Tech
Surprise? Meta is testing video ads on Threads

If you scroll through Threads and think the only thing that could make the experience more enjoyable is video ads, I have some excellent news for you.
Meta announced at IAB NewFronts, an industry event for social media companies and advertisers, that it will start testing video ads on Threads. Meta began testing other ads earlier this year.
"We’re testing video ads on Threads so businesses can expand their reach and engage with their audience in a familiar way across multiple platforms," Meta wrote in its blog post about the new changes. The company also announced it would be testing Reels trending ads and adding creator marketing solutions on Facebook and Instagram.
The social media giant has been leaning into short-form video as a quick and effective way to catch users' attention, so it's not entirely surprising that they would add this kind of ad into Threads. After all, we have video ads on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
"We recently expanded ads in Threads to all eligible advertisers globally," Meta wrote in its blog post. "Soon, a small number of advertisers will test 16:9 or 1:1 video ad creative delivered in between pieces of organic content in Threads feed to offer businesses a new way to engage with their audience."
This comes just a week after Meta announced at its earnings call that Threads now has 350 million monthly active users and that users on Threads have increased their time spent on the app by 35 percent. A Meta spokesperson told Social Media Today that Threads is "on track to be Meta’s next major social app."
Tech
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card

SAVE $50: As of Aug. 6, buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 for $349.99 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card.
A good smartwatch can be your constant companion when it comes to handling your day. It can track your fitness, handle notifications and texts, and even help you make calls, all while giving you a full spectrum of body-centric metrics. If you're already using an Android phone or want a reliable brand for your purchase, you should consider heading to Best Buy to grab a Samsung smartwatch and get a little extra.
As of Aug. 6, buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 for $349.99 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card.
The 2025 Galaxy Watch8 has a slew of features, including Google Gemini integration, something Samsung managed to get before Google could implement in its Pixel Watch lineup. It also has a wide variety of health and fitness options, including preset workout data, sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and much more to help you make sure you can face the day at your best.
Beyond those things, the Galaxy Watch8 also lets you handle comms straight from your wrist so you can make calls, text, use some of your favorite apps, and organize your life. Your personal AI assistant is voice-activated as well, so it can help you get things done even when your hands are busy.
Tech
A key YouTube feature broke for Android users

You'd think Android and YouTube would work together flawlessly, but early this week, that wasn't the case.
As reported and confirmed by 9to5Google, YouTube users on Android devices couldn't change the playback speed on videos. Changing the speed to anything other than 1x would simply not work, as the setting change wouldn't save, acting as if you hadn't done it at all. Obviously, that's not a great user experience, considering that Android and YouTube are both Google's responsibility. It seems a bit strange for Android users specifically to lose access to a core YouTube feature, but that's what happened.
Thankfully, it seems that as of Wednesday morning, the issue has been fixed, per a YouTube community note. The note states that any users still experiencing the issue should simply close and reopen the app. Hopefully, by doing that, you can fix the problem and get back to frame-by-frame analysis of movie trailers at 0.25x speed.
For once, it paid off to use a Google app on iOS instead.
Tech
Him trailer: Producer Jordan Peele turns football practice into a bloodbath

On top of directing horror hits Get Out, Us, and Nope, Jordan Peele has produced several exciting genre projects, from Dev Patel's Monkey Man to Nia DaCosta's Candyman, which he also co-wrote. Next up on his production slate is the football horror film Him, directed by Justin Tipping.
Co-written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers, and Tipping, Him introduces promising young football star Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers). Not only does Withers have acting experience from projects like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Atlanta, he was also part of Florida State University's 2017 football team as a wide receiver. Hopefully his experience playing was nothing like Cameron's in Him, though, because the trailer makes it out to be a full-on nightmare.
After suffering a traumatic brain injury at the hands of an unhinged fan, Cameron thinks his football dream is dead. But when his hero, legendary quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), offers to train him at his personal compound, he's excited to accept.
However, Isaiah's training methods are far more violent than Cameron realized. (And football is already pretty violent!) We're talking smashing footballs into players' faces until they bleed as punishment.
But that's just the start of the horrors that await in Him, which demands that Cameron sacrifice everything to be the GOAT he so badly wants to be. Check out the unsettling trailer above.
Him also stars Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, and MMA fighter Maurice Greene, as well as hip-hop artists Guapdad 4000 and Tierra Whack.
Him hits theaters Sept. 19.
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