Microsoft is releasing its Windows 11 2023 Update today, which was originally supposed to be one of the biggest updates to Windows 11. But Microsoft went ahead and released a lot of the features in the Windows 11 2023 Update (23H2) a little early last month, including the new Windows Copilot, AI-powered updates to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Photos, RGB lighting support, a modernized File Explorer, and more. So, the main change to the Windows 11 2023 Update is the removal of the Microsoft Teams integration named Chat.
“Chat is now Microsoft Teams (free) and is pinned by default to the taskbar,” explains John Cable, VP of program management for Windows servicing and delivery. “When you click to launch Microsoft Teams, you will discover a mini communications experience that makes it possible to chat, call, meet, and create a space for community groups to come together, organize and share ideas in just a click or two.”
The original Microsoft Teams integration was deeply woven into the operating system and enabled in the taskbar by default. You couldn’t simply unpin it like you do most apps, as you’d have to head into settings to disable it from the taskbar. Chat was always a confusing part of Windows 11 and was weirdly limited to just consumers, making it useless for the vast majority of Microsoft Teams users that use the work version of the app.
The Windows 11 2023 Update also includes some changes to how apps are managed. Windows 11 system components now have a “system” label and are separated into a new section in settings. Built-in apps like the Microsoft Store, Game Bar, Phone Link, and Tips apps are all listed there, and it looks like Microsoft is getting ready to allow Windows 11 users to remove these system components at some point.
Details on an alleged series of patent applications filed by Nintendo in November 2022 have surfaced, revealing the concept for a new dual-screen gaming device concept that can be split in two. However, it's worth bearing in mind that even a granted patent--let alone an application for one--does not mean a real product will ever see the light of day.
Shared on the World Intellectual Property Organisation website (via ResetEra and first spotted by GameRant), Nintendo's device is reminiscent of its DS and 3DS handheld consoles, which utilized a dual-screen setup for games on those systems. According to the application, the top and bottom halves can operate independently of one another, something that the DS and 3DS handhelds weren't capable of. When the two halves are closed, a screen is still visible from the outside.
Image credit: WIPO
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"This electronic apparatus comprises a first device and a second device," the patent application reads. "The first device and the second device can be detachably attached to each other. The first device has a first surface, and a first display and a first connection unit which are positioned on the first surface. The second device has a second surface, a second display that is positioned on the second surface, a second rear surface that is on the reverse side from the second surface, and a second connection unit that is positioned on the second rear surface."
It's worth noting that Nintendo has filed several patents in the past for new devices, including an oval-shaped handheld device, and many of these ideas have never been fully realized beyond the application phase. For now, this could be another case of Nintendo future-proofing its technological breakthroughs in case it ever does decide to once again release a dual-screen handheld gaming console.
What is known about the next Nintendo console is that the transition from the current Switch to its successor could potentially be smoother. Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser has stated that the Nintendo Account system in place on Switch will carry forward to whatever it is that Nintendo is rumored to be working on. Nintendo's CEO, Shuntaro Furukawa, had also previously discussed this, saying the next Nintendo console will use the same Nintendo Account system as the Switch. Whether that means Nintendo's next system supports backwards compatibility with Switch games remains to be seen, however.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
Article From & Read More ( Nintendo Patent Application Shows A Dual-Screen System That Can Be Split In Two - GameSpot )
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The Ark monitor showing four screens at once.
Image: Samsung
Samsung’s latest massive 55-inch Odyssey Ark monitor is now available to buy in the US for $2,999.99, the company announced today. Like the previous Ark, this is a 4K Mini LED display with a 165Hz refresh rate that aims to replace existing multi-monitor setups with one massive screen that can show a range of different content simultaneously.
On paper, the 55-inch Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen (G97NC), to use its full name, addresses two of our key complaints about the original Ark from last year. For starters, although the total number of video inputs remains the same at four, one of the HDMI ports has been turned into a DisplayPort connector.
Perhaps more importantly, Samsung advertises that the monitor can show a video feed from all four of these inputs simultaneously thanks to its improved Multi View feature. (The previous model let you split your screen in four but could only show one HDMI input at a time, making you reliant on built-in apps and services for the other three.) So now, it should be possible to game with a PS5 on one side of the screen while using your PC on the other. Support for using multiple inputs simultaneously should also help overcome issues if any built-in apps like Netflix don’t support Multi View since, theoretically, you’ll now be able to access them via an external HDMI streaming dongle.
Cockpit Mode returns, letting you turn the entire screen for an overwhelming portrait experience.
