Reddit Blackout ends, Mark Zuckerberg comments on Apple Vision Pro and more

Here is a roundup of the tech news that you may have missed this week.

Reddit Blackout ends. What actually happened?

Over the past week from 12 to 14 June, there was a movement on discussion-forum website Reddit called the Reddit Blackout.

Due to internal shifts, Reddit decided to charge users of their Application Programming Interface (API) from 1 July. The API access allows third parties to access Reddit's website programming to create apps and tools that will compliment the website in numerous ways.

Developers have created automated modding tools, unofficial mobile apps, overlay extensions, and accessibility tools through the API access.

Access to the API has always been free since the inception of Reddit.

The company also reportedly had some employees laid off amidst this.

Subreddit moderators that joined the movement made their subreddits private, leaving users of Reddit being unable to access the platform for their daily news and posts.

Although a lot of major frequently-visited subreddits have been down, Reddit CEO, Steve Huffman, has come out to say that Reddit has "not seen any significant revenue impact so far" due to the Blackout.

Additionally, he also said in an interview with The New York Times in April that the "Reddit corpus of data is really valuable" and he doesn't want to "to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free".

This may point to some sort of monetisation for the amount of data Reddit has on various topics in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg from Meta has some words for Apple's Vision Pro headset

Mark Zuckerberg, lovingly known as the CEO of Meta, formerly Facebook Inc., has come out to say a few words about Apple's new AR/VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro.

Based on a recording of a Meta company meeting that somehow got into tech website The Verge's hands, Zuckerberg said Apple’s device didn’t present any major breakthroughs in technology that Meta hadn’t “already explored”. He also noted that it is not the vision of how he sees people using an AR/VR device.

When referring to Meta's own devices like the Meta Quest 2 and Quest Pro against the Apple Vision Pro, he remarked, “More importantly, our vision for the metaverse and presence is fundamentally social. It’s about people interacting in new ways and feeling closer in new ways. Our device is also about being active and doing things. By contrast, every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself. I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want."

Although unreleased, the Apple Vision Pro is a headset that already has consumers raving about its potential ahead of its release. Some even go as far as to compare it against the Quest Pro and how it is much better than Meta's rendition of an AR/VR headset.

Microsoft-Activision merger temporarily blocked in the United States

In a twist of events, a United States judge has issued an order to block the Microsoft-Activision deal from happening. This is after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requested to temporarily block the acquisition and to set a hearing next week.

The judge also remarked that the temporary restraining order "is necessary to maintain the status quo while the complaint is pending (and) preserve this court’s ability to order effective relief in the event it determines a preliminary injunction is warranted, and preserve the FTC’s ability to obtain an effective permanent remedy in the event that it prevails in its pending administrative proceeding."

In layman's terms, the court just wants to make sure that all options are explored before the deal either happens or is ultimately blocked.

A FTC spokesperson said in an email that "Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are considering closing their deal imminently, we have filed a request for a temporary restraining order to prevent them from closing while review continues.”

If the restraining order wasn't approved, the deal could have closed as soon as 16 June.

Activision said that the restraining order was "a welcome update and one that accelerates the legal process".

Microsoft and Activision must submit legal arguments opposing the order by 16 June, and the FTC must reply on 20 June.

Dominic loves tech and games. When he is not busy watercooling his computer parts, he does some pro wrestling.

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