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This week brought back some of our favorite tech deals we've seen all year. A four pack of Apple's AirTags is back on sale for $89, while the Apple TV 4K has dropped to $130. While neither of those are all-time lows, they're very close and great deals on a couple of the most popular Apple gadgets right now. Amazon also just discounted its Echo smart speaker to $60, which its a record low and a return to its Prime Day price, plus you can still pick up the Chromecast with Google TV for only $40. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

Apple TV 4K

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The Apple TV 4K is back in stock at Amazon and on sale for $130. While not quite as cheap as it was on Prime Day last week ($109), this remains one of the best prices we've seen no our favorite high-end set-top box. We gave the device a score of 90 for its fast performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, HomeKit integration and much-improved Siri remote.

iPad mini

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Apple's WiFi + Cellular iPad mini is nearly $100 off at Amazon, bringing it down to $550. That's the best price we've seen on those models, and we gave the small tablet a score of 89 for its updated design, solid performance, good battery life and new Center Stage camera system.

AirTags

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Apple's four-pack of AirTags is $10 off and down to $89. While we did see the bundle drop to $85 for a brief period during Prime Day last week, this sale is still a good one, especially if you have a number of items you know you'll want to keep track of with these accessories. 

16-inch MacBook Pro

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is down to $2,199, or $300 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 92 for its powerful performance, lovely Liquid Retina XDR displays and new bevy of ports.

Amazon Echo

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Amazon's full-sized Echo speaker is down to $60, which is a return to its Prime Day price. We gave it a score of 89 for its solid audio quality, handy Alexa capabilities and its built-in Zigbee smart home hub.

Echo Show 5

Amazon

The Echo Show 5 smart display is on sale for $40 right now, or only $5 more than it was on Prime Day last week. We gave the device a score of 87 for is compact, minimalist design, good audio quality and tap-to-snooze feature.

Echo Dot

The Echo Dot is on sale for $40 while the Echo Dot with Clock is down to $50. We like these tiny smart speakers for their good audio quality, compact design and tap-to-snooze feature.

Blink Outdoor + Blink Mini

Amazon

Amazon includes a free Blink Mini camera when you buy a Blink Outdoor kit, so you'll save $35 in total on the bundle. Blink cameras are a relatively affordable way to outfit your home with security cameras — all of them record 1080p video and support two-way audio and motion alerts. The Outdoor cameras are wireless and weather-resistant, while the Blink Mini is a smaller, wired camera that's designed to fit into tight spaces inside your home.

Echo Show 15 + Echo Show 5

Engadget

A bundle that includes the Echo Show 15 smart display and the Echo Show 5 is on sale for $250, which essentially means you're getting the Show 5 for free. The Show 15 is the most unique of Amazon's smart displays as it's a large TV-like device that you can mount on the wall and that will show you things like calendar events, reminders, shopping lists and more. It also lets you video chat and watch shows and movies from services like Netflix, Prime Video and others. The Echo Show 5 is one of our favorite smaller smart displays thanks to its compact design, decent audio quality and useful tap-to-snooze feature.

Solo Stove

Solo Stove

Solo Stove's summer sale knocks up to $350 off fire pits, so you can grab one for as low as $200. The discounts translate to $100 off the Ranger, $180 off the Bonfire and $350 off the Yukon. We like these fire pits because their double-walled designs minimize smoke while keeping the fire hot, and they're sleek and relatively portable, too.

Elgato Stream Deck MK.2

Engadget/Will Lipman

Elgato's Stream Deck MK.2 is $25 off and down to $125, which is the cheapest we've seen it. This is the latest version of the company's handy streaming controller and it includes 15 programmable keys that can trigger actions like launching apps, muting your mic, turning on lights and more. It's a popular peripheral for game streamers, but general power-users will also find a lot of uses for the gadget.

Chromecast with Google TV

The Chromecast with Google TV is down to $40 right now. We gave it a score of 86 for its handy remote control, good Google Assistant integration and 4K streaming chops with Dolby Vision and Atmos support.

Samsung 980 Pro SSD

Samsung

The Samsung 980 Pro SSD in 1TB that comes with a heatsink is on sale for $140, or 39 percent off its usual price. We like this PS5-compatible drive for its standard design, sequential read speeds up to 7,000MB/s and handy optimization software.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

Google

You can get $15 off Google's new Pixel Buds Pro when you pre-order them at Wellbots and use the code 15ENGADGET at checkout. These are the company's first wireless earbuds that support active noise cancellation, plus they can connect to more than one device at a time and they support transparency mode.

