Category: Technology

American Airlines says that hackers may have obtained personal information for a “very small number” of customers and employees. The company did not say exactly how many people were impacted, though it noted there’s no evidence that the attackers have misused the information. It told affected customers that names, driver’s license and passport numbers, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and medical information may have been compromised.

The hackers gained access to American’s email system through a phishing campaign, as the Associated Press reported. The company told regulators in Montana that it discovered the intrusion in July. It started informing affected customers last week. American says it has secured the breached email accounts and brought in a third-party cybersecurity firm to investigate.

American said it’s putting more technical measures in place to prevent similar breaches from occurring. The company has also offered customers affected by the breach two years of identity theft-protection coverage.

An American Airlines spokesperson provided the following statement to Engadget:

“American Airlines is aware of a phishing campaign that led to the unauthorized access to a limited number of team member mailboxes. A very small number of customers and employees’ personal information was contained in those email accounts. While we have no evidence that any personal information has been misused, data security is of the utmost importance and we offered customers and team members precautionary support. We are also currently implementing additional technical safeguards to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.”

 

So much for the iPhone 14’s surprisingly repairable design extending across the lineup. iFixit has completed a teardown of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the easier-to-fix internals haven’t carried over. Break the back glass and you’ll have a harder time repairing it yourself — or an expensive ($549 in the US) Apple Store visit if your device is out of warranty. While Apple never said the Pro models would receive this upgrade, it’s worth considering if you plan to keep your phone running with a little surgery.

It’s not clear why Apple didn’t rethink internals across the entire iPhone 14 range. iFixit speculates that Apple wanted to limit potential delays, particularly given the supply chain risks involved with the Pro family’s new camera and display technologies. We’ve asked Apple for comment, but it won’t be surprising if more accessible innards come with future generations.

The teardown has a few additional surprises. On US versions of the iPhone 14 line, Apple hasn’t replaced the newly removed SIM tray with anything else. This is more to push eSIM adoption than to save space, then. iFixit also couldn’t pinpoint a dedicated satellite antenna for emergency communication, suggesting that Apple might be using the usual cellular or WiFi antennas to send SOS messages.

The overall repairability of the iPhone 14 Pro “isn’t terrible” outside of the requirement to activate parts, according to iFixit. Unless Apple harmonizes its design, though, do-it-yourself repair enthusiasts will have to make sacrifices if they want an iPhone they can fix with relatively little difficulty.

 

Three years after becoming the newest branch of the US Armed Forces, the Space Force has an official song. Titled “Semper Supra” (or “Always Above,” if you’re not a fan of Latin), the tune made its debut on Tuesday at the 2022 Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland. Now, before I say anything else about it, I think it’s best you hear the song for yourself.

If you ask me, it’s jauntier than I expected, particularly for a song that is supposed to embody a 21st-century military branch. According to Chief of Space Operations John Raymond, the Space Force wanted a song that “spoke to our Guardians” – and, no, he’s not talking about Destiny 2 players.

The eight lines of lyrics you hear were the result of “years of research and revisions.” Former service and US Air Force Band member James Teachenor wrote “Semper Supra” with General Raymond’s help. “The song was a long work in progress because I wanted it to encompass all the capabilities that the Space Force offers and its vision,” Teachenor said. Once the two settled on the song’s lyrics, they recruited Sean Nelson of the US Coast Guard Band to create an arrangement, with the USCG Band providing the instrumentation. 

If you ask us, the final product sounds a bit too similar too to other Armed Forces tunes like “The Army Goes Rolling Along.” Personally, I think the Space Force should have gone down a prog rock route and made the song sound, you know, spacey. 

 

NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference isn’t only about gaming graphics cards. The company had other news up its sleeve, including in the autonomous vehicle space. During the GTC keynote, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced a system-on-chip (SoC) called Drive Thor. NVIDIA says it designed the chip using the latest advancements in graphics and processing to provide 2,000 teraflops of performance, all while keeping costs down.

NVIDIA says that Drive Thor can unify all the various functions of vehicles — including infotainment, the digital dashboard, sensors, parking and autonomous operation — for greater efficiency. Vehicles with the chipset will be able to run Linux, QNX and Android simultaneously. Given the vast processing power that autonomous vehicle operations require, automakers can even use two of the Drive Thor chipsets in tandem by employing a NVLink-C2C chip interconnect technology to have them running a single operating system.

In addition, NVIDIA claims that the SoC marks a significant leap forward in “deep neural network accuracy.” The chipset has a transformer engine, a new addition to the NVIDIA GPU Tensor Core. “Transformer networks process video data as a single perception frame, enabling the compute platform to process more data over time,” NVIDIA says. It noted that the SoC can boost inference performance of transformer deep neural networks by up to nine times, “which is paramount for supporting the massive and complex AI workloads associated with self driving.”

The SoC follows NVIDIA’s Drive Orin chipset and it replaces Drive Atlan. It will be used in vehicles that go into production starting in 2025. The first customer NVIDIA has lined up is Geely-owned EV brand Zeekr, which is already using Orin chipsets for level 3 automation. Meanwhile, NVIDIA has signed up two more Drive Orin partners: automakers Xpeng and QCraft. 

