Jack Dorsey has apparently exited the Bluesky board. As spotted by , the former Twitter CEO who was previously Bluesky’s highest-profile proponent shared the life update this weekend on X, where he’s been posting a lot lately. In response to a user who asked “are you still on the bsky board,” only, “no.” That’s it, nothing more. Engadget has reached out to the company for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
The decentralized social network started as a project by a team at then-Twitter back in 2019, but it eventually split off on its own. It only opened to the public this March after being invite-only for almost a year. While Jack Dorsey sat on its board, Bluesky is led by Jay Graber, its CEO since 2021. since Elon Musk’s takeover, but it seems he’s now swung back around. On Saturday, , “don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights. defend them yourself using freedom technology. (you’re on one).”
The company has made no mention yet of Dorsey’s departure, and he’s still named as a board member on its . Dorsey seemingly deleted his own Bluesky account months ago, TechCrunch notes.
Threads is giving users more control over who can quote their posts (as in, reposting with commentary). If you don’t want just anyone to be able to quote your posts, you now have the option to allow only people you follow to do so. Or, you can make it so no one can quote your posts at all. Head of Instagram announced the update this weekend, saying he hopes it will “help keep Threads a more positive place.” The platform tested the feature among a group of Threads users last month, but it’s now rolling out to everyone.
Threads, which , has been slowly adding more features to improve safety and the overall user experience, borrowing some tools from Instagram. Last month, it , so users can designate certain terms that they want to be filtered out of their feeds. Threads also recently started testing options for archiving posts, either manually or automatically after a chosen expiration date.
Parrots are innately social creatures. In captivity, where they typically don’t have a flock to interact with, that can present some real challenges for keeping them happy and healthy. But recent research suggests technology may be able to help them meet more of their social needs. A led by researchers at the University of Glasgow and Northeastern University compared parrots’ responses when given the option to video chat with other birds via Meta’s Messenger versus watching pre-recorded videos. And it seems they’ve got a preference for real-time conversations.
The research builds on findings from a series of small studies over the last few years, including one in which the team trained pet parrots to make video calls to each other (with human assistance) and another where they were taught to play tablet games. In the latest, nine parrot owners were given tablets to set up for their pets, who were then observed over a period of six months. During that time, the parrots — who’d been introduced to each other at the beginning over video chat — were able to engage in calls amongst themselves of up to three hours long over a total of 12 sessions. Half of these sessions featured pre-recorded videos, while the other half were live Messenger video chats.
Their caregivers, who recorded the sessions, reported that the birds seemed more engaged during the live interactions. They initiated more calls in those scenarios, and spent more time on average engaging with the birds on the other end.
In each session, the parrots were allowed to make up to two calls, and the researchers found that those chatting over Messenger hit this limit 46 percent of the time, compared to almost half that when they were watching pre-recorded videos. Overall, they spent a combined 561 minutes video-chatting on Messenger compared to just 142 minutes watching the pre-recorded videos.
“The appearance of ‘liveness’ really did seem to make a difference to the parrots’ engagement with their screens,” said Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, though noting that further study would be needed before definite conclusions can be drawn. “Their behavior while interacting with another live bird often reflected behaviors they would engage in with other parrots in real life, which wasn’t the case in the pre-recorded sessions.” Still, the caregivers mostly reported that the live and pre-recorded calls both seemed to have a positive impact on the birds.
“The internet holds a great deal of potential for giving animals agency to interact with each other in new ways, but the systems we build to help them do that need to be designed around their specific needs and physical and mental abilities,” said Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas. “Studies like this could help to lay the foundations of a truly animal-centered internet.”
Google has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy to include language that expressly prohibits advertisers from promoting websites and services that generate deepfake pornography. While the company already has strong restrictions in place for ads that feature certain types of sexual content, this update leaves no doubt that promoting “synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity” is in violation of its rules.
Any advertiser promoting sites or apps that generate deepfake porn, that show instructions on how to create deepfake porn and that endorse or compare various deepfake porn services will be suspended without warning. They will no longer be able to publish their ads on Google, as well. The company will start implementing this rule on May 30 and is giving advertisers the chance to remove any ad in violation of the new policy. As 404 Media notes, the rise of deepfake technologies has led to an increasing number of ads promoting tools that specifically target users wanting to create sexually explicit materials. Some of those tools reportedly even pretend to be wholesome services to be able to get listed on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, but it’s masks off on social media where they promote their ability to generate manipulated porn.
