Italian government issues throttling fines to Apple and... Samsung?!

An investigation may have just breathed new life into Batterygate. But not for Apple — for Samsung.

The Italian government fined Apple €10 million ($11.4 million) for slowing down (or "throttling") older iPhone models, according to Reuters. The government's anti-trust watchdog issued the fine, which included €5 million for the actual throttling, and €5 million for not making iPhone battery replacement easy or transparent.

Surprisingly, the agency also fined Samsung for throttling. In January, Samsung denied that it ever purposely slowed down old phones, and Samsung throttling has not been a widespread cause of a suspicion, as it had been with Apple. But the Italian government nonetheless opened an investigation in January, and has now seen fit to fine the Android phone maker, too. Read more...