Apple will be rolling out Communication Safety in Messages for kids in six new countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, and more. This feature was introduced in the US and Canada in 2021 and expanded to the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia last year.
Communication Safety is a feature that helps safeguard children using the Messages app. It works by detecting any potentially inappropriate photos with nudity that a child may receive or try to send. When such a photo is detected, the app automatically blurs the image, preventing the child from seeing it.
However, the child can choose to view the photo, in which case the app provides guidance and age-appropriate resources to help them make a safe and informed decision.
The Communication Safety feature is disabled by default. However, if you enable it by going to the Screen Time section of the Settings app, the feature scans photos on the device for any potentially inappropriate content. It is important to note that all content sent via iMessage remains end-to-end encrypted.
As iCulture reports, Apple is now planning to launch this feature in six more countries around the world. The list of countries includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, and two more (unnamed).
With the Pixel Watch now officially available you might be wondering what some of the best bands are. Or whether or not there are any available options outside of Google’s own store. For the time being, the only official options come from Google. Though that should change with time. Interestingly enough though, there are some third-party options popping up on Amazon.
Google’s Pixel Watch was officially launched earlier this month and it should now be shipping to buyers. You can pick it up in either Wi-Fi/Bluetooth or LTE models, and in a few different colorways. You get one band with the watch and the one included in the box will be the Active Band.
Since there are a few other options though, and there are some third-party offerings starting to appear, we wanted to list up the best Pixel Watch bands we could find. Keep in mind that the number of offerings is going to be low at the moment since the watch is so new. But overtime more options will undoubtedly fill out.
Also worth noting is that if you have the Crafted Leather Band that Google sells officially, you can actually use third-party 20mm bands with that. You simply have to remove the Crafted Leather Band from the proprietary connector and pop in a band of your choice. It does have to be 20mm though. Because of this process, we will only be listing bands that have the compatible connector.
As of right now this is the only leather band for the Pixel Watch that we could find. But that doesn’t make it any less of a decent band option. It comes in two available colors which are Obsidian and Ivy, and the band is actually attached to the stainless steel lugs and not the proprietary connector itself. Which means if you want to go through the extra effort to remove the band from the lugs and pop in a different one, you can.
The Crafted Leather Band is not sweat or water resistant. So this isn’t the band you want to wear while working out or if you’re planning to swim. The band also comes in small and large sizes with support for some decent variance in sizes of wrists.
There are two main reasons why we like this band and chose to put it on the list. One is that Google’s own Metal Links band isn’t available till next Spring. So you can’t even buy the official one right now. It also costs $199.99. Which is more than half the cost of the WiFi/Bluetooth model of the watch.
This metal links band however, is only $20. So you spend $180 less on what is likely to be a decent alternative to what Google is selling. It also comes in four colors. Black, Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver. Google’s $200 band comes in two colors. Brushed Silver and Matte Black. We won’t deny those bands look nice. But they also a ton of money. This is a much less expensive option for a similar look.
If you’re looking something that offers everyday comfort and can be worn while active, look no further than the Woven Band that Google offers. This is both sweat and water resistant so you can wear it while working out and if it gets soaked it shouldn’t cause any damage to the band. And it’s definitely one of the best bands you can get for the Pixel Watch. In fact it might be our favorite.
It also comes in a few different colors including Lemongrass, Coral, and Ivy. This one doesn’t come in small and large sizes but it fits both ranges offered on the Crafted Leather Band. It’s also made from recycled yarn so that’s kind of a nice touch. Knowing that you’re getting something which has a little more of an ecofriendly footprint.
We picked this band for the same reason we picked the metal links band up above. For one, it’s available and the official mesh band from Google is not. As it will also be releasing next Spring. And of course it’s a lot less expensive than Google’s mesh band will be. Comparatively, this is $15.99 whereas the Google band is going to be $129.99.
This band also has the magnetic clasp like Google’s mesh band, and it comes in four colors. Black, Gold, Rose Gold, and Siver.
