A video of Taters the cat beamed across 19 million miles of space because NASA had to try it. It was a successful demonstration of new laser communication technology, through which NASA beamed an ultra-high-definition video across deep space, from the Psyche spacecraft back to Earth. The signal from the video, sent on December 11, made it to Earth in 101 seconds.

That data speed — through space — is faster than most broadband connections on Earth.

— Mat Smith

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The biggest stories you might have missed

How we built a less-explodey lithium battery and kickstarted the EV revolution

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Apple reportedly wants to team up with news publishers to train its AI

It’s offering publishers deals worth at least $50 million, according to The New York Times.

Apple has apparently started negotiating with major publishers and news organizations to use their content to train its generative AI system. The company doesn’t expect to get its hands on content for free, though, and The New York Times says it’s offering them multi-year deals worth at least $50 million. While some of the publishers are reportedly concerned about the repercussions of letting Apple use their news articles throughout the years, the company is building goodwill simply by asking for permission and showing willingness to pay.

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Humane Ai Pin orders will start shipping in March

The next-gen wearable, which taps into artificial intelligence, starts at $699.

Humane

The Humane Ai Pin is expected to start shipping in March. On Friday, the company posted on X that “those who placed priority orders will receive their Ai Pins first when we begin shipping in March.” The company previously gave an “early 2024” estimate for the screen-less, $66 wearable device, which Humane believes is the next-gen hardware to replace smartphones.

Instead of a screen, the Ai Pin relies on voice cues and a projector that beams info onto the user’s hand.

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Mint Mobile says hackers accessed customer information during a security breach

Affected customers have been notified by email.

Mint Mobile, the prepaid mobile carrier backed by Ryan Reynolds, notified customers via email this weekend that their information may have been stolen in a security breach. That information includes names, phone numbers, email addresses and SIM and IMEI numbers. Hackers did not access customers’ credit card information, which Mint says is not stored, nor were passwords compromised.

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Along with a countdown showing the next Unpacked will be on January 17, leaker Evan Blass shared a spec sheet that purports to break down the components of the Galaxy S24 lineup. Just like the S23 (pictured above), expect three Galaxy devices: the regular model, an S24+ and an S24 Ultra. All three are slated to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

The leak suggests Samsung will offer Space Zoom of up to 30x and dual telephoto zoom of up to 3x in the Galaxy S24 and S24+, while Ultra will probably have a beefier camera system. If the leak proves true, it will have a 200MP main lens, with up to 10x quad telephoto and 100x Space Zoom.

So far, the Samsung S24 lineup isn’t likely to have any terribly exciting upgrades in designs and pure specs. These are likely to include the company’s own Gauss generative AI systems, so as with Google’s Pixel series, the hardware may only tell half the tale. Let’s see what appears next year.

— Mat Smith

​​

The biggest stories you might have missed

How China’s chip production boomed in 2023 despite sanctions 

Netflix milks Squid Game again with a $39 in-person ‘experience’

Why Apple is no longer selling the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Hyperloop One is shutting down

No high-speed transportation system between Europe and China.

David Becker via Getty Images

Hyperloop One had once dreamed of building a high-speed freight link between Europe and China, one that could take cargo from one end to the other in a single day. But the dream is pretty much dead. Hyperloop One is shutting down, a staff member has confirmed to Engadget after Bloomberg reported its closure. Which Hyperloop company was this again? From 2017 until 2022, it was known as Virgin Hyperloop One due to an investment from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. Virgin quietly pulled its branding last year when the company abandoned its plans to transport passengers to focus on a cargo-only service. The company couldn’t secure a contract to build a working hyperloop system.

Continue reading.

Beeper says it’s done playing cat and mouse with Apple over its iMessage app

It issued one last fix for current users.

Beeper versus Apple has been our own little David and Goliath matchup, but it looks like the saga’s coming to a close. The Beeper Mini chat app, which lets Android users send iMessage missives to its iOS buddies, has issued yet another fix after Apple once again disabled access to the iMessage platform. The company says this will be the last fix released. Beeper wrote in a blog post today that it’s done “playing a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company” on the planet. Be warned: It’s… convoluted.

Continue reading.

GTA 6 hacker sentenced to an indefinite hospitalization after mental health assessment

He hacked Rockstar Games from a hotel with a Fire TV stick.

Rockstar

A London judge has sentenced the teenage hacker who infiltrated Rockstar Games, leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage, to an indefinite hospitalization. Arion Kurtaj breached Rockstar’s servers from a Travelodge hotel while under police custody, using only an Amazon Fire TV Stick, smartphone, keyboard and mouse. (He was promptly re-arrested.) Kurtaj was a central member of the Lasus$ international hacking group.

