Latest Tech News

For a while now we've been hearing rumors about the Apple Watch 8 Rugged Edition, a new top-tier spin-off of the upcoming Apple Watch 8 which is supposedly built for outdoor and endurance activities (hence the name). 

Now, a reliable leaker has provided some juicy details about the upcoming smartwatch which has us excited.

This leaker is Mark Gurman, a name likely well-known by tech fans for his track record on Apple product leaks, who has, in his weekly Power On newsletter, shared lots of information about Apple's newest Watch shake-up.

Apparently, this Garmin-rivalling wearable will tout some intruiging features, primarily hiking and swimming ones which should appeal to those who like to go long-distance walks or brave the wild waters.

The design is also said to be a big selling point with a shatter-resistant screen and a premium metal shell (likely titanium, according to Gurman), plus the battery life is said to have a boost too - presumably over the Watch 7, although that's not clear.

Intruigingly, Gurman thinks that the Apple Watch 8 Rugged Edition (or Watch Extreme, Max, Explorer or Pro - there are many names being circulated by leakers and Gurman cites them all) will only come in a cell-enabled version, eschewing the more affordable Bluetooth-only connection version that standard Apple Watches come in.

Gurman also mentions something that he, and other leakers, have mentioned myriad times now: this Rugged wearable will also come alongside a standard Watch 8 and the Apple Watch SE 2, though they certainly sound like less interesting models.

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Analysis: a well-needed Apple Watch shake-up

Even compared to other Apple products, the Watch series is one that takes to heart the idea of 'iterative updates'. Each new member of the family just brings a few tweaks and changes to the previous one, and we rarely see massive overhauls.

That sounds like it'll be different this year, as the Apple Watch 8 Rugged Edition could be the biggest shake-up we've seen to the family since the first device launched in 2015.

If the tone of this article wasn't clear enough already, that's certainly a good thing: cheap smartwatches have rapidly caught up to Apple's ones, offering similar features  (both in terms of fitness and smartphone connectivity) at a fraction of the price. The new Extreme model could give Apple an edge up over the competition, and make Apple Watches interesting again to the non Apple fan.

One issue could be Gurman's price guess, which is $900-$999. That's a lot for a smartwatch - more than most people would opt to pay.

So we'll need to wait until the likely-September launch of the Apple Watch 8 Rugged Edition to see how good it is, but if the feature leaks are right (but the price isn't), this could be destined for a high spot in our list of the best Apple Watches.

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Latest Tech News

Twitter has revealed it currently removes one million bots every day in order to keep its platform safe.. 

Bots, in this context, are malicious, or spam accounts, fake identities that leave meaningless comments on people’s tweets, or are used to promote an account, or a website.

In some cases, bots are used to distribute ransomware, or other forms of malware, as well. 

Eliminate bots, or die trying

The news was confirmed by Twitter executives reported by Reuters, and comes as Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaire and Tesla/SpaceX/StarLink/Boring Company CEO demands more transparency as he looks to complete a potential takeover.

Musk has asked Twitter’s executives to share more details on the company’s claim that it keeps the number of automated bots under 5%. Unless it can prove that bots represent less than 5% of the accounts being served ads on the platform, the $44 billion deal might break down, Reuters reminds.

Still, during the conference call with the press, Twitter’s executives said spam accounts represent less than 5% of the company’s user count, a figure that stood more or less the same since 2013. 

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Twitter analyzes accounts manually, to determine whether or not they have genuine human users, or are run by programs. Then, it uses a combination of public and private data to generate reports for its shareholders and notify them of the number of spam bots on the platform, Twitter explained. 

The company also said that due to the nature of data needed in order to perform such analysis, there is no way for an external auditor to analyze the platform. It did not want to say what kind of data it will provide to the potential buyer.

At the same time, Musk said that once he acquires the platform, he will work on defeating the spam bots, “or die trying.”

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Via: Reuters

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Latest Tech News

Verizon's 3G CDMA network will shut down on December 31, 2022, but the carrier revealed it's handing out free phones to the users who stayed on the old connection standard.

These new phones work on the current 4G LTE network and aren't anything fancy, just basic flip phones. There are three phones available: the Orbic Journey V (retail value $99.99), the TCL FLIP Pro (retail value $79.99), and the Nokia 2720 V Flip (retail value $79.99). With phones this basic, don’t expect a whole lot out of them. Although the Nokia phone does have Google Assistant and YouTube apps, so that’s at least something.

Unfortunately, 3G holdouts don't get to choose their giveaway phones. A Verizon representative confirmed that the device they'll receive will be chosen by the company. It also said to keep an eye out for any notifications from Verizon about the 4G phones. No word on how long it'll take for the new devices to ship.

Verizon noted that the old 3G cell-service contract will carry over to the new phone at no extra cost. There’s also the option of declining the phone. All you have to do is call customer service and tell them that you don’t want it. 

