Tech Roundup: Apple iPhone 14, Spotify Audiobooks & More

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

• Apple officially announces next generation iPhone (14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max), with the latter two sporting a pill-shaped Dynamic Island in place of the notch, always-on display, A16 Bionic chip, satellite emergency calling and 6GB RAM (the U.S. models also ditch the SIM tray in favour of eSIM); also debuts Apple Watch Ultra (alongside Watch Series 8 and Watch SE) and a new AirPods Pro with touch controls to control audio playback and volume with swipe gestures, and expands Fitness+ service to 21 countries and to all iPhone users regardless of whether they own an Apple Watch.
• Apple says it has no plans to support Rich Communication Services (RCS), an upgraded version of SMS with support for texting over Wi-Fi, group chats, typing indicators, read receipts, and attachments, in iOS following Google's ongoing attempts to bring the iPhone maker on board.
• Apple to release iOS 16 on September 12 for iPhone 8 and up, with iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura coming out later this fall.
• Apple discontinues iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max and Watch Series 3; upgrades AppleCare+ to "unlimited repairs for accidental damage protection," subject to service fees, up from the previous limit of two incidents per year.
• Brazil suspends sales of Apple iPhones without a charger and fines the company US$ 2.38 million, citing "deliberate" consumer discrimination.
• The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fines Meta-owned Instagram €405 million for mishandling children's data and violating GDPR laws by making public their phone numbers and email addresses when using a business account on the platform; Instagram says the "inquiry focused on old settings that we updated over a year ago and we've since released many new features to help keep teens safe and their information private."
• Google updates Play services for Android with new options that makes it possible for Autofill to "notify users if their sign-on credentials have been found in a public data breach."

• Amazon plans to partner with small and medium-size pharmacies in Japan to open an online store that delivers prescription drugs in the country in 2023.
• Meta's Instagram to reportedly scale back its shopping features; to eventually eliminate its existing Shopping page and replace it with a simpler and less personalised page over the next few months, as the company shifts the focus of its e-commerce efforts to those that directly drive advertising.
• Instagram says it's exploring the ability to repost other users' posts in the Feed, as parent Meta disbands its Responsible Innovation Team responsible for advising on "potential harms across a broad spectrum of societal issues and dilemmas," stating it remains committed to the same goals.
• A number of big brands Dell, Nike, Best Buy, Twitch, Match, Patagonia, and others have removed the ability to sign in with Facebook in recent years due to privacy and data-sharing concerns, a report from CNBC reveals.
• Google adds accessibility and productivity features to Android, including a Nearby Share feature to automatically accept transfers between users' own devices.
• Google's YouTube launches a video player for Google Classroom and other education apps, removing ads, external links, and recommendations to help "avoid distractions"; to also allow creators to offer structured video courses similar to other offerings like Masterclass.
• Music streamer Spotify announces plans to pilot audiobooks, as it continues to expand its portfolio of audio and video products.
• Snap outlines new plans to grow its user base in 2023 by 30% to 450 million, including onboarding more users in their 30s and pushing AR ads to generate more revenue.
• Twitter says users can edit tweets up to five times in 30 minutes; adds new feature that allows users to share tweets directly to Snapchat and Instagram Stories, alongside a new option to share to WhatsApp in India.
• Electronic signature platform DocuSign reports Q2 2022 revenue of US$ 622.2 million, up 22% YoY.