The two accomplices (the other is 17 so can’t be named) are the first Lapsus$ members to be convicted. Authorities believe others in the group (suspected to be primarily teenagers in the UK and Brazil) are still at large. It isn’t clear what kind of payoff the hackers got from the ransom requests, if any, as none of the affected companies have admitted to ponying up.

Continue reading.

Microsoft is nixing its Windows mixed-reality platform

This shouldn’t impact the Hololens 2.

Microsoft is shutting down its Windows Mixed Reality platform, according to an official list of deprecated Windows features. This includes the garden variety Windows Mixed Reality software, along with the Mixed Reality Portal app and the affiliated Steam VR app. The platform isn’t gone yet, but Microsoft says it’ll be “removed in a future release of Windows.”

Microsoft first unveiled Windows Mixed Reality back in 2017 as its attempt to compete with rivals in the VR space, like HTC and Oculus (which is now owned by Meta.) We were fascinated by the tech when it launched as it offered the ability for in-person shared mixed reality. But uptake seemingly wasn’t big enough. Thank goodness I can still use MS Office on my Quest headset…

Continue reading.

Along with a countdown showing the next Unpacked will be on January 17, leaker Evan Blass shared a spec sheet that purports to break down the components of the Galaxy S24 lineup. Just like the S23 (pictured above), expect three Galaxy devices: the regular model, an S24+ and an S24 Ultra. All three are slated to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

The leak suggests Samsung will offer Space Zoom of up to 30x and dual telephoto zoom of up to 3x in the Galaxy S24 and S24+, while Ultra will probably have a beefier camera system. If the leak proves true, it will have a 200MP main lens, with up to 10x quad telephoto and 100x Space Zoom.

So far, the Samsung S24 lineup isn’t likely to have any terribly exciting upgrades in designs and pure specs. These are likely to include the company’s own Gauss generative AI systems, so as with Google’s Pixel series, the hardware may only tell half the tale. Let’s see what appears next year.

— Mat Smith

​​

The biggest stories you might have missed

How China’s chip production boomed in 2023 despite sanctions 

Netflix milks Squid Game again with a $39 in-person ‘experience’

Why Apple is no longer selling the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Hyperloop One is shutting down

No high-speed transportation system between Europe and China.

David Becker via Getty Images

Hyperloop One had once dreamed of building a high-speed freight link between Europe and China, one that could take cargo from one end to the other in a single day. But the dream is pretty much dead. Hyperloop One is shutting down, a staff member has confirmed to Engadget after Bloomberg reported its closure. Which Hyperloop company was this again? From 2017 until 2022, it was known as Virgin Hyperloop One due to an investment from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. Virgin quietly pulled its branding last year when the company abandoned its plans to transport passengers to focus on a cargo-only service. The company couldn’t secure a contract to build a working hyperloop system.

Continue reading.

Beeper says it’s done playing cat and mouse with Apple over its iMessage app

It issued one last fix for current users.

Beeper versus Apple has been our own little David and Goliath matchup, but it looks like the saga’s coming to a close. The Beeper Mini chat app, which lets Android users send iMessage missives to its iOS buddies, has issued yet another fix after Apple once again disabled access to the iMessage platform. The company says this will be the last fix released. Beeper wrote in a blog post today that it’s done “playing a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company” on the planet. Be warned: It’s… convoluted.

Continue reading.

GTA 6 hacker sentenced to an indefinite hospitalization after mental health assessment

He hacked Rockstar Games from a hotel with a Fire TV stick.

Rockstar

A London judge has sentenced the teenage hacker who infiltrated Rockstar Games, leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage, to an indefinite hospitalization. Arion Kurtaj breached Rockstar’s servers from a Travelodge hotel while under police custody, using only an Amazon Fire TV Stick, smartphone, keyboard and mouse. (He was promptly re-arrested.) Kurtaj was a central member of the Lasus$ international hacking group.

The two accomplices (the other is 17 so can’t be named) are the first Lapsus$ members to be convicted. Authorities believe others in the group (suspected to be primarily teenagers in the UK and Brazil) are still at large. It isn’t clear what kind of payoff the hackers got from the ransom requests, if any, as none of the affected companies have admitted to ponying up.

Continue reading.

Microsoft is nixing its Windows mixed-reality platform

This shouldn’t impact the Hololens 2.

Microsoft is shutting down its Windows Mixed Reality platform, according to an official list of deprecated Windows features. This includes the garden variety Windows Mixed Reality software, along with the Mixed Reality Portal app and the affiliated Steam VR app. The platform isn’t gone yet, but Microsoft says it’ll be “removed in a future release of Windows.”

Microsoft first unveiled Windows Mixed Reality back in 2017 as its attempt to compete with rivals in the VR space, like HTC and Oculus (which is now owned by Meta.) We were fascinated by the tech when it launched as it offered the ability for in-person shared mixed reality. But uptake seemingly wasn’t big enough. Thank goodness I can still use MS Office on my Quest headset…

Continue reading.