Monday, February 21, 2022

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Apple's AirPods Max headphones are $100 off at Amazon

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 07:23 AM PST

Apple's AirPods Max won't leave your wallet feeling quite as light if you pick up the over-ear headphones now. They're on sale on Amazon for $449. While this isn't the lowest price we've seen for AirPods Max (the pink model dropped to $400 on Woot earlier this year), a $100 discount is nothing to sniff at. This time around, all of the color options are on sale.

Buy AirPods Max at Amazon - $449

In our review, we gave AirPods Max a score of 84, citing the terrific balanced sound, good active noise cancellation and solid battery life. The headphones also have spatial audio support, including for Dolby Atmos tracks on Apple Music. We felt the price was one of the major drawbacks, so the discount will alleviate that somewhat. You'll miss out on some features when AirPods Max are connected to an Android or Windows device, and you'll definitely want to buy a sturdier third-party case.

If AirPods Max don't quite tickle your fancy, but you're still looking for an Apple audio product, there's some good news: Amazon has other models on sale too. The second-gen AirPods are currently $100, down $60 from the regular price.

There are more modest savings available on the third-gen AirPods, which have dropped by $10 to $169. If you'd prefer a model with ANC instead, it might be worth paying an extra $6 to pick up AirPods Pro, which are $74 off at $175.

Buy Apple AirPods (3rd-gen) at Amazon - $169Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $175

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Raleigh's expanded Motus e-bike line offers more power and range

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 07:00 AM PST

How does a veteran bicycle maker like Raleigh survive an increasingly crowded e-bike market? By promising more oomph, apparently. The company has revamped its strong-selling Motus hybrid e-bike line with more power and range. The base Motus now starts with a 400WH Bosch Active Line motor (up from 300WH) and, accordingly, a bump from 60 miles to 80 miles of range. You shouldn't have as much trouble blasting up a hill or completing a lengthy commute. You can also expect four levels of electric assistance, a seven-speed gear system and hydraulic disc brakes.

More demanding riders have more options, of course. The Motus Tour and Motus Grand Tour both have the choice of either a derailleur or hub gearing, and they pack integrated front and rear lights as well as a wheel lock. The Tour and Grand Tour both pack sleeker, easily removable Bosch PowerTube batteries, while the top-end Grand Tour includes both a larger 500WH battery and a brawnier Active Line Plus motor. Raleigh claims up to 100 miles of range.

All the bikes are available in the UK and Ireland with either a crossbar frame or an easier-to-mount low step design. Expect higher prices in return for the added performance, however. The 'entry' Motus starts at £2,199 (about $2,987), while the Motus Tour begins at £2,499 for a derailleur version and the Grand Tour costs £2,699. The hub versions of the Tour and Grand Tour add another £100 to the price. They're slightly pricier than the models they replace (the previous Motus started at £1,900), but the additional outlay could easily be worthwhile if your bike is your chief mode of transportation.

'Final Fantasy 14' free trial returns on February 22nd

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 05:42 AM PST

Late last year, Square Enix suspended sales of Final Fantasy 14 and stopped offering free trials as the game became overwhelmed with new players, following its latest expansion. Now, FF14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has announced that free trials are returning starting tomorrow, February 22nd, Eurogamer has reported. 

The company said at the time that it had to halt sales because the "dense concentration of play hours... far exceed [the game's] server capacity." It addressed that by bringing its Oceania Data Center online and opening five new Worlds from the start so that everyone in Oceania could transfer over. Shortly afterwards (on January 25th), Final Fantasy 14 went back on sale. 

The developer must have figured that it still wasn't quite ready for the free trial traffic, but that situation is apparently resolved as well. The company also announced that more deep dungeons are coming to Final Fantasy 14 with the 6.0 series of patch updates, expected to arrive in the coming months. Yoshida also confirmed that "at this point," there are no plans to introduce NFTs to FF14. "We did notice a lot of reactions, especially from the Western [audience] about NFTs, many comments about how [they're] opposed to NFTs," he added.

Lenovo's new Smart Clock Essential with Alexa is 29 percent off at Amazon

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 03:23 AM PST

Smart clocks are ideal devices for the bedroom, as they give key information like the time and temperature but often have no intrusive cameras. If you're looking for a deal on a good one, Lenovo's Smart Clock Essential with Alexa is on sale right now at Amazon for $50, or $20 (29 percent) off the regular $70 price. 

Buy Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Alexa - $50

The Smart Clock Essential with Alexa came out early this year to replace the previous model, with the main additions being a new pogo docking pin on the bottom and, well, support for Alexa instead of Google Assistant. It features an attractive, fabric-covered design in colors "Mistry Blue" and "Clay Red," both of which are on sale. On the top edge there are four buttons: volume buttons, a button for activating the assistant, and another for setting an alarm. There's also a USB port for charging.

It neither streams video nor has a camera, though it of course has a mic and speakers so that you can listen to music/podcasts or make voice calls. The entire front face is a dedicated 4-inch LED display, displaying the time, weather, real-time decibel levels and more in white text on a deep black background. 

