Verizon has agreed to pay a $1.05 million penalty to settle a Federal Communications Commission investigation into whether the company broke the agency's rules after a 911 outage. Over a period of one hour and 44 minutes in December 2022, the outage prevented hundreds of emergency calls from going through in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, the FCC said.
The agency added that the outage was akin to one that occurred two months earlier. Although Verizon carried out mitigation efforts to help prevent similar outages to the one in October 2022, "certain failures recurred," according to the FCC. As part of the settlement, Verizon has committed to implementing a compliance plan to make sure it abides by the FCC's 911 rules and to adhere to best practices, which include risk assessments and security-related measures.
“When you call 911 in an emergency, it’s critical that your call goes through,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Today’s action is part of the FCC’s ongoing effort to ensure that the public has reliable communications, including access to 911.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/verizon-will-pay-a-1-million-fine-to-settle-a-911-outage-investigation-123052358.html?src=rss
The team behind Rabbitude, the community-formed reverse engineering project for the Rabbit R1, has revealed finding a security issue with the company's code that leaves users' sensitive information accessible to everyone. In an update posted on the Rabbitude website, the team said it gained access to the Rabbit codebase on May 16 and found "several critical hardcoded API keys." Those keys allow anybody to read every single response the R1 AI device has ever given, including those containing the users' personal information. They could also be used to brick R1 devices, alter R1's responses and replace the device's voice.
The API keys they found authenticate users' access to ElevenLabs' text-to-speech service, Azure's speech-to-text system, Yelp (for review lookups) and Google Maps (for location lookups) on the R1 AI device. In a tweet, one of Rabbitude's members said that the company has known about the issue for the past month and "did nothing to fix it." After they posted, they said Rabbit revoked Elevenlabs' API key, though the update broke R1 devices for a bit.
In a statement sent to Engadget, Rabbit said it was only made aware of an "alleged data breach" on June 25. "Our security team immediately began investigating it," the company continued. "As of right now, we are not aware of any customer data being leaked or any compromise to our systems. If we learn of any other relevant information, we will provide an update once we have more details." It didn't say if it revoked the keys the Rabbitude team said it found in the company's code.
Rabbit's R1 is a standalone AI assistant device designed by Teenage Engineering. It's meant to help users accomplish certain tasks, like placing food delivery orders, as well as to quickly look up information like the weather. We gave it a pretty low score in our review, because we found that its AI functionality often didn't work. Further, users can simply use their phone instead of having to spend an extra $199 to buy the device.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rabbit-r1-security-issue-allegedly-leaves-sensitive-user-data-accessible-to-anybody-120024215.html?src=rss
Nearly a year after the European Commission opened its investigation into Microsoft, the European Union’s executive body’s preliminary findings say the company violated antitrust laws by tying Microsoft Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 business suites. (Microsoft pulled Teams for users in the EU back in October.)
This all kicked off in 2020 when Slack — rival work chat software similar to Teams — filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, claiming it broke the EU’s competition rules in bundling Teams.
The European Commission said Microsoft “may have granted Teams a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice whether or not to acquire access to Teams when they subscribe to their SaaS productivity applications.”
If you think you’ve heard similar EU-versus-tech very recently, you’d be right: Apple could face a similar fine for its App Store. I wrote about that only yesterday.
Just like last year, Motorola’s foldable Razr line has two devices: the flagship Razr+, which starts at $1,000, and a more affordable foldable from $700. Both feature a 6.9-inch flexible OLED interior display, with a 165Hz refresh rate for the Razr+ and a 120Hz panel on the cheaper version. Both have an expansive front screen with cut-out spaces for the cameras. Now, you can open basically any app on the Razrs’ front display, with the only exceptions being apps that require more pixels and space. Both the Razr and Razr+ will be available for pre-order from July 10, with official sales slated for July 24. Oh, and the company unveiled its own Bluetooth tracker too.
