Tech Roundup: Google News Redesign, Meta Pay & More

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

• The Canadian government approves new legislation that will compel YouTube, TikTok, and streaming services to boost domestic content.
• Twitter tests Twitter Notes with select users in the U.S., Canada, Ghana, and the U.K., making it possible to create long-form content with rich text formatting and uploaded media that can be tweeted upon publishing; partners with Shopify to bring merchants' products to Twitter Shopping as part of its ongoing efforts to expand into e-commerce.
• Google rolls out a desktop web redesign for Google News that gives more prominence to local news and personalised content; relaunches the service in Spain after eight years after the country adopts E.U. copyright rules.
• Amazon is reportedly developing a system to let Alexa mimic any voice after hearing less than a minute of audio; says the goal is to "make the memories last."
• Brave launches new customisable feature in its Search offering called Goggles that allows users to "create sets of rules and filters to constrain the searchable space and / or alter the ordering of search results"; comes as its search engine surpasses 2.5 billion searches within the past year, growing 5,000% YoY.

• Facebook Pay officially rebrands to Meta Pay, as the social media company says it's working on an interoperable "wallet for the metaverse" that will have "proof of ownership."
• eBay acquires NFT marketplace KnownOrigin, which has enabled US$ 7.8 million in digital collectible trade volume since its 2018 launch, for an undisclosed sum.
• Google debuts new feature lets merchants add an "LGBTQ+ owned" label to their profiles on Maps and Search, joining other options such as Black-owned, Latino-owned, veteran-owned and women-owned.
• Spotify tests Community, a feature that lets mobile users see their friends' streaming activity in real time and the playlists that were recently updated.
• Meta, Microsoft, Huawei, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Epic Games, Unity and Adobe join forces to develop metaverse standards, as Apple, Google, Niantic and Roblox sit out.
• Salesforce-owned Slack adds video chat option to Huddles alongside support for multi-person screen sharing.
• Shopify expands NFT integrations for merchants, including letting their customers unlock special products, perks, and experiences by purchasing NFTs.