Tech Roundup: May 12, 2012

This bit of news has made me really respect the micro-blogging service Twitter. When Occupy Protester Malcolm Harris was arrested last October, little did he realize what he set off, unintentionally of course. As part of the legal proceedings against him, Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed Twitter asking the company to provide all the information associated with Harris's Twitter handle. But the former has not only turned down the request but also has filed a motion to quash the subpoena. Great going, Twitter!

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The fact that Google has been trying a self-driving car is old news. But what's come up last week is the state of Nevada's testing license grant for the vehicle. Under this law, the self-driving car will be fitted with a special red license plate sporting a infinity symbol for easy recognition. Still, days are far off as to when these cars can be a practical reality.

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Meanwhile, Mozilla and Google have expressed concerns over Microsoft's idea to limit web browser choices in Windows RT (upcoming Windows 8 flavor for ARM devices). While Metro based Firefox and Chrome apps for Windows 8 are in the works, the Classic mode of Windows RT is reportedly to make Internet Explorer as the only choice, blocking out other options like Firefox, Chrome etc. Mozilla has termed this move as an 'unwelcome return to the digital dark ages'.

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Facebook, which is under the scanner for its impending IPO, has announced a slew of monetizing strategies. Up first is the launch of App Center, replete with all kinds of free and paid apps. To be available across all platforms (mobile - would be apps inside apps - and desktop browser), the rollout is being planned in the forthcoming weeks. Second, taking cues from Twitter, Facebook has unveiled plans to make money out of the status updates through a 'Highlight' feature wherein one can pay 2 USD to promote their statuses. While it may not exactly make sense for personal posts, it's a perfect leverage for commercial businesses. Parallelly, in an interesting turn of events, the company's acquisition of Instagram has come under the purview of Federal Trade Commission, which has begun an investigation of the deal that could run anywhere from six to twelve months.

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Apple is all set to announce its next iteration of iOS (version 6) this June. However, the announcement may be extra special given the company's rumored plans to drop Google Maps altogether in favor of an in-house mapping solution. While it's not surprising that it wants to do away with the dependency, the report from All Things D, which has confirmed the development, goes on to say that the app (iMaps anyone?) will 'blow your head off'.

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Google and Oracle have been at loggerheads over Java copyrights (in Google's implementation of Android) since April, and the trial made interesting headways last week. After a weekend of deliberation, the jury found Google infringing Oracle's copyrights but were undecided on whether the company made a fair use of Java APIs. As of now, the search giant has been slapped an additional count of infringement over copying source code from 8 different Java files in addition to the earlier imposed violation (which involves copying 9 lines of Java code). When Oracle indicated it wanted a share of Android's revenues, judge Alsup called it 'height of ridiculousness' to expect millions of dollars for copying a mere nine lines of code. (To be continued)

In other news:

• Twitter rolls out its 'Fly' website design to feature phones and dumbphones and is accessible via mobile.twitter.com.
• Google Play Store or just Google Play (previously christened Android Market) crosses the 15 billion download mark. It's worth noting that Apple's App Store clocked its 25th billion download back in March.
• Sony announces Xperia SX and GX LTE Android 4.0 handsets for the Japanese market.
• Rovio's Angry Birds franchise hits more than a billion downloads, announces new game Amazing Alex.
• Google Maps for Android updated to provide indoor walking directions (only in US).
• Google+ for iOS gets a major design facelift, Android app's update on the way with 'extra surprises'.
• Sony reports a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) in its consolidated financial results for the year, sends the company's stocks crashing to a 30-year low.
• The new smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy SIII, now available for pre-order in the UK.
• Samsung acquires cloud media streaming service mSpot, most likely to include them in their future handsets.
• Microsoft's search engine, Bing, announces a significant redesign of its search results page, boasts of tighter social network integration.
• Nokia announces exclusive Lumia Windows apps at the CTIA 2012, debuts Nokia Reading and the augmented reality app Nokia City Lens (available at Nokia Beta Labs for free).
• A few HTC One X units reportedly suffering from notification problem, software fix on the way.
• Flipboard for Android, launched as an exclusive to the yet-to-be-released Galaxy SIII, leaks out for download to all Android phones. The APK is available at the xda-developers forum.