Bluesound is a brand that aims to go head to head with Sonos, and generally does so with great success. Much like that company, Bluesound’s product lineup consists of a range of wireless speakers, soundbars, and subwoofers, along with amplifiers that can be used to bring wireless streaming to any old speakers.
The latest wireless speaker to arrive from Bluesound is the Pulse M ($449 / £449 / €549 / around AU$700), which at first glance looks like a somewhat beefier Sonos One. Similar to that model, the Pulse M is a compact standalone speaker with high-res streaming capability that can be paired wirelessly with a second Pulse M for stereo listening, It can also be mated with a wireless subwoofer for extended bass, or used as a surround speaker in a full 5.1 system with one of the company’s soundbars.
Specs-wise, the Pulse M appears to have more going on than the Sonos One, which currently sits at the top of our list of the best wireless speakers. Aside from being slightly larger at 6.7 x 8 x 5.9 inches (W x H x D), Bluesound’s somewhat cylindrical new speaker has a more intricate “Omni-Hybrid” design that mates a 5.25-inch woofer with a pair of 0.75-inch tweeters that are offset from each other at a 45-degree angle.
The Pulse M’s design also incorporates an acoustic reflector that serves to radiate high-frequency sound in a 360-degree pattern. The aim here is to deliver a wide, immersive presentation from a single speaker, with an 80-watt DSP “smart” amplifier working to monitor performance in real time to enhance dynamic range and reduce distortion.
Beyond all that, the Pulse M, which is available in a satin white or black finish with a matching fabric grille, is controlled by the company’s excellent BluOS app and can stream music from a wide range of services via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or AirPlay 2. MQA decoding is onboard to handle high-res audio from Tidal, and there’s also two-way aptX HD Bluetooth support.
Hardwired inputs are extensive for a compact wireless speaker: along with Ethernet USB type-A ports, the Pulse M has a combination optical digital and analog audio input, and there’s also a 3.5mm output for connecting wired headphones to luxuriate in high-res audio goodness.
A pair of Bluesound Pulse M speakers used as wireless surrounds in a 5.1 home theater system.(Image credit: Bluesound)
Analysis: More than One
With its innovative 360 degree sound-spreading design, the Pulse M seems perhaps less interested in taking on the Sonos One than the Sonos Five, another high-ranking model on our best wireless speakers list. Same as with the Pulse M, that Sonos model is designed to deliver a wide soundstage and to fill the room with as much high-quality audio as possible from a reasonably compact package.
Another thing that the Pulse M and the Sonos Five share in common is a lack of onboard microphones for voice control: you can use Siri, Google, or Alexa commands to operate the Pulse M, but you’ll need to use outboard hardware – an Amazon Echo Dot speaker, for instance – to make that happen.
The Pulse M is priced quite a bit lower than the Sonos Five ($549 / £499 / AU$799), making it a more appealing option for an all-in-one speaker, at least from a cost standpoint. But the big question remains of whether or not it provides a sufficiently beefy performance boost over the more affordable Sonos One ($219 / £199 / AU$319) to justify the price jump.
There’s only one way to find that out, and it’s a hands-on review of the Pulse M, which we hope to provide in the near future. Until that happens, check out our best wireless speaker guide to read about other options, and also our Black Friday 2022 guide, which features many other great audio and video product deals.
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Microsoft's has not offered any remedies to EU antitrust regulators reviewing its proposed $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,71,400 crore) bid for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard ahead of an expected full-scale EU probe, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday. The US software company is betting on the acquisition to help it compete better with leaders Tenc...
The Raspberry Robin malware is being used to deliver all kinds of destructive code, including ransomware, to compromised endpoints, Microsoft has warned.
It seems the malware, first discovered late in 2021, and whose endgame was unknown at the time, transformed into an infection service available to anyone with cash to pay.
Cybersecurity researchers from Microsoft have published a detailed blog post in which they describe Raspberry Robin as “part of a complex and interconnected malware ecosystem”, with links to other malware families and alternate infection methods.
Infection for hire
Whoever is behind Raspberry Robin kept busy over these last couple of weeks, as according to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint data, almost 3,000 devices in 1,000 organizations have experienced at least one Raspberry Robin payload-related alert in the last 30 days.
Payloads differ, the company further explained, from FakeUpdates malware which led to possible EvilCorp activity, to IceID, Bumblebee, and Truebot. This is all July 2022.
In October 2022, though, Microsoft also spotted Raspberry Robin being used by FIN11 (AKA TA505, - the group behind the Dridex banking trojan and Locky ransomware). This activity led to Cobalt Strike hands-on-keyboard compromises, the company explained, sometimes with a Truebot infection in between the Raspberry Robin and Cobalt Strike stages. Following the Cobalt Strike beacon, the group deployed the Clop ransomware.
