Tech Roundup: Quantum Internet, Slack-Microsoft Fight & More

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

• IBM Research, working in partnership with Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, develop a synthetic macromolecule polymer that can potentially be used to significantly increase the effectiveness of existing antibiotics, rendering them able to fight off emerging superbugs and counter antibiotic resistance.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase says that it was able to block over 1,100 customers from sending approximately US$ 280,000 to hackers behind the Twitter hack last week, which took over high-profile accounts to push a massive bitcoin scam.
• Twitter admits hackers accessed direct message (DM) inbox of 36 of the 130 high profile accounts targeted in last week's attack, including one elected official in the Netherlands; says there's "no indication that any other former or current elected official had their DMs accessed."
• Facebook, Twitter and TikTok crackdown on QAnon-related conspiracy posts; to remove hashtags, "stop recommending content linked to QAnon and block URLs associated with it from being shared on the platform, in an attempt to prevent 'offline harm.'"
• The U.S. government unveils plan to build an "unhackable" quantum Internet, "using the laws of quantum mechanics to share information more securely and to connect a new generation of computers and sensors."
• Pakistan's telecom authority blocks Bigo Live streaming app and issues "final warning" to ByteDance's TikTok over "immoral, obscene, and vulgar content" on the apps; comes days after it placed a temporarily ban on popular mobile game PUBG over concerns that youth in the nation were "wasting their time" on the "addictive" app.
• The E.U. urges Google to not use Fitbit data to "further enhance its search advantage" and to grant third-parties equal access to data as part of its US$ 2.1 billion acquisition of the health tracker maker.
• U.K. drivers for rideshare heavyweight Uber file a lawsuit against the company on the grounds that the company's refusal to share driver data is technically a breach of European data protection laws; allege the company's decision to withhold personal data about drivers prevents them from understanding how the algorithm assigns them jobs and therefore impacts their livelihood.
• Microsoft gets sued for allegedly sharing its Office 365 customers' business data with Facebook app developers, partners, and subcontractors in violation of its data privacy promises; claim "the data is shared even when neither the customers nor their contacts are Facebook users."
• Online trading platform Robinhood scraps plans to launch in the U.K.; says "our efforts are currently best spent on strengthening our core business in the U.S. and making further investments in our foundational systems"; comes amid scrutiny into how its UX design and algorithmic nudges can lead some inexperienced investors to undertake riskier trades.

• Music streaming service Spotify rolls out video podcasts for both free and Premium users, as it aims to bring more audiences from rivals such as YouTube.
• Smartphone maker OnePlus debuts Nord mid-range Android handset with a 6.44-inch AMOLED screen, in-screen fingerprint sensor, 48-megapixel camera sensor and Snapdragon 765G processor for US$ 480; announces OnePlus Buds with AirPods-like design, Bluetooth 5.0 and 7 hours of playback (and up to 30 with the battery case) for US$ 79.
• Facebook-owned Instagram adds support for personal fundraisers; lets users link their profile to a new or an existing fundraiser that meet their guidelines and rules, with the approved fundraisers open for a window of 30 days and an option to extend it just once for 30 more days.
• Instagram to fix a bug in its iOS app that caused the camera indicator to turn on (rolled out as part of a new feature in iOS 14) even when users were just scrolling through their feeds, and not taking a photo or video.
• The development is the latest in a series of unexpected app behaviour controversies revealed by ‌iOS 14‌'s privacy features, which notifies users when apps pastes text from the clipboard or accesses the camera or microphone. Since then, a large number of popular apps, such as LinkedIn, Reddit, and TikTok, have been discovered to be covertly accessing clipboard data without users' permissions.
• On-demand streaming platform Netflix begins testing a new Mobile+ plan in India, allowing subscribers to stream content in HD across mobile, tablet, and computer screens (but not TV) for 349 Rupees (US$ 4.7), months after it introduced a mobile-only SD plan in the country for 199 rupees ($2.7).
• Snapchat hits 238 million daily active users in the second quarter of 2020, up 17% year-over-year and a net gain of 9 million users during the period.
• China's state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network, set to launch to developers on August 10, gains integrations for public blockchains Tezos, NEO, Nervos, EOS, IRISnet, and Ethereum.
• Workplace messaging app Slack files E.U. antitrust complaint against Microsoft, accusing it of unfairly bundling its rival app Teams with Office 365 productivity suite to give it a competitive edge; says it "simply wants fair competition and a level playing field" and that Microsoft "created a weak, copycat product and tied it to their dominant Office product, force installing it and blocking its removal, a carbon copy of their illegal behaviour during the 'browser wars.'"
• Facebook to set up new internal teams to look for racial bias in the algorithms that drive its main social network and Instagram; aims to address the adverse effects of machine learning — which can encode implicit racism in training data — on Black, Hispanic, and other minority groups and result in disproportionate impact by mirroring society's biases.

• Google delays its switch to mobile-first indexing of search results from its initial September deadline to the end of March 2021, citing "uncertain times."
• Apple commissions a new study from Analysis Group that finds that App Store's 30 percent cut on online goods is largely in line with other digital marketplaces, including Google Play app store and Amazon Appstore.
• What it fails to mention is that unlike Apple's App Store, other app distribution platforms, including Android, allow developers to adopt their own payment solutions, as well as let users to install apps from sources outside of Google Play, or even from a competing app store.
• Douyin, the Chinese-language version of short video app TikTok, bans 127,000 user accounts to ramp up its campaign against pornography, prostitution and other related illegal activities on its platform.
• Twitter hits 186 million monetisable daily active users between April and June; says it's exploring paid subscription offerings as a means to offset a slump in advertising revenue.
• Amazon is working on a new feature for its Alexa voice assistant called "Alexa for Apps" that will let the software launch Android and iOS apps using voice commands as part of a new strategy to position Alexa as a platform-agnostic alternative to Apple's Siri and Google Assistant.
• Google reportedly uses an internal tool called Android Lockbox (at least since 2013) to collect usage data from third-party apps — such as how often apps are opened — to "selectively monitor how users interact with non-Google apps," inform product strategy and advance its own competing apps such as TikTok rival Shorts; Google admits it has access to usage data from rival apps, but says the program is public, "doesn't obtain any information about in-app activity," and that other developers can also access similar data.
• The problem with this approach is Google's wide reach, which covers every Android device that comes pre-installed with Google services, while third-party developers can glean the information only from those devices that have installed their apps.
• Apple's contract manufacturing partner Foxconn begins assembling iPhone 11 models in its plant near Chennai, India, as the company ramps up its production in the country and readies to launch its online store in a few months and open its first brick-and-mortar retail store next year.
• Retail giant Amazon begins offering auto insurance, in partnership with Mumbai-based Acko General Insurance, to cover two and four-wheelers in India, marking the retail giant's first foray into insurance services category globally.