A new report claims that the Type-C port on the iPhone 15 series will be limited. This information comes from Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known Apple analyst.
This is not the first time we’re hearing this information, though, as a rumor appeared back in February too. This port will be limited in more than one way, actually, unfortunately. Let us explain.
Apple to limit iPhone 15 series’ Type-C port in more than one way
Apple is expected to include a Lightning-like authenticator chip in the iPhone, the same goes for the charging cable that comes with the device. That way, Apple will have control over what accessories can be used with the device.
As you may recall, the EU did push out a law that forced Apple to start using Type-C on iPhones, but the company found a way to make things a bit more difficult for users. Now, this doesn’t have to mean you won’t be able to charge the device with any Type-C cable, but the charging may be slower. We’ll have to wait and see.
Apple does something similar with wireless charging on iPhones. MagSafe-certified accessories can take full advantage of 15W charging. Non-certified Qi chargers can only charge phones at 7.5W.
The ‘Pro’ devices will offer a newer and much faster Type-C standard
What’s the other limitation that we mentioned? Well, this one applies to the vanilla iPhone 15 units only. It seems like their USB Type-C ports will be limited to USB 2.0 speeds. The iPhone 15 Pro series will offer a faster USB 3.2 standard.
Apple did the same thing on iPads, actually. Entry-level ones are capped at only 480Mbps, while the Pro ones can charge much, much faster than that. This will have an impact on your transfer speeds, of course, if you’re transferring data via a cable.
All iPhone 15 devices will have a Type-C port, and all of them will feature a Dynamic Island on the front.
After updating most of its eligible Galaxy smartphones to the March 2023 Android security patch, Samsung is now pushing the latest security release to its tablets. The Galaxy Tab S7 series has pipped others to the new SMR (Security Maintenance Release). The company should soon update the Galaxy Tab S8 series as well.
As of this writing, the March SMR for the Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ is available to users in Latin America. According to SamMobile, which first reported this rollout, the update bears the firmware build numbers T87*XXS2DWC1 and T97*XXS2DWC1 for the two models, respectively. Both Wi-Fi-only and cellular variants seem to be picking up the new release. The publication confirms that the update is live in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. A wider release covering units in other markets, including the US, should follow in the coming days.
This update patches dozens of security vulnerabilities in the two Samsung tablets. The Korean firm’s monthly security bulletin mentions more than 60 patches for March SMR. As usual, some vulnerabilities only exist in select Galaxy models. Overall, Samsung patched 23 Galaxy-specific vulnerabilities this month, with the remaining patches coming from Google and other Android partners.
At least five Android OS issues patched this month were critical. If exploited in the wild, some of those could lead to remote code execution. Threat actors could remotely gain access to your phone without your knowledge.
Galaxy Tab S7 series gets March update as Samsung readies Galaxy Tab S9
Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7 in August 2020. The Galaxy Tab S8 followed in February last year with a third “Ultra” model. The Korean firm is now readying three more flagship Android tablets for launch later this year. We are expecting the Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9+, and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra to arrive in August or September.
While we wait for the new tablets, users with one of the two 2020 models are getting the latest security update. To update your Galaxy Tab S7 or Galaxy tab S7+, go to the Settings app, tap on Software update, and then on Download and install. Your tablet will now connect to the internet to search for available updates. If it finds an update, you will be prompted to download it. If there’s no update available today, wait a few days and check again. Your tablet may also notify you when updates become available.
The PAC-12 has been struggling as of late. Not only are they losing two of their biggest draws in USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, but they’ve also been struggling to get a new TV deal. However, according to a report out of Forbes, it looks like Amazon, Apple and ESPN are in the running for the rights to PAC-12 football games starting this Fall.
Another report is citing that Amazon and Apple TV+ could split the streaming rights for games this fall, even if ESPN wins the rights. Basically, ESPN would air games on its family of networks, and then Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ would have the rights to stream the games. It’s unclear right now if that would be simultaneous or not.
The PAC-12 Network has always struggled with revenue
Since the PAC-12 Network started, it has always struggled with revenue. A big reason for that is likely the time zone, and the fact that their biggest market is not a big fan of local sports. Los Angeles is a huge sports market, but they don’t really watch USC or UCLA games. Both of which are played in LA. Just take a look at their games and you’ll see that there are only hundreds of people there instead of thousands.
