Tech Roundup: Google E.U. Antitrust Fines, Facebook News Shows & More

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

• India's Department of Telecommunications approves new net neutrality rules that ban blocking, throttling, and zero-rating internet data, except during health emergencies.
• A team of Northeastern University researchers find a new way to track people with cellphones even with location capabilities turned off.
• Facebook closes a security loophole that allowed third-parties (like Grouply.io) to view and collect personal information about members of groups set to "closed" privacy setting.
• Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi makes its market debut in Hong Kong even as it eyes Europe after conquering emerging markets like India and Indonesia.
• South Korean chaebol Samsung opens world's largest phone factory in Noida, India.
• Popular online deals marketplace Groupon is reportedly looking for a buyer after 10 years as an independently run company, according to Recode.
• Snapchat rolls out a new Pinterest-like visual-search feature that can identify products from barcodes and send users to Amazon.
• Moonshot projects Loon (balloon-powered internet) and Wing (drone deliveries) become new letters of Alphabet; to become independent companies under Google's parent.
• Google Pay gets a Material Design 2.0 makeover for the web; gains support for boarding passes, event tickets, and peer to peer money transfers. (So will Google Pay Send be discontinued?)
• Google expected to be fined US$ 2.88 billion (paywall) by the European Commission for abusing its dominance in Android to push its own services; alternative app marketplace Aptoide files a new antitrust complaint in the E.U. for preventing users from using the app store citing it could be potentially harmful.
• Apple celebrates App Store's tenth anniversary by touting how start-ups like Instagram and Uber became billion dollar business; refreshes its MacBook Pro lineup with latest Intel processors and quieter keyboards.
• Apple expands real-time traffic information in Apple Maps to Brunei, Kenya, Mozambique, Philippines, Nigeria and Vietnam.
• Ride-hailing service Uber now lets riders pay fares with Venmo.
• Microsoft updates Notepad app for Windows for the first time in years with improved find/replace, text zooming and ability to display line and column numbers when word-wrap is enabled; takes on Slack with a free version of Teams enterprise group chat app.
• Facebook hires one of Google's lead chip developers, Shahriar Rabii, to help the social network in its ongoing effort to design its own silicon chipsets; rolls out AR shoppable ad format for brands that allows users to try out stuff like glasses, furniture before purchasing them.
• Facebook buys ad spots in Indian newspapers to warn users about the spread of fake news in the messaging platform; to roll out its first slate of exclusive news shows from CNN, Buzzfeed, Bloomberg and more starting July 16.
• Google adds Chrome browser-like incognito mode to YouTube for Android, Morse code input to Gboard keyboard app and updates Chrome (v. 67) with more site-isolation fixes for Spectre security flaw that could use up to 10% more RAM.
• Mozilla releases a new end-to-end-encrypted Notes app for Android and a password manager for iOS called Lockbox as part of its Test pilot program.