Talking Tech

Thu Jul 27 2023

Brett Molina | Consumer Tech Reporter

@brettmolina23

Can you believe it is the final Thursday in July? Yes, Talking Tech readers, this year is moving quickly. It's Brett Molina trying not to melt in scorching heat as I bring you the top headlines in tech.

Let's start with Twitter. Scratch that, it's not called Twitter anymore. It's X now.

Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform, formally ditched Twitter's classic blue bird logo in favor of the X. If you visit the website, you'll spot the X in the top left corner (although the blue bird is still flying high in the app, for now).

Musk's fascination with X is nothing new. In 1999, Musk founded an online financial services company called X.com. You may know it now as PayPal. And of course there's his aerospace company SpaceX.

So if Twitter is now X, what are tweets called? According to Musk, they should be called Xs. Some users have taken to calling them "xeets" (likely pronounced "zeets").

Whether X or "xeets" or whatever other branding update catches on remains to be seen. One thing is clear: The chaos never stops at the social media platform.

What else happened in tech?

The return of flip phones? Samsung Galaxy Z's Flip5 and Fold5 test that theory.

Facebook may owe you money: You may get cash from user privacy settlement.

Attention Taylor Swift fans: You can find your top 5 eras with new Spotify feature.

Thursday tech tip

Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you shouldn't practice smart tech hygiene. Follow these 10 tips to keep your devices and online accounts safe.

One more thing

Maybe we've gone too far on national food days. On Aug. 5, it's National Mustard Day. In its honor, French's is going to release limited edition mustard-flavored Skittles. I love Skittles, but not this much.

Stay cool, readers. See you next week.