Tech Roundup: Android Nougat, Music Streaming Wars & More

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

Alphabet/Google:
  • Names Android N (aka Android 7.0) as Android Nougat; gives android.com a fresh coat of Material Design paint.
  • Brings mobile payments service Android Pay to Asia starting with Singapore.
  • Updates Google maps with super sharp satellite imagery; adds options for multiple destinations on a single trip.
  • Gives Google Fit a major visual redesign on Android.
  • Inks deal with LyricFind to display lyrics in Google search results and possibly in Play Music.
  • Rolls out new My Activity page, a companion settings page to My Account, to keep track and control the data you share with Google, while cataloguing all your comings and goings on the internet, including song searches.
  • Releases Springboard for enterprise customers to search across all Google Apps to "put the right information at your fingertips."
  • Adds WebVR to Chrome browser, an experimental open source JavaScript API to make websites VR-ready.
  • To be subjected to a third round of fresh antitrust charges in European Union over its dominance in advertising, reports Wall Street Journal.
  • Next-generation Nexus phones from HTC, dubbed Marlin and Sailfish, to differ only terms of display size and battery capacity, Android Police leaks show.
Apple:
Facebook:
Others:
  • Researchers find first clear evidence of ozone layer healing above Antarctica; the hole in September 2015 found to be around 4 million sq km smaller than it was in the year 2000 - an area roughly the size of India.
  • Helium deposits are discovered in Tanzanian East Coast Rift Valley amid concerns that global supplies were running out.
  • Amazon opens Alexa virtual assistant to purchase any item (on Prime) from the online retailer.
  • A fatal crash of a Tesla Model S car in autopilot mode with a tractor-trailer prompts investigation from U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; "Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied," says Tesla.
  • HTC spins off its virtual reality arm into a whole new subsidiary HTC Vive Tech.
  • Popular cross-platform note-taking app Evernote goes the Pushbullet wayincreases yearly subscription prices for paid and premium tiers as it confronts with the reality of making money (by not choosing to show ads).
  • Microsoft says its Anniversary update to Windows 10 is coming on August 2; will be free if you already have Windows 10 installed.
  • Pinterest will let users snap photos to search for products to shop on the content sharing social network.
  • World's cheapest smartphone Freedom 251, assembled indigenously and costing a mere $4 USD, to begin shipping in India this week.
  • HP announces a new Chromebook 11 G5 with 12.5 hours of battery life for $189 USD.

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