Google Maps on Wear OS finally incorporates transit directions

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Google Maps on Wear OS now incorporates transit directions as part of the app’s latest update on smartwatches. The launch of this particular feature for Maps on your wrist has been a long time coming, but users can rest easy now that the wait is just about over.

Google announced the update as part of everything going on at Mobile World Congress this week. It also launches alongside other Wear OS changes that Google says are intended to help optimize and improve battery life and performance. This is in addition to the announcement of one of the newest smartwatches to come with Wear OS. The OnePlus Watch 2. In fact, the new battery life and performance changes are specifically for the OnePlus Watch 2. Compatibility will spread to other devices. Although Google hasn’t specified a timeframe yet.

That means you won’t have to upgrade to a new watch just to see these improvements. But you will end up having to wait a little while most likely. The changes to battery life aren’t improvements aren’t massive, but they will probably take some time to implement across hardware. To achieve these improvements, the new software update lets the microcontroller unit handle notification processing. This is something that’s handled by the application processor on every other Wear OS smartwatch. Worth noting is that the MCU uses less power. So tasks like reading notifications and sending quick replies in messages won’t drain the battery as much.

Transit directions from Google Maps on Wear OS can show you departure times

Wear OS Google Maps Transit Times

Imagine if you would, you’re rushing to your stop to make sure you don’t miss the train or bus you’re supposed to be on. You take a quick break to stop, pull your phone out of your pocket, and check the departure times. You want to be sure you have time to get there. But this break to pull out your phone and check costs you precious time that results in you missing your transit. Google’s update to Maps on Wear OS should help alleviate this sort of situation.

You’ll now be able to use Maps on your wrist and check things like departure times, and even get guided directions. Since you can do all this from your wrist now it should be easier to continue to your destination. Additionally, it’s now possible to mirror directions from your phone to your watch.

The update to Maps is also one of two new improvements to Wear OS. There are some updates to Google Wallet on Wear OS too. Namely, the ability to access boarding passes from the watch. This works in tandem with the new update to Maps that lets you check departure times. You can more easily look at the departure time of your chosen transit method and then pull up the boarding pass once you get there. The Wallet update also now lets you access event tickets, loyalty cards, and even your gym membership.


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Oppo announces Air Glass 3 powered by AI at MWC 2024

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Oppo has just announced a pair of smart glasses at Mobile World Congress 2024 called the Air Glass 3, and they’re surprisingly inconspicuous for something that you wear on your face that also happens to be connected to the internet.

Remember smart glasses like Google Glass? Fitted with a camera and driven by the power of your smartphone’s internet connection? Well, these aren’t those. The Oppo Air Glass 3 smart glasses are like Google Glass in some ways, but they’re also considerably more advanced. That shouldn’t be surprising though given these have come more than a few years later. After all, there have been plenty of improvements made to this tech product category since back then. These also don’t feature a camera so they shouldn’t trip anyone’s privacy concerns.

In fact, it’s really not easy to tell these are smart glasses at all. Unless you were to put them on. The Air Glass 3 are capable of quite a few different things, or at least they will be if they ever make it to production. The pair shown off at Mobile World Congress this week is a prototype as noted by Android Authority, which means they aren’t available for consumer purchase. At least not yet. Oppo has launched older models of these before (although not globally). So there is a good chance these will be released at some point.

Oppo Air Glass 3 smart glasses can tap into an AI assistant

AI is starting to become the core of many new and existing tech products these days. In a lot of cases, this takes the form of an AI-powered digital assistant. Such as ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Copilot. The Air Glass 3 will come powered by an AI assistant as well. Although it won’t be either of those other options and it won’t be onboard. Instead, it’ll use Oppo’s own AndesGPT large language model. The glasses can use the AI to help with processing certain tasks, like searching for information or even setting up plans for a trip. As noted by Phone Arena, the AndesGPT isn’t built into the glasses, but rather into the AndesGPT app.