The docking accessories still aren't available, but once they arrive, you'll have two options. One is a basic pad with room for both the clock and another wireless-charging like a phone, while the other is what Lenovo calls the Ambient Light Dock, which doubles as a nightlight. It'll be available for $30 in two whimsical designs with either a sea lion and a squid, along with eight different lighting modes and a rainbow of colors — so it could work great in a kid's room. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Millions of WordPress sites receive forced patch for critical plugin flaw

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 12:44 AM PST

Millions of WordPress sites have received a forced patch over the past few days, Ars Technica has reported. The reason is a vulnerability in UpdraftPlus, a popular plugin that allows users to create and restore website backups. UpdraftPlus developers requested the mandatory patch, as the vulnerability would allow anyone with an account to download a website's entire database. 

The bug was discovered by Jetpack security researcher Marc Montpas during a security audit of the plugin. "This bug is pretty easy to exploit, with some very bad outcomes if it does get exploited," he told Ars Technica. "It made it possible for low-privilege users to download a site's backups, which include raw database backups." 

He told UpdraftPlus developers about the bug on Tuesday last week, they fixed it a day later and started force-installing the patch shortly after that. 1.7 million sites had received it as of Thursday, out of 3 million-plus users.

The main flaw was that UpdraftPlus didn't correctly implement WordPress's "hearbeat' function by properly checking to see if users had administrative privileges. Another issue was a variable used to validate admins that could be modified by untrusted users. Jetpack provided more details about how a hack could work in a blog post.

WordPress was previously breached earlier this year, but it was done indirectly via a GoDaddy hack that exposed 1.2 million accounts. If you're running WordPress with the UpdraftPlus plugin, you should definitely confirm that the plugin updated automatically to 1.22.4 or later on the free version, or 2.22.4 and up on the premium app. 

'Street Fighter 6' confirmed via a new teaser trailer

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 11:20 PM PST

Capcom has announced the development Street Fighter 6, the next chapter in the iconic fighting series, IGN has reported. It also released a teaser trailer featuring Ryu and Luke, a key DLC character appearing at the end of Street Fighter V.

The game was announced following Capcom's Pro Tour fighting game exhibition via a countdown website. There was no other information, though the trailer graphics suggest the new title might use a more realistic character style. Capcom said it would have more news coming in the summer of 2022. 

Released in 2016, Street Fighter V was the first title in the series to use a full story mode, but it got off to a rough start due to server problems and limited content. It was eventually a success however, thanks in large part to the subsequent Champion and Arcade editions. 

Along with the Street Fighter 6 news, Capcom unveiled a new fighting game compilation with titles including Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, Vampire Hunter 2:Darkstalkers' Revenge and Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition. It arrives on June 24th on PS4, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Epic Games will offer full-time employment to many of its US quality assurance testers

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 03:01 PM PST

Fortnite developer Epic Games confirmed this weekend it will transition most of its US-based contingent workers to full-time positions with benefits. The news comes after The Verge obtained an internal memo detailing the company's plans. Epic spokesperson Elka Looks said the studio plans to hire "a few hundred" existing contractors, and that most of those workers currently serve as quality assurance testers. Epic will directly employ those individuals and they'll have access to the company's benefits plan.

Looks also noted the company will still hire contingent workers to fill "short-term needs," and the memo The Verge obtained said Epic would not extend the full-time employment offer to some workers. "There are a few exceptions in which it makes sense for both the worker and Epic to maintain contingent worker status," the document said, according to the outlet.

Epic's decision to convert many of its QA testers to full-time employees comes at a moment when workers in similar positions at Activision Blizzard's Raven Software work to unionize. In December, the studio laid off a dozen QA testers, leading to a walkout involving both full-time employees and contractors. Last month, those workers said they would unionize with the Communication Workers of America, and asked the troubled publisher to voluntarily recognize their group. Activision did not do that and instead moved to reorganize the studio in a way that critics of the company claim is designed to thwart those efforts.

New ‘Elden Ring’ trailer offers one final look before its long-awaited release

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 01:49 PM PST

With less than a week before Elden Ring'sFebruary 25th release date, publisher Bandai Namco has shared a new "Overview" trailer detailing the many systems of FromSoftware's latest action RPG. The clip features nearly six minutes of edited gameplay footage for fans to check out. And if you've been trying to avoid spoilers but still want to see what From's latest project will offer, this is probably your best chance to do so.

Notably, the trailer offers a glimpse of not just the game's open-world environment, but the many dungeons that you'll have a chance to explore during your adventures, including the so-called "legacy" ones that feature the same dense level design that has been a hallmark of FromSoftware games since Demon's Souls. The clip also offers a look at item crafting, player customization and cooperative play, among other elements.

Elden Ring will be available to play on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. FromSoftware first announced the title back at E3 2019. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin helped Dark Souls and Bloodborne mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki create the world of the game. After years of waiting, fans will finally get to see the fruits of that collaboration for themselves. 

The batteries in Google’s Nest Cam and Doorbell won’t charge in freezing weather

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 12:36 PM PST

Following months of reports, Google has confirmed its battery-equipped Nest Doorbell and Cam devices won't charge when they're subjected to extreme cold weather. "At temperatures below freezing, the lithium-ion battery in your Google Nest camera or doorbell won't be able to charge," the company said in a recently published support document spotted by 9to5Google.

