Tech Roundup: Brave Search, WhatsApp Shops & More

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

• Apple once again pushes back against sideloading apps in iPhone, claiming the practice would degrade the ecosystem's privacy and security, as the company faces mounting regulatory pressure to open the gates to alternative app stores in the platform; says "sideloading in this case is actually eliminating choice, [and] users who want that direct access to applications without any kind of review have sideloading today on other platforms."
• Privacy and security concerns notwithstanding, sideloading could also mean Apple losing the stranglehold over its centralised App Store, effectively allowing app developers and users to circumvent the company's 30% commission on app sales and in-app purchases for digital goods. Should sideloading or alternative app stores be allowed, it would not only take away revenues from its booming Services business, but also significantly alter its business model in China.
• Facebook-owned Instagram to begin new test that sprinkles suggested posts throughout users' primary feeds, mixing suggested posts from accounts that are not followed with those that are, almost a year after adding algorithmic suggestions to the bottom upon hitting "You're all caught up" message last year.
• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission to reportedly probe Amazon's proposed acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM, as lawmakers raise concerns about the expansion of the online giant's platform; comes as companies like Amazon and Google warn against new antitrust legislation, stating it would raise serious privacy and security concerns and affect small- and medium-sized businesses.
• India's antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India, orders investigation into allegations that Google abused the dominant position of Android in the country's smart TV market; says "by making pre-installation of Google's proprietary apps (particularly Play Store) conditional upon signing of ACC (Android Compatibility Commitments) for all Android devices manufactured/distributed/marketed by device manufacturers, Google has reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices operating on alternative versions of Android."
• Online dating app Tinder adds option to add videos to user profiles as part of a major update to its app; launches new "Hot Takes" feature that allows users to chat with one another before making a match.

• Privacy browser Brave takes on Google with a non-tracking search engine in beta that's built on top of a completely independent index; aims to offer an "all in one" alternative to big tech, with options for ad-free paid search and ad-supported search in the pipeline.
• Bitcoin drops below US$ 30,000, its lowest level since January 28, after a $64,000 peak in mid-April, as China continues to crackdown on cryptocurrency mining.
• Google faces new probe from E.U. regulators after the European Commission launches a formal antitrust investigation into the company's advertising policies to "assess whether Google has violated E.U. competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology services in the so called 'ad tech' supply chain, to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers"; to also investigate "Google's announced plans to prohibit the placement of third-party 'cookies' on Chrome and replace them with the 'Privacy Sandbox' set of tools, including the effects on online display advertising and online display advertising intermediation markets."
• The European Court of Justice rules that YouTube and other online platforms shouldn't be held liable for copyright-infringing uploads in some cases in what's a major win for content-sharing sites; says they "do not, in principle, themselves make a communication to the public of copyright-protected content illegally posted online by users of those platforms."
• Video game giant Electronic Arts acquires Warner Bros. Games' mobile gaming studio Playdemic for US$ 1.4 billion in an all-cash deal; comes after the company's acquisition of Glu Mobile for US$ 2.4 billion in April.
• Short video-sharing app Kuaishou becomes the latest Chinese platform to amass 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs) globally (covers Kwai and Snack Video apps targeted at international markets), joining the likes of ByteDance (1.9 billion MAUs) and Tencent's WeChat (1.2 billion MAUs).
• Microsoft becomes the second public U.S. company to reach a US$ 2 trillion market value, months after Apple hit the same target in August 2020 and two years after hitting its first US$ 1 trillion in value; adds new photo editing features to OneDrive, enabling users to crop, rotate or flip images, and make light and color tweaks such as brightness, saturation, and shadows right from within the service.
• Adobe launches Substance 3D, a suite of AI-based 3D design tools that cater to applications in video games and immersive visual effects.
• Facebook says it's working on visual search for Instagram shopping to help users find information on products in images; announces launch of Instagram-style Shops in WhatsApp and Facebook Marketplace.