Snapseed lives to fight – or should I say edit – another day, following a recent update that was rolled out on the Play Store for Android devices, according to Android Police.
I'm thankful - the long time app, which is owned by Google and has over 100 million downloads, remains one of my favorite free photo editors with some seriously powerful tools you simply don't get with your Android device's camera app.
Snapseed's smart tools include a wide range of one-push looks and a neat 'Selective' feature that can make localized edits, for instance, brightening just your subject to make them pop.
You'll be hard-pressed to see exactly what is new in this recent update, though. There's an auspicious lack of AI-powered tools that are regularly at the fore today in Google's own Google Photos app, and the swathe of AI-powered apps cropping up for iOS and Android devices, such as Canva.
Since Google purchased Snapseed in 2012, updates have been few and far between. Major updates include 2017's redesign and a refresh in 2023 that made it compatible with Android 13.
And so while the latest Snapseed update provides solace to its regular users that the free editor is going nowhere for now, it feels like the writing is on the wall for one of the most loved free photo editing apps, given 2024's rival apps rely so heavily on AI.
With the latest update, it's fair to assume that Google is putting most of its efforts into developing its own Google Photos app, likely future AI-powered tools. What its plans are with Snapseed remains to be seen.
Perhaps it's nostalgia on my part, but I'm hoping I can still use my long-time favorite free editing app for years to come. It remains a powerful editor despite its lack of AI, as you can see in one of my photo edits above. Maybe Google will change the tide for the editing veteran and introduce new, powerful tools, but that seems unlikely. Just please don't retire it.
Storage is a major concern for business struggling to back up and manage all of the data they generate - a situation not helped by the arrival of generative AI which has massively disrupted traditional storage solutions.
Huawei’s answer to this problem is its OceanStor A800 NAS device. Originally unveiled last year, Huawei showed it off properly to assembled European journalists and partners at the recent Innovative Data Infrastructure (IDI) Forum 2024 in Berlin.
As we reported, the OceanStor A800 is capable of 24 million IOPS per controller enclosure, delivering ten-times the performance of existing storage, and ten-times the data mobility. It supports bandwidth in PB/s and 100 million IOPS, and, according to Huawei, offers 99.9999% data reliability.
Exclusive to OceanStor A800 NAS
For now, storage for the OceanStor A800 comes in the form of 30 and 50TB SSDs, but that will change when the company introduces a 128TB SSD next year. Huawei said its massive new internal drive, teased previously but officially unveiled at IDI Forum 2024, will “consume 88% less storage space and 92% less energy than the peer vendor’s SSDs when storing every one PB of data.” Exactly who the "peer vendor" is wasn't revealed.
Michael Fan, Huawei Data Storage marketing VP, told Blocks & Files these new SSDs “will use a mix of TLC and QLC flash to optimize capacity and drive lifetime. They have a Huawei-developed controller and come in U.2 and palm-size physical formats.” The site also noted that “The palm-size format is thinner than a U.2 SSD and could be either longer or shorter than that format. It appears to be similar to the EDSFF E3.S format but Huawei does not use EDSFF nomenclature.”
Although Huawei hasn’t said too much about the 128TB SSDs, or the proprietary technology behind them, it seems likely that they will be used exclusively in its OceanStor A800 NAS device for now, although it's possible it may become more widely available in the future.
(Image credit: Huawei )
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When I first heard about Recall, I immediately buried my face in my hands. I never thought I'd see such a glaring target be created by Microsoft, never mind it being marketed as a feature.
If you haven't read about it yet, Recall is an AI feature coming to Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. It's designed to let you go back in time on your computer by "taking images of your active screen every few seconds" and analyzing them with AI, according to Microsoft's Recall FAQs. If anyone other than you gets access to that Recall data, it could be disastrous.
Satya Nadella says Windows PCs will have a photographic memory feature called Recall that will remember and understand everything you do on your computer by taking constant screenshots pic.twitter.com/Gubi4DGHcsMay 20, 2024
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This might sound familiar, and that's because it's remarkably similar to the failed and shelved Timeline feature back on Windows 10. However, unlike Timeline, Recall doesn't just restore a version of your desktop files, it uses AI to take you back to that moment, even opening relevant apps.
