Tech Spite

From Shotgun Wedding to No Time to Die, these are the best films available on the streamer. from Wired https://ift.tt/wL1qVou

TV maker Hisense held an event in NYC this week to announce its new partnership with the National Basketball Association. Along with the NBA sponsorship news, the event gave the company a chance to announce that they are now the number two TV brand in North America based on unit share according to data supplied by the Circana retail tracking service. Hisense has made great strides in the North American TV market over the past few years, heightening its visibility with a lineup of affordable QLED sets. Last year’s U8H series , the first model with mini-LED backlighting to arrive from the company, impressed us with its high brightness and rich contrast, earning a spot on our list of the best 4K TVs and best 120 Hz TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S . Mini-LED in general has given QLED tech a shot in the arm, with top new Mini-LED backlit TVs like the Samsung QN95C starting to rival the best OLED TVs when it comes to performance aspects like shadow detail and black uniformity. As it pr...

A Manhattan grand jury has issued the first-ever indictment of a former US president. Buckle up for whatever happens next. from Wired https://ift.tt/JtUMzER

Pixel smartphones, PlayStation titles, and even Apple's spendy AirPods Max are all on sale right now. from Wired https://ift.tt/1yu2dwX

Having recently impressed us with their mid-range FiiO M11S portable digital audio player, Chinese audio firm FiiO is back with a decidedly high-end offering for its next on-the-go device. The new M15S portable player comes packed with two desktop-grade ES9038PRO digital-to-analog converters, with individual DAC chips dedicated to the left and right stereo channels. Each chip makes use of four D/A converters for what FiiO claim to be extremely high-quality decoding, with the device able to support playback of audio files up to 384kHz/DSD256.  The new M15S also supports MQA, allowing listeners to directly stream TIDAL Masters as well as MQA files stored locally, while further Hi-Res audio options come in the form of aptX HD Bluetooth, alongside LDAC and LHDC wireless codecs.  There's onboard 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi allowing for support of Apple AirPlay and DLNA streaming, as well as compatibility with the increasingly popular multi-room music software platform Roon. (Ima...

Okay, Gen Z, you’ve discovered vinyl records, find them cool, and maybe even bought one of the best turntables to play them on. But how much do you know about the proper handling and cleaning of your precious vinyl stash? If the answer to that question is “I didn’t know I had to clean it,” here’s some news that will help set the record straight.  Spin-Clean, manufacturer of the long-running Spin-Clean record cleaning system, has announced a consumer outreach program to teach vinyl newbies about proper vinyl LP maintenance. According to the company, the program’s launch coincides with the first major upgrade to the Spin-Clean system in 50 years, and will include “digital and print ads; pop-up banners on vinyl user forums and record collector sites; and social media that specifically targets young vinyl enthusiasts.” There is also a white paper with info on vinyl care and playback basics. The inspiration for the consumer outreach program apparently stems from recent research co...

From Goodfellas to The Banshees of Inisherin, here are our favorite movies on the streaming service. from Wired https://ift.tt/HxAKeq6

Criminals have been discovered distributing fake Tor browsers that are designed to steal cryptocurrency, and so far, have been quite successful, raking in roughly $400,000 in various tokens from unsuspecting victims, experts have warned Cybersecurity researchers from Kaspersky are warning users to watch out for Tor browser installers from third-party stores.  They’ve spotted one such executable sitting in a password-protected RAR archive which, when extracted and installed, monitors the Windows clipboard for cryptocurrency wallets. If it spots one, it will replace it with one controlled by the attacker.  Complicated addresses When a person tries to send funds from one address to another, they would usually copy and paste the recipient’s address, as these are a long string of seemingly random characters which are almost impossible to remember. If the malware replaces the copied address with a different one, chances are the victim won’t see the difference and will just ...

The Bear and Great Expectations are just two of the shows you won’t want to miss on this streaming service. from Wired https://ift.tt/r9TUedi

Two new variants of the infamous IcedID malware have been spotted, however both are lacking certain distinctive features, making security experts curious as to their purpose. Cybersecurity researchers from Proofpoint revealed since February, they have been tracking two versions of IcedID, one called “Lite”, and the other called “Forked”.  Both come without the usual online banking fraud features, instead supposedly working more as a dropper for more elaborate campaigns. Stealth malware tactics Proofpoint says that it’s seen at least three different hacking groups using these two versions across seven campaigns since late last year. Apparently, these groups have been using IcedID as a stepping stone toward ransomware infections. Why exactly threat actors decided to strip IcedID of its unique features remains unclear, but some reports have suggested that removing “unneeded” functions makes it stealthier and leaner, helping cybercriminals stay hidden for longer. The way Iced...

