Tech Roundup: Android 12 Preview, Uber U.K. Setback & More

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

• Google Ireland and Google France agrees to pay €1.1 million after an investigation found Google's hotel rankings could be misleading for consumers. (It's worth noting that Google has since amended its hotel rankings practices as of September 2019.)
• Google officially launches developer preview of Android 12 with refreshed notification design, optimises transitions and animations across the system, support for image codec AVIF and several under-the-hood privacy and security improvements, with plans to reach "Platform Stability" by August 2021.
• Facebook-owned WhatsApp says it will offer users the ability to review its new privacy policy through a banner inside its app before the update goes into effect on May 15; comes as the company's mishandling of the privacy update led to widespread confusion and misinformation, prompting users to switch en masse to rivals like Signal and Telegram.
• "We've seen some of our competitors try to get away with claiming they can't see people’s messages – if an app doesn't offer end-to-end encryption by default that means they can read your messages," the company said, not so obliquely referencing Telegram, which doesn't support end-to-end encryption out of the box, unless users explicitly enable secret chats.
• The company also confirmed users who haven't accepted its new privacy policy by May 15 can receive calls and notifications "for a short time", but not read or send messages. (WhatsApp's policy for inactive users states that accounts are "generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity.")
• Chipmaker Nvidia announces dedicated Cryptocurrency Mining Processors (CMP 30HX, 40HX, 50HX and 90HX), with 10GB RAM and hash rates of up to 86 MH/s.

Google Search gains 'About This Result' to understand where the information is coming from

• Microsoft's LinkedIn reportedly developing a new service called Marketplaces to let its 740 million users find and book freelancers, with plans to launch as soon as September.
• Apple subpoenas game platform Valve in its ongoing lawsuit with Epic Games, demanding it provides huge amounts of commercial data about sales of apps and in-app products, annual advertising revenues, and annual sales of external products dating back several years to use the information about Valve's digital distribution service, Steam, in building its case against Epic Games; Valve asserts the request for six years' worth of PC game and item sales for hundreds of third-party games and confidential information about these games and Valve's revenues is unreasonable.
• The U.K.'s Supreme Court rules that Uber drivers should be classified as workers not independent contractors and entitled to both paid vacation time and minimum wage, concluding an almost five-year legal battle.
• Google redesigns mobile search results page with an aim to bring information to focus, make text easier to read, and embrace "rounded icons and imagery" to achieve visual consistency across its products.
• Microsoft begins testing xCloud game streaming in Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome or Microsoft Edge; announces two new standalone versions of Office: Office 2021, available for Windows and macOS later this year, and Office LTSC (Office Long Term Servicing Channel) that's geared towards businesses, with the latter available as a commercial preview beginning in April on both Mac and Windows.