What's the problem with Windows Recall?
On the surface, this sounds like a cool feature, but that paranoid privacy purist in the back of my mind is burying his face in a pillow and screaming. Imagine if almost everything you had done for the past three months was recorded for anyone with access to your computer to see. Well, if you use Recall, you won't have to imagine.
That might seem like an overreaction, but let me explain: Recall is taking screenshots every few seconds and storing them on your device. Adding encryption into the mix, that's an enormous amount of bloaty visual data that will show almost everything you've been doing on your computer during that period.
As Microsoft explains, "The default allocation for Recall on a device with 256 GB will be 25 GB, which can store approximately 3 months of snapshots. You can increase the storage allocation for Recall in your PC Settings. Old snapshots will be deleted once you use your allocated storage, allowing new ones to be stored."
This is worse than keylogging! Recall isn't just recording what you type, it's recording everything you're doing, with photo evidence, every three seconds.
This is worse than keylogging!
I say almost everything because Microsoft claims "Recall also does not take snapshots of certain kinds of content, including InPrivate web browsing sessions in Microsoft Edge. It treats material protected with digital rights management (DRM) similarly; like other Windows apps such as the Snipping Tool, Recall will not store DRM content." That's reassuring on the surface, but it's still far too vague for anyone to actually have any faith in it.
Will this only work on Microsoft Edge, or will it integrate with Chrome and Firefox too? If it only works with Edge, that feels like an egregious walling off of privacy for not using Microsoft's unpopular web browser.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft openly admits that Recall will be taking screenshots of your passwords and private data:
"Note that Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. That data may be in snapshots that are stored on your device, especially when sites do not follow standard internet protocols like cloaking password entry."
So, what you could have here is something that stores your passwords, your information, your account details, etc, and that is visible to anyone on your profile. If you only have one profile for your device, that means everyone with access to that PC will be able to see your Recall data.
Arguably, the worst part about this is that it will be on by default once you activate your device. Microsoft states:
On by default
"On Copilot+ PCs powered by a Snapdragon® X Series processor, you will see the Recall taskbar icon after you first activate your device. You can use that icon to open Recall’s settings and make choices about what snapshots Recall collects and stores on your device."
I think this is a bad idea. The decision should be made by the individual, and not by Windows. Having it immediately active just means that uninformed people may not be able to act upon this. In my eyes, it's akin to cookie tracking – it can be just as invasive. All of this makes me wonder whether it may hit a snag with consent under GDPR.
Is Microsoft making Recall secure?
In defense of Microsoft, I'd like it to be known that there was an attempt to make it secure. I don't think it was a very good one, but there was an attempt.
Microsoft states that "Recall snapshots are kept on Copilot+ PCs themselves, on the local hard disk, and are protected using data encryption on your device and (if you have Windows 11 Pro or an enterprise Windows 11 SKU) BitLocker." From the wording here, that looks like your snapshots will only be encrypted if you have Windows Pro or a business Windows code.
The omission of Windows Home users is horrifying. If this is the case, it leaves everyday people vulnerable if their devices are compromised. People shouldn't have to pay a premium and upgrade to protect their privacy on an operating system that's snapshotting their screen every few seconds.
People shouldn't have to pay a premium and upgrade to protect their privacy
The big question, though, is what kind of encryption is being used? I've been working with virtual private network (VPN) encryption for a while now, and just because something is "encrypted" doesn't mean it's safe. In fact, with developments in quantum computing, encryption is under threat, and even the best VPN services are having to come up with quantum-secure encryption methods. We've already seen that BitLocker can be cracked.
Another note in Microsoft's favor is that the data is stored locally and encrypted, rather than it being uploaded to a cloud server for Microsoft to access.
"Recall screenshots are only linked to a specific user profile and Recall does not share them with other users, make them available for Microsoft to view, or use them for targeting advertisements."
