Technology

Twitter reported its earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday. 2021’s revenue was approximately $5.08 billion USD, marking a 37% increase from 2020. The company had an operating loss of $493 million USD due to a one-time litigation-related net charge, as well as its current investments. Expenses totaled $1.40 billion, an 35% increase from the year prior. While the company’s shares initially rose on the report, they had fallen 2% by Thursday. “Our strong 2021 performance positions us to improve execution and deliver on our 2023 goals,” CEO Parag Agrawal said. “We are more focused and better organized to deliver improved personalization and selection for our audience, partners, and advertisers.” In 2023, Twitter has a goal of at least $7.5 billion in annual revenue. The company also share...

Twitter reported its earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday. 2021’s revenue was approximately $5.08 billion USD, marking a 37% increase from 2020. The company had an operating loss of $493 million USD due to a one-time litigation-related net charge, as well as its current investments. Expenses totaled $1.40 billion, an 35% increase from the year prior. While the company’s shares initially rose on the report, they had fallen 2% by Thursday. “Our strong 2021 performance positions us to improve execution and deliver on our 2023 goals,” CEO Parag Agrawal said. “We are more focused and better organized to deliver improved personalization and selection for our audience, partners, and advertisers.” In 2023, Twitter has a goal of at least $7.5 billion in annual revenue. The company also share...

YouTube will likely be exploring web3 ventures sometime in the future. In a post on the company’s blog, Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan outlined the new products, tools and features coming to the platform in 2022. One of these tools is “insights” in YouTube Studio, which was designed after feedback from creators that struggle with coming up with ideas for content. The tool uses smart technology and YouTube and Google’s data sets to help creators better understand viewer demand. Without detailing any specific projects in the web3 space, Mohan went on to say that the company recognizes that web3 “opens up new opportunities for creators.” “We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans,” he continued. “Together, they’ll b...

YouTube will likely be exploring web3 ventures sometime in the future. In a post on the company’s blog, Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan outlined the new products, tools and features coming to the platform in 2022. One of these tools is “insights” in YouTube Studio, which was designed after feedback from creators that struggle with coming up with ideas for content. The tool uses smart technology and YouTube and Google’s data sets to help creators better understand viewer demand. Without detailing any specific projects in the web3 space, Mohan went on to say that the company recognizes that web3 “opens up new opportunities for creators.” “We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans,” he continued. “Together, they’ll b...

As the latest company to move into the NFT space, OnlyFans is letting creators use verified NFTs as profile pictures. The company said that it began rolling out the feature in December. Right now, it only supports NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. “Our mission is to empower creators to own their full potential,” OnlyFans new CEO Ami Gan, who assumed the position in December, told Reuters. “This feature is the first step in exploring the role that NFTs can play on our platform.” Authentic NFT profile pictures will have an Ethereum icon to designate that the NFTs have been verified. With the new feature, OnlyFans joins a growing list of tech platforms venturing into NFTs, including Instagram and Google’s parent company Alphabet. In other tech news, Sony has unveiled two new Walkman mus...

Netflix’s Bigbug, from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is a new addition to the growing canon of pandemic-era films using their stories to dig into human anxieties that were already bubbling up long before COVID-19 began to spread. In Bigbug’s gently retrofuturistic vision of France in 2045, most everyone lives in relative comfort with the help of the countless different kinds of robotic and virtual assistants that have become integral parts of people’s day-to-day lives. Even though Alice (​​Elsa Zylberstein) is a bit of a fetishist for a simpler time when people still read poetry in books and were allowed to snack on whatever kinds of cheeses they wanted, she makes good use of Monique (Claude Perron), the mid-range domestic helper android her ex-husband Victor (Youssef Hajdi) was so keen on ...

Video streaming website Twitch has updated its policy to ban usernames that have explicit references to sex or hard drugs. According to a blog post on the Amazon-owned platform, “usernames really matter on Twitch,” and given their visibility across the site, Twitch believes usernames “must be held to a universal and higher standard than other places people express themselves,” such as chat. Under the new policy, which takes effect March 1st, Twitch will remove reported usernames that include “references to sexual acts, arousal, fluids, or genitalia” and references to hard drugs. Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana are excluded from that list, however. After the deadline, the company says it will suspend users if their usernames are “hateful, harassing, violent or typically representative of ma...

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 remains one of our favorite gaming laptops, despite its lack of a webcam. This cool and powerful laptop has returned to its lowest price at Best Buy. The G15 is normally available for $1849.99, but Best Buy has currently discounted it to $1,549.99. While Asus has recently updated its 15-inch Zephyrus line to include a webcam and more powerful CPU, the collection of specs still makes last year’s model extremely competitive at this price point. This model of the G15 includes a Ryzen 9 CPU, an RTX 3070 graphics card, a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM. The Verge’s Monica Chin reviewed this laptop for us about a year ago and enjoyed the robust battery life and performance of this laptop. Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 $1,550 $1,850 17% off The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is one of the best ...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’s hopeful that his company’s launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, will receive regulatory approval to launch by March and that the first orbital launch of SpaceX’s new Starship rocket will take place sometime this year. Musk made these comments during his first presentation on Starship since 2019, which he gave last night at the company’s test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Standing in front of a full stacked prototype of the rocket that towered high over the stage, Musk provided an overview of some of the latest specs of the vehicle, why he wants to pursue deep space travel, and when he expects to make all these plans happen. It was his fifth presentation on Starship overall, with Musk talking for more than an hour on Thursday night. However, the CEO didn’t p...

S​​ony has debuted two new premium Walkman music players, the NW-WM1ZM2 and the NW-WM1AM2. Inspired by the ground-breaking DMP-Z1, both models offer a strong power supply and music downloading and streaming capabilities via Wi-Fi compatibility. Fine-tuned over the years, the NW-WM1ZM2 builds upon the history of Sony’s signature series, prioritizing nuanced sound for a premium listening experience. The device is made out of copper plated with a 99.99% purity gold. Meanwhile, the NW-WM1AM2 features a smoother and more expansive sound field than its predecessor, allowing for exceptionally high-quality audio. This one uses an aluminum alloy frame to provide a rigid case that resists electrical noise and other interference The NW-WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2 will be available in select countries throug...

MadManga announces its first-ever NFT (non-fungible token) collection, including an epic story rollout where manga characters are born from manga-charged “FOMO stones” and break free in a parallel universe. MadManga is an international co-op with derived talent from Silicon Valley, Disney, and Warner Bros., including specialists in manga, anime, copyrights, exhibition, curation, gaming, and tech backgrounds. The luxury fashion space has seen a recent rise in NFTs, with consumers shifting their purchasing power to collectible digital tokens. As a virtual artifact, NFTs present a unique opportunity for consumers to interconnect with the rapidly evolving digital landscape of blockchain technology and the contemporary creatives spearheading digital art. With this in mind, MadManga houses its N...

A welcome trend is well underway in the realm of gaming laptops: some of them are getting smaller. The latest company to get on board with this is Alienware and its new X14. This is a thin 14-inch gaming laptop that’s completely different from anything else that the company offers. There’s now something on Alienware’s menu for people who still see gaming as the main course yet also hold portability in high regard. It’s not an oversimplification to say that the X14 is basically a shrunken version of the company’s larger, pricier, and more powerful 15-inch X15. It’s thinner, lighter, and, as you might expect, far less powerful. As expected, Alienware made some compromises to fit everything into a smaller chassis. The X14 has fewer ports, and some of the futuristic (albeit divisive) RGB LEDs ...