Razer has launched its Steam Deck competitor handheld device, the Razer Edge, in two versions: the WiFi model and the 5G model. The Edge is an Android-based gaming handheld and, according to Razer, the “world’s first dedicated 5G handheld console.”
The Razer Edge is powered by the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 and features a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 2,400 x 1,080 FHD+ resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. It also comes bundled with the Razer Kishi V2 Pro, which includes Razer's 'HyperSense' haptic feedback and a 3.5mm audio port. It’s also compatible with Nvidia GeForce Now, including the recently-launched RTX 4080 Ultimate subscription tier, which we went hands-on with and found to be quite excellent.
Its 5G version is in partnership with Verizon and is sold both on its online store and in-store Verizon locations. Meanwhile, the WiFi version can be purchased through Razer stores and Razer’s online store for $399.99. The Edge is currently only available in the US.
Razer previously showcased the Razer Edge at RazerCon in 2022 and at CES 2023, receiving plenty of accolades at both events. This isn’t the first time Razer has released a gaming tablet, either. Back in 2013, the company launched a Windows 8-based gaming handheld also called the Razer Edge, though with a much heftier price tag.
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I shouldn’t be this excited by the words “dirt accumulation is more realistic” but here I am, positively thrilled about the idea of my car in Forza Motorsport becoming a mucky pup over the course of a race.
In Xbox and Bethesda’s Developer Direct, Forza Motorsport creator Turn 10 went into the finer detail of its upcoming Xbox Series X racer. The team threw out big numbers, like how you will have 500 cars to play with at launch, that there are more than 800 upgrades you can fit into your vehicles, and that there will be 20 environments to race through.
But what really caught my attention were the smaller things.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Forza Motorsport’s sound director showed how, as you install those 800 upgrades to your vehicles, you will create different sound profiles for your car, reflecting the parts you’ve fitted.
Another developer explained how much time the team has spent to recreate dirt accumulation accurately. So, as you race around the track, lap after lap, your car won’t just pick up dirt, but the areas where the dirt builds up and how it appears on your car will be influenced by how you’ve driven. Struggle to stick to the tarmac and drive over the verge, and you’ll see more powdery dirt pick up around the wheels; stick closer to opposing cars and the tarmac grit their wheels pick up will leave scratches on your paintwork.
Speaking of paintwork, the ray-tracing in Forza Motorsport sounds like it will be a treat. Multiple photogrammetry models were used to capture the different ways light interacts with different paint styles, so your car will look more realistic as you race through different environments and lighting.
Yes, a lot of this stuff can sound like it’s extra detail layered on top of a game, and how Forza plays will come down to more than whether its ray-traced paint picks up dirt nicely, but I do love it in a game where my character, my avatar, reflects the journey it as made through the world. And it sounds like, between the sound profiles, the dirt modeling, and all the upgrades I can make to my vehicles, that in Forza Motorsport it will do just that. It's the sort of thing that could make it one of the best racing games, if not one of the best Xbox Series X games, or at least compete with Gran Turismo 7.
Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t announce a release date for Forza Motorsport, saying only that it would be out in 2023.
The default file system for Windows 11 may soon be changing to a new offering designed with high-end servers in mind, but there’s still a long way to go yet.
For more than three decades, Windows machines have used NTFS for all things storage, including internal drives as well as external drives such as USB sticks.
However release notes for the latest build of Windows 11 (version 25276), detail support for the Resilient File System (ReFS).
Windows ReFS vs NTFS
ReFS was first introduced with Windows Server 2012, and it’s clearly designed with large amounts of data in mind. Windows Latest notes that NTFS is limited to 256 terabytes (which frankly is more than enough for you or I), but there are some instances where businesses and data centers may need more than this. ReFS raises the limit to 35 petabytes (over 35,000 terabytes).
The Resilient FS promises to be more resilient in that it can detect and repair corruptions while remaining online, and it’s also designed with scalability in mind.