Image: Samsung
The Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen also includes a built-in KVM switch that lets you control multiple PCs with a single mouse and keyboard, though Samsung notes that each computer needs to be connected via its own USB upstream cable and that these are sold separately. The company also advertises that the monitor has four corner speakers and two woofers built into the monitor with support for Dolby Atmos.
Elsewhere, the monitor’s features are broadly in line with last year’s model. There’s a “Cockpit Mode” that lets you rotate and use the monitor vertically and where you can show up to three screens at once, and it also comes with an “Ark Dial” to serve as a remote. Although this is more of a monitor than a TV, it comes with an array of smart TV-style apps, including cloud gaming services from Xbox and Nvidia as well as streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Samsung says the monitor is available now directly from its own webstore as well as select additional retailers nationwide.
Article From & Read More ( Samsung adds DisplayPort and more Multi View options to second massive Ark monitor - The Verge )
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Robot vacuums have launched our daily routines into the 21st century. If you’re still spending time maneuvering your own vacuum around the house, now’s the time to consider a little upgrade. Right now, our favorite robot vacuum — which goes regularly for $800 new — is down to an all-time low price: Score the premium iRobot Roomba j7+ for just $469 at Amazon.
During our testing, we crowned the iRobot j7+ as the best robot vacuum you can buy, thanks to the robot’s reliable mapping, great cleaning power and fantastic extra features like obstacle avoidance (that actually work). And yes, it mops too (really well!).
Like a considerate roommate, this vacuum has intelligence that helps it learn your routines so it never gets going as you pick up the phone for a work call. Or, if you need something right away — due to a spill or messy pet perhaps — you can prompt it from afar using your voice assistant or companion app. It even does the dirty work at the end, emptying itself into its own vacuum bag (which generally can last for up to a month without replacement).
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Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip5 Retro, a limited edition version that pays homage to the iconic SGH-E700 (aka the SGH-E715 in the US on T-Mobile), which first came out 20 years ago in 2003. It comes with the same indigo blue and silver color combo as the original, along with similar pixel graphics for the clock widget on the cover screen and an exclusive cityscape-style animation on the Flex Window. It'll be sold in Korea and several countries in Europe, but not the US.
The SGH-E700 was Samsung's first mobile phone with an integrated antenna and became a certified hit, selling more than 10 million units. The success of that phone elevated Samsung's standing in the mobile phone industry at the time, helping make it the smartphone behemoth it is today. The phone was popular enough that in 2007, Engadget noted that Samsung effectively reissued the phone with new radios as a nostalgia play, even though it was only four years old at the time.
The Galaxy Z Flip5 Retro will include three Flipsuit cards featuring logos from different eras of Samsung’s history, a Flipsuit case and a collector card engraved with a unique serial number, the company said. It'll be available starting November 1 in Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia from Samsung's website.
Article From & Read More ( Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip5 Retro pays tribute to the iconic SGH-E700 flip phone - Engadget )
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Have you ever Googled yourself and been surprised by the old social media images, usernames, and other dusty internet relics it unearths? Maybe the results are a bit more specific, like a former address or even a phone number. No one wants their personal contact information online for all to see without their knowledge — fortunately, Google can now help with that.
In August, announced a new Google Search feature that alerts users when their personal contact information appears in a Google Search query. "Results About You" not only lets users see when and where their contact information populates on the search engine but also offers the option to remove the page from Google's results.
As Mashable reporter Amanda Yeo noted at the time of its announcement, Results About You is also particularly helpful for those who have been, or are at risk of, being doxxed.
Paired with Google's other privacy settings and upcoming features, users can take more control of their digital footprint — at least, Google's capturing of it. Here's how to use it.
How to turn on Results About You:
Only individuals with Google accounts can turn on this alert, so make sure you've created or signed in to your Google account.
Click "Get Started" and follow the on-screen prompts.
Google will ask you to add any contact information you'd like flagged. Users can add multiple names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails.
Confirm the information and select how you'd like to be notified. Google can send the results to the email associated with your Google account or send push notifications to devices linked to your Google account.
Google will automatically scan Search results for your personal information and alert you if it finds anything. The company says the initial scan can take a few hours.
Return to the Results About You page at any time to edit your contact information.
Credit: Google
Credit: Google
Credit: Google
How to remove your personal information from Search:
While Google doesn't have the ability to remove any information or images from non-Google sites, it can help users get personal contact information results removed from Google Search pages.
There are two ways to request that Google remove personal information from search results:
On Results About You:
Go to the Results About You activity page.
Select "Results to review."
Check the blue box next to any results you'd like to request removed.
Submit request.
