Ever since Meta launched Threads a few months ago, the accounts were tied to Instagram. To delete your Threads account, you would have to delete your Instagram account too, which was very annoying, especially for those with a high number of followers.
Although Meta promised to do something in this regard, it appears that the option to delete a Threads account without removing the Instagram account that it’s tied too is not going to arrive too soon.
Meta’s chief privacy officer for product, Michel Protti, told TechCrunch that his company is working on launching the feature by December. Yes, that could very well mean that the feature might drop tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but big companies that offer themselves a bigger launch window are going to make use of all that time for polish instead of rushing the feature ahead of schedule.
“Technically, it was extremely challenging to allow deletion of a separate Threads account without also deleting your overall Instagram account out of the gate. So, we paid particular attention to ensuring the user could still exercise their deletion rights, by deactivating the account to sort of hide all content, setting it to private or deleting individual threads,” Protti said.
Threads has been rolling out many basic features that were missing when the app was released back in July. Even so, Meta’s app has been struggling to keep its userbase after launch precisely due to the lack of features. Although the company is working hard to close the gap between other relevant social apps, it seems to be taking too long.
After reaching around 100 million sign-ups at launch, Threads dropped to nearly 24 million monthly active users in the United States, according to Insider Intelligence.
The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are hardly a secret at this point. Google confirmed the two phones are coming, while the company also shared their designs. The two phones have been leaking out frequently over the last couple of weeks, and more images of the Google Pixel 8 Pro have surfaced, thanks to a leaked ad.
More Google Pixel 8 Pro images get shared thanks to leaked ad
TechDroider grabbed those pics, and shared them. You can see the Pixel 8 Pro in Porcelain and Sky Blue color options in these images. All the images are placed in the gallery below the article, by the way.
Sky Blue is the new and exciting color around, and it has also been the most leaked one, probably. Aside from these two color options, both Jade and Licorice variants are also rumored.
The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will look quite similar, but the Pixel 8 will be considerably smaller. It will also have a smaller camera cutout on the camera visor, as it’ll include two cameras back there, not three.
The Pixel 8 Pro is coming with a new display, new main & ultrawide cameras & more
The Pixel 8 Pro is said to include a 6.7-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED display. That panel is said to be immensely bright, actually, it can allegedly provide up to 2,400 nits of brightness. The Google Tensor G3 SoC will fuel the phone, while you can expect to get 12GB of RAM on the inside.
A 5,050mAh battery was mentioned in the latest specs leak, along with 27W wired, and 20W wireless charging. A 50-megapixel main camera will be used, but an improved one compared to the Pixel 7 series. Google will use the ISOCELL GN2, it seems. A 48-megapixel ultrawide camera was also mentioned. On top of that, the same telephoto camera from the Pixel 7 Pro will be used, it seems, with 5x optical zoom.
The Pixel 8 Pro is tipped to retain the same $899 starting price tag in the US. The Pixel 8 will get a price bump. Chances are that both models will be more expensive in markets outside of the US, however. We’ll have to wait and see.
Google managed to place a veil of secrecy over its antitrust trial. As many of you know, the Google vs DoJ antitrust trial is ongoing, and it has been that way since September 12. For a while now, however, the trial has been basically closed to the public.
Google basically managed to place a veil of secrecy over antitrust trial
Google managed to close off testimony and exhibits in the public trial, reports Prospect. All kinds of private documents are being thrown around the courtroom, and Google doesn’t want them to be public. The same goes with testimonies, it seems.
The company’s attorneys argue that publicizing private info will only create “clickbait” all over the Internet. It seems like Google’s strategy is working thus far, as the federal district court judge, Amit Mehta, is playing along.
Google has actually been doing this from the beginning of the trial. Most recently, the testimony of Apple senior executive, John Giannandrea, and portions of testimony from Google’s VP of finance, MIke Roszak, have been in private.
The Prospect reports that one of the attorneys representing the delegation of state attorneys general, who joined the DoJ in the lawsuit, said that the truncated public accessibility in the trial was “totally unprecedented”.