Once people get their new 4G phone, there’s a little bit of setup that they’ll have to perform to get it going. The old 3G phone must be turned off first before activating the new phone. If the 4G device isn't activated within 30 days, Verizon will do it for you automatically. The company recommends people backup their contacts to Verizon Cloud so they can download them to their new phone. You can find a set of instructions on their website on how to do this. Verizon also recommends taking the old phone to a Verizon store so it can be recycled. 

Some people may be hesitant to make the jump because they have accessibility features enabled on their old phones. If that’s the case, Verizon recommends contacting the carrier to find a better solution for their needs.

Out with the old

Verizon was originally going to pull the plug on their 3G network back in 2019 but kept delaying it. According to company Vice President Mike Haberman, the company wanted to give people ample time to switch and to “minimize disruptions.”

As to why they’re shutting down their network, it’s to better support the faster connections and develop new ones. The way it works is that a cellular connection has to share space with other connections on the network. But in turn, that holds back the potential of 4G and 5G speeds. With 3G shutting down, they can put more resources into improving the other standards. Plus Verizon can repurpose the tech and put them toward developing a 6G network.

Verizon follows T-Mobile, which recently shut down its old 3G network, and AT&T, which did the same back in February. T-Mobile and AT&T also gave out free phones, although the former was more generous as it included offers for a 5G device. 

It’s entirely possible that one day we’ll see the same thing happen to the 4G network, but that probably won’t be any time soon. For those shopping for a new phone, TechRadar recently published a list of the best deals for July 2022.

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A new Linux malware has been discovered that is capable of avoiding detection by antivirus programs, steals sensitive data from compromised endpoints and infects all processes running on a device.

Cybersecurity researchers from Intezer Labs say the malware, dubbed OrBit, modifies the LD_PRELOAD environment variable, allowing it to hijack shared libraries and, consequently, intercept function calls. 

"The malware implements advanced evasion techniques and gains persistence on the machine by hooking key functions, provides the threat actors with remote access capabilities over SSH, harvests credentials, and logs TTY commands," Intezer Labs researcher Nicole Fishbein explained.

Hiding in plain sight

"Once the malware is installed it will infect all of the running processes, including new processes, that are running on the machine."

Up until only recently, most antivirus solutions did not treat OrBit dropper, or payload, as malicious, the researchers said but added that now, some anti-malware service providers do identify OrBit as malicious. 

"This malware steals information from different commands and utilities and stores them in specific files on the machine. Besides, there is an extensive usage of files for storing data, something that was not seen before," Fishbein concluded.

"What makes this malware especially interesting is the almost hermetic hooking of libraries on the victim machine, that allows the malware to gain persistence and evade detection while stealing information and setting SSH backdoor."

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Threat actors have been quite active on the Linux platform lately, BleepingComputer has found. Besides OrBit, the recently discovered Symbiote malware also uses the LD_PRELOAD directive to load itself into running processes. It acts as a system-wide parasite, the publication claims, adding that it leaves no sign of infection.

BPFDoor is a similar malware strain, as well. It targets Linux systems and hides by using the names of common Linux daemons. This helped it stay under antivirus radars for five years. 

Besides these two, there is also Syslogk, capable of both loading, and hiding, malicious programs. As revealed by cybersecurity researchers from Avast, the rootkit malware is based on an old, open-sourced rootkit called Adore-Ng. It’s also in a relatively early stage of (active) development, so whether or not it evolves into a full-blown threat, remains to be seen.

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Via: BleepingComputer

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Microsoft has made a significant change to its Insider program by splitting its group of volunteer software testers into two teams.

In an update to its Beta Channel, both groups will continue to be able to test the upcoming 22H2 build of Windows 11, but the features each group will get access to will differ.

For some testers - known as Windows Insiders - the build number will be artificially incremented. Those fortunate enough to get version 22622.xxx will get to experience some new features, while those stuck to 22621.xxx will have these turned off in the code by default.

That said, the majority of Windows Insiders will get the 22622.xxx upgrade, and those who are lumped with 22621.xxx will be able to check for updates, and subsequently upgrade to 22622.xxx.

New features and fixes in Windows 11

This will allow Microsoft to test releasing updates that have certain features disabled, helping it to understand how it can proceed in the future with incremental updates, and tinkering with the code to enable new features. 

“By comparing feedback and usage data between [Windows] Insiders in these two groups, we will get to see if a feature is causing issues with reliability,” the company said.

In the process of dividing its helpers into two groups, “some [Windows] Insiders who had previous features rolled out to them may see them disappear.” These can be brought back by installing an enablement package, which the company recognizes “isn’t ideal.” 

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In its latest build - 22622.290 - Windows 11 will suggest that users who copy a phone number make a phone call. Copied dates will also result in the OS recommending that users add this to their calendars.

Furthermore, 22622.290 also allows OneDrive subscribers to manage their accounts and billing from within the native Settings menu instead of navigating to the page online. Additional updates include various fixes and tweaks to File Explorer.

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