It’s reduced the 13-year-old’s daytime seizures by 80 percent.
A 13-year-old boy with severe epilepsy has become the first person in the world to receive a brain implant that keeps seizures under control. In the United Kingdom, Oran Knowlson had a Picostim neurostimulator fitted into his brain to address Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare treatment-resistant form of epilepsy. Since receiving the implant, Oran’s daytime seizures have been reduced by 80 percent. Previously, his seizures were so severe he required constant care and, after some attacks, often needed resuscitating.
Toys ‘R’ Us’s current owner — the original company went bankrupt a few years ago — WHP Global, worked with the Emmy-nominated creative agency Native Foreign to create a short brand film called The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us using OpenAI’s text-to-video creator Sora. It hits the rough beats of an earnest child dreaming, while surrounded by bikes and a tiny toy giraffe. The film premiered at Cannes, somehow.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-microsoft-might-be-the-latest-company-to-violate-antitrust-laws-111516739.html?src=rss
Ultimate Ears is expanding its lineup of portable Bluetooth speakers with the Everboom. This one should be pretty safe to take with you on your wildest adventures, as it has a rugged design and an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating. It can even float, so you can bring it with you into the pool or lake. There's also an Outdoor Boost button, which you can press to bump up the bass and optimize the audio for the great outdoors.
The oval-shaped Everboom, which is essentially a smaller version of UE's Epicboom, offers 360-degree audio and a 180-foot Bluetooth range. UE says the battery will run for up to 20 hours before you need to recharge it via USB-C. In addition, there's one-touch NFC connectivity that works with compatible smartphones running at least Android 8. UE says that this will allow you to quickly switch between several people's playlists when multiple phones are connected — perfect for a campfire singalong.
Ultimate Ears
Meanwhile, the Logitech-owned brand has updated its Wonderboom, Boom and Megaboom speakers with USB-C charging ports and new colorways that are made entirely from post-consumer recycled fabric. The Boom 4 and Megaboom 4 are built with a larger proportion of recycled materials than previous models and have "enhanced deep bass radiators to unlock an even bigger sound," UE says. As for the Wonderboom 4, that introduces a podcast mode — the previous model is one of our favorite Bluetooth speakers.
In addition, UE is introducing a new feature for all speakers that work with its Boom app. With Megaphone, users can speak into their phone and project their voice through the speaker.
The Everboom and refreshed speakers are all available in North America starting today and are set to hit Australia, New Zealand and Europe in the coming months. The $250 Everboom comes in Charcoal Black, Azure Blue, Enchanting Lilac or Raspberry Red. You can pick up the Wonderboom 4 in an Active Black, Hyper Pink, Cobalt Blue or Joyous Bright colorway for $100. As for the $150 Boom 4 and $200 Megaboom 4, those are available in Active Black, Cobalt Blue, Raspberry Red and Enchanting Lilac.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ues-everboom-speaker-is-a-smaller-floatable-version-of-its-epicboom-070124605.html?src=rss
Julian Assange has formally pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act at a federal courthouse in Saipan, the capital of Northern Mariana Islands. The WikiLeaks founder was released from prison on June 24 after reaching a plea deal with the US government and quickly boarded a plane at Stansted Airport to make his way to Saipan. While the deal required Assange to plead guilty to "conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States," he still defended himself in court.
Julian has arrived at the federal court house in Saipan.
I watch this and think how overloaded his senses must be, walking through the press scrum after years of sensory depravation and the four walls of his high security Belmarsh prison cell.
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 25, 2024
According to The Washington Post, Assange argued that he should've been protected by the First Amendment as a journalist. "Working as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information," he said. "I believe the First Amendment protected that." He also said that he believes the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction of each other, but he accepts that his actions were in "violation of an espionage statute" and that it would be "difficult to win such a case given all the circumstances."
A lawyer for the US government, however, accused him of encouraging personnel with high security clearances to expose classified military information and threaten national security. If you'll recall, WikiLeaks published classified information related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which was obtained by whistleblower and former Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning, under his leadership.