All things considered, Microsoft concluded that the group behind Raspberry Robin is taking payments to deploy various malware and ransomware to its victims’ endpoints.
“Given the interconnected nature of the cybercriminal economy, it’s possible that the actors behind these Raspberry Robin-related malware campaigns—usually distributed through other means like malicious ads or email—are paying the Raspberry Robin operators for malware installs,” the report concludes.
Raspberry Robin was first identified when researchers from Red Canary discovered a “cluster of malicious activity”. The malware is usually distributed offline, via infected USB drives. After analyzing an infected thumb drive, the researchers discovered that the worm spreads to new devices via a malicious .LNK file.
Google is rolling out Version 107 of its Chrome browser which adds a variety of under-the-hood additions and makes some important tweaks to better protect you on the internet.
Because of the 14 individual security fixes included in Chrome 107, we strongly recommend that you download the update as soon as it’s available to you. The most important one revolves around a zero-day vulnerability called CVE-2022-3723. It's a Type Confusion flaw affecting Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. As it’s described by cybersecurity company Avertium, the flaw allows bad actors to “trick” the browser into running malware and making users think it’s legitimate data.
Avertium states that while Chrome V8 engine attacks are uncommon, they are among the most dangerous. And it appears this is the third time Google has patched a Type Confusion bug this year. One occurred back in March and the other in April.
As for the rest of the security patch, things aren’t as severe. You see fixes for data validation and for browser extensions. But considering there are billions of Chrome users, there are a lot of avenues for bad actors to use. We repeat: update the browser.
New tools
The rest of the update is more focused on future-proofing Chrome. HEVC (High Efficient Video Coding) is now partially supported on the browser. Also known as H.265, HEVC is a codec that more efficiently compresses files to speed up download times. It's more commonly seen on electronic devices. With this update, Chrome joins Safari and Microsoft Edge as the only major web browsers with HEVC support.
Video conferencing tools are also seeing a few changes to make them more user-friendly. Developers of these tools can now include a button allowing people to switch between tabs whenever they’re screen sharing. It’s essentially a type of hotkey to save you from having to dig through a mass of tabs. Chrome 107 will also alert you if you share the same tab that you’re video conferencing from. Doing so causes a “hall of mirrors” effect, according to the patch notes.
Other reports claim additional features are present in the update, but we couldn’t find them. Android Police states Chrome now has the ability to import passwords from an external password manager or other browsers. And apparently, the media picker for Chrome 107 on Android has been updated. We reached out to Google to see if this is true, as well as if there are other hidden features. This story will be updated if we hear back.
Availability
You can download the update by going to "About Google Chrome" in the browser menu to automatically install it. Despite the slew of security fixes in the update, Google still has its work cut out. Recent reports claim that 300 new security vulnerabilities were discovered in Chrome this year alone. It’s possible there could be another high-severity Type Confusion bug in there waiting to be discovered.
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange that has invested $500 million into Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter, is creating a team to work on how blockchain and crypto could be helpful to Twitter, the company's spokesperson said on Friday. As one of Elon Musk's equity co-investors to fund his $44 billion (nearly Rs. 3,62,300 crore) deal, Binance said it will brainstor...
The metaverse could be used not just to facilitate crime in the physical realm, but could also be used for various other dangerous forms of cybercrime, as well, a new warning from Interpol has warned.
Interpol’s executive director for technology and innovation, Madan Oberoi, explained that member countries are growing increasingly concerned about possible metaverse crime and are already coming up with possible remedies.
There are multiple ways the metaverse could be abused for crime, he said: "Some of the crimes may be new to this medium, some of the existing crimes will be enabled by the medium and taken to a new level."
Phishing evolved
One of the most popular fraud methods - phishing - could take on a whole new meaning when virtual reality and augmented reality are thrown into the mix, Oberoi stated. What’s more, the question of child safety cannot be understated.
There are also ways for threat actors to use virtual realities to plan and practice future physical attacks: "If terror group wants to attack a physical space they may use this space to plan and simulate and launch their exercises before attacking."
Many games come with map-making ability, and with virtual reality, criminals could be able to explore specific locations with frightening detail.
Europe’s Interpol counterpart - Europol - says it is also on track to tackle future crime, and recently warned that if the metaverse uses blockchain technology to record user interaction, it might be possible to “follow everything someone does based on one interaction with them - providing valuable information for stalkers or extortionists."
Blockchain, the technology that underlines bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, stores data in a decentralized ledger which makes it immutable and incorruptable.
