The Morning After: Meta could launch a Twitter competitor next month
The decentralized app may use your existing Instagram accounts.
Meta has long been rumored to be building a platform to rival Twitter. After months of speculation, there are finally some details on how it might turn out, according to digital media marketing expert Lia Haberman, who has heard about the app through content creators approached by Meta.
Haberman says the app could launch as early as the end of June, branded as Instagram’s text-based spin-off. The decentralized app is said to work with current Instagram parameters, like usernames and passwords. So if you already have an Instagram account, you should be able to sign right up and automatically sync with your current followers. Your handle, bio and verification should all carry over from IG. Haberman says even blocked Instagram accounts and hidden words transfer to the new platform.
It appears to be very Twitter-like, with its own versions of likes, replies and reposts.
– Mat Smith
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Disney’s pricey immersive Star Wars hotel is shutting down
It was $1,200 per person per night.
Less than 19 months after opening Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Disney will close the hotel's doors. Star Wars fans willing to splurge have until the end of September to try the two-night experience. As a reminder, a two-night stay for two people at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser starts at $4,800. For a group of three adults and one child, the rate is $6,000.
The hotel opened at Walt Disney World in Florida in March 2022, and it promised fans a one-of-a-kind jaunt. Guests live out a Star Wars story. They choose to join the light side or the dark side, then, as passengers on a starcruiser, they encounter a First Order officer and stormtroopers, who board the ship to find Resistance spies. Disney told CNBC it “will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”
NASA picks Blue Origin to build the Artemis V Moon landing system
But it’s not the only company involved in future Moon landings.
NASA has chosen Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin for its third crewed Artemis Moon landing. The company will build the landing system for Artemis V, which is currently set to launch in September 2029. While they didn't mention the choice of vehicle, the company is already working on a Blue Moon lander. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Draper are among those involved in the NASA project. The space agency has already chosen SpaceX's Starship for the first (Artemis III) and second (Artemis IV) human landings.
All the big tech accessibility-related products announced last week
In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
For Global Accessibility Awareness Day or GAAD last week, major tech companies are taking this week as a chance to share their latest accessibility products. This includes major products like iOS 16 and the latest game controllers for the PS5. Engadget’s Cherlynn Low rounds up the biggest announcements and products.
Apple rejected 1,679,694 App Store submissions in 2022
So many third-party chatbot apps?
Apple has published an App Store transparency report. It reveals several interesting tidbits about the App Store, including that, as of 2022, there were 1,783,232 apps on the storefront. Apple also says it rejected 1,679,694 submissions last year, out of 6,101,913 submissions. It’s the first report published on the App Store and forms part of the company’s $100 million settlement with App Store developers.
