Tech Roundup: Amazon Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit, Samsung Exynos AI Chipset & More

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

• 2017 emerges the hottest year on record without the influence of El Niño event (and the second hottest year ever recorded after 2016).
• India's biometric-based unique ID system Aadhar suffers from a data breach after reports emerge that people are selling access to personal data of 1 billion users on WhatsApp for as low as Rs. 500.
• Select games on Android mobile platform are surreptitiously using the phone's microphone to track users' TV habits, reports The New York Times.
• Amazon patents a mirror that lets users virtually try on any clothes in its latest foray into fashion; aims to expand Alexa's reach through a new developer toolkit called Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit that allows developers to bring Alexa to portable wearables, hearables, fitness devices and more.
• Ether, a Bitcoin cryptocurrency rival offered by Blockchain-based distributed computing platform Ethereum, becomes the latest to surpass US$ 1,000 in value.
• Spotify hits 70 million paying subscribers; faces fresh US$ 1.6 billion lawsuit from major music publisher Wixen for copyright infringement by using thousands of its songs without a proper license.
• Snapchat is considering forcing its users to view ads on its platform for three seconds before offering them a skip option like YouTube, according to Ad Age.
• Alibaba's UC browser is overtaking Google Chrome in emerging markets, reports The Wall Street Journal (paywall).

War of the voice assistants! (Source: allison)

• Apple's failure to communicate its planned obsolescence strategy and its offer to replace iPhone batteries for US$ 29 following the slowdown fiasco may lead to 16 million fewer iPhones sold, according to analysts.
• Opera Software AS releases Opera 50 browser with cryptojacking protection, built-in currency converter and VR player.
• China's Didi Chuxing buys control of Brazil's 99 ride-hailing app, signalling its global expansion plans, weeks after announcing its entry to Mexico later this year.
• Intel's processors suffer from major Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities; company says it has pushed fixes that makes PCs immune to the bugs, even as it faces class action lawsuits.
• Google is reportedly looking to sell Zagat, its languishing restaurant rating service; begins showing user satisfaction survey popups on Messages and Settings apps.
• Google says it sold a Home smart speaker every second since its launch on October 19, as the search giant and Amazon enter into a discount war to capture market share over the holiday season.
• Samsung announces new Exynos 9810 chip for Galaxy smartphones with AI and advanced deep learning capabilities.
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes fixing the social network his personal challenge for 2018.