Tech Roundup: ByteDance-Tencent Fight, Facebook Tracking & More

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

• Facebook strikes back against Apple privacy change that requires users' explicit consent to allow third-party apps to track their behaviour across apps and websites using a unique device identifier called IDFA; prompts users to opt-in to having their data collected to get a "better ads experience" and "support businesses that rely on ads to reach customers." (It's worth pointing out that Facebook does not use the word tracking, but instead asks to "use your apps and website activity.")
• Apple releases Chrome extension called iCloud Passwords for Windows and Mac versions of the web browser that lets users access passwords stored in iCloud Keychain.
• Retail giant Amazon to pay a US$ 61.7 million fine to settle allegations the company had failed to properly pay out tips to its Flex delivery drivers (an Uber-like service that has on-demand contractors using their own cars to deliver users' Prime Now orders), according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; founder Jeff Bezos announces plans to step down as CEO in Q3 2021 to make way for AWS head and long-time employee Andy Jassy as his successor, as the company's net sales for the three month period between October and December eclipses US$ 125 billion following a shopping surge fuelled by the holiday season and the pandemic.
• Facebook debuts Messenger for Oculus Quest VR headset users as it continues to stitch its services more closely together; launches new App Lab feature to let developers distribute apps outside the Oculus Store without needing to sideload them.
• Wikimedia, the foundation that operates Wikipedia, begins work on implementing its first global code of conduct, with an aim to address harassment, barring behaviours like hate speech, the use of slurs, stereotypes or attacks based on personal characteristics, and deliberately introducing false or biased information into content.

Microsoft Office Lens is now Microsoft Lens

• Facebook's Instagram rolls out a new "Recently Deleted" feature that moves deleted content into a separate folder for 30 days (Settings > Account > Recently Deleted), allowing users to review deleted photos, videos, reels, IGTV videos, and stories, and restore them (deleted Stories, however, will be available in the section only for 24 hours after which they will be permanently removed); disables the ability to share (and reshare) posts from a user's feed to stories as part of a test to see how it changes users' engagement with the popular feature.
• Microsoft rebrands Office Lens to Microsoft Lens and introduces new logo; adds new features to scan QR codes, convert Image to Text, Image to Table, and Image to Contact, as well as a new Immersive Reader experience to read/translate text out loud.
• Apple adds new option in iOS 14.5 that makes it possible for users wearing a mask to unlock their iPhones via Face ID using an Apple Watch as opposed to having to enter a passcode. (These are the times I wish Touch ID was still present!)
• Google to shut down its in-house Stadia game development studios in Los Angeles and Montreal as it refocuses the game streaming platform to be a storefront for cross-platform and third-party titles from existing developers instead of developing homegrown games for the service; discontinues Pixel Slate, its first flagship tablet announced in October 2018, as the company focuses on laptops like Pixelbook Go.
• Music streaming service Spotify is granted a new patent that details a technology which lets it use a device's microphone to determine users' "emotional state, gender, age, or accent" and fine-tune its recommendation algorithms.
• Ride-hailing platform Uber to acquire Boston-based alcohol delivery startup Drizly for US$ 1.1 billion in cash and stock in a departure that could signal its increased focus on backend infrastructure to help other stores furnish their own delivery services.

• NVIDIA officially brings its GeForce Now game streaming service to Chrome browser on Windows and Mac, allowing users to stream and play games straight from the web browser without having to install additional software.
• Automaker Ford partners with Google to power its infotainment systems using Android with support for Google Assistant, Maps, and automotive-approved Android apps starting in 2023; signs a six-year deal for Google Cloud to provide connected vehicle services.
• China's ByteDance sues rival Tencent over alleged monopolistic practices, claiming violation of antitrust laws by blocking access to content from Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) on WeChat and QQ social networking apps; admits to blocking links to WeChat and QQ from finance- and health care-related content creators, citing a high risk of scams and illegal sales tactics on third-party platforms.
• Google to pay US$ 3.8 million to settle allegations of bias against female and Asian employees at the company following a compliance audit that found hiring rate differences that disadvantaged women and Asian candidates for software engineering roles and that the company underpaid 2,783 female engineers between 2014 and 2017; launches launches "about this result" menu item to its search results to give users more information about the sites they are about to visit.
• Adobe expands its Acrobat web offering with new features to compress, sign, protect, split, and merge PDF documents; rolls out .new shortcuts to edit PDFs via the web browser.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok reduces its workforce in India in the wake of the app's permanent ban in the country since June 2020; says "given the lack of feedback from the government about how to resolve this issue in the subsequent seven months, it is with deep sadness that we have decided to reduce our workforce in India."