Much like the Crafted Leather Band, the Two-Tone Leather Band lets you get that leather look and feel but jazzes it up a little bit by adding a second color to the band. The band comes in three main colorways which are Linen, Charcoal, and Chalk. But each band colorway also has a second color applied to it. For example, Linen is the color for one part of the band, and you get a slightly different shade of brown for other part.
The Chalk version is white on one side and gray on the other. If you like to feel a little more stylish, this is a nice option. All the Two-Tone leather bands are also made of Italian leather.
The Active Band is what you get that comes with the Pixel Watch inside of the box. It’s also exactly the same as the Infinity band that comes with the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Sense 2. So if you have ever felt how those feel when around your wrist, you should know what the Pixel Watch’s Active Band feels like.
This band comes in multiple colors including Lemongrass, Charcoal, Obsidian, Chalk, and Hazel. The Lemongrass option however is only available as a standalone purchase. While the other four colors each come with one of the colors of the Pixel Watch.
The Active Band, as its namesake implies, is both sweat and water resistant. So wear it while you work out, wear it in the rain, and don’t feel too bad if you spill some water on it. It’ll be just fine.
Rounding out this list is the last band that Google officially offers on its Google Store site. The Stretch Band. There’s a few reasons to like this band and one of them is it seems to lend itself well to the style of wearing it over your sleeves. Now, style-wise, this isn’t something we’d do unless your top has tight-fitting sleeves like in the image above. But even if you’re wearing it with short sleeves or under long sleeves, the stretch fabric is likely to be a little more soft than any of the other options.
This band is sweat resistant so you could probably work out in it, but it is not water resistant. Which means you probably can’t clean it and sweat would just load up in the fabric overtime. That being said, this is the perfect band for during the day or any other time where you aren’t being super active. It also comes in three colors which are Linen, Rose, and Obsidian.
OpenAI shook the world with its unveiling of ChatGPT. This is an extremely powerful AI chatbot that’s been wowing people with how intelligent it is. It’s so powerful that it made Google declare a code red and develop its own chatbot called Bard. If you’re looking to use ChatGPT and see what the buzz is all about, here’s a handy guide on how to use it.
First off, what is ChatGPT?
It wouldn’t make sense to know how to use something if you don’t know what it is. So, as stated before, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot. The best way to describe is that it’s like a digital human being that you either ask questions to or talk with. You can ask it for answers to questions like “how do I declaw a cat?” or “How many moons does Jupiter have?”. The chatbot will actually give you concise answers to those questions.
ChatGPT’s utility doesn’t stop there, as you’re able to type a myriad of commands into it and get results. Here are a few examples of what you can type into the prompt:
How to do stuff: How do I swaddle a baby?
Advice: Give me advice on how to get my child to study.
Recipes: Give me a recipe for a healthy burger.
General knowledge questions: What are the mitochondria?
Writing code: Write me code for an app that tells time.
Writing articles: Write me a 2000-word article about the Galaxy S23’s camera.
Writing stories/poems: Write me a story about a mean kid who gets his just deserts.
Just to chat: My dog just died, and I need someone to talk to.
Looking at some of those examples, it’s no wonder why Google has taken notice. We covered everything you need to know about ChatGPT, so you can check out that article if you have more questions about what it can do.
How to use ChatGPT
So, the first thing that you need to know about ChatGPT is that you’ll need to create an account. You can either create an account through OpenAI or sign in through Google or Microsoft. After you create your account, you’ll be taken right into the action.
The landing page is pretty simple, but it gives you what you need to get started. The first thing you might notice is the grid of cards in the middle of the screen. They give you a rough idea of what ChatGPT can do. They will give you suggestions of what to input, some of what ChatGPT can do, and what it can’t.
You’ll see a dark gray panel on the left side of the screen. This will house your previous conversations. Below them, you’ll see the option to clear your conversations, upgrade to Plus, toggle Dark mode, and give feedback to the company. There’s also a button that will send you to the Updates and FAQs page and the log-out button.
Using ChatGPT
Last, but certainly not least, we have the text field on the bottom center of the screen; the face of ChatGPT. Here, you can type in the command that you want to input. All you have to do is type in your text and press the enter button. Also, you can click on the arrow button on the right side of the text field to send it.
