Apple sues GEEP Canada for allegedly reselling 100,000 iPhones, iPads, Watches meant for recycling

Source: Apple

Apple has filed a lawsuit against its former contractor GEEP Canada, alleging that the company is reselling over 100,000 iPhones, iPads, and Watches that were supposed to be dismantled and recycled. Apple discovered the issue after it audited over half a million devices sent to the recycling partner between 2015 and 2017. It found that 18% of the iPhones, iPads, and Watches were still accessing the internet through cellular networks. That totals 103,845 devices. It doesn't take into account the Wi-Fi only devices, meaning the figure can be higher.

 "At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left GEEP's premises without being destroyed - a fact that GEEP itself confirmed," reads a portion of Apple's complaint. The company seeks to obtain at least $31 million from GEEP, which is now part of Quantum Lifecycle Partners.

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Sonos files another lawsuit against Google for infringing five more speaker patents

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A day before Google's hardware event where the new Nest Audio might be launched, Sonos has filed another lawsuit against the search giant. The company claims Google infringed on five more patents, including patents that cover technologies some of Sonos' best-known features are based on (including the Trueplay tuning tool). This new lawsuit is more about modern wireless speaker system features, which seem to focus on smart speaker control (like setting the volume on a speaker from your phone). 

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Epic claims Apple 'cherry picked' data on 'Fortnite' and its popularity in latest filing

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After Apple accuses Epic Games of using its lawsuit to revitalize interest in Fortnite, the developer claims Apple "cherry picked" Google search results when it came to the game's popularity. Epic refutes Apple's claims that there's declining interest in Fortnite. It cites its user engagement data, saying "Over the period of time that Apple cherry-picked for its Google search volume comparison (between October 2019 and July 2020), the number of daily active users on Fortnite actually increased by more than 39%." 

Apple hasn't responded yet to Epic's latest filing. A full court hearing is scheduled for September 28. 

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'Fortnite: Save the World' will no longer work on macOS starting Sept. 23

The latest casualty in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games is the castle-building, players vs. zombies version of Fortnite called Fortnite: Save the World. It will no longer work on macOS starting September 23. Fortnite: Save the World also stopped receiving updates when Apple cut off Epic's access to its developer account where it manages its games. Epic blames Apple for preventing them from distributing updates to the game, which will cause bugs in the future.

Epic will refund all players who bought any Save the World Founder's or Starter Packs (including Upgrades) and played the game on macOS between September 17, 2019, and September 17, 2020. According to Epic, any purchased V-Bucks spent on Llamas on macOS will also be refunded. Starter packs are no longer available for purchase on macOS. The developer cautions that it might take up to October 2, 2020, to receive the refunds. But there's no action needed from your end.

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