Tech Roundup: Bitfinex Security Breach, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 & More

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

Alphabet/Google:

• Reportedly planning a new standalone home screen launcher app for Android, per Android Police (God, not again! How many more apps from Google that does the same thing?)
• Revamps its restaurant rating service Zagat with a new look.
• To switch to Accelerated Mobile Pages by default (not just news) when clicking on Google mobile search results from participating publishers.
• To begin testing drone deliveries within the United States as part of its Project Wing initiative.

Amazon:

• Brings Prime delivery service to India for 499 INR per year (introductory price, to be later revised to 999 INR) in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
• Granted patent for noise-cancelling headphones that can selectively listen for a list of phrases (like your name, for instance) and respond automatically by turning off the said noise-cancellation feature.

Apple:

• Replaces rifle emoji with water pistol in latest iOS 10 beta update amidst concerns of growing gun violence in the United States, but also makes the emoticons more gender and racially diverse.
• Celebrates sales of 1 billion iPhone since launch back in 2007, as revenues from services (iCloud, Apple Music, App Store etc.) soar while iPhone sales continue to decline in the three months that ended in June.

Facebook:

• Latest stats reveal the social network to have 1.13 billion daily active users (and 1.7 billion monthly active users).
• Readies personalised comment moderation features for Instagram to combat online harassment and trolling; introduces Snapchat-like Stories that disappear after a period of 24 hours.

In other news:

• Over 10 cases of local transmission of Zika virus is reported in the U.S. state of Florida; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues travel advisory. 
• New guidelines issued by U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends deprecating use of SMS for two factor authentication citing security concerns.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex suffers a security breach, with approximately $65 million USD stolen from its customers, prompting the bitcoin exchange to halt all trading.
• Samsung announces Galaxy Note 7 Android smartphone (aka a Galaxy S7 edge with a stylus) with iris scanner.
• Russian search engine service Yandex reports increase in market share on Android after last year's anti-trust ruling that ordered Google to alter its terms and conditions to let OEMs to pre-install third-party services such as Yandex Search.
• Microsoft's Windows 10 Anniversary update is now available as a free upgrade.
• Ride sharing startup Uber to invest $500 million USD on a global mapping project in an attempt to reduce reliance on google maps as it prepares groundwork for driverless cars, reports Financial Times; cedes ground to its rival Didi Chuxing in China as part of a $35 billion USD merger.
• Canadian handset maker BlackBerry releases new mid-range security-focussed Android smartphone DTEK50 for $299 USD.