When you send your request, you’ll see your profile picture appear at the top of the screen with a gray bar extending across. This is where ChatGPT will display its answer. You’ll see a little blinking cursor at first. Now, it will take ChatGPT a few seconds to start answering your question. When it starts, you’ll see the text gradually populating the screen.
Right under the answer given, you’ll see a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down button. These are important, as they gives feedback on how you like the answer. Giving feedback on the answer will help OpenAI improve ChatGPT.
Also, if you don’t like the answer, you can regenerate it. Right above the text box, there’s a Regenerate response button. When you do it, the chatbot will give you a different answer based on the prompt.
Now, since ChatGPT is a chatbot, you’re able to talk back and forth with it as though it was a person. This means that you can follow up on the answer and give suggestions as to what you want to change. The bot will then make the appropriate change and update it. You can actually type as though you’re talking to a human being.
New chats/erasing old chats
If you’re having a conversation with a person, you’ll want to signal when you’re changing to a different topic to avoid confusion. Well, the same thing applies to ChatGPT. If you want to start a conversation about something, you’ll want to make a new conversation.
To do that, look at the panel on the left. Above your conversations, you’ll see the New Chat button. Click it and you will see a blank canvas to start a new conversation. If you want to go back to the previous conversations you had, don’t worry, the program will automatically save your previous chat. You’ll be able to return to it and pick up right where you left off.
If you’re done with a conversation, and you want to get rid of it, you can quickly do so. Go to the left panel and move your mouse over the conversation you want to give the boot. Click on the little trash can icon on the right side of the button. When you click on it, you’ll see a little checkmark and “X” icon appear. If you’re sure that you want to delete that conversation, click on the checkmark.
What is ChatGPT Plus?
Now, ChatGPT has a paid tier, but you don’t have to pay to use the chatbot. The Plus subscription offers more features to people who are avid users. With the payment plan, you’ll have priority access to new features when they drop.
When there are a ton of people using ChatGPT at the same time, free users may lose access to it until the traffic dies down. If you have a Plus account, you’ll have access to it whenever, even when demand is high.
Lastly, you’ll have access to faster processing speeds. This means that you’ll get your answers faster. If you want to have these features, then it will cost you $20/month.
Europol has dismantled a gang linked to a $40 million CEO scam. Find out more about how this international criminal syndicate was uncovered and who was involved.
The email scam gang behind France’s largest-ever CEO scam has been dismantled after a coordinated police operation across multiple countries was successful in arresting six people in France and two in Israel.
The Europe-wide operation to track down the Franco-Israeli criminal organization involved the Croatian National Police, the Croatian Anti Money Laundering Office, the French National Police, the French Gendarmerie, the Hungarian Budapest Metropolitan Police, the Israel Police, the Portuguese Judicial Police, and the Spanish National Police.
Law enforcement authorities involved in the operation (Image: Europol)
In early December 2021, one of the gang members, now arrested as a suspect, impersonated the CEO of a metallurgy company in northeastern France and tricked the accountant into making an urgent and confidential transfer of €500,000 ($530,000) which was subsequently spotted and blocked.
In late December 2021, according to Europol’s press release, Sefri-Cime, a real-estate developer, fell victim to the same group after its members impersonated lawyers working for a well-known French accounting firm. According to Europol, they persuaded the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to transfer almost €38 million ($40 million) altogether.
The criminal network, consisting of French and Israeli nationals, used a pre-existing money laundering scheme that laundered the funds via European countries, China, and then Israel. An investigation that followed revealed the money mules working for the gang in Croatia, Portugal, and Hungary.
The police were able to seize electronic equipment and vehicles, €3 million from Portuguese bank accounts, €1.1 million from Hungarian bank accounts, €600,000 from Croatian bank accounts, €EUR 400,000 from Spanish bank accounts and €350,000 in virtual currencies.
The operation continued for five days between January 2022 and 2023 in France and Israel, leading to eight house searches and eight arrests, including the alleged Israeli gang leader, according to Europol.
