPods into a separate company and problem solved. Who knows, "AirPods Inc" may discover there are a great many phone brands out there that could use a nice integration and extra features. Win for consumers.
- littlecranky67 1y ago
  I agree, the Beats takeover should have never happened. The US is basically allowing everything to be swallowed by big-tech.
  - ch4s3 1y ago
    > the Beats takeover should have never happened. I agree from a business perspective, those headphones were all brand and a bad fit for apple from a quality perspective. Do we really need regulators deciding when businesses are wasting their money?
- tomalbrc 1y ago
  [flagged]
- davemp 1y ago
  Or you know Linux/Windows PCs that would definitely be a big win.
- numpad0 1y ago
  That's literally the Boeing model
- nisegami 1y ago
  I wish this would happen. I loved my AirPods Pros 2 but the Android/Windows support was so abysmal that I eventually ditched them.
- wtcactus 1y ago
  So, the problem is indeed the EU.
  - melesian 1y ago
    On the contrary, the EU is the solution.
- ch4s3 1y ago
  The integration works so well because airpods and apple phones use a protocol that isn't bluetooth, their "Magic protocol". You have to own the whole stack to make it work so well.
alextingle 1y ago
So all Apple needs to do is stop gatekeeping headphone technology.
- Thorrez 1y ago
  What is the definition of gatekeeping technology?
  - Y-bar 1y ago
    In Apple’s case it mostly means that the API:s Apple use for the AirPods use should be available for others to also use. Apple is not allowed to deny or punish headphones from other manufacturers that want to use those API:s.
    - bilbo0s 1y ago
      This is not quite the problem. There are multiple issues at play. The two main issues are: 1 - Sometimes processing is done in private cloud servers for complex translations. Apple is not allowed to do that for EU users. Full Stop. Even if it were not prohibited by EU law, you still have issue 2. 2 - It's unclear whether or not Apple can charge. If another dev uses the APIs, and it triggers a call to the cloud, who pays for the inference? Until Apple gains clarity on that, charging could be considered "punish"-ing a dev for using their APIs. My own opinion? Issue 2 they will get worked out, but it won't matter because I don't think the EU will move at all on issue 1. I think they see data privacy as serving a twofold purpose. One, protecting their citizens from US surveillance. ie-National Security. And two, part of their long term strategy to decrease the influence of US tech firms in the EU. Both of which I think European policymakers and European common people feel are critical to Europe.
      - legacynl 1y ago
        They can design the API in such a way that you can provide your own interference solution, or just disable the cloud interference. This is purely a business decision.
      - 1y ago

theshrike79 1y ago

EU isn't forcing Google to let random 3rd parties replace Gemini AI with TotallyHonestAndNotStealingYourData Corp's AI.

epolanski 1y ago
You can replace Gemini with Perplexity or whatever you want on your Android phone, that includes the main system-wide assistant.
benoau 1y ago
Google is a designated gatekeeper carrying all the same DMA obligations for: Google Search, YouTube, Chrome, Shopping, Maps, Ads, the Play Store, and Android. https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/gatekeepers_en https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/gatekeepers_en
outadoc 1y ago
You already can replace the default assistant app with any app that declares itself as an assistant on Android, and have always been able to.

dktp 1y ago

Half of the new Google Pixel AI features are not enabled in EU. Magic cue, text image editing... These are on-device features too, so really not sure why I'm a disappointed Pixel 10 owner living in Germany

weberer 1y ago

Instead of these conspiracy theories, the more likely answer is that it takes time to get through these additional regulations, and they didn't want that to hold back their US rollout. Its a pattern that we've seen plenty of times already in the tech industry.

epolanski 1y ago
So Samsung could nail the regulation part with their earbuds, but Apple with Airpods can't.
- rafram 1y ago
  Samsung isn’t a “gatekeeper” under the DMA. The regulations in question here don’t apply to them.

eagleal 1y ago

Most probably as you say they can't ship the capability yet, so they're blaming the regulations. Or really the headphones actively register and send data outside of the EU. There's been some pushback recently on this front (ie. recent MSFT case [1]) since it's a known fact in the field that the approved 2023 EU-US DPF is basically BS, as it doesn't really address the core issues for which US companies were deamed not-compatible with GDPR. [1] https://www.senat.fr/compte-rendu-commissions/20250609/ce_commande_publique.html https://www.senat.fr/compte-rendu-commissions/20250609/ce_co...

no-reply 1y ago
In my quest to check if deamed was the correct spelling, I stumbled upon an interesting read https://reginajeffers.blog/2024/03/04/damned-or-deemed-or-deamed/ https://reginajeffers.blog/2024/03/04/damned-or-deemed-or-de...
- eagleal 1y ago
  Indeed. But in my case it’s quite easy as it was a typo. Deemed is the correct one

elAhmo 1y ago

So many other features, such as iPhone mirroring also don't work. Quite ridiculous.

betaby 1y ago
Vote with your wallet?
- elAhmo 1y ago
  Easier said than done, but this relatively small annoyance is not a dealbreaker to change the phone. I had it before this feature was announced :D

tiahura 1y ago

It's almost like you can only shakedown your victims so many times before they say no mas.

baxuz 1y ago
Did you just describe Apple as a victim?