Tech Roundup: Sarahah Privacy Scare, Uber New C.E.O. & More

Is privacy on the web even a personal choice anymore? Last week AccuWeather triggered privacy concerns after researchers found the iPhone app to be sending users' precise location without their permission to a third party called RevealMobile that makes use of the information for purposes of targeted advertising. And then earlier today, Sarahah, the popular anonymous feedback app, was discovered by a security researcher to be quietly uploading users' contacts to its servers for no apparent reason. After being caught in the act, the developer quickly assuaged users, adding the upload was meant to be part of a now-defunct "find your friends" feature and that the functionality will be removed in a future update. Is this justification good enough? Probably not!

Sharing your contacts on social networks is almost an ubiquitous practice today. I get it, it's super convenient to find your friends this way, but with phone numbers quickly becoming the only user name that matters, it is that much more necessary to be cautious and prudent before sharing them. Because you are not only giving away yours, but your friends and families' as well (irrespective of whether they wanted it or not) which are then harvested by social media platforms to create shadow profiles. Takeaway - Better be safe than sorry later!

Alphabet/Google:

• Officially releases Android 8.0 Oreo for Pixel, Nexus 5X/6P, Pixel C and Nexus Player with capabilities to snooze notifications, iOS-like notification dots and pop-up menu actions for apps, picture-in-picture mode, smarter text selection and copy-paste, auto-fill in apps, round emojis and many more.
• Plans new Chromebook Pixel, a mini version of Google Home (an Amazon Echo Dot equivalent), and OEM-made headphones with built-in Google Assistant.
• Reportedly working with Xiaomi for the next Android One phone targeting developing markets.
• Expands Google Station, its free Wi-Fi connectivity program at train stations and universities, to Indonesia.

Facebook:

• Rumoured to be running into privacy concerns with its Aloha video chat device for homes, with users in focus groups uncomfortable with the idea of the social network spying on them.
• Closes more than 1 million fake accounts created by spammers and fraudsters on a daily basis.
• Adds options for colourful text-based status updates on WhatsApp, just like Facebook.

Samsung:

• Unveils the next-generation Note smartphone with a 6.3 inch almost-bezel-less display, a stylus and other Galaxy S8 features. (Choosing the Note 8 or Galaxy S8+ boils down to a simple question of whether you need a stylus!)
• Rolls out Bixby voice commands for Galaxy S8 and S8+ globally to over 200 countries.
• Confirms its plans for a Bixby-powered smart speaker to take on Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple's upcoming HomePod.

Uber:

• Is said to have zeroed in on Expedia chief Dara Khosrowshahi to be its next C.E.O., according to a report from Recode.
• Says its drivers have collectively earned US$ 50 million in tips within two months since in-app tipping was rolled out to the U.S. and Canada.

In other news:

• India's Supreme Court rules that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy in a landmark judgement that could have implications for the government-run biometric scheme.
• New research shows that Babylonians invented trigonometry, almost 1,000 years before Pythagoras was born.
• In a first for quantum communication, China has sent an "unbreakable" code from a satellite to the Earth by making use of quantum cryptography.
• Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, which kicked off the great bezel-less race last year, teases Mi Mix 2.
• Apps from Google and Facebook dominate downloads, even as majority of U.S. customers download almost zero apps per month, according to ComScore.
• #hashtag turns 10 years old - the first social media post with a hashtag came from open-source advocate Chris Messina on Aug. 23, 2007.
• E-commerce giant Amazon to start lowering prices on popular Whole Foods grocery items starting Monday — the day its $13.7 billion acquisition closes — and eventually introduce special discounts and benefits at the grocery chain specifically for Amazon Prime members; rival retail stocks plunge wiping off billions in market value.
• Music streaming service Spotify signs licensing deal with Warner Music, joining the likes of major labels like Sony Music, Universal Music Group, as it prepares to go public.
• American shopping chain Walmart joins hands with Google to enable purchases via the latter's Shopping Express and virtual assistant in an attempt to jointly fight Amazon.
• Apple scales back its automotive ambitions to focus on the underlying technology that allows a car to drive itself rather than developing an Apple-branded autonomous vehicle.
• Jide kills off Remix OS, a desktop fork of Android; to transition away from consumers to cater to businesses going forward.