Tech Roundup: Apple March 8 Event, Epic Games' Bandcamp Purchase & More

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

• Oracle suspended all operations in Russia, SAP announces plans to stop "business in Russia aligned with sanctions" and pauses sales of products and services in the country; Netflix hits pause button on future projects in Russia; and music streamer Spotify shutters Russia office indefinitely in response to Ukraine invasion; comes as the Ukrainian government urges game companies like Microsoft (Xbox) and Sony (PlayStation) to temporarily block Russian and Belarusian accounts.
• Amazon to close 68 brick-and-mortar retail stores across the U.S. and U.K., including all of its Amazon Books bookstores, its pop-up shops in various markets, and its 4-star stores where customers could shop popular and highly-rated products across Amazon.com, as the retail giant refocuses its priorities on grocery and fashion stores.
• Meta Platforms to shut down its college student-only social network, Campus, on March 10; says the "best way to support students is through Facebook Groups." (The "private" social network, launched in September 2020, was only open to those with an ".edu" email address.)
• Fortnite-maker Epic Games acquires independent music streaming platform Bandcamp, which says it's working with Epic to "expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services."

• Netflix moves forward with gaming in a big way with its acquisition of Finland-based Next Games, the creator of "Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales," in a deal worth US$ 70 million.
• Google-owned Fitbit recalls 1.7 million Ionic smartwatches due to overheating lithium-ion batteries posing a burn hazard; the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says it received 78 reports of burn injuries that include two second-degree and four third-degree burns in the U.S., as well as 40 reports of burn injuries from other regions.
• Apple announces a digital-only event dubbed "Peek performance" on March 8; low-cost 5G iPhone SE, revamped iPad Air, and new Macs expected to be announced.
• Chipmaker Qualcomm joins forces with TikTok owner ByteDance to pursue advances in metaverse-ready extended reality technologies.
• Apple courts fresh scrutiny from a newly formed developer advocacy group called Open Web Advocacy (OWA), calling on the company to open its mobile platform to other browser engines outside of WebKit; says "Because at the moment, every browser on iOS, whether it be badged Chrome, Firefox or Edge is actually just a branded skin of Safari, which lags behind [other browsers] because it has no competition on iOS."
• U.S. lawmakers initiate probe against ByteDance TikTok to determine if the popular short-form video platform’s design, operations or promotion to young users negatively affects their physical or mental health well being.