Not much info was publicized from Monday or Tuesday
The same practices continued during both sessions this week, on Monday and Tuesday. We’re getting only bits and pieces of info, and no real details from the testimonies at this point.
It remains to be seen if this practice will continue. As a reminder, this trial is expected to last for around two months, and it started on September 12. So, we still have a long way to go.
If Google ends up succeeding in keeping the documents and testimonies a secret, we won’t find out much until the very end. It is worth noting that the federal judge could change his mind at any point, though. So… there’s a chance we’ll start getting more information.
It is, however, understandable why Google wants to keep those documents private. It probably learned its lesson from Microsoft’s antitrust case from the 1990s, as bad headlines were all over the place.
The Google Pixel 8 series leaks have been off the hook these past few weeks, even by Google’s standard. Some Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro specs leaked not long ago, along with real-life images of the Pixel 8 Pro. Well, now a new seemingly official poster confirms the Pixel 8 series specs yet again, well, some of them.
The Google Pixel 8 specs get confirmed by another seemingly-official poster
This image was shared by Evan Blass aka @evleaks, and you can check it out below. A similar poster actually surfaced a couple of days ago, sharing similar info, actually. So we’re basically rehashing what we already know.
As you can see, in this poster, the Pixel 7a, Pixel 7, Pixel 8, and Pixel 8 Pro specs are compared. Not all of them, of course, but some.
‘Actua’ displays will be used
The Pixel 8 will ship with a 6.2-inch ‘Actua display’ up to 120Hz, while the Pixel 8 Pro will sport a 6.7-inch ‘Super Actua display’ up to 120Hz. The Pixel 7 Pro will offer a higher resolution, fullHD+ vs QHD+.
Both smartphones will be fueled by the Google Tensor G3 SoC, as highlighted here, and both will support IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Also, you can expect a fingerprint scanner to be paired with facial scanning on both smartphones.
The rest of the poster is all about the cameras. Both smartphones will include a 50-megapixel main camera. Chances are it will be an upgraded one, with the ISOCELL GN2 sensor, compared to the ISOCELL GN1 last year.
Both phones will get camera improvements
You’ll also see that a 10.5-megapixel selfie camera is listed for both smartphones. The other two cameras on the back, ultrawide and telephoto, well, that’s where the two phones differ. The Pixel 8 will include a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, and no telephoto unit. The Google Pixel 8 Pro, on the other hand, will have a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera (5x optical zoom).
The Pixel 8 will offer Super Res Zoom up to 8x, while the Pixel 8 Pro will support up to 30x. Photo Unblur, Magic Eraser, Best Take, and Macro focus will be available on both. Pro controls, on the other hand, will only be included on the Pixel 8 Pro, it seems.
Many of you know that the Google vs DoJ (Department of Justice) antitrust case is ongoing. Well, during the latest day of trial, Apple’s Eddy Cue was called to testify. He said, according to The Verge, that Apple chose Google as the default search engine because the company thought it was “the best”. He said that Apple picks the best one, and then lets users change it, if they want to.
Apple chose Google as default search engine because it’s “the best”, says Eddy Cue
For those of you who are out of the loop, Eddy Cue is Apple’s Senior Vice President. He basically defended Apple’s choice, and kind of helped Google along the way.
He said: “I always felt like it was in Google’s best interest, and our best interest, to get a deal done”, while adding: “Certainly there wasn’t a valid alternative to Google at the time”.
He did also say, that Apple always thought that it had better privacy than Google, while adding that there are some protections against tracking in Safari, Apple’s web browser.
Many documents that are thrown around the courtroom these days are not available to the public. That’s why the trial has been mostly closed for days now.
The DoJ is hoping to prove that Google violated anti-monopoly law
The DoJ is trying to prove that Google violated anti-monopoly law. As it’s well-known at this point, Google has a number of agreements with smartphone manufacturers and browser makers to make its search engine default.
Google argues that everything is by the book, and that companies and users choose its search engine because it’s the best, as Apple also stated. The Department of Justice is not alone in this lawsuit. It’s joined by a coalition of 39 states from the US.
