Spotify said it's acquiring the music recognition trivia game Heardle for an undisclosed sum. Spotify says Heardle will remain as a free standalone game on its website. The Wordle-inspired game asks users daily to guess a song based on its opening notes. More: - Heardle provides a few extra seconds of music after each try. After six tries, it reveals the answer and now links to the full song on Spotify (previously SoundCloud).
- Spotify said it's integrating Heardle starting in the U.S., U.K. Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with plans to expand to markets worldwide in multiple languages.
- The company plans to integrate Heardle “more fully” into its app but didn't specify when.
- Created by Studio Omakase founder Glenn Angelo, Heardle marks the first gaming acquisition for Spotify, which views it as a music and artist discovery tool. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- In January, the New York Times purchased Wordle for an amount in the "low seven figures."
AXIOS 
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 Apple has released iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, macOS Ventura, and tvOS 16 in public beta. Anyone can try out the pre-released operating systems and give feedback if they sign up for Apple's Beta Software Program. More: - iOS 16 adds the ability to edit and undo messages in the Messages app. It has a new customizable lock screen interface, Live Activities to manage notifications, a Pay Later feature in Wallet, email scheduling, and Face ID in landscape orientation.
- MacOS 13 Ventura adds an improved multitasking tool Stage Manager, along with support for password replacement called Apple Passkeys in Safari. Its Continuity Camera allows the iPhone to function as a webcam using a special clip.
- iPadOS 16 adds the Weather app and new multitasking options and collaboration features, such as more control in resizing apps.
- Experts suggest backing up your current data before installing the pre-released software. CNET provided instructions to download the public beta version of iOS 16 for free (must have iPhone 8 or later).
ARS TECHNICA
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Video-game retailer GameStop launched its marketplace for users to buy, sell, and trade NFTs. The Ethereum-based platform is now in "public beta" for testing. It currently has 200+ collections and 53,000+ listed NFTs. More: - The marketplace allows users to connect their own digital asset wallets, including GameStop's own recently-launched digital wallet.
- In February, GameStop confirmed its plans to launch the marketplace in partnership with the blockchain startup Immutable X.
- The companies launched a $100M token grant fund to attract game developers to the marketplace.
- Immutable said it would provide up to $150M of its blockchain-based IMX tokens to GameStop when it achieves certain milestones.
- The launch comes after Gamestop CEO Matt Furlong told staff last week that the company planned to lay off "a number of" employees as it works to reduce costs and reach sustained profitability. The company also fired its CFO, Mike Recupero.
- The market and prices of NFTs have fallen in recent months. Popular NFT marketplace OpenSea saw its sales volume drop 75% from May to June, according to Dune data.
THE VERGE
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 EV startup Canoo announced that Walmart has agreed to purchase at least 4,500 of its all-electric delivery vehicles. Known as Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles (LDVs), the vans will be customized for last-mile deliveries with rear slide-out shelves and extra cargo space instead of a passenger seat. More: - Under the deal terms, Walmart has the option to buy up to 10,000 Canoo LDVs.
- The vehicle is slated to go into production in Q4 2022. Canoo plans to build 14,000 to 17,000 vans next year and deliver the first LDVs to Walmart also in 2023.
- Before that, Walmart said it will use pre-production vehicles to make deliveries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which will help Canoo further refine the vehicle.
- In January, Walmart reserved 5,000 electric delivery vans from GM's BrightDrop startup. It also ordered 1,100 electric vans from Ford E-Transit.
- Walmart said it hopes to operate a zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040.
CNBC
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Japanese company Nikon will stop making new single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras and focus on digital mirrorless cameras, Nikkei reports. Nikon last released a new digital SLR camera — the flagship D6 — in 2020. It says it will continue to produce the D6 and other current DSLRs. More: - Widely used by professionals for decades, SLR cameras use a mirror and prism to reflect the image to the user through the viewfinder.
- Mirrorless cameras take light directly from the lens to the sensor and provide a view through an electronic viewfinder. They are smaller, lighter, and soundless since they have no shutter.
- Nikon debuted its first SLR film camera, the Nikon F, in 1959. Its first professional DSLR, the D1, came out in 1999.
- The company now plans to retreat from that market and focus on mirrorless alternatives amid the increasing competition from higher-end smartphone cameras.
- Nikon sold 400,000+ SLR cameras in 2021. It discontinued the more affordable D3500 and D5600 to focus on mid- to high-end cameras and lenses for professionals and hobbyists.
- Shipments of mirrorless cameras first outpaced SLRs in 2020.
NIKKEI ASIA
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Swedish fintech company Klarna Bank AB announced it recently raised $800M at a $6.7B valuation, down from the $45.6B it achieved last June. The buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant saw its valuation drop 85% in the last year. More: - In June 2021, Klarna was Europe’s most valuable private tech company and the sixth-highest valued unicorn globally.
- However, investor interest in young fast-growing technology startups has soured recently amid the broader stock market sell-off. In addition, BNPL companies have been impacted by the consumer finance dropoff and new competition in the space.
- Klarna cut 10% of its global workforce earlier this year. BNPL firm Affirm, a Klarna rival, has seen its stock fall more than 77% in 2022.
- SoftBank Group Corp., which led the June 2021 funding for Klarna, did not participate in the latest round. Klarna said the fresh capital will help it expand further in the U.S., where it currently has ~30 million customers.
- Stockholm-based Klarna has 147 million active users globally.
THE GUARDIAN
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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