“ReFS is designed to support extremely large data sets - millions of terabytes - without negatively impacting performance, achieving greater scale than prior file systems," Microsoft noted.
There are some drawbacks, though, especially when it comes to using ReFS for the computers that consumers may end up using. For now, at least, it’s unable to support system compression, encryption, and removable media.
While it could be years before ReFS comes to our home (if at all), its support in Windows 11 may indicated it trickling down into some high-end business machines as it expands outside the realms of servers, but right now, NTFS has nothing to worry about.
A change coming with Android 14 will impose restrictions on the apps that smartphone users can install on their devices, even if they’re sideloading software rather than installing it through the Play Store.
Google’s change should help stop the spread of malware that takes advantage of exploits found in older builds of its Android OS, though if you’re a frequent sideloader it may make it a little harder to use non-Play Store apps.
The yearly release of the latest Android version – or the latest iOS build from Apple, or Windows OS from Microsoft – doesn’t just bring new features for the best Android smartphones to take advantage of. They also include new hidden security tools that make it tough for hackers to break into your device. Eventually, hackers will find a way through the protections, but by that point, Google will have hopefully moved well beyond even Android 14 to a version of its OS that is still uncracked.
However, finding flaws in ancient Android OS builds isn’t useless. Hackers can create apps that specifically target these older versions of Google’s OS, and can then exploit its flaws to bypass some of the protections on your smartphone if you install it on your device.
Thankfully Google is able to put a stop to a lot of this by putting restrictions on new and updated apps that are available through the Play Store. Right now, newly listed Play Store smartphone apps must target Android 12 or later (or Android 11 and later if they are built for WearOS) to be allowed into Google’s official app store.
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) will soon be the earliest build Android apps can target(Image credit: Google)
The big update seemingly coming to Android (via 9to5Google) is that these app restrictions will no longer only exist for Play Store apps. A change in Android 14’s code will mean that users looking to install apps that aren’t available through the Play Store (such as by sideloading APK files) will be blocked from the action if the file targets too old a version of Android.
Initially, the change will only block users from installing apps from Android’s earliest builds, but eventually, sideloaders will be restricted from installing applications that support Android 5 or earlier. So if there’s a non-Google Play Store app you love that’s built on a very old version of Android, you might want to encourage the developer to give it an update before Android 14 rolls out.
That said, you will still be able to install the old app, it’ll just take a few extra steps with a command shell. While this certainly makes the process more tedious it’ll likely greatly reduce the chance someone accidentally sideloads malware onto their hardware as you’ll need to think twice before installing an app.
Over time we expect Google will introduce restrictions that lock users to even later builds of Android. But in the fight against malicious software this strategy seems like a great middle ground that balances security with the freedom that has attracted many users to the platform.
If you don’t mind having your downloads restricted further in the search for a more secure OS, you might want to pick up one of the best iPhones, which are much, much harder to sideload apps onto.
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A new study has identified 2023 as a huge turning point for 5G IoT (Internet of Things) connections globally, and the next three years are set to see those come into their own.
Juniper Research estimates that, already, there are 17 million 5G IoT connections worldwide this year, however the figure is set to expand by 1,100% over the next three years to the point that 116 million connections will be active in 2026.
The research anticipates that the healthcare sector and smart city services will make up the bulk of these connections.
IoT over 5G
Besides these two major categories, other IoT areas include the automotive industry, and mobile broadband and smart homes. However, Juniper reckons that healthcare and smart cities will account for almost two-thirds of IoT devices by 2026.
It cites the ultra-low latency and high bandwidth typical of 5G connections as some of the key driving factors behind the substantial growth that have been forecasted.
Of the predicted 116 million connections, the research study indicates that 60 million shall come from smart city connections. Transportation networks, both road and rail, are set to benefit from the improvements that 5G can deliver over 4G technology.