For a few years now, the “Plus” model in the Galaxy S series has been pretty odd. It’s slightly smaller than the Ultra model, and only a couple hundred less than the Ultra model. Yet, it doesn’t offer many of the same specs and features. Making it a pretty weird model for Samsung, and one that I do believe they need to get rid of. And just make the S23 and S23 Ultra.
I still believe that, however, the Galaxy S23 Plus is a great phone, for a specific person. And that person is, someone that want’s a large phone. Someone that doesn’t want a curved display or a S Pen. And someone that wants to save a few hundred bucks. Remember, the Ultra is $200 more than the Plus. So let’s explore everything that the Galaxy S23 Plus does right and wrong, in our full review.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Design
Since the Galaxy S20 series a few years ago, Samsung has been iterating on the design of the S series, and this year, I think Samsung is at the peak. I really like the design of the S23 Plus, even more so than the Ultra. The back of the Plus is flat, with individual camera bumps for each camera. Which are round, and look very minimal. Honestly, it looks really good. The sides are still curved, making it easier to hold onto your phone. However, the edges on the screen and on the back, are quite sharp. Almost as sharp as the iPhone 13 Pro series was last year. Obviously, you can get around this by using a case, and most will. But still worth noting.
It’s a fairly boring design, but honestly, I think that fits the Galaxy S23 series perfectly. As it is a pretty boring lineup this year. It’s like a cookie-cutter smartphone. Where Samsung comes out with the highest specs available, and keeps the same price each year. Where Samsung is really cutting the edge is on the foldables that come out in August.
As far as the rest of the hardware goes, the sides are Armor Aluminum, and since the S23 Plus has a flat display, it’s also more durable than other smartphones out there. Particularly those with curved displays. It also uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back and front. That’s going to keep it from shattering, but it will scratch very, very easily. Unfortunately, as the glass gets less likely to shatter, it does get softer. So it does scratch way easier. But, I’m happy to report that my review unit has zero scratches on it, yet.
The best display on a smartphone
Samsung always has the best display on a smartphone, so this is nothing new really. Since Samsung makes most of the smartphone displays out there and of course it keeps the good stuff for its own devices. But the Galaxy S23 Plus’ display is so beautiful. It has true-to-life colors, though you can actually saturate it a bit more if you like that look better. As Samsung does allow you to adjust many aspects of the display.
The only downside here is that the Galaxy S23 Plus tops out at FHD+ resolution. Samsung saves the QHD+ panels for the Ultra model. But let’s be honest, FHD+ is plenty of resolution for a 6.6-inch display. It’s an AMOLED display, with adaptive 120Hz. So you will see it move from 1 to 120Hz, depending on what you’re doing.
Finally, it does get very bright. With peak brightness up to 1750 nits. That is the same as the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This means that you’ll be able to use it outdoors in bright sunlight, which is really great to see. And I hope more smartphones adopt this feature.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Performance
Inside the Galaxy S23 Plus is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. It’s basically the same processor that’s in the OnePlus 11, but this is overclocked a bit, and better optimized for Galaxy devices. This processor makes the Galaxy S23 Plus ridiculously fast. During my time using the Plus, I have not noticed it slowing down at all. Which is quite impressive, especially when I add in that, it rarely gets hot. Now, like most phones, if I use the camera for a long time, or play some games for a while, the phone will get warm. But it doesn’t overheat at all.
Along with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, there’s also 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in this model. All Plus models have 8GB of RAM, and comes in 256GB and 512GB storage models. The whole phone is pretty fast here, and RAM isn’t even an issue here. Which is kind of surprising, given how much of a memory hog that One UI is. But that’s definitely great to see.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Battery life and Charging
This year, Samsung added 200mAh to the Galaxy S23 Plus, compared to its predecessor. So now we have a 4700mAh capacity battery inside the Galaxy S23 Plus. So it sounds like it would offer great battery life, especially knowing how good the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is with battery life. And it is great, but it is definitely a level or two below the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
With the Galaxy S23 Plus I was able to hit 8 hours of screen on time, on a single charge. Meanwhile the Ultra is at least 10 hours, and can be pushed to 12 hours. So while the Plus has great battery life, it’s not the best on a S23 model. Which is not what I was expecting. But I’d still take 8 hours of screen on time any day.
