Tech Roundup: Dropbox Dash, YouTube Playables & More

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

• Google makes third-party "smart chips" in Docs available to all Workspace and personal Google accounts, letting users pull and view data from third-party apps.
• WhatsApp introduces feature to automatically silence call from unknown numbers in an attemp to tackle spam calls.
• Google updates Chrome on iOS with a new mini Google Maps view and an option to add Calendar events by tapping a date on a site and promises built-in Google Lens support; integrates Adobe Express into student Chromebooks.
  
• Apple adds the support for generating passkeys automatically for Apple ID on iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma to make it easy to sign in to Apple․com and iCloud․com; updates Podcasts app across the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV by adding nine additional subcategories to the Search tab.
• Spotify revamps its desktop experience with redesigned Your Library and Now Playing interfaces; comes amid rumours that the streamer is planning a costlier Supremium subscription to include bundled access to high-fidelity audio and audiobooks.
• Generative AI models come under the scanner, as reports emerge that the technology could be abused by malicious actors to craft convincing deepfake imagery as well as concoct child-sex images for circulation on the dark web. (It has since emerged that
  
• Google files a U.S. FTC complaint alleging Microsoft used Office 365 licensing terms to lock clients into Azure contracts and exert control over the cloud computing market; comes as the FTC files a lawsuit alleging Amazon used "dark patterns" to steer customers to enroll in Prime without consent and "sabotaged" their attempts to cancel.
• DuckDuckGo releases its privacy-focused browser on Windows in beta, one year after launching on macOS, offering Duck Player for YouTube without ads, secure password management, and tracking protection.
• Apple expands Self Service Repair to the iPhone 14 lineup, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and Max.
• EA splits EA Games and EA Sports, renaming the former as EA Entertainment, hinting at the company's possible expansion beyond games.
• Meta's Instagram now lets users in the U.S. download Reels posted by public accounts for sharing outside the app, a feature TikTok has had for years.
• Dropbox debuts two AI tools, one for summarising documents, and Dash, an ambitious universal search engine that "connects all of your tools, content, and apps in a single search bar."
• Automated transcription service Otter.ai launches chatbot feature that "acts as a meeting participant instantly answering questions, collaborating with meeting participants, and generating content based on meeting data."
• Google' YouTube updates its policy for fan channels, requiring them to make it obvious in their name or handle that they're fan accounts, effective August 21, 2023; pilots Aloud, an AI-powered dubbing tool, with "hundreds" of creators, starting with English, Spanish and Portuguese.
• Dating app Bumble begins testing a separate BFF app in select markets to let people find friends.
• Social media startup IRL is shutting down after an internal investigation concluded that 95% of its claimed 20 million monthly active users were "automated or from bots."
• Google adds a Perspectives tab to search results, with information posted on YouTube, Reddit, and other platforms, after announcing the feature in May 2023; internally testing a new product called Playables that allows users to play online games right from within YouTube across desktop and mobile, months after shutting down its Stadia game streaming service.
• Meta plans to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada in response to new legislation (i.e., the Online News Act) that would require internet giants to pay news publishers