Juniper also noted the inefficiencies in our healthcare systems that were uncovered during the pandemic, pinpointing a need for modernization. Real-time, remote monitoring of connected ambulances and other emergency services is one such upgrade that has been suggested.
The rollout of 5G IoT connections has, so far, been less impressive. Moving forward, research co-author, Olivia Williams, indicated the need to invest in high-return areas before expanding more widely:
“5G will enable more efficient and dynamic healthcare provision that was not feasible with 4G or Wi-Fi. However, healthcare providers must first implement 5G in areas which provide a strong return on investment; most notably connected emergency services.”
As Russia’s military was bombarding Ukraine, back at home, Russian companies were being bombarded with Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks - with such incidents against Russian entities reaching new highs in 2022.
Figures from Rostelecom, Russia's biggest ISP, claim there were 21.5 million DDoS attacks carried out against some 600 organizations in the country in 2022.
Most of the attacks happened in and around Moscow, where the majority of these companies are headquartered. None of the bigger sectors seems to have been spared, with firms in telecom, retail, finance, and the public sector, all experiencing attacks.
Attacking the public sector
The public sector was the most targeted, seeingalmost a third (30%) of all incidents (up 12x year-on-year). Financial institutions took up a quarter of all attacks (25%), followed by education (16%).
The biggest attack was 760 GB/sec, Rostelecom further said, claiming it was almost double in destructive power, compared to last year’s biggest attack. The longest attack, however, lasted almost three months.
Most of the attacks started in March, which coincides with the invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24. The attacks culminated in May, the firm later said. Based on the IP addresses used, the company concluded that the origin of majority of the attacks was in the United States.
While DDoS attacks made up the vast majority of all attacks (roughly 80%), there were other types of cyberattacks, as well. Vulnerable websites were also on the radar of western hackers, which abused the flaws to launch arbitrary command execution attacks (10%), path traversal (4%), local file inclusion (3%), SQL injection (3%), and cross-site scripting (1%).
Since the war between Russia and Ukraine began, hackers and hacktivists from all sides have entered the fray, and have been quite active.
Among them was Conti, one of the biggest ransomware operators, which enraged its affiliates (mostly Ukrainians) after openly siding with the Russian government. Conti later backtracked on its statement but the damage had already been done, with one hacker deciding to leak multiple source code versions as well as hundreds of thousands of chat lines between its members.
Sensitive data belonging to the FanDuel users was compromised in the recent MailChimp data breach, the of sports betting site has told customers.
An email sent to FanDuel customers confirmed their full names and email addresses were accessed as a consequence of the MailChimp cyberattack, and warning them to stay vigilant against potential phishing attacks.
"Recently, we were informed by a third-party technology vendor that sends transactional emails on behalf of its clients like FanDuel that they had experienced a security breach within their system that impacted several of their clients," BleepingComputer cited a FanDuel 'Notice of Third-Party Vendor Security Incident'.
Passwords are safe
"On Sunday evening, the vendor confirmed that FanDuel customer names and email addresses were acquired by an unauthorized actor. No customer passwords, financial account information, or other personal information was acquired in this incident."
While FanDuel didn’t name the vendor in the notification, it later confirmed to media that it was referring to MailChimp.
The company also added that as this wasn’t a breach of its own internal systems, sensitive information including “passwords, financial account information, or other personal information” was not accessed.
While just getting people’s names and emails might not be much, it’s enough for a phishing attack which could be more devastating, and could result in people losing access to valuable accounts, private data, and possibly even money from their devices and endpoints. Now, FanDuel is warning its users to keep both eyes open:
"Remain vigilant against email "phishing" attempts claiming an issue with your FanDuel account that requires providing personal or private information to resolve the problem," the notification further claims. "FanDuel will never email customers directly and request personal information to resolve an issue."
FanDuel also urged its customers to regularly update their passwords, and to make sure those passwords are strong and not used on other platforms at the same time. Furthermore, it told everyone to activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) if they hand’t already done so.