In 2021, the Big Ten Network brought in $583 million, while the SEC Network had a revenue of $833 million in that same year. Meanwhile, the PAC-12 Network had just $37.7 million in 2021. Which is a far cry from the other Power-5 conferences.
Pile on the fact that the PAC-12 is also losing USC and UCLA in 2024, that makes it even tougher to get a good amount of cash for TV rights. It has been reported that the PAC-12 is looking to add San Diego State and SMU to the conference to replace those two teams. That would help build up their numbers a bit, while sticking to 12 teams. But, there’s also been talk about the Big Ten coming for a few more teams.
When it comes to streaming, the PAC-12 Network isn’t available everywhere. Currently, it’s on Fubo, Vidgo and Sling TV. And that’s it. Making it tough for PAC-12 fans to watch games.
In an effort to support the struggling ad business amidst the current challenging economic climate, Instagram is testing two experimental ad formats: ads in search results and Reminder Ads. These new formats will provide companies with more opportunities to promote their products or services.
As the name suggests, ads in search results will enable businesses to show ads to users who are actively searching for products, businesses, or content on Instagram. This means that when users search for a particular term on Instagram, such as “Galaxy S23,” they may see sponsored posts in the feed alongside the actual search results. Instagram intends to launch this feature globally once testing is over.
On the other hand, Reminder Ads will allow businesses to announce, remind, and notify users of upcoming events or launches. Therefore, when users opt into Reminder Ads for a particular event, they will receive notifications from Instagram one day before, 15 minutes before, and when the event begins. These notifications will appear like any other Instagram notifications and will be visible on the user’s lock screen.
Meta’s push towards increased ad revenue
It’s no secret that with the help of the new ad formats, Meta aims to increase its struggling ad revenue. In the Q4 2022 earnings report, Meta reported a decrease in ad revenue from $32.6 billion to $31.2 billion, with a year-on-year ad revenue drop from $114.93 billion in 2021 to $113.64 billion in 2022.
The company attributed this decline to weak advertising demand, which is caused by the uncertain and volatile macroeconomic landscape. However, Meta hopes to combat the decline with these new ad formats and job cuts. After laying off 11,000 workers in November, the company announced another round of 10,000 job cuts aimed at reducing operational costs.
While the new advertisement format will provide businesses with additional opportunities to advertise and increase revenue, it remains unclear whether users will welcome these new ads. Only time will tell if these new ad formats will be effective in boosting Meta’s ad revenue or not.
In the past few years Home Security Cameras have become a pretty popular product within the Smart Home space. Particularly because it means homeowners can keep an eye on their home without paying a monthly fee to a security company.
From smart doorbells, to outdoor cameras to indoor cameras, these Home Security Cameras come in all sorts of different products. And we have rounded up the Best Home Security Cameras that are currently available. These include those from brands like Arlo, Amazon, Ring, Nest and many more.
Top 10 Best Home Security Cameras
As mentioned, this list will offer up Home Security Cameras from brands like Arlo, Amazon, Ring, Nest, and a few others. It will also offer up some of the best video doorbells, wire-free cameras and indoor cameras. So there’s something for everyone on this Best Home Security Cameras list.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro is the video doorbell to pick up for your home. It’s a really great gift, as you can watch and see who is taking your packages, or know who is at the door before they ring the doorbell.
With the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, you’re getting a wide-angle camera that can see all the way to the ground in front of your home. And the ability to interact with people via your smartphone, or even your Alexa products. Like the Echo Show or the Fire TV, which is really unique.
The Ring Indoor Cam is a pretty inexpensive security camera that you can add to your home. It comes in at under $60 but is routinely on sale for even less. Additionally, the Ring Indoor Cam has a nice base that can be used to sit on a table, or mount it on the wall or ceiling. It does record in 1080p video, and it will save it if you have Ring’s paid subscription.
The Arlo Pro 3 Spotlight Camera is the latest and greatest from Arlo. Which is a wire-free camera. So you can use inside or outside, which is the main reason why it is on our smart home gift guide this year. You can purchase the Arlo Pro 3 Spotlight Camera in a number of different options. Like three and five-camera kits. This is great for putting cameras around your home.