You’ll need to have these paired to an Oppo smartphone with the app for the glasses to take advantage of the AI features, Oppo says. Outside of AI, the Air Glass 3 can do loads of other things like allowing you to answer voice calls, reading messages, or playing music. Oppo is also reportedly planning to add features like navigation and translation in the future.


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You will soon be able to easily copy and save a video frame on Android

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Grabbing the perfect screenshot from a video hasn’t always been the easiest task on desktop or mobile. Although you could always use the usual screenshotting tools on either platform, it wasn’t always possible to get a clean output without menus and player controls being visible, unless you cropped a significant portion out of the picture. Fortunately, this has now been somewhat remedied on desktop, and an Android solution appears to be on the way as well.

Grabbing a clean screenshot of a particular frame on a YouTube video, for example, proved to be a challenge without resorting to third party extensions that could take care of this task for you. Google fixed this on desktop via an update to Google Chrome that allowed you to right click on a video and select “Save Video Frame As…”. This option would output a clean .jpg of the entire frame (without cropping) to your desktop. 

“Save Video Frame As…” option in Google Chrome Desktop

This feature had been spotted in the Canary builds of the Chrome browser since early last year by @Leopeva64 on X, who regularly scours the Chromium Gerrit repository for new commits of upcoming features. This went live for Chrome desktop, but there was still no way to do this on Android, other than waiting for the player controls to fade and then screenshot using the usual button combinations on your respective mobile device.

However, recent code updates indicate that Google will soon allow you to save video frames directly from YouTube on Android devices. This was also spotted by the same user via yet another commit on the Chromium Gerrit repo called “Mark copy/save video frame features as disabled on Android,” with a description that clearly states “These features are not implemented on Android yet. To be prepared for the implementation, mark them as disabled until they are ready to launch.”

This indicates that plans are in motion to bring this handy tool to Android, although there is no clear indication of how it will be implemented. Since YouTube has its own dedicated app on Android, my guess is that it will be part of the interface and added as an option within a video’s settings, where you would normally choose the playback speed and video quality. This is just a guess, though, since there are no screenshots available as of yet.


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Google prepares to make phone calls more fun with Audiomojis

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Google is working on sound-based reactions for phone calls. Called Audiomojis, these are sound effects that you can use during calls. The company is currently developing six such effects for its Phone app. Each reaction gets a unique animation that will appear on the screen when you use it.

Google’s Phone app will let you use sound effects during calls

Code sleuth AssembleDebug first spotted Google working on Audiomojis in September 2023. They discovered strings related to a non-functional “Sound reactions” toggle within the beta version of the Phone app. However, details were scarce to make anything meaningful. The company removed the strings from subsequent beta versions, suggesting it was a brief internal experiment.

But the beta version 124 of Google Phone reintroduced the sound reactions feature, complete with files for the sound effects. Google initially plans to add six Audiomojis to the app—Sad, Applause, Party popper, Cry laugh, Poop, and Drum roll. These will be available when you are on a call. If the other person says something praiseworthy, you can react with the Applause Audiomoji and so on.

The source has provided links to download the Ogg files for these sound effects. Each reaction also comes with a unique animation that will be shown on the screen, likely for both parties on the call. Overall, Audiomoji is an audio version of emoji reactions we use in text messages. Google’s idea is to add some fun elements to phone calls and make conversations more engaging.

It might be long before Audiomojis are available to users, though. Google appears to be still in the early stages of its development. The said beta version of the Phone app doesn’t include code for the whole feature—codes for some animations are missing. A future update for the app should bring the feature, first to beta users and then to the general public.

Audiomoji could be part of the Call Screen feature

Since Audiomojis are currently non-functional, it is unclear how Google plans to implement this feature. The source speculates that the company might offer it as part of the Call Screen feature. Or maybe Audiomojis will be accessible directly from the call screen. We will know for sure once the feature starts taking proper shape within the Phone app. Stick around and we will keep you posted. Make sure to update apps regularly so you don’t miss out on new features and improvements.