Now for the bad news, standby sucks on this one. Overnight, around 8 hours, the Galaxy S23 Plus loses between 12-15% of its charge. That’s pretty insane, and I think (and hope) Samsung will fix this in a software update. The Galaxy S23 Ultra went through the same test and lost about 5-7% over the same 8 hours of standby. So it definitely seems like something is wrong. And I honestly think that is why the Plus is so far below the Ultra in terms of battery life.
That’s going to be enough to get you through a full day, and maybe even two days. This is going to depend on how you use your phone, of course. Not everyone uses their phone for 8 hours a day, and if you’re a lighter user, you might get two full days.
Onto charging, it’s good, but could be better. Samsung is still stuck at 45W wired charging. Which is fast, but when we have phones like the OnePlus 11 doing close to 100W charging, for less money, you have to wonder why Samsung is still stuck at just 45W? Well, we probably do know why – the Galaxy Note 7. What makes this even worse is that the charger is not included in the box. As far as wireless charging goes, it does still go up to 15W. Which is fine, if you’re charging it overnight. Would be great to see wireless charging getting faster.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Software
When it comes to software, the entire Galaxy S23 series ships with Android 13 and One UI 5.1 – which One UI 5.1 is actually rolling out to most of the recent Samsung phones right now, so you don’t need to buy the S23 to get it. With One UI 5.1, we have plenty of great features available here. Some of which are part of Android 13, like the more options for the color palette in the icons.
But Samsung has also copied some features from Apple. That includes being able to pull an object out of a photo and make it into a sticker. So if you took a photo of your dog, you can long-press on it and then share it as a sticker. Samsung has also brought back the ability to customize your lockscreen, by changing the shortcuts, and changing the clock’s color and font. Which is really cool to have here.
On top of all that, Samsung is also promising four years of Android updates and five years of security updates. That makes it the longest on the Android side. Apple is still updating phones for at least six years. But that does mean that the Galaxy S23 Plus is going to get upgraded to Android 17, and that’s not too shabby, to be quite honest.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Camera
While everyone’s talking about the new 200MP sensor on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it’s not here on the Plus. Instead, it has a 50-megapixel main sensor, with a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor that can do 3x optical zoom. That’s plenty, to be honest. Especially since Samsung does let you take photos at the full 50MP resolution, instead of only allowing it to be pixel-binned down to 12.5-megapixels.
The images coming from the Galaxy S23 Plus are quite good. They are crisp and mostly in true-to-life colors. There are some instances where they might be a bit saturated. That’s something that is popular over in Korea, where Samsung is from. So it makes sense that they still go with the saturated look.
Much like on the Ultra, the Plus has a pretty good portrait mode. In my testing, it even did good with my glasses. Typically, phones will not cut out my glasses in portrait mode, and blur the side of them. But that’s not the case with the Galaxy S23 series, and that’s definitely something I really like here.
Zoom levels on the Galaxy S23 Plus are pretty good. Sure, I’d love to have 10x optical zoom available here, but 3x is good. And probably what I’d use most of the time anyways. Pictures coming out of that 3x optical zoom feature look really good. Sure, you will need a good amount of light for them to look good, since this is a 10-megapixel sensor its using here. So do keep that in mind. Here are some camera samples from the Galaxy S23 Plus.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Wrap Up
The Galaxy S23 Plus is mostly a good smartphone. The only real downside here is the battery life, which can be fixed with an update. Then again, if I’m complaining about 8 hours of screen on time, then it must be pretty good. For most people, this is going to be enough smartphone and they won’t need to buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and save themselves $200 here. The camera is great, software is great, and even the hardware is great.
The tech giant Fortinet has recently fixed critical vulnerabilities in its FortiNAC and FortiWeb products. Exploiting the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution attacks. Given the critical severity of the flaws, users must rush to update their systems with the patched versions at the earliest.
Fortinet Disclosed FortiNAC And FortiWeb Vulnerabilities
Fortinet has recently shared details about the serious vulnerabilities affecting its security products, FortiNAC and FortiWeb.