As a reminder, Google holds about 88% of the domestic (the US) search market, based on the Public Data Sources. Needless to say, that’s a lot. If the DoJ wins, that could not only affect Google, but a number of other companies.
The trial is expected to last for about two months, and it started on September 12. So we still have a long way to go.
The Google Messages app has now passed an important milestone in its growth – it has now been installed over five billion times, reports 9to5Google. This info comes amid Google’s “#GetTheMessage” campaign (a campaign calling Apple to adopt RCS).
Google Messages has now been installed over five billion times
Google Messages is Google‘s app for RCS/SMS/MMS for Android, and it was previously known as “Android Messages”. It has now become one of the most used apps for SMS, MMS, and RCS messages, with a user-friendly clean interface and useful features. The app can be paired with a desktop web client, which allows you to read and reply to messages from other devices, such as tablets, PCs, and Macs. The previous milestone of one billion downloads was achieved by Google Messages back in the spring of 2020. Back then, the app was not installed by default on the majority of Android devices (Pixels make the exception here).
In 2022, Samsung adopted Google Messages as a default messaging app for its phones, and it now comes pre-installed in phones.
Google Messages supports RCS, which is a more capable tech than SMS and MMS (which are its predecessors). RCS is currently available only on Android devices, despite Google’s efforts to get Apple on board as well.
Cybersecurity analysts at NSFOCUS Security Labs recently uncovered an unknown phishing-based attack process during threat-hunting.
Apart from this, during their further investigation, they identified two new Trojans and rare attack methods.
NSFOCUS Security Labs suspects a skilled APT attacker is behind the novel phishing process, using it as a primary method for in-domain penetration against specific targets.
AtlasCross is the attacker, while DangerAds and AtlasAgent are the new Trojans identified by NSFOCUS Security Labs.
Security researchers reported that threat actors behind AtlasCross are actively using the weaponized Word documents to deploy malware.
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Technical analysis
AtlasCross used a bait document, ‘Blood Drive September 2023.docm,’ posing as a US Red Cross blood donation file. Upon opening, it prompts victims to enable word editing.
Prompt content displayed (Source – NSFocus)
Enabling macros reveals hidden US Red Cross blood donation content in the decoy document. Considering the attacker’s design in the next attack stage, it suggests a targeted cyberattack on Red Cross affiliates.
This attack unfolds in three phases: decoy document, loader, and Trojan horse. The malicious macro in the decoy doc carries out key tasks, including payload release, scheduling, and uploading victim host info. It extracts and saves files like:-
KB4495667.zip
KB4495667.pkg
Attack Process (Source – NSFocus)
The malicious program ‘KB4495667.pkg,’ dubbed ‘DangerAds’ by NSFOCUS Security Labs, serves as the loader Trojan in the second attack phase.
It checks the host environment and runs a built-in shellcode to load the third-stage payload. Notably, it activates only if specific user or domain strings are detected, hinting at intra-domain penetration intentions.
The loader Trojan loads an x86 or x64 DLL program into memory as the final payload, named ‘AtlasAgent’ by NSFOCUS Security Labs. AtlasAgent’s core functions include:-
Gathering host data
Running shellcode
Downloading
Executing
AtlasCross employed diverse attack tactics, with a focus on defense evasion, resource development, persistence, and more, demonstrating their keen defense awareness.
Here below, we have mentioned all the CMD instructions that are supported by AtlasAgent Trojan, along with their respective functions:-
0x0: Obtain computer system information
0x1: Reverse Shell
0x2: Obtain data from CnC and store it in the specified file
0x3: It is guessed to be the field for debugging
0x4: Pause the program for a period of time using the Sleep function
0x5: Obtain process information
0x6: Inject shellcode into a new thread of the specified process
0x7: This parameter function is to be implemented.
0x8: Run shellcode directly or create a thread to run shellcode in this process
0x9: No function, Break out of circulation
0xB: Injects shellcode or command into a thread in the specified process
0xC: Create a mutex
0x63: Exit cycle
AtlasCross demonstrates great process and tool development abilities by incorporating and modifying:-
Multiple hacker technologies
Prioritizing security above efficiency
Improving their strategies regularly
These characteristics underline their ongoing high-level threat, possibly identifying major targets for upcoming intrusions.
