Tech Roundup: Apple WWDC, Facebook's Moments Push & More

Facebook Moments on top

Apple's much anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is here, and we almost have an inkling of what it plans to unveil. The biggest story is iOS of course, which in its tenth iteration is expected to have features like a system-wide dark theme, a much-needed Apple Music user interface overhaul, a much-improved and intelligent Siri with support for third-party apps (and Macs too, if rumours and rumblings are to be believed), and many more. Elsewhere, the Mac operating system 'OS X' will possibly undergo a name change to 'macOS' (to bring it in line with iOS, tvOS and watchOS), mobile payments service Apple Pay may land on the web (similar to Android Pay's PaymentRequest API announced at Google I/O last month), and lastly, might debut iMessage for Android. Excited already? Well, we will know in a few hours from now, when the event officially kicks-off at 1:00 PM EDT today.

Alphabet/Google:

• To match your location history to retroactively geo-tag photos uploaded on Google Photos.
• Teases a new app called Motion Stills for iOS that turns Apple Live Photos to GIFs; will probably be integrated into Google Photos.
• Begins testing a Material Design-themed search results page for desktop searches (but... where is Material Design for Google Calendar?)
• Updates TensorFlow, its open-sourced machine learning software that also powers AlphaGo, to support iOS; will allow app developers to plug in AI features directly into apps to gain capabilities to parse sentences, or recognize people and objects in photos.
• Rolls out smart offline feature for YouTube (India only) that lets users download videos at cheaper night data rates offered by telephone operators like Airtel and Telenor (In India, offline viewing is available for free sans any subscription).
• Makes use of Nearby location API (available Android 4.4+) to intelligently suggest things to do with your apps, e.g.: download audio tour when you're at The Broad in LA.
• Reveals Android Marshmallow to be on 10% of all Android devices as of June 6, 2016.

Amazon:

• Targets India with a $3 billion USD investment boost; will invest in logistics and data centres in the country as it prepares to take on local favourite Flipkart.
• Rumoured to be launching its own stand-alone 9.99$ per month music streaming service to take on the likes of Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify and TIDAL.

Apple:

• Introduces yearly subscriptions on App Store as part of a broader push to incentivise and sustain long-term app development, and convert iOS users from one-off app purchasers into loyal subscribers as market saturation plays spoilsport; will also show ads when a search is conducted.
• Creates a new subsidiary Apple Energy LLC to sell excess electricity it generates from its solar projects to wholesale markets across the U.S.

Facebook:

• Warns users to install its photo-sharing app Moments to preserve their privately synced photos (not the ones shared) on the social network (comes two years after a similar forced adoption of Facebook Messenger); users interested in keeping their photos intact will have to download the app and log in before July 7, or else have them downloaded to their computers.
• Begins trialling a payments service in Thailand called Qwik that allows users to pay for products on Facebook pages directly via credit card, debit card or online money transfer; comes on the heels of adding Buy Button for businesses and allowing U.S. users to transfer money via Messenger last year.
• Tests a new type of post that will show up on News Feed and Search, but can be hidden from your personal Timeline.

Uber:

• In discussions for a potential partnership with Fiat Chrysler to trial self-driving car technology.
• Fined 800,000€ (half of it suspended based on its future conduct) by Paris Tribunal Correctionnel court for unfairly undermining the taxi industry with its controversial UberPOP service (currently suspended) that effectively let anyone with their own vehicle become a taxi driver, with no real licensing requirements.

Others:

• Red planet Mars is emerging from an ice age that began 400,000 years ago, reveals a new study.
• Popular video streaming platform Netflix announces its first series out of India; will produce a English-Hindi bilingual series based on critically-acclaimed best-selling novel Sacred Games by Indian author Vikram Chandra in association with Phantom Films.
• Online rental lodging service Airbnb comes under fire for almost taking an year to ban a host who denied a trans woman a place to stay for feeling "uncomfortable" because of her gender identity.
• Lenovo-owned Motorola steals Apple's spotlight by unveiling new Moto Z Android smartphones with audio over USB Type-C port (no headphone jack) and modular features; parent company expectedly gives a sneak peek into 6.4-inch Phab2 Pro, the world's first smartphone with Google Tango's (no longer a project!) augmented reality and depth sensing technology built-in.
• Bluetooth 5 to be formally announced at an upcoming media event on June 16; new version of the low-energy wireless protocol will offer four times the current range and double the present speeds.
• Micro-blogging service Twitter releases a completely redesigned app experience for Android.