Google has, however, already started prohibiting services that create sexually explicit deepfakes in Shopping ads. Similar to its upcoming wider policy, the company has banned Shopping ads for services that “generate, distribute, or store synthetic sexually explicit content or synthetic content containing nudity. ” Those include deepfake porn tutorials and pages that advertise deepfake porn generators.
X is using Grok to publish AI-generated summaries of news and other topics that trend on the platform. The feature, which is currently only available to premium subscribers, is called “Stories on X,” according to from the company’s engineering account.
According to X, Grok relies on users’ posts to generate the text snippets. Some seem to be more news-focused, while others are summaries of conversations happening on the platform itself. One user a screenshot that showed stories about Apple’s earnings report and aid to Ukraine, as well as one for “Musk, Experts Debate National Debt,” which was a summary of a “candid online discussion” between Musk and other “prominent figures” on X.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s also remarkably similar to Moments, the longtime Twitter feature that curated authoritative tweets about important news and cultural moments on the platform. The feature, which was overseen by a team of human staffers, was killed
Like other generative AI tools, Grok’s summaries come with a disclaimer. “This story is a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time,” it says. “Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.” Grok, of course, doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to accurately interpreting current events. It previously generated a suggesting that NBA player Klay Thompson went on a “vandalism spree” because it couldn’t understand what “throwing bricks” meant in the context of a basketball game.
When we’re logging into our online accounts, it’s usually with a purpose. We want to get in as quickly as possible to scroll social media or check a bank statement without interruption. It’s easy to become impatient and let login security slip by using the same passwords for everything — think the usual suspects like streets you’ve lived on or your kids’ or pets’ names. But that’s a security nightmare: With just one leak, a malicious actor can access some of your most sensitive accounts. Password managers help mitigate this threat by giving you an easy way to store and develop unique, strong passwords for every account. Yet, these services are not all built the same. We tested out nine of the best password managers available now to help you choose the right one for your needs. 1Password remains our top pick for the best password manager, thanks to its zero-knowledge policy, numerous security features and general ease of use, but there are other solid programs out there to consider as well.
How do password managers work?
Think of password managers like virtual safe deposit boxes. They hold your valuables, in this case usually online credentials, in a section of the vault only accessible to you by security key or a master password. Most of these services have autofill features that make it convenient to log in to any site without needing to remember every password you have, and they keep your credit card information close for impulse purchases.
But given that passwords are one of the top ways to keep your online identity secure, the real value of password managers is staying safe online. “It’s just not possible without a password manager to have unique, long and hard-to-guess passwords,” Florian Schaub, an associate professor of information and of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, said.
Common guidance states that secure passwords should be unique, with the longest number of characters allowed and uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. This is the exact opposite of using one password everywhere, with minor variations depending on a site’s requirements. Think of how many online accounts and sites you have credentials for — it’s an impossible task to remember it all without somewhere to store passwords safely (no, a sticky note on your desk won’t cut it). Password managers are more readily accessible and offer the benefit of filling in those long passwords for you.
Are password managers safe?
It seems counterintuitive to store all your sensitive information in one place. One hack could mean you lose it all to an attacker and struggle for months or even years to rebuild your online presence, not to mention you may have to cancel credit cards and other accounts. But most experts in the field agree that password managers are a generally secure and safe way to keep track of your personal data, and the benefits of strong, complex passwords outweigh the possible risks.
The mechanics of keeping those passwords safe differs slightly from provider to provider. Generally, you have a lengthy, complex “master password” that safeguards the rest of your information. In some cases, you might also get a “security key” to enter when you log in to new devices. This is a random string of letters, numbers and symbols that the company will send you at sign up. Only you know this key, and because it’s stored locally on your device or printed out on paper, it’s harder for hackers to find.
These multiple layers of security make it difficult for an attacker to get into your vault even if your password manager provider experiences a breach. But the company should also follow a few security basics. A “zero-knowledge” policy means that the company keeps none of your data on file, so in the event of an attack, there’s nothing for hackers to find. Regular health reports like pentests and security audits are essential for keeping companies up to par on best practices, and other efforts like bug bounty programs or hosting on an open source website encourage constant vigilance for security flaws. Most password managers now also offer some level of encryption falling under the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES 256-bit is the strongest, because there are the most number of possible combinations, but AES 128-bit or 192-bit are still good.
Who are password managers for?
Given their universal benefit, pretty much everyone could use a password manager. They’re not just for the tech-savvy people or businesses anymore because so much sensitive information ends up online behind passwords, from our bank accounts to our Netflix watch history.
