Tech Roundup: AAV-PHP.B Virus, Facebook Ads & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

Alphabet/Google:

• Plans to make public ranking of Android phone makers based on how up-to-date their devices are in terms of security patches and OS versions in an effort to expedite software update process, according to Bloomberg.
• Says the "shift to mobile is no longer a change on the horizon," and that it's here; launches new local search ads and promoted pins for Google Maps, alongside responsive ads for mobile.
• Wins copyright fight against Oracle; jury rules Android's use of Oracle's Java APIs was fair use.
• To add Raspberry Pi to Android AOSP; will be an officially supported device.
• Officially discontinues Android TV-running digital media player Nexus Player and Nexus 9 tablet.
• Updates its Google app for iOS with support for Accelerated Mobile Pages.

Apple:

• CEO Tim Cook acknowledges iPhones are very expensive in India; "(t)he duties and the taxes and the compounding of those takes the price and it makes it very high. Our profitability is less in India, it's materially less... but still I recognize that prices are high," remarks Cook.
• Suffers a setback after it's denied permission to open retail stores in India unless 30% of the goods sold is locally produced despite a change in legislation last year that exempted foreign retailers selling high-tech goods from the rule; the waiver is available only for investment in "state of the art" or "cutting-edge technology", says the finance ministry. (Brutal!)

Facebook:

• Announces sweeping changes to the way it runs its Trending Topics feed, following an internal investigation into whether human editors played a role in blocking news from conservative news outlets; to no longer rely on a list of news organisations (as previously reported by The Guardian) to determine the importance of a news story. (Which effectively means Facebook is now an official media organisation!)
• To start displaying ads to web users who are not members of Facebook by using cookies, "like" buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike despite privacy concerns raised by European regulators.
• Belgian police department cautions citizens from using Facebook's recently announced reaction buttons; explains that by limiting the number of reactions to six and giving Facebook data about your opinions and mood allows the company to serve you ads based on what it thinks you will be most receptive to seeing in a particular moment or on a particular day.

Microsoft:

• Windows 10 hardware requirements go up; requires at least 2GB RAM to run upcoming anniversary update.
• Teams up with Facebook to lay a high-capacity underwater internet cable across the Atlantic Ocean, connecting Northern Virginia and Bilbao, Spain; construction to begin in August later this year.
• Hammers the final nail on the coffin by writing off an additional $950 million USD on its failed Nokia acquisition; to slash 1850 more jobs (1350 from its Mobile Division and 500 globally) as it almost winds down its mobile efforts almost to zilch.

Twitter:

• Officially confirms it will no longer count multimedia links and usernames towards 140-character limit; says goodbye to ".@"
• To curtail development on "Buy" button ads on the microblogging website as it struggles to make money from social ecommerce, reports Buzzfeed.

Others:

• A newly engineered virus AAV-PHP.B has been found to successfully transport genetic cargo to a mouse's brain cells, bypassing the blood-brain barrier in what's being touted as a hope for treating neurological diseases.
• First case of an infection that resists the antibiotic of last resort - colistin - is detected in the United States; comes months after scientists found similar drug resistant bacteria in patients and livestock in China last November.
• New gene editing technology has been successfully employed to cut out HIV genes from live animals with over a 50% success rate for the first time ever, findings reported in Gene Therapy (paywall) show.
• India's ISRO successfully tests a reusable space shuttle (RLV-TD); says it's one of the most "technologically challenging endeavors of ISRO towards developing essential technologies for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low cost access to space."
• Elements crucial for life's formation - such as glycine and phosphorous - have been spotted in a dust cloud surrounding comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, marking the first time Phosphorous is discovered around a comet, European Space Agency's Rosetta flyby reveals.
• High-Tech Expo in Beijing showcases a 'straddling bus' concept in a bid to ease the country's severe traffic problems that can carry up to 1,400 passengers and travel up to 40 miles an hour above street level on a special track, allowing regular cars under 7 feet high to freely pass underneath.
• Norwegian Consumer Council spends 31 hrs 49 mins 11 secs reading out popular smartphone apps' terms and conditions (including Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Instagram and Angry Birds) in real-time to prove their absurd length; says "their scope, length and complexity mean it is virtually impossible to make good and informed decisions," while calling on the industry to write shorter, clearer terms and conditions and to adopt a common standard.
• Popular U.S. online transportation network company Uber begins trials to get rid of human element in its cabs; commences testing driver-less self-driving cars in Pittsburg.
• China's Foxconn, the official iPhone manufacturer, slashes 60,000 jobs from one factory as it replaces them all with robots in a bid to cut costs, reports South China Morning Post.
• Chinese electronics conglomerate Xiaomi unveils a quadcopter Mi drone for $380 USD; comes with a detachable camera module and replaceable 5,100 mAh battery.
• Sony sells 40 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide since launch.
• Nextbit to launch its Robin smartphone in India on May 30 for Rs. 19,999.
• Samsung unveils new affordable Android smartphones Galaxy C5 and C7.
• Lenovo says its acquisition of Motorola didn't meet expectations neither in its homeland China nor in the United States, as it prepares to march ahead with full steam in India and Brazil where Moto phones are popular.