Tech Roundup: ChromeOS Microsoft 365 Integration, Samsung Galaxy S23 & More

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

• Pakistan "degrades" Wikipedia experience in the country for 48 hours for not removing "sacrilegious contents" and warns of a full block if the non-profit fails to comply.
• Meta's Instagram expands text update Notes feature across Europe and Japan; kills Move, an app that allowed users to earn points for completing tasks on either their personal or group to-do lists.
• Facebook's Messenger app can intentionally (and secretly) drain its users' smartphone battery in the name of negative testing, a former employee, George Hayward, alleges in a lawsuit filed against the company for terminating him over his refusal to partake in the tests.
• Twitter promises that it'll take "less severe actions" when disciplining accounts that break its rules, and that it'll only suspend Twitter accounts that engage in "severe or ongoing, repeat violations" of its rules.
• New research finds that Apple's App Store app for macOS exhibits the same behavior as its iOS counterpart, sending "detailed usage data and analytics" to the company in a manner that's associated with users' iCloud IDs (or a permanent identifier called Directory Services Identifier) regardless of the setting.
• Twitter discontinues a feature called CoTweets, an experimental feature which allowed two Twitter users to author and publish a tweet in tandem, less than a year after launching it July 2022.
• Google adds an option to turn on built-in package tracking option within Gmail; says it's planning to add Microsoft 365 integration to ChromeOS later this year, making it easier for users to open Office files
• Music streamer Spotify tests a new friends tab, as it builds more social experiences directly into its mobile app.
• Samsung unveils Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra and Galaxy Book3 Ultra; partners with Google and Qualcomm to produce XR products and experiences running an unannounced Android version for devices such as wearable displays.
• Popular drug discount app GoodRx agrees to pay US$ 1.5 million to settle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which alleged the company wrongfully gave intimate health information to Meta, Google and others for targeting users with personalised health- and medication-specific ads.
• Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger debut Artifact, a TikTok-like app for news articles.
• Reliance Retail, India's largest retail chain, announces plans to start accepting retail payments in digital rupee in a move that could supercharge the adoption of the country's recently launched Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
• Snap reports Q4 2022 revenue of US$ 1.3 billion, flat YoY, and a US$ 288 million net loss; daily active users jump 17% YoY to 375 million and surpasses more than two million paid subscribers on its Snapchat+ program.
• Sony reports Q3 2022 sales of US$ 26.4 billion, up 13% YoY, as operating profit drops 8% YoY to US$ 3.3 billion; PlayStation 5 sales hit 7.1 million, up from four million YoY, with the company totally selling 32.1 million consoles so far.
• Samsung reports Q4 2022 operating profit of ~US$ 3.5 billion, down 69% YoY, its lowest since Q3 2014, and revenue of ~US$ 57.3 billion, down 8% YoY, citing weak consumer demand.
• Spotify reports Q4 2022 revenue up 18% YoY to €3.2 billion and a €270 million loss, up from €39 million YoY, as operating costs rise 44% YoY; paying subscribers jump 10 million to 205 million, with total monthly active users hitting 489 million.