Tech Roundup: Flipboard Hack, TikTok Phone & More

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

• United Nations' World Health Organisation (WHO) makes "gaming disorder" a recognised illness; classification to come into effect January 1, 2022.
• Germany's Ministry of the Interior reportedly mulling a law to force chat app providers (WhatsApp, Signal, Apple iMessage, and Telegram) to hand over end-to-end encrypted conversations in plain text to authorities that obtain a court order, reigniting the debate on security and encryption.
• TikTok-owned Beijing-based social media company ByteDance said to be working on a "phone preloaded with its own apps — which include newsfeeds, short video platforms and games — in a bid to further spread its reach."
• Leigh Wheaton, Jill Paul, and Trevor Paul — three iTunes users from Rhode Island and Michigan — file a federal lawsuit against Apple alleging that the company unlawfully collects and sells their iTunes listening information to third parties without informed consent.
• Apple rumoured to be getting rid of 3D Touch from its 2019 iPhone lineup in favour of Haptic Touch technology.
• Amazon Alexa's Terms of Use clause states that using the voice assistant waives users' rights to sue the company; says "any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Amazon Service, or to any products or services sold or distributed by Amazon or through Amazon.com will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court."
• News aggregation service Flipboard says hackers had access to its servers for 9+ months and stole some customers' info, including digital tokens linking profiles to third-party services; resets all users' passwords as a precautionary step.
• Apple unveils new iPod touch (US$ 199) with A10 Fusion chip (the same chip used in iPhone 7 that was launched in 2016), support for Group FaceTime, and a 256GB storage option (no Touch ID or Face ID), making it the first iPod refresh since 2015.
• Google to officially begin rolling out confidential mode in Gmail to G Suite customers on June 25; the feature lets senders set an expiration date for messages, which cuts off access when that day arrives, recipients won't be able to forward message to others, copy its contents, or download it, and the sender can revoke access at any point, and for improved security, senders can set the message to only unlock after the recipient types in an SMS verification code that’s sent to their phone number.
• Cloud storage service Dropbox doubles the storage space for its Plus subscribers from 1TB to 2TB; adds Rewind and Smart Sync features, and increases the price from US$ 10 per month to US$ 12 per month. (Dropbox has also increased the storage option for its Professional plan from 2TB to 3TB, and for Business plans from 3TB to 5TB.)
• Apple updates its App Store policies following antitrust allegations from Spotify; says it welcomes competition but ignores the fact that App Store remains the only way to download iOS apps (unlike Android) and that none of the third-party apps can be chosen as the default.

Bollywood music label T-Series becomes the first YouTube channel to cross 100 million subscribers

• Uber reports quarterly earnings for the first time since going public; shows revenue of US$ 3.1 billion, up 20 percent YoY, gross bookings of US$ 14.65 billion, while net loss balloons to US$1.01 billion, even as Uber Eats revenue grows 31 percent to US$ 239 million, gross bookings up 108 percent.
• Ride hailing service Uber says it will start banning drivers who get a "significantly below average rating" off its platform; says "Respect is a two-way street, and.. that it’s the right thing to do."
• Amazon announces 5.5-inch Echo Show 5 that's shipping in July for US$ 89.99 as it takes on Google Nest Home Hub; launches new Alexa command ("Alexa, delete everything I said today") to delete what users said on a particular day.
• Microsoft adds a new feature in Excel that allows users take a picture of a spreadsheet and import it into the app.
• Facebook releases Portal video calling companion apps for Android and iOS; the app enables users to send photos directly to Portal’s SuperFrame, add accounts, and manage favourites.
• Google Maps to highlight popular dishes in restaurant listings; makes use of machine learning to match the names of a restaurant’s most talked-about dishes with online photos and reviews.
• Video streaming service Netflix raises prices of standard (£7.99 to £8.99) and premium (£9.99 to £11.99) pricing plans in the U.K., a few months a similar hike was rolled out in the U.S.
• Google outlines a new proposal that will limit ad blocking extensions in its Chrome browser to regular users, as ad blockers threaten its business model; issues new guidelines for Chrome extensions urging developers to rework their extensions such that they seek minimum amount of permissions/data.
• Apple quietly increases iPhone cellular download limit from 150 MB to 200 MB, allowing users to download larger files from Apple's stores, including apps, games, video podcasts, iTunes Store films and more.
• Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that assembles handsets products for many phone brands including Apple and Xiaomi, reportedly stops several production lines for Huawei phones in recent days after the Shenzhen-based company reduced orders for new phones in the aftermath of ongoing trade war with the U.S.