Technology

SpaceX‘s satellite Internet connection service Starlink has now shipped 100,000 terminals to customers. Announcing the new milestone on Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also revealed that Starlink is currently serving 14 different regions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Portugal, New Zealand and Australia. He emphasized that he hopes for Starlink to serve the entire globe soon, as his license applications are pending in many more countries. Originally launching its beta service back in November last year, Starlink was designed to cater to those living in more remote locations where wired Internet connections might be lacking due to problems of infrastructure. CNBC reported in July...

Researchers have discovered that a data breach within Microsoft‘s Power Apps portal apps has left 38 million records exposed. The scale of vulnerability affected more than 1,000 web apps, and covered private information that includes COVID-19 contact tracing, vaccination registrations and statuses, employee databases with details such as home addresses and phone numbers, and even social security numbers. Those affected include Ford, American Airlines, a whole range of New York City public schools, the Indiana Department of Health and more. When research firm Upguard notified Microsoft of the vulnerabilities, the tech giant insisted that the architecture was by design. However, under pressure from its customers, Microsoft ultimately issued the following statement to Engadget: “Our products ...

In 2019, OnlyFans, a content subscription platform founded three years prior, had about 120,000 creators registered with the site. But after the pandemic left millions of people out of work and sex workers unable to safely meet with clients in person, people flocked to the platform, which was already well-known for its adult content. By the end of 2020, OnlyFans boasted 1 million creators and 90 million users. Creators liked the control the platform gave them over the kind of work they wanted to do — but the more the site grew, the more nervous they got. “OnlyFans is not going to last, but it is a hell of a ride,” OnlyFans creator Kimberly Kane told the The New York Times in May. “They’ll take it away from us, just like they do everything else. It’s only a matter of time.” “They’ll take it...

Electronic Arts is pledging to open the patents for some of its accessibility-related tech, including the much-celebrated Apex Legends ping system, the company announced today. EA says it won’t file infringement lawsuits against people or companies for using tech that falls under patents listed in the pledge. The ping system in Apex Legends, which allows people to play the team-based game without hearing or speaking, has been praised both as an impressive alternative to voice chat and as a great accessibility feature for players with a variety of disabilities. A patent that covers the system (US 11,097,189) was issued the same day as EA’s announcement of the pledge. Along with the ping system patent, EA is opening patents for the tech it uses in Madden and FIFA to make them more accessible...

Immunologists are fearing the worst as a strain of COVID deadlier than the current Delta variant is potentially looming around the corner. This new “COVID-22” is more advanced than the Delta variant that’s currently wreaking havoc in Australia as it combines parts of the Beta, Gamma, and Delta strain into a super strain that may have “escape mutations” that counteract vaccines. Scientists are already recognizing the dangers of such a potent strain existing and are requesting that vaccine manufacturers adapt as soon as possible. Dr. Chris Smith, a consultant virologist and lecturer at Cambridge University in the UK, urges the public to keep COVID preventative measures high as we head to the colder months with, “As we go into winter, now is a critical period and I think that is why we haven’...

PayPal has now expanded its cryptocurrency support across the pond to the United Kingdom. Much like its U.S. counterpart — which launched almost a year earlier — the new service in the U.K. will allow users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies to their liking. Supported currencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. You’ll also be able to track cryptocurrency prices in real-time via the PayPal app and access other kinds of information relating to risks and opportunities. “The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitization of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” wrote PayPal blockchain, crypto and digital currencies VP and GM Jose Fernandez da Ponte. “Our global reach, digi...

The hacker behind a major cryptocurrency heist has finally returned all of the stolen funds. Decentralized finance platform Poly Network reported earlier this month that over $600 million USD in various cryptocurrencies had been stolen by hackers, considered to be one the largest cryptocurrency heists ever. According to CNBC, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the Poly Network’s code that allowed them to transfer funds. Over the course of weeks, Poly Network maintained a dialogue with the hacker, even offering them a $500,000 USD “bug bounty” to return the stolen coins and inviting them to act as the company’s “chief security advisor.” The company also promised to release an additional bounty program worth $500,000 USD on the Immunefi platform to encourage researchers to find and...

Google announced changes to how it calculates and displays app ratings on the Play Store on Monday that could make them more useful and relevant to users and developers (via 9to5Google). In place of one rating for an entire app, which can come in a variety of forms and levels of relative goodness depending on the device, Google plans to break things down with specific ratings for the country your device is registered in and specific ratings for the form factor of the device you’re using to browse the Play Store. There are some clear-cut reasons why this change might be helpful. First, not every app offers the same features or functionality everywhere because of national laws, and one universal law — Android fragmentation. If I’m a developer selling a messaging app in the Play Store, I don’...

Oculus has begun rolling out a set of new software features for Quest and Quest 2 virtual reality headsets. The v32 update introduces some small, but important tweaks to the in-headset user experience, as well as to the Oculus Move health tracking app. The feature that most piqued my attention is an option to automatically sync saved photos and videos captured within VR to the Oculus mobile app for iOS and Android. In an earlier update, Oculus let you upload files from a headset through the Browser app within VR, an improvement over the original method of plugging the headset into a PC. But this update goes a step further in removing friction for viewing or sharing content, as it lets you do it without a headset on. To sync items from your headset (running v32 software, of course) to the a...

President Joe Biden plans to host a meeting on Wednesday to discuss how companies are improving cybersecurity after the waves of recent security breaches and ransomware attacks, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy will be attending, according to Bloomberg. Google, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, and the energy firm Southern Company have also been invited, and Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning is also set to attend, Bloomberg reports. While it’s not clear exactly what the president and any attendees plan to discuss, there will surely be a lot to talk about given incidents like the massive Solarwinds hack, the Kaseya ransomware attack, or the Colonial Pipeline shutdown resulting from a cyberattack. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, JPMorgan, and Southern C...

After it leaked over the weekend, Sony Pictures has released the first official teaser trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third Spider-Man movie to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I will just say up front that if you consider the basic premise of No Way Home to be a spoiler, you probably shouldn’t watch this trailer. There are already reveals in it that big Spider-Man and Marvel fans might want to save for the theater, though I’m not sure how practical that’ll be in the lead-up to release. shout-out to the real ones who are watching the trailer for the first time right now — Spider-Man: No Way Home (@SpiderManMovie) August 24, 2021 Suffice it to say for now that No Way Home follows on directly from the mid-credits scene in the last movie, Far From Home, which w...

A leaked video seems to show off the rumored Fitbit Charge 5, just over a week after we saw renders of it hit the internet. The video shows off some of the features of the new wearable, including daily readiness and stress management scores, as well as ECG capabilities. The leaker also reveals that the device will cost $179. The $179 price tag is $50 more than a Charge 4 costs now, but the new version features a color screen instead of a monochromatic one, and adds support for ECGs. Like the Charge 4, the Charge 5 will also have built-in GPS, according to the video. The concept of rest days is something that the Apple Watch sorely lacks The main new feature appears to be the Daily Readiness Score, which is only available to those with a $10 a month or $80 a year Fitbit Premium subscription...