10 things in tech you need to know today

pulse

July 11, 2017 7:19 AM

Google is hiring lawyers to help it take on the EU, Apple is building a new data centre in Denmark, and Elon Musk turned up to a beach party in a suit.

google ceo sundar pichai

Good morning! Here is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.

1. Google has ramped up its legal firepower as it prepares to do battle with EU antitrust regulators.Google is drawing on the expertise of at least five top law firms in Brussels to help it deal with its EU regulatory troubles, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

2. Facebook is once again cutting the price of its high-end Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The price cut comes amidst heated competition from HTC, Sony, and others.

3. Apple is planning to build another data centre in Denmark as courts hold up its Irish server farm. The second Apple data centre in Denmark will reportedly cost the company $920 million (£815 million).

4. Elon Musk showed up to a beach party with Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom wearing a suit. A party attendee said Musk was in a "whole different headspace" than Bloom and DiCaprio — who were dressed in T-shirts and baseball caps — but said he seemed "in the crew."

5. Ethereum came under pressure on Monday.The cryptocurrency was down 9.9%, at $215 (£167) an ether, and is trading at its lowest level in more than a month.

6. UK police now have an investigative squad for drone crime.They want to catch criminals using drones to smuggle drugs and other banned items into prisons.

7. Elon Musk has bought back the website name from his second-ever company, which he left in 2002.The website is x.com.

8. Shares in Snap have fallen to their IPO price of $17 (£13) again.Snap debuted at $17 and first began trading at $24 (£19). It reached its all-time high of $27.09 (£21) on March 3, one day after its IPO. It's now down 37% from there.

9. Apple is reportedly going to introduce a "mirror-like" finish for the iPhone 8.It would not be a first for smartphones, however, and not even for Apple itself.

10. Speculation is mounting that Apple's next iPhone could cost $1,200 (£932) or more. The latest round of iPhone price speculation was spurred by the writer and podcaster John Gruber.

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