Microsoft keeps a list of old and vulnerable drivers, which threat actors can use to sneak viruses, ransomware, and other malware into endpoints of their choosing.
However, the last update was in 2019 - until now. After two years of sitting idly, the list has finally been updated - but not for all Windows users at once, though.
In an announcement published on the company blog, Microsoft said that the blocklist used by the hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) tool will, from now on, be updated once or twice a year.
More ways to update
“The blocklist is updated with each new major release of Windows, typically 1-2 times per year, including most recently with the Windows 11 2022 update released in September 2022,” Microsoft said. “The most current blocklist is now also available for Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 11 21H2 users as an optional update from Windows Update. Microsoft will occasionally publish future updates through regular Windows servicing.”
Users who always want the latest update to the driver blocklist can use Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) to apply the latest blocklist, the company further stated. For the sake of convenience, the company provided a download of the most up-to-date vulnerable driver blocklist, as well as instructions on how to apply it, found here.
Microsoft has been getting a lot of criticism lately for the lack of updates to the vulnerable driver blocklist - mainly because the number of attacks using this method skyrocketed.
The method is called Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD), and it’s quite a simple thing: a threat actor would trick a victim, usually through social engineering or phishing, into downloading a Windows driver that’s known for being faulty.
Being a signed driver, it doesn’t trigger any antivirus or endpoint protection services alarms. It just installs like any other non-malicious thing. The driver, being flawed, gives the hackers access to the device, which they can later use for any other attack they see fit - ransomware, botnets, data exfiltration, etc.
Global police agency Interpol said it was preparing for the risk that online immersive environments — the "metaverse" — could create new kinds of cybercrime and allow existing crime to take place on a larger scale. Interpol's member countries have raised concerns about how to prepare for possible metaverse crime, Madan Oberoi, Interpol's executive director for te...
It's almost November which means Christmas sales will be here before you know it, with deals from Amazon, Walmart, and Target on best-selling items like TVs, vacuums, AirPods, air fryers, and more. The Christmas sales event is an excellent opportunity to score a holiday gift at a record-low price so you can cross someone off your holiday shopping list and save money.
We've created this guide to bring you this year's best Christmas sales and stand-out deals. We'll be scouring all your favorite retailers to bring you the best offers and bargains on everything from tech gadgets, home appliances, clothing, toys, beauty items, and more.
Christmas sales typically begin right after the upcoming Black Friday deals event, with promotions launching the day after Cyber Monday on November 29. Christmas sales will run right up to Christmas Eve for last-minute shoppers, and then after Christmas, sales will kick off on December 26.
We'll update this guide as soon as offers begin to launch, so make sure to bookmark this page for all the best Christmas sales.
When do Christmas sales start?
We expect Christmas sales to start as soon as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales end, which will be on Monday, November 28. Retailers want to extend the holiday shopping season with leftover deals from Black Friday and roll them into Christmas sales.
Christmas sales will run up until Christmas Eve, and then retailers will begin their after-Christmas sales on December 26.
What are the best Christmas sales
The best Christmas sales are from retailers offering a wide variety of categories, like Amazon, so that you can do all your holiday shopping in one place. Amazon's Christmas sales also offer impressive discounts and fast shipping, so you can grab record-low prices and last-minute gifts on tech gadgets, home appliances, clothing, toys, smart home devices, and more.
Walmart is another favorite retailer for Christmas sales with deals throughout its site, plus you can always order online and pick up in-store if you live close to the retailer. Target, Overstock, and Wayfair are also favorites for Christmas sales, and if you're after tech gadgets, Best Buy and Dell offer fantastic deals throughout the month of December.
Last year's best Christmas sales
Taking a look back at last year's Christmas sales can give us a good idea of what deals we can expect to see. You'll find our top picks below which included cheap TVs, AirPods, workout equipment, and mattresses to name a few.