Specifically, FortiNAC is a dedicated network access control solution ensuring zero-trust access to the intended network. It works well for securing sensitive networks, IoT, IT, and connected infrastructure. FortiWeb is a web application firewall (WAF) protecting web apps and APIs against known exploits.
Regarding FortiNAC, the vendor highlighted the existence of an external control of file name or path vulnerability in keyUpload scriptlet. Exploiting the vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated adversary to perform arbitrary write on the target system. As mentioned in Fortinet’s advisory, the vulnerability, CVE-2022-39952, received a critical severity rating with a CVSS score of 9.8.
This vulnerability affects the FortiNAC version 9.4.0, 9.2.0 through 9.2.5, 9.1.0 through 9.1.7, 8.8 (all versions), 8.7 (all versions), 8.6 (all versions), 8.5 (all versions), and 8.3 (all versions).
As for FortiWeb, the firm mentioned the existence of stack-based buffer overflow in the firewall’s proxy daemon (Proxyd). Exploiting this vulnerability could let an attacker execute arbitrary codes on the target app without authentication. As explained in a separate advisory, triggering this flaw merely required the adversary to use maliciously crafted HTTP requests.
Fortinet described this vulnerability, CVE-2021-42756, as another critical severity issue that received a CVSS score of 9.3. It affected FortiWeb versions 5.x (all versions), 6.0.7 and below, 6.1.2 and below, 6.2.6 and below, 6.3.16 and below, and 6.4 (all versions).
Bug Fixes Deployed – Update Asap
Upon discovering the vulnerabilities, Fortinet’s internal researchers highlighted the matter, triggering bug-fix development. Eventually, Fortinet patched the respective vulnerabilities with the subsequent FortiNAC and FortiWeb versions. Hence, users should update their systems with the following product releases.
FortiNAC version 9.4.1 or above, version 9.2.6 or above, version 9.1.8 or above, and version 7.2.0 or above.
FortiWeb 7.0.0 or above, 6.3.17 or above, 6.2.7 or above, 6.1.3 or above, and 6.0.8 or above.
Verizon is the biggest carrier in the US, and has quite a few smartphones that you can choose from. Mostly consisting of Google Pixel, Samsung, Motorola and the iPhone. However, looking at the long list of smartphones from Verizon can be quite daunting for anyone, so we’re here to help you figure out which phone is best for you.
And if you’re looking to make the jump over to Verizon, we have the best Verizon plans available here. So you can pair your new Verizon phone with the best plan that is currently available.
Best Verizon Phones
Verizon has phones ranging from around $200, to up over $1,000. So there’s something here for every budget, no matter what you can afford. The majority of these phones are from Google, Samsung and Motorola, with an iPhone tossed in. Keep in mind that Verizon does tend to have deals and promos going on all the time, which we will keep you apprised of through our deals here.
So without further ado, here are the best phones for Verizon. All of the prices below are per month, for 36 months, unless otherwise noted.
The Pixel 7 Pro is one of the best smartphones of 2022, and now it can be yours at Verizon. The Pixel 7 Pro comes with a pretty good looking 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz display, powered by Google’s Tensor G2 processor, 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also has a 5000mAh capacity battery included. Making it a pretty powerful device.
Google has promised three years of software updates here and five years of security updates (through 2025 and 2027 respectively).
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 5G is the best foldable that you can buy in the US. Samsung has equipped it with a 6.2-inch outer display, which is rather tall, but still good for getting some simpler tasks done. While you can unfold it and take advantage of the 7.6-inch inner display. Both of these are 120Hz, and have Corning Gorilla Glass Victus installed.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 5G runs on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There’s no micro SD card slot available for expansion either. This has a somewhat small battery at 4400mAh, so you may need to charge it a bit more frequently.
And this year, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is now a few millimeters narrower, so it fits better in the hand. And makes the main display a bit less tall and skinny.
This is one of the first Motorola Edge phones to come to the US, which explains why it’s so cheap these days. But it’s still quite capable. This has a 6.7-inch FHD+ display, powered by the Snapdragon 778 5G processor with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There is also a 256GB model available if you need more storage.
