Tech Roundup: Google Oct. 4 Event, Possible Twitter Sale & More

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

Alphabet/Google:

• Sets Oct. 4 event to unveil new Pixel phones; also expected to launch an Android-Chrome hybrid operating system called Andromeda.
• To be fined by European Union antitrust regulators for forcing smartphone makers to pre-install Google Search exclusively on their devices, reports Reuters.
• Finally releases Google Assistant (upgraded Google Now) powered Allo instant messaging app for Android and iOS; whistleblower Edward Snowden advises against using it after Google decides to store secret incognito conversations until users choose to delete them.
• Launches a personalised mobile travel assistant app Trips as it prepares to expand its footprint in an already crowded online travel market.
• Removes references to Google Now in its search app to make way for Assistant.
• Gives Google+ an enterprise focus; will be a core part of Google For Work (now rebranded as Google Cloud) to drive engagement within organizations.
• Begins rolling out Google Play Android app support for Chromebooks.

Emergency alert for Chelsea Bombing suspect in New York City, Google Trips and new look for YouTube

Apple:

• In talks with U.K. Luxury carmaker McLaren for a potential acquisition, Financial Times reports.
• Acquires India-based machine learning startup Tuplejump, its third such acquisition since 2015 after Perceptio and Turi.
• To partner with media publishers to offer spoken editions of written news on iTunes, TechCrunch reports.
• Reportedly working on an Amazon Echo/Google Home-like smart home gadget.

Facebook:

• Overestimated key video metric for two years because it was "only factoring in video views of more than three seconds," reports Wall Street Journal, as digital media's reliance on Facebook continues to be precarious; social network to introduce a new metric to address the problem.
• Faces class action lawsuit in India for WhatsApp privacy policy u-turn; Delhi high court orders Facebook to delete all WhatsApp data on users "who choose to stop using the service before Sept. 25, when the new policy takes effect."
• Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledge $3 billion USD to fund medical research over the next decade to "cure, prevent or manage all diseases by the end of the century."

Microsoft:

• Announces Nokia 216 in India for $37 USD.
• Reveals that 400 million active devices are running Windows 10 operating system as of September 26.

In other news:

• European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P ends in a planned collision after 2 years of revelations.
• Yahoo! hit with class action lawsuit for gross negligence after company confirms massive breach of 500 million user accounts in a 2014 hack attack.
• Twitter shares surge after talks of sale heat up; possible candidates include Alphabet, Salesforce, Microsoft and Verizon.
• Beleaguered Canadian handset maker BlackBerry abandons future smartphone plans to focus on software.
• Snapchat  becomes Snap Inc. and ventures into hardware; releases smart glasses called Spectacles that lets users record 10 second videos from first-person vantage.
• New round of layoffs at Lenovo-owned Motorola results in more than 95% of the workforce leaving the company in four years.
• Indian smartphone maker Micromax to release new android phones with Google's video calling app Duo pre-installed.
• Music streaming service Spotify is in advanced talks to buy SoundCloud, according to Financial Times.
• Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi not so subtly takes on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with the affordable Mi 5s and 5s Plus.
• Retail behemoth Walmart is in investment talks with Indian etailer Flipkart to take on Amazon juggernaut.
• Stock trading app Robinhood introduces advanced trading tools after $12 billion in transactions and $200 million in commissions.
• Amazon makes game streaming platform Twitch ad-free for Prime subscribers; announces new virtual currency called Stream+ that lets players can earn "coins" by watching streams.
• Meerkat, the first app to pioneer social live streaming, shuts down.