This means that, for now, Microsoft isn't peeking behind the curtain. But that doesn't guarantee that'll be the case forever. If Microsoft can legally find a way to make money out of this tool, my guess is that they'll try. For now, the push seems to be to persuade people to upgrade their OS.
If you're one of those households that has different profiles for each person on the family PC, you can claw back a little bit of privacy.
"Screenshots are only available to the person whose profile was used to sign in to the device. If two people share a device with different profiles they will not be able to access each other’s screenshots. If they use the same profile to sign-in to the device then they will share a screenshot history. Otherwise, Recall screenshots are not available to other users or accessed by other applications or services."
The problem is, that's only helpful if you password-protect your profile, and if someone sets parental controls on your profile, that could give them a backdoor.
What are the security risks with Recall?
You're probably thinking "so what?" So let me give you a few scenarios where this could be a problem:
You're using a public computer: let's say you do some online shopping or banking on a library computer. You didn't realize Recall was active, and now the person using the computer after you has just gone into the Recall archive to pull up all of your bank details, your address, and your passwords. It's like handing your house keys over to a burglar before telling them you're going on holiday for the week.
You're using a work laptop: we've all used a company computer for personal reasons, be it looking at social media on your lunch break, or simply running some errands because you don't have your own laptop. Now your boss, your IT team, and anyone with access to your device, can go through and see every three seconds of how you're using their equipment. They could use this to track your work output and see how productive you are, they could even read private messages you send to people.
You're using a family PC: if you've been using the household computer, and you don't have a password-protected profile, anyone could walk in and open up your Recall history. If you've been doing anything unsavory it's about to be obvious, even if you deleted that search history.
You get hacked or your laptop gets stolen: this one's pretty obvious, but if someone manages to hack into your device, the encryption won't matter. Similarly, if someone just steals your laptop and you don't have a secure password locking it, then a criminal (cyber or otherwise) can use Recall to pull the whole world out from under your feet.
There are so many problems that can arise just from someone accessing your Recall data. Using a password manager would become irrelevant if someone can see you typing in your master password, your private messages will be anything but, and there's no point in deleting your search history because Microsoft is keeping the receipts!
How to protect your privacy with Windows Recall
There are a few ways you can protect your privacy from Windows Recall, but the obvious, and most effective one will be to disable it outright. As the saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." You're better off not having this stuff stored on your device in the first place.
If, however, you want to use Recall, you're going to need to do the following:
Make an individual profile on your PC: this will prevent people from having shared access to your Recall data as long as you follow my next tip.
Password-protect your profile: not just your device, but your profile, too. Don't use a weak password, be serious. Use three memorable words with numbers and symbols, and no, don't set your password as "3-Memorable-worD5!"
Encrypt your Recall data: you may have to upgrade your OS or pay for BitLocker, but encryption is a non-negotiable. If someone gets past your password, you don't want them to have immediate, unchecked access to what you've been doing for the past three months.
Don't access sensitive data while Recall is on: if you're going to type in personal passwords or look at NSFW content, just turn it off. This is obviously going to be annoying and time-consuming, but it's far better than the alternative of having it all screenshotted.
Bottom line: Recall makes my skin crawl
Look, I've been a privacy advocate and researcher for years. I don't like the idea of anything tracking what we do. But this... this is something else. The risk that comes with Recall, the sheer devastation it could cause if your device gets hacked, the idea that Microsoft may be walling off privacy behind what I can only describe as a paywall. It sickens me.
There is so much opportunity for misuse with this feature. Security cannot be understated. Privacy cannot be bolted on. Taking screenshots of my device from the second I activate my device should not be a default option. Put the user in control of their privacy, and put the decision in their hands.
All of this just pushes me into the privacy-loving flippers of Linux.
Today's clever cybercriminals use AI to alter videos' audio content, creating convincing deepfake scams, a problem that could only grow, especially in an election year.
To try and combat such threats, McAfee has joined forces with Intel to launch an AI-powered Deepfake Detector. Previously known as Project Mockingbird, the tool looks to identify and notify users when a video's audio is likely AI generated or manipulated.