That’s the other perk of password managers: safe password sharing. Families, friends or roommates can use them to safely access joint accounts. Texting a password to someone isn’t secure, and you can help your family break the habit by starting to use one yourself, Lisa Plaggemier, executive director at National Cyber Security Alliance, said. Streaming is the obvious use case, but consider the shared bills, file storage and other sites you share access with the people around you as well.
Are password managers worth it?
You likely already use a password manager, even if you wouldn’t think to call it that. Most phones and web browsers include a log of saved credentials on the device, like the “passwords” keychain in the settings of an iPhone. That means you’ve probably seen the benefits of not having to memorize a large number of passwords or even type them out already.
While that’s a great way in, the downfall of these built-in options are that they tend to be device specific. If you rely on an Apple password manager, for example, that works if you’re totally in the Apple ecosystem — but you become limited once you get an Android tablet, Lujo Bauer, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and of computer science, at Carnegie Mellon University, said. If you use different devices for work and personal use and want a secure option for sharing passwords with others, or just don’t want to be tied to one brand forever, a third-party password manager is usually worth it.
How we tested
We tested password managers by downloading the apps for each of the nine contenders on iPhone, Android, Safari, Chrome and Firefox. That helped us better understand what platforms each manager was available on, and see how support differs across operating systems and browsers.
As we got set up with each, we took note of ease of use and how they iterated on the basic features of autofill and password generators. Nearly all password managers have these features, but some place limits on how much you can store while others give more control over creating easy-to-type yet complex passwords. From there, we looked at extra features like data-breach monitoring to understand which managers offered the most for your money.
Finally, we reviewed publicly available information about security specs for each. This includes LastPass, which more experts are shying away from recommending after the recent breach. For the sake of this review, we’ve decided not to recommend LastPass at this time as fallout from the breach still comes to light (The company disclosed a second incident earlier this year where an unauthorized attack accessed the company’s cloud storage, including sensitive data. Since then, hackers have stolen more than $4.4 million in cryptocurrency using private keys and other information stored in LastPass vaults.)
These are the password managers we tested:
1Password
Number of tiers: 4 | Pricing: $3/month for Individual, $5/month for Families, $20/month for Teams Starter Pack, $8/month per user for Business | Compatibility: macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge, Command Line
Many security experts trust 1Password with their private information and, after testing it out, it’s clear why. The service includes industry standard encryption, a “secret key” that only you know on top of your master password, a zero-knowledge policy that means it keeps no data, and other security features like frequent audits, two-factor authentication and a bug bounty program. That said, 1Password did fall victim to a recent cybersecurity incident that’s worth noting. 1Password detected suspicious activity on its Okta instance, but an investigation “concluded that no 1Password user data was accessed.” 1Password now also supports passkeys, which are credentials stored in your most used devices that are protected by biometric authentication (like fingerprints or facial recognition) or PINs.
1Password has a pretty intuitive user interface across its mobile and desktop apps. A tutorial at download helps you import passwords from other managers onto 1Password so that you don’t feel like you’re starting over from scratch. It also clearly rates the strength of each password and has an “open and fill” option in the vault so that you can get into your desired site even more quickly. We also liked the user-friendly option to scan a set up code to easily connect your account to your mobile devices without too much tedious typing.
At $3 per month, the individual subscription comes with unlimited passwords, items and one gigabyte of document storage for your vault. It also lets you share passwords, credit card information and other saved credentials. If you upgrade to the family plan for $5 each month, you’ll get to invite up to five people (plus more for $1 each per month) to be a part of the vault.
Number of tiers: 3 | Pricing: Free, $3/month per user for Teams Organization, $5/month per user for Enterprise Organization | Compatibility: macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Tor, DuckDuckGo for Mac, Command Line
Bitwarden’s free plan includes unlimited passwords on an unlimited number of devices, which is more than we’ve seen from some of its competitors. There are drawbacks like you can only share vault items with one other user, but we think that’s a fair tradeoff.
Bitwarden is based on open-source code, meaning anyone on GitHub can audit it, which is a good measure of security. On a personal level, it includes security audits of your information, like a data breach report, that can keep you in the know about when your passwords have been leaked and when it’s time to change them. Plus, it’s widely available across the platforms we tested, including Windows and iOS, with a level of customization, options to access your password vault and more. It also recently added passkeys to its vault and two-factor authentication options as a secure way to sign in.