According to Google, the battery versions of the Nest Doorbell and Cam can operate at temperatures as low as minus four degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius), provided their batteries have power left. That said, those cells won't charge at temperatures below the freezing mark. What's more, Google warns they may drain faster than usual in cold weather, with battery life potentially halved when the devices are near their operating limit.

The company recommends you bring your Nest Doorbell or Cam indoors in those situations. The warmer the battery gets, the faster it will charge, according to Google. You can look to the Home app to know if you should take your devices inside. The software will display a notification that says "Charging paused" or "Charging slowly," with a lengthy estimated charging time, when cold weather is negatively affecting them.

One other thing to note is that freezing temperatures may impact your Nest devices even if they're wired to your home's electrical system. That's because the Nest Doorbell still draws on its battery for power even when it has an electrical connection. At temperatures below the 32 degrees Farhenheit mark, the trickle charge coming from the wire won't help the battery. And once it dies, you'll need to bring the device inside to charge it once again. By contrast, the Nest Cam can operate with an empty battery as long as it's wired to your home, but should you lose power and the battery is dead, it won't work anymore until you charge it again. In short, if you're cold, there's a good chance your Nest device is too. Bring it inside for a break from the desolate winter. 

OpenSea users lose hundreds of NFTs in likely phishing attack

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 11:04 AM PST

NFT marketplace OpenSea is investigating a "phishing attack" that has left more than two dozen of its users without access to some of their most valuable digital tokens. On late Saturday evening, panic hit the platform when someone stole hundreds of NFTs.

Over several hours that afternoon, the attacker targeted 32 accounts and obtained 254 tokens, according to a spreadsheet compiled by Blockchain security service PeckShield. Among the stolen NFTs are tokens from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki collections. One estimate by Molly White, the creator of the Web3 is Going Great blog, pegged the haul at 641 Ethereum (approximately $1.7 million at the time of this article).

"We have confidence that this was a phishing attack," said Devin Finzer, the co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, in a tweet posted early Sunday morning. "We don't know where the phishing occurred, but we've been able to rule out a number of things based on our conversations with the 32 affected users."

According to Finzer, OpenSea determined its website was not a vector for the attack, nor did someone exploit a previously unknown vulnerability in the platform's NFT minting, buying, selling and listing features. "Interaction with an OpenSea email is not a vector for attack," said Finzer. "In fact, we are not aware of any of the affected users receiving or clicking links in suspicious emails."

We've reached out to OpenSea for comment.

As noted by The Verge, the attack likely took advantage of an aspect of the Wyvern Protocol. Many Web3 platforms, including OpenSea, use the open-source standard to underpin their contracts. One Twitter thread suggests those targeted in the phishing campaign may have signed a partial agreement that allowed the attacker to transfer the NFTs without any Ethereum changing hands. Linking to the thread, Finzer said it presented a scenario that was "consistent with our current internal understanding" of the situation.

While there's still much about the attack we don't know, what is clear is that it couldn't have come at a worse time for OpenSea. On Friday, the company introduced a new smart contract and asked people to migrate their assets. It has also been the subject of recent controversy, first starting with an employee who resigned for using insider information to profit on NFT drops and then more recently over the prevalence of tokens that are fake, plagiarized or spam on its platform. 

Trump’s social network has launched on iOS

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 09:10 AM PST

Truth Social, Donald Trump's Twitter-like social media platform has launched on the App Store, CNET has reported. That confirms a statement from a verified account tied to Truth Social chief product officer "Billy B," who told people to mark February 21st on their calendars.

"We're currently set for release in the Apple App Store for Monday, February 21st," he said, according to Reuters. Incidentally, the 21st marks the Presidents' Day holiday in the US.

Provided the network doesn't suffer a hiccup like the one it did last fall when a prankster claimed the "donaldjtrump" username and posted an image of defecting pig, the launch will mark Trump's return to social media. Twitter and Facebook banned the former president following the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.

Before a test version of Truth Social was pulled down last fall, the website's code showed it ran on a mostly unmodified version of open-source software Mastodon. In October, the Software Freedom Conservancy accused The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) of violating Mastodon's AGPLv3 license by not sharing the platform's source code. The website added a dedicated section containing a ZIP archive of its source code two weeks later.

Based on the posts seen by Reuters, Truth Social won't stray too far from the Twitter formula. People can use the network to post "Truths," the platform's equivalent to tweets, and it's possible to reshare posts on one's timeline to expand their reach. The executive who answered questions from beta users said the company was working on a verification policy that it would publish "in the coming weeks." He also mentioned TMTG was also working on a direct messaging feature that would come later.

Update 2/21/2022 2:28 AM ET: Truth Social has indeed appeared in the iOS App Store, though some users are reportedly having trouble creating accounts, according to CNET. Some are receiving an error message when they try to enter a birthdate, email or phone number, while others say they were placed on a waitlist. The article has been updated with the latest information.
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