Google reviews each request according to its policy requirements for removal. The status of a request can be viewed on the Results About You page, as well as an option to undo removals.
Fill out the requested information, including the type of content. Google may request screenshots, URLs to search result pages, and specific search terms used to populate the result.
Once filled out, submit the form.
For additional information on Google's privacy and personal information controls, visit Google's Safety Center.
Bard is a conversational generative AI chatbot developed by Google. Much like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bard allows you to ask questions and get help with projects and ideas, as if you were speaking to a human on a messaging app.
Typically, when you ask Bard a question there’s a delay between sending the question and a response appearing. Now, you’ll be able to ask the bot to respond as it’s creating an answer. There’s still a bit of a delay, but you’ll see a response come in line-by-line as Bard creates it.
Besides saving you time waiting for a response, the feature also has a “Skip response” button you can press if you happen to realize the response isn’t helpful and you want to bail out early.
If you’d rather wait and see answers after Bard has completed them, you can also set the chatbot to skip the real-time response feature. Tap the Settings icon and select “respond in real time” or “Respond once complete.”
This year's release of the world's most popular operating system feels like one of the smallest ever, bringing just a handful of new features. Even during the Android portion of Google's big I/O keynote, Google spent most of its time showing off a new generative AI feature that creates wallpapers for you, as if there aren't enough wallpapers in the world.
Last year's Android 13 release felt small, but that was because it was the second major Android OS release that year. Android 12L—the big tablet and foldable release—came out earlier. What's Android 14's excuse? We're not really sure. We still have a few things to go over, though, like new lock screen customizations, genuinely exciting changes to the way the back button works, and a pile of under-the-hood changes.
The new logo
The new Android logo.
Google
The old, flat logo.
It comes in a variety of colors and styles.
Google
A combined wordmark of "Google Android" is included in Google's logo animations, which would certainly be a change.
Google
First up is a new logo! Android's last big rebranding happened with Android 10, and just a few years later, it's time for a new coat of paint. The wordmark is now capitalized, and the little Android "bugdroid" mascot, usually a disembodied head next to the Android wordmark, is getting its body back. The bugdroid is now fully rendered in 3D, and in keeping with Google's Material Design guidelines, it comes in a variety of colors and styles. If you ask me, bugdroid in 3D looks a bit pudgy.
In the videos on Google's redesign blog post, a "Google Android" logo occupies the screen for a good amount of time. I have never seen these two brands together as a single wordmark, and widespread usage of it would certainly be a change. Some people confuse the Android brand with the "Android Open Source Project" and think it's some kind of free-to-use logo, but Android is a trademark of Google, and you can't use it unless you license the Google Play apps. So "Google Android" is totally appropriate.
I've never actually seen the Android logo anywhere in the world outside of tech news, so I'm not sure who this is for. Even if you get a Pixel phone, you won't see the Android logo on the box or in the software. The one spot to catch it in the real world is in a tiny "powered by Android" message on the rarely seen phone boot screen. It's like a branding system exclusively for Google blog posts and trade shows.
The (somewhat) customizable lock screen
Long press on the lock screen and you'll get this "customize lock screen" button.
Ron Amadeo
All the clock fonts.
Ron Amadeo
Clock color options. The slider lets you pick from dark, light, or vibrant colors.
Ron Amadeo
The shortcut screen and all nine options.
Ron Amadeo
iOS 16's headline feature was its new lock screen widgets, and it seems Android wants in on the action, too. Android originally had lock screen widgets back in 2012 with Android 4.2, but they were removed just a few years later in version 5.0. Lock screen widgets are still not back in Android 14, but because Google tries to keep pace with iOS, widgets are probably alock to appear in Android 15 or 16.
What we have in Android 14's lock screen is a selectable clock style and two shortcuts you can pick from. You can long-press on the lock screen, and a "customize" button will pop up, letting you pick from seven different clock styles. You can choose the clock's color, and a color slider lets you adjust things further. "Contrast" isn't the right word for the slider, but the left side is a lightly tinted almost-black, the right side is a lightly tinted almost-white, and a full, rich color is in the middle somewhere. There's also a "size" setting for the clock, which determines if it kicks into full-screen mode when you have no notifications or just stays small all the time.
You can assign functions to two left and right shortcuts, but the options are strangely limited. You can assign a button to the camera, a do-not-disturb toggle, the flashlight, the Google Home app, Mute, the QR code scanner, the video camera, or Google Wallet. That's it—a weird grab bag of some quick settings toggles and one or two Google apps.