With the Arlo cameras being wire-free, that does mean you need to pop the battery out and recharge them every once in a while. These will normally last you around six months on a charge. And that is because it is not recording 24/7, but rather only recording when it sees movement.
There are many video doorbells on the market today, but the Arlo Smart Video Doorbell made our smart home gift guide because it works well with the other Arlo cameras. And it’s also less expensive compared to the other models.
There is a wide-angle camera built into this video doorbell, so it can see your entire front yard, and the ground in front of your door. Allowing you to see who is attempting to steal your Amazon packages. The Arlo Video Doorbell can send you notifications when it sees movement, as well as when someone presses the button on the doorbell. So even if they don’t want you to know they are there, you’ll know.
The Nest Cam Outdoor is hands-down the best home security camera that Google sells. It’s an outdoor camera, which means that it is weatherproof. It can take on those hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms and even blizzards with ease. Unfortunately, it is not a wire-free camera though. So you are still going to need to run power to it.
With the Nest Cam Outdoor, you’re going to get 1080p footage from this camera. Which you can view in the Nest app on your smartphone – works with both Android and iOS. With Nest Aware, you can save more video from the Nest Cam Outdoor too. Though that is not a required subscription.
The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery is a good option to put outside of your home, maybe along the side of your home or outside the backdoor. It’s a spotlight camera, so it has motion-activated lights on either side. And since this is the battery-powered one, you don’t need to run power to it. But you will want to keep it near your home, so that the WiFi network can still get to it.
Like other Ring products, it will also work with the Ring app. And it’ll let you know when it sees movement. So you can see if you need to deal with it or not. It works really well with the Ring Video Doorbell too.
The Blink Mini is the cheapest camera on this list. And you’re probably wondering why this $35 home security camera is on this best of list, with many others that are over $100 – some of which are $200.
Well, the Blink Mini does the basics, and nothing more. It is a very small camera as you can tell by the name. Which offers two-way audio, and motion detection. It also only records in HD, and not 1080p or even 4K. Basically, you get what you pay for. And for most people, this is really all you need.
This is another good option for your side or backyard. The Ring Floodlight Camera is not battery-powered though, so you will need to run some power to it. But it does have two floodlights on either side of the camera, giving you a ton of light.
Much like other Ring products, this does also offer up the ability to get notifications about movement and when it sees people. It does also work with other Ring products too, so you can control it all in the same Ring app. Finally, it works with Amazon Alexa, so you can see the feed of the camera on your TV with a Fire TV device or on an Echo Show.
Like the Blink Mini, the Blink Outdoor is also fairly cheap, coming in just a penny shy of $100. It offers great battery life, and a small footprint. Though this one can do 1080p video recording.
Battery life on the Blink Outdoor is really impressive actually. We’re looking at two years on a single battery. This is because it does not record when there is no motion or humans detected in its view. So it saves a lot of juice that way.
The Wyze Cam is a 1080p indoor camera, that is pretty adjustable. So you can make it taller or shorter, and change where it is aimed. It’s a fairly small camera, so you can put it basically anywhere.
It does have two-way audio, so if it sees someone in your home, you can tell them to get out. Of course, with the app, you’ll still get the usual notifications when it sees movement. It also works with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Which is actually pretty rare.
Rounding out our list of the best home security cameras, is one that is aimed at pets. The Petcube Cam. It’s pretty inexpensive, and is ideal for keeping an eye on your pets. It will notify you when your pet is making noise – like barking. So you can see what’s happening.
The only downside to the Petcube Cam, is that it does not record any video, unless you pay for its subscription plan. That’s very different from most of the other cameras on this list here.
One would think that being among the most popular and widely used social media platforms out there, would provide ample opportunities for ad space. But it’s 2023! And a wide user base only calls for innovation in the form of… new types of ads.
The Meta-owned company shared details about the upcoming new and exciting options for advertisers on its blog. From IG’s point of view, these new features will help people find new products, brands or events which they might be interested in.
