FTC v. Microsoft: new documents detail an Xbox Series X refresh in 2024, codenamed Brooklin, including a new controller and cylindrical, disc-less design
Microsoft is planning to refresh its Xbox Series X console in 2024 with an all-new design and features.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max review: USB-C, lighter, nicer to hold, useful Action Button, and camera improvements, but no 5x telephoto on the smaller Pro
Apple didn't choose the USB-C life, but boy are we glad it got here anyway. … There are very few surprises from new smartphones these days.
iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 review: a bigger bet on widgets and the modularization of apps, and needed Stage Manager fixes, but visionOS stole the spotlight this year
Well, last year was weird. — For the first time since I started writing annual reviews of Apple's two mobile operating systems …
Google updates Bard to use data from Gmail, Docs, and Drive, not just the web, to help find and summarize emails, highlight points in a document, and more
Google's Bard AI chatbot is no longer limited to pulling answers from just the web — it can now scan your Gmail, Docs …
Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus review: comfortable to hold, Dynamic Island, great performance, and helpful camera features, but no always-on display or ProMotion
Apple's standard iPhone gets a lot of nice upgrades this year, but it's not anything we haven't seen before.
On a livestream, Elon Musk says X is “moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system”, as it's “the only way to combat vast armies of bots”
- Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. leader Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a livestream …
FTC v. Microsoft: in mid-2020, Phil Spencer discussed acquiring Warner Bros Interactive alongside Bethesda and said buying Nintendo would be a “career moment”
“It'd be a good move for both companies” — A genuinely dystopian email sent by Xbox chief Phil Spencer …
Filing: FTX sues SBF's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, to “recover millions of dollars in fraudulently transferred and misappropriated funds”
The filing, redacted in parts, asks the court to award the FTX estate damages, the return of any property given or payment made to the parents.
FTC v. Microsoft: docs show Microsoft's gaming plans for 2028, aiming for “full convergence” of its cloud platform and hardware to deliver “cloud hybrid games”
The documents may also reveal Microsoft's far future plans for 2028 — by which the company believed it could achieve …
After over 100 internal Microsoft documents leaked, the FTC says that “Microsoft was responsible for the error in uploading these documents to the court”
The files include emails from corporate executives like Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and timetables for gaming releases.
Researchers find a GitHub repo run by Microsoft's AI research unit that exposed 38TB of sensitive data, like secret keys and 30K+ Microsoft staff Teams messages
Microsoft AI researchers accidentally exposed tens of terabytes of sensitive data, including private keys and passwords …
Sources: Amazon is hiring Microsoft's former CPO Panos Panay to run the Alexa and Echo unit; longtime hardware chief Dave Limp said in August he is retiring
it's a little hard to imagine Surface, especially, without Panos Panay. I was also unaware that Charles Simonyi was still involved with Microsoft. https://www.theverge.com/... X: Patrick Moorhead / @...
Trend Micro: Chinese cyberespionage group Earth Lusca used a new Linux malware dubbed SprySOCKS to target government agencies in multiple countries in H1 2023
A Chinese espionage-focused hacker tracked as ‘Earth Lusca’ was observed targeting government agencies in multiple countries, using a new Linux backdoor dubbed ‘SprySOCKS.’
Microsoft adds layers and image transparency to Paint, 38 years after the app's launch, rolling out to Windows Insiders first, after adding background removal
Microsoft is finally rolling out support for layers and image transparency to the Paint image editor application 38 years after its launch.
A look at Panos Panay's impact on Microsoft and Surface, paving the way for OEMs to focus on quality 2-in-1s, and the executives taking over parts of his role
Tom Warren / The Verge :
A look around MGM's Vegas properties, where a September 10 cyberattack has led to broken slot machines and payment kiosks, strained employees, and long waits
food ordering fucked — 1/3 slot machines dead — staff running with fanny packs to provide winnings — strip club offering perks to those impacted … Jason Koebler / @jasonkoebler@mastodon.social : I ...
What to expect from Microsoft's Surface and AI event: Surface Laptop Studio 2, Surface Go 4 and Laptop Go 3, and AI updates for Windows, Surface, and Office
Microsoft is holding a “special event” in New York City later this week where it's expected to debut three new Surface devices …
A look at ShadowDragon, which offers social media surveillance tools that gather data from games and more, used by ICE, the State Department, the DEA, and more
Daniel Clemens sits in a darkened room and speaks about why he thinks people should not protest. Mastodon: @jomo@mstdn.io and @josephcox@infosec.exchange X: @twocatsand_docs , @ryanjhaas , @ashleylatk...
Okta CSO David Bradbury says five client companies, including MGM and Caesars, were hacked via help desk calls by the ALPHV and Scattered Spider groups
Hackers who breached casino giants MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) and Caesars Entertainment (CZR.O) in recent weeks also broke …
Blockchain Capital raised a total of $580M for two VC funds and says their focus will be on six sectors, including DeFi, blockchain gaming, and consumer/social
The crypto bear market may be ongoing, but Blockchain Capital is still going big. It closed two new funds for a total of $580 million …
Amazon announces a new version of Just Walk Out for clothing retailers, using RFID tags to track apparel; the grocery version relies on ceiling-mounted cameras
- Latest iteration uses RFID tags and readers to track apparel — Some retailers have balked at using Just Walk Out system
FTC v. Microsoft: in April 2022, Xbox Game Pass may have generated ~$231.5M in revenue, or $9.26 per subscription, meaning most subscribers pay the full price
Microsoft reveals more details about how much money Xbox Game Pass actually makes. — VIEW GALLERY - 4 IMAGES
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative plans to build an AI GPU cluster of 1,000+ Nvidia H100 GPUs to run “openly available” models of human cells for medical research
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's foundation is funding the construction of a massive computing system for medical research.
