Tech Roundup: Android P Preview, MWC 2018 & More

With HTC pretty much surrendering to Google, LG rethinking its smartphone strategy and exiting entirely from China citing increased competition from local brands, HMD Global aka Nokia stealing everyone's thunder, Xiaomi raking up market share in Asia, Samsung continuing its Android dominance with Galaxy smartphones and OnePlus scoring points for catering to users' undiminished thirst for customization, do Sony's new phones Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact have a chance? Meanwhile, in other news:

• Facebook's attempts to on-board children younger than 12 with Messenger for Kids faces trouble after health experts warn of the impact the app could have on children; shuts down its alternative news feed experiment "Explore Feed" barely months after rollout, stating "People don't want two separate feeds," tests voice and video calling in Instagram and a new Messenger Broadcast tool that lets companies blast a message to anyone who's already started a conversation with them.
• Mobile World Congress witnesses a flurry of new smartphones embracing the "notch" glamourised by iPhone X last year, a trend no one asked for, even as Apple readies to go completely notch-free as early as next year.
• Retail giant Amazon acquires game developer backend service GameSparks and smart doorbell startup Ring (for US$ 1 billion) as part of its ongoing efforts to boost its line up of IoT devices and compete better with Google's Nest; to stop selling latter's products on its online storefront, makes live Amazon Music streaming service in India and admits that Alexa voice assistant is randomly laughing without being prompted and that it's working on a fix.
• Google gives its first peek into Fuchsia OS-inspired Android P, begins rolling out voicemail transcription in Phone app for Android, video messaging in Duo and Hangouts Chat for G Suite users, integrates Google Search into iMessage, brings computer vision-powered Google Lens to all Android phones running Google Photos, tests dark mode in Chrome OS (strange, when it shot down the very idea in Android), adds support for YouTube offline downloads in over 125 countries close on the heels of YouTube Go and YouTube Red expansion and makes available wireless smart camera Google Clips for purchase (US$ 249).
• China to plant 32,400 square miles of trees to combat air pollution in the country.
• Ride hailing startup Uber launches Uber Health, a new B2B platform for healthcare that allows doctors and hospitals to book rides for their patients even as Silicon Valley companies, including Apple, Google (as part of its Verily offshoot) and Amazon, aim big in a bid to disrupt healthcare with technology.
• Troubled ephemeral messaging platform Snap Inc. set for its biggest round of layoffs yet, reports Cheddar, as it continues to face backlash over poorly conceived redesign of Snapchat and heightened competition from Facebook.
• Apple said to be working on "noise-canceling, over-ear headphones that rival headsets from market leaders like Bose and even the company's own Beats by Dre bran," according to Bloomberg, signalling its ever-growing audio ambitions in the wake of AirPods and HomePod release.
• Chipmaker Qualcomm rejects competitor Broadcom's revised US$ 130 billion buyout offer, but says it's open to considering it if the takeover bid is raised to US$ 160 billion in what could potentially be one of the biggest acquisitions fraught with regulatory concerns.
• Cloud service provider Dropbox announces new strategic partnership with Google that allows G Suite (aka enterprise) users to edit Google Docs, Sheets and Slides straight from within Dropbox, months after announcing a similar collaboration with Microsoft.
• Facebook adds support for video chats in Messenger Lite, its lightweight variant of Messenger chat app for Android; gets sued by BlackBerry for infringing its messaging patents and courts controversy yet again after a survey asks if adult men should be allowed to request sexual pictures from 14-year-olds.
• Microsoft adds Cortana voice assistant integration to Outlook email apps for Android and iOS to allow users to listen to and respond to emails with their voice; to move away its earlier plans for Windows 10 S (a locked down version of Windows 10 making it easier to manage à la Chrome OS) in favour of a new S Mode in its desktop operating system.
• Microblogging platform Twitter rolls out bookmark feature that lets users save tweets for later viewing.
• Chinese handset maker Xiaomi to begin selling smartphones in the U.S. before the end of this year following its successful foray into Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, even as it is said to be considering a US$ 100 billion IPO in the second half of 2018.
• U.S. consumer credit reporting agency Equifax announces that 2.4 million more Americans were affected in the 2017 cybersecurity breach, bringing the total to about 147.9 million.
• Google continues its messaging onslaught; integrates chat features into Tez mobile payments service in India in a move that's meant to upstage rival Paytm Inbox.