Tech Roundup: TikTok Gaming Channel, Twitter Shake-up & More

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

• ByteDance-owned TikTok adds a dedicated gaming channel to its app, with the company planning to host mobile games where ads can be served and users can pay for more content; comes amid Netflix's mobile game push, even as Meta winds its down its Facebook Gaming platform on October 28.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk officially takes control of Twitter, more than six months after announcing the acquisition, stating the service "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape"; fires CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, general counsel Sean Edgett and head of legal policy Vijaya Gadde.
• Google's YouTube begins rolling out separate tabs for videos, live videos and Shorts as part of a new redesign for the video sharing platform.
• Global smartphone shipments fall 12% YoY to 301 million units in Q3 2022, the lowest Q3 level since 2014; Samsung leads with 64 million units (-8%), followed by Apple with 48.8 million (+2%), Xiaomi with 40.5 million (-9%), OPPO with 29.4 million (-23%) an VIVO with 26 million (-23%).
• Meta, which hit a US$1 trillion market cap in June 2021, drops out of the 20 most valuable U.S. companies, after losing over US$ 730 billion in value since its September 2021 peak.
• Google acquires Alter, an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar startup that helps creators and brands express their virtual identity, for about US$ 100 million in a bid to compete with TikTok.
• Snap rolls out Director Mode in Snapchat, offering video tools such as a TikTok-like green screen, a BeReal-style dual camera mode, and a camera speed feature to speed up or slow down videos.
• Google Cloud announces the Blockchain Node Engine, a fully managed service to help developers build and manage blockchain-based products, starting with Ethereum.
• Music streamer Spotify updates its iOS app to remove audiobook purchasing instructions; replaces with a message saying "You can't buy audiobooks in the app. We know, it's not ideal" to comply with Apple's App Store rules around in-app purchases. (Like the same way users can't purchase e-books via Amazon Kindle, users will now have to go to Spotify's audiobooks hub in a web browser or through the desktop app in order to make a purchase. While Apple earlier this year loosened its restrictions to allow certain reader apps like Spotify to use an external link to direct users to sign up for a premium account subscription, it looks like that exception doesn't extend to purchasing audiobooks.)
• Apple reports record Q4 2022 revenue of US$ 90.15 billion and net quarterly profit of US$ 20.7 billion; posts iPhone revenue of US$ 42.63 billion, up 9.67% YoY, iPad revenue of US$ 7.17 billion, down 13.06% YoY, Mac revenue of US$ 11.5 billion, up 25% YoY, Services revenue of US$ 19.19 billion, up 4.98% YoY, and Other Products revenue of US$ 9.65 billion, up 9.85% YoY.
• Amazon reports Q3 2022 revenue of US$ 127.10 billion, up 15% YoY, and net income of US$ 2.9 billion, down 9% YoY; Amazon Web Services reports revenues of US$ 20.5 billion, as advertising services revenue grows 25% YoY to US$ 9.55 billion (surging past Facebook, Google and Snap) and subscription services revenue jumps 9% YoY to US$ 8.9 billion.
• Intel reports Q3 2022 revenue of US$ 15.34 billion, down 15% YoY; to enforce nearly US$ 10 billion in cost cutting over the next three years.
• Pinterest reports Q3 2022 revenue up 8% YoY to US$ 684.6 million and a US$ 65.2 million net loss; global monthly active users remains flat YoY at 445 million.
• Shopify reports Q3 2022 revenue up 22% YoY to US$ 1.37 billion and a US$ 45.1 million operating loss, down from a US$ 140.2 million income YoY.
• Chinese handset maker Huawei's net income for the first three quarters of 2022 fall 40% YoY to US$ 3.8 billion, amid continuing U.S. sanctions on its smartphones continue; revenue rises 6% YoY to US$ 20 billion.