Crowdstrike confirms acquiring Bionic, which analyzes a company's tech and IT to find vulnerabilities, sources say for $350M; Bionic has raised ~$82M in total
Update: Crowdstrike has now officially confirmed the deal. As we previously reported, Crowdstrike will merge Bionic's tech with its Falcon product.
Interviews with 15 current and former employees at Amazon's Lab126 hardware unit describe low morale due to layoffs and fears of a weak development pipeline
Some workers within Amazon's (AMZN.O) once-storied hardware division - responsible for popular devices like the Kindle reader …
Instacart prices its 22M shares at $30 a piece, raising $660M in its IPO at a fully diluted valuation of ~$10B; Instacart was valued at $39B in 2021
the company isn't just an app. @apoorva_mehta and the team had to build an e-commerce, labor management and ad platform. He also had to construct an enterprise system for retailers + all in a low-marg...
Intel announces Meteor Lake, its first chips to use its new chiplet architecture, offering CPUs using the Intel 4 process node, ahead of a December 14 “launch”
Sean Hollister / The Verge :
At an all-hands, Unity discussed potential changes to its controversial new fees, like capping fees to 4% of a game's revenue for customers with $1M+ in revenue
Devs on #Unity Runtime Fee: “The trust is gone forever” https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ ... @GIbiz @James_Batchelor X: @unity : We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime f...
TikTok launches a tool that lets creators label their AI-generated content and plans to test other ways of labeling such content automatically
As more creators turn to AI for their artistic expression, there's also a broader push for transparency around when AI was involved in content creation.
Berlin-based Plan A, which offers a SaaS sustainability tool to help track net zero efforts, raised a $27M Series A extension, taking its total funding to $42M
Plan A, a carbon accounting and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting platform for corporations …
Filing: Alyssa Henry, the CEO of Block's Square unit, plans to step down on October 2 after nine years at the company; Jack Dorsey will become the “Square Head”
Google DeepMind details its new AlphaMissense AI, which predicts if mutations in human genes are likely to be harmful, an example of AI accelerating diagnosis
Clive Cookson / Financial Times :
After Hong Kong's police arrested six following allegations of fraud at unlicensed crypto exchange JPEX, the government plans to tighten its crypto regulations
Sam Reynolds / CoinDesk :
Citigroup debuts Citi Token Services, which turns deposits into tokens that can be sent internationally, in a push to offer institutional clients digital assets
A US federal judge rejects the SEC's request to inspect Binance.US' tech infrastructure and to force the company to share other requested information
Sabrina Willmer / Bloomberg :
The New York DFS revamps its virtual currency oversight regime and removes over two dozen tokens from its “greenlist”, including Ripple, Dogecoin, and Litecoin
What's Keeping BTC and ETH Unscathed? Hassan Shittu / Cryptonews : XRP Attorney Addresses New York's Delisting of Ripple and Dogecoin, Denies Political Intentions Jake Simmons / Bitcoinist.com : XRP, ...
Location and mapping startup Mapbox raised $280M led by SoftBank, sources say at a ~$1.3B pre-money valuation; PitchBook says Mapbox had raised $360M to date
Son's decision to back US mapping company in $280mn investment round comes in wake of Arm listing
After Hong Kong police arrested six following allegations of fraud at unlicensed crypto exchange JPEX, the government plans to tighten its crypto regulations
Austin-based HiddenLayer, which focuses on hardening the security of AI models used by companies, raised a $50M Series A led by M12 and Moore Strategic Ventures
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch :
Raleigh-based Pryon, which offers chatbots for searching through data, raised a $100M Series B, ~80% from Thomas Tull's fund, sources say at a $500M+ valuation
Bloomberg :
Alcion, which sells AI-based “backup-as-a-service” tools, raised a $21M Series A led by Insight Partners-owned IT firm Veeam, taking its total funding to $29M
Justin Warren / Forbes :
How the UK CMA blocking Microsoft's Activision deal, at odds with the US and the EU, shows its newfound influence post-Brexit and forced a revised transaction
Financial Times :
Tel Aviv-based Cato Networks, whose tools help protect remote workforces, raised $238M led by Lightspeed at a $3B+ valuation, taking its total funding to $770M
Marissa Newman / Bloomberg :
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs says TSMC and state authorities are talking about adding advanced chip packaging capacity to the chipmaker's plants in Phoenix
Bloomberg :
Levelpath, which provides enterprise procurement services, raised a $30M Series A led by Redpoint, following an unannounced $14.5M seed led by Benchmark
A group of 18 state AGs backs Montana's bid to ban TikTok, urging a US judge to reject the company's legal challenges before the January 1, 2024, effective date
David Shepardson / Reuters : X: @seanspicer See also Mediagazer X: Sean Spicer / @seanspicer : Thanks to Virginia's Attorney General @JasonMiyaresVA for standing up to China Virginia, other US states...
Analysis: SMIC's gross margins halved in H1 2023 as the company poured $345M, or 11.4% of its revenue, into R&D SMIC reported $111M in state grants in H1 2023
and questions for Washington
Electrify Video Partners, whose model is to acquire 50% to 100% of a YouTube creator's business, raised $85M from Capital D and says the startup is profitable
Kerry Flynn / Axios :
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26
Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.