IOCs
IOCs (Source – NSFocus)
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There are different versions of Gmail that you can access. There’s the standard version that most people use and there’s the HTML version. However, that won’t be for much longer. According to a Google support article (via The Verge), Google is sunsetting the HTML version of Gmail.
If you’re in an area with bad internet, then checking your email can turn into a hassle. Gmail is a robust email client, and it sometimes requires a reasonable internet connection to function properly. However, there are those times when you don’t have a reliable connection.
This is where the HTML version of Gmail comes in. It’s a version of Gmail that is a lot lighter. This means that it doesn’t use much data to function. You can access your emails while on a much weaker connection.
Google is sunsetting the HTML version of Gmail
This is bad news for people who are stuck in areas with terrible internet. However, the march of progress often tramples the least fortunate. The page announced that Google will officially be sunsetting the HTML version of Gmail starting early next year. It’s set to pass on in January 2024.
This gives users several more months with the stripped-down version of the email client. Unfortunately, when it goes away, there are no alternatives down the pipeline. You’ll be stuck with the standard version. The standard version, while not exactly the fanciest site on the web, has its share of unnecessary additions. These could get in the way if you’re just trying to load the essentials.
Hopefully, Google is working on some sort of alternative for Gmail. It’d be nice if you could pick and choose which animations or additions you see. This will let you prioritize your emails and get right to work. In any case, you have a few more months to use the HTML version of Gmail.
In today’s fast-paced world, our smartphones, particularly iPhones, have become essential tools for communication, productivity, and entertainment. These devices are not just communication tools but also valuable investments. With the growing importance of iPhones in our lives, it’s crucial to consider ways to protect them from unforeseen mishaps. iPhone insurance, also known as mobile phone insurance, offers a practical solution to safeguard your valuable investment. In this article, we’ll explore the top reasons why iPhone insurance is essential in today’s world.
iPhones as Valuable Investments
iPhones have earned a reputation for their cutting-edge technology, sleek design, and innovative features. However, this premium quality often comes with a high price tag. Here are some reasons why iPhones are considered valuable investments:
1. Advanced Technology: iPhones boast state-of-the-art technology, ensuring top-notch performance, excellent camera capabilities, and a seamless user experience.
2. Longevity: Apple devices are known for their durability and longevity, meaning they can serve you well for several years.
3. Personal and Professional Use: iPhones serve multiple purposes, from personal communication and entertainment to professional tasks and work-related apps.
4. Data and Privacy: iPhones store a vast amount of personal and sensitive data, making them a target for theft or hacking.
5. Resale Value: Even after a few years of use, iPhones retain a significant resale value, making them attractive options for trade-ins or resale.
The Vulnerabilities of iPhones
While iPhones are undoubtedly valuable, they are not immune to accidents and unforeseen events. Here are some common vulnerabilities iPhones face:
1. Accidental Drops: Accidental drops are a leading cause of screen cracks and damage to the phone’s body.
2. Liquid Damage: Spills, rain, or submersion in water can lead to severe internal damage.
3. Theft and Loss: iPhones are attractive targets for thieves due to their high resale value, making them prone to theft or loss.
4. Manufacturer Defects: Although rare, iPhones can experience manufacturing defects that may require repairs.
Top Reasons for iPhone Insurance
Now, let’s delve into the compelling reasons why iPhone insurance is essential for protecting your valuable investment:
1. Protection Against Accidents
iPhone insurance provides coverage for accidental damage, which is one of the most common mishaps iPhone users face. Accidental drops, spills, and even cracked screens can be financially burdensome to repair without insurance.
2. Coverage for Liquid Damage
Water damage is a pervasive issue for iPhones. Whether you accidentally drop your phone in a pool, sink, or even the toilet, liquid damage can lead to significant repair costs. iPhone insurance typically covers liquid damage, saving you from repair or replacement expenses.