McAfee's Deepfake Detector employs state-of-art AI techniques, including transformer-based Deep Neural Network models, so will only run on systems with an Intel Core Ultra processor. McAfee says the NPU in AI PCs improves the app’s performance by up to 300% and allows local deepfake inference, thereby avoiding sending sensitive user data to the cloud.
No plans to bring it to older Intel PCs
"In a world where seeing is no longer believing, where AI-generated deepfakes have made it harder than ever to tell real from fake, consumers need the latest in AI to beat AI," said Steve Grobman, McAfee's Chief Technology Officer.
"Leveraging Intel's Core Ultra processor technology and its NPU, we can provide consumers with the most advanced and powerful generative AI deepfake detection capabilities, without compromising on performance or privacy. No need to send huge files to the cloud for analysis with detection performed locally, providing even greater peace of mind and control over your data."
Carla Rodriguez, Vice President and General Manager of Ecosystem Partner Enabling at Intel, added, “We're excited to collaborate with McAfee to help bring to market innovative solutions like McAfee Deepfake Detector which leverages the NPU in Intel Core Ultra processor-based PCs, driving detection of malicious and misleading deepfakes, while delivering optimal performance and privacy."
McAfee’s Deepfake Detector will soon be available for English video detection. It is expected to be expanded to additional languages in due course.
We asked McAfee if there were any plans to bring the tool to older PCs and were told by a spokesperson, “McAfee Deepfake Detector isn’t being brought to market on older Intel PCs. The capabilities described involve leveraging the NPU in Intel Core Ultra processors. While we are proud to partner with Intel, another innovative, consumer-focused technology leader focused on delivering solutions to address the very real needs of consumers today, this is not an exclusive partnership.” That's potentially good news for anyone not running an Intel PC.
LattePanda has unveiled its latest single board computer, the LattePanda Mu - and although it is barely larger than a business card at a mere 60mm x 69.6mm, the micro x86 compute module is equipped with an Intel N100 CPU with 4 cores.
LattePanda says the Mu, which can run both Windows and compatible Linux operating systems, is faster than the Raspberry Pi 5, and more configurable. End-users can design custom carrier boards based on specific requirements, with suggestions including a dual-Ethernet port board for a router and a SATA interface for a NAS solution.
The Mu comes with 8GB of memory with IBECC support, 64GB of eMMC 5.1 storage, and a range of expansion pin options including three HDMI/DisplayPort, eight USB 2.0 ports, up to four USB 3.2 ports, up to two SATA 3.0, and 64 expandable GPIOs.
Add your own GPU
The Mu also offers up to nine PCIe 3.0 lanes, allowing for the addition of dedicated graphics card, so the diminutive device can be put to more demanding computational tasks.
The LattePanda Mu's open-source carrier board designs and libraries can be found on the company’s dedicated GitHub repository, allowing developers to make quick modifications and refinements.
“LattePanda Mu is not just a micro x86 compute module; it is a breakthrough design solution that offers users unlimited customization possibilities," said company product manager WangBo.
With its powerful computing performance, GPU capabilities that surpass traditional options, and flexible thermal design power range, it becomes the ideal choice for various applications and performance needs. The customization options of the LattePanda Mu allow users to design carrier boards according to their requirements, providing perfect solutions for diverse application scenarios.”
The LattePanda Mu board retails for $139, while a kit including the Mu, Mu Lite Carrier and Mu Active Cooler is currently available for the reduced price of $190.
If you’re intrigued by the LattePanda Mu but aren’t quite ready to buy it yet, we’ve got a full review coming up shortly.
Cybersecurity researchers from Intego have discovered new variants of the dreaded Cuckoo malware that targets macOS users.
For those unfamiliar with the name, Cuckoo is an infostealer targeting Mac devices running both on Intel and ARM silicon.
Intego’s researchers now say they have found a new variant that was pretending to be Homebrew, a popular macOS software package manager. The attackers set up a fake landing page, seemingly identical to the authentic Homebrew page, which deployed the infostealer.
Poisoning Google Ads
In early May 2024, Mac security provider Kandji said the malware “queries for specific files associated with specific applications, in an attempt to gather as much information as possible from the system." Apparently, Cuckoo was looking for hardware information, currently running processes, and installed applications.
