Tech Roundup: Facebook Live Audio Rooms, Reddit Talk & More

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

• Two people die after a Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat crashed into a tree and burst into flames (one of the men killed is said to have been in the front passenger seat of the car, while the other individual was in the back seat); CEO Elon Musk says "data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase [Full Self-Driving]."
• Apple says it pays a penny per stream, roughly double Spotify, which pays an average of about one-third to half a penny per stream.
• Turkey's central bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets to pay for goods and services directly or indirectly, citing possible "irreparable" damage and transaction risks.
• Firefox and major Chromium browsers, including Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi, decline to join FLoC, Google's proposed ad technology to replace third-party cookies, as the search giant rolls out Chrome 90 with with opt-in to FloC, support for HTTPS by default in the address bar, and a new feature that lets users create create links to highlighted text on a webpage. (The issue is not without its share of privacy concerns though.)
• Besides browser vendors, WordPress has also announced that it will treat Google's FLoC as a "security concern," and will automatically disable the technology in its upcoming July release.
• The Internet of Secure Things Alliance, an IoT security certification body (aka ioXt), launches new security certification for mobile apps and VPNs in an attemot to "advance security in the IoT industry."

• Facebook expands its data portability tool to let users export text posts and notes to Blogger, Google Docs, and Wordpress, and calls for new guidelines on data flows between services; debuts Clubhouse clone "Live Audio Rooms" on Facebook for social audio experiences, in addition to announcing a new short-form audio clip feature called "Soundbites" (TikTok but audio!), and allowing users to listen to music or podcasts from within the app through an audio player as part of a new initiative called "Project Boombox" in partnership with Spotify.
• Discord loosens its blanket ban on accessing NSFW servers from its iPhone and iPad apps; now only blocks servers focused on "explicit pornographic content" through the apps, while permitting users to opt in to viewing other NSFW servers (which will still be blocked by default).
• Google's Fitbit unveils Luxe, a US$ 150 fashion-focused fitness tracker with a wide range of bands, up to 5 days of battery life, and an OLED touchscreen.
• Reddit unveils Clubhouse-equivalent Reddit Talk for subreddits, allowing moderators to host live audio conversations within communities.
• The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority to probe Nvidia's proposed $40 billion acquisition of British chip designer Arm; to "ensure specific considerations around competition, jurisdiction and national security are assessed."