Fitbit Sense:$299.95$190 at Amazon
Save $110 - Amazon has the Fitbit Sense on sale for a record-low price of $190 when you apply the additional $10 savings at checkout. The Fitbit Sense goes beyond everyday activity tracking to offer additional stress, skin temperature, and heart monitoring for a more holistic understanding of your health and fitness.View Deal
Ninja Professional 1000-Watt Blender:$87$69 at Walmart
Save $18 - Start off the new year with this top-rated blender from Ninja on sale for $69 at Walmart. The 1000-Watt blender features a full 72 ounce XL pitcher which is perfect for making large batches of margaritas, daiquiris, shakes, and smoothies.View Deal
Samsung 55-inch 4K Smart TV:$499$398 at Walmart
Save $100 – If you're looking for a mid-size TV deal, Walmart has the Samsung 55-inch 4K TV on sale for just $398. You're getting a stunning 4K Crystal display and smart capabilities, so you can easily stream all your favorite movies and TV shows from apps like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and more.View Deal
YnM Weighted Blanket:$49.80$39.80 at Amazon
Save $10 - Amazon has the top-rated YnM blanket on sale for $39.80 when you apply the additional $10 coupon at checkout. With over 44,000 positive user reviews on Amazon - it averages 4.6 out of 5 stars - it's incredibly popular. It's made from seven different layers, which contour to the shape of your body for a peaceful night's rest. View Deal
Eufy Smart Scale C1:$32.99$22.99 at Amazon
Save $5 - Get the Eufy smart scale on sale for $22.99 at Amazon. The Eufy Smart Scale C1 can measure your body's body fat ratio, BMI, bone mass, muscle mass, as well as your weight and gives you a more detailed way of checking in with your health and what that number on the scales actually means.View Deal
DEWALT 20V Max Cordless Drill Combo Kit:$999$599 at Amazon
Save $400 - Amazon is offering a massive $400 discount on this Dewalt Max cordless drill combo kit bringing the price down to $599. You're getting over ten tools, including; drill/driver, impact driver, blower, light, Bluetooth speaker, oscillating tool, grinder, circ saw, recipe saw, and a charger.View Deal
SuperFit 2 in 1 Folding Treadmill:$559.99$299.99 at Walmart
Save $260 - Walmart is offering a massive $260 discount on this handy folding treadmill from SuperFit. The 2 in 1 treadmill features a compact and foldable design and includes two sport modes that can be used as a running treadmill and an under-desk walking treadmill.View Deal
All-new Apple AirPods Pro:$249$197 at Amazon
Save $53 - Amazon has Apple's best-selling AirPods Pro in stock and on sale for $197. While we saw the earbuds drop to $159 over Black Friday, this is the best deal you'll find on these now. The all-new AirPods Pro includes a MagSafe Charging Case alongside the classic AirPods.View Deal
Beckham Hotel Collection Bed Pillows for Sleeping:$49.99$29.99 at Amazon
Save $20 - Another great idea, these top-rated pillows were a top-seller at this year's Black Friday sale and the queen-size pillow set is currently on sale for $29.99 when you apply the additional 40% coupon at checkout. With over 149,000 positive reviews, who wouldn't pass up that price?View Deal
Apple Watch 7 (41mm, GPS):$399.99$349 at Amazon
Save $50 - The Apple Watch is always a best-seller during the holidays and Amazon has the all-new Series 7 on sale for $349 - just $10 more than the record-low price. The smartwatch has a 20% larger screen than the Apple Watch 6, plus more tracking and color options, and faster charging.View Deal
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones:$349.99$299.99 at Best Buy
Save $50 - Hands-down the best headphones on the market, these XM4s deliver class-leading noise cancellation, audio upscaling, superior comfort, and a sleek design. While they're certainly not cheap, this is the best price you can find right now, so they're definitely worth considering.View Deal
Instant Vortex Plus 7-in-1 Air Fryer Oven:$139.95$99.95 at Amazon Save $40 - Amazon has knocked $40 off the cost of this air fryer oven, which has a pull-down door and can hold two trays of food at the same time. While this isn’t the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this air fryer – it dropped as low as $69.95 on Black Friday – it’s still very good value, and we suggest you grab this deal while it’s available.View Deal
Insignia 70-inch 4K UHD Smart Fire TV:$749.99$549.99 at Best Buy
Save $200 - Best Buy has this 70-inch 4K TV from Insignia on sale for just $549.99. The Insignia set packs 4K Ultra HD resolution, DTS Studio Sound, and features the Fire OS for seamless streaming and a handy Alexa voice remote - all for under $600, which is an incredible value.View Deal
Nectar Memory Foam mattress: from $798 $499 + $399 free gifts at Nectar Sleep
Editor's choice - If you want to start the year off with a new mattress, Nectar's memory foam sits at number two in our mattress rankings and is exceptional value for money. It's extremely competitively priced, with a queen down from $1,298 to $799, and you'll get two free cooling pillows, sheets, and a mattress protector worth $399 added to your order. There's also a year-long risk-free trial to decide whether you like it, and a forever warranty.View Deal
The latest version of the programming language Python, 3.11 has been unveiled, with its development team claiming that the new edition might just be the best yet.
In the release notes, Pablo Galindo Salgado, Python Steering Council member and the release manager for the current version, alongside fellow team members Steve Dower and Ned Deily, wrote the team has “put a lot of effort into making 3.11 the best version of Python possible”.