Bitwarden may be the best free password manager, but it does have a paid version and we do think it’s worth it. At $10 annually for individuals or $40 for families, you unlock encrypted file storage, emergency access, unlimited sharing and more additional features. But the free version comes with the basics that can get anyone set up on password management easily.
Pros
Robust free version
Based on open-source code
Available across a wide variety of platforms
Cons
Free version can only share a vault with one other user
Number of tiers: 3 | Pricing: Free, $2/per month for Premium, $4/month for Family | Compatibility: macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge
Across password managers we tested, cross-platform availability was relatively similar. Most are widely available across web browsers and different operating systems, including our other top picks on this list. But we wanted to give a nod to NordPass here because of how easy the service makes it to access your vault from any platform while keeping your data safe. NordPass even lets you use biometric data to sign in now, like your fingerprints or face, making it even easier to get into accounts across devices.
NordPass has a free option with unlimited passwords and syncs across devices. A $2-per-month premium plan keeps you logged in when switching devices, comes with security notifications and allows for item sharing. A family subscription comes with six premium accounts and only costs $4 per month. This makes it an excellent budget option as well. Besides the pairing code to connect accounts, NordPass is a pretty standard password manager. Scanning a code gets me from my laptop to mobile device to work computer super easily. If you’re constantly switching devices and those extra few seconds save your sanity, it’s worth considering.
Number of tiers: 4 | Pricing: Free, $3/month for Advanced, $5/month for Premium, $7/month for Friends and Family | Compatibility: macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge, Opera
Dashlane has four subscription options: A free user gets access to a single device with unlimited passwords; an advanced user pays $3 per month to get upgraded to unlimited devices and dark web monitoring; for $5 per month, a premium user also gets VPN access and an $7.49-per-month family plan includes access for up to 10 subscribers.
It met all the criteria we looked for, but with a clear emphasis on sharing credentials. Dashlane highlights “secure sharing” starting at its free level, which is a functionality that some competitors keep behind a paywall. Other free features, however, recently took a hit. Dashlane limited the number of passwords users of the free version could store. Access for up to 10 members in a family plan is one of the bigger plans we’ve seen as well. While we were testing it, password sharing seemed front of mind with a tab dedicated to it in Dashlane’s browser extension. Arguably the biggest caveat here, though, is lack of Linux support.
Pros
Easy to securely share information with others
Free version includes robust sharing features
Cons
Free version supports a limited number of passwords
For a while, security experts considered LastPass a solid choice for a password manager. It’s easy to use, has a slew of helpful extra features and its free version gives you a lot. But we decided not to include LastPass in our top picks because of the high profiledata breaches it has experienced over the past couple of years.
Keeper
Keeper met a lot of the basic criteria we tested for, like autofill options and cross-platform availability. We liked its family plan options, too, that can keep your whole household secure. But we didn’t think its extra features, like the encrypted messaging app, added much value. Plus, it has a self-destruct feature after five incorrect login attempts which, despite adding extra protection, could be a recipe for disaster for casual users.
Enpass
Enpass works well as an affordable password manager. That includes an inflation-beating “lifetime” access pass instead of a monthly payment for users really committed to the service. Still, it was confusing to set up across devices and because Enpass stores data locally, as opposed to in the cloud, we struggled to get started with it on mobile.
Norton
A familiar name in security, we were excited to test out Norton’s password manager. While it’s free, its features seem underdeveloped. It lacked password sharing, account recovery and complex form-filing tools that come standard in many of the other password managers we tested.
LogMeOnce
LogMeOnce comes with a wide range of premium tiers, from professional to family, that include different levels of storage and features. But when we tested, it lacked some basic cross-platform availability that other password managers had already, like compatibility with Mac and Safari.
FAQs
Why use a password manager?
Using a password manager can enhance your online security. They store all of your complex passwords and autofill them as needed, so that you can have unique, strong passwords across the web without remembering each of them yourself. In many cases, unique passwords are your first defense against attack, and a reliable manager makes it easier to keep track of them all.
Are password managers 100 percent safe?
Password managers are a secure way to store your credentials. Experts in the field generally agree that the benefits of accessibility when storing complex passwords outweigh the possibility of attack, like what happened with LastPass. But with any service, it can vary from provider to provider. You should look out for zero-knowledge policies, regular security audits, pentests, bug bounty programs and encryption when choosing the right secure password manager for you.
What if I forget my master password?