Crucial MX500 SSD

Crucial's MX500 in 1TB is on sale for $85 when you clip the on-page coupon that knocks $5 off its $90 sale price. It’s a good option if you need a standard 2.5-inch drive that works with both laptops and desktops. It also has AES-256 bit hardware encryption and integrated power loss immunity to protect your data.

65-inch LG B1 OLED smart TV (2021)

LG's 65-inch B1 OLED TV remains 30 percent off and down to $1,500. This 2021 version runs on LG's a7 Gen 4 AI Processor 4K, works with G-Sync and FreeSync technologies and has Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support built in.

PNY XLR8 CS3040 SSD

Another one of our favorite PS5 SSDs, the PNY XLR8 CS3040, has dropped to $105. It's an already affordable drive made even better by this sale, and we like its 5,600 MB/s read speeds and its five-year warranty.

Sony SRS-XB13

Sony's compact SRS-XB13 Bluetooth speaker is down to just $48, which is 20 percent off its regular price. Not only does it come in a bunch of fun colors, but this tiny speaker also has a waterproof IP67 rated design, punchy bass and a 16-hour battery life.

Roborock S7+

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Wellbots knocked $240 off the Roborock S7+ robot vacuum, bringing it down to $710. This is one of the company's higher-end machines and it has strong suction power, a mopping feature and an included base into which it will empty its dustbin after every cleaning job.

OnePlus 9

Chris Velazco/Engadget

The OnePlus 9 smartphone is 32 percent off and down to $500, which is the lowest price we've seen for it. We gave the handset a score of 88 when it came out last year for its fantastic display, excellent performance and improved main camera.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

When you think of study aids, TikTok is likely not what comes to mind. And, there’s probably a good reason for that. Scrolling your For You page may be entertaining, but it’s rarely productive.

But, a growing group of study influencers might be changing that. From #booktok, #studytok and #edutok, there are dozens of accounts that can help with study tips, math tutoring and even college admissions advice.

To be clear, it’s still a good idea to limit how much time you spend scrolling. And watching study-themed TikToks is not a substitute for… actually studying. But, videos from academically-minded TikTokers can offer advice on learning tough subjects and serve as inspiration for building new and productive study habits.

What to look for (and avoid)

If you’re looking for study help, well-established hashtags like #studytok or #edutok are a great place to start. Many tutors also post to TikTok, and you can find subject-specific content by adding “tutor” or “help” to the topic, like #mathtuor, #physicshelp etc.

But, as with everything on TikTok, not all study content is equal. And for every helpful account, there are also those who are sharing unhelpful shortcuts and too-good-to-be-true “study hacks.” So avoid accounts that post shady “advice” that’s actually cheating, like how to get an AI to solve your math homework or write an essay for you. And be wary of anyone who is more focused on selling products than usable advice.

Here are a few accounts that actually do a good job in the studying space.

Gohar Khan Goharsguide

Gohar Khan is most well-known for his college admissions advice, which he shares on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. The 22-year-old recently graduated from MIT, but before that he was also accepted to Yale and Stanford. Now, he makes videos advising teens on how they can boost their chances of getting into Ivy League and other top-tier schools.

He shares videos with advice on all aspects of preparing for college, from application and essay-writing help, to how to choose a major once you get there. Even if an Ivy isn’t your ultimate goal, he also posts more general tips that will be helpful for students of all levels, In fact, some of his most popular content is geared around how to do homework more quickly, how to find the motivation to study and how to improve your test scores.

Kyle Johnson

Book lovers will appreciate Kyle Johnson’s TikToks for his concise but thoughtful book reviews and reading recommendations, but Johnson, who posts under the account panic_kyle, shares more than just reading lists. He also shares analysis of literary classics and other popular books you may often find as assigned reading in English class..

If you’re looking for a shortcut to avoid reading altogether, Johnson’s account won’t help much. He typically only gives a very brief summary of the books he covers. But if you want to think more deeply about literary themes, or get inspiration for an essay, his videos break down complex literary themes in an easy to digest way. He also shares more general advice, like how to take notes while reading fiction or how to analyze literature.

