Tech Roundup: Google Pixel 6, India e-RUPI & More

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

• Twitter partners with Reuters and the AP in an attempt to provide more context and feature links from trusted sources for Trends, Moments, and Search, expanding its efforts focused on highlighting reliable news and information on its platform.
• Google unveils Pixel 6, with 6.4" 90Hz display, and Pixel 6 Pro, with 6.7" 120Hz display and 4x optical zoom, packing an in-house designed processor called Tensor, which it describes as "the brand new chip designed by Google, custom-made for Pixel" and enables real-time object detection and HDR in videos as well as real-time translation and live captions.
• Amazon to pay users US$ 10 in credit in exchange for enrolling their palm prints in its checkout-free stores and link it to the Amazon accounts.
• Australia's Federal Court rules that artificial intelligence can be recognised as an inventor in a patent submission; says "an inventor is an agent noun; an agent can be a person or thing that invents," and that "so to hold reflects the reality in terms of many otherwise patentable inventions where it cannot sensibly be said that a human is the inventor."
• Google's YouTube trials Premium Lite subscription for €6.99/month, offering ad-free viewing across all major platforms, in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, as music streaming service Spotify tests a less restrictive ad-supported tier, dubbed Spotify Plus, costing US$ 0.99 a month that lifts restrictions on the number of tracks users can skip per hour.
• Facebook is reportedly researching ways to analyse encrypted data, such as WhatsApp messages, without actually decrypting the information; WhatsApp head Will Cathcart denies pursuing homomorphic encryption for the messaging service, adding "we should be skeptical of technical claims that apps like ours could see messages in 'good' cases only."

• Google updates Maps for iOS with live location sharing in iMessage, new home screen widgets, and dark mode; launches new Google Identity Services APIs, including a proactive and seamless sign in prompt called One Tap, that enables users to sign in to third-party websites or apps using Sign in with Google.
• Facebook's WhatsApp officially turns on feature that allows users to send disappearing photos and videos in "view once" mode that disappear from the chat after the recipient opens it; redesigns its entire settings menu on mobile devices from top to bottom to "make our tools easier to find" and open-sources computational integrity library Winterfell.
• Chinese handset maker Xiaomi becomes Europe's top smartphone vendor in Q2 2021 with 12.7 million units shipped, up 67.1% YoY, followed by Samsung with 12 million, down 7% YoY, and Apple with 9.6 million.
• Digital payments platform Square reports Q2 2021 revenue of US$ 4.88 billion, up 143% YoY, while its Cash App service's bitcoin yearly revenue touches US$ 2.72 billion, up 200%.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok confirms it’s piloting a new feature, TikTok Stories, that allows users to post ephemeral content that disappear after 24 hours and comment publicly on the creators' content.
• Ride hailing company Uber hits new record in Q2 2021 with gross bookings of US$ 21.5 billion, with revenues of US$ 3.93 billion and a net income of US$ 1.1 billion, as rival Lyft reports 17.14 million active riders with revenues of US$ 765 million.
• Tinder's parent company Match Group announces plans to add audio and video chat, including group live video, to several of its brands over the next 12 to 24 months; reports Q2 revenue of US$ 708 million, up from US$ 555 million YoY, with 9.6 million paying users, up 17%.
• Indian government officially debuts launched e-RUPI, a one-time cashless and contactless digital payment solution, in an attempt to boost digital transactions among micro, small, and medium enterprises, as UPI transactions transactions in the country touch the 3 billion mark in the month of July.