Tech Roundup: E.U. Takedown Law, Yahoo! Sale & More

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

• China orders 13 companies, including Tencent, ByteDance, and the fintech affiliates of Baidu, JD.com, Meituan and Didi, to "rectify prominent problems" on their platforms, as the government continues its shakeup beyond restructuring Jack Ma's Ant Group earlier this month.
• Global smartphone shipments reach 347 million in the first fiscal quarter 2021, up 27% year-over-year, with Samsung taking the first place shipping 76.5 million devices, followed by Apple (52.4 million); tablet shipments grow 55.2% year-over-year, the most since 2013, to reach 39.9 million units, as Apple leads with 12.7 million shipments, closely trailed by Samsung with 8 million.
• The European Parliament formally adopts a controversial law requiring internet companies to "remove or disable access to flagged terrorist content" within one hour after being notified by national authorities.
• Ether, the world's second-largest digital currency by market value after Bitcoin, surges to a record high of US$ 2,800 after the after the European Investment Bank announces that it had issued its first ever digital bond on the Ethereum blockchain, ether's underlying network.
• Amazon's advertising revenue jumps 77% year-over-year to hit US$ 6.9 billion, as more than 175 million Prime members stream TV shows and movies in the past year and net sales reach US$ 108.5 billion, with profits increasing to US$ 8.1 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

• Facebook takes a leaf out of Clubhouse once again to add the ability to run audio-only broadcasts on Instagram Live (with an option turn the video off) and let users mute their microphones, as it seeks to position itself as a videoconferencing solution.
• Google begins testing SoundCloud-like comments linking to specific timestamps in YouTube, letting users "to view comments timed to the exact moment you're watching in a video"; updates Google Pay with new options for grocery savings, paying for public transit, and categorising spending.
• Twitter says it now has 199 million daily active users in Q1 2021, up almost 20% compared to the 166 million the company counted one year ago.
• U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon is reportedly exploring a sale of Yahoo! and AOL, as the company looks to exit an expensive and unsuccessful bet on digital media after purchasing AOL in 2015 for US$ 4.4 billion and Yahoo! in 2017 for $4.5 billion, combining the two into a subsidiary called Oath.
• Microsoft to reduce its cut for PC games in its app store from 30% to 12% from August 1, in a bid to compete with Steam and entice developers and studios to bring more PC games to its Microsoft Store.
• Music streaming service Spotify rolling out a new version of "Your Library" to all mobile users that enables a "more streamlined way to easily explore your collection and find your saved music and podcasts faster."