Popular Xbox Game Pass shooter Metal: Hellsinger has just received its first new DLC, titled Dream of the Beast, which adds two songs as well as a new weapon and outfits. You can pick it up for $3.99 / £3.29 (approximately AU$5.99).  The downloadable content includes new tracks featuring the talent of Lorna Shore's Will Ramos and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia which have been added to the Xbox Game Pass FPS. What's also been included in a free update for all players on Xbox Series X , PS5 , and PC is the ability to choose from any song in the playlist before a level, allowing new music to give each stage a fresh new feel.  On the gameplay side of things, there's an entirely new weapon to try out, too. Aptly titled The Red Right Hand, this new machine gun adds a new level of strategy to the Painkiller -like arena levels of Metal Hellsinger with a burst-fire separating itself from the shotguns and revolvers of the base game.  Smaller gameplay tweaks have also been ...

There are a handful of big names in gaming phones, with the likes of the Asus ROG Phone line, the Xiaomi Black Shark line, and the Lenovo Legion line regularly featuring in our best gaming phones guide. But one of them probably won’t ever feature again. Following rumors that Lenovo was ending its Legion gaming phone line, the company confirmed as much in a statement to Android Authority , with a Lenovo spokesperson saying: “Lenovo is discontinuing its Android-based Legion mobile gaming phones as part of a wider business transformation and gaming portfolio consolidation. “As a leader in gaming devices and solutions, Lenovo is committed to advancing the gaming category across form factors, as well as focusing on where it can bring the most value to the global gaming community.” That wording technically leaves open the possibility that Lenovo could still make gaming phones without Legion branding, or that don't run Android, but that seems unlikely. More likely, we simply won’t se...

It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints. And you might need them - because this popular online game takes the Wordle format and quadruples the difficulty. So if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints , you'll probably need some for Quordle too.  I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #429 and bookmark this page so you can easily return.  SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.  Quordle today (game #429) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today? • The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3 *. * Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).  Quordle today (game #429) - hint #2 - total vowels Wh...

It’s not long until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is released (May 12) and after months of speculation, Nintendo has finally announced a console to celebrate the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel… and I, for one, think it’s absolutely beautiful. At the end of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom demonstration , we were given a sneak peak at this console – and I’m tempted to upgrade now that pre-orders have opened in Australia (where I’m located, though it looks like pre-orders are also open in the US and UK too). Following the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet or Splatoon 3 Nintendo Switch OLED consoles is no easy feat – both delivered great designs that stayed true to the respective franchises. But there’s just something special about Zelda-themed consoles that stands out above the rest, so much so that I’ve been living with the regret of never grabbing the golden Nintendo 3DS XL that came out alongside the re-release of Majora’s Mask back in 2015. Gold is a ma...

The Nothing Phone (2) has been spotted on a Bureau of Indian Standards government site, spotted by 91Mobiles , a phone blog covering the local market. This means production may be finalized and a launch could be imminent.  This is good news for anyone interested in Nothing Phone, not just Indian fans, as Nothing CEO Carl Pei has pledged to bring the upcoming Nothing Phone (2) to more markets, making the US a real priority this time, and not just a late round beta testing zone.  We'd heard recently from loose-lipped Qualcomm executives that the Nothing Phone (2) would likely use the company's late-2022 flagship mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The current top-of-the-line is the 8 Plus Gen 2 platform, but the latter chipset is powerful enough to run phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 portable tablet. That makes it a serious upgrade for Nothing.  Nothing Phone (1) with Nothing Ear (1) earbuds (Image credit: Peter Hoffmann) The 91Mobiles leaks also sug...