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LockBit Ransomware Gang Returns, Taunts FBI and Vows Data Leaks

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Despite arrests, infrastructure seizure and international law enforcement efforts, LockBit ransomware has resurfaced, promising robust security and threatening aggressive cyber attacks on UK and USA government sectors.

The LockBit ransomware gang has officially announced its comeback through a detailed message posted on Saturday on its newly created .onion site on the dark web.

The leader of the LockBit ransomware, whose identity is still unknown to authorities, admitted negligence in letting the FBI and the UK’s National Crime Agency control its servers via a PHP attack but promised backups and continued operations.

LockBit Ransomware Gang Returns, Taunts FBI and Vows Data Leaks
The new dark web leak site of the ransomware gang is already live and adding new alleged companies as its victims (Screenshot credit: Hackread.com)

The announcement comes only a week after the group was neutralized in Operation Cronos, a multinational law enforcement investigation, reportedly neutralized the ransomware gang.

For your information, on 19 February 2024, as reported by Hackread.com, law enforcement authorities seized LockBit’s infrastructure, including 34 servers that hosted the gang’s data leak website storing stolen data, cryptocurrency addresses, decryption keys, and the affiliate panel causing a major setback to the notorious gang.

The message from the gang’s admin which directly addressed the FBI and the NCA, revealed that servers without PHP installed in backup blogs are unaffected and will continue to release stolen data from targeted companies, even after the FBI hack, and stolen data will be published on the LockBit blog.

The admin claims that Operation Cronos was successful because of their negligence and irresponsibility in “not updating PHP settings on their servers in good time.” They denied Operation Cronos investigators’ claims regarding arresting their two alleged affiliates, the gang donating to a Crimea-based Russian propagandist (Sevastapol Colonel Cassad), and recovering a high number of decryptors. 

However, LockBit confirmed the FBI’s claim that its annual income exceeds $100m, based on data from seized cryptocurrency wallets during Operation Cronos. The group has deleted chats containing evidence of ransomware payments, indicating that their revenues exceed US law enforcement estimates. This demonstrates their success despite making mistakes.

The admin wrote that their victim’s admin chat panels server and blog server were running PHP 8.1.2 and were likely hacked using the CVE-2023-3824 vulnerability. LockBit ransomware has updated its PHP server and offering rewards for finding vulnerabilities in its latest version. LockBit has moved its data leak site to a new.onion address and has targeted five victims with countdown timers to expose the stolen data.

LockBit Ransomware Gang Returns, Taunts FBI and Vows Data Leaks
LockBit’s message to the FBI and the NCA – Open in a new tab for a clear view (Screenshot credit: Hackread.com)

Regarding why the FBI hacked their infrastructure, the gang stated that their ransomware attack on Fulton County in January irked the authorities for posing the risk of leaking information on Donald Trump court cases and other “interesting things.”

LockBit claims authorities collected over 1,000 decryption keys during Operation Cronos from “unprotected decryptors,” which they defined as low-level malware builds. LockBit plans to upgrade security, manually release decryptors, host affiliate panels on multiple servers, and provide partners with access to different copies.

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  5. Nasty Mamba ransomware that encrypts entire hard drive resurfaces

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Apple may have a good reason for making Vision Pro $3,500

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Apple’s recently released extended reality (XR) headset, the Vision Pro, pushes the boundaries of technology with its high-resolution displays and advanced processing power. But all that technology comes at a steep price, starting at $3,499. And it turns out that manufacturing costs may be the reason Apple makes the headset so expensive. Supply chain analysts at Omdia estimate that it costs Apple $1,542 just for the individual components that make up the device.

A significant portion of that material cost comes from the headset’s dual 4K micro OLED displays. Sony supplies Apple with the two panels, each of which has a resolution of 4000×4000 pixels. The report reveals that each display module costs Apple a hefty $228. With two displays required, that adds up to $456 – nearly a third of the total cost of materials.

