Tech Roundup: Apple's Cheaper iPad, Slack Privacy Policy Update & More

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

• Chinese government to fully begin rating citizens based on criminal behaviour, financial misdeeds, and what they buy, say, and do by 2020, making those with "low social credit scores" ineligible to buy plane or train tickets for up to an year and deal with other penalties and restrictions, according to a report published by the country's National Development and Reform Commission.
• Facebook temporarily blocks new third-party apps from joining the platform in the wake of Cambridge Analytica data scandal as it evaluates new changes; to limit advertisers from using information from third-party data brokers like Acxiom and Experian for targeted advertising through Partner Categories (read more here), agrees to stop sharing data between WhatsApp and its flagship social network until it can do it in way that's compliant with European Union's new privacy regulation GDPR.
• Google acquires GIF platform Tenor and shoot-first, focus-later camera startup Lytro, lets musicians post Twitter-like updates directly in search results via Posts, adds dark mode to YouTube for iOS and Android, updates Google Pay to support transit tickets, rebrands Android Wear as "Wear OS by Google", announces universal shopping cart via Shopping Actions that unifies users' online purchases through Google Search, Shopping Express and Google Assistant, rolls out Plus Codes, an open source, global alternative to street addresses, to shut down URL shortening service goo.gl on April 13, and transitions to a mobile-first index for search results.
• Facebook takes on Google with Express Wi-Fi app that allows smartphone users to connect to internet using the company's locally operated hotspots; brings its lightweight flagship app Facebook Lite to the U.S. and other developed countries, makes it possible for users to delete a mistakenly sent message even after an hour on WhatsApp, and gets fined US$ 369,705 in South Korea for slowing down user internet connections in 2016 and 2017 by rerouting some users' access to its site through Hong Kong or the US, thereby slowing the speeds by as much as 4.5 times.
• Google introduces Subscribe with Google, a new way to subscribe to premium news content from publishers by just using the Google account; makes it easier for users to test apps and games without installing them through a feature called Google Play Instant.
• Apple acquires digital newsstand Texture (that gives readers access to around 200 magazines for a monthly fee of US$ 9.99), reports 38 million active Apple Music subscribers, releases iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 software updates, and unveils new cheaper US$ 299 iPad with Pencil support targeting schools, and to roll out a new revamped Apple ID website to allow users manage their accounts ahead of EU's GDPR which goes into effect starting May 25 this year.
• Ride hailing startup Uber halts self driving program in the United States after accident kills a person; agrees to sell its Southeast Asia business to rival Grab.
• Online dating service Tinder rolls out chronological feed of recent activities like new photo uploads and other profile changes.
• Microsoft adds Cortana, translation and transcription features to Teams office chat app; adds TripAdvisor and StubHub integration to Skype, and shakes up core Windows team with focus towards cloud services, artificial intelligence and experiences.
• Popular privacy-focussed instant messaging app suffers a series of blows after Russian government orders the company to handover its encryption keys to get access to users' data, and gets blocked in Iran over national security reasons.
• Popular chipmaker Intel begins redesigning processors to protect against Spectre and Meltdown attacks.
• Office collaboration app Slack revises its privacy policy to allow businesses that run premium version of its software "download all the data from their workspace–both public and private–apparently without informing members of the community."
• Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Twitter to begin blocking cryptocurrency ads on their respective platforms.
• Movie streaming platform Netflix follows the footsteps of Apple, Google and Samsung; introduces its own custom font called Netflix Sans in a move that could save the company millions of dollars.
• Snap is reportedly working on a new feature that will let users control which third-party apps will have access to their Snapchat accounts, reports Mashable.
• Broadcom drops its plan to acquire rival chipmaker Qualcomm after U.S. President Donald Trump blocks the deal for national security reasons.
• Popular Indian music streaming service Saavn to be integrated with JioMusic, digital music platform owned by Reliance Industries, in a deal worth US$ 1 billion; JioSaavn, the rebranded service, to "be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums."