Tech Roundup: Water on Mars, BlackBerry Priv & More

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

• July 2015 was globally the hottest month on record, per National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; average surface temperature was 1.46°F (0.81°C) above the 20th century average.
• Mars has liquid water, confirms NASA in a landmark discovery by analysing spectral data obtained from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; researchers now focussed on understanding the source of this water.
• Mealworms can ingest non-biodegradable Styrofoam, reveals new study; found to convert the plastic they ate into carbon dioxide and biodegradable waste that were deemed safe to use in soil for plants and even crops.
• Privacy evangelist Edward Snowden debuts on Twitter; follows USA's National Security Agency.
• British Petroleum fined a record $20 billion for the massive environmental disaster it caused with 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
• Volkswagen emissions scandal costs CEO Michael Horn his job; company could face fines up to $18 billion for programming their Diesel engines to meet nitrogen oxide emission standards only during laboratory testing (emission levels found to be 40 times higher under normal driving conditions).
• Nestle becomes the first global brand to shift lock, stock and barrel to Tumblr in an attempt to woo younger audiences.
• New Stagefright vulnerability that put more than a billion Android devices at risk gets patched by Google in its October monthly security update (at least for Nexus devices).
• ​Twitter slashes 8% of its workforce as its newly appointed CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey tries to steer the company back on track; unveils first glimpse of Project Lightning in the form of Moments, a showcase for the best of Twitter in real time.
• Apple's news platform on its iOS devices, Apple News, is blocked in China.
• Blackberry's first Android phone targeting enterprise cum productivity aficionados, Priv, said to be priced for $630, according to latest leaks.

BlackBerry's Android phone, Priv

• Microsoft and Google put an end to all pending intellectual property lawsuits against each other; promise to "collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit our customers."
• Google debuts mobile deep linking (launching a native mobile application from a regular URL instead of directing users to the website) on iOS web as the search giant begins to index mobile apps in its search results.
• Popular chat app WhatsApp finally works on iOS web, several months after the feature debuted on Android.
• Android lock patterns are predictable and easy to guess just like passwords, finds new study.
• Privacy focused smartphone from Silent Circle, Blackphone 2, is released for $799.
• Social network Facebook to beam free internet over Africa via satellites; tests new shopping section and outs 360-degree videos to take on YouTube, ignores calls for a dislike button citing negativity concerns.
• Google becomes antitrust target in Russia and USA over bundling of Google services on Android devices; European Union wants right to be forgotten enforced globally.
• Struggling PC maker Hewlett Packard to slash 30,000 jobs as part of the company's restructuring efforts to spin off HP Enterprise from its PC and printer business.
• Google acquires Jibe, a mobile rich messaging startup.
• Like Facebook, Google to let marketers/retailers target ads using your email address (Gmail) while using its search engine through a new tool called Customer Match.
• Amazon in fresh ecosystem war with Apple and Google; to stop selling video-streaming devices Apple TV and Chromecast for the reason that they don't work well with Amazon Prime video service.
• Asus becomes the latest Android OEM after Samsung, Sony and Dell to bundle Microsoft apps on its smartphones.
• Microsoft launches Office 2016 productivity suite with focus on collaboration and search.
• Google completes restructuring its newly formed parent company Alphabet; drops "Don't be evil" from its code of conduct.
• Dell buys enterprise cloud services provider EMC Corp (read EMC-squared) for $67 billion in what's the largest tech deal ever.
• Soft drink maker PepsiCo enters phone business (you read it right); to license its brand for use on a new mid-range smartphone, Pepsi P1, available only in China in the coming months.
• Google's health-tracking platform Fit gets a beautiful Material Design-based website. (If it were a dessert, I would have gobbled it in no time. It looks so delish!)
• Apple acquires natural language processing startup VocalIQ to beef up virtual voice assistant Siri.
• HTC Aero is the iPhone clone for Android from a company that was at once a design pioneer with One M7 and M8.