This will happen through two new types of ads: Reminder ads and ads in search results. The names don’t exactly roll off the tongue, but they are at least pretty self-explanatory. Both require some form of user input in order to become discovered or initiated, which means that you shouldn’t start seeing them all the time. Presumably.
An example of how Reminder ads will look and function, as provided by Instagram.
Reminder ads have already been tested, so we have some basis for commenting on things. Basically, this is a form of ad that will promote some sort of event, let’s say a Samsung Galaxy launch event. From there on out, users can decide if they want to be reminded when the event is imminent, so that they can jump back in and check on things. Naturally, with users being granted a choice, this also means that interaction can be completely ignored too.
Ads in Search are a bit more direct, but that also may allow them to be a tad extra helpful. Let’s say that you are searching for an online store and for whatever reason, you are doing it on Instagram. Well, if the retailer has an IG account set up and they are promoting it, then an ad-fueled result will populate on the top of the search results. Pretty straight-forward!
While we can’t say if Reminder ads will increase overall ad presence on the platform, we can definitely see how that might end up being the case with Search ads, as they’ll likely start popping up even when you aren’t exactly looking for a product or brand.
At the end of the day, however, ads are what fuels social platforms and they are also what allows people to use their profiles for free. If you don’t count user data, but that’s an entirely separate topic. We’ll see what the impact of these new types of ads are when they roll out in the coming months, but one thing is for sure: there is no limit to marketing innovation.
The company has criticized the cherry-picking of its app, arguing that other apps have been suspended at the same time and it’s not fair to single out their app.
Google has temporarily suspended Pinduoduo, a leading Chinese budget shopping app, from its Play Store due to the discovery of malware in certain versions of the app.
The news of Pinduoduo’s ban came just a couple of weeks after Shein, another Chinese shopping giant, was caught copying clipboard content on Android phones of users who were using its older version.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Google stated that it found malware in some versions of the app that were not available on the Play Store. The company has enforced Google Play Protect, which scans installed Android phone apps for malicious behaviour, on these allegedly harmful apps.
Google has set the Play Protect enforcement to block the installation of these apps and prompt users to uninstall them if they have already downloaded them to their devices.
Pinduoduo has confirmed that it is in communication with Google for further information, and it has also stated that several other apps have been suspended at the same time. Pinduoduo has over 900 million users and is one of China’s most popular e-commerce platforms.
Pinduoduo made a name for itself with its group-buying business model, which allowed users to save money by pooling together and buying items in bulk.
The app’s US-listed parent company, PDD, launched Temu, an online shopping platform in the United States last year, which has quickly become the most downloaded app in the US for both iOS and Android.
The app has been downloaded 24 million times since its launch in September and has more than 11 million monthly active users.
At the time of publication, the Pinduoduo app was unavailable on the Play Store. (Screenshot: Hackread.com)
In a statement, Pinduoduo said that “we strongly reject the speculation and accusation by some anonymous researcher and non-conclusive response from Google that Pinduoduo app is malicious.”
Malware refers to any software developed to steal data or damage computer systems and mobile devices. When hidden in apps, it can be used to gain unauthorized access to information on a user’s phone.
Google has not mentioned Temu in its statement, and the app is still available to download on the Play Store. Pinduoduo has strongly rejected the accusations of malicious activity and speculation surrounding the suspension of its app.
Amazon is refreshing its own Fire TV sets today, with a few more QLED models for its Omni lineup. Previously, it offered a 65- and 75-inch model. Now it is expanding that lineup with a 43-, 50- and 55-inch model being added. So the TVs now start at a new low of $450.
The Omni QLED Fire TVs still offer up to 96-zone local dimming. There’s also Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ for HDR support. As you would expect, there are far field microphones included here that work for always-listening Alexa. So you can control your TV with your voice, even when it’s not turned on.
The new Omni QLED TVs are up for pre-order today, and will be available from Best Buy starting on May 11. Here’s the pricing for the new QLED models:
Amazon is also debuting newer, cheaper Fire TV models
In addition to the refreshed Omni TVs, Amazon is also debuting the new Fire TV 2-series range. This goes alongside its 4-series that it has had for a few years now.
