The Theranos founder, who was convicted of fraud and put in prison, shares two children with her husband Billy Evans, whom she’s been married to since 2019. Find out more about Billy and their romance here.
The Theranos founder, who was convicted of fraud and put in prison, shares two children with her husband Billy Evans, whom she’s been married to since 2019. Find out more about Billy and their romance here.
Days after Celine Dion announced that she could not complete her tour due to stiff-person syndrome, she’s reportedly ‘focusing on her health’ so she can perform again someday.
Days after Celine Dion announced that she could not complete her tour due to stiff-person syndrome, she’s reportedly ‘focusing on her health’ so she can perform again someday.
Apple Music Classical launched on Android today, bringing the company’s dedicated orchestral app to a non-Apple platform for the first time. It follows the iPhone debut of the service in March.
Apple’s classical music app is separate from the mainline Apple Music app, with plenty of similarities but also distinctive navigation, font and metadata handling for easy searching. (Apple Music has been available for Android since 2015.) However, 9to5Macnotes that Apple Music Classical’s Android arrival means the company launched it on a rival platform before fleshing out its own hardware ecosystem, as it still lacks a dedicated iPad or Mac app. Although the Apple faithful are accustomed to the company rewarding their hardware loyalty, it’s an understandable move given that phones are more common streaming sources than computers or tablets. As a result, Apple can likely reel in more subscribers by stepping outside its walled garden before (presumably) expanding availability for its remaining in-house devices.
The app is the fruit of Apple’s 2021 acquisition of Primephonic, a Netherlands-based classical streaming service known for its superior search capabilities. Apple shut down the service soon after buying it.
Apple Music Classical offers over five million tracks, including “thousands of exclusive albums.” The search feature, carrying over from Primephonic, lets you find pieces based on composer, work, conductor or catalog number thanks to the library’s “complete and accurate metadata.” In addition, it streams in up to 192 kHz / 24-bit Hi-Res Lossless while supporting spatial audio and Dolby Atmos for select tracks. Of course, the service requires an Apple Music subscription; supported plans include individual, student, family or Apple One — but not the voice-only plan aimed at HomePod users.
The Android version requires Android 9 or later. It’s available “worldwide where Apple Music is offered,” except in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Taiwan. You can download it now from the Play Store.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-musics-dedicated-classical-app-arrives-on-android-175118072.html?src=rss
DaniLeigh’s in a whole lot of trouble. The singer was busted for DUI after allegedly striking a moped rider, resulting in a spinal fracture and a lacerated kidney.
DaniLeigh’s in a whole lot of trouble. The singer was busted for DUI after allegedly striking a moped rider, resulting in a spinal fracture and a lacerated kidney.
‘Succession’ may be over, but the cast will — thankfully — be moving on to new projects. What is the ‘Succession’ cast doing next? Here’s everything you need to know.
‘Succession’ may be over, but the cast will — thankfully — be moving on to new projects. What is the ‘Succession’ cast doing next? Here’s everything you need to know.
If you’ve been saving up to integrate Shaq’s voice into your Alexa devices, you’ve officially blown it. Amazon is ditching all of its Alexa-enabled celebrity voices, including Shaquille O’Neal, Melissa McCarthy and, say it ain’t so, Samuel L. Jackson. The distinct voice options will no longer be available for purchase and will no longer function even if you made a purchase a while back, as reported by The Verge.
That brings us to the topic of refunds, and it looks like there won’t be any. This isn’t earth-shattering news, as the voice options launched for just $1 before moving up to $5 in recent months. Still, buying something and having it vaporize into nothing is never fun for consumers. We’ve reached out to Amazon for clarification on these refunds and will update when we hear back.
Samuel L. Jackson has already flown the coop, with an official announcement on the purchase page about his voice avatar’s early retirement. Melissa McCarthy and Shaq still work, but only until September.