 

The Windows 11 2022 update is launching today, and while it’s a mostly behind-the-scenes update for most PCs, gamers have a few new features to look forward to. First up, Microsoft is adding support for Auto HDR, VRR (variable refresh rates) and better latency for windowed games. Previously, those were only features you could use in full-screen mode. The change should be a boon to streamers and anyone who wants to multitask while clearing their Halo Infinite dailies.

And speaking of HDR, you can now tweak your monitor’s settings more easily with an improved HDR calibration tool. Auto HDR is also headed to more titles, which should be great news if you (literally) want to see older games in a new light. Less significantly, the Xbox Game Bar is being transformed into a new Windows Controller Bar, which will show your recently played games and launchers. You can access that by hitting the Xbox button on an Xbox controller (or a third-party equivalent).

While none of these are ground-breaking changes, they all go towards making Windows 11 a better environment for PC gamers. (Let’s just hope we get a more flexible way to install games from the Microsoft Store eventually.)

 

YouTube just made a major change to its Partner Program that will allow its short-form video creators to make a lot more money from its platform. The company announced that it will share ad revenue with creators on its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts.

The changes, which go into effect “early next year,” could help YouTube draw creators away from TikTok, where stars have complained about low creator fund payouts. “This is the first time real revenue sharing is being offered for short-form video on any platform at scale,” YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mahon said during an event announcing the news.

With the new revenue sharing program, creators who get 10 million views on Shorts in a 90-day period can apply to join the Partner Program. Like TikTok, ads on Shorts appear between videos in the feed. (The company began experimenting with ads on Shorts in May.) Revenue from the ads will be pooled and split among creators, Mohan said. Creators will get a 45 percent cut of the ads, regardless of whether they use music.

“Each creator is paid on their share of total Shorts views, and this revenue share remains the same, even if they use music,” he explained.

Up until now, YouTube had a dedicated $100 million creator fund for Shorts. But creators have long complained that these types of funds are insufficient, and don’t come close to what the most successful creators can make producing longer form videos where they get a share of the ad revenue.

For example, Jimmy Donaldson, the YouTuber known as Mr. Beast, shared earlier this year that he had made just $15,000 from TikTok despite more than a billion views in the app. Donaldson is widely credited as one of the top-earning creators on YouTube, and made $54 million on the platform in 2021. TikTok said in May that it was in the early stages of a revenue sharing program called TikTok Pulse.

YouTube also announced a new tier for the Partner Program that’s meant to make it easier for early-stage creators to start monetizing their content. The new tier will have “lower requirements” for accessing features like tipping (called “Super Thanks”), Super Chat, stickers and channel memberships, Mahon said.

Developing…

 

Can you believe it’s been almost a year since Windows 11 launched? Back then, I was surprised that Microsoft was practically rushing a new version of Windows out the door. But, as I noted in my review, Windows 11 ended up refining Microsoft’s desktop formula fairly well. My opinion hasn’t changed much since then (and yes, I’m still frustrated by the cleaner but less usable taskbar). Today, Microsoft will start rolling out the Windows 11 2022 update, the operating system’s first major revision, which brings better security, accessibility and a handful of gaming improvements. Mostly, though, it’ll make it easier for you to get future updates more quickly.

How do I get the Windows 11 2022 Update?

No surprise here: Head over to Windows Update in your Settings app and see if your computer is eligible for an upgrade. As usual, Microsoft says it’s taking a “measured and phased” approach, which means there’s a chance you won’t see the update immediately. The company will also highlight potential conflicts on your system — e.g., an incompatible app, an out of date driver — that will prevent you from getting the refreshed OS. This advice applies to both Windows 11 and Windows 10 users, though the latter should double-check their computer with thePC Health Check app to ensure their hardware is compatible. (Check out our Windows 11 review for more details on upgrading from Windows 10.)

What’s this about faster updates?

Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer,said in February that the company was aiming to deliver “continuous innovation” and more frequent Windows 11 updates outside of the major annual release. That begins with the 2022 update. The company has “significantly reduced” the size of updates (around 450MB for many folks), as well as reduced their installation time, John Cable, the head of Windows Servicing and Delivery, said in a blog post.

The Windows 11 2022 update will also be more carbon aware, allowing you to schedule installations for times when your local grid is relying on cleaner energy sources like wind, hydro and solar. This functionality won’t be available everywhere, and we’re still waiting to hear more about how Microsoft will keep track of electric grid statistics. But theoretically, it’s a smart way to cut down on extraneous carbon emissions (and it’s something I’d love to see on phones, tablets and other devices).

So where are the new features?

At first glance, it’ll be difficult to tell you’re running the new update. It doesn’t bring any major UI changes, though Microsoft says it’ll be adding tabs to File Explorer in October. I’ve been using an early build of that feature, and it’s definitely helped to reduce my window clutter when moving between SD cards, OneDrive and my downloads folder. (Don’t worry, you can still fill your screen with multiple Explorer windows if you prefer.) 