Forgetting a master password won’t necessarily lock you out for good, but the recovery process varies from provider to provider. Some services give you a “security key” at sign up to enter when you log into new devices. It can also be used to securely recover your account because it’s a random string of keys stored locally that only you have access to. Other services, however, have no way to recover your vault. So creating a master password that you won’t forget is important.
How can I make a good master password?
A good master password should be unique, with the longest number of characters allowed and uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Experts often recommended thinking of it like a “passphrase” instead of a “password” to make it easier to remember. For example, you can take a sentence like “My name is Bob Smith” and change it to “Myn@m3isB0b5m!th” to turn it into a secure master password that you won’t forget.
Microsoft says the April security updates for Windows may break your VPN. (Oops!) “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update (KB5036893) or the April 2024 non-security preview update,” the company wrote in a status update. It’s working on a fix.
Bleeping Computer first reported the issue, which affects Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008 and later. User reports on Reddit are mixed, with some commenters saying their VPNs still work after installing the update and others claiming their encrypted connections were indeed borked.
“We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release,” Microsoft wrote.
There’s no proper fix until Microsoft pushes a patched update. However, you can work around the issue by uninstalling all the security updates. In an unfortunate bit of timing for CEO Satya Nadella, he said last week that he wants Microsoft to put “security above else.” I can’t imagine making customers (temporarily) choose between going without a VPN and losing the latest protection is what he had in mind.
At least one Redditor claims that uninstalling and reinstalling their VPN app fixed the problem for them, so it may be worth trying that before moving on to more drastic measures.
If you decide to uninstall the security updates, Microsoft tells you how. “To remove the LCU after installing the combined SSU and LCU package, use the DISM/Remove-Package command line option with the LCU package name as the argument,” the company wrote in its patch notes. “You can find the package name by using this command: DISM /online /get-packages.”
Over a year after announcing it would acquire Mint Mobile for up to $1.35 billion, T-Mobile has closed the deal. With the Un-Carrier’s purchase of parent Ka’ena Corporation, it will not only get Mint, but internationally focused prepaid operator Ultra Mobile and wholesale wireless provider Plum. T-Mobile also promised to keep Mint Mobile’s $15 per month/5GB offering that’s among the least costly in the US.
Mint Mobile is backed by Ryan Reynolds, who is believed to own 20 to 25 percent of the company. The purchase was announced back in March 2023, but the FCC only approved the deal last week. Mint will continue to be operated as a separate brand with Reynolds as pitchman and founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim joining T-Mobile to guide the brands.
Mint Mobile’s $15 plan has a few loopholes, namely you have to pay for three months at the start to get that rate, then pay for an entire year to keep it ($180 in total). As a perk, T-Mobile is offering “unlimited” (40GB with throttling, really) data for the first months. Customers will also get unlimited talk and text in Canada, along with 3GB of roaming data.
Mint’s rivals include T-Mobile itself, which has a very similar plan but a hard cap at 5GB, along with AT&T, which offers 15GB for $25 including 10GB of hotspot data. A one-year contract and up-front payment is required for the latter.
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Block appears to be squarely in the government’s sights. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are reportedly probing extensive compliance lapses at the parent company of Square and Cash App. NBC Newssays a former Block employee has handed over documents to federal authorities, painting a picture of how the company failed to gather required risk-assessment information from customers and subsequently processed illegal transactions.
The documents allegedly show that Block greenlit multiple crypto transactions involving known terrorist organizations. Furthermore, Square reportedly processed thousands of transfers involving nations under economic sanctions. “From the ground up, everything in the compliance section was flawed,” the whistleblower allegedly told NBC News. “It is led by people who should not be in charge of a regulated compliance program.”
Most transactions allegedly involved credit cards, dollar transfers or Bitcoin and weren’t reported to the government as mandated by law. In addition, Block reportedly refused to “correct company processes” when notified of the breaches.
The investigation follows a separate report from NBC News in February highlighting two different whistleblowers who flagged the same issues at Block. They cited “questionable Cash App transactions with entities under sanction by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, operations known to sell personal information and credit card data for illegal purposes, and offshore gambling sites barred to U.S. citizens.”
The practice allegedly spanned multiple years. NBC News says it reviewed around 100 pages of documents from the whistleblower involving people or organizations in countries under US sanctions, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Some of them were reportedly from as recent as 2023.
Block
The whistleblower claims Block’s management was aware of the alleged offenses. “It’s my understanding from the documents that compliance lapses were known to Block leadership and the board in recent years,” Edward Siedle, a former SEC attorney representing the whistleblower, told NBC News.