To the uninitiated, this feature was an add-on for Alexa that transformed its usual chirpy tones into that of a celebrity. This was all fairly limited when compared to Alexa’s full feature set, as the celebs won’t do reminders and don’t integrate with many skills. They do, however, tell jokes, answer questions and complete simple voice-assisted tasks. The service started with Jackson in 2019 but extended to include Shaq and McCarthy shortly thereafter.
So why did Amazon shut the feature down? Alexa’s no longer the hottest thing in the universe and the company’s hardware division recently laid off thousands of people involved with designing and manufacturing Echo speakers, so that could be part of it. Again, the feature set with these voices was on the anemic side, so maybe not enough people bought them to offset the licensing costs. Finally, there’s the AI elephant in the room. Reports indicate that Amazon is building its own large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT to radically transform Alexa, and celebrity voices may no longer fit into that vision.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-ditches-alexas-celebrity-voices-and-issues-no-refunds-165511049.html?src=rss
Virtual private networks (VPNs) have been having a moment recently. The once-niche way to protect your online activity took off, in part, due to massive marketing budgets and influencer collaborations convincing consumers they can solve all your security woes. But deciding the best option for your browsing needs requires digging through claims of attributes that aren’t always totally accurate. That has made it harder to figure out which VPN service provider to subscribe to, or if you really need to use one at all. We tested out nine of the best VPN services available now to help you choose the best one for your needs.
VPNs are not a one-size-fits-all security solution. Instead, they’re just one part of keeping your data private and secure. Roya Ensafi, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, told Engadget that VPNs don’t protect against common threats like phishing attacks, nor do they protect your data from being stolen. But they do come in handy for online privacy when you’re connecting to an untrusted network somewhere public because they tunnel and encrypt your traffic to the next hop.
In other words, VPN services mask your IP address and the identity of your computer on the network and create an encrypted “tunnel” that prevents your internet service provider (ISP) from accessing data about your browsing history. Even then, much of the data or information is stored with the VPN provider instead of your ISP, which means that using a poorly designed or unprotected network can still undermine your security.
That means sweeping claims that seem promising, like military-grade encryption or total digital invisibility, may not be totally accurate. Instead, Yael Grauer, program manager of Consumer Reports’ online security guide, recommends looking for security features like open-source software with reproducible builds, up-to-date support for industry-standard protocols like WireGuard, IPsec or PPTP and the ability to defend against attack vectors like brute force.
Before considering a VPN, make sure your online security is up to date in other ways. That means complex passwords, multifactor authentication methods and locking down your data sharing preferences. Even then, you probably don’t need to be using a VPN all the time.
“If you’re just worried about somebody sitting there passively and looking at your data then a VPN is great,” Jed Crandall, an associate professor at Arizona State University, told Engadget.
If you use public WiFi a lot, like while working at a coffee shop, then VPN usage can help give you private internet access. They’re also helpful for hiding information from other people on your ISP if you don’t want members of your household to know what you’re up to online.
Geoblocking has also become a popular use case as it helps you reach services in other parts of the world. For example, you can access shows that are only available on streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, in other countries, or play online games with people located all over the globe.
Whether or not VPNs are worth it depends how often you could use it for the above use cases. If you travel a lot and rely on public WiFi, are looking to browse outside of your home country or want to keep your traffic hidden from your ISP, then investing in a VPN will be useful. But, keep in mind that even the best VPN services often slow down your internet speed, so they may not be ideal all the time.
We recommend not relying on a VPN connection as your main cybersecurity tool. VPN use can provide a false sense of security, leaving you vulnerable to attack. Plus, if you choose just any VPN, it may not be as secure as just relying on your ISP. That’s because the VPN could be based in a country with weaker data privacy regulation, obligated to hand information over to law enforcement or linked to weak user data protection policies.
For users working in professions like activism or journalism that want to really strengthen their internet security, options like the Tor browser may be a worthwhile alternative, according to Crandall. Tor is free, and while it’s less user-friendly, it’s built for anonymity and privacy.