Your Bummy Math Tutor

I was awful at math when I was in school. Like, truly, awful; I had to repeat algebra three separate times. To the surprise of absolutely no one, I did not score well on the math portion of my SAT… or any other standardized test. And while I don’t know if any amount of TikTok-length videos would have helped back then, Your Bummy Math Tutor’s content makes me think it might have.

YBMT takes math questions from the SAT and practice tests and explains how to solve them, along with strategies for approaching different types of problems. It’s all fairly straightforward and yet, as a lifetime hater of math, the content is also way more engaging than any math class I can remember. Luckily for everyone, I haven’t had to do any algebra for more than a decade. But after watching enough of YBMT’s videos, I kind of feel like maybe I could solve a few problems that would have completely stumped my teenage self. At least, I might have had a few extra tools to try.

Study with soybean

You’ve probably heard of bullet journaling, the note-taking fad that’s part habit tracker, part diary and part to-do list organizer. While it can seem intimidating to start mapping out your entire life in a bullet journal, the system can be a useful study aid.

Study with soybean is a bullet journal pro whose content combines journaling inspo with study tips practical advice on how to take better notes. Her videos break down different styles of note-taking, and how to transform your notes into flashcards and other study aids. She also posts more creative content, like how to make your own greeting cards and improve your handwriting.

Automakers are frequently keen to show off self-driving concept cars without steering wheels, but Baidu is close to putting a vehicle like this on real-world roads. The tech giant has unveiled a new robotaxi, the Apollo RT6, with a removable steering wheel. The option lets ride hailing services offer more space for passengers — this can include extra seats, work desks or even game consoles.

The RT6 unsurprisingly includes Baidu's newest autonomous driving tech. The Level 4 system (full self-driving under specific conditions) uses a total of 38 sensors, including eight LiDAR units and 12 cameras, to navigate dense urban environments. The company didn't mention range for the all-electric design, but the flat floor, sliding doors and "interactive" lights should make your commute more enjoyable.

More importantly, the machine is production-ready. The car will cost businesses the equivalent of $37,000 in China, and it should first enter use with Baidu's own Apollo Go service in 2023. The relatively modest price will make it practical for the company to roll out "tens of thousands" of vehicles across China, and it envisions a future where robotaxi fares cost half as much as those of conventional rides. While that's not great news for taxi drivers, it suggests that driverless ride hailing could soon be relatively ubiquitous in the country.

Shredder's Revenge is great if you want a modern take on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat-'em-ups, but what if you'd rather stick with the classics? You won't have to wait long to revisit those, either. Digital Eclipse, Konami and Nickelodeon have announced that TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection debuts August 30th on PCs (via Steam), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The bundle includes all 13 home and arcade games from the golden era of the half-shell heroes, including the Japanese versions.

You can return to the days of pumping endless quarters with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and its Turtles in Time follow-up. If you're more familiar with the console titles, you can play everything ranging from the notoriously difficult TMNT for the NES through to the three Game Boy releases and Tournament Fighters for the Genesis and SNES. The games remain in their original aspect ratios, but you can play online with friends and take advantage of creature comforts like save games, rewinding and a gallery full of concept art.

You'll still want to play Shredder's Revenge if you prefer more recent game mechanics and up-to-date (if still retro-looking) graphics. Many of the frustrations you felt in the '90s will still be present in The Cowabunga Collection. All the same, it's easy to see the appeal — this is likely your best chance to play all of the early hits without running an emulator or digging your NES out of the closet.

Lenovo was one of the first companies to really nail 2-in-1 design, and ever since it’s been refining the formula for its top-notch convertibles. And while there are a couple small variables I'm not fully on board with for this year's edition, there's no doubt the new 14-inch Yoga 9i is continuing Lenovo's excellent track record. You get superb battery life, clever (and surprisingly) powerful speakers, good performance, plenty of ports and even an optional OLED display. In short, if you're looking for a light, long-lasting and very adaptable 360-degree hybrid, this thing belongs at the top of your list.

Design

Now I have to admit, when I first unboxed the Yoga 9i, there was something about its design that just didn’t look right to me. And after thinking about it for a couple days, I realized Lenovo's attempt to create a luxury aesthetic doesn't quite go far enough. Most of the laptop is constructed out of matte aluminum including its lid, deck and bottom, while other components like its keyboard and touchpad have been painted to match. Lenovo calls this particular color oatmeal, which isn't especially flattering, though I must say the addition of subtle brown tones looks better in person than its name suggests. Nothing really unusual so far.