The whistleblower says that, besides senior management, Block’s board was told about the compliance issues. Coincidentally or not, several board members made unexpected exits recently, including former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, who resigned in February, and Sharon Rothstein, who had been on the board since 2022. Block told NBC News that they were leaving to devote more time to other activities and that their exits weren’t “a result of any disagreements with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.”
If you’ve been thinking about picking up a new supercomputer but were waiting on a good price, now might be a good time to put in your bid. Right now, the US government, via GSA Auctions, is auctioning off the Cheyenne Supercomputer to the highest bidder with three days remaining. While we haven’t tested this one ourselves, we assume its 145,152 CPU cores will easily out-perform our current top pick for a laptop. You also won’t need to upgrade the memory anytime soon, as there’s a full 313,344GB of RAM currently installed, and the storage capacity tallies up to around 36 petabytes. No need to delete files to make room for new games or other media downloads.
GSA Auctions
Grab one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers for far below list price during the US Government auction.
The deal was spotted by Ars Technica, who also point out that the fiber optic and CAT5/6 cabling are not included in the sale. While the price the government paid for the supercomputer has not been disclosed, it’s safe to assume the cost was well into the millions, considering the price tags of othersupercomputers. As of this writing, the bidding has reached $28,085, though the reserve has not yet been met. There are still three days to go and there’s currently no deposit required to place a bid.
The reason for such a hefty discount (other than the fact that Cheyenne has been decommissioned) could be faulty quick disconnects causing water spray and the fact that approximately one percent of nodes have “experienced failure” and “will remain unrepaired.” One other caveat to note before you start making room in your arena-sized climate-controlled garage is that shipping is not included. As GSA Auctions notes on the details page, “moving this system necessitates the engagement of a professional moving company” and that “the purchaser assumes responsibility for transferring the racks from the facility onto trucks.”
But where else will you find such steep savings on a machine that can carry out 5.34 quadrillion calculations per second? Cheyenne is also surprisingly energy-efficient, consuming 25 percent less energy per computation than its predecessor, Yellowstone. The massive supercomputer helped researchers understand the rapid intensification of hurricanes, how wildfires impact air quality, and simulated years of climate functions to predict outcomes decades in advance. It should definitely provide you with enough processing power for extreme multitasking at work while handling even the most demanding games after hours.
Ubisoft says the mobile version of the AAA title offers “the same experience as the console version” but with adapted touchscreen controls. IGNreports that Ubisoft confirmed the mobile game will support MFi hardware controllers like the Backbone One and Razer Kishi Ultra.
Ubisoft says Assassin’s Creed Mirage supports cross-progression and cross-save through Ubisoft Connect, so you can pick up where you left off no matter your platform. The game launched in October for PC, PS5/4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.
Ubisoft
Engadget’s Kris Holt found Assassin’s Creed Mirage to be a return to form for the series, trading the RPG elements that had grown prominent in recent years for the series’ stealth and action roots. “The deeper I got into Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the more a sense of warm nostalgia washed over me,” Holt wrote. “It felt like a cozy hug from an old friend. A comforting, bloody embrace.”
The game will be free to download, and it has a 90-minute free trial. After that, it’ll be a $50 in-app purchase to continue playing on any compatible iPhone or iPad. You can pre-reserve the game now on the App Store.
The latest generation of Apple’s eternally popular AirPods Pro are back down to their all-time low price of $180 at Amazon. The deal takes $10 off the typical sale price of $190 and a solid $69 off the $249 MSRP. The last time we saw this price tag was during Amazon’s spring sale in March. Apple updated the charging case when the iPhone 15 came out last year to give both devices a more universal USB-C port (both can also charge wirelessly). If you have an iPhone, we think these are one of the better bits of audio gear you can stick in your ears.
Billy Steele for Engadget
This matches the all-time low price we saw for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale back in March.
The second-generation AirPods Pro (with the Lightning case) came out towards the end of 2022 — the case refresh didn’t alter the buds themselves too much, other than adding some improved dust resistance. That makes these a little older at this point, but new AirPods are not one of the things we’re expecting to see announced at Apple’s upcoming “Let Loose” event in May (we’re mostly anticipating iPad news). A more likely time for a new AirPods reveal is during the company’s annual iPhone event in September. But if you don’t want to wait around to see if such a debut materializes, this deal is a decent time to get your first pair. Or replace the pair you left on the train.
