Android may be the top operating system on U.S. smartphones, but Google’s competitors say the tech giant is capturing the market using anti-competitive tactics.

The Federal Trade Commission is in the very early stages of an investigation into the allegations, according to a Reuters article. The agency is looking into complaints that Google’s requirements that its search, maps, and other products are displayed prominently on smartphones constitutes “bundling,” an illegal practice under antitrust laws. Competitors say that the practice makes is harder for users to choose their similar applications.

One trade group representing the tech sector, Fairsearch, welcomed the FTC probe, stating that Google has used several anticompetitive tactics.

Google previously settled an FTC antitrust case around its online advertising practices that favored the company’s offerings over competitors. Documents from that case show that some FTC commissioners had argued that Google was in violation of the law, but the agency chose to settle the case when Google agreed to drop some of its more egregious practices.

Competitors are hoping for a tougher response from the agency this time, but according to one analyst, the FTC investigation and any potential litigation could take years to resolve.

The European Union has also accused Google of similar violations and is currently looking into the company’s tactics around the Android system.

You may be looking forward to the day when your robot slave does all of your bidding. But even so, you probably don’t want to live with one of those weirdly too-human looking robots. At least, that’s the finding of new research published this week.

Researchers have long known about this paradox, according to a story in New York Magazine. As robots become more of a part of daily life, designers look to build ever more human-looking robots. Surprisingly, surveys have found that we are comfortable around cute, loveable robots like Wall-E, but as robots get to looking closer to human, there is a point at which people find them less likeable, and even creepy or threatening.

This effect, known as the “uncanny valley” concept, is the subject of new research published in the journal Cognition by Stanford University social scientists Maya B. Mathur and David B. Reichling. Their surveys found a difference in human perceptions of robots when it comes to trust, versus likeability.

Their work finds that, as robots appear more human, people are more likely to retain their trust of the robots, even as the robots become less likeable. As robots are likely to become more prominent in many people’s daily lives, the researchers say that designers need to understand and account for these perceptions during robotic development.

If you don’t tip well when your food delivery driver appears with your takeout meal, you may have only yourself to blame if delivery prices rise.

Drivers for the food delivery services GrubHub, Caviar and DoorDash sued their employers earlier this week, according to a Washington Post story. The drivers say that the companies unfairly list them as independent contractors to avoid paying fair wages and providing benefits that would be due to them had they been classified fairly as employees.

Similar class-action suits have been filed recently in other sectors of the sharing economy. A case brought by Uber drivers against the online ride-sharing company was recently certified by a federal judge, allowing that case to proceed.

The companies fear that giving drivers employee status would cripple their bottom line or force them to raise prices, given the costly new expenses including paying for fuel and tolls, providing workers’ compensation and social security payments, establishing retirement funds and offering other benefits.

The issue of jobs versus employment benefits has even entered the Presidential debates, as more Americans are entering the job market as part-time freelancers. Presidential candidates are being asked their views on the kinds of regulations that could make the sharing economy more equitable without harming nascent businesses.

Everyone in the energy storage business is looking for the battery evolution that will make inexpensive, safe electricity storage widely available. Researchers at Harvard think they have found it.

In a study published in the journal Science, the researchers announced they have created a flow battery made with non-toxic, non-corrosive, inflammable materials that are inexpensive and safe for homes and businesses, according to a National Geographic story.

Since solar and wind power fluctuate with the weather, storage of the electricity generated during peak production hours is crucial. But current battery technology has lagged behind; today’s batteries are made with harsh, flammable chemicals. With government support, the Harvard scientists used safer chemicals and nano-materials to produce their test batteries.

In contrast to traditional batteries, flow batteries use external tanks of liquid to store energy. The Harvard project uses a liquid organic material that is “inherently safe,” according to one energy storage expert familiar with the project. The next step in the program will be to test the system’s ability to store energy over time without decomposing. The team expects this testing will take place within a year.

The market for battery storage is expected to grow quickly, while the Harvard batteries are expected to be ready for the market in about a decade.

Paying for goods and services is about to get easier, if you’re a Samsung smart phone user. The electronics company says that the first month of the roll-out of its mobile payments system in South Korea went even better than expected, with more than 1.5 million transactions conducted for more than $30 million of payments.

In the U.S. the company’s payment system is scheduled to debut on September 28, though the tougher competition from Apple and Google in the states is expected to make the road more challenging for Samsung, according to a CNET story. The head start the two companies have are a major advantage, since they have already formed alliances with major banks, credit card companies and merchants.

However, Apple and Google systems rely on the use of near-field communications (NFC), protocols that allow devices to communicate via radio when they touch. Samsung devices, by contrast, will not require NFC technology, allowing retailers to accept Samsung’s payments without upgrading their systems. Also, Samsung will be targeting current Samsung users, as their pay system will be compatible with four of their devices: the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5.

Samsung expects to follow its U.S. debut with expansion of its payments system to the UK, Spain and China.

Guys, if you feel comfortable in your masculinity, Apple has a new iPhone color just for you: pink.

With the debut of the iPhone 6, Apple has released a new color that one design expert calls “Kim Kardashian pink,” according to a Bloomberg story. And while pink continues to be a color associated strongly with women, early anecdotal online evidence suggests that many men are opting for the pink phone.

One man’s twitter account noted that he had ordered the pink iPhone, as had 4 of his male friends. Apple has not released details of the demand for the color, but social media tracking suggests that demand may be so high that there is already a backlog for the color.

The Color Association of the United States says that pink is more popular for men than ever before, noting that pink hues are trending in men’s fashions this fall and are expected to remain popular through the spring fashion season. Women’s fashions, on the other hand, are trending towards more muted colors.

Interestingly, the idea oif pink as a girls color is a relatively new phenomena, according to Jo Paoletti, author of “Pink and Blue, Telling the Boys from the Girls in America.” As recently as the mid-20^th century, pink was in some areas of the country considered more appropriate for men.

Smartphones and other smart electronics move-over: it’s time for smart-clothes.

New York’s Fashion Week saw the roll-out of smart fashion – in this case, dresses and sports bras made with tiny electronic sensors intended to respond to the wearer’s body, according to an article in Fortune.

A collaboration between five year-old “architectural sportswear” company Chromat and tech giant Intel, the clothing line debuted with a Fashion Week runway show earlier this month. The smart clothes use Intel’s “Curie” module, which mixes batteries, motion sensors and wireless connections. The sensors can monitor the wearer’s body heat, opening vents to cool the body when needed, and can also sense when the body produces adrenaline or is stressed, responding by expanding to cover any anxiety.

The smart clothes are not yet available in stores, as the company needs approval by the Federal Communications Commission before the products can be marketed to the public.

Intel is wooing the Fashion Week crowd to position the company as the leader in fashionable and functional smart clothing, according to one company executive, who noted that women especially needed functional clothing to be beautiful as well.

In addition to clothing, Intel made its presence known during Fashion Week with drones used to take aerial images of the show, tablets used for check-in, and interactive dressing room mirrors that allows visitors to try-on clothing virtually.