The next most expensive components inside the Apple Vision Pro are likely the custom M2 and R1 processors that power its mixed reality experiences. However, the report did not include specific pricing for the chips. The M2 chip and custom silicon could cost more than $1,500 before R&D.

However, some experts argue that the Vision Pro’s current $3,500 price tag is out of reach for the average consumer. It’s about four times more expensive than competitors like the Meta Quest Pro. There are also concerns about whether the public is ready to “live” in VR worlds beyond gaming.

Vision Pro headset costs Apple over $1,500

While supply chain analysts estimate the bill of materials for the Apple Vision Pro at $1,542, the company declined to verify the cost breakdown. Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously criticized such teardown analyses as inaccurate. “I’ve never seen one that’s even close to accurate,” Cook said in 2015.

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the Vision Pro, comparing it to the Meta Quest 3. In his final words on the Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3, he asserts, “I don’t just think Quest is the better value, I think Quest is the better product, period.”

In other news, Huawei is also preparing to launch its rival for the Apple Vision Pro. Huawei’s headset is said to be less expensive than the Vision Pro while offering the same level of technology. According to the former marketing director of Meizu, Huawei’s alleged virtual reality headset is powered by an in-house chip from the Chinese company.


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Linked Oculus Accounts Trigger Facebook and Instagram Suspension

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Experiencing a sudden Facebook or Instagram account suspension? You’re not alone. Suspicious activity on Oculus accounts linked to META users is going unaddressed as META opts for suspensions instead of addressing the root cause.

Multiple posts on social media platforms like Reddit suggest a sudden rise in Facebook and Instagram account suspensions, causing frustration among users, mainly because they are clueless about why this is happening.

Many users claim their accounts were suspended without warning or explanation, leaving them unaware of the alleged violation. Users complained about seeing a suspension message from Meta that read:

“Your account was suspended because your linked Meta account doesn’t follow our rules. Log into your linked auth.oculus.com account to appeal our decision.”

Linked Oculus Accounts Trigger Facebook and Instagram Suspension

Users are confused and frustrated due to Meta’s lack of transparency about suspension reasons and limited appeal options whereas the lack of communication from Meta regarding the suspensions is making it difficult to understand and address the situation.

Reddit user r/facebookdisabledme posted: “Facebook suspended my account without giving any specific reason. Trying to appeal is proving to be extremely difficult.”

Users on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit are reporting a connection between suspensions and their linked Oculus accounts, indicating a potential security issue within the VR platform. Further probing reveals that Vietnamese hackers could be exploiting vulnerabilities in the Oculus Meta system, which was acquired by Meta in 2014.

“There were 2 logins from Vietnam into my account (I’m from Belgium). Most likely that’s why Facebook suspended the account immediately? But I didn’t get any recovery mail or explanation” user u/Mammoth_Resolution_7 shared on Reddit.

One user claimed the hacker linked Meta Horizon account to his Facebook and another reported linking of Meta Oculus. 

According to sources, hackers are creating Oculus Meta accounts and linking them to victims’ social media accounts, registering them as unauthorized access, which is leading to thousands of account suspensions.

For your information, Meta introduced Meta Accounts in 2022 to allow the decoupling of Quest users’ devices from their Facebook profiles. This change was deemed inevitable as it prevented users from losing access to their Oculus Meta account if their Facebook account was banned. However, multiple accounts are still linked, affecting many Facebook or Instagram accounts’ safety.

It is also worth noting that Vietnamese cybercriminals have a history of targeting META and business pages on the platform, with instances of using DarkGate malware to steal login credentials.

Nevertheless, META almost member addresses why it suspends user accounts. However, to avoid account suspensions, users should review Meta’s Community Standards, check for official announcements on their website or social media platforms, contact Meta Support through their official channels, and be patient and persistent in navigating the appeal process.

Meta should provide clear communication and address concerns promptly and transparently, as it is crucial for users to understand the specific reason for their account suspension and to be patient and persistent in their efforts to reach out to them.