Among its key features are the ability to take screenshots, harvest data from iCloud Keychains, Apple notes, web browsers, different apps (Discord, Telegram, Steam, and more), and grab cryptocurrency wallet data.
The threat was being distributed via fake software, a program claiming to be able to rip music from streaming services into .MP3 files.
While setting up a fake website is easy, getting people to visit it is infinitely harder. Intego believes that to get people to visit the website, the attackers engaged in Google Ads poisoning, obtaining access to Google Ads accounts with cleared and running campaigns, and modifying them (or running new campaigns) to generate traffic.
“We recommend that consumers get out of the habit of “just Google it” to find legitimate sites,” the researchers said. “Such habits often include clicking on the first link without giving it much thought, under the assumption that Google won’t lead them astray, and will give them the correct result right at the top. Malware makers know this, of course, and that’s why they’re paying Google for the number-one position.”
Instead of Googling popular websites, users are advised to type in the address themselves, or to bookmark the sites.
NVIDIA GeForce NOW’s claim to fame is its ability to let just about any computing device — a phone, Chromebook, or a smart TV — tap into its cloud gaming hardware to play the latest games with supreme performance. And since the service taps into libraries of games that players already own, there are no extra purchases.
With school about to end for the summer and plenty of extra time to game, NVIDIA has an exciting update in store for GeForce NOW. NVIDIA has acknowledged the prevalence of handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, both excellent ways to tap into games on the go. However, these portables are making the most of integrated graphics, which conserves power and avoids heat, but there’s still plenty of uplift available through the use of more powerful hardware, which can better deliver the top-notch graphics, high resolutions, and smooth frame rates that gamers crave. So NVIDIA is giving them a helping hand. And since all the heavy lifting for GeForce NOW is done in the cloud, the handheld consoles get to relax, so you’ll still get great battery life.
GeForce NOW is geared up for easy use with the Steam Deck thanks to a new browser configuration. A quick beta installation brings a pre-configured Google Chrome installation to the Steam Deck, offering special settings that let players get up and running with GeForce NOW in the browser with ease. This setup allows the browser version of GeForce NOW to run in the Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode, allowing for simple navigation with the built-in gamepad. Beyond that, it also provides access to advanced graphics settings like DLSS and RTX real-time ray-tracing to substantially upgrade visuals. And this update isn’t just for the Steam Deck. It also allows for convenient navigation with the ASUS ROG ally, Logitech G Cloud, Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw, and Razer Edge.
With GeForce NOW, these portable handhelds can get a big boost from powerful computers in the cloud. You’ll be able to enjoy advanced graphics features like RTX real-time ray tracing and DLSS to enhance your game visuals. GeForce NOW supports high resolutions and frame rates up to 240 fps, letting you max out the gaming handhelds.
When you’re not on the move, it’s easy to pick up where you left off with GeForce NOW, since you can also run it on other devices. You can switch to a PC, Mac, NVIDIA SHIELD TV, or any of the many devices that support GeForce NOW.
For the Steam Deck, GeForce NOW also allows you to tap into other game libraries outside of Steam, such as Epic Games, GOG.com, Ubisoft Connect, and Xbox. You can even run PC Game Pass games through GeForce NOW on the Steam Deck. This is a big flexibility upgrade. With access to over 1,900 games and counting and no need to install each, storage on these small handhelds becomes a non-issue when you want to try a new game, and so does the handhelds’ ability to actually run the games on their own hardware. So when the next big game comes along or a hot new indie, you can jump right in. GeForce NOW will let you step aboard Honkai: Star Rail, blast through the wasteland in the Fallout series, explore other realms in Baldur’s Gate 3, tackle darkness in Alan Wake 2, and dig through your game backlog.
GeForce NOW’s list of supported games is constantly expanding, and NVIDIA is regularly adding new features. To stay up to speed with all the latest from GeForce NOW, you can tune into the weekly GFN Thursdays blog, which covers all the new games coming, feature updates, game sales, and plenty more.
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