Tech Roundup: Meta Luxexcel Purchase, Tesla South Korea Fines & More

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

• Chinese government data for January to October 2022 shows domestic smartphone shipments fell 22% YoY from 275.3 million to 214.5 million units.
• U.S. citizens have lost over US$ 10 billion due to phishing calls by illegal Indian call centres in 2022, as per data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
• The U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, bans TikTok on all devices managed by the legislative entity, citing a "high risk due to a number of security issues", after similar bans by several U.S. state government; TikTok says the move is a political signal rather than a practical solution for security concerns.
• Most of Amazon's recycled plastic packaging across the world ends up in illegal dump sites located in the Indian city of Muzaffarnagar, according to a new investigation from Bloomberg.
• The Indian government officially makes it mandatory for mobile device makers to use USB-C as the standard for charging starting in March 2025, following the European Union.
• Apple officially shuts down Dark Sky, the weather app it acquired in 2020, after integrating most of its features into the default weather app in iOS 15.
• Meta acquires Netherlands-based Luxexcel, a Netherlands-based eyewear company which 3D prints prescription lenses for smart glasses, even as it faces antitrust scrutiny over its acquisition of VR fitness developers Within.
• American food ordering and delivery platform Grubhub to pay US$ 3.5 million to settle a lawsuit that claims the company misled customers by charging hidden fees to their orders and using deceptive marketing tactics.
• Apple reportedly asks suppliers to make fewer components for the AirPods, MacBook, and Apple Watch families in the first quarter of this year due to weakening demand, according to Nikkei Asia.
• Twitter reverses its ban on political ads in the U.S., three years after instituting the policy in October 2019; says "cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics," as ad agencies recommended against buying ads on the platform following Elon Musk's takeover.
• TikTok begins rolling out the ability for creators to restrict videos to adult viewers, expanding it beyond TikTok Live.
• Electric car maker Tesla gets fined US$ 2.24 million by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for failing to tell its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles (EVs) in low temperatures.
• Google says it's developing a free moderation tool that smaller websites can use to identify and remove terrorist material.
• Microsoft announces the release of Formula Suggestions and Formula by Example for Excel web users; also adds suggested links and an IMAGE formula to add images into cells from a source location.