We gave the AirPods Pro a score of 88 when they came out. Engadget’s Billy Steele praised the effective active noise cancellation (ANC) and called the ambient sound mode one of the best on the market. Plus they work fairly seamlessly with all your Apple devices, offering quick pairing, fast device switching and hands-free Siri support. The audio itself is richer with more depth and clarity than with previous Pro generations.
All of that lead us to name them the best wireless earbuds for iPhones in our buying guide. Of course, they don’t work with non-Apple devices. Our current top pick from our guide for Android phones are the Google Pixel Buds Pro, which are currently down to $140 at Amazon after a 30 percent discount.
Meta is offering some creators thousands of dollars if they go viral on Threads. The payouts are part of a new invitation-only bonus program that rewards creators who use Meta’s newest app.
An Instagram support page offers some details about the bonus program, which Meta hasn’t formally announced. It states that creators can earn money “based on the performance of your Threads posts” or “the number of posts you create.” It appears that specific terms of the bonuses are individualized to each creator. “Details of the bonus program may vary by participant,” the company notes.
The program seems to be a small-scale effort for now — the company refers to it as being in “testing” — but it offers a preview of how Meta may look to ramp up its efforts to use creators to boost engagement on the service. Meta has previously offered bonuses for posting Reels on Facebook and Instagram, but it’s the first time the company has paid for posts on Threads. The Threads bonus program was first reported by Business Insider earlier this month.
Some creators are already being offered thousands of dollars for high-performing posts. According to one screenshot making the rounds on Threads, at least one creator was offered “up to $5,000” for Threads posts or replies with 10,000 views or more. That’s not nearly as high as the $10,000 bonuses Reels creators could once earn on Instagram, but is still quite generous considering posting on Threads requires far less effort than shooting and editing a compelling video.
Meta isn’t the only platform trying to lure creators with promises of potential payouts. X also offers creators direct payments based on their engagement, but that program is a revenue sharing arrangement for users who pay for premium subscriptions.
Threads has been growing steadily since its launch last year, and has more than 150 million monthly users, Mark Zuckerberg revealed last week. The Facebook founder has speculated that the app could one day be the company’s next billion-user platform, though it would likely take several years to reach that milestone. Either way, onboarding popular creators from Instagram would be an important step to boost engagement on Threads. The company also recently partnered with Taylor Swift’s team to get the pop star on the app to promote her latest album. Meta hasn’t shared what, if any, terms were associated with that arrangement, but the effort involved custom animations and other “Easter eggs” for Swift fans.
Have a tip about Meta’s bonus program for Threads? Contact the author at karissa.bell@engadget.com or message securely on Signal at +1 628.231.0063.
The European Union is getting ready to launch a new investigation into Meta over its handling of election-related content, according to a in The Guardian. Details of the investigation could be announced “later this week,” but European officials are reportedly concerned about “deceptive advertising and political content.”
According to the , the EU has also raised concerns about Russia’s “efforts to undermine upcoming European elections” and other foreign interference campaigns. The EU is set to hold parliamentary elections in June. If the company is found to have run afoul of the Europe’s , it could be hit with large fines.
EU officials are also “particularly concerned” about Meta’s plan to CrowdTangle in August. The tool has been widely used by researchers and fact checkers for years to study how content spreads across Facebook and Instagram. Dozens of researchers and fact-checking groups signed an to the company last month saying that shutting down the tool ahead of dozens of global elections would be a “direct threat” to election integrity efforts around the world.
“We have a well-established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms,” a Meta spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work.”
Elsewhere, the EU is also Meta over its subscription plan available to European users. That investigation, which could last up to a year, will look into whether the social media company has Europe’s Digital Markets Act, by not offering users a “real alternative” to opt out of data collection.
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Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event is just over a week away, and the rumors in the leadup are starting to get interesting. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the much-anticipated OLED iPad Pro may arrive not with the new M3 chip as we’ve all been expecting, but the next-gen M4 instead. In the Power On newsletter on Sunday, Gurman wrote that he’s “hearing there is a strong possibility” that this will be the case. And, he says it’ll herald Apple’s official entry into AI.
“I believe Apple will position the tablet as its first truly AI-powered device — and that it will tout each new product from then on as an AI device,” Gurman wrote. Doing it this way for the May 7 event would set the stage for Apple to go all-in on AI at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. This all builds on Gurman’s previous reports that Apple has been in talks with OpenAI and Google to potentially tap their AI tech for new features with iOS 18.
The “Let Loose” product showcase is also expected to bring updates to the iPad Air and iPad accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. According to Gurman, the upcoming Apple Pencil may introduce haptic feedback.