Still, it's great to get an actual settings UI for the lock screen shortcuts. Previously, controlling these shortcuts meant ticking one or two on/off switches in the display settings, which is not great for something that could have multiple options. It should just be all your apps and quick settings buttons—thanks to themed icons, there should be appropriate one-color options for all of these now. Between this shortcut setting, the quick settings "edit" UI, and the app drawer/home screen, that's three "shortcut" UIs where you pick a selection of items from a big bucket of icons. Google should just pick one UI and roll with it everywhere.
In general, though, the lock screen options feel like a precursor to something more robust, with app-supplied widgets.
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Several malicious Google Play Android apps installed over 2 million times push intrusive ads to users while concealing their presence on the infected devices.
In their latest monthly mobile threat report, Doctor Web's analysts identified trojans on Google Play associated with the 'FakeApp,' 'Joker,' and the 'HiddenAds' malware families.
Of particular interest are the following four adware (HiddenAds) apps disguised as games:
Super Skibydi Killer – 1,000,000 downloads
Agent Shooter – 500,000 downloads
Rainbow Stretch – 50,000 downloads
Rubber Punch 3D – 500,000 downloads
HiddenAds game app on Google Play(Dr. Web)
Dr. Web explains that once victims install these apps on their devices, they hide by replacing their icons with that of Google Chrome or using a transparent icon image to create empty space in the app drawer.
These apps run stealthily in the background upon launch, abusing the browser to launch ads and generate revenue for their operators.
The analysts also discovered several apps belonging to the FakeApp family, which direct users to investment scam sites.
In other cases, Dr. Web spotted game apps that loaded dubious online casino websites in violation of Google Play policies.
Some notable examples of those are:
Eternal Maze (Yana Pospyelova) – 50,000 downloads
Jungle Jewels (Vaibhav Wable) – 10,000 downloads
Stellar Secrets (Pepperstocks) – 10,000 downloads
Fire Fruits (Sandr Sevill) – 10,000 downloads
Cowboy's Frontier (Precipice Game Studios) – 10,000 downloads
Enchanted Elixir (Acomadyi) – 10,000 downloads
Fake app taking users to casino sites(Dr. Web)
Finally, the antivirus team spotted two Joker family apps on Google Play, which subscribe users to premium paid services:
Love Emoji Messenger (Korsinka Vimoipan) – 50,000 downloads
Beauty Wallpaper HD (fm0989184) – 1,000 downloads
All the apps presented in this report have been removed from Google Play by the time of writing.
Still, users who might have installed them in the past must delete them immediately and perform a complete device scan using Play Protect and a mobile antivirus tool.
Dr. Web has also published a list of hashes for all malicious Android apps its analysts discovered last month on GitHub.
To avoid downloading malicious software from Google Play, minimize the apps you install to the minimum required, carefully read user reviews, and perform checks to ensure the publisher is trustworthy.
Apple has fixed a years-old vulnerability in its iPhone and iPad software that undermined a privacy feature since it first debuted.
Back in 2020, Apple announced a new feature in iOS 14 that would prevent nearby wireless routers and access points from gathering an Apple device’s unique MAC address.
Tracking MAC addresses can have legitimate uses, like allowing administrators to identify every device connected to their networks, such as unauthorized devices. But knowing a device’s MAC addresses can be used for tracking that device across different networks.
Rather than sharing the device’s unique MAC address, the iOS feature would use a different “private address” for each network.
But it turns out that this feature hasn’t worked as intended since it was first introduced, according to security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, who discovered a flaw that prevented the privacy feature from properly working.
In a video published this week, Mysk explained that while iOS has replaced the device’s real MAC address with a randomly generated address for each network, the device’s software also included the real MAC address in the AirPlay discovery requests that an iPhone sends when it joins a network. These real MAC addresses were then broadcast to every other connected device on the network.
“There is no way to prevent iPhones and iPads from sending AirPlay discovery requests, even when connected to a VPN,” Mysk said. “Apple’s devices do this to discover AirPlay-capable devices in the network.”
Mysk confirmed to TechCrunch that iPhones and iPads kept sending these requests even when the user enabled Lockdown Mode, an opt-in feature designed to protect against highly targeted cyberattacks.
Mysk said he first discovered this issue in July, and submitted a security report to Apple on July 25. Mysk told TechCrunch that communication with Apple provided a “major obstacle,” saying that the tech giant was unable to replicate the “straightforward” issue until October 3, when he was notified that a fix was available to be tested.
Apple this week fixed the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-42846, with the release of iOS 17.1 and iOS 16.7.2 for older devices that can run iOS 16. As Mysk noted, devices running iOS 14 or iOS 15 remain vulnerable.