The issue is that for 2022, Lenovo rounded out the Yoga 9i's sides to make the laptop more comfortable to hold, which is and it feels great. But then the company polished those edges to a mirror-like shine which, when viewed next to its satin finish, feels very mismatched. Then you add in the fact that the only other bit of shiny metal on the entire system is its combo hinge/speaker bar, and you're left with something that doesn't quite give off the same vibes as high-end jewelry, and also lacks the appeal of more minimalist competitors like a Surface or MacBook. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you think the 9i looks great, feel free to ignore me. (That said, I maintain a number of Lenovo’s older Yogas looking better than the new one.)

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Aside from its appearance, the Yoga offers great build quality with very little flex across its chassis. Other small improvements include a larger touchpad, some handy new media and video calling keys on the right, and a subtle notch around the webcam that makes the lid just a touch easier to open. I also appreciate the dedicated fingerprint reader in the bottom right. My only remaining nitpick is the feel of the keys. They don't have a lot of travel and their light actuation weight leaves the whole affair feeling a bit lifeless, which is kind of a shame. And having used countless ThinkPads over the years, I know Lenovo can do better.

On the bright side, the 9i includes a stylus that features 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. It also comes with a built-in USB-C for easy charging. And while there isn’t a place to stash the pen in the laptop like on some previous Yogas, you can throw both the stylus and the laptop in Lenovo’s bundled travel sleeve.

Display, sound and webcam

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

By default, the Yoga 9i ships with a 14-inch 1,920 x 1,080 LCD display with a new and slightly taller 16:10 aspect ratio (up from 16:9 on the previous model). But our $1,500 review unit has a 2,880 x 1,800 OLED screen that's brilliantly punchy. Not only does it feature VESA DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification, it pumped out just shy of 400 nits of brightness. So you get rich, vivid colors in addition to excellent screen readability, regardless of the conditions. If you have a little wiggle room in your budget, this is a great component to upgrade.

As for audio, the Yoga 9i features Lenovo's signature speaker bar hinge. So in addition to boasting an innovative design that ensures sound is directed at you in practically any mode (you know, instead of away from you or down into a table like some laptops like to do), the Yoga pumps out great audio with some of the deepest bass I've heard from a laptop this size. Look, you're not going to rattle your neighbor's china cabinet, but this is one the few times I'm not going to complain about a notebook lacking low-end thump.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

In another small, but very welcome upgrade, the 9i comes with a new 1080p webcam that supports Windows Hello. I've said it before and I'll say it again: 1,920 x 1,080 should be the bare minimum for cameras on modern laptops. And while I admit its image quality can be a bit grainy in low light, it's still plenty sharp for all your video calling needs. And if you look close, you'll notice there's even a physical shutter you can slide closed when it's not in use. That's a nice touch for some extra peace of mind.

Performance

The Yoga 9i packs a new 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, promising plenty of speed for all your standard productivity needs. Among ultraportables without discrete graphics, it posted top-tier scores in Geekbench 5, PCMark 10, and Cinebench. However, its Intel Iris integrated GPU means that even though it posted a solid time of 37 seconds in our 4K video encoding benchmark in Handbrake, you're still gonna want something a bit more substantial if you're looking to do a lot of heavy photo or video editing.

My one small complaint about the 9i’s performance is that when you’re really pushing it, you may hear a high-pitched whine from the fans. I only encountered this while gaming, and you might not find it all that distracting. But even if you do, you can change the laptop’s mode to lower the noise, though that may result in some thermal throttling.

Battery life and ports

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Moving on to battery life, even with its above average performance, the Yoga 9i still turned in an excellent time on our local video rundown test. It lasted 14 hours and 22 minutes, which is the second longest mark we've seen this year, only behind the Surface Laptop Go 2's time of 14:43. And in the real world, I had no problems making it through an entire work day on a single charge.

On top of that, because the laptop supports charging via USB-C, even if you forget your power brick at home, there's a good chance you can borrow an adapter from a friend or colleague in a pinch. Finally, I want to give credit to Lenovo for finding room for four USB ports (one Type-A and three Type-C) including two with Thunderbolt 4. A lot of laptop makers have started equipping systems with just two or three ports – even on standard clamshells – so it's nice to see that the corner cutting hasn't hit the Yoga line yet.

