GadgetFreak

Credit: Harley Maranan / Android Authority Samsung updated its line of Windows laptops at Mobile World Congress and the new series jumps into the market feet first with top specs and appealing designs. Though the company announced four new models — including the Galaxy Book 2 Pro, the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, the Book 2 360, and the Book 2 Business — only two were on hand in Barcelona. We were able to spend a little time with the two stylish Pro computers — which have the exact same design save for the rotating screen — and have some initial impressions on the latest from Samsung. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/MWqi87Z via IFTTT

A joint advisory issued by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned that the wiper malware used to attack Ukrainian organizations could affect businesses in the United States. The alert , released over the weekend, provides information on WhisperGate and HermeticWiper, two destructive malware strains seen in recent attacks against organizations in Ukraine. WhisperGate is a form of wiper malware that masquerades as ransomware , yet rather than encrypting files, it targets a system master boot record for destruction. The malware, first discovered by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, was used in multiple cyberattacks against Ukrainian targets back in January, including government, non-profit, and technology organizations. HermeticWiper, another strain of disruptive wiper malware, was used to target Ukrainian organizations shortly before the launch of a Russian invasion. Discovered by ESET, the malware

Credit: Oppo Oppo has announced 240W charging technology at MWC 2022. This delivers a 100% charge in under ten minutes. The smartphone industry has been pushing ever faster charging speeds in the last few years, going from 30W, 50W, and 65W to 80W, 100W, and even 120W in commercial devices. We’ve also seen companies demonstrate 200W charging tech. Now, Oppo has used MWC 2022 to announce 240W charging technology, dubbed 240W SuperVOOC Flash Charge. The smartphone maker claims that the tech can charge a 4,500mAh battery in just nine minutes, adding that the battery will reach 50% capacity in three and a half minutes. Check out the video posted by Oppo below. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/WAhtJk3 via IFTTT

Cecilia Kang / New York Times : A look at a newly revamped Whole Foods store in Washington, which is using palm-scanning Amazon One and computer vision-enabled Just Walk Out tech   —  A newly revamped store in Washington shows how thoroughly Amazon has woven itself into the grocery shopping experience.  —  “Would you like to sign in with your palm?” from Techmeme https://ift.tt/QdDRrHq via IFTTT

Twitter announced new measures to prevent disinformation tied to the Russian government from spreading on Monday in light of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The company will begin adding labels to tweets containing links from Russian state-linked media outlets noting their affiliation. The labels are accompanied by an orange exclamation point, warning Twitter users to “stay informed.” Twitter will also begin reducing the visibility of Russian state-linked media on the platform, dampening the ability for those outlets to reach a wide audience. Today, we’re adding labels to Tweets that share links to Russian state-affiliated media websites and are taking steps to significantly reduce the circulation of this content on Twitter. We’ll roll out these labels to other state-affiliated media outlets in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/57Dycmn8lx — Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) February 28, 2022 The changes to tweets with ties to the Russian government will roll out immediately.

NetBlocks : Russia's leading internet providers have restricted access to Twitter and Facebook   —  NetBlocks metrics confirm the restriction of Twitter in Russia from the morning of Saturday 26 February 2022.  Facebook servers have subsequently been restricted as of Sunday. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/PI3VneS via IFTTT

Lily Hay Newman / Wired : A profile of iSTARE, an Intel hardware hacking group that analyzes and attacks future generations of chips to find critical flaws before they go into production   —  Researchers at iSTARE have to think like the bad guys, finding critical flaws before processors go to production. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/o87dPQH via IFTTT

Future Retail, India’s second largest retail chain, is scaling down its operations to reduce losses, it said, the latest casualty in its years-long battle with estranged partner Amazon. The firm, led by Kishore Biyani, said in filings to the stock exchanges that it has been finding it “difficult to finance the working capital needs,” and its losses at store level are “increasing” and of “grave concern.” Future Retail has lost about $593 million in the last four quarters, it said in the filings. The admission follows a local media report that said Reliance Industries – which entered into a now-hotly contested $3.4 billion deal to acquire several operations of Future Retail – was taking over about 200 of Future’s 1,700 stores and absorbing as many as 30,000 workers of the smaller retail giant after brokering deals with landlords. Reliance will rebrand those outlets as its own, Business Standard reported. Reliance Industries had no comment. India’s Future Retail operates over 1,7

As Ukraine continues to make efforts to mobilize and equip ordinary citizens on the ground to resist Russia’s unprovoked invasion of the country, those who are outside Ukraine who want to help are being asked to get involved in the fight in the virtual world. While the G7 (today with the addition of Japan ) mobilize to shut down Russia’s access to the Swift banking system, the country has been running campaign corralling developers to join an “IT army” tasked with specific cyber challenges. It’s also making specific calls to technology leaders to do their part, too. The “ IT Army of Ukraine “, announced yesterday and already with nearly 184,000 users on its main Telegram channel (and that number is growing – it gained almost 10,000 users in the time I wrote this story), is using that account to name specific projects and call-outs for help to shut down Russian sites, Russian agents and those working in concert with the country, and to mobilize those living in Ukraine around work they

