Tech Roundup: Google Trips Shutdown, Uber Reorg & More

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

• Apple unveils iOS 13, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, tvOS, and watchOS at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC); shows off a new "Sign in with Apple" login method that allows any registered Apple ID user to sign in to third party websites without having to share any personal information, or create a website-specific password. (Read more about it here.)
• iOS 13 (applicable to iPadOS as well) — System-wide dark mode, swipe typing in keyboard, time-synced lyrics in Apple Music, revamped Photos app, new Reminders app, download manager and per-website preferences in Safari, 3D Touch phased out in favour of Haptic Touch, built-in Shortcuts app with support for automation features, Siri support for third-party music and podcast apps like Spotify, add attachments to Calendar events, removes capabilities to infer users' location using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, switching to "Bold Text" setting no longer requires restarting the iPhone, select Wi-Fi networks and connect to Bluetooth devices right from Control Center, silence unknown callers, close all open Safari tabs automatically after a set time period, new volume HUD, updateD ringer mute switch and Timer interface, new privacy feature that restricts apps which request access to users' Contacts from reading the data in the Notes field of those address book entries, and improved search in Messages and Notes apps.
• iPadOS — Improved multitasking, open multiple windows of the same app, native support for external disk drives and SD cards, support for USB and Bluetooth mouse input.
• macOS Catalina — Cross-platform app compatibility through Catalyst that allows iPad developers to port their apps over to macOS, new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, new Find My app.
• tvOS — Support for multiple users, PS4 and Xbox Controller Support, and new Control Center.
• watchOS — Dedicated App Store, new watch faces, apps can run independently without a companion iPhone app, new Calculator and Voice Memos apps.

• Oppo and Xiaomi show off under display front facing cameras as smartphone makers try to get on the notch-less trend popularised by Apple's iPhone.
• All visa applicants to the U.S. are now required to submit email addresses, phone numbers, and social media history used in the last five years as part of a new State Department policy designed to develop "uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures."
• Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google facing imminent antitrust probe from federal regulators in the U.S. as calls for more scrutiny over the business practices of the country's major tech companies continue to grow continuously in the last year.
• Google to shut down Trips app on August 5, 2019 after its features were merged into a new website along with Flights and hotel search under the name "Trips".
• Claire Stapleton, Google employee who helped organise walkouts protesting the company's handling of sexual harassment allegations against senior executives Andy Rubin and Amit Singhal, resigns from the company; alleges she was the target of a campaign of retaliation designed to intimidate and dissuade others.
• Google releases Chrome 75 with Reader Mode (activated via chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode), while Mozilla adds privacy features in Firefox 67.0.1 that automatically block third-party tracking cookies.
• Tinder now lets users specify their sexual orientation — straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, demisexual, pansexual, queer, and questioning — in their profile.
• Instagram says it will now let advertisers promote creators' organic branded content posts as feed ads, extending the reach of influencers, or users who brands work with to promote their services or products.
• Ride hailing platform Uber integrates its food delivery service Uber Eats into the main app and makes it possible to order a meal instead of prompting users to download a separate app; company's COO Barney Harford and CMO Rebecca Messina depart the company as part of an organizational shakeup put into motion just a month after the ride-hailing company went public and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says he'll be more involved in day-to-day operations.
• Apple begins censoring podcasts in China as crackdown on online discourse tightens in the country; Chinese podcasts uploaded from non-Chinese Apple accounts also being restricted.
• Canadian handset maker BlackBerry officially shuts down once popular BlackBerry Messenger chat app for consumers (enterprise variant will continue to live on); thanks users, partners, and employees for being part of the BBM consumer service journey.
• Dockless electric scooter sharing company Bird reportedly in talks to acquire scooter startup Scoot, which was last valued at ~US$ 71M in what will be its first full acquisition.
• Amazon takes on Pinterest with StyleSnap, a machine learning-powered feature in its app that lets users take a picture of an article of clothing and find similar items for sale on Amazon.
• Google adds a live speedometer into Google Maps, allowing users to keep an eye on their vehicle speeds alongside local speed limits.
• Facebook will reportedly announce its cryptocurrency, called GlobalCoin, this month, allowing employees to take it as salary, according to The Information.
• Google reveals key details about its Stadia Netflix-like cloud game streaming service ahead of E3 2019; to officially debut in November later this year in 14 different territories including the U.S., U.K. and Canada, with at least 31 games from 21 different publishers, for an initial "Founder's Edition" price of US$ 130 for a gaming console (pre-orders now open) with three months of premium service, and $10 a month afterwards. (There is also a free tier coming in 2020, but you need to have an internet speed of 10 Mbps in order to stream the games at 720p, 20 Mbps for 1080p, and 35 Mbps for 4K.)
• Microsoft quietly pulls its facial recognition database, MS Celeb, which contained 10M+ images of ~100K individuals scraped under the Creative Commons license as concerns around facial recognition tech loom large; takedown comes after an earlier Financial Times (paywall) investigation found that many of the people represented in the dataset were not aware of it and did not consent to having their pictures used.
• Google to buy data analytics startup Looker for US$ 2.6 billion in cash in what's Google Cloud's first major acquisition under new CEO Thomas Kurian, as it looks to gain a competitive edge over rivals Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle.
• Retail giant Walmart launches InHome Delivery that allows users to place grocery delivery orders that will be delivered right to their kitchen refrigerators by vetted "tenured" employees even when they're not home; delivery employees to gain entry to a house through smart-entry technology and wear a camera, so customers can watch remotely, and are expected to show "the same care and respect with which they would treat a friend's or family's home."
• Amazon invests Rs 2,999 crores (US$ 404 million) in its India business, according to a regulatory filing published this week, indicating how crucial the country has become for the retail behemoth as it fights rival Walmart, which acquired Flipkart for US$ 16 billion last year.
• Indian government plans to order taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola to convert 40 percent of their fleet of cars to electric by April 2026, reports Reuters.
• Social microblogging platform Twitter says it has updated, reorganised, and shortened its rules in an attempt to make it clear for users to understand what is and isn't acceptable on the service.
• Facebook prevents Huawei from pre-installing Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps on its phones as the U.S.-China trade war goes from bad to worse for the electronics giant. (Customers who already have Huawei phones will still be able to use its apps and receive updates.)