Tech Roundup: Instagram Pushback, TikTok Minigames & More

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

• Meta's Instagram back-pedals on TikTok-like full-screen home feed and recommended posts after mounting criticism; to also temporarily decrease the number of recommendations, with the social media service also urging some U.S. users for sharing their race and ethnicity information to build a more "fair and inclusive" experience.
• Google's YouTube rolls out a new tool that lets creators select up to 60 seconds of any posted video and turn it into Shorts.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok begins testing HTML5 minigames with new partners such as Vodoo, Nitro Games, FRVR, Aim Lab, and Lotem, after a test with Zynga in November 2021.
• Audio platform Spotify reveals it shelled out a combined €291 million (US$ 295 million) for its recent acquisitions of Findaway (€117 million), Podsights, Chartable (€83 million), and Sonantic (€91 million).
• Apple surpasses 860 million paid subscribers across all of its services, as its reports revenue of US$ 83 billion, up 2% YoY, (iPhone: US$ 40.6 billion, iPad: US$ 7.2 billion, Mac: US$ 7.3 billion, Wearables, Home and accessories: US$ 8.0 billion and Services: US$ 19.6 billion) and net quarterly profit of US$ 19.4 billion, down 11%, for Q3 2022.
• Amazon reports Q2 2022 advertising services revenue of US$ 8.76 billion, up 18% YoY, and subscription services of US$ 8.72 billion, up 10% YoY; revenue from its cloud segment rises 33% to generate $19.74 billion in revenue, with the company posting an operating income of US$ 3.3 billion and net loss of US$ 2 billion after a US$ 3.9 billion loss on its Rivian investment.
• Streaming service Roku reports Q2 revenue of US$ 764 million, up 18% YoY and adds 1.8 million active users, taking its user base to 63.1 million; customers stream 20.7 billion hours, a decrease of 200 million hours from last quarter.
• Intel reports Q2 revenue of US$ 15.32 billion, down 22% YoY, a $454 million net loss, citing "rapid decline in economic activity" and supply shortages.