Tech Roundup: Facebook Goes Meta, Google Android 12L & More

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

• Facebook, the company (not the app), reorganises itself to a social technology firm named Meta to better encompass its products and realise its ambitions to create a metaverse; retires Oculus branding (the VR headsets will be henceforth called Meta Quest, and teases Project Nazare, the codename for its first consumer AR glasses, and Project Cambria, a high-end mixed reality headset coming next year with cameras that allow high-resolution passthrough.
• Australia's antitrust regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, recommends that consumers be given a "choice screen" on Android phones to select their default search engine in a first step to unbundle Google Search from the operating system and break up the tech giant's search dominance.
• Google unveils Android 12L update focused on tablets, foldables, and Chromebooks, with a taskar and user interface tweaks to optimise for the big screen, marking the company's second attempt to launch an Android tablet ecosystem after the failed 2011 launch of Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
• Russia's FAS, or Federal Antimonopoly Service, launches official investigation into Apple over alleged violation of antitrust laws about the App Store and Apple's restrictions that do not allow developers to link to third-party payment methods outside of the platform, joining similar probes in Japan and South Korea.

• Apple launches Apple Music integration on the PlayStation 5 game console and expands option that allows users to rate its own pre-installed apps on the App Store, including Phone, Photos, Messages, Safari, Clock, Camera, and Apple Health, nearly two months after debuting the feature; reports Q4 revenue of US$ 83.4 billion and net quarterly profit of US$ 20.6 billion, with revenues from the services division hitting a record $18.27 billion. (Apple also said it has 745 million paid subscriptions, ranging from Apple Music subscriptions to in-app subscriptions through the App Store, up 160 million year-over-year, as Q4 sales in Greater China rises 83% to US$ 14.56 billion, Americas up 20% to US$ 36.82 billion, and Europe grows 23% to US$ 20.79 billion.)
• The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating whether Visa used financial incentives to keep Square, Stripe, and PayPal from using other card networks or payment systems.
• Music streaming service Spotify reports Q3 revenue of US$ 2.9 billion, up 27% YoY, with monthly active users rising 19% YoY to 381 million as Premium users climbs 19% YoY to 172 million; claims it "recently became" the most-used podcast platform in the U.S. and that it has 3.2 million podcasts in its catalogue.

• South Korean tech company Samsung reports Q3 net profit of US$ 10.5 billion, up 31% YoY, on record revenue of US$ 63 billion, up 10% YoY, bolstered by high demand for chips, foldables, and OLED displays for Nintendo Switch and the iPhone 13.
• Microsoft's LinkedIn launches its freelance services marketplace globally after picking up two million users as part of a U.S. beta to compete with the likes of Fiverr and Upwork.
• Google rolls out new option that allows young users under 18 and their parents to request the removal of pictures from Google search results, making it the latest in a series of protections for minors announced by major online platforms; announces plans to roll out end-to-end encrypted phone calls on Google Fi over the coming weeks.
• The European Union opens a formal "in-depth" investigation into Nvidia's planned Arm acquisition worth US% 54 billion on competition grounds and concerns that the deal could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced innovation.
• Japanese electronics giant Sony reports Q2 revenue of US$ 21 billion, up 13% YoY, and operating income of US$ 2.8 billion, up 1% YoY, as PlayStation 5 sales hit 3.3 million.

• Facebook-owned Instagram brings link stickers to all users, expanding on verified and high-follower accounts; announces Presence Platform, with three SDKs to help create mixed reality experiences for the Meta (formerly Oculus) Quest VR headsets, and brings 2D progressive web apps from third-party developers into the Oculus Store, starting with Dropbox, Slack, Smartsheet, Pluto TV, and Instagram.
• Snap, which houses Snapchat, hits 100 million monthly users in India for the first time, as it partners with Zomato, Flipkart, and Android smartphone vendors to pre-install the app on their devices.
• Retail giant Amazon misses with Q3 revenue of US$ 110.8 billion, up 15% YoY, and net income of US$ 3.2 billion, down from US$ 6.3 billion YoY; reports revenue of US$ 8.09 billion for its "other" segment, which mostly covers its ads business, up 50% YoY, and US$ 8.15 billion for subscription services, up 24% YoY.
• Twitter launches the Spaces Recording feature to a limited number of Spaces hosts on iOS and all listeners on iOS and Android, allowing users to record their live audio sessions in Twitter Spaces to make them available for replay; launches new "Labs" for Twitter Blue, its premium subscription service, enabling subscribers early access to features being tested by the platform.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok tests a new in-app tipping feature on its platform that would allow creators to accept money from fans outside of TikTok LIVE streams.