Tech Roundup: Amazon Go, Stegano Malvertising & More

Who or what is Twitter for? That's the existential question the microblogging social network is still grappling with even after more than a decade's existence. But what cannot be denied is its usefulness as a news tool, an RSS 2.0, made possible by its real-time nature (by design) which is very useful when it comes to breaking news stories as much as countering fake news. The virality is hence that much more transparent than Facebook. That said it still needs to fix core issues like hate speech, online abuse and harassment. It just got its sixth product head in six years, which speaks volumes about the overall confusion with regards to its intended audience.

Alphabet/Google:

• Releases Trusted Contacts app for Android to let your loved ones know you are safe.
• Faces call for reviewing its search results ranking system (aka PageRank algorithm) in the wake of fake news controversy after The Observer shows it to be "manipulated and controlled" by rightwing propagandists.
• Adds a new News Feed section to its Google App.
• Responds to emoji tweets on Twitter with relevant local search results.
• Adds support for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) on Google+ for Android, weeks after rolling out support for mobile Google+ site.
• To power its global operations solely by renewable energy sources starting next year.
• Cuts Android app update sizes by 65 percent by a technique called file-by-file patching that compares uncompressed versions of old and new .APK files, identifies the differences, applies that difference to the old uncompressed app and then recompresses it to once again verify if it matches with the new current version that's available on Play Store.
• Drops support for Flash in favor of HTML 5 on Chrome; brings offline viewing to Android.
• Opens Google Assistant to third-party developers as it plays catch up with Amazon Alexa.
• Google Pixel phones capture 0.5% share of all smartphone sold in the United States for the month ending Oct. 31 days after releasing on Oct. 20, reports Kantar.

Apple:

• Ordered by Shanghai's consumer watchdog Shanghai Consumer Council to address complaints that iPhone 6s series handsets are spontaneously combusting; Apple blames it on external factors, says the issue is not widespread.
• Apple Music hits 20 million subscribers 18 months after launch.

Facebook:

• Extends WhatsApp support for Blackberry and Nokia handsets until July 2017.
• Newly revealed court documents show CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision to retain voting control over the company if he were to sell most of his stock or if he were to take a government position came under instense investor scrutiny, reports Forbes.

Microsoft:

• Plans to roll out home automation features into Windows 10, effectively making any Windows computer a hub for IoT gadgets.
• Gets European Union approval for its acquisition of LinkedIn; says Microsoft must allow rival networking sites access to Office programs for next 5 years as LinkedIn notifications are set to appear within Windows Action Center.
• Unveils Windows 10 for Qualcomm ARM processors effectively ditching its Windows RT tag.
• Brings voice assistant Cortana to the U.K. with an overhauled look for android (iOS update coming shortly).

Samsung:

• To follow Apple's 'courageous' move of ditching 3.5 mm headphone jack on its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone in addition to adopting a Xiaomi Mi Max-like bezel-less design.
• To issue a software update next week to render all Galaxy Note 7 in the United States useless; interestingly plans an update for release on Dec. 15 across European Union that will reduce the phone's maximum battery capacity to just 30 percent of its original charge.
• U.S. Supreme Court rules in favour of Samsung in Apple v. Samsung patent dispute; says patent damages can be based only on the part of the device that infringed the patents, not necessarily on the entire product.

In other news:

• Online retailer Amazon unveils a cashier-free grocery service in Seattle called Amazon Go that tracks user purchases and charges straight to their Amazon account.
• Bluetooth 5 (2x speed, 4x range, and 8x broadcast message capacity) is officially adopted as a standard; new devices with the latest version to come cone out in the next six months.
• Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube set to collaborate to remove 'terrorist content' from their services.
• Internet radio service Pandora officially steps into music streaming business with Pandora Premium; to roll out early next year.
• Fitness wearable maker Fitbit acquires struggling rival Pebble; kills all of its smartwatches.
• 85.2 million user accounts exposed in new Dailymotion hack; video hosting service recommends affected users change their passwords.
• Stegano (originating from the term Steganography) malware uncovered by security experts at Eset steals user credentials and logs keystrokes via banner ads served on news websites.
• T-mobile announces DIGITS, a number portability service that that "lets you use multiple numbers on one device or one number on multiple devices" for an additional fee (pricing yet to be revealed).
• Google, Samsung, HTC, Oculus, Sony, and Acer form the Global Virtual Reality Association (GVRA) to "promote the worldwide growth and development of the VR industry".
• Taiwanese handset maker HTC pivots big time to virtual reality; launches a new development and publishing studio for virtual reality experiences called Vive Studios (similar to Oculus Studios).
• Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak lays off 60 percent of employees as growth prospects stall.
• HERE Maps, erstwhile Nokia property now owned by a consortium of three German automakers Daimler, Audi and BMW, unveils plans to dominate automative industry with its mapping solution as car maker line up behind Automative Grade Linux (an Android-like alliance but for cars).
• Music streaming service Spotify reportedly backs out of SoundCloud acquisition talks to avoid "additional licensing headaches", according to TechCrunch.
• Popular video streaming service Netflix becomes the top grossing iPhone app for the first time.