Monica Chin / The Verge : Samsung updates its Galaxy Book Pro laptops with 1080p webcams, Intel 12th Gen CPUs, and brighter AMOLED displays, starting at $1,050 and shipping on April 1   —  There's a clamshell and a convertible  —  Samsung has announced two updates to its premium Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book 2 Pro and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/S5uIh6V via IFTTT

Reface , an a16z-backed synthetic media app that’s developed out of Ukraine, has added push notifications informing its ~200 million-strong global user-base about Russia’s invasion of the country — urging people to #StandWithUkraine, including by watermarking face-swapped videos created with the app. All videos created in the app are now being watermarked with the Ukrainian flag and the #StandWithUkraine hashtag. On first opening the app after this update, it also displays an image of civilians sheltering in Kyiv, with a caption that describes the picture as “evidence” of Russia attacking Ukraine. The message also calls for Russia to be excluded from the SWIFT international banking payment system — in order to “stop the war”. Reface said another incoming update to the app will urge all users to “Make a statement against war in Ukraine”. It is also pointing users towards resources where they can help Ukraine. [gallery ids="2277190,2277232"] The startup began the anti

Credit: Harley Maranan / Android Authority Samsung already held an Unpacked event earlier this year for its Galaxy S22 series , and it’s now held an Unpacked event in Barcelona, Spain. This time, the company has peeled the curtain back on a slew of laptops in its Galaxy Book range. The new Galaxy Book 2 series consists of the Galaxy Book 2 Business, Galaxy Book 2 Pro, Galaxy Book 2 360, and Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360. All four laptops offer Intel’s 12th generation processors, Windows 11, and Samsung’s additions. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/sLNc7IK via IFTTT

Aman Sethi / BuzzFeed News : After China's crypto mining ban, many bitcoin miners have moved to the US, drawn by political and economic stability, cheap capital, and abundant electricity   —  Bitcoin miners keep picking up their operations and moving to more lucrative destinations.  Now, their sights are trained on the US. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/NiGCUDb via IFTTT

Paresh Dave / Reuters : YouTube says it is pausing ad monetization for RT and some other Russian channels, and blocks their access in Ukraine in response to “a government request”   —  YouTube on Saturday suspended multiple Russian channels, including state-funded media outlet RT, from generating revenue … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/M8TIVBc via IFTTT

Tina Bellon / Reuters : Uber is testing a driver earnings algorithm in 24 US cities that incentivizes accepting short rides by showing drivers the pay and destination before a trip   —  Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) is testing a new driver earnings algorithm in 24 U.S. cities that allows drivers to see pay … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/s84fcla via IFTTT

Credit: Nanoleaf Recently, I addressed industry changes promising to “fix” the smart home by the end of 2022, alleviating issues like overloaded Wi-Fi and fractured platform support. Those changes should make the technology more appealing to both veterans and newcomers, but for sales to go through the roof and adoption to be less stressful, there are arguably a number of other long-term improvements companies need to make. Read more: The best smart home devices you can buy from Android Authority https://ift.tt/K85AifI via IFTTT

Virtually all modern devices rely on flash memory — an electronic data storage technology that can preserve information for long periods of time. Your smartphone, for instance, uses some form of flash memory for storage, and it’s likely that most laptops and computers around you utilize it as well. However, not all flash memory is created equal — some implementations are far superior to others. So in this article, let’s break down the technology, how it works, and the various terms you may have heard associated with the technology. See also: The best Android phones with expandable memory from Android Authority https://ift.tt/HSXOlB8 via IFTTT

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. I’m doing an abbreviated newsletter this week as I want to spend most of my energy amplifying the brave journalists on the ground reporting about this scary time. As so many have said — far more eloquently than me — the invasion of Ukraine is a story that impacts all of us, whether we’re on the ground there or not. And it’s hard to celebrate a funding round when scary times are the moment. My brilliant colleagues put together a story on how the tech industry is responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ; I urge you to read it. While the situation is still ongoing, it’s clear that it’s already a tech story. And startups such as Grammarly, Ajax, People AI and Preply, backed by some of the world’s biggest VCs, are scrambling to support employees and operations amid the invasion. What I’m hearing from sources is that startup founders are mainly offer

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports . App Annie says global spending across iOS, Google Play and third-party Android app stores in China grew 19% in 2021 to reach $170 billion. Downloads of apps also grew by 5%, reaching 230 billion in 2021 and mobile ad spend grew 23% year-over-year to reach $295 billion. In addition, consumers are spending more time in apps than ever before — even topping the time they spend watching TV, in some cases. The average American watches 3.1 hours of TV per day, for example, but in 2021, they spent 4.1 hours on their mobile device. And they’re not even the world’s heaviest mobile users. In markets like Brazil, Indonesia, and South Korea, users