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  5. Provocative Facebook Ads Leveraged to Deliver NodeStealer Malware

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WhatsApp will soon offer high-quality animated ‘Lottie’ stickers

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WhatsApp is working on a new messaging feature that will allow users to share Lottie stickers. As per a report by WABteaInfo, the meta-owned messaging platform is currently testing this feature in the beta version on Android. The Lottie stickers will be aimed to enhance user expression and communication using an engaging form of emoji interaction.

Animated WhatsApp stickers will soon look more beautiful

The popular cross-platform messaging app is planning to expand beyond text and images with new Lottie animated stickers. It’s worth mentioning that WhatsApp already supports animated stickers in WebP format. Although this format is great when it comes to efficiency, as these sticker packages are smaller in size. But, they are not great for quality as the content starts appearing pixelated on large-screen devices.

However, the Lottie stickers are both efficient and great in quality on screen sizes. These stickers are in a vector file format unlike Webp, which is a raster file format. So, the stickers in the Lottie format appear much sharper while maintaining quality, no matter how much you increase their size.

WhatsApp Lottie Stickers

Notably, the new WhatsApp update will allow stickers to offer complex movements, transitions, and effects, which will enhance their expressiveness. It’s also worth noting that these enhancements will not increase the size of the sticker file. These stickers should offer a similar or even smaller file package size than the WebP format. So, users will be getting the best of both worlds – efficiency and quality. The company has already enhanced the regular texting experience recently with its new formatting feature.

“Users will be able to take advantage of a higher quality experience for stickers thanks to Lottie in a future update, primarily due to its support for vector-based animations. Integrating Lottie into sticker functionality will enable the creation of animated stickers with more fluid motions, vibrant colors, and intricate details, elevating the level of interaction within our chats”, mentions the report.

WhatsApp’s Lottie stickers are in testing and could take a few months to launch

As per the report, WhatsApp is currently testing the Lottie stickers in beta (version 2.24.5.10) on the Android platform. There’s no word when the company will make this interesting feature available to the public in the stable version. Since WhatsApp has just started testing this feature, don’t expect it to be available for at least a couple of months.

Once the testing is complete the Lottie stickers should be available for all Android, iOS, web, Mac, and other platforms at once. We will bring you more details as soon as the new updates hit the interwebs, so stay tuned.


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Nothing Phone (2a) Glyph lights officially confirmed, here’s the first look

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The Nothing Phone (2a) is all set to launch globally at an event on March 5th. Ahead of the launch, there have been speculations if the phone will feature a Glyph interface like its predecessors or not. While some leaked photos suggested the availability of the feature, some reports indicated that the budget phone could ditch it.

However, now the company has officially confirmed that the Nothing Phone (2a) will flaunt the Glyph interface after all. The brand has posted an interesting CGI promotional unboxing video for the smartphone on X. The video has finally given us an official look at what the Nothing Phone (2a) Glyph lights would look like.

Nothing Phone (2a) glyph lights

Nothing Phone (2a) will have limited Glyph lights placed around the cameras

As you can see in the teaser post, the Nothing Phone (2a) will sport limited Glyph lights. These will sit around the dual primary camera module. While the premium Nothing Phone 2 has 11 Glyph lights, its affordable sibling will only sport three modules. There are fewer Glyph lights as the company wanted to keep the cost down of the pocket-friendly smartphone.

Furthermore, the CGI unboxing video has revealed that the Nothing Phone (2a) will feature a totally different rear camera placement. The phone will have horizontally-placed dual rear cameras towards the middle. These appear to resemble the eyes of a robot. Notably, the budget phone will continue to flaunt the transparent aesthetics at the rear, just like its predecessors.

The upcoming Nothing phone will be a budget offering with the Dimensity 7200 Pro SoC

It’s worth mentioning that Nothing has already confirmed that the Phone (2a) will be packing the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro SoC. It is a tweaked variant of the regular Dimensity 7200 processor. Nothing and MediaTek co-engineered this chipset for the upcoming smartphone. The phone will be coming in 8GB and 12GB RAM variants. The smartphone could come in 128GB and 256GB storage variants.