They also listed the keynote improvements in Python 3.11: “better tracebacks”, “faster Python”, “exception groups and except*”, in addition to offering various improvements to typing.
Python 3.11's latest improvements
The Python release team claimed in the release notes that Python 3.11 “is up to 10-60 percent faster than Python 3.10”, and reported measuring 1.22x speedups on average, courtesy of the Faster CPython Project.
Though it is worth pointing out this likely only applies to pure Python code, and Python itself has never been the fastest programming language out there, that’s still impressive.
Several Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs) promise to offer more concrete quality of life improvements.
PEP 657, for example, will introduce more detailed error reports for tracebacks - reports detailing function calls within a python script, making debugging that much more straightforward. PEP 680, meanwhile, means that Python will be able to parse TOML files, commonly used for configuration files without the need for an external library.
However, as The Register reports, PYC files compiled by the Python interpreter are now, on average, 22% larger, and while the Python team stand by the change, they have issued an opt-out, in the form of “PYTHONNODEBUGRANGES”, a new environmental variable.
PEP 654, on the other hand, allows for handling several exceptions at once with the introduction of exception groups and the new except* syntax.
Python 3.11 should also encourage developers to use data types more, thanks to some new features, and more subtle changes that give developers more control in the backend.
Perhaps the best illustration of this is PEP 675, which allows users to declare arbitrary string types, but there’s also PEP 673 (the Self Type), an intuitive way to annotate methods that return instances of the same class. Finally, PEP 646 (Variadic Generics), allowing generics to store several types at once for assignment to objects later.
Apple's new iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island is now just a little more dynamic. iOS 16.1, which officially dropped on millions of iPhones this week, brought with it new gesture controls to Apple's innovative notch replacement.
Available only on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the Dynamic Island not only moved the True Depth Module down from the iPhone's top edge, but it also created a fungible island of functionality. From a technical perspective, the Dynamic Island is actually two Super Retina Display XDR screen cutouts, one pill-shaped and the other wider and more cylindrical. Apple cannily uses the small bits of pixels between the two shapes to create what appears to be a lively and fully dynamic digital island.
Inside the Dynamic island are activity symbols to indicate if, for instance, your phone is locked, playing music, or delivering Map-based directions. It can appear to expand to offer more map details or conduct a Face ID scan. In other words, the Island, which also supports third-party apps, is designed to be many things to many people.
(Image credit: Future)
In iOS 16.1 it gets another trick. The Dynamic Island is already capable of displaying two running apps at once, but they generally sit as two distinct islands with home screen pixels separating them. Now, with a gesture, you can easily hide one activity. Apple confirmed that this feature, which first appeared in iOS 16.1 beta is now part of the public download.
For example, we launched Apple Music and started playing a song, then switched to Maps and set the navigation for home. On the home screen, the Dynamic Island displayed these activities in two separate, for lack of a better word, islands. If we place a finger on, for instance, the smaller music island and swipe to the left the music island is hidden, and we have just one original-sized Dynamic Island running our Map directions.
Another quick left swipe on the far left side of the Dynamic Island unhides the music app, which ends up back on its own tiny island on the right.
Granted, it's a small change, but also an indication that Apple views the Dynamic Island, which already responds to taps, as a platform on which it can build a world of interaction.
We like the control and look forward to more.
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Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that the new data protection bill will be "very simple and modern". He said the right to privacy and data protection are fundamental rights in India and the data protection bill will be very progressive in recognising and enshrining these rights. The new personal data protection...
Minister of State For Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said he has spoken to Apple on reports of stores in the national capital running out of stock of the firm's latest phone offering iPhone14 Pro. The minister also said there has been a surge in demand for iPhone 14 Pro and Apple is addressing the supply constraints.
Microsoft has released its Windows Dev Kit 2023 (formerly known as Project Volterra) on general sale.
The device promises a compact all-in-one workstation for natively building, running and testing Windows apps, and faster artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads, owing to the new Neural Processing Unit (NPU).
The announcement follows its initial tease at Microsoft Build 2022, where the company outlined its vision for the new development kit, as well an Arm-native toolchain to keep application development local to a single device.
It’s delivered there, too. Previews of arm-native versions of Visual Studio 2022, the Windows App software development kit (SDK), and the VC++ Runtime are available now, while the .NET Framework 4.8.1 for Arm has been released with Windows 11’s 2022 update.
In addition, the .NET 7 toolchain, which claims to offer functional parity for ARM against x64 architecture, is now also available in preview, while Microsoft's Azure virtual machines (VMs) and Arm64EC are publicly available now, ensuring that development and app testing are now seamless.