To test the security specs of different VPNs and name our top picks, we relied on pre-existing academic work through Consumer Reports, VPNalyzer and other sources. We referenced privacy policies, transparency reports and security audits made available to the public. We also considered past security incidents like data breaches.
We looked at price, usage limits, effects on internet speed, possible use cases, ease of use and additional “extra” features for different VPN providers. The VPNs were tested across iOS, Android and Mac devices so we could see the state of the apps across various platforms (Windows devices are also supported in most cases). We used the “quick connect” feature on the VPNs to connect to the “fastest” provider available when testing internet speed, access to IP address data and DNS and WebRTC leaks or when a fault in the encrypted tunnel reveals requests to an ISP.
Otherwise, we conducted a test of geoblocking content by accessing Canada-exclusive Netflix releases, a streaming test by watching a news livestream on YouTube via a Hong Kong-based VPN and a gaming test by playing on servers in the United Kingdom. By performing these tests at the same time, it also allowed us to test claims about simultaneous device use.
The VPNs we tried out ranked pretty consistently across all of our tests, but ProtonVPN stood out as a strong option because of its overall security and ease of use. The Proton Technologies suite of services includes mail, calendar, drive and a VPN known for its end-to-end encryption. This makes it a strong contender for overall security, but its VPN specifically came across as a well-rounded independent service.
ProtonVPN’s no-logs policy has passed audits, and the company has proven not to comply with law enforcement requests. Because it is based in Switzerland, there are no forced logging obligations, according to the company. Plus, it’s based on an open-source framework, and has an official vulnerability disclosure program along with clear definitions on what it does with personal information.
While ProtonVPN offers a free version, it’s limited compared to other options, with access to server networks in just three countries. Its paid version, starting at about $5.39 per month, includes access to VPN server locations in more than 65 countries on 10 devices at a time. For dedicated Proton Technologies users, they can pay closer to $8.63 for a monthly plan to access the entire suite.
ProtonVPN passed our geoblock, streaming and gaming tests with only a very small toll on connection speeds. It also comes with malware-, ad- and tracker-blocking as an additional service, plus it has a kill switch feature on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and the latest version of Android. It’s available on most major operating systems, routers, TV services and more including Firefox, Linux and Android TV.
By signing up for Windscribe’s free plan with your email, users can access 10GB per month of data, unlimited connections and access to more than 10 countries. We selected it as the best free VPN because of its high security and wide range of server locations compared to other free VPNs. It has over 500 servers in over 60 countries, according to the company, and can be configured to routers, smart TVs and more on top of the usual operating systems.
Windscribe doesn’t have a recent independent security audit, but it does publish a transparency report showing that it has complied with zero requests for its data, runs a vulnerability disclosure program encouraging researchers to report flaws and offers multiple protocols for users to connect with.
On top of that, it’s easy to use. The set up is intuitive and it passed our geoblock, streaming and gaming tests. The paid version costs $5.75 to $9 each month, depending on the plan you choose, and includes unlimited data, access to all servers and an ad/tracker/malware blocker. Or, for $1 per location per month, users can build a plan tailored to the VPNs they want to access.
We picked the best VPN service for travel, gaming and streaming based on which one had access to the most locations with high speed connections and no lag. ExpressVPN met all those criteria.
An internet speed test measured faster upload and download speed compared to using no VPN, practically unheard of compared to the other VPNs tested. But this is likely a fluke due to the VPN service circumventing traffic shaping by the ISP or another disparity because even top VPNs will in some way slow down speeds. With 2,000 servers in 160 cities, according to the company, it had one of the broadest global reaches. It also passed our geoblock, streaming and gaming tests, and it does regular security audits. Plus, Network Lock is its kill switch feature, which keeps your data safe even if you lose connection to the VPN. Subscription costs range from $8.32 to $12.95 per month depending on the term of the plan, and include a password manager.
