Tech Roundup: Amazon Always Home Cam, App Fairness & More

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

• Chinese tech giant Tencent rebrands its WeChat Work office collaboration app to WeCom; comes as the District Court for the Northern District of California blocks ban of WeChat app from Apple and Google's app stores in the U.S., days after the Commerce Department announced that it will prohibit business transactions with Chinese-owned social apps WeChat and TikTok effective September 20. (For its part, the TikTok ban has been delayed until September 27 "in light of recent positive developments.")
• Code repository platform GitHub to name all new source code repositories "main" instead of "master" starting October 1 as part of the company's effort to abandon non-inclusive terms.
• Google's data portability tool Google Takeout averages more than two million exports per month, with 200 billion files exported in 2019; to pull the plug on paid Chrome extensions over the next year, after temporarily banning them due to fraudulent transactions.
• The U.S. government reiterates the TikTok-Oracle-Walmart deal will not signed off unless its parent ByteDance cedes complete control of the video sharing app, after TikTok outlined that ByteDance would hold 80% of the new company until a planned initial public offering for the service took place on the U.S. stock market in about a year.
• For its part, Oracle has announced that its new TikTok venture will be entirely divested from ByteDance, while Walmart is expected to "provide our ecommerce, fulfillment, payments and other omnichannel services to TikTok Global," implying shopping features could soon make their way to TikTok.
• But if there's anything this whole saga has revealed, it's that app bans and changing ownership doesn't help alleviate the core privacy concerns associated with social media apps. A nationwide framework for privacy and data security is necessary towards tackling the unregulated data exploitation economy.
• Mobile streaming service Quibi reportedly exploring possible sale, less than six months after launch, as it struggles to attract subscribers since debuting in April.
• Facebook launches "Rights Manager for Images" to let creators and publishers to claim ownership of images and issue takedown requests across Facebook and Instagram, and assert control over their intellectual property; cautions it may be pushed to exit the E.U. market in the wake of last month's preliminary order from Ireland's data protection watchdog that cracks down on Facebook's ability to transfer data across the Atlantic.
• Amazon outlines plans to turn Echo and Tile devices as Bluetooth bridges for Sidewalk, its low-bandwidth, long-range wireless mesh network, to help connect smart devices inside and outside of users' homes in a neighbourhood.
• Microsoft beefs up Xbox Game Pass by acquiring ZeniMax Media and its game publisher Bethesda Softworks, the developer behind Fallout, DOOM, Quake, The Elder Scrolls, among others, in an all-cash deal worth US$ 7.5 billion; releases new Xbox app for Android with an overhauled design and the ability to remotely play Xbox games streamed directly from Xbox One consoles.