Arm64EC offers a way to integrate native Arm code with x64 code as part of the same process. One potential use-case for this might be to gradually transition x64 apps to Arm architecture, rather than invest time in developing solely for one platform.
Visual Studio 2022 on Arm, which has been in monthly previews since July, now supports Desktop workloads, Windows SDK and Windows App SDK components (Win UI), and Web, Universal Windows Platform (UWP), Node.js and game development workloads.
And just to make sure users never feel the need to step away from their dev kits, several creativity, video conferencing, security, and benchmarking solutions have all been ported to Arm devices. There are a lot of names here, like Adobe, Zoom, Sophos, Cisco, PassMark - and Microsoft claim even more are on the way.
The hardware itself is exciting, too. As well as what was mentioned above, the device sports 32 GB LPDDR4x RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD fast storage, plus three USB-A, two USB-C port, and a Mini Display port for maximum device compatibility.
A major malvertising campaign has been discovered hijacking people’s internet searches, and adding affiliate links to websites.
According to the researchers that spotted the campaign, the developers generate plenty of income through affiliate commissions and search data sales.
Experts from Guardio Labs recently discovered as many as 30 browser extensions for both Chrome and Edge, active since at least mid-October 2020, and having been downloaded more than a million times.
Dormant Colors
When victims visit different sites offering video downloading services, they’re first forced to download the extension, in order to continue with the download, the researchers found.
The extension offers color customization options and comes with no malicious code, it was said, allowing it to pass antivirus scans. This is also why the researchers decided to dub the campaign “Dormant Colors”. However, after installation, the extension will redirect the user to a webpage that side-loads malicious scripts that tell the extension how to hijack search results and add affiliate links.
The extension would be instructed to return search results for queries from sites affiliated with the developers, that way generating income from ad impressions and search data sales.
What’s more, it comes with a redirect list of roughly 10,000 websites. Should the victim try to visit any of those sites, they would be redirected to it - but through a link with an affiliate link. As a result, any purchase made on those sites would earn the developers commission.
While the campaign might come off as a nuisance, it’s not exactly damaging to the victims and doesn’t steal money directly from their pockets. However, researchers are warning that the same methodology could be used to steal sensitive information, or login credentials, from the targets.
By redirecting the users to a phishing site, the attackers could obtain Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace passwords, and details from banking sites, or social media platforms.
The new ATSC 3.0 digital TV broadcasting standard (aka NEXTGEN TV) that’s been made available in an increasing number of US cities continues its steady growth trajectory, with stations in 50-plus markets and reaching 55 percent of households now having been upgraded from the ATSC 1.0 standard.
ATSC 3.0 tuners can be found in select sets sold in the US dating back to 2020, with some of the best 4K TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, and Hisense all providing the feature. The benefits that ATSC 3.0 brings over the older digital high-definition TV standard include 4K resolution high dynamic range video, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio, and Dolby dialogue enhancement and volume levelling features. Also, since it’s IP-based, two-way data-streaming is supported to bring an interactive component to TV shows and sports.
Because it’s broadcast TV with ads, those new features will come free – all you have to do is connect one of the best indoor TV antennas to your ATSC 3.0-compatible set.
But what if your current TV doesn’t have a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner? Stations that transition to the new broadcasting standard are required to “simulcast” in ATSC 1.0 for at least five years after making the switch. Also, set-top DVRs with ATSC 3.0 tuners that that let you receive and record TV broadcasts and connect to your TV’s HDMI input are available from companies like Tablo. But at around $150, Tablo’s DVR is pricey, and not everyone wants to make TiVo-type recordings of TV broadcasts.
That’s where Pearl TV comes in. The coalition of broadcast TV companies, which counts more than 820 stations among its members, has just announced a FastTrack program to “accelerate development and retail availability of low-cost upgrade accessory receivers.”
The FastTrack initiative was announced last week at the NAB Show New York trade conference run by the National Association of Broadcasters. Noting that the ATSC 3.0 standard is not backward compatible and that 91 percent of US households currently have a TV with an HDMI input but no ATSC 3.0 tuner, Pearl TV’s release makes clear the group’s intent “to provide support to manufacturers interested in making devices that support the full NEXTGEN TV service feature set.”
The devices the group presumably has in mind will be basic set-top or stick-type external tuners that connect to an antenna and can be sold at an affordable price. Such a device would give ATSC 3.0 an opportunity to advance over the next few years as TVs with built-in next-gen tuners become more widely available. (The Pearl TV release also states that “more than 75% of all televisions sold are expected to be available with dual HDTV and NEXTGEN TV reception” by 2024.)