With ExpressVPN, users can connect to up to five devices at once, which is on the lower side compared to other services. That said, it works on a bunch of devices from smart TVs to game consoles, unlike some other services that lack support beyond the usual suspects like smartphones and laptops.
Because several of the best VPN services connect to routers, cross-platform accessibility isn’t always necessary. By connecting a VPN to your home router, you can actually connect to unlimited devices in your household, as long as they all access the internet through that router.
But if you use VPNs on the go, and across several devices, being able to connect to a wide range of platforms will be indispensable. CyberGhost offers simultaneous connectivity on up to seven devices for $2.11 to $12.99 per month depending on subscription term. It supports several types of gadgets like routers, computers, smart TVs and more. It’s similar to the support that ExpressVPN offers, but CyberGhost provides detailed instructions on how to set up the cross-platform connections, making it a bit more user-friendly for those purposes.
From a security perspective, CyberGhost completed an independent security audit by Deloitte earlier this year, runs a vulnerability disclosure program and provides access to a transparency report explaining requests for its data. While it did pass all of our tests, it’s worth noting that we had trouble connecting to servers in the United Kingdom and had to opt to run our gaming test through an Ireland-based server instead.
As we mentioned before, connecting to a router can provide nearly unlimited access to devices in a single household. But Surfshark VPN is one of few VPN services that offer use on an unlimited number of devices without bandwidth restrictions, according to the company. And you get that convenience without a significant increase in price: Surfshark subscriptions cost about $2.49 to $12.95 per month, and the company recently conducted its first independent audit.
We ran into some trouble connecting to Surfshark’s WireGuard protocol, but tested on an IKEv2 protocol instead. The VPN speed was a bit slow and struggled to connect for our geoblock test at first, but ultimately passed. What makes it different from other VPNs with unlimited connection options is that it has access to a larger number of servers and is available on more types of devices.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-vpn-130004396.html?src=rss
Wireless earbuds aren’t usually your best choice for PC gaming audio between the lag and the lack of Bluetooth on some desktops. Razer thinks it has a simple solution, though: throw in a dongle. The company has introducedHammerhead Pro HyperSpeed buds that include a 2.4GHz RF adapter to plug into the USB-C port (there’s an included USB-A adapter) on your computer or console. This expands support to more devices, of course, but it also drops latency to 40ms versus 60ms for the Bluetooth-based Gaming Mode. And yes, you can still connect to your phone over Bluetooth if you need to take a call.
These are otherwise similar to the plain Hammerhead Pro earbuds you saw before. They still offer THX-certified sound with customizable active noise cancellation (ANC) levels. This being Razer, there’s Chroma RGB lighting to flaunt your choice of personal audio. How long they last on battery depends on how you’re connected and what you’re using. You can manage up to 6.5 hours of listening on Bluetooth with ANC and lighting disabled, with 24 hours of extra power from a wireless charging-capable case. That drops to 3.5 hours with ANC and lighting enabled, and using the dongle shrinks that runtime to between three and four hours (plus 11 to 14.5 hours from the case).
The Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed earbuds are available now for $200. That’s a solid price if you’re looking for do-it-all earbuds that can work with both your phone and your home gaming PC. With that said, there are options that can sound better or last longer if you’re happy to stick to Bluetooth. Razer’s latest option is more for those who’d rather not buy a separate gaming headset.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razers-new-gaming-earbuds-include-a-low-latency-dongle-172423306.html?src=rss
Sarah Snook got married in real life during her brilliant run on ‘Succession.’ Here’s what you need to know about her husband, Dave Lawson.
Sarah Snook got married in real life during her brilliant run on ‘Succession.’ Here’s what you need to know about her husband, Dave Lawson.
‘AGT’ is going to kick off season 18 with some incredible acts. One of those acts is 11-year-old singer D’Corey Johnson. Here’s what you need to know.
‘AGT’ is going to kick off season 18 with some incredible acts. One of those acts is 11-year-old singer D’Corey Johnson. Here’s what you need to know.
