#WeeklyRecap: Apple hits $2 trillion, Gmail suffers outage, and more
This week, both Apple and Google made major headlines in the world of tech. The Cupertino giant hit $2 trillion in valuation, seizing its position as the world's most valuable company, while also continuing its disagreement with Epic Games over Fortnite. Meanwhile, Google drew flak for Gmail issues, including one that led to a major outage. Take a look at all the big stories.
Apple's historic milestone and simultaneous row with Epic
On Thursday, Apple became the first American company to surpass $2 trillion market capitalization. It reached the milestone exactly two years after hitting the $1 trillion-mark and is now the world's most valuable organization. As this happened, Apple also gave Epic Games a deadline to remove its policy-violating direct payment option from Fortnite. If rebuffed, the company said, Epic's developer account would be terminated.
In response, Epic Games filed for an injunction
Following Apple's action, Epic Games, which claims to be fighting against unfair App Store commission, filed for an injunction against the Tim Cook-led company. The gaming giant said that Apple is going after its entire business by threatening to terminate its developer account and tools.
Google launched new features, dealt with issues
Google, meanwhile, introduced interesting product features, including wildfire mapping in a more detailed version of Maps, Zoom support for Nest Hub Max, and warnings for unsecured Chrome textboxes. However, it also drew widespread criticism for an outage that left Gmail, Drive, and Docs unusable for hours, and a bug that allowed sending spoofed emails from real, legitimate Gmail addressees. Both have been fixed now.
TikTok to sue Trump administration
TikTok has confirmed the plan to sue Trump administration over the executive order it had issued to force the divestment of the video service's US operations. The Chinese company has not yet finalized a deal, but Microsoft and Oracle are said to be the frontrunners capable of acquiring its US assets. Trump Administration also tightened the restrictions blocking Huawei from accessing American technology.
Facebook boss testifies before FTC
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg testified before the FTC, which is investigating the social network's antitrust practices. In addition to this, the company announced the plan to kill its classic website interface in September, mandated its login on Oculus devices, and purged nearly 800 QAnon conspiracy theory groups. Meanwhile, Uber's former security chief, Joseph Sullivan, was charged for covering up a hack in 2016.
Security issues also came to light
On the security front, Carnival, the world's biggest cruise line operator, acknowledged a major ransomware attack. The company said one of its partner brands was hijacked and its employee and guest information has been compromised. Beyond this, a database containing public information, including contact details, of 235 million YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram users was left open on the internet and subsequently taken offline.
Finally, some news for smartphone lovers
In the hardware category, a number of devices were unveiled, including iQOO 5 and 5 Pro, Realme C12 and C15, Dell XPS 17, OPPO Reno4 Pro Artist Limited Edition, Huawei MateBook X, TECNO Spark 6 Air 3GB, and LG K31. Also, a new 5G BlackBerry Phone with Android and QWERTY keyboard has been confirmed for 2021, thanks to a Texas-based start-up called OnwardMobility.