US map showing cities with existing and planned ATSC 3.0 TV broadcast stations as of October 2022.(Image credit: Pearl TV)
Analysis: Free TV gets a much-needed upgrade with ATSC 3.0
With most streaming services now offering shows and movies in 4K/HDR, regular broadcast TV is starting to look long in the tooth. Yes, when digital high-definition TV first arrived back in the late 1990s, it was an exciting and very welcome advancement over analog broadcasting with its low resolution and reception challenges. But 20-plus years have passed, and there have been a wide range of technical advancements in TV technology over that time.
The main ones are 4K and HDR, both of which work to greatly expand the detail level, color gamut, and visual dynamic range of video images. Both have been readily available to viewers going back to 2016, and are now seen as commonplace.
Immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos are also available on streaming services, and owners of the best soundbars expect to experience soundtracks in the new, object-based format when watching movies and shows on their TVs.
As for the interactive component of ATSC 3.0, the benefits there are still to be explored, but services like Amazon Prime have started to make interactive features available with its Thursday Night Football streams that show extended stats and other fan-servicing extra content. Sports are a huge draw for broadcast TV, so as more streamers make interactive features available – and they most certainly will – broadcasters will start to appear well out of step.
Of course, all of these broadcast TV shortcomings can be fixed by making ATSC 3.0 widely available, as well as cheaply implemented in sets that lack a next-gen TV tuner. Pearl TV’s FastTrack program is a welcome step in that direction, and one that could greatly speed up the new standard’s success.
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An enormous malware distribution campaign has been detected leveraging more than 200 malicious domains and impersonating more than two dozen global brands to distribute all kinds of malware for both Android and Windows operating systems.
Cybersecurity researchers from Cyble first spotted the campaign seeking to distribute various malware among Android users.
In the campaign, the unknown threat actors set up countless domains that seem almost identical to real domains belonging to major brands such as PayPal, SnapChat, TikTok, and others. The domains only have a single character that’s different, that’s missing, or that’s extra.
Android and Windows users attacked
This type of fraud is usually called “typosquatting” and it’s used in all kinds of attacks, for example, on GitHub, where attackers create repositories with names almost identical to legitimate repositories, to try and distribute malware.
BleepingComputer then expanded on this research to find numerous other domains distributing malware among Windows users, as well. The exact advertisement method for these domains is unknown, but the publication suggests it’s either the victims themselves mistyping the domains on their devices, or threat actors engaging in phishing and other forms of social engineering. We shouldn’t forget SEO poisoning, though.
It was also determined that the threat actors used this big typosquatting campaign to deliver all kinds of malware. In some cases, they were distributing the Vidar Stealer, and in other - Agent Tesla. Vidar is capable of stealing banking information, stored passwords, browser history, IP addresses, details about cryptocurrency wallets and, in some cases, MFA information, as well. Agent Tesla, first discovered some eight years ago, is capable of stealing credentials from many popular apps including web browsers, VPN software and FTP and email clients.
The researchers believe the threat actors are currently experimenting with different malware variants until they see what works best. Besides malware, the researchers also found the ethersmine[.]com website which tries to steal seed phrases for people’s Ethereum wallets.
This year, the cost of everything from food to fuel to travel has been skyrocketing up, up, and up. You can now add prices for your Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscriptions to that list.
As posted on 9to5Mac, the company has quietly raised the price of an individual monthly subscription to Apple Music from $9.99 / £9.99 to $10.99 / £10.99 and Apple TV+ from $4.99 / £9.99 to $6.99 / £6.99. Apple Music Family plans will see a corresponding price increase from $14.99 / £14.99 to $16.99 / £16.99.
The price hikes also extend to the company’s Apple One plans, which bundle a number of services together. These have increased as follows:
Individual: $14.95 / £14.95 per month to $16.95 / £16.95
Family: $19.95 / £19.95 per month to $22.95 /£22.95
Premier: $29.95 / £29.95 per month to $32.95 /£32.95
This is the first time Apple has raised prices for these subscription services in the US and, according to the company, the hikes are mostly due to increased licensing costs for Apple Music and an expansion of the catalogue of available shows and movies on Apple TV+ since the service first launched back in 2019.
An Apple spokesperson provided the following statement to TechRadar:
"The subscription prices for Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One will increase beginning today. The change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music. We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the world’s best listening experience. We introduced Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ is home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers."
Analysis: Are Apple’s now more expensive services still worth it?
Apple Music has ranked high among the best music streaming services for its incredible value. It has long offered both lossless and high-res music for the same $9.99 / £10.99 price, along with a large selection of albums and tracks in Spatial Audio. Compare that to market leader Spotify, which currently only streams music in a lossy, compressed format (although the company is said to finally be nearing launch of a Platinum high-res tier with a $19.99 per month price tag, or twice the cost of its current ad-free Premium plan).