A slide deck allegedly from an Intel presentation, has been leaked on Twitter showing what appears to be the next generation of Xeon processors, Intel’s server and workstation products.  Of particular interest is a slide titled "Granite Rapids-AP on Birch Stream-AP" that refers to a CPU with a whopping 120 cores, twice the number in Intel’s top of the range processor, the Xeon Platinum 8490H CPU , a $17,000 monster with 60 cores and a TDP of 350W. These 120 cores will reach a TDP of 500W and will require a new socket called BR with 7529 pins. The leak suggests that the cores used will be Redwood Cove “Performance” ones as opposed to Efficient ones that will fit another product category called Sierra Forrest. Both Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest are expected to launch after Emerald Rapids, the follow up to the current Sapphire Rapids, scheduled for later this year. Too little, too late? Xeon processors based on Sierra Forest may end up having a much higher core count...

Apple has released iOS 16.4 and is urging iPhone users, particularly those with older devices, to update immediately to benefit from some important security fixes Despite the seemingly unassuming update number (16.x, rather than 16.x.x), this update has patched 32 known security flaws that have been plaguing iOS 16 users for some time, making it a vital update even if you’re not chasing the latest features. Among the patched vulnerabilites is a fix for a WebKit type confusion issue that hackers could use trigger OS crashes and gain code execution on compromised iOS and iPadOS devices. iOS 16.4 security update If successful, anyone utilizing the flaw could then be able to execute arbitrary code, most likely by tricking the victims into opening malicious web pages. "Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited," Apple describes the zero-day. "Apple is awa...

After suffering through multiple delays , Apple Pay Later is finally touching down as it begins rolling out to randomly selected users across the United States. Originally, the service was supposed to launch alongside iOS 16 back in September 2022, but developers ran into a variety of “technical setbacks” . Apple Pay Later allows people to apply for loans from $50 up to $1,000 to purchase whatever they want while avoiding paying the full price up-front. From there, users will pay off that amount in four separate payments across six weeks with no interest or extra fees slapped on top. $1,000 is a decent chunk of change, however, it's not a guarantee. Eligibility depends on your credit score; a history with low numbers will qualify for smaller loans.  The feature will have its home in the Apple Wallet which comes with a detailed calendar that'll notify you of upcoming payments. If you're having a hard time paying, Apple will work with you to make up a new plan. And if yo...

It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints. And you might need them - because this popular online game takes the Wordle format and quadruples the difficulty. So if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints , you'll probably need some for Quordle too.  I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #428 and bookmark this page so you can easily return.  SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.  Quordle today (game #428) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today? • The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4 *. * Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).  Quordle today (game #428) - hint #2 - total vowels Wh...

Lunar astronauts will need to synchronize their watches on future missions. But on a rock that rotates much slower than Earth, time gets weird fast. from Wired https://ift.tt/eqR6GEm

Legitimate Microsoft SharePoint notifications are fooling even the most tech-savvy workers as threat actors look to set up phishing scams to target more businesses, security experts have warned. A report from Kaspersky detected more than 1,600 malicious notifications between December 2022 and February 2023 as cybercriminals targeted businesses in Austria, France, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and the US. However, despite the misleading email notifications, there are some clear signs to help businesses detect potential scam activity. SharePoint phishing scams Legitimate emails of shared files are received by companies using Microsoft 365’s online collaboration tools , with no dubious link in sight, helping emails to bypass the security filters that typically prevent users from receiving such emails. The shared OneNote file then contains another notification of a file that has been shared, this time to a file like a PDF . Read more ...

Startups say Microsoft and its Bing chatbot—not just Google—are stifling competition when it comes to creating better search engines. from Wired https://ift.tt/VLrGmd1

Xbox Series X The Xbox Series X is a lot more powerful than the Series S. It utilizes its specs to significantly reduce load times and boost overall game performance and visual fidelity, while features such as Quick Resume, Smart Delivery, and backward compatibility give it the edge.  For Much faster loading times Dolby Vision + Atmos support Backwards compatibility 4K/60fps gameplay (4K/120Hz support) Against Exclusive library is lacking Minimal UI improvements Compatible TV required for full visual experience Xbox Series S The Xbox Series S is a great option if you want to avoid the sizable financial outlay required to own a full-blown new-gen console, but it has significantly less storage, prioritizes 1440p resolution for gaming, and does without the 4K HD Blu-Ray drive of the Xbox Series X. For The smallest Xbox ever made Completely silent in operation Cheaper than the Series X Smooth frame rates Against Outputs at 1440...