Apple has not disclosed the severity of the bug, but Mysk notes that the vulnerability rating score system classifies the vulnerability as “high.”
Apple spokesperson Scott Radcliffe declined to answer TechCrunch’s questions.
Apple this week fixed several other vulnerabilities with iOS 17.1, including a flaw that may have allowed an attacker to access passkeys without authentication, and a Siri bug that could have exposed sensitive data to a hacker with physical access to a device.
Linksys has released the Velop Pro 7, its newest Wi-Fi 7 mesh router, which it says is so smart, it can fix itself — and it’s convinced enough of this that it plans to phase out its router management app. Like the Velops before it, you can buy Linksys’ new kit one at a time or in two- or- three-pack configurations. The router costs $399.99 for one, $749.99 for two, or $999.99 for three.
This is usually where I would tell you about the specs. But first, we need to talk about the app thing. While briefing me on its new routers, Linksys said its customers have overwhelmingly told it that they just don’t like needing to use an app to manage their network, so it’s looking to phase it out. It won’t happen immediately, but that’s the goal. What the company proposes, instead, is that it handles network management for you.
A close-up of the Velop Pro 7’s top.
Image: Linksys
Linksys says its router can take care of itself using “cognitive computing” — a concept the IEEE summarizes as “the imitation of the thought process of human beings using a sophisticated computerized model.” Machine learning, basically. The company told me it uses this approach instead of AI because people don’t trust AI. In the interest of briskness, I will just acknowledge that when companies use the term “AI,” they’re often also talking about cognitive computing.
If Linksys’ cognitive system fails to fix what’s ailing it, though, users can flag a problem with its support app. Linksys support will then remotely diagnose the problem and either fix what’s wrong or tell the user why it can’t (say, your ISP is the problem, or you need to check that your modem is plugged in).
Wi-Fi 7 is the next version of Wi-Fi to follow Wi-Fi 6E. Like Wi-Fi 6E, the protocol works on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands, and it’s backward-compatible with devices that precede it. Wi-Fi 7 promises faster throughput through features like 320MHz channel bandwidth, which is twice what’s offered on Wi-Fi 6E; Multi-Link Operation, which combines bands into a single, faster, and more stable connection; and improved interference handling.
The standard hasn’t yet been finalized, however, and there are no client devices — phones, laptops, and so forth — that support it, putting current Wi-Fi 7 routers very firmly in the early adopter market. Still, there may be some benefits from using Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, which will be able to take advantage of the features listed above for faster, more stable wireless backhaul connections between nodes.
To some degree, I get it. Network troubleshooting is a pain. The idea of a router system that manages itself is great. And router apps are often just so bad.
But I’m leery of claims of self-healing tech that you don’t need to fix. As much as I don’t like most of them, router smartphone apps can be accessible and even pleasant when done right, and at least minimally useful for troubleshooting. The idea of sending up the digital equivalent of a signal flare and having to wait on Linksys support to get back to me sounds like hell.
I have to hope the company will still offer a browser interface for those of us who still want to do our own troubleshooting. I reached back out to Linksys to ask for more information about its post-app router world and will update here when I hear back.
Four gigabit ethernet ports and a 2.5Gbps WAN port.
Image: Linksys
Under the hood of the Velop Pro 7
Okay, so I promised specs. In terms of design, the Linksys Velop Pro 7 continues the ongoing tradition of air freshener chic white obelisks the line is known for. Each node has a 2.5Gbps WAN port (the one that goes to your modem or that you might use to connect mesh nodes) and four gigabit ethernet ports. The company says the Pro 7 is good for about 3,000 square feet of coverage per node. A whole system can handle up to 200 connected devices, too, according to Linksys.
The Pro 7 also has Wi-Fi 7 features like Multi-Link Operation, which lets the router connect to another device across multiple bands for faster throughput but also serves as a stability measure — if your 6GHz goes down, you’ve still got your 5GHz band to fall back on. It can also use up to 320MHz channel bandwidth on the 6GHz band, which doubles that of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E routers, and that means more throughput for devices that support it (of which there are currently zero).
Those sound like decent specs and a nice intro-level Wi-Fi 7 kit, inasmuch as this early adopter tech can be. The Velop Pro 7 is very pricey but maybe not outrageous when compared to the TP-Link Deco BE85 or the Eero Max 7, both of which will run you hundreds more for a three-pack than a $999 trio of Wi-Fi 7 Velops. But like I said in my Wi-Fi 7 explainer, you just don’t need a Wi-Fi 7 router now. The spec isn’t final yet, which could mean missing features or a less optimized router down the line. You can buy it today, but frankly, you should probably wait on a review or three.
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