Eken Group has reportedly issued a firmware update to resolve major security issues with its cheap doorbell cameras that were uncovered by a Consumer Reports investigation earlier this year. The cameras in question pair with the Aiwit app and are sold under a slew of brand names, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf. During its tests, the watchdog found that the unencrypted cameras could expose sensitive information like home IP addresses and Wi-Fi networks, and allow outside parties to access images from a camera’s feed using its serial number. Now, Consumer Reports says the issues have been fixed — just make sure you update your devices.
Devices from those brands should now reflect a firmware version of 2.4.1 or higher, which would indicate they’ve received the update. Consumer Reports says its own samples got the update automatically, but it can’t hurt to double check in your settings considering the risks (that is, if you haven’t tossed the cameras out already). The publication says it’s confirmed that the update fixes the security problems. Eken also told Consumer Reports that the two doorbell cams it had rated with the “Don’t Buy” label — the Eken Smart Video Doorbell and Tuck Sharkpop Doorbell Camera — have been discontinued.
These doorbell cameras, which were sold on popular ecommerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart and Temu but since appear to have been pulled, also lacked the proper labeling required by the FCC. The company told Consumer Reports it will add these IDs to new products moving forward. Following its tests of the update, Consumer Reports has removed the warning labels from its scorecards.
Google filed a motion on Friday in a Virginia federal court asking for the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against it to be thrown away. The in January 2023, accusing the company of monopolizing digital advertising technologies through “anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct.” Per , Google is now seeking summary judgment to avoid the case going to trial in September as planned.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said at the time the lawsuit was first announced that Google “has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies.” The lawsuit alleges that Google controls digital advertising tools to such an extent that it “pockets on average more than 30 percent of the advertising dollars that flow through its digital advertising technology products,” according to a press release from the agency last year.
Google now argues that that the DOJ hasn’t shown that the company controls at least 70 percent of the market, which some previous cases have used as the threshold for qualifying as a monopoly, and that the agency “made up markets specifically for this case,” according to Bloomberg, excluding its major competitors like social media platforms. The company also claims the DOJ’s case goes “beyond the boundaries of antitrust law,” Reuters reports.
Something is up with Apple ID this weekend. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple users started complaining online last night that they’d been logged out of their Apple IDs on all of their devices without explanation. Upon trying to log back in, some say they were locked out of their accounts despite entering the correct details, and had to reset their passwords. Engadget has reached out to Apple for more information.
I was mid FaceTime with @milesabovetech and my Apple account got locked and signed out of all of my Apple products
Apple hasn’t said anything publicly about what’s going on, and its System Status page makes no mention of problems with Apple ID or any other systems in the last 24 hours. In a Mastodon post spotted by The Verge, one person said Apple support told them only that “sometimes random security improvements are added to your account.” It’s unclear how many users have been affected, though people have piled onto social media threads about the issue to say they’ve experienced it too. According to 9to5Mac, some of the publication’s own team have run into the problem.
While the issue seemed to have heightened on Friday night, there have been sporadic reports of similar problems in the recent past. Software developer Michael Tsai published a blog post about the latest incident and referenced a time just last fall when the same thing happened.
Apple has resumed conversations with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to power some AI features coming to iOS 18, according to a new report in Bloomberg. Apple is also building its own large language models to power some iOS 18 features, but its talks with OpenAI are centered around a “chatbot/search component,” according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.
Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google to license Gemini, Google’s own AI-powered chatbot, for iOS 18. Bloomberg reports that those talks are still on, and things could still go either way because Apple hasn’t made a final decision on which company’s technology to use. It’s conceivable, Gurman says, that Apple could ultimately end up licensing AI tech from both companies or none of them.
So far, Apple has been notably quiet about its AI efforts even as the rest of Silicon Valley has descended into an AI arms race. But it has dropped enough hints to indicate that it’s cooking up something. When the company announced its earnings in February, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is continuing to work and invest in artificial intelligence and is “excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year.” It claimed that the brand new M3 MacBook Air that it launched last month was the “world’s best consumer laptop for AI,” and will reportedly start releasing AI-centric laptops and desktops later this year. And earlier this week, Apple also released a handful of open-source large language models that are designed to run locally on devices rather than in the cloud.
It’s still unclear what Apple’s AI features in iPhones and other devices will look like. Generative AI is still notoriously unreliable and prone to making up answers. Recent AI-powered gadgets like the Humane Ai Pin released to disastrous reviews, while others like the Rabbit R1 have yet to prove themselves valuable.