Even with the price boost to $10.99 / £10.99, Apple Music still is a great value when compared to services like Tidal that also offer both lossless and high-res music streaming, but for $19.99/£19.99 per month. Following the price boost, Apple Music’s closest competitor offering lossless and high-res streaming, along with Dolby Atmos music tracks, will be Amazon Music HD ($9.99 / £9.99 per month), though that service lacks Apple Music’s elegant interface and well-organized Atmos music library.
As for Apple TV+, the same as with Apple Music and lossless/high-res, your base subscription tier gets you support for 4K and Dolby Vision HDR – there is no high-quality tier that you need to pay extra for. Compare that to Netflix, which makes you pay twice as much for those features when you upgrade from its $9.99 / £9.99 per month Basic plan (which currently doesn’t even provide HD streaming, though that will change in November when the company’s Basic with Ads plan drops).
A price hike for Apple TV+ actually seems overdue: while its offerings were extremely limited in the beginning, it now has plenty of high-quality original shows like Severance and Ted Lasso, along with a strong selection of documentaries and movies.
If you’re an Apple One subscriber, the hikes are even less painful. I currently have a Premier Apple One subscription, which gives me family access to the following Apple services: TV+, Music, Arcade, Fitness+, and News+. All of those get used on an almost daily basis, and when you consider that it also comes with 2TB of iCloud storage for photos and other files, it’s still a great bargain even if it now costs $3 per month more.
While I hate to part with more money on a monthly basis for anything, I can’t say that these Apple service price hikes are outrageous, especially for the high-value Apple One plans. It may not help the company to pile on new subscribers to Apple Music or Apple TV+, but I suspect that most current ones aren’t likely to cancel. I know I’m not.
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OnePlus continues to solidify its “affordable yet powerful” reputation with the Nord N300 5G. It aims to improve upon its predecessor but stumbles in some places.
When the N200 launched back in July 2021, we liked its hefty 5,000mAh battery, which lasted two full days in our tests, and its decent, if somewhat limited, camera system. The N200 apparently struck a chord with consumers, so releasing a successor makes sense.
At a glance, the N300 is a bit of a mixed bag as it builds upon what the older model had, but doesn't raise the bar in all areas. In fact, the phone actually sees a few feature downgrades. Still, this looks like a good mid-range 5G phone at a great price; not many can claim that.
Features
Starting with the good, the N300 sports the same 5,000 mAh battery as the N200, plus it supports 33W fast charging thanks to the company’s own SuperVOOC tech. OnePlus, unfortunately, didn’t give any details on exactly how fast the phone can charge. To give you an idea of what the speeds could be, the iPhone 14 Pro can go from a dead battery to a 50 percent charge in about half an hour with a 30-watt charger. But unlike Apple, OnePlus will include a 33W charging block with the N300.
OnePlus opted for the MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset instead of the Snapdragon 480 on the N200. The former has a “20 percent higher CPU clock speed” (2,400 for the 810 vs 2,000 MHz for the 480), according to benchmark tests. This results in faster processing, more efficient battery usage, and better-performing games. You can also expect speedy connectivity thanks to the 5G support.
When it comes to the rest of the N300’s package, it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The rear camera system, for example, has gone down to just two lenses (the N200 had three). At least the main lens received an upgrade. It’s now a 48MP lens for higher quality photos, whereas the N200 had a 13MP lens (the other rear lens and the front-facing camera are still 2MP and 16MP, respectively).
At 6.56-inches, the N300's screen is a bit bigger than the one on the N200, and it offers a 90Hz refresh rate for a smoother viewing experience. The resolution, however, dropped in quality. It’s now an HD Plus resolution (1600x900 pixels) instead of the N200’s Full HD Plus (2400 x 1080). Storage is still 64 GB, but it can be upgraded to 1 TB.
Limited availability
Our other issue with the N300 is its availability; it's rather limited. You can purchase the phone (in either Midnight Black or Jade Green) in the United States for $228 starting November 3. There will be only one 4GB RAM model at launch. The N300 is also launching in Canada, but no date was given. It’s also exclusive to T-Mobile and its prepaid service, Metro.
Don't misunderstand: T-Mobile isn’t a bad carrier by any means; far from it. Earlier this year, a report from Speedtest showed that T-Mobile has the best-performing 5G network out of all the phone carriers in the US. It just would've been good to see other options available. We reached out to OnePlus and asked if there are plans to include other carriers for the N300 phone, and for details on the Canadian launch date. This story will be updated if we hear back.
