Tech Roundup: Facebook Sharing Prompt, Google Italy Fine & More

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

• Facebook begins testing new prompt in its app when news stories are shared without being opened, about an year after Twitter debuted a similar feature, in an attempt to prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform, as Intagram gains new feature that allows people to list their pronouns on their profiles; faces new setback after Germany's lead data protection regulator orders the company to stop collecting German users' WhatsApp data as part of its revised privacy policy, starting with a three-month emergency ban on data collection, with Facebook stating that the order is "a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose and effect of WhatsApp's update."
• Only 12% of iPhone users running iOS 14.5 have been found to opt-in to cross-app tracking (and 4% in the U.S.), two weeks after Apple rolled out new privacy changes that require apps to seek users' consent to gather tracking data.
• IBM announces the creation of the world's first two nanometer integrated circuit that's capable of delivering either 45% higher performance, or consuming 75% less energy use than the current seven nm designs.
• Live audio invite-only app Clubhouse comes to Android after more than a year of iOS exclusivity to users in the U.S., with plans to gradually roll out the app to other English-speaking markets and then the rest of the world.
• Apple invests an additional $45 million in U.S.-based Corning Incorporated, the maker of Gorilla Glass, to help "expand Corning's manufacturing capacity in the US" and "drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life"; says it rejected nearly one million new apps and another one million app updates in 2020, while terminating over removing 215,000 apps for privacy violations and 470,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok is reportedly working with merchants in Europe, including the U.K., to test ways they can sell products directly to users within the app, as the platform takes a leaf out of Instagram and pivots to shopping oriented features.

• Google adds international money transfers to its Pay mobile wallet app, starting with options to send money from the U.S. to India and Singapore.
• Amazon announces new partnership with Tile, a company that makes trackers for lost items, and Level, which makes smart locks, to use their technologies in its Sidewalk network, a low-bandwidth long-range wireless communication protocol that uses Echo devices as "bridges" to share a small fraction of a users' low-bandwidth Wi-Fi with devices like Echo speakers and Ring cameras, enablin users to help find pets or valuables with Tile trackers.
• Carmaker Tesla suspends accepting bitcoin for vehicle purchases, citing concerns about bitcoin mining's use of fossil fuels; move wipes off $365 billion from the cryptocurrency market, sending prices of bitcoin, ether, and XRP sharply down.
• Google is fined a little over €100 million by Italy's antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant market position by restricting third-party access to its Android Auto app on the platform; says "Google has consequently favored its own Google Maps app, which runs on Android Auto and enables functional services for electric vehicle charging, currently limited to finding and getting directions to reach charging points, but which in the future could include other functionalities such as reservation and payment."
• Discord takes on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces with a new "social audio" tool called Stage Discovery with an aim to help people find communities through live audio events; outlines plans to add paid, ticketed audio events in the future; Pinterest to test livestreaming events this month through a three-day virtual event featuring sessions with around 21 top creators, as tech platforms like Facebook (along with Instagram), YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat roll out new services to retain audiences, and enable creators to monetize their content through ads, brand deals, and subscriptions for exclusive content.
• Disney+ streaming service surpasses 103 million global paid subscribers, gaining more than three million subscribers since March when it topped 100 million.