Tech Roundup: Telegram Premium, Twitter Circle & More

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

• The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the organisation behind Wikipedia, to no longer accept donations in cryptocurrency, citing environmental implications of Bitcoin and the risk of scams, almost eight years after it began accepting donations in the form of digital currencies in July 2014.
• Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader to finally add support for the ePub format in late 2022 and drop support for the MOBI and AZW formats; allows users to use the Send to Kindle function to convert ePub files to a format that can be opened on the e-reader.
• Meta to discontinue its podcast service on Facebook on June 3, 2022, a little over a year after it launched new audio features to compete with Clubhouse in April 2021, as it doubles down on Reels and AR/VR; tests new full-screen home feed for Instagram and plans to show extra recommendations.
• Apple files lawsuit against SoC startup Rivos, alleging that the company stole trade secrets after poaching over 40 of its engineers and that at least two of its former employees took gigabytes of confidential information, including chip designs.
• Apple brings its music streaming service, Apple Music, to Roku devices; to not support features like lossless or spatial audio "at this time."
• Microsoft Edge overtakes Apple's Safari to become the world's second most popular desktop browser with 10.07% share, according to StatCounter.
• Messaging app Telegram reportedly working a Premium subscription that allows users to access exclusive reactions and stickers, as part of its plans to monetise messaging.
• Twitter begins piloting a new Twitter Circle feature similar to Instagram's Close Friends, which is designed to allow users to share their tweets with a smaller crowd of up to 150 people.
• NFT sales fall 92% to a daily average of about 19,000, down from a peak of about 225,000 in September 2021; number of active wallets in the NFT market fall 88% to about 14,000 from a high of 119,000 in November, as interest in NFTs wanes.
• Music streaming platform SoundCloud acquires Musiio, an AI music curation company to strengthen its discovery features.
• Google officially rolls out Nearby Share to Android as part of an update to Google Play services v22.15, allowing users to move files across devices similar to Apple's AirDrop; to discontinue YouTube Go in August after six years and urges users to "install the main YouTube app or visit youtube.com in their browsers."
• Paramount Global, formerly ViacomCBS, reports 39.6 million paying subscribers for its Paramount+ streaming service, as the company announces plans to expand the offering to South Korea, the U.K., and India (in partnership with Viacom 18, which already runs Voot).
• Spotify launches Spotify Island on Roblox, the first music streaming brand on the service, allowing artists and fans to go on quests, create music, unlock content, and buy merchandise.
• Mozilla releases Firefox 100 with support for subtitles and captions when viewing videos in picture-in-picture mode, HTTPS-only mode for Android, and HDR video for macOS.
• Ride hailing company Lyft reports Q1 2022 revenue of US$ 875.6 million, up 44% YoY, and a net loss of US$ 196.9 million; says it has 17.8 million active riders during quarter.
• Match Group, which owns a number of dating apps like Tinder, reports Q1 2022 revenue of US $799 million, up 20% YoY, and operating income of US$ 208 million, up 10% YoY.
• Chipmaker AMD reports Q1 2022 revenue of US$ 5.89 billion, up 71% YoY, including US$ 2.8 billion from Computing and Graphics, up 33% YoY, and US$ 2.5 billion from Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom, up 88% YoY.
• Airbnb reports Q1 2022 revenue of US$ 1.51 billion, up 70% YoY, and a US$ 19 million net loss, down from US$ 1.2 billion YoY; discloses that nights and experiences (i.e., bookings) are up 59% YoY to 102.1 million, as travel continues to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.