Tech Roundup: Apple's iPhone Sales Woes, Google's Netflix for Games & More

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

1. Facebook is accused of acting like a "digital gangster" and "intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws" in the country, according to a new 108-page report published by British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee as a result of an 18-month long investigation into disinformation and fake news; lawmakers call for investigations into the social media giant's business practices, and "its use of users' and users' friends' data, and the use of 'reciprocity' of the sharing of data."
2. Google's failure to disclose the presence of a "hidden" microphone in Nest Guard smart alarm device (recently revealed after the company added support for Google Assistant through a software update) triggers privacy concerns as Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sends a letter to U.S. FTC saying "it is entirely unclear whether Google, a remote hacker, or anyone else enabled the microphones in the Nest devices after they were installed by customers in their homes," in addition to calling for divesting the Nest business from Google; search giant responds by saying that "the on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs […] that was an error on our part."
3. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rejects the idea of paying for the service to remove ads; says "maybe you could have a conversation about whether you should be able to pay and not see ads […] But the question of whether you can pay to have different privacy controls feels wrong."
4. Researchers at Purdue's Davidson School of Chemical Engineering pioneer a new chemical conversion process capable of converting more than 90 percent of polyolefin waste — the polymer behind widely used plastic polyethylene — into high-quality gasoline or diesel-like fuel, in what could be a way to deal with plastic pollution.
5. More than 50 Microsoft employees sign a letter urging the company to cancel a US$ 480 million defence contract to supply the U.S. Army with HoloLens augmented reality headsets intended for use on the battlefield; say "We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used."
6. Popular apps like Flo, Realtor, Instant Heart Rate are found to be sharing sensitive personal information like pregnancy status, ovulation times, homes marked as favourites, body weight among others to Facebook thorough its software development kit (SDK) that allows third-party app developers incorporate certain features like user analytics easily into the app; testing shows that the apps share user information often without disclosing the practice prominently, as Facebook, which is already in hot water concerning issues of consent and user data, says "We require app developers to be clear with their users about the information they are sharing with us, and we prohibit app developers from sending us sensitive data. We also take steps to detect and remove data that should not be shared with us."
7. Researchers develop a machine learning algorithm that can identify traffic flowing through a Tor network connection to detect individual Android apps (or Browser Android app, Instagram, Facebook, Skype, uTorrent, Spotify, Twitch, YouTube, DailyMotion, and Replaio Radio) with 97% accuracy.
8. YouTube finds itself at the centre of a new storm for failing to curb soft-core pedophilia on the platform, with comment sections "full of people time stamping specific scenes that sexualise the child or children in the video"; companies including Nestle and Disney, suspend ads on YouTube following revelations.
9. Apple hires ex-Microsoft exec Sam Jadallah to leads its smart home business, as it attempts to play catch up to Google and Amazon; reportedly planning to combine apps made for iPhone, iPad, and macOS by 2021, reports Bloomberg, adding the company will allow developers to create a universal app that will work across iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
10. Apple removes advertising specific code from Shazam, the music recognition app it acquired for US$ 400 million last year, including those from Facebook Ads, Google Doubleclick and more as it continues to plug data leaks from its apps/services to third-parties.
11. Facebook-owned Instagram to debut Pinterest-like public collections that allows users to add contributors who share similar interests and make it easy to bundle together their favourite memes, travel destinations, fashion items or art.
12. Uber reportedly selling its Uber Eats business in India to popular rival Swiggy in exchange for 10 percent stake in the Bengaluru-based startup valued at US$ 3.3 billion, reports The Economic Times.
13. Visual search engine and interest network Pinterest becomes the latest company to confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering slated for later this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
14. Google to hold a keynote at San Francisco's Game Developers Conference for the first time, signalling its new ambitions for a Netflix-like cloud game streaming service called Project Yeti that allows users to stream games via Chrome browser.
• Google recently trialled what it called Project Stream which allowed testers to play "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" in Google's Chrome browser.
• The development also comes at a time when PlayStation Now recently announced its move to expand to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, even as rivals Microsoft (xCloud), Amazon and Verizon are working on similar initiatives at various stages of development.
15. Apple tries new marketing ploy to push its expensive iPhones to Chinese customers; begins working with Chinese mobile payments network Alipay to offer up to two years of interest-free financing, according to The Wall Street Journal as iPhone sales plummet big time.
• Apple's pricing strategy outside of U.S. shows how out of step it's with reality in markets like China and India, where iPhone XR is still out of reach for most people, and iPhone XS costs more ($1,388) than what it costs in the U.S. ($1,099) due to import duties. Unless Apple establishes a retail footprint and addresses its pricing strategy, the chances of it making big in India, now that sales is slowing down in China, are zilch.
16. Facebook to shut down Onavo VPN Android app after revelations last month that the app was used to monitor users' mobile web browsing habits; to also to stop the practice of conducting unpaid market research programs to recruit unsuspecting users to trade their data for gift cards.
17. Apple set to launch a credit card service in partnership with Goldman Sachs as it steadily pivots to services as a means to shore up its revenues. (How about bringing Apple Pay to more markets like India first?)
18. Amazon starts selling Echo wall clocks once again after taking them off shelves due to connectivity issues; rolls out a software update to fix the problem arising from trying to connect the clock to its Echo counterparts.
19. Google to shut down desktop version of Google Fit on March 19; recommends users download the app to keep track of health goals. (Granted the website was a glorified dashboard that didn't serve any purpose of its own, but this new trend of Google killing its web apps for native options is a little bit concerning.)