Tech Roundup: Apple Antitrust Probe, Uber Flex & More

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

• Global premium smartphone sales grow 6% in 2023, with Apple having a 71% market share, down from 75% in 2022, followed by Samsung (17%), Huawei (5%), Xiaomi (2%) and OPPO (1%); companies sold about 16 million foldable phones in 2023, or just 1.3% of all 1.2 billion smartphones, as the device segment begins to gain traction in China and the U.S.
• Telegram rolls out version 10.5 of its app, offering "totally redesigned" voice and video calls with new animations and backgrounds.
• X (aka Twitter) brings back headlines to link previews more than two months after it stopped showing them; announces a $200 per month Basic subscription tier for smaller businesses.
• Adult site Pornhub blocks access to its site, alongside other Aylo-owned sites like Redtube or Brazzers, in the U.S. states of Montana and North Carolina after new laws to verify users ages goes into effect on January 1, 2024. (Montana and North Carolina have joined a small list of states with restricted access to Pornhub. Louisiana, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia have passed similar laws, prompting Pornhub to block access in those states as well. Texas has also passed its own law requiring adult film sites to show warnings about the health risks of watching porn.)
• Meta rolls out Link History on Facebook, which contains a repository of all the links clicked on by a user; says it may use "link history information from Facebook's Mobile Browser to improve your ads across Meta technologies."
• Twitch updates its sexual content policies to prohibit implied nudity on the platform; says it does not "permit streamers to imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude, including, but not limited to, covering breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars."
• Amazon shuts down free version of the Wickr messaging app called Wickr Me more than a year after it stopped accepting user registrations on December 31, 2022.
• Microsoft unveils a Copilot keyboard key, shipping in new PCs and laptops from its partners, the first major change to the PC keyboard layout in nearly 30 years; officially removes WordPad from Windows 11 Insider Preview Build.
• Uber begins testing Uber Flex, a flexible pricing service that lets riders pick a fare of their choice that will be shared with nearby drivers, in over 12 Indian cities.
• The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is reportedly in the "late stages" of a sweeping antitrust investigation into Apple and its moves to keep customers locked into its ecosystem, according to a report from The New York Times; says the agency is looking at how Apple blocks rivals from using iMessage and prevents other financial providers from using iPhone-specific payment services.