Tech Roundup: Google U.S. Antitrust Setback, Threads Custom Feeds & More

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

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) calls for Google to divest its Chrome browser, following a ruling in August 2024 that the company holds a monopoly in the search market; also seeks to end exclusionary agreements with third-parties like Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine, and syndicate its U.S. search results to other rival search engines for the next decade. (Google, in response, has said the DOJ's "staggering" and "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision" and that it "chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership." The final ruling is expect to come sometime next year.)
• India's antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India, orders WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta units for advertising purposes for five years; also levies a fine of US$ 25.4 million for antitrust violations related to WhatsApp's controversial 2021 privacy policy.
• Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo urges the European Union to widen its Digital Markets Act (DMA) investigation into Google, claiming the search-giant's non-compliance with sharing anonymised click and query data, implementing choice screens and enable end users to easily change default search settings, and the ability to prompt users to set search defaults easily.
• Google is reportedly building a new feature called "Shielded Email" to take on Apple iCloud's Hide My Email, offering users a way to create custom email addresses when signing up for apps and services and tackle spam.
• Google tests new feature that allows Search users in mobile to select a portion of the text in AI Overviews to get a follow-up AI-generated response; rolls out a "memory" feature for Gemini Advanced subscribers for the web app that remembers a user's interests and preferences.
• Apple drops support for iCloud backups on iPhone and iPad devices running iOS 8 and earlier; also to end support for Safari bookmark syncing on iPhones and iPads running iOS 10 or earlier, and on Macs running macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or earlier starting December 18, 2024.
• Brave introduces a new privacy-focused feature called Shred in its web browser for iOS that allows users to easily delete site-specific mobile browsing data.
• Google introduces AlphaQubit, a machine-learning decoder that surpasses existing methods in identifying and correcting quantum computing errors.
• Meta-owned Threads begins rolling out the ability to create custom feeds globally, giving users options beyond "For You" and "Following" feeds, and build feeds around specific topics or those including certain user profiles; debuts new Messenger features, including audio and video voicemail, AI backgrounds for video calls, and hands-free calling and messaging via Siri.
• Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming to existing Xbox game libraries, letting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream 50 supported games, with more cloud-playable titles coming in the future as it works with is partners.
• Amazon unveils the US$ 400 Echo Show 21, an upgrade to the Echo Show 15 from 2022, with a 21" 1080p display and auto-framing camera; also shows off an update to the Echo Show 15 with the same audio, camera and smart home upgrades.
• Google tightens its rules against "parasite SEO" content, or articles that have little to do with the website's focus, after cracking down on "reputation abuse."
• Strava updates its API terms to prohibit third-party apps from showing a user's Strava data to other users or using the data in AI models or similar apps.
• Google ships the first Android 16 developer preview, far ahead of schedule when compared to the past decade, hoping to lower fragmentation by giving manufacturers more time; comes with a new feature to hide sensitive notifications, like OTPs, on the lock screen for enhanced privacy.
• Sony launches cloud streaming on the PlayStation Portal in beta, letting PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers in some countries stream select PS5 games.
• Amazon says Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the US, the UK, and Canada can now listen to one audiobook per month from Audible's catalog for free.
• Microsoft signs a deal with News Corp's HarperCollins to use non-fiction titles to train an unannounced AI model (authors, however, can opt out); debuts an AI interpreter in Teams in limited preview that can simulate speaker voices and offer near-real-time voice interpretation in nine languages.
• Microsoft unveils the US$ 349 Windows 365 Link, a mini PC for its Windows 365 cloud service running a "super hardened version of Windows", shipping in April 2025.
• Google revamps its Switch to Android app for the iPhone and iPad, introducing a streamlined interface, a new icon, and changing the name to Android Switch as part of a rebranding effort to lure new ‌iPhone‌ users; releases a beta version of the Google Drive desktop app that supports Windows 11 running on Arm Snapdragon chips.
• Apple removes Musi app from the App Store after receiving copyright complaints for streaming music from YouTube and avoiding paying to license songs.