3. Theft and Loss Protection
One of the standout features of iPhone insurance is protection against theft and loss. If your iPhone is stolen or goes missing, the insurance policy ensures you can get a replacement device, reducing the financial loss associated with such incidents.
4. Extended Warranty
iPhone insurance often includes an extended warranty, providing coverage for mechanical or electrical breakdowns beyond the standard warranty period. This added peace of mind ensures that your iPhone remains protected even as it ages.
5. Quick and Hassle-Free Repairs
iPhone insurance streamlines the repair or replacement process, ensuring that you can get your device fixed quickly. It typically involves minimal paperwork and a straightforward claims process, minimizing downtime without your phone.
6. International Coverage
For those who frequently travel internationally, some iPhone insurance plans offer international coverage. This means your iPhone remains protected even when you’re abroad, where accidents or theft can be even more distressing.
7. Data Security
iPhones store a wealth of personal information, from contacts and messages to photos and financial data. iPhone insurance provides a safety net, ensuring that you can quickly replace your device if it’s compromised or stolen.
8. Cost-Effective Solution
While iPhone insurance does come with a monthly or annual premium, it is often much more cost-effective than paying for repairs or a replacement iPhone out of pocket. Considering the high repair costs of Apple devices, insurance can be a wise financial choice.
9. Peace of Mind
Knowing that your valuable iPhone is protected offers peace of mind. You can use your device without constant worry about potential accidents or theft, allowing you to fully enjoy its features and functionality.
10. Resale Value Maintenance
Even if you plan to upgrade to a new iPhone model, having a well-maintained device with minimal wear and tear can significantly boost its resale value. iPhone insurance helps maintain the condition of your device, enhancing its marketability when it’s time to sell or trade it in.
iPhone Insurance Providers
Several insurance providers offer iPhone insurance, and it’s essential to compare their offerings to find the one that suits your needs best. Here are some well-known options:
1. AppleCare+: Apple’s own extended warranty and protection plan, which covers accidental damage, technical issues, and provides theft and loss protection.
2. Carrier Insurance: Many mobile carriers offer insurance plans specifically designed for iPhones. These plans often include device protection, technical support, and coverage for loss or theft.
3. Third-Party Insurance: Numerous third-party insurance providers offer iPhone insurance with various coverage options. These plans may offer more flexibility in terms of cost and coverage.
Conclusion
In a world where iPhones have become integral to our daily lives, protecting these valuable investments is paramount. iPhone insurance, or mobile phone insurance in general, offers a comprehensive solution to safeguard your device from accidents, theft, and other unforeseen events. The benefits of iPhone insurance, including protection against accidents, extended warranty coverage, and peace of mind, make it a practical choice for iPhone users looking to secure their valuable devices and maintain their functionality and resale value. Ultimately, iPhone insurance provides the financial security and convenience needed to fully enjoy your iPhone without worrying about unexpected repair or replacement costs.
X (or the former Twitter) could now be getting itself into some trouble with the European Union due to misinformation. The EU has released a report claiming the platform has a big role in the spread of false information, reports Engadget.
EU publishes report criticizing X for the handling of disinformation and misinformation
The new report is a part of the DSA or the Digital Services Act. The legislation was recently adopted and went into effect, and it’s centered on big tech platforms and their handling of misinformation. Additionally, there was a voluntary “Code of Practice”, specifically centered on disinformation, which many companies have agreed on. X, however, pulled out of the agreement in May. The recently published report says that there is a large volume of disinformation on the platform, and criticized the engagement such posts attract. European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said that X is the platform with the largest ratio of mis or disinformation posts, followed by Facebook and Instagram.
X did answer the report in a series of tweets, underlining that it is staying committed to complying with the DSA.
We disagree with the overall framing of this data and believe that the data does not fit the narrative being covered in the media. This important debate should take into account the full range of actions taken by platforms & recognize the importance of protecting free expression
Jourova also stated that all the big social media platforms need to act accordingly to the ‘war in the information space’. She also said the EU will be watching what X does on the problem going forward.