Wrap-up

Not counting my admittedly subjective complaints about the Yoga 9i's design, this thing is a nearly ideal 2-in-1. It offers good performance, great sound and even better battery life in a well-built and adaptable chassis. Heck, Lenovo even includes an active stylus and a laptop sleeve in the box, the latter of which you can use to stash the stylus while traveling. Its display is now 16:10, which gives you a little bit of extra screen space for productivity, and thanks to its curvy edges, this thing is noticeably nicer to hold than last year's model. You even get two different options for biometric login.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The only real issue is its somewhat shallow and mushy keyboard. But given the rest of the 9i's strengths, that's probably not a dealbreaker unless you're a truly discerning typist. And while its starting price of around $1,250 isn't cheap, our review model with its OLED screen costs just $1,500 which kinda feels like a steal. I should also mention that at least in the US, the OLED model is a Best Buy exclusive. However, regardless of which version you go for, you're getting a quality product. Considering the pedigree of Lenovo's Yoga line, it's hardly a surprise that this year's 9i fares well by almost every metric. So if you're looking for a premier all-rounder with great longevity, there aren't a lot of systems that do it better than this.

The BBC has already started preparing for Facebook's 20th anniversary in 2024: The broadcaster has announced that its factual entertainment team has commissioned a three-part documentary about Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded. Facebook's story is pretty well-known at this point, and it's common knowledge that Zuckerberg originally designed it to connect students at Harvard. And that the Winklevoss twins sued the Meta chief, claiming he stole their idea. BBC, however, aims to present a "definitive account" of Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded. 

That means no dramatized events like in the 2010 David Fincher-directed film starring Jesse Eisenberg. Instead, BBC promises access to "key players, insider testimony, personal journals and rare archive material." Mindhouse, the TV production company behind the project, will also examine the rise of the social media and how it has changed human behavior and interaction. It's unclear if the documentary will also examine Facebook's role in spreading fake news around the world. 

Nancy Strang, Minhouse Creative Director, Mindhouse, said in a statement: 

"The remarkable story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook is one of the tales of our time. He has arguably done more to transform human behaviour and connectivity than any other person this century. I'm thrilled that we've been given this opportunity to tell the extraordinary inside story of the social media giant, and the man behind it."

The docuseries, which has a working title of Zuckerberg, has no premiere date yet. But it will air on BBC Two and will be streamable from BBC iPlayer when it comes out.

The US and UK have signed a Data Access Agreement that will allow law enforcement agencies in each country to request user internet data from the other, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and UK Home Office said in a joint press release. The agreement was created in 2019 as the CLOUD Act to allow the nations to fight serious crimes including terrorism, child abuse and cybercrime. 

"The Data Access Agreement will allow information and evidence that is held by service providers within each of our nations and relates to the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of serious crime to be accessed more quickly than ever before," the DoJ wrote. "This will help, for example, our law enforcement agencies gain more effective access to the evidence they need to bring offenders to justice, including terrorists and child abuse offenders, thereby preventing further victimization."

First hatched in 2017, the plan came about because crime fighting agencies in each country were hamstrung by laws that made it difficult to obtain overseas data from ISPs and companies like Google and Facebook. The aim was to create a bilateral agreement to remove some of those roadblocks and still "maintain rigorous privacy protections for citizens," the UK Home Office said at the time. Australia also joined the CLOUD Act late last year. 

Both agencies promise to "maintain the strong oversight and protections that our citizens enjoy," and not compromise or erode human rights. When the law was originally drafted, however, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called it "a dangerous expansion of police snooping on cross-border data."

If you missed the chance to pick up an Echo smart speaker during Prime Day last week, you have another opportunity to do so today. Amazon's full-sized Echo is back down to a record-low price of $60, which is 40 percent off its normal rate. The Echo Show 5 is also on sale for $40 right now, which is only $5 more than it was on Prime Day. The Echo Dot, on the other hand, is currently 20 percent off and on sale for $40.

You may just think of Amazon's Echo as a way to get Alexa into your home, but it's a pretty capable speaker as well. We gave it a score of 89 when it came out and it remains one of our favorite smart speakers. We like its spherical design and its bottom light ring that changes colors depending on what it's doing. Inside the Echo are a three-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweeters that work together to help the speaker get quite loud and pump out sound with solid bass and powerful mid-range frequencies. It does a better job filling a room with sound than Google's Nest Audio or Apple's HomePod mini, which will be important for those who want to use it as their primary living room speaker.