You’ll also be able to tweak the Start Menu further by either adding more pinned apps, or more recommendations. Additionally, Microsoft is bundling the Clipchamp video editor, which looks like a huge improvement over the existing Windows tool (and certainly lightyears ahead of Movie Maker).

Much like the improved Windows Update experience, the vast majority of new features in the 2022 update are under the hood. Those include a slew of accessibility upgrades thatMicrosoft unveiled earlier this year: system-wide live captions, which will initially appear at the top of your screen to help you feel engaged during video chats; natural sounding voices for the Narrator screen reader; as well as a preview of improved voice commands for using your PC and transcription.

More so than most tech companies, Microsoft has beenpushing to make its hardware and software more accessible over the last decade. That includes launching theSurface Adaptive Kit, setting up aDisability Answer Desk, and announcing a five-year commitment toward bridging the “Disability Divide.” The features debuting in this Windows 11 update are all driven by members of the Windows Accessibility team, giving them all a personal touch.

The new Focus Sessions experience, for example, is spearheaded by Alexis Kane, a product manager who has ADHD. She noticed how notifications were giving her more anxiety and disrupting her workflow, so she helped to create a way to minimize them without disabling notifications entirely. Focused Sessions reduces the noise of those alerts, but it also disables Task Bar badges and lets you time work sprints with the clock app.

A better gaming experience

Say goodbye to the Xbox Game Bar, and hello to the new Windows Controller bar. Now when you hit the Xbox button on an Xbox (or third-party) controller, you’ll see a simple pop-up to let you get back to a recent game or launcher. Even better for gamers, you’ll be able to enjoy titles with better latency, Auto HDR and VRR in windowed mode. In the past, you could only access those features while a game was being run in full-screen mode.

There’s also better support for HDR in general. A new calibration app will let you fine-tune the color and brightness levels of your HDR screens. And there’s also more support for Auto HDR, which maps improved lighting onto games that don’t offer HDR on their own.

Other features

In addition to tabbed File Explorer windows, Microsoft also has a handful of other new features coming in October:

Better picture management with an improved Photos app. It will also let you back up pics directly to OneDrive, and it’ll help you revisit experiences with a new “Memories” feature. (That sounds similar to what Apple and Google do with their respective photo offerings.)

An overflow menu in the task bar, which will hold extra apps instead of crowding the bottom of your screen.

More suggested options when copying data. Selecting a phone number, for example, could prompt you to make a Teams call.

 

EA’s Motive Studio is putting the finishing touches on its solid-looking Dead Space remake, but it’s already looking ahead to other projects. EA announced that Motive has teamed up with Marvel to make an Iron Man game.

Although the title is in early development, the company has teased out a few details. It will be a single-player, third-person, action-adventure game with an original story. The idea is that you’ll be able to “feel what it’s like to truly play as Iron Man,” EA claimed in a statement.

The Motive team working on the project will be led by Olivier Proulx, who was a senior producer on last year’s surprisingly great Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Proulx also worked on the single-player side of Marvel’s Avengers and so won’t be a stranger to Iron Man. “We have a great opportunity to create a new and unique story that we can call our own. Marvel is encouraging us to create something fresh,” Proulx said.

EA said the Iron Man game marks the beginning of its partnership with Marvel as it’s the first of several titles they’ll make together. Rumors suggest one of those is a Black Panther game.

 

Hertz is once again growing its EV fleet, announcing Tuesday that it has struck a deal with General Motors to purchase 175,000 electric vehicles from the automaker’s Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop brands over the next five years. Customers will see the first offerings, namely the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, arrive on Hertz lots beginning in the first quarter next year. 

The deal, which runs through 2027, will bring a wide variety of models to Hertz’s growing EV herd. Between now and 2027, the rental company expects its customers to drive about 8 billion miles in said EVs, preventing an estimated 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released. Hertz plans to convert a quarter of its rental fleet to battery electric by 2024. 

This news follows Hertz’s 65,000-vehicle order from Polestar in April, which the performance EV maker has already begun deliveries on. An earlier announcement in 2021 had many believing that Tesla would be supplying the Hertz fleet with 100,000 vehicles, worth an estimated $4.2 billion, was quickly kiboshed by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Hertz is already planning to rent 50,000 Tesla EVs to Uber drivers, which now operate in 25 North American cities, there’s no word on whether GM’s vehicles will be offered under similar terms.

 

Apple has another bug to quash in iOS 16. Senior manager Ron Huang told a MacRumors reader that the company will fix the frequent permissions prompts when you try to copy and paste content between apps. This is “absolutely not expected behavior,” Huang said. While Apple didn’t spot the problem internally, the manager acknowledged that others were dealing with the problem.

Huang didn’t provide a timeline for a patch. Apple is already testing iOS 16.1 betas that could include a fix, but hasn’t said when it expects to deliver the release.

The flaw is the latest in a handful of problems affecting iOS 16 since its debut earlier this month. iPhone 14 Pro owners have complained of camera rattling with some third-party apps, as well as unresponsiveness when transferring data from another iPhone. Apple even had to issue a day-one patch for iPhone 14 models that couldn’t properly activate FaceTime or iMessage. Launch bugs certainly aren’t unheard of for operating systems, but these have been more irksome than usual.