Brits May Fine Facebook & Google Billions; Apple Watch Owns Smartwatch Market; Motorola Folder Coming; Amazon Pick Day Delivery

The British government is apparently ready to fine Facebook and Google billions if they don’t rid their platforms of harmful content. Businessinsider.com reports that the fines could amount to 4% of global revenue. The UK digital minister Margot James says a new independent tech regulator will be given the power to punish the companies if they don’t properly protect their users. Full details are expected to be released in a policy paper on net safety that should be out next month. 4% of revenue is a bundle…up to $2.2 billion on revenue of $55.8 billion last year for Facebook, and as much as $5.4 billion against Alphabet’s total 2018 revenue of $135.8 billion.

The Apple Watch continues to be the 800 lb. gorilla of the smartwatch world, and even grew 4th quarter. According to macrumors.com, Apple shipped 9.2 Watches in the final quarter of 2018, up 18%. Overall, smartwatch sales were up 56% worldwide to 18 million. Apple slipped from 67% of the market to 51%, but still remains the top dog. Samsung skipped up to 2nd place, passing Fitbit and Garmin.

The Razr may rise again. Motorola is working on a folding phone (much like every other smartphone maker.) Engadget.com says the company claims to have been working on a folding product for some time and has gone through multiple iterations. All indicators point to a folding Motorola offering by summer. Considering that the Samsung Galaxy Fold will be out next month, and the Huawei Mate X will drop mid-year, the venerable cell phone name will be right in the thick of things. The Motorola offering will feature styling cues from the original Razr. Motorola has said they won’t offer an outside screen, citing the lack of durability of OLED screens with plastic film overlays. Interestingly, Motorola has worked up a dual hinge model that folds twice..leaving only a third of the display exposed when closed. The company says that double fold model may be out at some point, but likely won’t be the first folder they release.

A new wrinkle from Amazon for Prime members…the company has announced the launch of ‘Amazon Day.’ According to tech crunch.com, the new feature will allow members to pick the day of the week to take delivery of their orders. The orders will arrive on the selected Amazon Day in fewer boxes, and should make deliveries more predictable. Obviously, the service benefits Amazon, by reducing the number of deliveries a driver has to make to the same address, but it could also be a boon to users. You can pick a day that you are scheduled to work from home, for example…or you day off. It also goes to Amazon’s promise to become more green friendly. Most items can be ordered for Amazon Day delivery up to two days before the chosen day arrives. The service is live today.