Tech Roundup: Instagram Chronological Feed, Zoom Avatars & More

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

• Apple is fined another €5 million for its failure to comply with an antitrust order related to dating apps in the Netherlands, racking up a total penalty of €45 million; the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says it's studying "new proposals" submitted by the company to "assess the substance."
• Google pilots a third-party billing option in Google Play to select partners globally, starting with Spotify; says "user-choice billing" will "help us to increase our understanding of whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories."
• Brazil's Supreme Court reverses its decision to ban Telegram after the messaging platform agrees to comply with the court's orders to combat misinformation; offers to label posts that contain false information and promote those with factual information.
• Russia officially classifies Meta's Facebook and Instagram as "extremist," solidifying a ban on both platforms that went into effect earlier this month and preventing the company from doing business in the country. (WhatsApp, however, is unlikely to face a similar fate given its ubiquitous status.)
• Tinder's parent Match Group debuts new platform called Stir to help give "single parents a dating experience where they are celebrated and feel like they can be themselves."
• Food delivery giant Zomato pilots Zomato Instant to deliver food placed through its platform in 10 minutes in the Indian city of Gurugram.
• Apple abruptly removes the option to rent or purchase movies through its Apple TV app on Android TV and Google TV devices, leaving the app to serve as a portal for existing content users have paid for elsewhere.
• Amazon-owned Twitch launches new portal that allows users facing account suspensions to appeal rulings and monitor requests.
• Twitter adds the ability to create GIFs right from the in-app camera on iOS, with support for Android arriving as a future update.
• Videoconferencing platform Zoom launches Avatars, which lets users show up to meetings as Memoji-like animals, with plans to add new video filter avatar options in the future.
• Ride hailing service Uber announces plans to temporarily remove the ability to split fares sometime next month; says it's "in the process of reworking how riders split fares."
• Meta-owned Instagram to allow all U.S. users, not just creators, tag Shopping products in the coming months; says 1.6 million users tag at least one brand per week; officially debuts new Following and Favorites feed options, allowing users to view posts in the form of a reverse chronological order (but neither option can be set as the default).
• Video game developer and publisher Valve releases an alpha version of Steam for Chrome OS on select recent high-end Chromebooks, enabling users to play Linux version of the games.
• Alphabet announces plans to spin off its 2016-fouded quantum technology group Sandbox into an independent company.
• Google's YouTube to stream free, ad-supported TV shows in the U.S.; adds nearly 4,000 TV episodes and plans to add up to 100 shows and movies each week to its free streaming collection.
• Apple announces new Podcasts Connect creator features, such as follower counts, uploading MP3 files as subscriber-only audio, and custom subscription banners; adds live concert discovery and ticketing features to its Shazam music identification service.
• On-demand video streaming platform Netflix adds three new games to its nascent mobile gaming platform, including This is a True Story, Shatter, and Into the Dead 2: Unleashed.
• Hardware digital media player company Roku debuts a new version of its streaming TV software, Roku OS 11, with options to create personalised screensavers and recommendations for movies and TV series to watch.
• Apple acquires open banking and credit reference company called Credit Kudos in a deal valued at US$ 150 million, as the company
• Microsoft's LinkedIn expands its publishing features beyond Articles with support for newsletters, allowing users to share "recurring, serialized Articles on a certain topic and instantly build a subscriber community."
• Google to bar ads from appearing next to websites, apps, and YouTube channels that exploit, dismiss, or condone the Russia-Ukraine war, as Russia bans Google News in the country for providing "inauthentic" information about Russia's war in Ukraine.
• Google to remove "Movies & TV" from the Play Store app and move it to its Google TV app starting May 2022; says "Google Play will continue to be your store for apps, games, and books" and "Google TV app will be your home for buying, renting, and watching movies and shows on your Android mobile device or tablet."
• Snapchat's parent Snap acquires Paris-based neurotech start-up NextMind and discontinues its US$ 400 headband that let users control certain aspects of a computer (by utilising brain signals) with the goal of incorporating the technology into future versions of Snap’s Spectacles AR glasses.
• Music streaming service Spotify to reportedly rename its live social audio app from Greenroom to Spotify Live and integrate the content into its main app.
• Google introduces a new sidebar feature to Chrome, allowing users to quickly access bookmarks and reading lists while using the desktop version of the web browser.