Tech Roundup: Google Stack, PayPal Checkout with Crypto & More

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

• Apple expands its Independent Repair Provider Program to more than 200 countries, nearly every country where Apple products are sold, offering repair providers access to genuine parts, tools, repair manuals, and diagnostics for out-of-warranty repairs.
• Tencent's multipurpose social media platform WeChat, which boasts of 1.2 billion monthly active users, beefs up short video-sharing, live-streaming features as it takes on TikTok sister app Douyin.
• Microsoft-owned LinkedIn rolls out Creator mode for influencers and launches video Cover Stories; confirms plans for a Clubhouse-like social audio experience in its app which would allow creators on its network to connect with their community.
• Google's YouTube takes cues from Instagram by experimenting with hiding dislikes on videos to discourage "dislike mobs" from deliberately downvoting videos from creators and channels; begins to roll out a limited developer origin trial of FLoC, as part of its Privacy Sandbox project for Chrome, and updates Maps with indoor AR navigation, eco-friendly route options and new weather map and air quality layers.
• Amazon acquires Perpule, a four-year-old Indian startup that helps offline stores go online, as the e-commerce group continues to make inroads in the country where brick and mortar continue to drive more than 95% of sales.

• Snap reportedly set to unveil new Spectacles aimed at AR developers and creators in May, with and further plans for a years-long project to make a camera drone, according to The Information.
• Free photography stock site Unsplash to become part of Getty Images; to continue to operate as a standalone brand.
• Music streaming service Spotify jumps into social audio with acquisition of sports-focused live audio app Locker Room, giving the music and podcast platform a new foothold in a space that has seen a surge of interest following the rise of the app Clubhouse.
• PayPal debuts Checkout with Crypto, a new feature that lets consumers in the U.S. to check out at millions of online businesses using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
• Google's Area 120 incubator for experimental projects releases a new Android app called Stack that allows users to scan and categorise the scanned PDF documents on Google Drive by leveraging the company's DocAI technology.

• Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi announces Mi Mix Fold, its first folding phone, with an 8.01-inch 4:3 OLED display, Snapdragon 888, 5,020mAh battery, and four Harman Kardon speakers for US$ 1,520; Xiaomi unveils €1,200 Mi 11 Ultra, with a rear-facing 1.1-inch AMOLED screen, alongside Mi 11i, Mi 11 Lite series, Mi Band 6, and an AirPower-like charging pad, and confirms plans to start an electric car business, with an initial investment of US$ 1.5 billion and US$ 10 billion over the next 10 years.
• Semiconductor giant Arm unveils Armv9, its next gen chip architecture that adds features for security, AI, and more, as it expects about 300 billion Arm-based chips to ship in the next decade.
• Facebook's WhatsApp gets approval from Brazil's Central Bank to offer peer-to-peer payments in the country, allowing users to send money to each other with cards issued by Visa and Mastercard.
• T-Mobile partners with Google to make Google Messages the default messaging app for its Android customers amid a new push to make rich messaging services (RCS) ubiquitous across the Android ecosystem a la iMessage, with support for end-to-end encryption to roll out throughout 2021.