Top news this week: Moto X announced, Snowden gets asylum, Sony's $35 million profit and more

As the busy week comes to an end, here’s a quick recap of the top stories that you must check out. With news from across the tech world, we have topics ranging from smartphones to scandals, apps to the latest in spying and hacking. Here are the top picks.

Black Hat USA: NSA director opens up about PRISM and other surveillanceThe Black Hat conference saw an interesting discussion when National Security Agency (NSA) director General Keith Alexander took the stage to discuss the agency’s workings. The NSA director clarified that the phone surveillance was restricted to the US territory where the NSA had access to metadata of callers, while PRISM’s extent was more far-reaching and helped the NSA spy on the internet activity of all non-US citizens around the world. In his talk, the four-star general told of terrorist Najibullah Zazi’s story and how the NSA used PRISM to foil a plan masterminded by him to attack the New York subway system.

Jelly Bean running on 40 percent of Android devices nowLast month Jelly Bean finally overtook Gingerbread to become the most widely-used version of Android. The Android Developers July report has now revealed that Jelly Bean runs on more than 40 percent of Android devices. The report also showed that Android version 4.1 Jelly Bean is still the most used version of the OS, accounting for 34 percent of the market share. Its successor, Android version 4.2 Jelly Bean is installed on only a modest 6.5 percent of Android devices. However, put these together and Jelly Bean is clearly the king of the Android versions currently.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Jelly Bean is now running on 40 percent of all Android devices

Narendra Modi-branded phablet coming soon; priced at Rs 21,111The team behind the upcoming Smart Namo smartphone is now developing a Narendra Modi-branded phablet too. This phablet will come with a 6.5-inch display and will be powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. Adding to the package will be Android 4.2.1 OS out-of-the-box which is upgradeable. And if that wasn’t enough, the phablet will also come with dual-SIM dual-Standby capabilities.

Moto X announced; comes with customisable body, enhanced Google Now
Motorola finally announced the much-awaited Moto X smartphone, which will launch in late August or early September and will come with a price tag of $199 (Rs 12,020 approx) for a two-year contract. The Moto X has 4.7-inch AMOLED display that has a 720p resolution. Added in is Touchless Control via deeper Google Now integration as well as multiple customisation options, and some pretty unique camera controls for the 10.5-megapixel snapper.

Samsung distances itself from astroturfing controversy; blames PR agencySamsung recently faced allegations that it was involved in under-the-table tactics for promoting an app contest. But the company issued a statement saying it was not aware of such a move, while also condemning the actions of the PR agency, which admitted to the astroturfing.

Sony posts $35 million quarterly profit thanks to smartphone sales and weaker yenThe Japanese electronics and entertainment company reported a 3.5 billion yen ($35 million) April-June profit, a reversal from the 24.6 billion yen loss it suffered the previous year. This was thanks to an uptick in smartphone sales and a cheaper yen benefitting Japanese exporters.

Sony posts $35 million profit due to smartphone sales and weaker yen

Google closes down Music Search India serviceGoogle seems to have downed the shutters on its Music Search service in India. There have also been reports that the catalogue on the site hadn’t been updated for a while, hinting at the fact that Google most likely canned the project earlier. The service was introduced on a trial-basis and it continued to remain so till its end. 

Samsung denies Galaxy S4 benchmark fudging allegations
Recent reports revealed that Samsung’s current flagship smartphone—the Galaxy S4—has some lines of code that seem to boost the GPU’s power whenever a benchmarking app is running. In response to this, the Korean company has released a statement. The statement saw Samsung denying its smartphone doing anything of the sort, instead saying that certain functions like the camera, browser, video player and benchmarking apps, are classified as high-priority apps that need the highest possible performance.

After feminist, UK lawmaker gets threats on TwitterEven as the British Police continues to investigate rape threats received by feminist Caroline Criado-Perez on Twitter, another female lawmaker from the country has also received abusive tweets. Labour Party Member of Parliament Stella Creasy was targeted by trolls on Twitter after she came out in support for Criado-Perez. Creasy received tweets threatening her with rape and murder just like Criado-Perez did.

Government requests for Twitter users’ data on the rise
Twitter is under increasing pressure from governments around the world to release user’s private information, with requests rising 40 percent in the first six months of the year, the microblogging company said in its semi-annual transparency report. The United States made three-quarters of the 1,157 data requests during the six-month period, according to the San Francisco-based company’s report.

WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning found not guilty for ‘aiding the enemy’.

WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning found not guilty of ‘Aiding the enemy’Former US Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning has now been found not guilty of the most serious charge levied against him – Aiding the enemy. Manning had pleaded guilty to 10 counts through a process called “exceptions and substitutions”. Taking this into account, the government had earlier chosen to move forward with all 22 offenses, which will leave Manning facing a prison sentence of more than 150 years.

Facebook planning to introduce 15-second video ads in your News FeedImagine scrolling through your Facebook News Feed and being accosted by 15-second advertisements. This could soon be happening as Facebook may be mulling over selling spots for TV-style commercials on its site. Ads are said to be coming by the end of the year, according to sources. And the spots could sell for anywhere between a staggering $1 million to $2.5 million a day.

Google announces Android Device Manager to help users find their lost devicesGoogle has now announced the Android Device Manager, a new website that will help users find their lost phone or tablet. Accompanying the website will be an installable app that is set to roll out later this month. The company has made this service available for all devices running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and above. While details about the Device Manager are still minimal, Google has said that some of the features expected include the ability to make your phone ring at maximum volume so you can find it, even if it may have been silenced.

The Moto X will come with a whooping $575 retail price

Moto X full retail price revealed, will start at a whopping $575While the buzz around the Moto X is considerable, many users have been wondering about the unlocked price of the new device. The full off-contract price of the device will be $575 (Rs 35,130 approx) for the 16GB model. The company had earlier announced that it would offer users the 16GB variant of the smartphone for $199 (Rs 12,150 approx) and the 32GB variant for $249 (Rs 15,210 approx). Both models were being offered with a 2-year contract.

Verify Apps now available for devices running Android version 2.3 and upVerify Apps, the system that had been one of the more significant introductions to Android 4.2, is now available for all Android devices running version 2.3 and higher. The app typically checks your Android device for any new app installations; even those installed from outside of the Google Play store. It then quickly scans them for malware or any other harmful code.

Nokia says Microsoft too slow to bring apps to Windows Phone
Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia is heavily invested in Windows Phone and the company’s vice president Bryan Biniak dropped a bombshell this week when he said Microsoft must pay more timely attention to the app ecosystem of the Windows Phone platform, if it wants to compete with Android and iOS.

Nokia says Microsoft too slow to roll out apps for Windows Phone

MediaTek announces new octa-core processor for mobile devicesThe Taiwanese company has officially introduced the new octa-core processor, codenamed MT6592. While Samsung already has an Exynos 5 octa-core processor out in the market, MediaTek’s newest introduction will be able to run all eight cores at the same time, unlike Samsung’s chip.

Snowden granted a year’s asylum in RussiaAfter an uncertain few weeks, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted a year’s asylum in Russia and is allowed to enter the country’s territory. Snowden’s legal representative Anatoly Kucherena displayed the document to the press, which shows that 30-year-old Snowden is free to stay in Russia until at least July 31, 2014. His asylum status may be extended annually upon request.