The Fire TV 2-series includes a 32-inch 720p and a 40-inch 1080p model. These start at $200, which is pretty competitive for the size and resolution. HDR is limited here, with just HDR10 and HLG included. But, that’s actually surprising. Most TVs in this price range don’t even have HDR included. So definitely good to see.
The Fire TV 2-series is on sale from Amazon’s website starting today. There’s no pre-order period for the Fire TV 2-series. They’ll start shipping today.
It’s an interesting time for Amazon to be launching these TVs since Roku just launched their own branded TVs. Which include some pretty inexpensive TVs from the low-end, mid-range and high-end. Good to see the competition increasing, which is only going to help the consumer get a better product for its money.
Apple TV and the MLB have announced the “Friday Night Baseball” schedule for the first half of the season. It’ll start on April 7, and the current schedule is through June 30, the second half of the season will likely be announced in a couple of months.
New this year, is that you will need to have an Apple TV+ subscription to watch these games. So that’s going to cost you $6.99 per month, or $69 for a full year. Last year, it was included for free, and you didn’t need a Plus subscription.
Apple says that there will be two MLB games each Friday night throughout the season. And they’ll be available to stream in 60 countries and regions. That’s a big bump from last year, where it was only 13 countries. Additionally, DIRECTV will make “Friday Night Baseball” available in more than 300,000 restaurants, bars, hotel lounges, retail stores and more, throughout the regular season on existing satellite TV equipment.
Some games are doubleheaders, while others are aired simultaneously
This year, some games are going to be aired as doubleheaders. But other weeks, the games will be on at the same time. Allowing you to choose which game you want to watch. Here’s the full schedule from April 7 through June 30.
Friday, April 7 Texas Rangers at Chicago Cubs 2 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves 7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 14 San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers 6:30 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox 7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 21 Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees 7 p.m. ET
Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves 7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 28 Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros 8 p.m. ET
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers 10 p.m. ET
Friday, May 5 Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds 6:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Guardians 7 p.m. ET
Friday, May 12 Kansas City Royals at Milwaukee Brewers 8 p.m. ET
Chicago Cubs at Minnesota Twins 8 p.m. ET
Friday, May 19 Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays 7 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at Atlanta Braves 7 p.m. ET
Friday, May 26 San Diego Padres at New York Yankees 7 p.m. ET
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers 6:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 2 Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds 5 p.m. ET
Cleveland Guardians at Minnesota Twins 8 p.m. ET
Friday, June 9 Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles 7 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels 9:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 16 Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers 8 p.m. ET
Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners 10 p.m. ET
Friday, June 23 Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins 6:30 p.m. ET
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies 7 p.m. ET
Friday, June 30 Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates 7 p.m. ET
Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Angels 9:30 p.m. ET
Imagine this: You open the Apple Music app on your iPhone, go to your playlists with the intent of playing something motivating to start your day, and suddenly see that you have a bunch of strange playlists in your library that you don’t remember creating. But is something like this even possible? Well, it appears it actually is.As MacRumors first reported, many users on Reddit shared that they have unknown playlists in their music libraries. In some cases, unknown songs were even added to the users’ playlists.
Some users experiencing this problem assumed that their accounts had been hacked, which is something totally logical to presume when you see that you have playlists in your library created by other people. However, the more likely cause of the problem is probably some kind of bug inside Apple’s iCloud server. Some users experiencing the problem managed to fix the issue by unsyncing and re-syncing their Apple Music app with their iCloud.
Also, it appears that the issue is only present in the Apple Music app for iPhone. The app for macOS doesn’t appear to be plagued by the unknown playlist problem, or at least, no reports suggest that the issue is present there.
At the moment, there is no official word from Apple about the unknown playlist problem. We must note that Apple released iOS 16.3.1 on February 13, 2023, and the update had a fix for iCloud. So, it is possible that the bug might have occurred as a result of the applied iCloud fix. We hope that Apple will soon resolve the issue. Meanwhile, don’t panic if you see someone else’s playlist in your music library.
![Amazon’s Fire TV Omni QLED lineup now includes smaller, cheaper models! [Updated]](https://h4ckers.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screenshot-2023-03-22-at-11.41.37-AM-768x497.png "Amazon’s Fire TV Omni QLED lineup now includes smaller, cheaper models! [Updated]")