Lawyers from both sides argued about the time Assange served in prison, but around three hours after the proceeding started, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona declared that the 62 months he spent in Belmarsh Prison was reasonable and on par with the time served by Manning. Assange will not spend any time in US custody, but he has to leave the US Northern Mariana Islands immediately. The same private jet that flew him from London to Saipan flew him back to Canberra, Australia, because he wasn't allowed to fly commercial, according to his wife Stella Assange.
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 26, 2024
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/julian-assange-pleads-guilty-to-espionage-but-defends-himself-in-court-030516412.html?src=rss
If you’ve been dreaming about spending your summer whispering sweet nothings into the digital ears of one of the seductive ChatGPT voice assistants that OpenAI showed off last month, you’ll have to dream a little longer. On Tuesday, the company announced that its “advanced Voice Mode” feature needs more time in the oven “to reach our bar to launch.” The feature will be available to a small group of users to gather feedback, and then launch to all paying ChatGPT customers in the fall.
“We’re improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content,” OpenAI posted on X. “We’re also working on improving the user experience and preparing our infrastructure to scale to millions while maintaining real-time responses.”
We're sharing an update on the advanced Voice Mode we demoed during our Spring Update, which we remain very excited about:
We had planned to start rolling this out in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but need one more month to reach our bar to launch.…
Voices have been a part of ChatGPT since 2023. But last month, OpenAI demoed an upgraded version that sounded so humanlike it drew comparisons with Samantha, the seductive voice assistant in the 2013 movie Her, played by Scarlett Johansson. Weeks after the presentation, the actress accused OpenAI of copying her voice despite denying permission.
OpenAI said it's still figuring out when the new voices (minus the Johansson soundalike) will roll out to paying users this fall. Another feature that lets the voice assistants use your phone’s camera to understand the world around you has also been delayed until that time. “Exact timelines depend on meeting our high safety and reliability bar,” the company said.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-has-delayed-its-seductive-chatgpt-voice-assistants-233027946.html?src=rss
Volkswagen and EV company Rivian have entered a new partnership, and the total price tag for the collaboration could reach an eye-popping $5 billion. The businesses are launching a joint venture to develop platforms for “software-defined vehicles.” According to the press release announcing the deal, the joint venture's work will focus on Rivian's zone-based approach to electric vehicles, which significantly reduces the complexity of the wiring and electronics. Both Rivian and Volkswagen are expected to debut vehicles using their combined forces as a result of the partnership; the release notes that each of the brands will continue operating their vehicle businesses separately.
The massive dollar figure for this collaboration is broken up into components. Volkswagen is making a baseline $1 billion investment in Rivian the EV company, followed by two more expected investments of the same amount in 2025 and 2026. The car brand also anticipates putting a total of $2 billion into the joint venture, some at the launch and some as a loan in 2026.
This work will see Volkswagen adopting Rivian's signature zonal architecture for its own future machines. Today's announcement follows hot on the heels of the brand integrating ChatGPT into many of its car models.
Rivian has seen some financial struggles this year, leading the company to abandon plans for a plant in Georgia and to cut 10 percent of its salaried staff. A deal of this size with a leading traditional automaker should help the company to stabilize as it works towards its next generation of electric vehicles.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volkswagen-and-rivian-agree-to-5-billion-partnership-230421407.html?src=rss
Samsung’s next Unpacked event will be on July 10. The Paris showcase will be the company’s second of the year, following its Galaxy S24 unveiling (and Galaxy Ring render reveal!) in January.
Samsung’s announcement teases “the next generation of Galaxy AI and the ever-expanding Galaxy ecosystem.” The invitation noted the city’s trendsetting reputation, describing it as the “perfect backdrop for the rollout of our latest cutting-edge innovations.” January’s Unpacked was in San Jose, ideal for the AI features it debuted; perhaps Paris could set the scene for something fashion-related.
