Tech Roundup: Clubhouse General Availability, Tumblr Post+ & More

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

• The European Commission, the region's antitrust watchdog, proposes new law that would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect information on recipients and senders and owners of cryptocurrency wallets, as part of updates to the E.U.'s anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules and make such transfers more traceable.
• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission formally pledges to fight unlawful right-to-repair restrictions, stating it will use its power to lower repair costs and support independent repair shops, adding it will "scrutinise repair restrictions for violations of the antitrust laws."
• Twitter tests Reddit-style way to upvote/downvote replies to understand the types of replies users find relevant to a conversation; users votes to not be made public.
• Facebook's Oculus rolls out v31, adding Messenger Reactions, a new Security Settings panel, and a new "Invite to App" button that makes it easier to invite friends to play VR games on Quest headsets.
• Live social audio app Clubhouse is no longer invite-only as it exits beta and gains a new logo, with the 10 million people on its waitlist to be added to the app over time, weeks after the service launched its direct messaging product, Backchannel.
• Automattic-owned Tumblr starts testing a new subscription service named Post+, which allows users to charge their followers a monthly fee in exchange for access to exclusive content, with Tumblr taking a 5% cut.

• Google's YouTube to test a new feature that will allow viewers to shop for products directly from livestream videos, starting with select creators and brands; rolls out new features in Google Maps, including "piloting the ability to see live crowdedness information right down to the transit car level" in New York and Sydney public transport systems.
• Facebook-owned Instagram trials a new feature called Collab in India and the U.K. that lets users invite a public account as a collaborator on a post or a Reel; updates Stories feature with a new translate option that's designed to automatically translate foreign-language text present in the ephemeral format.
• Indian ed-tech company Byju's acquires Epic, a reading service for kids with a presence across 90% of elementary schools in the U.S., for US$ 500 million; to also purchase Singapore-based professional training and higher education service Great Learning for US$ 600 million in cash and stock.
• Amazon unveils over 50 new features for Alexa devices, enabling third-party developers to incorporate widgets, featured skill cards, and add support for food delivery and pickup experiences, and unlock skills based on event-based triggers; officially announces plans to upgrading its Echo Family devices to work with Matter, a new cross-platform interoperability protocol that enables easy communication across smart home devices from Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, and others.
• Video conferencing platform Zoom announces general availability of Zoom Apps and its virtual events service Zoom Events, with 50 third-party app integrations available at launch, including Asana and Dropbox Spaces.
• Ride hailng company Lyft ditches Google Maps as the navigation provider in favour of Here; says it plans to roll out a "modest" fleet of self-driving cars in U.S. city of Miami by the end of the year, giving passengers the option to commute or joyride around town in an autonomous vehicle.
• Google to discontinue Google Bookmarks on September 30, 2021 after 16 years of service; clarifies Starred locations in Google Maps will not be deleted after Bookmarks shuts down.