• Mozilla to spin out WebThings, its open source internet of things (IoT) platform, as an independent project, a month after the Firefox browser maker announced a major restructuring of its corporate division, leading to 250 layoffs, alongside plans to "tighten and refocus" its product lineup.
• Google hands over Science Journal app to open-source microcontroller designer Arduino; debuts Airtable equivalent called Tables, a rules-based automation platform for documents that can set task-based email reminders, send messages when forms are submitted, manage tasks, and more.
• Uber for Business, the business side of the consumer ride sharing service, announces Employee Group Rides feature to allow employees working for the same company to pool a ride together to commute to work.
• Indian tech conglomerate Reliance is said to be in talks with Indian manufacturers to develop a US$ 54 Jio phone that runs on Android, with an aim to sell 200 million handsets over the next two years.
• Facebook tests new WhatsApp feature that lets users send expiring media, including photos and videos, that automatically disappear from the recipient's chat logs upon opening the files.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok says it has removed 104.5 million videos globally between January and June for violations of its community rules and terms of service.
• Microsoft to release first preview of its Edge browser for Linux in October; introduces new Teams features, such as scheduling virtual commutes, Headspace integration, breakout rooms, and virtual coffee shops for meetings.
• Russian online services company Yandex acquires Tinkoff, the country's top online bank, for US$ 5.5 billion, as the company continues to make strides in fields ranging from taxis and ecommerce to entertainment.
• Google's YouTube to begin using machine learning to add age restrictions to inappropriate videos automatically, expanding the technology's use beyond flagging inappropriate content for review; expands its app development Flutter framework to add suppot for building Windows apps (Windows 7 and newer)
• Wikipedia teases first major redesign of its website in 10 years; to come with sticky site and article headers, a persistent Table of contents, a collapsible sidebar, and improvements to in-site search.
• Music streaming service Spotify annouces new Polls feature to make podcasts interactive, allowing listeners to answer questions set by the hosts during a show.
• Adobe debuts new "Liquid Mode" for Acrobat Reader that uses AI to reformat PDFs for easier reading on smaller screens; to land first on Android and iOS, with plans to bring it to desktops later.
• Twitter to begin testing audio DMs in Brazil, months after introducing support for audio in tweets back in June.
• Samsung unveils Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) with a 6.5-inch display, Snapdragon 865 processor, 120Hz refresh rate, 4,500mAh battery, 6GB RAM, and 12MP rear camera for US$ 699.
• Pinterest officially launches Story Pins, its own spin on the stories format , letting creators combine multiple pages of images, videos, voiceover, and overlaid text; Microsoft-owned LinkedIn launches Stories, plus Zoom, BlueJeans and Teams video integrations as part of a wider redesign.
• Apple releases iOS 14.0.1 update with a fix for a bug that made the default browser or mail app settings reset to Apple's Safari or Mail when the device reboots; confirms acquisition of cross-platform podcast app Scout FM, which leveraged users' listening history to create podcast stations, and reverses course on its plans to ship a power adaptor with Apple Watch Edition and Hermès models.

• Epic, Spotify, Match Group, Tile, Deezer, Basecamp, and others form the Coalition for App Fairness in a bid to to pressure Apple and other app store owners to create a level playing field and "advocate for freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem," as Apple claims the App Store is "more than just a storefront" and that it's an innovative destination centered around privacy, security, and trust. (As long as these companies continue to distribute their apps via the App Store, there is little choice but to play by Apple's rules. Ultimately,tThe big question here is increasingly this: Does Apple get to do whatever it wants with the App Store because it owns the storefront, or is it too big and too important and thus needs to be regulated in other ways?)
• Twitter says its test to prompt users to read articles before retweeting worked, with users opening articles 40% more and sometimes opting not to retweet, as it aims to encourage more informed tweeting in the social media platform.
• Amazon announces a slew of next-generation and Echo and Ring smart home products, including a redesigned spherical Echo and Echo Dot, new Ring Car Alarm and Car Cam for cars, and an autonomous indoor security camera drone called Always Home Cam for US$ 250, an updated Echo Show smart display, Eero mesh WiFi routers and Fire TV; introduces Luna cloud gaming streaming service to take on Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud (it's accessible on iOS as a web app) along with new options to delete Alexa voice recordings immediately, disable Neighbours feature, and enable end-to-end encryption for the video feeds from its smart doorbells and connected home security cameras by the end of the year.
• It's clear that Amazon is in the business of "surveillance-as-a-service" and wants to be everywhere with a constellation of connected products that's persistently recording and surveilling its users, subtly nudging people to invest deeper into its subscriptio-based Prime ecosystem.
• Given Amazon's checkered history with privacy in the past, the biggest concern is about where these surveillance footages will end up, and whether law enforcement agencies will have access to them, and if so, what data protection and sharing guidelines are in place to minimise privacy risks, known and unknown.
• Apple agrees to allow Facebook to process payments for its paid online events feature via Facebook Pay, without taking a 30% cut, until December 31, weeks after the social media platform accused Apple of hurting small businesses by collecting fees from the new feature, which lets users attend online classes and events through Facebook.
• The development comes amid new reports that Google plans to strictly enforce Google Play In-app Billing as the method of payment for third-party apps that offer in-app purchases.
• What's more, Facebook appears to be actively seeking an option to make its Messenger app the default app for messages on iPhones. With the release of iOS 14, users have the option to set default apps but only for browser and mail apps.
• Source code of Microsoft's Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 leaks online on various file sharing sites; Microsoft says it's investigating the matter.
• Google announces the general availability of AI Platform Prediction, a service for developers to prepare, build, run, and share ML models in the cloud.