Paris will also host the 2024 Summer Olympics starting later that month, and Samsung is a sponsor. So brace yourself for some potential promotional tie-ins, like the oh-so-exciting Olympic-branded editions of Galaxy S flagships.
Samsung
Samsung already let slip in a court filing that the Galaxy Ring will arrive in the US “in or around August of this year,” making launch details about the upcoming wearable virtually inevitable. (The company proactively sued Oura this month to try to prevent the startup from filing a lawsuit of its own.)
In addition to wearables, foldable phones tend to feature prominently in Samsung’s summer Unpacked events (replacing the Galaxy Note, which occupied that slot in the old days). Backing that up is SamMobile, which accurately reported the event’s date and location in April. The blog also claimed Samsung would reveal the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 at the event, along with new earbuds and more about the Galaxy Ring.
The company said it has a bonus for US customers who know they want one of the new devices before they’re announced. If you reserve an upcoming device from today through July 10 through Samsung’s website or Shop Samsung app, it will throw in a $50 Samsung Credit for your pre-order. Reservation orders will also be entered in a sweepstakes to win $5,000 in Samsung Credit.
Samsung will stream the summer Unpacked event on its YouTube channel, main website and Newsroom site. The event kicks off at 9AM ET on July 10.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-next-unpacked-event-is-set-for-july-10-230032676.html?src=rss
Meta just made an important update for Threads users who are sharing posts to the fediverse. The company began allowing users to opt-in to sharing their Threads posts to Mastodon and other ActivityPub-powered services back in March. But the integration has been fairly limited, with Threads users unable to view replies and most other interactions to their posts without switching over to a Mastodon client or other app.
That’s now changing. The Threads app will now be able to show replies and likes from Mastodon and other services, Meta announced. The change marks the first time Threads users who have opted into fediverse sharing will be able to see content that originated in the fediverse directly on Threads.
There are still some limitations, though. Meta says that, frustratingly, Threads users won’t be able to respond directly to replies from users in the fediverse. It also notes that “some replies may not be visible,” so Threads’ notifications still won’t be the most reliable place to track your engagement.
Meta also announced that it’s expanding the fediverse sharing options to more users, with the feature live in more than 100 countries. (Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said the company is hoping to turn the fediverse beta features on everywhere “soon.”)
The changes are an important step for anyone who cares about the future of decentralized social media. Though Meta has been somewhat slow to deliver on its promises to support ActivityPub in Threads, the app has the potential to bring tens of millions of people into the fediverse.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-can-now-show-replies-from-mastodon-and-other-fediverse-apps-224127213.html?src=rss
There's a new Bluetooth tracking option for absent-minded Android owners: Motorola today unveiled the Moto Tag. The company didn't share the exact release date for the device, but said it would be available "in the coming months in select markets." We also don't have any price information yet.
Moto Tag runs on Google's Find My Device infrastructure, both for location data and privacy protections. A tracker isn't much good if it stops working, and Motorola claims the Moto Tag will last for a year on a single battery charge, assuming optimal conditions. In a tacit acknowledgement that the design of these trackers has already become standardized, Motorola's release noted that the Moto Tag fits into "most third-party accessories already on the market." So if you've been using AirTags, or one of the similarly-shaped Bluetooth trackers on the market, the Moto Tag should work with your existing case. Could be a nice option for anyone interested in picking up one of the company's new foldable phones who wants to keep their tech to a single brand.
While Bluetooth trackers have obvious practical benefits, especially for those of us who easily lose track of belongings, serious security concerns have also risen around the devices. Worries about stalking and theft have dogged the product category since their launch, although Apple and Google recently rolled out a rare joint effort to help combat that issue. Tile also faced more direct security issues with a hacking breach earlier this month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/motorola-is-the-latest-to-offer-a-bluetooth-tracker-with-the-moto-tag-220022175.html?src=rss