As for the other specs, the Nothing Phone (2a) may expected to boast a 6.7-inch OLED display. It is said to sport full HD+ resolution and a screen refresh rate of 120Hz. At the rear, the handset could have a 50MP primary shooter, aided by a 50MP ultra-wide angle snapper. For selfies, the smartphone is rumored to sport a 32MP snapper, placed inside a hole on top of the screen.

nothing phone 2a leak AH 2 Large

Software-wise, the Nothing Phone (2a) will boot NothingOS 2.5 based on the latest Android 14 version. The rumor mill hasn’t yet revealed the battery capacity, but the phone could possibly offer 45W fast charging support. Since it will be a budget smartphone, don’t expect it to offer wireless charging functionality.

If the reports are to be believed, the 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM variant of the smartphone will cost around €349/$380. The higher-end 12GB + 256GB model of the handset is said to set you back by €399/$430. We will know more at the event on March 5th, so stay tuned for regular updates.


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How to make a fake ID online, with Joseph Cox: Lock and Code S05E05

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This week on the Lock and Code podcast…

For decades, fake IDs had roughly three purposes: Buying booze before legally allowed, getting into age-restricted clubs, and, we can only assume, completing nation-state spycraft for embedded informants and double agents.

In 2024, that’s changed, as the uses for fake IDs have become enmeshed with the internet.

Want to sign up for a cryptocurrency exchange where you’ll use traditional funds to purchase and exchange digital currency? You’ll likely need to submit a photo of your real ID so that the cryptocurrency platform can ensure you’re a real user. What about if you want to watch porn online in the US state of Louisiana? It’s a niche example, but because of a law passed in 2022, you will likely need to submit, again, a photo of your state driver’s license to a separate ID verification mobile app that then connects with porn sites to authorize your request.

The discrepancies in these end-uses are stark; cryptocurrency and porn don’t have too much in common with Red Bull vodkas and, to pick just one example, a Guatemalan coup. But there’s something else happening here that reveals the subtle differences between yesteryear’s fake IDs and today’s, which is that modern ID verification doesn’t need a physical ID card or passport to work—it can sometimes function only with an image.

Last month, the technology reporting outfit 404 Media investigated an online service called OnlyFake that claimed to use artificial intelligence to pump out images of fake IDs. By filling out some bogus personal information, like a made-up birthdate, height, and weight, OnlyFake would provide convincing images of real forms of ID, be they driver’s licenses in California or passports from the US, the UK, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and more. Those images, in turn, could then be used to fraudulently pass identification checks on certain websites.

When 404 Media co-founder and reporter Joseph Cox learned about OnlyFake, he tested whether an image of a fake passport he generated could be used to authenticate his identity with an online cryptocurrency exchange.

In short, it did.

By creating a fraudulent British passport through OnlyFake, Joseph Cox—or as his fake ID said, “David Creeks”—managed to verify his false identity when creating an account with the cryptocurrency market OKX.

Today, on the Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, we speak with Cox about the believability of his fake IDs, the AI claims and limitations of OnlyFake, what’s in store for the future of the site— which went dark after Cox’s report—and what other types of fraud are now dangerously within reach for countless threat actors.

Making fake IDs, even photos of fake IDs, is a very particular skill set—it’s like a trade in the criminal underground. You don’t need that anymore.

Joseph Cox, 404 Media co-founder

Tune in today to listen to the full conversation.

Show notes and credits:

Intro Music: “Spellbound” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music: “Good God” by Wowa (unminus.com)


Listen up—Malwarebytes doesn’t just talk cybersecurity, we provide it.

Protect yourself from online attacks that threaten your identity, your files, your system, and your financial well-being with our exclusive offer for Malwarebytes Premium for Lock and Code listeners.


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