Tech Roundup: Jul 6, 2012

Last week, it happened that Facebook's silent push of '@facebook.com' address didn't bode well with its users. But that's not the end of the story. Now with smartphones increasingly becoming the order of the day, many of us sync our Gmail, Yahoo! and Facebook contacts to our phones. Coincidentally, making only this address visible in the user profiles has had far-reaching consequences as the contact API that syncs your Facebook contacts with your phones apparently picks up only the most recently added email address - in this case the Facebook address. As a result, many who relied on Facebook for email address were left stranded with no option to contact their friends. Following outcry from its users, the social networking giant was quick to apologize for the bug and has promised to fix it at the earliest.

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Microsoft is leaving no stone to promote its upcoming desktop operating system, Windows 8. After introducing a slew of upgrade options, it has announced that those running on Windows 8 Release Preview version will also be eligible for a Windows 8 upgrade provided they were previously using a valid licensed Windows software (Windows XP, Vista or 7).

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT have developed a new technique for creating blood vessel networks using a 3D printer and some sugar. The two are used to build a template for the vessel network — first scientists design the network, before feeding the design into a RepRap 3D printer, which then builds it using sugar. Once the sugar gets suitably hard it's coated with a gel containing liver cells. Then, after the gel sets, the sugar is flushed out through the vessels, leaving behind a functional vascular network.

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Google has announced its latest spring cleaning move in which it aims to shut down outdated and the less popular of its services. While most of them, like closing out of the Symbian search app, Google Mini - search product for enterprises, Google Videos wouldn't be a big deal, it's announcement that it plans to close iGoogle may be a dampener. Of course, the shut down doesn't come effective till Nov 1, 2013, which is more than an year from now.

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After having managed to create a dent in the tablet market with its Kindle Fire, a tablet that has caused Apple to come out with a mini version of iPad (rumored later this year), Amazon is reportedly stepping into the already crowded smartphone market, as per reports from Bloomberg. With the ecosystem (Amazon's own multimedia offerings plus its version of Google Play store) already in place, the device is rumored to be competing with iPhone and Android devices. It may not be a surprise if Android is chosen as the OS as the Kindle Fire too runs the same, except that it's virtually unrecognizable owing to the heavy customization applied by Amazon.

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Millions of computers hit by a malware are set to lose their Internet services on Jul 9. The problem is a result of a large online advertising scam that took over more than 4 million computers around the world (mainly US, Italy and India according to latest count). When the FBI went in to shut down the scheme, the agency realized that turning off the malicious servers would cause infected computers to lose access to the Internet.

So the FBI set up two other servers, which have been connecting infected users to the Internet, but they will be shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday. There are various ways to test your computer for the so-called DNS Changer Malware. But remember, this applies only to Windows users, so if you have an Apple computer, you're fine. If you want to know whether you PC is affected by this DNSChanger Trojan, you can hop onto this link straightaway: http://www.dns-ok.us/. A green image indicates all is clean with your computer. Visit http://www.dcwg.org/ for more information and the fixes you can apply in case your PC is affected.

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Finally, let's get back to the hottest topic of the week. Any guesses? Yes, the same old Apple's thermonuclear war on Android! In case you missed it, here's the heads up. Judge Lucy Koh dropped two bombshells on Samsung when she temporarily granted an injunction on the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus. And she followed it up by denying the Korean company's request to stay the ban on two products. What Apple may have scored against Samsung was equally lost to HTC when the UK High Court ruled that the latter's phones weren't violating any of the European Union (EU) patents. It also threw the case out stating three of the four patents in contention were invalid. There's still more.

Last month, Apple tried to block the HTC phones (the One series) from being granted entry in the US and then subsequently failed after the ban was lifted following investigations from International Trade Commission (ITC). But Apple, being Apple, wasted no time and asked for a ban on the phones again. However, the ITC has refused to grant a ban and has stated that the phones will continue to be sold in the US. Update: The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has suspended the ban on Galaxy Nexus sales at Samsung's request. It seems that the ban will last only until Apple formally responds and the court decides whether or not the ban should be in effect throughout the rest of the patent infringement trial.

Interestingly, in all this melee, Google has decided to stop the sales of its Galaxy Nexus phone by pulling it down from the Play store. In its place, what you get to see is a 'Coming Soon' message as it tries to come up with a software workaround to escape the ban. Update: Following the lift of the sales ban, the Galaxy Nexus is back available on the Play store, though it seems buyers will have to wait up to two weeks to get it.

Richard A. Posner, who recently dismissed the entire Apple vs. Motorola patent case, has remarked in an interview with Reuters that it's not clear that we really need patents in most industries. In addition, he has gone on record to state that the companies use every single opportunity to gain dominance in the industry and maximize shareholder value. Being one of the senior most lawyers and an authority on several matters pertaining to law and jurisprudence, his statement comes as a clarion call and needs to be taken seriously.

In other news:

• Android 4.0 on 10% of devices, after 8.5 months since launch.
• Facebook adds new status icon images for same-sex marriages.
• Twitter will provide biannual reports about U.S. and foreign government demands for information about its users, just as Google has been doing for the past two years.
• Nokia confirms that it has a Windows Phone contingency plan, though it is shy of specifying the details.
• Google contributes $80 billion USD to the US economy in 2011.
• Firefox OS, Boot to Gecko, coming to phones next year.
• VLC player beta for Android out now in Play store.
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean adds 'Liveness Check' to stop Face Unlock from being fooled by photos, a feature already present in Samsung Android smartphones.
• Considering that China is one of their largest markets, Apple thought it wise and has decided to pay Proview $60 million to use the name 'iPad' in the nation.
• Netflix, Pinterest and Instagram websites go down as Amazon data center takes a hit in severe thunderstorms raging North Virginia.
• Apple App Store corrupted updates glitch fixed, blamed on FairPlay DRM.
• Samsung estimates record profit of $5.9 billion USD for Q2 2012.
• Malware app, Find and Call, identified in Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play; subsequently removed.
• Samsung Galaxy Note II with a 5.5 inch screen and Jelly Bean OS rumored for August launch at IFA, Germany.
• Microsoft allegedly removing Gadgets feature in Windows 8.
• Apple preparing a smaller iPad to compete with Kindle Fire and Nexus 7; to be out later this year, says Wall Street Journal.
• Google demands Oracle that it reimburse over $4 million USD over costs incurred as part of Android infringement trial.
• Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology accuses Apple for infringing its patents related to voice recognition on Siri.
• Yahoo and Facebook settle their patent disputes; announce a strategic ad and content distribution partnership.
• Ex-Nokia employees float a new startup Jolla; to build MeeGo based smartphones.

Tech Roundup is a weekly recurring feature on the latest trends in Technology.