The Motorola Edge also has a 108-megapixel main sensor on the back, along with a 8-megapixel telephoto lens, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide and a 32-megapixel front-facing sensor. There’s also a 4000mAh capacity battery inside.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a contender for the best smartphone of the year so far. It comes with a 6.8-inch QHD+ 120Hz Adaptive display, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, 8GB/12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (up to 1TB). There’s also a 5000mAh capacity battery inside that should keep you going all day long.
This is also the world’s first smartphone with a 200-megapixel camera inside. Which has performed pretty well, you can see more about it in our review.
The Galaxy A53 5G UW is a really great smartphone with flagship features without the flagship price. As you can see, this is $10 per month for 36 months (for $360 total). It offers a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED 120Hz display – not LTPO though so it doesn’t adapt.
It is powered by the Exynos 1280 processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s also a massive 5,000mAh capacity battery inside, the same size as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, for a fraction of the price.
The moto g stylus 5G is one of the cheaper 5G smartphones you can buy, and it even comes with a stylus. Now it’s nowhere near what Samsung offers with the S Pen, but it is a stylus.
This sports a 6.8-inch FHD+ 120Hz display, the Snapdragon 695 5G processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There is also a 5000mAh capacity battery in this one.
The Google Pixel 7 is a pretty sweet smartphone to pick up. It comes in some nice colors and has an upgraded camera. It does have a pretty small display at 6.1-inches. So it’s great for those that want something smaller. It also has the Tensor G2 processor inside, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It has just a ultrawide and regular camera sensor though.
Google is promising at least three years of updates here, and four years of security updates. So it should see Android 16, which is quite impressive.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 5G is the most popular foldable in the US right now. This one is basically a regular phone that can fold in half. Who doesn’t want that? It sports a 6.7-inch inner display which is AMOLED and 120Hz. There is a small 1.9-inch outer display for notifications.
Internally, you’ll find the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor inside, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There is a 256GB model available. And there is a small 3700mAh capacity battery inside.
The moto g pure is the cheapest phone on this list, coming in at $0. This is normally $149 full retail, but you can typically get it on a financing plan for nothing.
Now there is a reason why this phone is that cheap. It has a 6.5-inch HD+ display, the MediaTek Helio G25 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There is a micro SD card slot available. And surprisingly, a very large battery here, rated at 4000mAh.
Rounding out our best Verizon phones list here, we have the iPhone 14. We chose the standard iPhone 14 out of the four models, because it’s the best value. It’s $799 full retail, and offers a faster processor than most Android flagships. That’s thanks to the Apple A15 Bionic, which is incredibly fast.
Surprisingly, there’s only 6GB of RAM here, with 128GB of storage. There are 256GB and 512GB models available too. It has a pretty small 3279mAh capacity battery but it will still last you all day, thanks to the insane software optimization that the iPhone has.
Following the pandemic, many companies, including Amazon, have continued to offer their employees the flexibility of working from home. But according to a new blog post by CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon’s corporate and tech employees would have to return to the office at least three days a week, starting May 1st.
Jassy explained that after observing various models of work arrangements during the pandemic, the company concluded that a hybrid work arrangement would be the best of both worlds, allowing employees to enjoy the flexibility of working from home while also experiencing the benefits of working in an office environment. However, there wasn’t any quantitative evidence in the blog post justifying his claims.
“Collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we’re in person. The energy and riffing on one another’s ideas happen more freely. Also, teams working on new ideas often find that a whiteboard enhances the group understanding and iterating,” reads the blog post.
Potential challenges of bringing employees back to the office
Jassy acknowledged that bringing employees back to the office won’t be a simple process, and Amazon is allowing teams to develop a plan for the transition. The company understands that the process may not be perfect at first, but the office experience will steadily improve over the coming months and years as they continue to evolve their office setups to capture the new ways they want to work.
“I’m very optimistic about the positive impact this will have on how we serve and invent on behalf of customers, as well as on the growth and success of our employees,” says Jassy.