In addition to asking Alexa to play music from various sources like Spotify or Apple Music, the Echo can be used as a Bluetooth speaker if you prefer. It also has a 3.5mm audio jack, which takes both input and output. Plus, if you buy two of the speakers, you can pair them together to play sound in stereo mode as well.

The Echo can also act as your main smart home hub thanks to its built-in Zigbee capabilities. Instead of buying a separate hub or bridge to connect things like smart lights, switches and more, the Echo can act as the central point in your home. And if you primarily get IoT devices that work with Alexa, you'll be able to use voice commands to control them, too.

Overall, the Echo is one of the best smart speakers you can get at the $100 mark, so it's an even better buy when you can get it for less. If you prefer a device that has a display to show things like weather forecasts and even security camera feeds, the Echo Show 5 is a solid option. It's the smallest of Amazon's smart displays, but that means it works well as a smart alarm clock of sorts. We like its surprisingly solid audio quality and its tap-to-snooze feature, too. As for the Echo Dot, it's the smart speaker to get if you're on a tight budget or want something that allows you to use Alexa voice commands without taking up too much space.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Is the Pixel 6a the best Android phone under $500? Tune in for Cherlynn’s review! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn also discuss why losing almost a million subscribers was actually a good thing fo Netflix. And they dive into Qualcomm’s latest hardware for smartwatches, as well as the latest updates from Twitter’s ongoing fight with Elon Musk.

Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

via Mark Dell

• The Pixel 6a is the best midrange Android phone on the market now – 1:53

• Netflix lost a million subscribers, and that’s a good thing? – 17:11

• Delaware judge allows faster trial for Twitter v. Elon Musk – 29:56

• Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked is happening on August 10 – 32:42

• Leaked files show that Uber was shady from early in its life – 37:41

• Qualcomm unveils wearable-focused Snapdragon W5 chips – 42:21

• Alienware’s m17 R5 gaming laptop is a beast that few people need – 46:25

• The new Instagram Map is like Google Maps, but with more selfies – 48:16

• OnePlus 10T launch set for August 3 – 52:19

• Working on – 53:06

• Pop culture picks – 58:01

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Sam Rutherford
Guest: Lisa Song from ProPublica
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

Twitter has today announced its results for the second-quarter of 2022, saying that it has seen a sharp rise in the number of regular users. In the last three months, Monetizable Daily Active Users (mDAU) climbed from 39.6 million to 41.5 million, while global reach leapt from 189.4 million in April to 196.3 million today. Unfortunately, those increasing user figures did not see a boost in the company’s bottom line, and revenue was $1.18 billion, which is slightly down both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.

Worse still for a company bringing in that much revenue is that costs and expenses for the period equalled $1.52 billion, with extra pain coming from both the costs of dealing with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and paying severance for all of the workers it’s been laying off as part of its cost-cutting drive. All in all, the company posted a net loss of $270 million, much of which it attributes to both the looming recession and the uncertainty around the proposed takeover.

Back in April, as part of its first quarter financial release, Twitter revealed that it had historically miscounted its user figures. Between 2019 and 2021, the company had counted users with multiple accounts as multiple people, adding up to two million users to the figures. This, while not a catastrophic admission, did serve to highlight that Twitter’s slow growth was even slower than people believed. At the time, the company also said that it had earned $1.20 billion in revenue, $1.11 billion of which was produced through advertising, while the average monetizable daily user figures hit 39.6 million in the US and 189.4 million in the rest of the world.

While this was going on, Twitter had also been targeted as an acquisition vehicle for Elon Musk, and the deal has dominated much of the news cycle ever since. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO pledged to buy the company at a very high valuation, and signed a binding agreement that opted to waive much of the due diligence often necessary in deals like this. Not long after, however, Musk decided — either on his own, or influenced by Tesla’s dwindling stock price — to try and pull out of the deal, claiming that Twitter had misrepresented how many automated accounts were on the platform.

Unfortunately for Musk, contract law is often funny about letting people walk away from deals they signed promising to waive the necessary due diligence. Twitter has since sued the figure in order to either force him to buy, or to pay a significant sum to make the whole thing go away. The Delaware Court of Chancery rejected Musk’s request to hold a trial in 2023, and accepted Twitter’s plea to expedite the matter. Consequently, the pair will square off for a five-day courtroom showdown in October.

Twitter has said, once again, that it believes Musk’s “purported termination is invalid and wrongful,” and that the proposed merger deal “remains in effect.”