Amazon is not the only tech company to reverse its work-from-home policy. Companies like Activision, Apple, Tesla, and Twitter have also shifted back to in-person or hybrid work arrangements. However, many employees have resisted these mandates, arguing that they are just as productive working from home.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), GoDaddy revealed that three serious security breaches had impacted the company, boasting 21 million customers and almost $4 billion in revenue.
On Friday, GoDaddy, the world’s leading web hosting firm, confirmed that its network had been impacted by a data breach that started in 2020 and continued until 2022. As a result of this compromise, unidentified hackers stole the company’s source code.
Additionally, part of the stolen data included employees’ and customers’ login credentials. Moreover, the flaw allowed attackers to install malware, which would redirect customers’ websites to malicious domains.
This should not come as a surprise, since GoDaddy has a history of security-related incidents. For instance, in November 2021, hackers accessed 1.2 million GoDaddy customers’ accounts.
In November 2020, GoDaddy revealed that its employees had been tricked by hackers into modifying the DNS settings of at least two cryptocurrency websites. In April 2020, Escrow.com was defaced by hackers after they managed to hack one of GoDaddy’s employees.
As for the recent incident, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GoDaddy revealed that three serious security breaches had impacted the company, boasting 21 million customers and almost $4 billion in revenue.
The incident started in 2020, and the latest was recorded in 2022. The company noted that a sophisticated hacker group was responsible for all the incidents. This means the same group has repeatedly invaded its networks and may or may not have left, despite the company’s extensive security measures.
The first incident occurred in March 2020, when the attackers obtained login credentials and accessed a limited number of employee accounts and hosting accounts belonging to approximately 28,000 customers. But they couldn’t access the main accounts of GoDaddy customers.
The most recent invasion was noticed in December of 2022. At that time, the attacker accessed the cPanel hosting servers. The company explained that it has responded to subpoenas about the incident that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued in July 2020 and October 2021.
In November 2021, GoDaddy discovered another security breach in which the attacker obtained a password that provided access to GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress service source code.
The attackers gained access in September 2021 and obtained login credentials of WordPress admin accounts, email addresses, and FTP accounts of 1.2 million inactive currently Managed WordPress users. GoDaddy formally disclosed the breach in November 2021.
“We believe these incidents are part of a multi-year campaign by a sophisticated threat actor group that, among other things, installed malware on our systems and obtained pieces of code related to some services within GoDaddy.”
GoDaddy
GoDaddy has claimed that it has evidence, and law enforcement authorities have also confirmed that a security breach occurred, performed by an organized and sophisticated group.
Furthermore, the company added that the hackers’ primary targets are hosting services such as GoDaddy, infecting websites with malware, and launching phishing campaigns.
An upcoming iOS update could prevent iPhone users from accessing the iOS 17 developer beta for free.
Before now, users who want to enable iOS developer beta on their iPhone must install a configuration profile from the Apple Developer website. But that may no longer be the case.
According to reports, the forthcoming iOS 16.4 now has a “Beta Updates” menu in the Settings app to allow users to enable iOS developer betas directly on their device.
In other words, you no longer have to download configuration profiles to access the iOS beta. Furthermore, Apple intends to end profile downloads altogether, making a new menu the only way to enable developer betas on iPhones.
The Beta Updates menu only appears on iPhones whose Apple IDs were enrolled in Apple’s Developer Program for $99 annually. That means iPhone users not part of the program can’t install the iOS 17 developer beta for free following its WWDC announcement in June.
There’s more!
Cracking Down on Free iOS Developer Beta
Apple has been working to prevent free access to its developer betas on iPhones.
Last year, the tech giant cracked down on websites like BetaProfiles.com that share developer beta profiles for free. Meanwhile, Apple’s legal team sent Twitter DMCA takedown notices for posts containing links to other sites such as IPSW.dev and BetaProfiles.dev.
So how can iPhone users access beta profiles without paying the annual $99 fee?
You could try installing the iOS 17 developer beta using the IPSW file for free. However, it’s unclear whether this option is still available.
The good news is Apple’s public Beta Software Program is free. So users who want early access to the iOS 17 must wait for the public beta version, which will likely roll out in July.
However, if you must access iOS 17 beta in June, paying the $99 to enroll in Apple’s Developer Program is best.
